Harry Potter 7 Thoughts (Spoilers!)
I finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows a few days ago, so I thought I'd take a few minutes to follow the herd and share some of my impressions. (Kim and I were lucky to get a copy so soon: we're waiting to buy it until the paperback, but the library was able to get us a copy on Sunday.) My general reaction to the book (and to the series) was positive: it was fun, and the final installment came together much better than I feared it would. I think that it will actually be easiest to organize my more detailed impressions by character; I'll put that behind a cut.
VoldemortI found it interesting that out of the eight pieces of Voldemort out there, he himself killed more than anyone else: Diary (Harry), Ring (Dumbledore), Locket (Ron), Cup (Hermione), Diadem (Crabbe!), Snake (Neville), Harry (Voldemort), and Voldemort himself (Voldemort again: Harry didn't cast a killing curse!). It was also interesting that the link between Harry's mind and his seemed to act entirely in Harry's favor in this book. On another note, did anyone else think that there were mile-wide plot holes around the Hogwarts Horcrux? First, Voldemort apparently thought that nobody else could ever find the Room of Requirement despite it being filled to bursting with other peoples' junk. And second, he'd already discovered that Harry was tracking and destroying Horcruxes, so when he was notified that Harry was at Hogwarts, why didn't he go straight there?
HarryOne of the disappointments of this book was the return of Whining Harry from Book 5; I was so grateful to be rid of him in Book 6. Still, it didn't sink to Book 5 levels, and a reasonable amount of Harry's maturity from Book 6 was still around, too. I found it interesting that in both this book and the last one, Harry's instincts have proven to be dead on most of the time (unlike earlier books, in which his instincts were generally wrong). It might have been nice if there had been a bit more of a basis for them, though: his success this time felt a bit like dumb luck. As for his actions during the book, I think they were reasonable; the lengthy wandering around did drag on at times, but I didn't think it did so beyond what was necessary to contribute to the story. It was also interesting how nonchalant he became about unforgivable curses by the end of the book (though not Avada Kedavra).
RonRon actually got to feel a bit like Harry always feels, both the good and the bad. He reacted about the same way, too: generally not great (and sometimes just plain irritating). But it was great to see him come back and save the day, and pretty cool that he thought of getting basilisk fangs from the Chamber of Secrets (and that he was able to remember Harry's Parseltongue).
HermioneA loyal and useful friend in this book, as always. But also a bit nagging (again as always), which got irritating at times. Considering all the time she was on screen, I really didn't feel like she did much as a character. I guess she accomplished a fair bit near the start: she's the one who was prepared to get them to safety after the attack on the wedding. But in the end, she mostly just got to give Ron a big kiss (and eventually, kids). The kiss moment was pretty well done, at least.
GinnyTotally underused in this book. At least for the first part of the year we got the impression that she was fighting the good fight at Hogwarts (trying to steal the sword, etc.), but by the end she was doing absolutely nothing. In Books 5 and 6 she was growing into a strong and interesting character, so it was really disappointing to see her do basically nothing here. (We didn't even get a final romantic scene with her: even that minimal role got mostly cut.)
NevilleTotally awesome. It's possible that when Voldemort tried to decide which baby to kill to avoid the prophecy, he actually made the right choice. Neville was clearly dong great things at Hogwarts all year, and seeing him pull the sword of Gryffendor out of the sorting hat (just like Harry! Take that goblins, with your stupid shrinkwrap license agreements!) and kill Nagini was a fantastic moment.
LunaNot enough of her in this book, but seeing her "Friends" paintings brought a tear to my eye.
DumbledoreHarry's reaction to Dumbledore being less that angelically perfect was an unfortunate echo of the worst elements of Book 5. I thought he'd outgrown that kind of immaturity in Book 6. It's actually pretty horrifying that he'd been setting Harry up to die since long before Book 1. At least we can now surmise that the "gleam of triumph" in his eye when he heard that Voldemort had used Harry's blood to revive himself was because he guessed that Harry might actually be able to live. That's awfully good of you, Albus; almost makes up for fattening Harry for the slaughter the whole time. (The other bits of Dumbledore's "dark past" that showed up were too piddling to worry about. Unless you're Whining Harry.) On another note, I found it a bit much to think that Dumbledore had been loitering around Deathville for a year waiting for Harry to show up.
SnapeI so totally nailed Snape's role in this book. :) During a pause about halfway through the book, I even guessed that the silver doe had been Snape's Patronus (modeled after Lily's). [Did anyone else wonder why it was that Dumbledore was surprised to see the form of Snape's Patronus? I thought the Order routinely used them to communicate.] Having said that, I was quite surprised by the non-event that was Snape's death. I totally expected him to die in some sort of life-saving blaze of glory, not just get eaten by a snake. I was also surprised at just how thoroughly he was redeemed at the end: not only was Dumbledore already dying (which I think was good to include), but Snape wasn't even aiming at George when he cut off his ear (this seems pointless: are we supposed to conclude that Snape never even hurt anyone after he turned good?).
Fred and GeorgeWith so many Weasleys, it would have been implausible for them all to have lived. (Even losing only one seemed like very good luck.) So it makes sense that Rowling would make sure that when she killed one off, she had a spare. Yes, it's sad, but we still finished the series with almost a whole twin left. (It couldn't have been Percy: too predictable for him to die redeeming himself, and not tragic enough.)
DobbyI had completely forgotten about Dobby, so it was really cool to have him appear out of nowhere to rescue Harry's friends. Needless to say, I was totally unprepared for his death; I emitted an audible whimper at that.
WormtailWhat an underwhelming payoff for Harry's mercy in Book 3.
DracoStill seemed reluctant, but not reluctant enough to break with Voldemort even after Harry saved his life. And, "Scorpius"? Ick. (His mom letting Harry live was a nice touch, though.)
Lupin and TonksHarry smacking down Lupin and sending him back to his family was good. Nobody smacking down Tonks and sending her back to her son was bad. I had really guessed (or at least hoped) that Lupin would survive, so that Harry would be left with at least one of his parents' close friends in his life. I guess not. (As for the series overall, I liked both of these characters quite a bit. I'm sorry that we didn't see more of Tonks than we did along the way.)
Molly WeasleyKicks butt.
Hogwarts teachersFinally get a chance to shine.
Deathly HallowsSo, what are the odds that Harry's survival at the end wasn't actually from secondhand Horcrux protection as Dumbledore thought, but rather due to his rightful ownership of all three Deathly Hallows at that moment? On another note, I found it a bit irritating that Harry's final victory wasn't due to Harry's skill, nor even just due to random luck, but due to random luck combined with an obscure technicality of wand ownership.
The EpilogueYes, it was fluff, both in style and content. No, it didn't answer most of the questions that people really wanted to know. (Except for emphatically settling the interminable "Who ends up with whom?" debates.) But I didn't think it was as terrible as some people seemed to; the reaction to it was surprisingly nasty in some quarters. Which leads me to...
"Snarry" fans and friendsI'm not much of a fanfic person, but I don't really have any problem with people who are (even the whole slash community). But I've actually seen some people who expressed disappointment and seemingly even surprise that the main characters ended up in traditional, heterosexual relationships. The only thing that can sometimes bug me about fanfic is when people lose track of which bits are actually in the story and which bits they made up themselves.
Hmm. I see that I'm still incapable of expressing myself at all succinctly. (I do better after about four rounds of editing.) But I figured I'd share all those thoughts once and for all, rather than commenting repeatedly and at length on everyone else's Potter posts.
VoldemortI found it interesting that out of the eight pieces of Voldemort out there, he himself killed more than anyone else: Diary (Harry), Ring (Dumbledore), Locket (Ron), Cup (Hermione), Diadem (Crabbe!), Snake (Neville), Harry (Voldemort), and Voldemort himself (Voldemort again: Harry didn't cast a killing curse!). It was also interesting that the link between Harry's mind and his seemed to act entirely in Harry's favor in this book. On another note, did anyone else think that there were mile-wide plot holes around the Hogwarts Horcrux? First, Voldemort apparently thought that nobody else could ever find the Room of Requirement despite it being filled to bursting with other peoples' junk. And second, he'd already discovered that Harry was tracking and destroying Horcruxes, so when he was notified that Harry was at Hogwarts, why didn't he go straight there?
HarryOne of the disappointments of this book was the return of Whining Harry from Book 5; I was so grateful to be rid of him in Book 6. Still, it didn't sink to Book 5 levels, and a reasonable amount of Harry's maturity from Book 6 was still around, too. I found it interesting that in both this book and the last one, Harry's instincts have proven to be dead on most of the time (unlike earlier books, in which his instincts were generally wrong). It might have been nice if there had been a bit more of a basis for them, though: his success this time felt a bit like dumb luck. As for his actions during the book, I think they were reasonable; the lengthy wandering around did drag on at times, but I didn't think it did so beyond what was necessary to contribute to the story. It was also interesting how nonchalant he became about unforgivable curses by the end of the book (though not Avada Kedavra).
RonRon actually got to feel a bit like Harry always feels, both the good and the bad. He reacted about the same way, too: generally not great (and sometimes just plain irritating). But it was great to see him come back and save the day, and pretty cool that he thought of getting basilisk fangs from the Chamber of Secrets (and that he was able to remember Harry's Parseltongue).
HermioneA loyal and useful friend in this book, as always. But also a bit nagging (again as always), which got irritating at times. Considering all the time she was on screen, I really didn't feel like she did much as a character. I guess she accomplished a fair bit near the start: she's the one who was prepared to get them to safety after the attack on the wedding. But in the end, she mostly just got to give Ron a big kiss (and eventually, kids). The kiss moment was pretty well done, at least.
GinnyTotally underused in this book. At least for the first part of the year we got the impression that she was fighting the good fight at Hogwarts (trying to steal the sword, etc.), but by the end she was doing absolutely nothing. In Books 5 and 6 she was growing into a strong and interesting character, so it was really disappointing to see her do basically nothing here. (We didn't even get a final romantic scene with her: even that minimal role got mostly cut.)
NevilleTotally awesome. It's possible that when Voldemort tried to decide which baby to kill to avoid the prophecy, he actually made the right choice. Neville was clearly dong great things at Hogwarts all year, and seeing him pull the sword of Gryffendor out of the sorting hat (just like Harry! Take that goblins, with your stupid shrinkwrap license agreements!) and kill Nagini was a fantastic moment.
LunaNot enough of her in this book, but seeing her "Friends" paintings brought a tear to my eye.
DumbledoreHarry's reaction to Dumbledore being less that angelically perfect was an unfortunate echo of the worst elements of Book 5. I thought he'd outgrown that kind of immaturity in Book 6. It's actually pretty horrifying that he'd been setting Harry up to die since long before Book 1. At least we can now surmise that the "gleam of triumph" in his eye when he heard that Voldemort had used Harry's blood to revive himself was because he guessed that Harry might actually be able to live. That's awfully good of you, Albus; almost makes up for fattening Harry for the slaughter the whole time. (The other bits of Dumbledore's "dark past" that showed up were too piddling to worry about. Unless you're Whining Harry.) On another note, I found it a bit much to think that Dumbledore had been loitering around Deathville for a year waiting for Harry to show up.
SnapeI so totally nailed Snape's role in this book. :) During a pause about halfway through the book, I even guessed that the silver doe had been Snape's Patronus (modeled after Lily's). [Did anyone else wonder why it was that Dumbledore was surprised to see the form of Snape's Patronus? I thought the Order routinely used them to communicate.] Having said that, I was quite surprised by the non-event that was Snape's death. I totally expected him to die in some sort of life-saving blaze of glory, not just get eaten by a snake. I was also surprised at just how thoroughly he was redeemed at the end: not only was Dumbledore already dying (which I think was good to include), but Snape wasn't even aiming at George when he cut off his ear (this seems pointless: are we supposed to conclude that Snape never even hurt anyone after he turned good?).
Fred and GeorgeWith so many Weasleys, it would have been implausible for them all to have lived. (Even losing only one seemed like very good luck.) So it makes sense that Rowling would make sure that when she killed one off, she had a spare. Yes, it's sad, but we still finished the series with almost a whole twin left. (It couldn't have been Percy: too predictable for him to die redeeming himself, and not tragic enough.)
DobbyI had completely forgotten about Dobby, so it was really cool to have him appear out of nowhere to rescue Harry's friends. Needless to say, I was totally unprepared for his death; I emitted an audible whimper at that.
WormtailWhat an underwhelming payoff for Harry's mercy in Book 3.
DracoStill seemed reluctant, but not reluctant enough to break with Voldemort even after Harry saved his life. And, "Scorpius"? Ick. (His mom letting Harry live was a nice touch, though.)
Lupin and TonksHarry smacking down Lupin and sending him back to his family was good. Nobody smacking down Tonks and sending her back to her son was bad. I had really guessed (or at least hoped) that Lupin would survive, so that Harry would be left with at least one of his parents' close friends in his life. I guess not. (As for the series overall, I liked both of these characters quite a bit. I'm sorry that we didn't see more of Tonks than we did along the way.)
Molly WeasleyKicks butt.
Hogwarts teachersFinally get a chance to shine.
Deathly HallowsSo, what are the odds that Harry's survival at the end wasn't actually from secondhand Horcrux protection as Dumbledore thought, but rather due to his rightful ownership of all three Deathly Hallows at that moment? On another note, I found it a bit irritating that Harry's final victory wasn't due to Harry's skill, nor even just due to random luck, but due to random luck combined with an obscure technicality of wand ownership.
The EpilogueYes, it was fluff, both in style and content. No, it didn't answer most of the questions that people really wanted to know. (Except for emphatically settling the interminable "Who ends up with whom?" debates.) But I didn't think it was as terrible as some people seemed to; the reaction to it was surprisingly nasty in some quarters. Which leads me to...
"Snarry" fans and friendsI'm not much of a fanfic person, but I don't really have any problem with people who are (even the whole slash community). But I've actually seen some people who expressed disappointment and seemingly even surprise that the main characters ended up in traditional, heterosexual relationships. The only thing that can sometimes bug me about fanfic is when people lose track of which bits are actually in the story and which bits they made up themselves.
Hmm. I see that I'm still incapable of expressing myself at all succinctly. (I do better after about four rounds of editing.) But I figured I'd share all those thoughts once and for all, rather than commenting repeatedly and at length on everyone else's Potter posts.