Read it (SPOILERS)

[Phyllis]

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"davewitley" <dfrankiswork at ...> wrote:

> Incoherent 5am ramblings here:
> 
> http://sageofgodalming.livejournal.com/65954.html

More later, when I have time (my kids are insisting I spend time with 
them today since I ignored them yesterday to read – go figure!), but 
I wanted to comment on a few things:

David:

<<Brilliant psychological move by JKR to off Hedwig so suddenly - I 
predict the fandom will feel that much more than Mad-Eye, etc.>>

I totally agree – I felt the loss of both Hedwig and Dobby much more 
than Mad-Eye or some of the other deaths.  I think it's because of 
how much Harry cared for them.  It was also really unexpected – we've 
all been speculating about who will die, but I don't think any of us 
thought it would be the non-humans.

I also thought it was lousy that Harry lost his only gift from Sirius 
(the Firebolt).

David:

<<Not convinced that this business of Harry being protected by Lily's 
sacrifice because it lives on in Voldemort works for me. Also my wand 
beats your wand because I got it by beating the guy that got your 
wand by beating the guy that had it first - WTF?>>

I was having trouble with that, too – I could see how it worked for 
Draco, since he took the elder wand from Dumbledore with a disarming 
charm, but I was struggling with how it worked for Harry, since he 
didn't actually take the elder wand from Draco – he took Draco's own 
hawthorn wand.

David:

<<Oh, was that baby meant to be Voldemort, or rather, the dead 
Horcrux from Harry?>>

I thought it was meant to signify the horrible creature Voldemort 
will become when he dies.  When Harry is trying to talk Voldemort 
into showing remorse so he can be spared, Harry tells him "I've seen 
what you'll be otherwise."

David:

<<Mrs Weasley is the next EO, based on her 'She is mine!' re 
Bellatrix.>>

I loved that (especially Molly calling Bellatrix a "bitch" – are 
these really books for children?!?), but thought it would have been 
more fitting for Neville to have killed her since she was the one who 
tortured his parents into insanity.  But Rowling doesn't seem to want 
to have any of the kids do an AK.

David:

<<Ginny's love for Harry has no thematic significance (and vice 
versa). On the whole, I'm glad, but it does leave her a marginal 
character in the end. It's the trio, the whole trio, and nothing but 
the trio when it counts.>>

Agree – that bugged me too, particularly as I was hoping for Ginny to 
do something brilliant to support my theory of her having 
extraordinary powers by being the seventh Weasley child for my 
Prophecy presentation :)

David:

<<It's also implicit in her opposition to capital punishment - no 
life is ever worth taking, and so, at the end, Voldemort has to be 
finished by his own actions, after a warning.>>

I liked that, too – before the release, I was wondering how Harry was 
supposed to finish Voldemort off, because I couldn't see how Rowling 
would let him cast an AK when she's made it clear that murder is the 
act of supreme evil. But then we see Harry casting the other two 
Unforgiveable Curses, so I thought that might be getting us ready for 
an AK at the end.  But I'm really glad she didn't have him cast an AK.

Kneasy:

<<Not enough main characters die>> 

Agree – if Harry wasn't to be a goner, I thought we'd lose someone 
really important (like Ron or Hagrid).  But perhaps Rowing thinks 
killing Dumbledore and Snape was enough.

Kneasy:

<< and that '19 years later.'  Ugh! Grisly.>>

Agree – I could have done without the epilogue.  I think Rowling 
probably felt a need to include that to avoid being pestered for a 
sequel to explain what Harry does with the rest of his life.

Mike, the Goat:

<<Second off: I'm really getting too old for all-nighters.>>

Completely agree, here – I got my book at midnight, fully intending 
to stay up all night so I could read it without interruption.  By 
4:30 a.m., I could no longer keep my eyes open!  Which meant I had to 
finish it next day, only to have my daughter demand that I make lunch 
for her when I was right on the brink of finding out what in the 
bloody hell the deathly hallows were. 

Question for Mike – were you pleased at the role Aberforth played, 
after all of these years of calling yourself Aberforth's Goat?

Cheers,
Phyllis