Current mood:

restless

Rightio, so I've been collecting my thoughts on 'Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows' and jotting them down in here as they occurred to me over the last few days, and I figured I'd post 'em. It's fine if you disagree with me, it's fine if you think I'm a lamer. I know I'm a lamer, so why should I be offended if someone else comes to that happy realisation? Life goes on!

I'd love debate and discussion on any of the points I've mentioned, plus anything anyone else has thought of. No one I know in real life or online that I chat to regularly has finished the book yet, and it's driving me nuts, not being able to talk about it to anyone.

To start:

1) J. K. Rowling is a lying bitch. 2 characters die, she says! TWO BLOODY CHARACTERS. Oh, I'm sorry, what is the criteria to be judged an important death these days? Because I could've sworn at least six notable lives were snuffed out in this book. *makes very rude gesture*

2) Kreacher, bless him! I can't even describe my joy (though I freely admit I hated the little fucker until he had that change of heart).

3) Oh, Dobby. Dear, sweet Dobby.

4) Curious about Teddy Lupin. If Tonks and Remus both died, and Harry was godfather, would Harry not've become his guardian? Yet I didn't see any mention of that in '19 Years Later.'

Also, were Remus's fears about him validated? Is he a werewolf? Or... part-werewolf? What? What!

Or am I crossing wires there? Was Remus only worried about possible societal deficiencies he would have to face?

5) Gosh. Dumbledore's backstory was a bit of a shock, eh? Interesting stuff.

I remember wondering, after I'd caught up on the first six books, why I'd always hated Dumbledore so much. I mean, anyone who heard me in rant mode on the topic of him knows I despised him. I really am struggling to remember why, however. Probably read too much anti-Dumbledore fanfiction or something. But I'd decided he wasn't so bad after all, and then DH comes along. Makes me laugh. XD

So he's evil, after all, but not quite as evil as all that. Nice. Love it.

6) My memory may be funny here, and I can't check since the book is now safely wrapped in my Slytherin scarf and stashed away, but how did Neville get his hands on Gryffindor's sword in order to kill Nagini (BOO HISS SNARL)? Was it Gryffindor's sword, or just one that happened to be convenient at the time? I didn't see any mention of Griphook (incidentally: LITTLE CRAPHEAD) having a sudden change of heart and sending it merrily off to Hogwarts right on time.

Heck, was it even a sword? My memory, we know it's atrocious, but if Nagini was a Horcrux, and the sword was needed to destroy the Horcruxes due to it being imbued with Basilisk venom... or maybe when a Horcrux is inside a living creature, the only thing needed to destroy it is death.

Yes, I suppose so, since Harry's "death" was sort of normal (no poisonous swords involved, at any rate) destroyed the Horcrux inside him.

Bit confusing.

7) Aberforth was an intriguing character. I was surprised, but in restrospect very happy, that he was such a different character to Albus. It seems typical that when a beloved character dies and it turns out they have a relative surviving them, there are joyful similarities that make the hero latch onto them as a replacement figure (or is that just me reading too much fanfiction again?), and that didn't happen here, so good stuff. I would've liked to've seen more of him.

8) I loved what Hermione did to protect her parents. Really loved it (oh, and not because she sent them here, in case anyone was wondering. I just liked how she went about safeguarding them).

9) Told you all Ron sucked. Don't care if he came good in the end. :-L ... Oh, all right, I guess I don't hate him as much as I did, but I bloody well saw it coming, and I don't care if it was the freakin' Horcrux exacerbating the matter.

10) Severus... oh, Severus. My second most feared of all eventualities. Why did it have to be like this? *big sigh*

I'm sad to admit that I was beginning to have a couple of doubts by the end there that J. K. would have him reveal that he wasn't as evil as the girl in the line behind me at the book launch thought (she was quite surprised to hear the long-held theory that Dumbledore was dying anyway and Snape used his death to an agreed upon advantage).

But then...

I wish it hadn't happened. I wish it so badly.

I don't even mind that it turned out those Severus/Lily buggers were on the right trail. I just wish he'd come back.

11) I cried four times. That's really something, coming from me. First when Dobby died, second when Severus died (*wails*), third when Harry used the Resurrection Stone, and finally... and here I cried the hardest... when Harry knelt down in front of little Albus Severus Potter. The bravest man he ever knew is right.

Ugh. Here we go again. *flounces off to grab a tissue*

Oh, Harry, I love you more still, even if you did marry Ginny.

Some things just transcend 'ship hate, you know?

Questions, though. I do have questions. There's a heck of a lot than J. K. has now left unanswered, and that's very irritating. Small things, but things that would make it feel more like a full finish. Or maybe they'd just satisfy my endless curiosity. Eh.

1) Who became Minister after Scrimgeour died? We know Kingsley took over in the interim, but who came after? The Minister for Magic has, as we've seen by way of the snivelling and selectively-oblivious Fudge, a potential to make life horrible even without Voldemort around.

2) What job did Harry take on after all this was over? What career did he make for himself? Did he stay home to look after the children when they came along, or was that Ginny (somehow I just don't picture Ginny as a stay-at-home mother, even if I don't think much of her character)? We know Harry would be quite comfortable, financially, for quite a long time to come, but eventually that fortune would run down, especially with three children, and then what? I want to know what Harry made of himself!

3) What ever happened to Severus's body? The fact that it's not mentioned at all, that he's not placed with his fellow Order members in places of reverence for his great sacrifice within the Great Hall after Harry (and the rest of the Light crowd after the final duel where Harry reveals the truth to everyone) finds out he was working for them all along - this breaks my heart almost as much as his dying to begin with. I didn't expect a chapter dedicated to his funeral, but... leaving him there. It hurts to think of it (not least because of the place he's left, the Shrieking Shack of all places; a location of such horrible memories for him), even if they did gather him up later and it wasn't mentioned. It deserved to be mentioned, damnit. He deserved it!

I'm very much inclined to take the cynical view that J. K. simply didn't want to bother with him. She's never liked him, she in fact based him on a character of personal dislike, and she's always been confused by the fact that so many people love him so much. Screw you, J. K. We got him, even if you never will.

And besides, the open-endedness of this whole business does give the fanficcers a vast amount of room to move in regards to our dearly beloved snarky git. So while I'm sure you never did it on purpose, tah for that!

That's it at the moment. Still horrified that the series is over. Waiting for the fic to start trickling in. Need fic now! Argh!

-Apprentice. ♥