Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

[Eliseu Gouveia]

SPOILERS AHOY!

So, i´ve FINALLY managed to finish reading this book. Had it sitting on my table for WEEKS and my sister actualy had to renew it at the library when it was about to expire the first time.
What can I say, I LOVED the book.
I never got to read Half Blood Prince but Order of the Phoenix was really depressing (is it me, or everyone had only two states of mind, angsty and emo through the entire book?).

Favorite parts:

- the three running away, jumping from place to place through england and setting camp every other day (I keep seeing Hermione running around the camp setting up protecting spells.
Man, that tent is awesome!

- Hermione´s handbag;
I want one of those too!!

- Bathilda turning out to be nagiri; man, that was one creepy part

- the 7 harrys escapes

- the ministry infiltration operation

- the final Hogwarts battle

- the narcissa flip (J.K. how could you? I have a character named Narkissa!! :P )

- awesome twists - it was right there in front of me and it never ocurred to me that harry was the last horcrux)

I wish...

- some characters had had a more glorious death: instead of getting offed off-pannel (Moody- I thought that eye would turn out for some use at the end-, Tonks, Lupin, Fred)

- she had put Mcgonagal as the new headmistress of Hogwarts (it´s never explained who got the part and Mcgonagal gets like 2 minutes of screen time in the entire book... d´oh!)

- less talk-y at the end, KJ.K needs to start chopping her exposition dialogues in half. More meat, more info, less going around the bushes

- Percy switched less abruptly, she should have eased us into his change of heart. Suddenly, he´s there to defend Hogwarts because he´s a friend of Dumbledore´s brother? Where did that came from?

- I wanted to see more on the reactions of sorcerers across country, upon realizing that Voldemort has come out of hiding and is attacking their children at Hogwarts.
What can I say, I just love to see people uprising....:P

- ... more Cho! I wanted to see more of her...

- ...J.K had explained how Dumbledore defeated his childhood friend in that famout magic duel, considering that the other guy was using the super-duper wand

-... more info on Ron´s gizomo that turned lights on and off.
So, it also allows you to hear your loved ones and directs you there?
Help me out here, need the Info.

-... J.K. had shown more on Hermione´s parents; I spent the entire series wanting to learn more about them, how they reacted to having a witch daughter, etc...

- she had found a solution for the domestic elves, I really hate the fact that there´s slavery (under a more rosey prysm) in the magic world.

- she had found a solution for the goblin/wizard conflicts, osme handshakes et al. As it is, the tense athmosphere of mistrust will just go on...

Didn´t get:

- - I didn´t read Half Blood Prince (Snape was a prince? what was that all about?) so I didn´t know where the "Draco is the real master of the super-duper wand" come from

- Nevile taking the sword out of the talking had when it was probably in the hands of the Grufhook goblin guy, miles away.. (I didn´t get it the first time, when I read Chamber of Secvrets either): so , basicaly, what does the hat do?)

R.A.B., (Sirius´brother). Why was he important to the story again? So many names, can´t keep track...

- the way they got captured (when Harry said the Voldemort name). They were inside the tent and surrounded. Couldn´t they have just Vanished like they´ve been doing til that part?)

Voldemort Avada Kadavras Harry in the wood at the end but because he´s his horcrux, the curse doesn´t kill him? WTF?

Bellatrix is fighting Hermione (who´s the pinnacle of awesomeness, be-all end-all of witchcraft), Ginny AND luna and has stalemated them. Mrs. Weasley comes in and beats her?
She´s a better sorceress than Hermione now?
I don´t think so....

This one´s a nitpick:
Hagrid is caught in a giant spider stampede and next thing you know, he´s in the forrest at the hands of Voldemort´s men? What happened?


Not exactly a fan of:

- Too much "posing as other people", that will add to some awkward moments in the movie, like Hermione in Harry form getting undressed in front of the guys, deep emotional moments where you want to see Radcliff´s face and will instead see some unknown bald middle aged guy crying...

- too much invisibility mantle; I love that thing, but boy, can you say overexposure? (Wolverine taught me that word)

- no flying brooms at the battle of Hogwarts? Damn... I wanted to see quiditch teams wreaking havoc among the Voldemort´s forces, that would have been awesome...

- the folks who got away with not even a slap in the wrist:
Draco, Dudley, Aunt Petunia (the stuff she pulled on Lily and Snape... what a jealous cow!), Uncle Vernon...


---------------------------//--------------------------------

All in all, I really enjoyed the series.
J.K. really put some thought and talent into it and it shows, she built a very rich and unique universe of her own.
Congrats, it was FUN!
Can´t wait for the movie ;)

[L Jamal]

- ...J.K had explained how Dumbledore defeated his childhood friend in that famout magic duel, considering that the other guy was using the super-duper wand
My theory (especially apt since the reveal the Dumbledore is/was gay is that Grindlewald allowed himself to be defeated by Dumbledore. Although, the knowledge that Dumbledore has the Elder wand changes the entire battle between Voldemort and Dumbledore at the end of Order of the Phoenix as Dumbledore knows he can't lose to Voldemort.


- - I didn´t read Half Blood Prince (Snape was a prince? what was that all about?) so I didn´t know where the "Draco is the real master of the super-duper wand" come from
Snape's mother's last name was Prince and he had a Muggle father thus he was a half-blood Prince. Dumbledore allowed Draco to blast the wand out of his hand and thus Draco was the new master of the Elder Wand.


- Nevile taking the sword out of the talking had when it was probably in the hands of the Grufhook goblin guy, miles away.. (I didn´t get it the first time, when I read Chamber of Secvrets either): so , basicaly, what does the hat do?)
The sword can be drawn from the hat when a True Gryffindor needs it. The hat was Gryffindor's hat, so my guess is that it has the ability to summon the sword no matter where the sword is. Consider it a summoning spell with a short cut through the hat.


R.A.B., (Sirius´brother). Why was he important to the story again? So many names, can´t keep track...
RAB was a Death Eater that discovered the secrets of the Horcruxes and with Kreacher's help stole the one in the basin in the cave. This is partially revealed in Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Wallows.

- the way they got captured (when Harry said the Voldemort name). They were inside the tent and surrounded. Couldn´t they have just Vanished like they´ve been doing til that part?)
They were caught off guard and hit with spells before they could react.

Voldemort Avada Kadavras Harry in the wood at the end but because he´s his horcrux, the curse doesn´t kill him? WTF?
The spell essentially destroys a soul. Harry as a Horocrux has a complete soul and partial soul. The spell destroyed the partial soul.


Bellatrix is fighting Hermione (who´s the pinnacle of awesomeness, be-all end-all of witchcraft), Ginny AND luna and has stalemated them. Mrs. Weasley comes in and beats her?
She´s a better sorceress than Hermione now?
I don´t think so....
Hermione has book smarts. Ginny is powerful and Luna is resourceful. Mrs. Weasley, however, has experience, considers herself the protector of her family, and is coming to the defense of her family after losing a child and having several wounded.

- the folks who got away with not even a slap in the wrist:
Draco, Dudley, Aunt Petunia (the stuff she pulled on Lily and Snape... what a jealous cow!), Uncle Vernon...
They all had their lives upturned and went from being the center of their own little universes that revolved about them to being outcasts.

[Eliseu Gouveia]

Hey, Ljamal, thanks for the answers, tehy do clear a lot of the confusion.


I did suspect that there were other factors at play in that Dumbledore duel with his friend from Godric´s Hallows ever since I heard D was gay.
Maybe his friend hesitated in the moment of truth because he didnt want to kill his formerl lover and D took the chance?
Maybe...

I do think Hermione is a top end sorceress but I agree that her battle skills were never depicted as impressibvely as, for instance, Harry´s.

[jedipencil]

Hermione is my most favorite character..... :)

[Eliseu Gouveia]

Here, here!

It actualy goes like this:

1) Hermione
2) Snape
3) Sirius

[L Jamal]

What! Gred and Feorge ruled!

[Fred Duran]

What! Gred and Feorge ruled!

Quoted for truth!

[jedipencil]

What! Gred and Feorge ruled!

I beg to differ. Hermione is the one and only. :)

[Mr.Musgrave]

I always liked Moody best myself. I doubt that's too surprising though.

[Raven]

Hey, Ljamal, thanks for the answers, tehy do clear a lot of the confusion.


I did suspect that there were other factors at play in that Dumbledore duel with his friend from Godric´s Hallows ever since I heard D was gay.
Maybe his friend hesitated in the moment of truth because he didnt want to kill his formerl lover and D took the chance?
Maybe...

I do think Hermione is a top end sorceress but I agree that her battle skills were never depicted as impressibvely as, for instance, Harry´s.

Dumbledore was basically a failure, he was a great wizard, but during a crunch, he let his feelings get in the way.

His fight with Grindlewald is simple. Lover's quarrel, sister gets caught in the act. The next time they meet, Dumbledore has all the free world behind him, no hesitation, he does what he is supposed to do.

But there is no excuse for him not shutting Voldemort down sooner, other than the fact he liked Tom Riddle too much, probably because he reminded him of Grindlewald.

And Snape is my favorite, he's a bad ass MF.

[Nick Kerklaan]

Despite his turning out to be the wizardly equivalent of an emo goth at the end (or maybe even because of that), Snape is probably my favourite character too. Although because I saw the first movie before ever picking up any of the books, he'll always look like Alan Rickman in my head.

As for the series' ending, I think that the whole wand thing makes absolutely no sense no matter how much you try to analyze it, and everything was wrapped up a bit too neatly. None of the REALLY important characters died, good triumphs in the end, Harry loves Dumbledore after all, Snape was always one of the good guys, etc. The last half of the series and the majority of the last book made me think J.K. was setting up for something of a darker ending, at best a bittersweet downer. Instead what I got was "20 years later, everyone is exactly as happy as you wanted them to be." I liked the series, don't get me wrong, but I felt a bit let down by how it ended. Not that it really matters at all of course, since it's J.K. Rowling's story, but that's how I felt, anyway.

EDIT: And by "none of the really important characters died", I mean, the ones left by the time this book starts. Yes, maybe Snape counts, but I really think at least ONE of the main three kids biting it would have made for a substantially more resonant ending.

[L Jamal]

It's a series for children. Despite how dark it got once Voldemort returned, it wasn't going to end dark.

[Nick Kerklaan]

Well it kind of transcended being a "series for children" by around book four or so. I guess the way the series ended is what she had in mind from the beginning, but I do think her younger readers could have handled a (relatively) darker ending. They stuck with her that far, after all.

[L Jamal]

So you expected her to change the series because adults started reading and enjoying the books? That's silly, you don't change a working formula.

[Scott James]

None of the important characters die?

The final book is like a slaughterhouse when you consider that the series's key demographic is pre-pubescent children.

Of the heroes, Moody, Lupin, Fred, Snape, Tonks, Dobby, and Colin Creevy are among those who die horrible deaths. In fact, The Order of The Phoenix is down to its bare bones by the conclusion.

Several of the main characters survive but at a great cost. Good triumphs over evil but it is a Pyrrhic victory.

[Eliseu Gouveia]

You forgot to mention Hedwig. :)

I have no prob with characters like Moody (God, he was awesome!) dyiog, but at least give him a glorious death instead of offing him off panel

Same for Lupin and Tonks, we don´t even know how they bought it...

[jedipencil]

None of the important characters die?

The final book is like a slaughterhouse when you consider that the series's key demographic is pre-pubescent children.

Of the heroes, Moody, Lupin, Fred, Snape, Tonks, Dobby, and Colin Creevy are among those who die horrible deaths. In fact, The Order of The Phoenix is down to its bare bones by the conclusion.

Several of the main characters survive but at a great cost. Good triumphs over evil but it is a Pyrrhic victory.

I actually agree just a bit with this point...though the last book is the only book I read from the series, and is the only book my son didn't read. (why I don't know) While I liked the book, I had in mind that it was written for...pre-teens / teens?...it is pretty dark overall. Absolutely nothing at all to complain about, just to say it is most definitely not a bubble gum book. I actually liked very much the way the book ended, particularly the Harry part, but I've read adult books that are no where near so esoteric....got to hand it to kids for reading books like this. Gets them really ready for Tolkein and many others...

Just my point of view.

[Eliseu Gouveia]

Never underestimate pree-teen literature, kids these days are reading stuff that would make some adults blush.

[Nick Kerklaan]

So you expected her to change the series because adults started reading and enjoying the books? That's silly, you don't change a working formula.

Sorry, I wasn't being very clear. I didn't mean that I think she should have changed what she had in mind for the series. I had just thought, from the way the series progressed from book four onward up until the end, that she might've had a darker series in mind. All I'm saying is the way the series ended made me realize it wasn't quite the series I would have liked it to be. Not saying she should have done anything other than what she did.

None of the important characters die?

The final book is like a slaughterhouse when you consider that the series's key demographic is pre-pubescent children.

Of the heroes, Moody, Lupin, Fred, Snape, Tonks, Dobby, and Colin Creevy are among those who die horrible deaths. In fact, The Order of The Phoenix is down to its bare bones by the conclusion.

Several of the main characters survive but at a great cost. Good triumphs over evil but it is a Pyrrhic victory.

Hm. Maybe you're right. Those were all fairly important characters in their own way, some of whom I grew to like a lot over the series. But I guess it feels like, despite the high body count, she played it safe in not offing any of the main three characters - Harry, Hermione, or Ron - the ones we really got to know. I guess you could make a case for Snape or Dumbledore falling into that category, but in Snape's case at least it seems like we only really got the full picture of who he was after his death.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, for me at least, the death of, say, Ron, would have had more emotional resonance than half the deaths that did occur put together. Sheer volume doesn't necesarily count for everything.

But I dunno. I'm starting to think maybe the last book had a darker ending overall than I first thought. But I still think it wrapped itself up a bit too neatly.

[L Jamal]

But I still think it wrapped itself up a bit too neatly.
I think that was the point Otherwise fans would need more stories. You were given a neat and tidy ending with an epilogue and there is to be no more (in theory).
Although, I think the series wrapped up the current generation nice and neat, it left lots of open ends in the past.

[Nick Kerklaan]

Yeah, that's true. I'm not a big fan of prequels, but there's some interesting stuff in the Harry Potter world's history that could be mined.

[Kevin Lee]

A cracking read, but Harry should have died, no doubt about it for me.

[Raven]

I think that was the point Otherwise fans would need more stories. You were given a neat and tidy ending with an epilogue and there is to be no more (in theory).
Although, I think the series wrapped up the current generation nice and neat, it left lots of open ends in the past.

I've thought of a Tales of the Death Eaters thing myself.

[L Jamal]

I've thought of a Tales of the Death Eaters thing myself.
If HP is ever licensed as a comic book, there are millions of little gold veins to mine. Dark Horse would be a great place for such a continuation.

[Aaron Wilder]

I've thought of a Tales of the Death Eaters thing myself.

I'd want to see an anthology book of Hogwart's stories written by other authors who are Potter fans, like Stephen King. The stories would be about things that happened in the school but didn't involve Harry and the gang. I'm sure that Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff and Slytherin all had stories that people never really got to see with all the focus being on Griffindor.

[Raven]

If HP is ever licensed as a comic book, there are millions of little gold veins to mine. Dark Horse would be a great place for such a continuation.

HP is owned by Warner Bros who paid for exclusive rights, the fact that they don't have DC doing something is a little dumb.

[L Jamal]

Warner Brothers is limited by Rowlings by what they can do.
If they ever do a comic, there's no reason that they would give the rights to DC.

[Raven]

Warner Brothers is limited by Rowlings by what they can do.
If they ever do a comic, there's no reason that they would give the rights to DC.
True.

Not that any company in the business could afford to license Harry Potter. :)

[jedipencil]

I'd want to see an anthology book of Hogwart's stories written by other authors who are Potter fans, like Stephen King. The stories would be about things that happened in the school but didn't involve Harry and the gang. I'm sure that Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff and Slytherin all had stories that people never really got to see with all the focus being on Griffindor.

Stephen King at Hogwarts?? Why not put Mr King on Coruscant then, too.....find out what really happens on the bad side of town.....

[L Jamal]

True.
Not that any company in the business could afford to license Harry Potter. :)

Anyone that landed the Potter license could easily get a loan and/or investors to recoup a license fee, no matter how large.

I'd imagine that we are about 10-20 years away from seeing a comic based on Harry Potter. When the license cools off, then you will see a comic that explores the Harry Potter universe. If Rowlings was smart, she'd approach and HP comic like Lucas does Star Wars. The books would be canon and everything else is just Expanded Universe and may or may not be canon as she decides.

[T.J. May]

Although, I think the series wrapped up the current generation nice and neat, it left lots of open ends in the past.

And future with Harry, et al's, kids.

[Kevin Lee]

It's very much a Hollywood ending. The only characters that really truly matter, live happily ever after. That for me, is a sell out.