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Finished Deathly Hallows a few days ago. Haven't read anyone else's comments yet. Haven't really been feeling well. But I do have a few random thoughts that I wanted to jot down somewhere.
1. Harry & co. spend months wandering around the countryside accomplishing nothing. Searching but not finding. Constantly on the run without help and support. Why? Because they're idiots.
They spend half the time complaining about how they can't do the job because Dumbledore kept too many secrets, didn't give them enough to go on, etc. They spend the other half of their time running into people who could help them but turning them away because... Dumbledore told them to keep their mission a secret.
2. The name. Call him Tom, for Pete's sake! People are afraid of the name Voldemort, and that's exactly the reason he chose it. But that's not his name. His name is Tom. Much less scary than Voldemort. Helps make people less scared of him, as opposed to whispering "You-Know-Who" all the time. That takes power from him. And try casting a "Taboo" on the name "Tom"!
3. Ha! Snape was working with Dumbledore! I knew he'd been the evil red herring a few too many times (like in every single book), and Dumbledore's trust in him last book was too certain for it to be otherwise.
4. But Dumbledore is actually dead. That kind of surprised me. But it makes sense. I like the story behind it, and the reasons for it.
5. Dumbledore isn't perfect! He had some bad ideas as a kid. He made some mistakes as an adult. And he admires Harry for being better and truer. I like it. Still a powerful awe-inspiring force for good... but with some human flaws.
6. Paraphrasing Tom: "Listen, I'm the Dark Lord. You're just a kid. But you think you know something I don't that will save you? It's not that 'love' crap again, is it?" I love it! Take that, stupid trite cliche!
7. The scene where he activates the ring/stone. I actually cried. That was beautiful.
8. And then he goes on and... Willingly dies for everyone, comes back to life, and, through his loving sacrifice, has cast a powerful protective charm over all the good people of the world. That sounds like a familiar story...
9. Expelliramus wins the day. His first combat spell. His "signature" spell (not so sure I like that bit). The one he used to save himself from Tom the first time they met. And it comes full circle and beats him in their last duel. Not because it's a powerful spell, but because the Elder Wand truly belongs to him.
10. He has the power to unite the Hallows. The thing everyone's been aiming to do for centuries. The title of the book. And he leaves them scattered. And finds a way to maybe take the deadly wand's power. I like it.
11. The epilog. I like the idea. It was a bit overdone in some ways. Keeping the names of people hidden for no reason beyond a bit of cheap dramatic tension. But it was cool to see what people were up to. And I like most of the fates. Except that Harry, as godfather, should perhaps have been the one to take the kid in. But I suppose he was too young, and I'm glad he went to a good home. Was fun seeing it all start again for the next generation. Only this time without the looming evil. Just wish we'd learned a bit more. A lot of people whose fates went unmentioned.
And who's the new headmaster? I guess we can imagine whomever we want, but it would have been nice to have an official name. And to know what Harry, Ron, and the others do for a living. Maybe they're all aurors or something? (Working under Percy, I guess, who seems to be high up in the ministry, possibly the minister himself.) It's clear that Neville is the only one who went back to teach, which is a shame. Tom's death should have broken the curse on the position of Defense Against The Dark Arts. Would have been nice to see Harry teaching that (despite having been through more than his share of it, partially because of that). And Hermione taking over McGonagall's position, with Minerva herself stepping up to be headmistress. And then something for Ron and Ginny, probably outside the school (can't have everyone going back), but which makes use of their talents and personality. Oh well. I guess that's what fic is for. Except that L&C is the only fic I read, and I hardly even read that anymore.
12. She made a point of house elf liberation and goblin equality and all that stuff, and then dropped the whole thread. Not even a mention in the epilog of a non-human that I can recall.
All in all, a really good read. Some mistakes, but good flow. It's writing that pulls you in. A little long. A little repetitive ("We're on the run! Oh no, we've been captured! We escaped! We're on the run!"), but very good. And it ties a lot of things together. Things that you can see were there from the beginning.
Good job, JKR. Thanks for the engrossing and entertaining read. I needed it.
1. Harry & co. spend months wandering around the countryside accomplishing nothing. Searching but not finding. Constantly on the run without help and support. Why? Because they're idiots.
They spend half the time complaining about how they can't do the job because Dumbledore kept too many secrets, didn't give them enough to go on, etc. They spend the other half of their time running into people who could help them but turning them away because... Dumbledore told them to keep their mission a secret.
Okay, everyone, here's the deal:VoldYou-KnTom cast a very powerful protective charm on himself. Never mind the details. It should come as no surprise that it involves darker magic than any of us want to really think about. The important thing is that it's anchored in six key objects. We don't know exactly what they are or where they are, but they're going to be objects of significance and they're going to be hidden in places that Tom thinks are important and secure.
Of course, the objects themselves have been given some powerful protections of their own, so they're going to be very hard to destroy. But we have to find and destroy them all. It's the only way we'll have a chance of beating him.
Be careful of whom you tell and how many people you tell. If Tom finds out we're looking for these objects, it's going to make everything a lot harder.
Now, here's what we know so far. The snake is one of them...
2. The name. Call him Tom, for Pete's sake! People are afraid of the name Voldemort, and that's exactly the reason he chose it. But that's not his name. His name is Tom. Much less scary than Voldemort. Helps make people less scared of him, as opposed to whispering "You-Know-Who" all the time. That takes power from him. And try casting a "Taboo" on the name "Tom"!
3. Ha! Snape was working with Dumbledore! I knew he'd been the evil red herring a few too many times (like in every single book), and Dumbledore's trust in him last book was too certain for it to be otherwise.
4. But Dumbledore is actually dead. That kind of surprised me. But it makes sense. I like the story behind it, and the reasons for it.
5. Dumbledore isn't perfect! He had some bad ideas as a kid. He made some mistakes as an adult. And he admires Harry for being better and truer. I like it. Still a powerful awe-inspiring force for good... but with some human flaws.
6. Paraphrasing Tom: "Listen, I'm the Dark Lord. You're just a kid. But you think you know something I don't that will save you? It's not that 'love' crap again, is it?" I love it! Take that, stupid trite cliche!
7. The scene where he activates the ring/stone. I actually cried. That was beautiful.
8. And then he goes on and... Willingly dies for everyone, comes back to life, and, through his loving sacrifice, has cast a powerful protective charm over all the good people of the world. That sounds like a familiar story...
9. Expelliramus wins the day. His first combat spell. His "signature" spell (not so sure I like that bit). The one he used to save himself from Tom the first time they met. And it comes full circle and beats him in their last duel. Not because it's a powerful spell, but because the Elder Wand truly belongs to him.
10. He has the power to unite the Hallows. The thing everyone's been aiming to do for centuries. The title of the book. And he leaves them scattered. And finds a way to maybe take the deadly wand's power. I like it.
11. The epilog. I like the idea. It was a bit overdone in some ways. Keeping the names of people hidden for no reason beyond a bit of cheap dramatic tension. But it was cool to see what people were up to. And I like most of the fates. Except that Harry, as godfather, should perhaps have been the one to take the kid in. But I suppose he was too young, and I'm glad he went to a good home. Was fun seeing it all start again for the next generation. Only this time without the looming evil. Just wish we'd learned a bit more. A lot of people whose fates went unmentioned.
And who's the new headmaster? I guess we can imagine whomever we want, but it would have been nice to have an official name. And to know what Harry, Ron, and the others do for a living. Maybe they're all aurors or something? (Working under Percy, I guess, who seems to be high up in the ministry, possibly the minister himself.) It's clear that Neville is the only one who went back to teach, which is a shame. Tom's death should have broken the curse on the position of Defense Against The Dark Arts. Would have been nice to see Harry teaching that (despite having been through more than his share of it, partially because of that). And Hermione taking over McGonagall's position, with Minerva herself stepping up to be headmistress. And then something for Ron and Ginny, probably outside the school (can't have everyone going back), but which makes use of their talents and personality. Oh well. I guess that's what fic is for. Except that L&C is the only fic I read, and I hardly even read that anymore.
12. She made a point of house elf liberation and goblin equality and all that stuff, and then dropped the whole thread. Not even a mention in the epilog of a non-human that I can recall.
All in all, a really good read. Some mistakes, but good flow. It's writing that pulls you in. A little long. A little repetitive ("We're on the run! Oh no, we've been captured! We escaped! We're on the run!"), but very good. And it ties a lot of things together. Things that you can see were there from the beginning.
Good job, JKR. Thanks for the engrossing and entertaining read. I needed it.
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2. Hehe, right! Didn't cross my mind. Though I liked it how Harry in the end called him "Riddle" and Voldemort went ballistic. XD
5. Better than being uber-perfect, methinks.
6. Hehe. XD I should think Voldemort was tired of that.
8. *headdesk* Can you believe I didn't recognize that story, until someone else pointed it out? I just thought, "oh, just like Lily did for him!"
10. Harry is the most noble person in the whole book. Just like he should be.
11. I found the epilogue a bit silly, in the cliched-fanfiction sort of way. Not that there weren't some nice things in it.
See ya,
Anna.