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ford
Ford .
Jul 30, 2007 6:26 PM
Edited by mod: Possible SPOILER WARNING for those who haven't read the book.

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Thoughts? Opinons?
Icon John
John miller
Jul 30, 2007 7:03 PM
i enjoyed the book, though it wasn't my favorite of the series. I really hated the epilogue b/c of the vagueness of it all. I also wish the death of ole voldy was a little more climatic. Jo has already announced a new encyclopedia that will give detail about everything in the wizarding world that she has created and i'm looking forward to that.
kingphilbert
Philip Barket
Jul 30, 2007 7:19 PM
You should grab this weeks Entertainment Weekly for a little more insight into the Epiloque. I was fine with his death. He was too boastful and arrogant and didn't deserve anything more than humiliation. I particularly liked the ending to close it all out. It was a more in depth look at their life down the line than just saying "They all lived happily ever after" without giving too much away.

As far the whole of the book, she did a good job frustrating me as Harry, Ron and Hermione were themselves frustrated, running in circles and not knowing what to do next in their little mission. When things got moving though it picked up ten fold. Props to Neville and Kreacher for stepping up their game. Even Dobby.

The flashbacks of Snape's memories were fantastic as well, though a little rushed of a way to get all that out. But I guess it couldn't have been done at any better time.

The only thing that keeps coming back to me are Malfoy's actions and those of his family. Were they fed up with and wanted to rid the world of the Dark Lord too? Draco knew well that was Ron and Hermione Fenrir had brought them yet he kept saying he couldn't be sure as if he wanted them to be free and continue what they were doing to rid the world of Voldermort. Though later he tries to cash Harry in for the prize when it seems as though Voldy may win. And his mother siding with Harry and saying he was dead to keep anything he may do a surprise knowing her son is still alive. No one did anything to them at the end of the battle and of course Malfoy is still around in the epiloque then.
The2ndSaint
Michael Blayney
Jul 30, 2007 10:56 PM
Loved the book, loved the series. Thought it was pretty cool that Voldemort's arrogance was his undoing; it wouldn't have been right for Harry to kill him directly. I even enjoyed the epilogue because it lets you fill in the blanks yourself.

And Malfoy? He's a self-serving prat who got in way over his head. His actions throughout the book were centered around self-preservation; not so much evil as pragmatic.
Icon John
John miller
Jul 31, 2007 8:18 AM
mugglenet.com has several interviews from Jo that goes into detail about information that wasn't presented in the book.
ford
Ford .
Jul 31, 2007 6:22 PM
My random, incoherent thoughts.

Just after I'd finished Half-Blood Prince, I was talking about our theories with a girl I worked with...and she said that Snape and Dumbledore had organised for Snape to kill Dumbledore. In the book, Rowling wrote a line saying something like 'Snape looked into Dumbledore's eyes' right before killing him, and this girl had guessed that this meant Dumbledore had used Occlumency up on the tower telling Snape to kill him. I agreed with her, but as I got into The Deathly Hallows it looked more and more to me that Snape really was bad. Since Snape is hardly in TDH, there's not a lot to take from him, regarding his allegiances, but up until Harry jumped into the pensieve, I was still not convinced that Snape was a good guy. (And what a tragic life Snape lead, poor bastard. There's nothing worse than unrequited love. Oh, that is, unless your absolute nemsis marries her, shags her and they pop out a kid. And then your evil boss kills her. That'd suck. AND THEN HE KILLS YOU! WITH A SNAKE!)

I found it tough getting through the Harry/Hermione/Ron on-the-run, camping saga. It was just going nowhere.

I'm still a bit confused with what The Deathly Hallows actually do? At the end, when Harry goes to meet his death from Voldermort, he had his Cloak, the Stone and Malfoy's wand...so he had all three with him. Does that explain why he didn't die from the Killing Curse? I also read on wikipedia that the reason Harry wasn't killed by Voldemort was because of the two-fold connection between Harry and Voldermort, (the first being the part of Voldemort's soul in Harry) and the second using Harry's blood in Voldemort's resurrection meant Harry wouldn't die while Voldermort still lived? Does this mean for his entire life up til Voldemort dies, Harry was immune to the killing curse? Was Harry as invincible as Voldemort? Interesting.

We didn't get to see George's reaction to the death of Fred. To depressing for the kids? Probably. Because the grief poor George would go through would be immense.

The Elder Wand. I take it that it passes from wand to wand, the power? Because Malfoy kept his own wand after he'd disarmed Dumbledore. I don't think that was properly explained, was it? I assumed (and I think Voldemort did too, which was his mistake) that it was an actual wand, hence he busted into Dumbledore's tomb to steal 'it'.

Harry and Dumbledore having that conversation reminded me of Neo and the Indian fella at the start of The Matrix Revolutions.

I regularly stumble down Tottenham Court Road drunk yelling things out at teenage girls.

Hmmm...reading through it I was a bit underwhelmed, but the ending is quite good. I'll probably have to re-read the last third of the book again just to get my head around it. I also agree with some thoughts here on the epilogue. It was just a little too perfect for me, a little too easy. Call me a cynic, but it very rarely happens that you marry your childhood/teenage sweetheart, and even rarer that you stay together to have a functional family. But I say taht because I'm bitter; it was a sweet ending, but I feel sorry for Harry's second son. James is alright, he got a normal name. But Albus Severus Potter? The kid is going to get some severe beatings. And didn't Ginny get any say whatsoever in the naming of their children? They're all very Harry-centirc. Selfish.

Also, here's an interesting article expandind on the epilogue, what Harry, Ron and Hermione etc are up to.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19959323/
Icon John
John miller
Jul 31, 2007 8:20 PM
focusing on your paragraph asking about if harry was invincible to the killing curse; I believe that harry was invisible to the killing curse until the horcrux that was part of harry was destroyed. Having the three hallows just meant that harry was the rightful death master and able to wield all three objects and become the true death master since he accepted death and voldy did not.
ford
Ford .
Aug 1, 2007 3:59 PM
What exactly did being the death master mean?? That's one thing I still dont grasp...the Hallows. What do they give the wielder?
Fezzik1071
Ben Schmizzle
Aug 7, 2007 9:49 PM
I don't think the hallows actually do anything. The wand isn't actually unbeatable because Dumbledore took it from Grindelwald. But it's weird because the stone actually works. So I am confused too.

Why didn't Fred get anybody named after him? The twins were awesome, and Fred got gypped.
kingphilbert
Philip Barket
Aug 7, 2007 10:17 PM
The Elder Wand. I take it that it passes from wand to wand, the power? Because Malfoy kept his own wand after he'd disarmed Dumbledore. I don't think that was properly explained, was it?
Malfoy never had the Elder Wand. Only it's allegiance as he had successfully disarmed Dumbledore before Snape killed him. Dumbledore may have done this on purpose, allowing Malfoy to disarm him passing the wand to him. The wand stayed with Dumbledore until Voldermort took it then. However, it would only act as a normal wand for Voldermort along the whole "the wand choose you" theory. It would never be it's most powerful for him. In essence the allegiance of the wand had then passed to Harry as he defeated Malfoy, even though Malfoy never held the Elder Wand.

As far as all 3 Hallows go, who knows what one could do with them all. I think it more played on morality and them being used and missused over years to different effects in the wizarding world. Harry would have used them to combat death, though he knew enough not to have all three of them for what they can do to a man's judgement. Where as Voldermort would have wanted them all and would have used the to bring death upon all.

There's an article dedicated to the Hallows themselves as well: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deathly_Hallows_%28objects%29
kingphilbert
Philip Barket
Aug 7, 2007 10:20 PM
They have the extended epiloque items on wikipedia as well:

Rowling's commentary and supplement

In an interview5 and online chat,267 Rowling gave additional information on the futures of the main characters that she chose not to include in the epilogue of the book.

Harry became an Auror and later head of the Aurors' department, under Kingsley's recommendation. He owns Sirius's bike, which Arthur Weasley fixed up for him. He is married to Ginny. Because of the destruction of the piece of Voldemort's soul that resided in him, Harry can no longer speak Parseltongue.

Ron worked for a time with George at their store, Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, and eventually became an Auror. He is married to Hermione.

Hermione began a career at the Ministry of Magic at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, and greatly improved life for house-elves and their ilk, but later moved to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; she helped ensure the eradication of oppressive, pro-pureblood laws. She is married to Ron. She also found her parents and removed the memory modification charm she put on them.

Luna Lovegood has become a naturalist of sorts, searching the world for odd and unique creatures. She eventually marries Rolf, the grandson of Newt Scamander.7

Ginny Weasley played for the Holyhead Harpies Quidditch team for a time, then left her athletic career behind for marriage and family with Harry. She eventually becomes the lead Quidditch correspondent for the Daily Prophet.

George Weasley runs his joke shop with Ron, with great success. He names his first child Fred, after his late twin brother.

Slytherin has become more diluted, and is no longer the pureblood bastion it once was. Nevertheless, its dark reputation lingers.

Voldemort's jinx on the Defense Against the Dark Arts position was broken with his death, and there is a permanent (unnamed) DADA teacher. Professor McGonagall, who was briefly the interim Headmistress, did not assume the position after Snape. An unnamed Headmaster was appointed.

Firenze was welcomed back into his herd, who acknowledge that his pro-human leanings were not shameful, but honourable.

Kingsley Shacklebolt became the Minister for Magic, with Percy Weasley working under him as a high official.

As part of the changes introduced by Kingsley Shacklebolt, Azkaban no longer uses Dementors. As a result, England is now a "much sunnier place."

Dolores Umbridge was arrested, interrogated, and imprisoned for crimes against Muggleborns.

The Quibbler has returned to its usual condition of "advanced lunacy", and is appreciated for its unintentional humour.

 
 
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