Harry Potter 7 Discussion!! (WARNING - SPOILERS)

[Chaos]

Ok, it's now midnight on the east coast. Companies have begun shipping out copies, people are receiving them. Let's talk about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows!!

Remember... out of respect for anyone still reading the book, let's stick to spoiler tabs for at least a few weeks, so we don't ruin anything for those who aren't able to get a copy right away, or who choose not to read the book in 5 hours.

I'm also going to be a little vague even beneath the spoiler tags, just in case someone clicks on them who doesn't want to know too much.

I thought it was a pretty good book overall, and it brought the series to a satisfactory close... but I was a little surprised about some of the events in the development stage of the story, and also a bit disappointed that some ideas were not really touched on at all.

I was really surprised at the 2nd character who died (not the teacher from chapter 1), it happened so suddenly and so offhandedly - I had a very Stephen King / Bag of Bones moment when I read that part of the escape.

I really enjoyed how Harry came to terms over time with his role, and finally trusted to faith that Dumbledore knew what he was doing, and accepted what had to be done.

I was totally jazzed about the revelations we got about Snape's history from the pensieve - I called that one way back in book 3 when Harry first started to learn about the things that happened when his parents were at school. Snape was always a very interesting character to me, and it was good to finally see some more of the depth that we never really got to see since very little of the stories were from his point of view.

I was really expecting some kind of examination of the non-Death Eater Slytherin mentality, some sort of exchange that made Harry and the others kind of see things from their point of view, maybe feel a little empathy for the plight of those stuck in the middle... but there was none of this at all. I really think there could have been some developments along these lines without much effort, but the storyline was a little cut and dry once we got to the halfway point or so.

Also, the interaction between Harry and Ginny felt a little unreal in this book, I would have expected there to be a lot more angst wound up in the whole "staying apart" business. True, they weren't actually around each other for the majority of the book, but it just didn't feel like a very vital concern in Harry's mind.

I have to say, though, that I really loved how Voldemort's continued disdain of things he didn't understand or held in contempt kept coming back to haunt him throughout the book.

Oh, and the epilogue really felt sort of tacked on to me, like Rowling decided to add it on at the last minute. It was kind of lame.

On the whole, I'd say I was pretty satisfied with the book. I give it an 8/10.

Lemme know what you guys think!

[googergieger]

i'd say i was right.

[SharpMonkey]

I stayed up very late reading the whole book (haven't slept since I started it!) and I must say: the book delivered satisfaction to me in so many ways!  The high body count, the police state in the wizardry world, the confirmation that the Harry is a horcrux, the battle for hogwarts, and the full culmination of so many stray plot threads being woven together...it was all a joy to take in.  I'm looking forward to re-reading this one in the very near future!

In response to what ChaosFromOrder posted about his wishes for Slytherin house (trying not to quote spoilers here...):
I see what you mean, but I was so swept away with the unfolding events that this didn't really slow me down much.  I hope there will be more material about the difficulties of healing after what was essentially a civil war in the wizarding worldif there's any truth to the rumors that Mrs. Rowling is going to do a book of Harry Potter related short stories.  Still, as far as giving closure to the tale of Harry Potter, I think the seventh book did a fantastic job. 

[Big Blonde]

I stayed up real late to finish it too, and early in the morning, when I had read the last page, I thought that Rowling had redeemed herself in my eyes (I've been disappointed, in some ways, with every book since the third one). Looking back on it know, after sleep, I'm still a little miffed on how she ended things.

First off, didn't I read somewhere that there was supposed to be some important reason why Ginny is the first female Weasley in a very long time? Through the whole book I kept expecting some magical revelation about Ginny's amazing power, but nothing really came. (And if it turns her being the first Weasley girl in a long time was only supposed to mean that she'd marry Harry Potter, that will just make me madder) I'm also a little upset about all the hype over really important characters dying. I'm not saying that those who died weren't important (there are two deaths at the end that I'm specifically thinking of), but I still feel a little let down after all that speculation. I agree that the epilogue felt a little tacked on fanfictionish. I wouldn't be surprised if someone told me it was someone's fanfiction story. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad she did an epilogue, but after all the other stuff before, it just felt tacky.

Those criticisms aside, this is definitely my second favorite after the third one. Even though it was long, it didn't really feel like it had all this extra, unnecessary stuff that I felt the previous books had. I think I would like the book a lot more if it wasn't the last one in the series, I guess I just wanted it to end perfectly.

[Chaos]

I stayed up real late to finish it too, and early in the morning, when I had read the last page, I thought that Rowling had redeemed herself in my eyes (I've been disappointed, in some ways, with every book since the third one). Looking back on it know, after sleep, I'm still a little miffed on how she ended things.

First off, didn't I read somewhere that there was supposed to be some important reason why Ginny is the first female Weasley in a very long time? Through the whole book I kept expecting some magical revelation about Ginny's amazing power, but nothing really came. (And if it turns her being the first Weasley girl in a long time was only supposed to mean that she'd marry Harry Potter, that will just make me madder) I'm also a little upset about all the hype over really important characters dying. I'm not saying that those who died weren't important (there are two deaths at the end that I'm specifically thinking of), but I still feel a little let down after all that speculation. I agree that the epilogue felt a little tacked on fanfictionish. I wouldn't be surprised if someone told me it was someone's fanfiction story. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad she did an epilogue, but after all the other stuff before, it just felt tacky.

Those criticisms aside, this is definitely my second favorite after the third one. Even though it was long, it didn't really feel like it had all this extra, unnecessary stuff that I felt the previous books had. I think I would like the book a lot more if it wasn't the last one in the series, I guess I just wanted it to end perfectly.

Yeah, I know what you mean. I don't specifically remember hearing or seeing anything about Ginny and her powers, but the books mentioned on several occasions how she seemed very powerful and proficient for her age, and this didn't really seem to be fully explained by the simple fact that she followed Fred and George around a lot, and paid attention (though that was a factor).

It was kind of a let down to me, in more ways than one, that she was such a non-character in this book.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not a fanboy, and I don't give a rat crap about the fan fiction-y desires a lot of people seem to have, wanting steamy romance between the characters in these archetypal stories... I just feel that there were very powerful areas of the story that Rowling has been developing all the way through the series, that she just dropped. Ginny's powers, and also Ginny's relationship with Harry, were just two examples of this.

It wouldn't have been difficult at all to build on these more in the last book, and wouldn't really have taken up very much additional space (if any). It just... wasn't touched on. It was a shame.

[Tripe]

Speaking of Ginny:

Ok so her and Harry's children are named after his parents and the headmaster that he was incredibly close with. What a selfish bast! Who's the one with the womb eh Harry? It's all about you isn't it? Would it have hurt to have thrown an Arthur or something in there? Men!

[anais.jude]

I hope i am doing this right. Ok
1) How come none of the kids at the end were named Fred either? Or was it George?
2) I was expecting a paragraph on what happened to all the characters as an epilogue. I am really happy to hear that Neville works at Hogwarts and Ron and Hermione got married, but what about Luna? And who raised Teddy Remus?
3) When Ron and Hermione finally kissed I was my favorite part. Excellant build-up!
4) The story over all was fantastic. I liked that the majority of the novel was spent outside of Hogwarts. It was an awesome way to the build up the three main characters and make the story revolve around them.
5) I love how all of them, including Neville) got to kill a piece of Voldemort.
6) I was a little suprised that Lucius cared so much about Draco, I thought they made a point earlier about how he didn't really.
I think this is enough for now, except of course
7) Deaths. Honestly, there were so many (like this last season of lost) and prince's was so obvious that i really was immune to them. that being said, i do morn the loss of romulus, rapier, and mrs. romulus

[Ator the Invincible]

I really liked how Neville turned into a bit of a badass, especially at the end when he axed up the Snake.

[sarcasm_made_Easy]

wow that book was awesome.  i finished it at about 4 this morning, not bad when you conisder i started reading at 2 in the afternoon.  but anyways,  what every one thing of the hallow vs horcrux thingy?  im still trying to figure out how dumbledore got the wand.   

[Big Blonde]

With the horcrux's, I was sad that Voldemort couldn't tell they were being destroyed. You'd think that when someone was killing your soul, you'd be able to know. I guess if he could have felt it, it probably would have been impossible for Harry and the others to destroy all of them. I too was glad that Rowling made Harry a horcrux, it seemed right. Although, I think she kind of copped out with letting him come back to life in the end. Can anyone explain how he was able to do that by the way?

[Bob]

Okay, I have never read any of the books or seen any of the films, but I felt left out.

[DrForester]

Overall, I really enjoyed the book.  I thought the epilogue was a bit campy though.

One major story point that everyone seemed to expect an answer for was not ans2wered and I was kind of disappointed that it wasn't.

Who retrieved Voldemorts wand from Godric's Hollow after he failed to kill baby Harry?  How did Wormtail later get it to give to Voldemort?

[Chaos]

I hope i am doing this right. Ok
1) How come none of the kids at the end were named Fred either? Or was it George?
2) I was expecting a paragraph on what happened to all the characters as an epilogue. I am really happy to hear that Neville works at Hogwarts and Ron and Hermione got married, but what about Luna? And who raised Teddy Remus?
3) When Ron and Hermione finally kissed I was my favorite part. Excellant build-up!
4) The story over all was fantastic. I liked that the majority of the novel was spent outside of Hogwarts. It was an awesome way to the build up the three main characters and make the story revolve around them.
5) I love how all of them, including Neville) got to kill a piece of Voldemort.
6) I was a little suprised that Lucius cared so much about Draco, I thought they made a point earlier about how he didn't really.
I think this is enough for now, except of course
7) Deaths. Honestly, there were so many (like this last season of lost) and prince's was so obvious that i really was immune to them. that being said, i do morn the loss of romulus, rapier, and mrs. romulus

Re: 1 and 2, that is part of why I thought it felt tacked on and dashed off. It answered only 2 little points, and left everything else totally unresolved and unmentioned.

Re: 3 - agreed, that was a neat moment.

Re: 6 - I kinda got the same impression. Though Rowling made a point of showing how broken up over Draco's involvement with the death eaters Narcissa was, she never really seemed to indicate that Lucius cared about his son one way or the other, except as a future Death Eater.

Re: 7 - The only death that really bothered me was Hedwig's, again like I said earlier, because it was so offhanded. I was not even slightly surprised that one of the twins died, a lot of people have been expecting that pretty much since book 1.  I was a little bothered that Lupin and Tonks didn't get their moment in the sun, as it were, but just died "off camera." Granted, Harry can't be there to personally witness every single death, but I still felt a little cheated that their deaths were so distant from the story.

wow that book was awesome.  i finished it at about 4 this morning, not bad when you conisder i started reading at 2 in the afternoon.  but anyways,  what every one thing of the hallow vs horcrux thingy?  im still trying to figure out how dumbledore got the wand.  

sarc:

It said in the book somewhere that Gridelwald "aquired" the wand from its previous owner, and that Dumbledore claimed it from Gridelwald when he defeated him in the famous duel. Dumbledore had been the owner of it ever since.

With the horcrux's, I was sad that Voldemort couldn't tell they were being destroyed. You'd think that when someone was killing your soul, you'd be able to know. I guess if he could have felt it, it probably would have been impossible for Harry and the others to destroy all of them. I too was glad that Rowling made Harry a horcrux, it seemed right. Although, I think she kind of copped out with letting him come back to life in the end. Can anyone explain how he was able to do that by the way?

Big Blond:

I believe that was the entire idea of the horcruxes: yes, they were a part of your soul, but they were a part that you had completely detached and removed from yourself, so that they were no longer a part of you. That was the understanding I got from Dumbledore's explanation in book 6, and the fact that Voldemort COULDN'T detect their destruction seems to support Dumbledore's theory of how they worked. (besides, he seemed to be right about pretty much everything else... how can you doubt him?! )

One major story point that everyone seemed to expect an answer for was not ans2wered and I was kind of disappointed that it wasn't.

Who retrieved Voldemorts wand from Godric's Hollow after he failed to kill baby Harry?  How did Wormtail later get it to give to Voldemort?

DrForester:

I don't think the book ever said... either Rowling didn't think of it (probable), or didn't think it was important (possible).

I suppose one could assume that Bellatrix retrieved it when she went to look for Voldemort and try to bring him back - at one point in the book Bellatrix said that she was one of Voldemort's most loyal followers, and that she had been one of the ones to go looking for him. So it could have been her.

Or, it could be one of those "a wizard did it" unexplained deals (especially apt in this series!).

[YoohooRiffer]

There are a lot of Spoilers in this thread.

I didn't read the book but i wanted to be involved in the secret discussion.  Can someone give a quick overlay of what happens to a non Harry Potter fan who is just curious?

[Tripe]

Here we go