HP 7
They sure do use a lot of 'accio'... *g*
I never liked Dumbledore, and that opinion only strengthened in 'DH'. Snape brings it to the point. '… you have been raising him like a pig for slaughter -' That's just revolting. And this is the man Harry later names one of his children after?
The kissing scene between Ron & Hermione is One Big Cliche. And a silly one.
And after Ginny!Sue in HBP here comes virtuallynonexistent!Ginny. And a good thing that is, because in the scenes she appears in, she's just annoying, petty and cheap. Lecturing Harry about not dallying around with Veela while he's away fighting Voldemort? Sending him with Luna instead of Cho to Ravenclaw Tower? What does she think - that they would have a quickie behind the next armour?
Do they have divorces in Potterworld? I don't think I've ever seen one in the books (except Tom Riddle sr. running out on Merope - and look there that led to…). Even characters that are painted very negative, usually have happy relationships (the Dursley parents seem very devoted to each other, as do the Malfoys). Everyone seems to have very conservative views - marrying young, having more or less children, staying together until death does part them seems to be the norm. At Bill's and Fleur's wedding Harry can't help picturing Ginny as a bride - and he has been together with her how long exactly? And the first thought of little Lily upon hearing that Teddy snogs Victoire, is that they should marry… *shudders*
Why one of the twins?! Aren't there enough other Weasleys who could have died? *cough*Ginny*cough* And Bellatrix would so have AK'd Molly…
Much love for McGonagall! And Hermione - she's just great. And although she cries a lot, that doesn't make her 'weepy' or less tough. Ron is mostly an idiot, but has his moments. His continued insistence to protect her although she's the better magician is somewhat embarassing.
The scenes between Harry & Draco make me happy (Harry using Draco's wand, Harry and Draco both not wanting the other to die, Harry rescuing Draco twice) - and they both live, so hopefully there'll be fic… *g*
All in all, I really liked the book - it's dark, multi-layered, shows its characters in shades of grey and still manages to be funny in the right places. And then comes the epilogue and sours a series of 7 books of adventure, mystery and fun that I had thoroughly enjoyed so far. These last few pages are just dumb - they appear totally put on, a glimpse into the 'happily ever after', complete with hordes of gruesomely named children (JKR deserves every AS/S-shipper she gets for that!) that look like their predictably paired-up parents, an idiot!Ron (come on, egging the 'good' kids on against the next Malfoy - has he not learned anything??) and all was well…
WTF?? The Potter books have always been dark; they begin with murder and end with it, there's always been emphasis on human weaknesses and they portray a flawed society - prejudices, racism, corruptibility, all this occurs in early parts of the series. And in 'DH', Voldemort practically rules the Wizarding World, everybody who's not a Death Eater lives in terror, people turn traitor on each other, Muggleborns get robbed of their wands and either go to Azkaban or are forced to beg for their survival and a whole generation of Hogwarts students is abused and tortured by the new regime for a whole year (what Neville tells Harry about life at Hogwarts is like dark!fic…). And then, 19 years later, there's not a fleck of dirt on everyone's happiness? I don't think so. Could we please pretend that the book ended with Harry wanting a sandwich for all his troubles? Pretty please?