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Post by longsnakemoan on Jul 22, 2007 15:33:59 GMT
I'll admit that was quite toching but I prefer Snape angry. Besides all I could think of was 'Snape's patronus was Bambi?' Which I know is because it was Lily's blah blah blah but Bambi?
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laine
Jane Asher
Doc on a box
Posts: 235
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Post by laine on Jul 22, 2007 17:51:58 GMT
I just finished reading it, poor poor Snape. I knew he was good all along and he was headmaster of Hogwarts however briefly. I nearly stopped reading when he was died and only kept on reading in the hope he'd come back somehow. This book had a real lack of Snape, I miss him already.
I still don't like the Ginny/Harry pairing but Ron and Hermione I love. I woooed a lot at the kiss.
Lupin dying, thats confused me, one minute he was fine then he was popping up next to the dead spirits from the stone, i had to reread the chapter before it to figure out what happened.
The death that got to me most (apart from Snape) was Hedwig, I have no idea why.
so the list of deaths goes;
Snape Hedwig Mad-Eye Moody Peter Pettigrew Dobby Fred Weasley Harry Potter (briefly) Bellatrix Voldemort Tonks Lupin
and some other unimportant people.
xx
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Post by Becky on Jul 22, 2007 18:50:19 GMT
I'll admit that was quite toching but I prefer Snape angry. Besides all I could think of was 'Snape's patronus was Bambi?' Which I know is because it was Lily's blah blah blah but Bambi? Sorry to be pendantic but Bambi was a stag. Snape's patronus was a doe.
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Post by Nurse Dunkley on Jul 22, 2007 19:16:08 GMT
I liked it, mostly. The end went on far too long with all the backstory to work through - the King's Cross station thing reminded me of the Archetect scene in the second Matrix film. To be honest I'd have preferred the story to be totally Horcrux centered, and the hallows plot to have been left out. I am so pissed off that both Harry and Ginny live, that I've not read past the first few paragraphs of the 19 Years Later bit. Does that make me a bad person? yes, probably.
Dobby's death scene upset me the most. Harry manually digging the grave was beautifully written.
What I liked: - Kreacher and Dudley's changes of heart. - The Battle of Hogwarts, the Gringott's raid, the flight of the 7 Potters, Godric's Hollow - When it was just Hermione and Harry in the tent, there was half a page or so when it seemed that Harry was building up courage to ask Hermione for sex. - The opening scene, with Voldemort killing and feeding the teacher (who we'd never heard of before!) to Nagini. - Snape's vindication. - Harry shouting at Lupin. - I really liked Hermione in this. - Alberforth's continued goat love. - Grindelwald. (I'd always wondered about him since he was mentioned on Dumbledore's frog card in book 1). - Mrs Weasley killing Bellatrix, and her shouting at her.
The bits I didn't like: - Not enough Luna, or McGonogall. They were ACE when they did appear though. Luna's room made me happysad. - Like Miss Rad said, the Dursley's really didn't get an ending. I was expecting some sort of revelation about Petunia/Dudley. Also, their chapter wasn't as interesting or funny as usual, though I did like Vernon's concerns about House prices. - All the Wand mastership nonsense. Plus the fact that so many curses/spells charms keep missing in the duels. The might as well have been bullets flying everywhere. - The word 'assuage' being used 3 times. - Dumbledore's backstory. It wasn't that interesting, plus it really takes away from the character to know so much about him.
I'm sad that the series is over. Even though the last one that was actually a story within it's own right was book 4, with the last three just blurring into one. JK's planning and drip feeding of plot points have been perfect though.
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Post by timydamonkey on Jul 22, 2007 19:51:00 GMT
Using laine's list from earlier, seeing if I can remember the unimportant people and juggling the order a bit. Can't remember exactly where they fit so hazarding a guess:
Bathilda Bagshot (off screen and presumably before the book) That muggle studies teacher Random muggles (off screen but implied) Hedwig Mad-Eye Moody (off screen) Ted Tonks (off screen) Dirk Cresswell (off screen) Some goblin (off screen) Peter Pettigrew Grindelwald Dobby Crabbe Fred Weasley Tonks (off screen) Lupin (off screen) Colin Creevey (off screen) Snape Harry Potter (briefly) Bellatrix Voldemort
In summary, there was a lot of death, and a lot of it was off screen.
Ariana died before the book too and should probably be mentioned, but she doesn't seem pertinent to the list.
EDIT: Does Grindelwald also die in the book? People seem to think so, but that part didn't seem to register with me. If so, I should probably add him to the list...
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Sarah
Junior Member
Posts: 94
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Post by Sarah on Jul 22, 2007 19:55:56 GMT
Also forgot to mention Snape's final words 'Look at me' so he could look at Lily's eyes as he died absolutely broke my heart. *sniff* I've just finished mine. I must be a bit of a slow reader. Loved it, but agree with everyone that the epilogue was awful -- Albus Severus Potter? Fucking hell! I wouldn't have hated it if Harry was married to someone called Jenny or Debbie or something. Ginny just grates; her getting snappy about Cho going with Harry was beyond annoying. Lupin and Tonks just dead was a bit weird, but then I suppose in a big battle people die, and no one sees. I did love the Snape chapter, and Molly and Neville being fierce. The bit I'm looking forward most to seeing on film is Neville pulling a sword out of the sorting hat and killing the snake like Conan. Neville FTW!
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Post by Nurse Dunkley on Jul 22, 2007 20:12:02 GMT
EDIT: Does Grindelwald also die in the book? People seem to think so, but that part didn't seem to register with me. If so, I should probably add him to the list... Yup, Harry saw Voldemort bump him off when he was in his mind. He was the old geezer at the top of the tower. I'm suprised there wasn't more in the book that hinted at Grindelwald being linked in some way with Hitler. I remember JK saying that it was no coincidence that they both had their downfall in 1945. One other thing - Harry and Hermione go to all the trouble of Polyjuicing themselves as middle aged muggles to visit Godric's Hollow... and then go around continuing to call themselves Harry and Hermione. Clever.
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dirtypop
Jane Asher
Only Lee Will Do!
Posts: 207
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Post by dirtypop on Jul 22, 2007 20:25:24 GMT
The bit I'm looking forward most to seeing on film is Neville pulling a sword out of the sorting hat and killing the snake like Conan. Neville was fucking hardcore! I loved the image of him all battered but still causing mutiny within Hogwarts even though he had no idea of what his friends were doing. Keeping the DA alive. And then to chop the snakes head off! I've never been a massive Neville fan before but he kicked arse in this.
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Post by Becky on Jul 22, 2007 20:35:54 GMT
Another one to add to the death list - Crabbe. He died in the fire in the room of requirement.
Things I would have liked to have seen at the end were: More of Percy coming back into the Weasley family. What happened with the wizarding world after Voldy's death. What happened with the Ministry of Magic. What happened with the Malfoys. What Harry, Ron and Hermione were doing as jobs. What happened with Luna. What happened with the Dursleys. What happened with Neville's family.
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Post by jetsetwilly on Jul 22, 2007 22:00:51 GMT
Another one to add to the death list - Crabbe. He died in the fire in the room of requirement. Is Crabbe the innapropriately hot tall one in the films? If so, then I'm sad. If not, I'm not. I forgot to say in my "review" how much I loved Dudley's change of heart. I totally adored him here, and I wished he had reappeared later. I also hearted Hermione, but I sort of think I was being manipulated to do so, like RTD did with Stuart in QAF. And can I be the first to demand the Luna Lovegood: Girl Wizard Detective spin-off? Thank you.
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nixxxon
Jane Asher
This is a two-sets-of-marigolds problem
Posts: 239
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Post by nixxxon on Jul 22, 2007 22:13:31 GMT
Neville was fucking hardcore! I loved the image of him all battered but still causing mutiny within Hogwarts even though he had no idea of what his friends were doing. Keeping the DA alive. And then to chop the snakes head off! I've never been a massive Neville fan before but he kicked arse in this. I've always thought Neville was cooler than people gave him credit for, and it's fun to be vindicated, and then some: Battlescarred Neville, leader of the DA, standing up to Voldemort himself, retrieving Gryffindor's sword from the hat, killing Nagini and then nonchalantly sitting down for something to eat, surrounded by groupies. Neville is the dude.
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Post by Nurse Dunkley on Jul 23, 2007 2:30:51 GMT
I calmed down about Ginny and Harry being alive and read the epilogue. I agree about its annoying lack of answers. However it does mean that Luna can exist in my head forever as jetsetwilly's teen detective. I thought the battle was rather pantomime, in that it all seemed to be looking a bit grim then what do you know, it turns around and everything goes in the good guys favour. The epilogue was very cheesy, and I didn't get, if it was 19 years later, how Teddy was still going to school. Surely he would have left, and if he had left, why was he at Kings Cross. I thought the saddest bit was when Dobby died. Did it say what Hermione had done with Crookshanks while she was off camping? There was a bit which made me think of Mary Poppins, but I can't remember which bit it was at the moment. - Teddy was there to wave off and slip his tongue into Victoire (VICTOIRE?!!) who, from the french sounding name and the mention of her being a cousin of the Potter kids, is probably Bill and Fleur's daughter. It does make me wonder where Teddy was raised because I'd assumed that he would have been taken in by those two, but that would make him almost like Victoire (VICTOIRE?!!)'s brother and that would be wrong. Thinking about it he was probably raised by Tonks' mum, who having lost her husband, daughter and son in law in the space of a day or so would be keeping any remaining family as close as possible. - I wondered where Crookshanks was too, and half expected Hermione to pull her out of the beaded bag at some point (along with her parents who weren't really in Australia afterall). VICTOIRE?!!
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Post by somethingbiblical on Jul 23, 2007 7:08:09 GMT
I finished the book yesterday and was bursting to come on here but then I had someone round and I thought it'd be rude.
May I just take some time to congratulate the Amazon delivery team, as not only did I not have to get my neighbour to pick the book up, but I also got 2 hours of reading in before work, because the book came at HALF SEVEN! Did anyone else feel a bit scared when they were holding it in their hands, before they opened it? Like it was going to eat me or something.
Anyway, yes, good show JK. I was going to point out that it would be Andromeda who looked after Teddy last night but now someone's got there before me. I also wondered at who the feck Victoire was. The epilogue was a bit disappointing, very shiny happy but I wanted to know what the hell happened in between. Who was Minister for Magic? Still Kingsley? Kingsley (I keep accidently typing kinky lol) is hardcore but Arthur Weasley was surely destined for the job. Who was headmaster? And also the points everyone's echoing about what they all did with their lives. "They all procreated. The end."
JK really came good in the last couple of chapters and managed to shoehorn in all of the correct theories people had. I still don't understand the swapping of the wands thing. I'm not sure I want to. My brain hurts. I'm SO glad that they spotted RAB as soon as they saw the sign on Regulus's door, I hate when they turn into morons for the duration of a book so as to draw out not recognising what's in front of their faces.
The attack on Ariana by the muggles - was that implied rape? Or was it just a regular old attack?
It's hard to know what to feel. On one hand, a sense of satisfaction at finally knowing everything, on the other an extreme sense of loss. God, she really is good isn't she. I love how the few funny bits that she puts in are short and laugh-out-loud, they contrast well with the emoness of it all.
One point that's desperately annoying me: JK said that there's one character who, in desperate circumstances, manages to do magic late in life. WHERE IS THIS PERSON?! I SEE NO SUCH PERSON!
Also, I like how the majority of it takes place in a tent. (Ooh, did anyone else suspect that Ron was the traitor who'd been leaking the information to the Death Eaters/was imperiused when he said "Give You-Know-Who some respect"??)
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Post by jode* on Jul 23, 2007 8:23:17 GMT
It was rape!
It was definitely rape. Muggles can't use Crucio or potions to tortue. They use violence and humiliation.
Yet nobody has mentioned this anywhere on the Internet yet. It's the most shocking part of the story. Rape in Harry Potter!
---------------------
The book was awesome.
Me and my housemate have gone through every stage of the Elder Wand and Harry the Horcrux "dying" and all those complications etc... We think we understand; the only thing left is why the Elder wand had chosen Draco as it's master at the end???
We only realised last night that the reason it was "19 Years Later" is because it would put the 'action' in 2007. (And Teddy wasn't going to school and of course he's living with his Grandmother - she had him whilst his parents were fighting)
But there is about a million good bits. I could go on forever!
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Post by somethingbiblical on Jul 23, 2007 8:34:18 GMT
Surely 19 years later would put the action in 2016??
I thought it mighta been like beating her up and stuff, but rape definetly seemed implied but that's a bit heavy for a Harry Potter book.
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Post by jode* on Jul 23, 2007 9:55:24 GMT
Surely 19 years later would put the action in 2016?? I thought it mighta been like beating her up and stuff, but rape definetly seemed implied but that's a bit heavy for a Harry Potter book. But it was something so horrible that it turned her head a bit funny. It was heavily implied. In Dumbledore's words she was "damaged". The Harry Potter book timeline is the 1990s. Book 1 starts in 1991 (Harry aged 10 at the beginning). This all ties together with dates of everything else in the wizarding or muggle world. See the Lexicon - www.hp-lexicon.org/timelines/timeline.phpEDIT: I've just realised how thick I've been. It would be 2017, not 2007. So why was it randomly 19 years later? (not 20 or something more rounded?)
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Post by Rad on Jul 23, 2007 10:35:32 GMT
One point that's desperately annoying me: JK said that there's one character who, in desperate circumstances, manages to do magic late in life. WHERE IS THIS PERSON?! I SEE NO SUCH PERSON! Could it be Snape leaking out the memories late in his life as he is dying???
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Post by georgie on Jul 23, 2007 13:37:27 GMT
Ok so I loved the last book but I put my hands up and admit I have a small brain and a lot of the stuff I remembered from previous books has escaped me so this might be a stupid question, but I remember the prophecy being something to do with Neville. Or possibly not. Can someone explain that whole thing to me please?
I'm rewatching all the films up until 4 (then maybe 5 again) and going to re-read all the books. I love that I really get into things when they have finished and are no more.
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nixxxon
Jane Asher
This is a two-sets-of-marigolds problem
Posts: 239
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Post by nixxxon on Jul 23, 2007 14:03:24 GMT
Ok so I loved the last book but I put my hands up and admit I have a small brain and a lot of the stuff I remembered from previous books has escaped me so this might be a stupid question, but I remember the prophecy being something to do with Neville. Or possibly not. Can someone explain that whole thing to me please? The prophecy could have applied to Harry or Neville, as they have the same birthday and both had parents who were enemies of Voldemort. But the prophecy also said that the Dark Lord would mark him as his equal, so when he chose to attack Harry and scar him (by accident) the ambiguity was decided: It couldn't possibly be Neville, Harry was "locked" as the Chosen One. Of course as it turns out it would have been wise to keep a closer eye on Neville as well...
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Post by longsnakemoan on Jul 23, 2007 18:12:19 GMT
I'll admit that was quite toching but I prefer Snape angry. Besides all I could think of was 'Snape's patronus was Bambi?' Which I know is because it was Lily's blah blah blah but Bambi? Sorry to be pendantic but Bambi was a stag. Snape's patronus was a doe. Bambi's mother. then. My cousin jut watched Bambi for the first time and is now traumatised. The muggle attack on Ariana was quite heavy for HP. Rape in the books, didn't see that coming. I hate Harry/Ginny. She reminds me of ginger spice
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Post by somethingbiblical on Jul 23, 2007 20:58:19 GMT
One point that's desperately annoying me: JK said that there's one character who, in desperate circumstances, manages to do magic late in life. WHERE IS THIS PERSON?! I SEE NO SUCH PERSON! Could it be Snape leaking out the memories late in his life as he is dying??? Nah she meant like someone who couldn't do magic before i.e. a muggle or a squib. But she said it definetly wasn't going to be Aunt Petunia. I had high hopes for Dudley.
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Post by Nurse Dunkley on Jul 23, 2007 22:42:44 GMT
It was rape! It was definitely rape. Muggles can't use Crucio or potions to tortue. They use violence and humiliation. Yet nobody has mentioned this anywhere on the Internet yet. It's the most shocking part of the story. Rape in Harry Potter! Like many a football groupy, I'm the first to cry rape - but I don't think this was. I did at first, but didn't the attack take place because they'd seen her do magic? I think that's what it said anyway, so I just assumed they were attacking her out of fear in a 'flaming torches and pitchforks' kind of way. i need to read it again though. Fenrir Greyback wanting to get his hands on poor Hermione was far more dodgy I thought.
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Post by longsnakemoan on Jul 24, 2007 10:14:20 GMT
I reread some of it last night and I then I thought 'See, this is why Phillip Pullman shits all over J.K Rowling sometimes.'
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Post by jode* on Jul 25, 2007 8:11:42 GMT
Dammit!
Mr. Weasley was the character that JK gave a reprieve to. I almost got both my sweepstake deaths!!!
In other good news:
"J.K. Rowling told TODAY’s Meredith Vieira she "probably will" publish a Potter encyclopedia, promising many more details about her beloved characters and the fate of the wizarding world beyond the few clues provided in the seventh book’s epilogue. The encyclopedia would include back stories of characters she has already written but had to cut for the sake of narrative arc (“I've said before that Dean Thomas had a much more interesting history than ever appeared in the books”), as well as details about the characters who survive “Deathly Hallows,” characters who continue to live on in Rowling’s mind in a clearly defined magical world.
Hogwarts, for example, has a new headmaster (“McGonagall was really getting on a bit”), and Rowling said she can see Harry going back to give the "odd talk" on Defense Against the Dark Arts. That class, by the way, is now led by a permanent professor since Voldemort’s death broke the jinx which didn’t allow a teacher to remain in the position for more than a year. "
However, she's also said this won't be for ages as she wants a break. I'd predict summer 2010 (same gap between 4th and 5th when she had a break to have a baby).
There's another Harry Potter book to look forward to!!!!
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Post by Becky on Jul 25, 2007 8:59:37 GMT
Something has just occurred to me. It might just be that I hadn't taken it in when I was reading, but how can Ron and Harry apparate when they didn't pass their tests. Harry didn't even take his, as he was too young in the HBP. I can't remember if Harry did actually apparate anywhere without Hermione, but Ron did.
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