Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Reaction Thread - SPOILERS!!!!

me | 7/21/2007 | me

[JenB]

So you finally know what happens to Harry. All our questions are answered. Or not. What are your reactions? Whose death hurt the most? Do you want more, and about whom?

SPOILERS are ok on this thread! You have been warned!

Wow. It's over.

[unspun]

Kinda had a hunch everyone lived until they died.

[JenB]

Yeah, but still, unbeatable should be unbeatable.

[Politicalmom]

It has to be used to be unbeatable. It doesn’t give the wielder any personal protection.

[JenB]

Hmmm, well, as a Christian I saw those last three chapters as necessary. Because it became obvious in this book that Harry is a Christ-figure, and Christ-figures die for their people but are resurrected...

[Cheburashka]

What happened to the sorting hat!?!?!? The school just goes to the web and buys a new one.

http://harrypotter.wbshop.com/cat/Harry-Potter-Sorting-Hat.html?referral_id=GGLHPCL

[Bear_in_RoseBear]

Well, yeah, but that's part of the legend that grew up around the wand, that it was "unbeatable". It wasn't really, no more than Harry's Invisibility Cloak could really hide him from Death. The wand (when it acknowledged its user as its true Master) just conferred a *lot* more power onto the user than did the average wand. But the user could still be distracted, caught by surprise, etc., as Dumbledore was. He was surprised by Draco, and had a split-second choice to defend himself or to protect Harry by keeping him out of the fight. He chose Harry, and so was "beaten" by Draco. Not the wand's fault, and I suspect that the wand "chose" to acknowledge Draco as it's true Master because Dumbledore didn't use the wand as the wand would have expected (i.e., to battle an enemy).

In the end, it still boiled down to the wizard, not the wand. :P

[voiceinthewind]

Ahem, I like to think that Hermione would have made a fine addition to the House of Hufflepuff, given her sense of fair play and hard work. Badger’s are underestimated!
Tonks was a Hufflepuff. sniffle...

[StayAt HomeMother]

Look at the difference between the Lupins, who left their child to join the fight, and died, and the Malfoys, who in the end only cared for finding their child and keeping him safe, and lived.

This does not hold true for Harry's parents, who, while trying to hide, still died resisting Voldermort and who, like the Lupins, left an orphan behind.

[Mr. and Mrs. Wesley were also in the thick of the fight and they also survived.]

[voiceinthewind]

Neville is Professor of Herbology at Hogwarts. I want him to be married to Luna, and I want them to dance. A lot.

[SuziQ]

And if it was, what does the sorting at Hogwarts now?

In the Great Hall, after everything was over, kids from the different houses were sitting all mixed together, at the tables. The book gave the impression that that was the way it should be, in the future. If that's the case, there'd be no need for a sorting hat. Didn't the sorting hat say just that in the previous two books?

[JenB]

Nah, the epilogue distinctly mentioned Houses, and the Hat. I think the Hat was fine, it takes more than that to kill that Hat.

[SuziQ]

I KNEW that Snape was still on the side of the Order! And I suspected that it had to do with Lily! That being said, his death was somewhat ignominius, except just to show, again, that Voldemort didn't even care about those who he considered 'on his side'. And someone had mentioned that Wormtail would eventually play into saving Harry's life sometime, because Harry had spared his. I liked the way that was worked in.

I cried when Dobby died, bless his little heart, and it was interesting how Harry's burying him affected the goblin. But it was Remus and Tonks that really did me in! I'm guessing that her mom raised Ted, but it didn't say in the Epilogue. Ted would have already 'graduated' Hogwarts by the time. It mentioned him, at the train station, 'snogging Victoire', their cousing, who I can only assume was the daughter of one of the other Weasley boys, but it didn't say which one.

But I gotta say, one of my FAVORITE lines was Molly's in going after Beatrix; "Not MY daughter, you BITCH! LOL!!

[Bear_in_RoseBear]

Ah, but Harry's parents died directly protecting him, with Harry literally in the same room, and the Weasley's as well were in battle *with* their children, at their side. Lupin and Tonks were away from their child when they died.

By the way, I think Mrs. Weasley was pretty much written to be the "perfect" mother-figure in the series... she could (apparently) pull food out of thin air, she could always find a place for anyone who needed one, her biggest fear was harm coming to her family, she would forgive any wrong done by any of her children (she was the only one who never said anything bad about Percy, and she never gave up hope that he would come back to the family), and she would do anything to protect her children, from annoying them incessantly to putting down the baddest warrior-witch out there, if that (w)itch dared to threaten her children.

Commentary on feminism, anyone?

[JenB]

Victoire must be Bill and Fleur’s daughter! I was guessing she was named in honor of the victory over Voldemort.

[SuziQ]

The Malfoy’s were nearly absent, they didn’t really redeem themselves or continue as before, they just kind of sat around sulking mainly. Should have done more with them.

Oh, I didn't mind that they weren't front and center, but Narcissa had been wavering since the beginning of "Half Blood Prince", so it was fitting that it was she who lied to Voldemort about Harry's being dead, at the end, when he whispered to her that Draco was still alive.

[SuziQ]

The elves were underused, killing Dobby just seemed contrived, just a way to keep things hard for Harry.

They'd always been background characters, but it was interesting how Kreacher changed in this book, because of the way Harry treated him. I guess that's why JKR argued to keep him in the OOTP movie, even in that small part, because he played a larger role in the last book. And the house elves, led by Kreacher, DID figure in the final battle!

[Bear_in_RoseBear]

Victoire must be Bill and Fleur’s daughter! I was guessing she was named in honor of the victory over Voldemort.

Yeah, that was my guess too, but it took me a bit of thinking to realize that.

Rose has gone to get a few hours of sleep. She was up all night reading it. ;)

[Mamzelle]

I thought about how Ted was too old to be going to Hogwarts, but I guess he was just hanging around the station...

[voiceinthewind]

Victoire is the daughter of Fleur and Bill Weasley. Makes sense as the name is French, as is Fleur. Both Bill Weasley and Remus Lupin were bitten by Fenrir Greyback.So their kids being attracted to each other is interesting.

[JenB]

Just to see Victoire off, apparently. Yeah he’d have been much too old. I guess he ended up being a metamorphmagus rather tha n a werewolf.