Let's Discuss "Deadly Hallows" - SPOILERS GALORE!!!! OPEN AT YOUR OWN PERIL!

[Hell Hath No Fury]

Okay, I picked up the book after work, sat down for some serious reading and I finished the book around 3:30 this morning.

I have to talk about it!

First, here's a fun thread from last year with some of our predictions about the final book:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=4885321#4887237

I have to take a moment to brag a bit:

"Okay, I think that Snape was secretly, desperately in love with Lily Evans and he knows his actions helped bring about her death (James he couldn't give a shit about). I think that is one (of a few) of the reasons he cannot tolerate Harry -- looking in "Lily's eyes" every day is a reminder of his treachery. I can't wait for the final book -- so much to find out!"

I went to bed last night and woke up completely haunted by Snape's death, and his final request to have Harry look at him, so he could die looking into "Lily's" eyes. :cry:

Anyone else have that response???

So, what in the book surprised/shocked you?

What were you expecting?

What was your favorite part/parts?

How did you like the epilogue/resolution?

[Debi]

1. Good get

I liked Rev Acts post as well.

I still feel like there are many unanswered questions, I guess those will be left up to our imaginations! :hi:

[Hell Hath No Fury]

2. Yes, there was so much left to imagine...

I wonder why Rowling left so much information up to our imagination -- like, what Harry/Hermione/Ron/Ginny did as adults. My guess is that Hermione went into Muggle Relations after all, seeing as how Ron went to the bother of learning how to drive and getting a license. I got absolutely zero clear about Harry, though. I had always invisioned him being a teacher at Hogwarts -- taking over Defense Against the Dark Arts. It was fun to know about Neville -- one of my very favorite characters. :)

[Liberal Veteran]

4. True, but did you really want to read "Harry Potter and the Zero-Down Mortgage"?

or "Harry Potter and the Teething Ring of Hufflepuff"?

[Lisa]

5. I thought it was particularly cool that Neville got Prof. Sprout's job!

I wouldn't have been surprised to see Harry teaching at Hogwarts -- or even becoming headmaster eventually. But actually I like that she left some space for us to imagine.

[liberalpragmatist]

3. I liked how she seemed to conclude one way, then went a different direction

At the end of Chapter 33, right through Chapter 34, you were lead to believe - as many people had suspected - that Harry was a horcrux and that he would have to die.

I believed at this point, that the prophecy would actually be fulfilled by Neville: Harry would die as the 7th horcrux, Neville would kill Nagini and then kill Voldemort.

That kind of happen except for the giant twist that Harry actually survived. And he *WAS* the one to kill Voldemort.

Of course, I have a few questions, regarding the ending.

1) How did Neville retrieve the sword of Gryffindor from the Sorting Hat? Pardon me if the details of the earlier books is somewhat rusty, but didn't that happen before at one point? Still, the sword was carried off by the goblin in Gringotts - so it was just conjured by Neville? Because he was an "heir" to Gryffindor? I admit I'm not totally satisfied with that, as it seems a little too convenient that the sword would just suddenly appear for Neville to smite the snake.

2) Did Dumbledore really believe Harry would die when he let Voldemort "kill" him? Was it a surprise to Dumbledore (at least the afterlife Dumbledore) that he survived?

Along the same lines, exactly why does Harry survive? I know the book explains that he doesn't die because there is a SECOND bond between Voldemort and Harry - that of Lily's blood - but why should this have prevented Harry from being killed? If it was Lily's protection that saved him, then wouldn't he have survived even if Voldemort hadn't taken Harry's blood?

[realisticphish]

8. my answers

1. Any "true Gryffindor" can wield the sword, as explained in this book, and in the second one. Harry pulled it out of the sorting hat in the chamber of secrets, in essentially the same manner. i.e., just in time to kill the basilisk (interestingly, to kill another giant snake)

2. No. Dumbledore knew that Voldemort took some of Harry's blood in the spell to come back alive (hence his satisfied expression at the end of the 4th book, when Harry tells him that fact.) The way it looks to me is that Voldemort became Harry's horcrux. Also, Lily's protection didn't work anymore, since Voldemort had that protection as well. The spell was nullified.

I don't have the books memorized or anything, but that's my take on it.

[XemaSab]

6. OMG!!!!!

I had fully the same reaction to Snape/Lily.

I didn't sleep for crap saturday night and I basically woke up and cried on Sunday. :(

[realisticphish]

7. I totally called "Harry is a Horcrux"

as well as the house elves rising up, though i thought it would be Dobby, not Kreacher.