Nothing earthshattering - just my initial impressions

[Shaun Hately]

No: HPFGUIDX 172356

The first thing I need to say is that JKR made me cry. Not until the very 
end, but she did it.

'Albus Severus,' Harry said quietly, so that nobody but Ginny could hear, 
and she was tactful enough to pretend to be waving to Rose, who was now on 
the train, 'you were named for two Headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was 
a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew.

I wanted to believe in Snape, as I read the books. And I wanted Harry to be 
able to do the same.

Another great moment for me is similar - as somebody who must in all honesty 
say he was probably a lot like Percy as a kid.

'I was a fool!' Percy roared, so loudly that Lupin nearly dropped his 
photograph, 'I was an idiot, I was a pompous prat, I was a -'

'Ministry-loving, family-disowning, power-hungry moron' said Fred.

Percy swallowed.

'Yes, I was!'

'Well, you can't say fairer than that,' said Fred, holding out his hand to 
Percy.

I wanted to see Percy come back to his family - and, to me, I also loved to 
see Fred in that moment. The Weasley twins. Quick to anger. Quick to 
forgive.

I was also to see in the epilogue, Draco standing with his children on the 
platform - obviously not a friend to Harry and the others, but still able to 
acknowledge them, as they seem to acknowledge him. I was a victim of very 
severe bullying as a child, and I had to deal with kids every bit as nasty 
as Draco... and no child should be condemned for the crimes of their 
childhood. I could never be friends with those who harmed me - but I hope 
they came out the right way.

And Neville... Neville proved to me that if the prophecy had fallen to him, 
he could have done it. I doubted him for nearly five books, until he 
revealed a strength I could not imagine at the end of Order of the Phoenix. 
And he showed that strength was real, when he did what only a true 
Gryffindor could do, and drew that sword.

Other great moments - Harry, reflecting on Hogwarts as a home, seeing a 
school as a place like that is something I can relate to, sad as it may seem 
to some.

And, another powerful moment.

No!

The scream was the more terrible because he had never expected or dreamed 
that Professor McGonagall could make such a sound.

I love moment where something seems to give Harry back a semblence of 
family - and hearing his Head of House - the person most responsible for his 
welfare while at school, react with such grief to his death is such a 
moment.

That's it for now.

Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought
Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html
(ISTJ)       | drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200
"You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one
thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the
facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be
uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that
need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who: The Face of Evil
Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia