Harry lives... OK? A few extra thoughts.

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 172776

One of the problems of being a UK member of the group is 
that things sometimes go into overdrive while I am asleep. 
Last night, I left the group at 22:27 BST to see to other more 
mundane matters when the newest message was 172288. 
When I came back on at about 06:50, 172577 had just hit 
the board! I've now just managed to catch up on almost 
500 messages by dint of skipping threads which don't grab 
me.

I got off smartly with a message 15 minutes after the floodgates 
opened on the subject of whose loss had affected members 
most. I have been quite intrigued by the fact that so many 
people share my view with the loss of Hedwig. Why? Perhaps 
because she was the first victim in the book. Perhaps because 
she was an innocent caught up in the events. Perhaps because 
she had been a faithful and supportive companion for Harry for 
six years; she had been locked in her cage, thrown around in 
the Anglia in COS and injured by the Ministry in OOTP. Slaughter 
of the innocent?

A second thought comes to me and that is: Which character or 
characters surprised you most in the book – perhaps because 
of a change in attitude or direction? Allow me to suggest some 
to get the ball rolling. Perhaps the most surprising for me was 
Kreacher. Here we had a surly, ancient pro-pureblood and 
insubordinate elf who often had to be dragged kicking and 
screaming to do what was wanted, who openly insulted 
half-bloods and Muggle-borns. With a little thought on Harry's 
part, he becomes a new person. 

Or Grindelwald. Perhaps not changed but converted from a 
shadowy figure of history into a living person – not necessarily 
nice but imaginable. And Dumbledore. I have never subscribed 
to the Puppetmaster! or ESE! ideas but I have occasionally 
suspected a measure of manipulation on his part but here we 
see him – warts and all – revealed as a man with hidden flaws 
and weaknesses.

But, strangely, one passage which leapt off the page at me was:
`Hands, softer than he had been expecting, touched Harry's face, 
pulled back an eyelid, crept beneath his shirt, down to his chest
and felt his heart. He could hear the woman's fast breathing, her
long hair tickled his face. He knew hat she could feel the steady 
pounding of life against his ribs.
"Is Draco alive? Is he in the castle?"
The whisper was barely audible; her lips were an inch from his 
ear, her head bent so low that her long hair shielded his face from 
the onlookers.
"Yes," he breathed back.
He felt the hand on his chest contract; her nails pierced him. Then 
it was withdrawn. She had sat up.
"He is dead!" Narcissa Malfoy called to the watchers.'
(DH "The Flaw in the Plan" p.581 UK edition)

After the confrontation between Narcissa and Harry in HBP, this 
really stood out. OK, we know from the "Spinners End" chapter of 
HBP that Narcissa was close – obsessively close – to her son and, 
as JKR goes on to remark:
`Narcissa knew that the only way she would be permitted to enter 
Hogwarts, and find her son, was as part of the conquering army. 
She no longer cared whether Voldemort won.'
(ibid. p.582)

I had always hoped that we might see some coming together of 
Draco and Harry, probably not buddies but at least acknowledging 
each other. We had seen the doubts in Draco's mind on the Tower 
in HBP and on a number of occasions in DH, he saw Draco apparently 
uneasy and unhappy when he was in Voldemort's mind. And Harry 
rescues him twice during the battle – as Ron forcibly reminds him. 
There is also the interesting sighting of Lucius; Lucius, who has 
never seemed to have a great love for his son. What do we see:
`He (Harry) saw Ron and Neville bringing down Fenrir Greyback, 
Aberforth stunning Rookwood, Arthur and Percy flooring Thicknesse 
and Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy running through the crowd, not 
even attempting to fight, screaming for their son.
(ibid. p.589)

Obviously, Draco gets through as confirmed by the epilogue. I 
wonder what happens to his parents. Another unanswered question?

What about your surprise over certain characters?

Just to finish totally OT. I wonder how the film makers will handle 
this book? Could be fun.

Geoff
(swinging between sadness and gladness; sad that the story's finished, 
glad that Harry's alive.)