Book Seven: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Okay, here are all the posts from the DCN members who have finished the book so far. Please feel free to post new comments at the bottom:

From Rick:

Okay,

Now we can talk! What does everyone think? I loved it!!

I was sure Harry was the 7th Horcrux before I started, and I’m thrilled that Snape turned out good. I guess I was wrong about Sirius coming back though. I loved how it ended, but dang, she sure killed off some folks, didn't she? I‚m really bummed about Fred and Tonks, not to mention Dobby. I knew some folks would go down, but dang.

And I agree with what Kaitlin wrote me back just now, “I can’t believe it’s all over”

So what do y’all think?

-rp

P.S. I‚m about to go to bed, so I may not answer until tomorrow.

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From Christy:

Kaitlin totally called Harry being the 7th Horcrux after the last book!! I had forgotten about that and was taken by surprise. I had a feeling that Snape had to be good- he was the character in which the whole theme of light vs. dark played out the most vividly and tragically. His death scene was heartbreaking- thanks, Kait for pointing out that he wanted to see Lily's eyes as he died. Man. I loved Neville's heroism and his grandmother's pride in him. Molly Wesley's duel with Bellatrix was one of the highlights of the series for me. But losing Fred, oh man, why one of the twins? Too many deaths.....One of my favorite characters was Lupin, and I was crushed when he died, but he always did seemed doomed. I was glad he and Tonks went out together. Hedwig, Dobby, Colin Creevy- I have never been able to bear it when the very young and/or animals died, and even though Dobby was neither of those, he seemed so childlike and innocent.
So, Lisa asked a good question: what did the flayed, whimpering child under the chair in the Kings Cross station represent?
And how interesting that Rowling has Harry and Tom Riddle both be descendants of the Peverells.

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From Kay:

Hi all,

I loved the book; I loved the series.

I believe the “whimpering child” was the part of Voldemort’s soul that was severed from Harry when Harry thought he had died to save his friends. That’s why neither Harry nor Dumbledore could save it. (I say “it” because I do not think of it as a whole person, just part of an evil soul.)

One of my favorite aspects of the series was J.K.’s use of threads (story lines) that ran throughout the series. Early on, I believe in book one when discussing house assignment, Dumbledore told Harry that “our choices” define who we are. And in the end, Harry had to choose between taking a train to go “on” and going back to the battle to help his friends. In short, it was the choice between what was right and what was easy. I loved it. And I loved the thread that showed over and over that friendship and love will not make you live forever but will make life better. They will give you defenses against those who will never understand the comfort of a friend or the strength behind love. For example: Mrs. Weasley’s love for her children = Her ability to battle Bellatrix.

(I really need to finish my first cup of coffee before typing. Ha!)

Kay

P.S. I didn’t get Lisa’s HP email.

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From Rick:

I cried the most when Harry told his son (Albus Sererus) in the last chapter he "...was named after two headmasters at Hogwarts. One was a Slytherin, and probably the bravest man he ever knew." Dang, I get teary eyed just writing that now!

I too liked Lupin a lot, but I figured him for being a goner pretty early on. I hated to see it, but wasn't too surprised. Pam was pretty upset about Dobby too. I could have really done without Fred getting killed. Thank God she kept the core folks alive though!

I loved it when Mrs. Weasley went into a rage. My chest welled up at that point.

I agree with Kay, that the thing under the chair was the fragment of soul from Voldemort. I also loved how Harry would only call him Tom Riddle in front of everyone at their final showdown.

Here's a question: Ron and Hermione named their children Rose and Hugo (if I remember correctly). Can anyone tell me if those names go back to anyone in the book the way Harry and Ginny's kids' names do?

All I can say is, I FREAKIN' LOVED IT!!!!!!! J.K. Rowling ROCKS!!

-rp

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From Christy:

I love reading y'alls comments. I have stayed away from all possible sources of chatter about Harry until just this week, except for the emails between Kay and Lisa, so I was ready to dig into it.

I agree with y'all about the whimpering child being what was fragmented from Voldemort's soul.

I went online last night and read the interview that Rowling did with Meredith Veira at MSNBC. A couple of her comments were very interesting. Rowling said that she had originally planned to kill Arthur Weasley in book 5, but at the last minute decided to swap him out for two other major characters who would die in book 7- Lupin and Tonks. She said that she kept Arthur because he was the only good father in the whole series and she wanted Harry to retain at least one father figure since the rest would die trying to save his life.

She also said that she did the epilogue specifically to show that Teddy Lupin had turned out ok- that he had a good life, because his story was the echo of Harry's- where his parents both died when he was young, fighting for a cause.

She also said that she didn't want to answer every single question about what happened to various characters- which had been one of my burning questions: what jobs did Harry, Ron, and Hermione end up doing; but that she had always imagined that Harry and Ron were aurors and Hermione was in charge of magical law enforcement and they had all cleaned up these offices.

Her comments about all the deaths were great, too. She wanted to show that no one was safe when a person like Voldemort decided to take power- a definite political analogy. She said people would plead with her not to kill certain characters, particularly Hagrid, but that she knew certain ones had to die for the story to make sense, and that the death toll would be high by the end. She did say that she had always planned to have Hagrid walk out of the forest carrying Harry, though.

I don't know about a reference for the names Rose and Hugo, Rick. I will ask my encyclopedia boy when he gets home from work.

I also loved the choice theme, Kay. I have used the Harry Potter books so many times to make a point when discussing/arguing with the kids or Dave. My girls both gave me my favorite compliment of all time after they finished the book when they each told me that the scene where Molly Weasley duels Bellatrix reminded them of me- that they both know I would always do battle for them. Happy glow around me now.

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From Lisa:

I started crying when Dobby died and didn't stop until the end of the book. When Harry realizes that he has to die to destroy the last horcrux, I was sobbing and he described what he thought were the last minutes of his life. Jordan walked through the living and said, just great. I told her that I wasn't giving anything away except that parts were sad.

Oh, and I'll admit I thought Snape was evil and I had no idea that Harry would be a horcrux. I had a friend who guessed that one of twins would die, but the surviving twin wouldn't say who he really was so the family wouldn't know which twin actually died. I thought that would be have been interesting so when one twin died, I was prepared.

Christy and I exchanged emails once we realized we had both finished the book. I agree with you that I think the baby was the part of Lord V in Harry.

I loved it that Harry was protected because his mother died protecting him.

I love Edmund Burke's statement (paraphrased) that for evil to prevail, all that must happen is that good men do nothing. This goes with Kay's statement about choices people make: the hard but right one, or the easy but not right one. I think it was important for her to show that when good men fight evil, sometimes the cost is high (your life). I think I made a comment to Christy about it reminding me of the Nazi's. That was why I made that comment.

I thought Rose was Hermione's mother's name or the fake name she gave her when they fled overseas. I haven't a clue about Hugo.

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From Rick:

That’s good to hear what Rowling said. It was making me crazy not knowing what careers they had chosen. I knew Ron and Harry wanted to be Aurors, but I wondered how important the role of Aurors would have been after the fall of Voldemort. I figured Hermione as maybe a professor at the school at least. At least we found out what Neville became. I’m glad she spared Arthur. I really kept thinking he might get killed right up until the end.

Well, now we just have the rest of the movies to wait for. I haven’t seen Order of the Phoenix yet, but I saw the trailer, and I have to say they didn’t make Umbridge ugly enough. I recognized Bellatrix Lestrange right away though.

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From Christy:

Helena Bonham Carter was so perfectly cast as Bellatrix! Her part was small but exquisite. Also, Alan Rickman is the other perfectly cast part as Snape. I think his role in movie #7 will be devastating. Such a great actor.

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From Rick:

That’s funny about Jordon walking past. It sounds like something I would have said.

Just like you, Pam noticed the meaning of Snape wanting Harry to look him in the face right away. She pointed it out to me later. VERY moving. I’m sorry I had not picked up on that right away.

Also, I never guessed who the doe Patronus belonged to right up until it was revealed. I was deeply moved by that. I think it would have been a nice touch if Snape had a portrait hanging in the headmaster’s office when Harry went back in with Ron and Hermione after the battle.

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From Christy:

The portrait in the headmaster's office is an interesting issue. I wondered in book six why Dumbledore's portrait did not appear right away, when Harry really needed to talk with him. So, I am guessing that there is some sort of time constraint before the portrait is occupied by the spirit of the deceased. So, clearly Snape's portrait at some point would be animated and be able to converse with Dumbledore's and others. I assume the next headmaster would be McGonagall, so she could let Snape know that his courage meant something. A consolation of sorts for his courage, that the surviving people at Hogwarts could pay homage to Snape at long last.

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From Kaitin:

The whole Snape thing just killed me, I suspected it was his patronus and that he was helping Harry along, though I didn't pick up on it being because of lily or that he was doing so on direct orders from Dumbledore. I always knew that there was a reason for Rowling mentioning so many times that Harry had his mothers eyes so when Snape said it I just broke down.

Fred took me totally by surprise I couldn't read for a while cause I couldn't see and I didn't stop crying til the end. Harry thoughts after coming out of the pensieve were what got to me the worst, how he just walked right by Ginny and everyone, like he was already gone, and asking does it hurt then Sirius and Lupin responding the way they did. Even though I already suspected Harry was the horcrux and would have to die, I didn't realize til then how just horrible it would have been.