Below are some of my initial reactions to finishing Dealthy Hallows, read with caution and enjoy! I will be back with regular content and updates soon (hopefully tonight), I have two lists allready filled, and I’m working on a third, so expect more blog posts soon!
I just came up from finishing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by the edge of
I’ll probably have to jump into some spoiler’s below, so read with caution after the break (click “Read More…” to continue the article).
I’m going to eventually reread the book- that is for sure, although for right now, I have some other reading I would like to get to, so some of the things that I mention below might be off, it usually takes a few readings to get all the information from the Harry Potter books.
I was impressed at the sheer amount of information inside the volume. I remember stopping after about 100 pages and realizing two things: one, how incredibly dark the book was, and two, being so overwhelmed by the vast amount of information that I was trying to absorb.
I was a bit disappointed by a lot of the ending, Harry coming back to life (although the more I think about this aspect, the more I like it, especially how it fits in with Harry’s mother) and the fact that he was the last Horcrux. Him being a horcrux felt like a cop out to me, but I understand that it fits with the whole series and how it all fits together. I did have to go back and reread sections a few times though to gather all the information about the ending to make it make sense in my head. Although if I had my copy of Half Blood Prince, I’d be flipping through that as well, but I’ll have to wait until I get home to do so.
As far as Snape being good, it worked well, and like I said in my previous post, it could have easily gone either way, and Rowling did a good job writing it in a way in which it could. While my gut still said he was bad (and his actions during the book, barring the scenes from his memory, did show a dark side of Snape), it still worked out well with him being good.
I was totally shocked to read Percy’s return, but it was a nice shock (once it wore off and I could continue reading that paragraph which I kept going back over). Molly (wobbles) also surprised me a bit with her ferocity, but it made for an amazing scene. Another character who surprised me greatly was McGonnogal, not only her ferocity (and ability to transfigure a charging herd of desks), but also the ease at which she cast the Imperius Curse.
I think though, that was one of Rowling’s main point, as she and Harry both cast unforgiveable curses (usually) without a second thought. The fact that war and conflict can bring that out in good people was something I think Rowling wanted to examine.
I was very sad to see Tonks and Lupin die, I wasn’t expecting both to be killed, and I was really hoping for Lupin, as he was one of my favorite characters, but oh well I suppose, nothing can really be done about it!
I was very surprised that Hagrid made it through, I was expecting him to die, especially as he was carried out by the giant spiders, but it was a good surprise.
I did like the fact that everyone came back for the last fight, I had been wondering about Trewlawny for a while as I was reading, so I was very happy to see that she was there, throwing crystal balls at the Death Eaters.
Many of my friends will be happy now that the two couples had the chance to go off and “make lots and lots of babies” as they so often said (my friends, not the book).
I was sort of close with what I thought the Hallows were…Hallows, Horcruxes, Hallows, Horcruxes…two paths, I liked this comparison very much.
One of the things I liked the most about the book was the fact that Rowling worked in a lot of the arguments and discussions that the fans had been talking about: the death of Dubmledore, Snape being a vampire and others. Being able to put them in there through the characters’ dialogue was genius, and offered a good laugh.
And as dark as the book was, there were many moments when I was laughing out loud, and for those I was grateful. Peeves was great, as were the twins. And speaking of Peeves, I was hoping to see more of Nearly Headless Nick and the other ghosts, in particular The Fat Friar, as he really didn’t have much of a part in any of the books (I’m also very partial to Hufflepuff, and was hoping for more on their part, but this one turned into a Ravenclaw-centric book for a bit, just like Goblet of Fire did with Hufflepuff, so I guess I can’t complain…too much).
Another point that I’d like to hear people’s comments on is the Dumbledore/Rowling relationship. For as long as I can remember, she has usually said that Dumbledore is her favorite character because she can speak through him the easiest and that he is like her the most. Could part of his story be Rowling trying to ease her conscious? Maybe Rowling never liked children but had a turn of heart, maybe she never meant to write for children, but fate brought her to this place? It may be a long shot, it may be totally off the mark and even a bit mean to think, but it could be there as well, who knows.
We didn’t see someone use magic late in life who hadn’t until that point, which was disappointing. Nor did we find out about the letters between Dumbledore and Petunia. I also felt a bit confused about the scene at “Kings Cross” when Dubmledore said it was “Harry’s party.” The only thing I could think of would be his death day party, but I’m a little fuzzy on that detail.
I really am hoping that we find out the answers to these questions, and the others that I’m sure that I’ve forgotten about. Like I’ve said before, it would be great if Rowling publishes a sort of encyclopedia/history, especially under the title “Hogwarts, A History,” which she did taunt us with a few times in Deathly Hallows, so I think it may happen.
On a related note, but not strictly about the story itself, the book Deathly Hallows has some remarkable features (besides that my edition looked like it was printed poorly, it has all kinds of stray marks on most pages): the seven part dedication was wonderful, as was the two quotes at the beginning, although they caught my attention, as Rowling has never put quotes in the front of the book. Those dark quotes, along with the very simple inside book jacket (something along the lines of “We now proudly present the seventh and final installment in the Harry Potter series) gave the entire book a very eerie sense, a dark and foreboding aura around it. While the other books’ jackets had a quick synopsis and an enticing blurb, I think the simple introduction served its purpose excellently, I was glad to not have anything spoiled
I’m still a bit confused about the cover: Harry still has his scar and he was never in a coliseum type of building surrounded by Death Eaters while fighting Voldemort. He was in the forest, certainly, but I’m still confused (although I did like the orange motif to it). But again, chances are I missed something that I’ll catch when I reread it (for a while, I had forgotten Snape had died and I kept having to remind myself that he wouldn’t just jump out and save Harry, seeing as all the other clichés had happened that I didn’t want to, I didn’t put it past Rowling to do that).
I do have to say though, that I am really proud of myself for keeping myself spoiler free before finishing the book. I tried not to talk about the fact that I was reading it in case someone would have accidentally blurted out spoilers, and I also tried to cut myself off from most news sources, just in case. I did accidentally find out that “Albus’s middle name was Severus,” which confused me, until the Epilogue of the book, but other than that, I read the book without any spoilers in my head.
All in all, it was a wonderful journey, and I loved every step of it. It was great as well, to see the excitement that a book could cause, the hordes of people wanting to read again. Hopefully that trend can continue, although I fear anything Rowling does in the future will be compared unfairly to the Potter series. But nevertheless, I’m happy to have come this route, and am grateful to have had Potter to escape to.
