Well, It's Over...
...And I'm not quite sure how I feel. >_>
This is probably going to be disjointed, but I want to write something while it's still fresh in my mind. So, my thoughts on Deathly Hallows.
First off...the death toll:
Charity Burbage (Muggle Studies teacher) - Kinda on par with the death of the gardener in GoF...Makes you wince, and worry for the established cast.
Hedwig - *Sob* That just...I love my pets very much, so this one hit me kinda hard.
Mad-Eye Moody - Wow...Mad-Eye always seemed kinda indestructible, y'know? Plus, I always liked him. =(
Scrimgeour - Only really cared 'cause of what it meant; the Ministry had finally fallen.
Ted Tonks - We never really knew him, but he's family of an established cast member. So, that's close enough.
Pettigrew - Finally. Little rat (no pun intended) deserved to die.
Dobby - This one's up there with Hedwig; I never saw it coming. So sad! And Harry...digging the grave by hand, and making that marker. ;_;
Grindelwald - I assumed he was dead before I started this book, so I can't say I really cared.
Collin Creevey - This one really surprised me...I was never a fan of Collin, but still. =(
Crabbe - Psh. Good.
Fred Weasley - I was really upset about this one; I've loved the Weasley twins from book one. How could she separate them? And George wasn't there when Fred died...So sad! ;_;
Remus Lupin - Kinda mixed about this one, actually. I love Lupin, so I was sad, but at the same time...I was kind of pissed at his and Tonks's characterization in this and the previous book, so I actually wasn't as upset as I would normally have been.
Nymphadora Tonks - Same as with Lupin. =P
Severus Snape - Um. Well. See below for my thoughts on Snape, and his allegiance.
Nagini - More interested in how she died; Neville kicked ass in that scene! =D
Bellatrix Lestrange - Very glad...but then, I've hated her since she killed Sirius way back in book five. I'd kind of liked to see Neville finish her off, but Molly Weasley was awesome! =D
Voldemort - We knew he'd die, so no surprise here.
And as for some of the revelations, well...Snape loved Lily, and he was on Dumbledore's side all along. Hmm. >_> I don't know, that just...doesn't sit real well with me just now. Possibly 'cause it's cliche, and slightly cheesy. Plus...this just kind of feels like that obnoxious trend of "Oh, he's not evil, he's just misunderstood!" I know that's not what she wrote...but it still kinda feels that way. We're made to hate Snape all through the series...then, all of a sudden, right at the end, he's suddenly a decent human being? WTF? I'll get used to it, I'm sure; I'll probably react better on my next read-through of the series. But now...it just felt off.
It was kind of neat getting to see more about Dumbledore's past, though. It's interesting to see...he's not perfect, and he made mistakes, but he was still a good person, overall. ^^ Also, Harry is a Horcrux. Not horribly surprising.
And seeing him go in to the forest, willing to sacrifice himself...so accepting of death...Just, wow. Plus seeing his family (including Sirius and Lupin) as he entered...So sweet! Asking his mom to stay close, asking if it hurt to die...Aww~!
I kind of missed Hogwarts in this one, though it certainly makes sense that the trio wouldn't be at school. Though the final battle was, which made me happy, 'cause it brought in the teachers and other students. McGonagall rocked, as usual. Professor Sprout and Neville, chucking magical plants at them! And Trelawney! Dropping crystal balls on them! XD That was just awesome. And Kreacher's extreme turn-around was kind of surprising. Plus, him leading the house-elves into battle? Awesome! =D
And yay for Percy finally coming to his senses. <3 It made me feel better to see them make up. Plus Molly kicked some ass there, with Bellatrix! Though, it would have been nice if Rowling'd let Neville kill her. Still...Good stuff. Also, Neville~! He's really come into his own in the last couple of books, and it really shows in this one. <3 Plus, him killing Nagini, with Gryffindor's sword? Priceless!
And pairings. I'm sorry, but I just do. not. like. Remus/Tonks. If she'd handled it right, I'd have been fine with it. But she bombed. They're barely dating at the very end of HBP, they're freaking married before the start of DH, and Tonks is pregnant shortly thereafter? With no elaboration of any sort? Fail. =P
Plus, again, Tonks. got. pregnant. Urgh! One of the perils of liking female characters, unfortunately, is that too many authors feel the need to ruin them by sticking them with children. Again, urgh! And Lupin! While I fully agreed at first when he was obviously upset about this, I got annoyed again when I saw his reasoning. No worries of how utterly irresponsible it was, considering Voldemort and everything. No regrets that they rushed into it, or anything similar. No, just whining about being a werewolf. I realize that's certainly reason to worry, but somehow it just came across as self-pitying and whiny. Bleh...I like Lupin and Tonks...I don't like getting this aggravated at characters I like.
I think we all knew that Harry/Ginny and Ron/Hermione would be happening. Can't say I complain, either. I've been a fan of Ron/Hermione for a long time now. And I like Harry/Ginny well enough, I suppose.
Though I could really do without the stupid epilogue. I don't know...for some reason those 'X years later, and here's everyone with spouse and 2.5 children!' type things just piss me off. =P Though, 'Professor Longbottom' made me smile. Neville as the Herbology professor...that's just right. =) And seeing Draco acknowledge Harry was nice. Still, frankly, I'd rather have seen some kind of 'aftermath' type epilogue, rather than this cloying crap. =P
That's it for now. ^^;;
This is probably going to be disjointed, but I want to write something while it's still fresh in my mind. So, my thoughts on Deathly Hallows.
First off...the death toll:
Charity Burbage (Muggle Studies teacher) - Kinda on par with the death of the gardener in GoF...Makes you wince, and worry for the established cast.
Hedwig - *Sob* That just...I love my pets very much, so this one hit me kinda hard.
Mad-Eye Moody - Wow...Mad-Eye always seemed kinda indestructible, y'know? Plus, I always liked him. =(
Scrimgeour - Only really cared 'cause of what it meant; the Ministry had finally fallen.
Ted Tonks - We never really knew him, but he's family of an established cast member. So, that's close enough.
Pettigrew - Finally. Little rat (no pun intended) deserved to die.
Dobby - This one's up there with Hedwig; I never saw it coming. So sad! And Harry...digging the grave by hand, and making that marker. ;_;
Grindelwald - I assumed he was dead before I started this book, so I can't say I really cared.
Collin Creevey - This one really surprised me...I was never a fan of Collin, but still. =(
Crabbe - Psh. Good.
Fred Weasley - I was really upset about this one; I've loved the Weasley twins from book one. How could she separate them? And George wasn't there when Fred died...So sad! ;_;
Remus Lupin - Kinda mixed about this one, actually. I love Lupin, so I was sad, but at the same time...I was kind of pissed at his and Tonks's characterization in this and the previous book, so I actually wasn't as upset as I would normally have been.
Nymphadora Tonks - Same as with Lupin. =P
Severus Snape - Um. Well. See below for my thoughts on Snape, and his allegiance.
Nagini - More interested in how she died; Neville kicked ass in that scene! =D
Bellatrix Lestrange - Very glad...but then, I've hated her since she killed Sirius way back in book five. I'd kind of liked to see Neville finish her off, but Molly Weasley was awesome! =D
Voldemort - We knew he'd die, so no surprise here.
And as for some of the revelations, well...Snape loved Lily, and he was on Dumbledore's side all along. Hmm. >_> I don't know, that just...doesn't sit real well with me just now. Possibly 'cause it's cliche, and slightly cheesy. Plus...this just kind of feels like that obnoxious trend of "Oh, he's not evil, he's just misunderstood!" I know that's not what she wrote...but it still kinda feels that way. We're made to hate Snape all through the series...then, all of a sudden, right at the end, he's suddenly a decent human being? WTF? I'll get used to it, I'm sure; I'll probably react better on my next read-through of the series. But now...it just felt off.
It was kind of neat getting to see more about Dumbledore's past, though. It's interesting to see...he's not perfect, and he made mistakes, but he was still a good person, overall. ^^ Also, Harry is a Horcrux. Not horribly surprising.
And seeing him go in to the forest, willing to sacrifice himself...so accepting of death...Just, wow. Plus seeing his family (including Sirius and Lupin) as he entered...So sweet! Asking his mom to stay close, asking if it hurt to die...Aww~!
I kind of missed Hogwarts in this one, though it certainly makes sense that the trio wouldn't be at school. Though the final battle was, which made me happy, 'cause it brought in the teachers and other students. McGonagall rocked, as usual. Professor Sprout and Neville, chucking magical plants at them! And Trelawney! Dropping crystal balls on them! XD That was just awesome. And Kreacher's extreme turn-around was kind of surprising. Plus, him leading the house-elves into battle? Awesome! =D
And yay for Percy finally coming to his senses. <3 It made me feel better to see them make up. Plus Molly kicked some ass there, with Bellatrix! Though, it would have been nice if Rowling'd let Neville kill her. Still...Good stuff. Also, Neville~! He's really come into his own in the last couple of books, and it really shows in this one. <3 Plus, him killing Nagini, with Gryffindor's sword? Priceless!
And pairings. I'm sorry, but I just do. not. like. Remus/Tonks. If she'd handled it right, I'd have been fine with it. But she bombed. They're barely dating at the very end of HBP, they're freaking married before the start of DH, and Tonks is pregnant shortly thereafter? With no elaboration of any sort? Fail. =P
Plus, again, Tonks. got. pregnant. Urgh! One of the perils of liking female characters, unfortunately, is that too many authors feel the need to ruin them by sticking them with children. Again, urgh! And Lupin! While I fully agreed at first when he was obviously upset about this, I got annoyed again when I saw his reasoning. No worries of how utterly irresponsible it was, considering Voldemort and everything. No regrets that they rushed into it, or anything similar. No, just whining about being a werewolf. I realize that's certainly reason to worry, but somehow it just came across as self-pitying and whiny. Bleh...I like Lupin and Tonks...I don't like getting this aggravated at characters I like.
I think we all knew that Harry/Ginny and Ron/Hermione would be happening. Can't say I complain, either. I've been a fan of Ron/Hermione for a long time now. And I like Harry/Ginny well enough, I suppose.
Though I could really do without the stupid epilogue. I don't know...for some reason those 'X years later, and here's everyone with spouse and 2.5 children!' type things just piss me off. =P Though, 'Professor Longbottom' made me smile. Neville as the Herbology professor...that's just right. =) And seeing Draco acknowledge Harry was nice. Still, frankly, I'd rather have seen some kind of 'aftermath' type epilogue, rather than this cloying crap. =P
That's it for now. ^^;;