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Jul. 22nd, 2007 12:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
geebsJust finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows around midnight. I prolly could've finished it sooner, but I purposely took a break or two even though the story was engrossing. I guess because once it was done, that would be it, so I was trying to delay that. And USA showed all the eps of Burn Notice so far this morning, which I had missed because I was across the pond, so I'm all caught up on that now. Its definitely an amusing show. And while Fiona has weird lips, that attitude of her's is kinda hott!
But back to the book. Its definitely the most action packed and thrilling of them all. The movie should definitely be exciting, though I'm guessing they have to make some cuts to trim it down to an acceptable length.
I'm satisfied with it. I know some people didn't like the ending, it was a little corny and saccharine. Its like Harry and Ginny and Ron and Hermione are together and they have kids all going to Hogwarts and everything's all nice and happy. But I was fine with it. Honestly, the only thing I didn't want happening was Ron, Hermione, or Ginny dying. I mean, R/H has been moving at a snail's pace, and I would've been so pissed if they never got together or finally got together only to have one or both die. And Harry's lost so many parental figures, it would be most uncool if he lost his lady love as well. I figured Harry wasn't gonna die-die since that would be prosaic, so I didn't worry about that. But those three didn't die, so the book already gets a check for that.
Anyways, as I said, lots of action, particularly at the Battle of Hogwarts. But geez, could more people die?! I mean, even right off the back Hedwig and Mad Eye buy it. Then poor Dobby. And Fred! And what the frak, Tonks has a kid, and then she and Lupin die in the big battle at the end?! And they don't even get a death scene, its like "Oh, BTW, Lupin and Tonks died." WTF?!!
I didn't expect Molly Weasley to be the one to defeat Bellatrix. Given what Bella did to Neville's parents, you'd think he'd be the one to get revenge. But he still gets to be a bad-ass. One of the leaders of the "resistance" at Hogwarts (along with Ginny and Luna) and then slaying Nagini? Oh, but I was amused by the fact that even though it was Harry tasked with destroying the remaining horcruxes, he didn't destroy any of the remaining ones himself. I mean, he destroyed the diary back in the 2nd book, but the rest were destroyed by the others. Dumbledore got the Gaunt ring back in Half Blood Prince, but in this book, Ron got the locket, Hermione the Hufflepuff cup, Crabbe the Ravenclaw tiara (unintentionally!), Neville Nagini, and ironically Voldemort destroying the last himself by resurrecting himself with Harry's blood in GoF and then "killing" him.
Getting to the locket, that's a scene I hope they don't omit in the movie, Ron destroying the locket, as that would be deliciously interesting to see- Ron thinking Harry/Hermione would actually have something going on. And ha, as the final nail in the coffin of those H/H-ers, Harry even says how both she and him think of themselves in a brother/sister way than anything else. But lots of good R/H stuff here.
And so all debate is over- Snape was indeed a double agent (or is that triple agent?) whose true loyalty was with Dumbledore! And he did lurve Lily Potter! Though I wasn't expecting them to have grown up together. Though as the roomie brought up to me, that does make sense. With them being in different houses, it would be hard for them to develop the friendship they had unless they saw each other outside of Hogwarts. He also correctly guessed at the end of last book that they grew up in the same neighborhood. So Petunia would've known Snape? And interesting, so her dislike of the magical world stems out of jealousy about not being magical like her sister? I actually felt kinda sorry for her at that point, particularly after reading about her writing the letter to Dumbledore asking to go to Hogwarts. Its like, aw, poor kid!
(Another "aw" moment, Harry checking out Luna's room and seeing the painting of him, Harry, Ron, Neville, and Ginny and the word "friends". And okay, the transformation of Kreacher was kinda heartwarming as well. Hermione accidentally leading the Death Eaters to Grimwauld place and them imagining Kreacher making them a dinner that they would never eat was a sad image though)
But getting back to Snape, that's one thing they left out of this latest movie that was kinda important. They show Harry seeing James bully Snape, but they don't show the next moment where Lily tries to help him out and he calls her a "mudblood" in anger. I think that's kinda important, because as they point out here, that's the point where Lily severs their friendship, and Snape's whole motivation for being the double/triple agent that he is was his love for Lily.
Anyways, again on the deaths. Hedwig and Dobby's were pretty sad. I mean, you feel sorry for Mad Eye, but he's a tough old warrior, he died in battle at least. Though Umbridge using his eye to overwatch Ministry folks was kinda perverse and its good Harry was able to steal it back. Fred was a shock, though with the number of Weasleys, you figured one of them was going to buy it. Though how odd that he was with Percy rather than George, which makes me wonder if George knew the moment his twin died. And they killed poor little Colin Creevey. And again, I'm peeved they don't even say how Lupin and Tonks died.
Oh, and the Elder Wand doesn't seem so great. And it obviously doesn't make the owner invincible! Or even unstoppable in a duel, as Dumbledore had won it in a duel. But all the other ways it passed hands, its like, okay, all the wand does is guarantee that any enemies won't fight you directly and will try to stab you in the back or cut your throat in your sleep rather than face your "invincible" wand. So what's the point? As they said, the invisibility cloak is by far the most useful one.
And I'm a little disappointed that Ginny didn't do more at the end. Its like the last few books, they built her up to be a damsel that doesn't need saving, and yeah we hear of some of her Hogwarts exploits with Luna and Neville (speaking of, honestly, Voldemort should've been suspicious of Snape when his punishment for their attempted theft of the Gryffindor sword was to send them in the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid! How is that really punishment for them?) but she doesn't even really contribute in the final battle. Well, unless you count her near death from Bellatrix's aveda kedavra spurring Molly into a rage (she did lose one child that day already).
But all in all, I liked it, and its kinda sad to see it all end.
But back to the book. Its definitely the most action packed and thrilling of them all. The movie should definitely be exciting, though I'm guessing they have to make some cuts to trim it down to an acceptable length.
I'm satisfied with it. I know some people didn't like the ending, it was a little corny and saccharine. Its like Harry and Ginny and Ron and Hermione are together and they have kids all going to Hogwarts and everything's all nice and happy. But I was fine with it. Honestly, the only thing I didn't want happening was Ron, Hermione, or Ginny dying. I mean, R/H has been moving at a snail's pace, and I would've been so pissed if they never got together or finally got together only to have one or both die. And Harry's lost so many parental figures, it would be most uncool if he lost his lady love as well. I figured Harry wasn't gonna die-die since that would be prosaic, so I didn't worry about that. But those three didn't die, so the book already gets a check for that.
Anyways, as I said, lots of action, particularly at the Battle of Hogwarts. But geez, could more people die?! I mean, even right off the back Hedwig and Mad Eye buy it. Then poor Dobby. And Fred! And what the frak, Tonks has a kid, and then she and Lupin die in the big battle at the end?! And they don't even get a death scene, its like "Oh, BTW, Lupin and Tonks died." WTF?!!
I didn't expect Molly Weasley to be the one to defeat Bellatrix. Given what Bella did to Neville's parents, you'd think he'd be the one to get revenge. But he still gets to be a bad-ass. One of the leaders of the "resistance" at Hogwarts (along with Ginny and Luna) and then slaying Nagini? Oh, but I was amused by the fact that even though it was Harry tasked with destroying the remaining horcruxes, he didn't destroy any of the remaining ones himself. I mean, he destroyed the diary back in the 2nd book, but the rest were destroyed by the others. Dumbledore got the Gaunt ring back in Half Blood Prince, but in this book, Ron got the locket, Hermione the Hufflepuff cup, Crabbe the Ravenclaw tiara (unintentionally!), Neville Nagini, and ironically Voldemort destroying the last himself by resurrecting himself with Harry's blood in GoF and then "killing" him.
Getting to the locket, that's a scene I hope they don't omit in the movie, Ron destroying the locket, as that would be deliciously interesting to see- Ron thinking Harry/Hermione would actually have something going on. And ha, as the final nail in the coffin of those H/H-ers, Harry even says how both she and him think of themselves in a brother/sister way than anything else. But lots of good R/H stuff here.
And so all debate is over- Snape was indeed a double agent (or is that triple agent?) whose true loyalty was with Dumbledore! And he did lurve Lily Potter! Though I wasn't expecting them to have grown up together. Though as the roomie brought up to me, that does make sense. With them being in different houses, it would be hard for them to develop the friendship they had unless they saw each other outside of Hogwarts. He also correctly guessed at the end of last book that they grew up in the same neighborhood. So Petunia would've known Snape? And interesting, so her dislike of the magical world stems out of jealousy about not being magical like her sister? I actually felt kinda sorry for her at that point, particularly after reading about her writing the letter to Dumbledore asking to go to Hogwarts. Its like, aw, poor kid!
(Another "aw" moment, Harry checking out Luna's room and seeing the painting of him, Harry, Ron, Neville, and Ginny and the word "friends". And okay, the transformation of Kreacher was kinda heartwarming as well. Hermione accidentally leading the Death Eaters to Grimwauld place and them imagining Kreacher making them a dinner that they would never eat was a sad image though)
But getting back to Snape, that's one thing they left out of this latest movie that was kinda important. They show Harry seeing James bully Snape, but they don't show the next moment where Lily tries to help him out and he calls her a "mudblood" in anger. I think that's kinda important, because as they point out here, that's the point where Lily severs their friendship, and Snape's whole motivation for being the double/triple agent that he is was his love for Lily.
Anyways, again on the deaths. Hedwig and Dobby's were pretty sad. I mean, you feel sorry for Mad Eye, but he's a tough old warrior, he died in battle at least. Though Umbridge using his eye to overwatch Ministry folks was kinda perverse and its good Harry was able to steal it back. Fred was a shock, though with the number of Weasleys, you figured one of them was going to buy it. Though how odd that he was with Percy rather than George, which makes me wonder if George knew the moment his twin died. And they killed poor little Colin Creevey. And again, I'm peeved they don't even say how Lupin and Tonks died.
Oh, and the Elder Wand doesn't seem so great. And it obviously doesn't make the owner invincible! Or even unstoppable in a duel, as Dumbledore had won it in a duel. But all the other ways it passed hands, its like, okay, all the wand does is guarantee that any enemies won't fight you directly and will try to stab you in the back or cut your throat in your sleep rather than face your "invincible" wand. So what's the point? As they said, the invisibility cloak is by far the most useful one.
And I'm a little disappointed that Ginny didn't do more at the end. Its like the last few books, they built her up to be a damsel that doesn't need saving, and yeah we hear of some of her Hogwarts exploits with Luna and Neville (speaking of, honestly, Voldemort should've been suspicious of Snape when his punishment for their attempted theft of the Gryffindor sword was to send them in the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid! How is that really punishment for them?) but she doesn't even really contribute in the final battle. Well, unless you count her near death from Bellatrix's aveda kedavra spurring Molly into a rage (she did lose one child that day already).
But all in all, I liked it, and its kinda sad to see it all end.
