definately spoilers beneath the cut.
so many things to agree with here where
snegurochka_lee talks about the main 'lessons' of DH and the series in general.
it's quite long. here are some excerpts (bolding is mine):
Overall:
So, what do I take from the series overall? What's the Big Point? I don't know yet. There are many. It's easy to be cynical, of course: the Chosen One will always return to save his People; or the nuclear family unit will always win out; or Love Saves Everything. But I find I'm not feeling terribly cynical today. I think I'm supposed to have learned that there are many shades of good and evil; that unbridled power corrupts even the best of intentions; that the definition of heroism is intensely personal, and fluid.
I've also learned that war moves in cycles, with new monsters rising as others fall, and that "all was well" might be a very temporary and tongue-in-cheek way to describe things - seeing what we have seen of the cycles of violence in history through such figures as Salazar Slytherin, possibly Godric Gryffindor, definitely Grindelwald and Voldemort, and even the Bloody Baron.
I've learned that community trumps individualism, and no person is an island, so to speak. I've learned that 'family' comes in all shapes and forms, a self-defined community that includes both love and tragedy. I've learned that although death may be but the next great journey, it is often unpredictable and unfair. I've learned that there is a lot of pain in the world; that if given a choice, many people will hurt others rather than help them; and that no magical endings can undo those injuries once inflicted.
Most of all, I think I've learned that magic, as a metaphor for all our abilities and all our temptations, highlights our possibilities and our limits. It reminds us that no problem has an easy answer, waving a wand cannot ensure happiness, and that when it comes right down to it, our abilities and temptations mean nothing without choice. It's not what we have that matters, but how we choose to use it.
some great points on the writing/treatment of remus lupin:
Lupin:
I did not find Lupin 'OOC' here. I did not find his actions inconsistent with the Lupin of previous books. I did not find him morally repugnant or unforgivably flawed.
I found him flawed in all the ways I find my very best friends flawed.
Lupin/Tonks
What I love about this storyline is Lupin's regret. I never though JKR would go there. At all. After HBP, I thought that pairing was wrapped up and done, a neat little package of perfection. And considering the relatively neat little packages with which she tied up pairings like Harry/Ginny and, after one fight, Ron/Hermione, I was surprised and delighted to see her portray a couple with problems. Real problems. Problems like, "I think we got married too soon," and, "I'm not sure we should be having a baby right now." I know many more couples with those problems than I do Harry and Ginny's, ie: "Should we name our beautiful, wanted new baby 'Albus Severus' or 'Severus Albus'??"
I'm glad JKR went there for Remus. I'm really glad. It gives his character so many more shades of grey than he had before. We've seen hints of his flaws before, but ultimately, Remus has been such a minor character that fanon has been able to paint him as a kindly, near-perfect soul. I never liked that version of him (or of any character, really).
I respected Remus in DH. Even if I didn't agree with all his choices, I respected that they were his to make, as a full-fledged, three-dimensional characters with attributes and flaws. And above everything else, I trusted and appreciated his loyalty to Harry and to the war. Snape may have agreed to protect Harry out of a love for Lily, but I believe Remus agreed to protect him out of a love for Harry himself.
Lupin's death
I am sad. How can I not be? But I am not angry, I do not blame the author, and I do not believe his death was pointless, as I have heard hollered whispered around fandom.
One of the best things JKR did in this book, and in this series overall, IMO, was to present me with total war, right in my very own living room as I read the book(s). From the refugees to the radio broadcasts, the imprisonment-without-trial to the authoritarian government, the secret tribunals to the resistance fighters, I believed this was war. She showed us the military and political scenes of a society at war, as well as the social and cultural. She showed us the big picture, in the form of government and Ministry decisions, and she showed us the grief and terror of a single family facing arrest for who they were, not what they did.
And she showed us death on the battlefield.
This series killed off a lot of major characters. Major characters. Without stopping to create elaborate funerals and mourning rituals for all of them. And I applaud the author's courage for that. As more and more deaths pile up around him, people he loves and is fighting for, Harry grows increasingly numb. I thought the final battle sequences showcased his grief and exhaustion beautifully. By the time he sees Lupin and Tonks lying dead, he can barely articulate it. It's the icing on the morbid cake. He loses everything at that moment, looking on at all the bodies piled in that room and realising so many of them are people he cared for deeply. And in that moment, I think, he begins to prepare himself to die. He doesn't fully understand it until he views Snape's memories, but I see it in his despair over Lupin and Tonks's bodies.
Snape:
the revelation that Snape loved Lily and agreed to protect Harry for that reason did not ruin any bit of the story for me. Yes, fandom saw that one coming, but not quite in the way it finally played out, I don't think. Snape's character was not assassinated in order to paste on a het love story. Every bit of that arc worked for me, and fit right into the view of Snape I had from the series as a whole.
He is creepy, a bit power-hungry, a bit selfish, has certain ideas about Wizarding bloodlines that never quite changed, and rather single-minded in the pursuit of that which he could not have. I love that he joined the DEs because he wanted to, because he believed in them, not, as fanon may have us believe, because he was coerced. And, more interestingly to me, he never really changed his mind. He agreed to help protect Lily's son, but he did not stop being a DE. He was not necessarily out to bring down Voldemort, nor did he necessarily disagree with any of Voldemort's ideas and actions. I think that is fascinating.
It also explains how he was able to withstand brutal acts done in front of him, such as the murder of the Muggle Studies teacher, or any of his cruel treatments of Hogwarts students over the years. Snape was a bit of an arsehole, frankly. I love that.
snegurochka_lee talks about the main 'lessons' of DH and the series in general.
it's quite long. here are some excerpts (bolding is mine):
Overall:
So, what do I take from the series overall? What's the Big Point? I don't know yet. There are many. It's easy to be cynical, of course: the Chosen One will always return to save his People; or the nuclear family unit will always win out; or Love Saves Everything. But I find I'm not feeling terribly cynical today. I think I'm supposed to have learned that there are many shades of good and evil; that unbridled power corrupts even the best of intentions; that the definition of heroism is intensely personal, and fluid.
I've also learned that war moves in cycles, with new monsters rising as others fall, and that "all was well" might be a very temporary and tongue-in-cheek way to describe things - seeing what we have seen of the cycles of violence in history through such figures as Salazar Slytherin, possibly Godric Gryffindor, definitely Grindelwald and Voldemort, and even the Bloody Baron.
I've learned that community trumps individualism, and no person is an island, so to speak. I've learned that 'family' comes in all shapes and forms, a self-defined community that includes both love and tragedy. I've learned that although death may be but the next great journey, it is often unpredictable and unfair. I've learned that there is a lot of pain in the world; that if given a choice, many people will hurt others rather than help them; and that no magical endings can undo those injuries once inflicted.
Most of all, I think I've learned that magic, as a metaphor for all our abilities and all our temptations, highlights our possibilities and our limits. It reminds us that no problem has an easy answer, waving a wand cannot ensure happiness, and that when it comes right down to it, our abilities and temptations mean nothing without choice. It's not what we have that matters, but how we choose to use it.
some great points on the writing/treatment of remus lupin:
Lupin:
I did not find Lupin 'OOC' here. I did not find his actions inconsistent with the Lupin of previous books. I did not find him morally repugnant or unforgivably flawed.
I found him flawed in all the ways I find my very best friends flawed.
Lupin/Tonks
What I love about this storyline is Lupin's regret. I never though JKR would go there. At all. After HBP, I thought that pairing was wrapped up and done, a neat little package of perfection. And considering the relatively neat little packages with which she tied up pairings like Harry/Ginny and, after one fight, Ron/Hermione, I was surprised and delighted to see her portray a couple with problems. Real problems. Problems like, "I think we got married too soon," and, "I'm not sure we should be having a baby right now." I know many more couples with those problems than I do Harry and Ginny's, ie: "Should we name our beautiful, wanted new baby 'Albus Severus' or 'Severus Albus'??"
I'm glad JKR went there for Remus. I'm really glad. It gives his character so many more shades of grey than he had before. We've seen hints of his flaws before, but ultimately, Remus has been such a minor character that fanon has been able to paint him as a kindly, near-perfect soul. I never liked that version of him (or of any character, really).
I respected Remus in DH. Even if I didn't agree with all his choices, I respected that they were his to make, as a full-fledged, three-dimensional characters with attributes and flaws. And above everything else, I trusted and appreciated his loyalty to Harry and to the war. Snape may have agreed to protect Harry out of a love for Lily, but I believe Remus agreed to protect him out of a love for Harry himself.
Lupin's death
I am sad. How can I not be? But I am not angry, I do not blame the author, and I do not believe his death was pointless, as I have heard hollered whispered around fandom.
One of the best things JKR did in this book, and in this series overall, IMO, was to present me with total war, right in my very own living room as I read the book(s). From the refugees to the radio broadcasts, the imprisonment-without-trial to the authoritarian government, the secret tribunals to the resistance fighters, I believed this was war. She showed us the military and political scenes of a society at war, as well as the social and cultural. She showed us the big picture, in the form of government and Ministry decisions, and she showed us the grief and terror of a single family facing arrest for who they were, not what they did.
And she showed us death on the battlefield.
This series killed off a lot of major characters. Major characters. Without stopping to create elaborate funerals and mourning rituals for all of them. And I applaud the author's courage for that. As more and more deaths pile up around him, people he loves and is fighting for, Harry grows increasingly numb. I thought the final battle sequences showcased his grief and exhaustion beautifully. By the time he sees Lupin and Tonks lying dead, he can barely articulate it. It's the icing on the morbid cake. He loses everything at that moment, looking on at all the bodies piled in that room and realising so many of them are people he cared for deeply. And in that moment, I think, he begins to prepare himself to die. He doesn't fully understand it until he views Snape's memories, but I see it in his despair over Lupin and Tonks's bodies.
Snape:
the revelation that Snape loved Lily and agreed to protect Harry for that reason did not ruin any bit of the story for me. Yes, fandom saw that one coming, but not quite in the way it finally played out, I don't think. Snape's character was not assassinated in order to paste on a het love story. Every bit of that arc worked for me, and fit right into the view of Snape I had from the series as a whole.
He is creepy, a bit power-hungry, a bit selfish, has certain ideas about Wizarding bloodlines that never quite changed, and rather single-minded in the pursuit of that which he could not have. I love that he joined the DEs because he wanted to, because he believed in them, not, as fanon may have us believe, because he was coerced. And, more interestingly to me, he never really changed his mind. He agreed to help protect Lily's son, but he did not stop being a DE. He was not necessarily out to bring down Voldemort, nor did he necessarily disagree with any of Voldemort's ideas and actions. I think that is fascinating.
It also explains how he was able to withstand brutal acts done in front of him, such as the murder of the Muggle Studies teacher, or any of his cruel treatments of Hogwarts students over the years. Snape was a bit of an arsehole, frankly. I love that.