(no subject)

[songspinner]

Right. Sleep helps the coherency thing.

I was happy with the epilogue. I know many hated it, but it is a kids' book. Kids want to know that these characters grow up and are happy. Details like their jobs are left up to the imagination of the reader for a reason. I wanted to know that they had strong and happy partnerships with loved ones and had the joy of becoming parents. That normal life and family that Harry longed for, for so long.

Harry hitting that point where he just knows what he has to do, and that incredible scene with his parents, Sirius, and Remus...one of the bits that made me just take a deep breath and fight back tears. Beautiful stuff, especially the soft plea for them to stay with him when he went forward.

The scenes on the run were just as complex and awkward as I thought they'd be. Perfect. I liked the little details like the fact that they had to deal with being hungry and cold and tired, and that it affected them as much as the Horcrux.

Harry - I honestly thought he'd die. And so he did... It was a nice twist and good storytelling, I thought. I liked the final battle (wow, that's gonna be intense if they do it right on screen!) and his realizations. That last scene with Dumbledore was fascinating to me.

Snape - Huh. He was still a jerk, but at least we knew why, and it made him more tragic, actually, in my eyes. And speaking of eyes, that "Look at me" moment - it seemed the culmination of all those countless "your eyes are like your mother's" comments throughout the series that Harry kept getting. That made me cry a bit.

Ron - he grew up so much in this. From his focused attempts (albeit with the book Fred and George give him) to woo Hermione to returning to save Harry (a truly awesome scene in several senses of the word), the lad finally began to shine in his own right. Right from the beginning book, when he was willing to sacrifice himself on the chess board for Harry, we knew he was capable of this, but it was lovely to see it happen, and for Harry and Hermione to recognize it. A friend of mine said last night that she had gotten to the point in her reading w here Ron wasn't back yet, but she knew he'd be back soon. Total faith in it. :) All those detailed things he suddenly felt able to do in this book - close combat on broomsticks and on foot, pulling information out of his head - which proved that he had actually listened at school (or was that just listening to Hermione?), finding the strength to beat Riddle's illusions from the locket.

Neville - Wow. 'nuff said. Although I loved that he was the Chosen One anyway, just in a different sense. He had to take charge of the DA and eventually kill Nagini just like Ron had to rescue Harry and destroy that locket.

Luna - That painted ceiling was stunning. It was like JKR put into visuals what Luna usually does verbally - speaking uncomfortable thoughts because they need to be heard, except in this case, Luna was painting what she saw - that there was this group that had become linked. I wonder if she'll add herself now? (hmmm...plot bunny, damn it...)

Hermione - Brilliant as usual, but it was interesting seeing her question herself as well as Harry. Altering her parents' memories?! That took incredible strength for someone that young to do that, knowing that she had to do it to save them. I expected her to practially overplan for the search, but that stunned me. And Ron totally deserved that reaction. ;)

Molly Weasley - Rocks. Don't mess with Mom. Ever. We knew she had power - how else would there have been 20 spells running in that house simultaneously at any given moment?

Draco - I was really glad he didn't just suddenly join them - that wouldn't have rung true. But he was so broken and panicked and...gah. I loved his parents finally abandoning the battle to go find him, and his mother betraying Voldemort to do it. Yikes! Glad that he found someone and had a life - I loved the little nod of respect/acknowledgement he gave Harry coupled with the continued rivalry with Ron in that epilogue.

Professor McGonagall - Heh. Stampeding statues and desks and standing up to evil and evil's minions. Just what I expected. That moment when Harry hears her scream for him was just...wow.

Dean - I didn't expect that moment in the forest. Interesting twist, and made me worry for a bit there when Ted Tonks was murdered. All was better, though, when he came through that tunnel and hugged Sean. :)

Fred and George - Oh, boys. The radio show with Fred's sarcastic wit - perfect. The puns after George loses an ear and that being how Fred knows his twin will be okay. Insulting Percy to let him know he was welcome back to the family. Part of me wanted more of George, to know that he would be okay, but then I figured that we got one more moment when he was blasting a Death Eater into oblivion and that at least he was on his feet, and that this being the Weasley family, they'd love him and take good care of him. He did keep the Joke Shop business, right? 'Cause Fred would haunt him if he didn't. I can just see all the generations of Hogwarts kids going there on weekends, and the Potter and Weaseley kids getting free stuff to their parents' dismay and amusement...

Random question - Did Greyback bite Lavender or did Hermione stop him?

Comments

[dreamflower]

I agree with you on the Epilogue. I think JKR concentrated on the pairings for just the reasons you say--and perhaps, just perhaps, also to tweak the more rabid 'shippers' noses, as well, LOL! But the truth is, I'm glad that she didn't tell more of that intervening nineteen years: she really has left it up to the fandoms to discover/create their own answers there.

I also understand now why she's been so cagey about Harry's death: I think she planned this particular scenario from the beginning. While she dropped early hints that Harry would survive, she also refused to say he would not be killed...'nuff said. (Though I'm thinking a lot of people won't believe that.)

The minute I first saw Neville make his appearance I immediately thought: "Freddy Bolger!" LOL!

Fred, I hope, will totally haunt George anyway. I can quite see his hanging around as a ghost for the rest of George's life, anyhow!

[songspinner9.livejournal.com]

I kept seeing comments online about how George would be broken and never recover or something. And I was wondering why people weren't thinking that Fred would stay with him...if anyone was going to stick around it would be him. He'd probably only haunt the joke shop, though, so as not to upset his mother. :)

[dreamflower]

Hmm...would he avoid Molly? Or would she find his shade to be a bit of comfort, so to speak? After all, we must remember that the Wizarding World tends to have a very different idea of "dead" than the rest of us.

[songspinner9.livejournal.com]

Ah. Good point. Shows how tired I am. And I can see him causing gentle mischief once in a while to make her smile, as well.