Another Deathly Hallows review + more art
I just finished reading Deathly Hallows for the second time, and I guess it was better since I took my time reading it, instead of absorbing it all in like a day. It's too big a book to go through in one sitting and still get the full effect.
And I cried. For, like, everybody. I even cried when Dobby died, and I didn't even really like him. And Snape? Ooh, I lost it. I lost it when he sent his Patronus after the trio. Oh, Snape-a-doodle. I especially cried near the end, when Harry was sure he was facing his death, even though I knew what was going to happen. It was weird.
Even though I liked it better the second time around, I still have some major issues with this book.
Firstly, I had a biiiiiig issue with the fact that the four Houses did not unite, as was intimated by the Sorting Hat when it said, two years in a row, that the Houses would fall if divided. Well um...yeah, about that. The first thing Harry sees when he and Ron and Hermione climb into Hogwarts are the three House flags on the wall of the Room of Requirement. The THREE flags. Slytherin is conspicuously absent, because of course, absolutely none of them are redeemable in JK's eyes. I mean, that scene could have been much better written. Something like this maybe:
Harry noticed that the House flags were all hanging up on the walls: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and even Slytherin.
He turned to Neville in surprise. "Slytherin's helping with the war now?"
"Well, yeah," Neville replied, jerking a thumb towards the corner of the room, where an admittedly small group of Slytherins were sitting, staring at Harry. "They're right gits, 'course, but at least they've finally come round."
Harry recognized a few of the Slytherins. There was Blaise Zabini, looking as though he wasn't sure he should be there, and Millicent Bulstrode, hulking and troll-like. Neville noticed the expression on Harry's face.
"One of them hexed me just yesterday," he said, pointing at his injured face, "but they're all for fighting the Death Eaters, so we let them join the Army."
So, she needn't get rid of the Slytherins' nasty attitudes per se, but I think they needed to be included in the war effort somehow. It just didn't match up.
Secondly, I had a problem with how Draco behaved in this book. It's not the inner defender of the Malfoys speaking here, it's just that...Draco wasn't Draco anymore. He was just this whimpering little thing, whose ass had to be saved by Harry like 3 times in the book. The fact that he almost constantly switched sides really bothered me. In Malfoy Manor, he refused to identify Harry, Ron, or Hermione, even though he clearly recognized them. And during the Final Battle of Hogwarts, Draco was seen pleading with a Death Eater, "It's me, it's Draco, I'm on your side!" I mean, what was that? I thought, after that whole dealio in Half-Blood Prince, that this would bring on Draco's fighting side, that he would finally realize what he really wanted and either fight for Harry or rise up as a Death Eater prodigy or whatever. From the fact that he couldn't kill Dumbledore, I was hoping he would switch to Harry's side. Not go Hopelessly Devoted, you know, but at least break away from Voldemort and go into hiding or something. Grrr.
But then, JK has never liked Draco, said so herself, so what more could we expect, right?
I also had an issue with the introduction of these Deathly Hallows. Er, first of all, they weren't mentioned at all until we were like 400 pages in. And...it just seemed to me like JK threw them in there at the end without ever thinking about them for the other books, and it didn't really seem to fit in right. I agree with Harry: why didn't Dumbledore ever mention them to him? He makes the excuse that he was afraid Harry would want the Hallows for himself, but then he apparently thinks Harry is "incredibly selfless", so why didn't he just take his chances? I can see where the Elder Wand would be important, but the Invisibility Cloak and the Resurrection Stone, not so much. I think the book should be renamed "Harry Potter and the Wand of Elder," or "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow," or maybe even "the Book Where Neville is Unexpectedly Awesome".
And, please refer to this icon:
The one spell Harry knows beats Voldiepoo. You go, Harry. You go.
Don't get me wrong, I pretty much liked the ending with the exception of the Crapilogue. I liked that Harry got to live and everyone glomped him and the portraits in Dumbledore's office all applauded him (because somehow they knew what had happened). In fact, I would have been very happy if the book had ended there, and we had been spared the Crapilogue.
Anyways, the end.
Now, on to other things. A friend of mine is a budding seamstress, and she keeps offering to make me cool costumes, so I took her up on that offer. The other day I designed an Alice in Wonderland costume for her to make. I can think of maybe three events I'd ever wear it to, but whatever I want it!
I'm not finished coloring it and whatnot, it's just this quick thing I threw together. But wouldn't it be cute?
And I cried. For, like, everybody. I even cried when Dobby died, and I didn't even really like him. And Snape? Ooh, I lost it. I lost it when he sent his Patronus after the trio. Oh, Snape-a-doodle. I especially cried near the end, when Harry was sure he was facing his death, even though I knew what was going to happen. It was weird.
Even though I liked it better the second time around, I still have some major issues with this book.
Firstly, I had a biiiiiig issue with the fact that the four Houses did not unite, as was intimated by the Sorting Hat when it said, two years in a row, that the Houses would fall if divided. Well um...yeah, about that. The first thing Harry sees when he and Ron and Hermione climb into Hogwarts are the three House flags on the wall of the Room of Requirement. The THREE flags. Slytherin is conspicuously absent, because of course, absolutely none of them are redeemable in JK's eyes. I mean, that scene could have been much better written. Something like this maybe:
Harry noticed that the House flags were all hanging up on the walls: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and even Slytherin.
He turned to Neville in surprise. "Slytherin's helping with the war now?"
"Well, yeah," Neville replied, jerking a thumb towards the corner of the room, where an admittedly small group of Slytherins were sitting, staring at Harry. "They're right gits, 'course, but at least they've finally come round."
Harry recognized a few of the Slytherins. There was Blaise Zabini, looking as though he wasn't sure he should be there, and Millicent Bulstrode, hulking and troll-like. Neville noticed the expression on Harry's face.
"One of them hexed me just yesterday," he said, pointing at his injured face, "but they're all for fighting the Death Eaters, so we let them join the Army."
So, she needn't get rid of the Slytherins' nasty attitudes per se, but I think they needed to be included in the war effort somehow. It just didn't match up.
Secondly, I had a problem with how Draco behaved in this book. It's not the inner defender of the Malfoys speaking here, it's just that...Draco wasn't Draco anymore. He was just this whimpering little thing, whose ass had to be saved by Harry like 3 times in the book. The fact that he almost constantly switched sides really bothered me. In Malfoy Manor, he refused to identify Harry, Ron, or Hermione, even though he clearly recognized them. And during the Final Battle of Hogwarts, Draco was seen pleading with a Death Eater, "It's me, it's Draco, I'm on your side!" I mean, what was that? I thought, after that whole dealio in Half-Blood Prince, that this would bring on Draco's fighting side, that he would finally realize what he really wanted and either fight for Harry or rise up as a Death Eater prodigy or whatever. From the fact that he couldn't kill Dumbledore, I was hoping he would switch to Harry's side. Not go Hopelessly Devoted, you know, but at least break away from Voldemort and go into hiding or something. Grrr.
But then, JK has never liked Draco, said so herself, so what more could we expect, right?
I also had an issue with the introduction of these Deathly Hallows. Er, first of all, they weren't mentioned at all until we were like 400 pages in. And...it just seemed to me like JK threw them in there at the end without ever thinking about them for the other books, and it didn't really seem to fit in right. I agree with Harry: why didn't Dumbledore ever mention them to him? He makes the excuse that he was afraid Harry would want the Hallows for himself, but then he apparently thinks Harry is "incredibly selfless", so why didn't he just take his chances? I can see where the Elder Wand would be important, but the Invisibility Cloak and the Resurrection Stone, not so much. I think the book should be renamed "Harry Potter and the Wand of Elder," or "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow," or maybe even "the Book Where Neville is Unexpectedly Awesome".
And, please refer to this icon:
The one spell Harry knows beats Voldiepoo. You go, Harry. You go.
Don't get me wrong, I pretty much liked the ending with the exception of the Crapilogue. I liked that Harry got to live and everyone glomped him and the portraits in Dumbledore's office all applauded him (because somehow they knew what had happened). In fact, I would have been very happy if the book had ended there, and we had been spared the Crapilogue.
Anyways, the end.
Now, on to other things. A friend of mine is a budding seamstress, and she keeps offering to make me cool costumes, so I took her up on that offer. The other day I designed an Alice in Wonderland costume for her to make. I can think of maybe three events I'd ever wear it to, but whatever I want it!
I'm not finished coloring it and whatnot, it's just this quick thing I threw together. But wouldn't it be cute?