I was so happy when Professor M. (can't spell it) finds Harry in the Ravenclaw Tower. I missed her!
And her emotion at seeing Harry's body!
And herding the Attack Desks!
Oh! And Prof. Trelawney dropping crystal balls on Death Eaters!
Well, look at you. All dressed up in big sister's clothes.
Faith ,'End of Days'
The Buffista Book Club: the Harry Potter iteration
This thread is a focused discussion group. Please see the first post below for the current topic and upcoming book discussions. While natter will inevitably happen, we encourage you to treat this like a virtual book club and try to keep your posts in that spirit.
By consensus, this thread is reopened specifically to discuss Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It will be closed again once that discussion has run its course.
***SPOILER ALERT***
Steph L. - Jul 22, 2007 2:18:07 pm PDT #1406 of 3301
Unusually and exceedingly peculiar and altogether quite impossible to describe
Ginger - Jul 22, 2007 2:24:11 pm PDT #1407 of 3301
"It didn't taste good. It tasted soooo horrible. It tasted like....a vodka martini." - Matilda
I may have skipped past, but was there an explanation for the Centaurs' change of heart? And I got confused...Aragog's children fought on which side?
Aragog's children were fighting for Voldemort, although there was some indication they had been driven from their nest, so there may have been some coercion there. Of course, they were just mean anyway. After Harry "died," Hagrid yelled at the centaurs and called them cowards for not joining the fight.
ChiKat - Jul 22, 2007 2:27:08 pm PDT #1408 of 3301
That man was going to shank me. Over an omelette. Two eggs and a slice of government cheese. Is that what my life is worth?
was there an explanation for the Centaurs' change of heart?
I believe it was Hagrid shaming them into action as he carried away Harry's body. But that is my own interpretation. I don't think anything was explicitly stated.
And I got confused...Aragog's children fought on which side?
Voldemort's. The Death Eaters wrangled them into the fight.
I love Neville. He as been my fav. character for a long time now and I am so glad he got to have his Big Damn Hero moment. I agree with others who said they want some stories about Neville the Resistance Leader.
Steph L. - Jul 22, 2007 2:29:11 pm PDT #1409 of 3301
Unusually and exceedingly peculiar and altogether quite impossible to describe
When Harry realized that he had to die, and was wondering if it would hurt, how many people immediately thought, "Prophecy Girl!"?
I can't help seeing all the Buffy parallels, man.
ChiKat - Jul 22, 2007 2:32:23 pm PDT #1410 of 3301
That man was going to shank me. Over an omelette. Two eggs and a slice of government cheese. Is that what my life is worth?
I can't help seeing all the Buffy parallels, man.
Me, either!! When the school all rallied to fight, it was Graduation Day all over.
Sparky1 - Jul 22, 2007 2:35:09 pm PDT #1411 of 3301
Librarian Warlord
My DH, who has now also finished, mentioned that he thought Viktor Krum would appear later in the book and he was sort of disappointed that he didn't.
When Harry is in "King's Cross" talking with Dumbledore, I took the mis-shapen baby thing to be the piece of Voldemort that got stuck on Harry. My DH took it to be (what's left of) Voldemort after some of the Horcruxes have been destroyed. I think I'm right because of the fact that everyone gets to make his or her own choice -- Harry chooses to go back, but he can't choose for Voldemort so that thing has to just be a piece of Voldemort. Maybe.
Kat - Jul 22, 2007 2:43:22 pm PDT #1412 of 3301
"I keep to a strict diet of ill-advised enthusiasm and heartfelt regret." Leigh Bardugo
Sparky, I agree. I thought it was the physical manifestation of the bit of soul that made Harry the horcrux.
Sue - Jul 22, 2007 3:20:44 pm PDT #1413 of 3301
hip deep in pie
I can't help seeing all the Buffy parallels, man.
Totally, and what ChiKat said about Graduation Day, and I totally thought of the Series finale when Harry was encouraging Ron to have his moment and smash the locket. But it was when everyone was streaming into the room of requirement that I thought, "JK Rowling soooooooo watched Buffy."
meara - Jul 22, 2007 4:03:58 pm PDT #1414 of 3301
I thought it was the physical manifestation of the bit of soul that made Harry the horcrux.
That's what I assumed too.
I agree with what everyone else is saying, basically--it dragged a bit in the middle, was great fun at the end, was fabulously grey in parts, yay Neville, etc, etc.
Also agree that Fred would make a fabulous ghost, either at Hogwart's or the joke shop...
Juliebird - Jul 22, 2007 4:37:26 pm PDT #1415 of 3301
I am the fly who dreams of the spider
What everyone has said, especially including all the "Neville, BDH!" and "Fred, noez!" "Harry can't die now that baby Ted has no mummy and daddy!" and "'what a wonderful payoff' as opposed to 'obvious'" and the bit about the middle dragging a bit: I didn't mind the length of the "wandering lost", just the breadth of the repetitive squabbling about the same things. I just think something more interesting could have been done with that tension and feelings of futility, instead of simply "Ron is a git, triplefold with the locket".
I will mention that I was actually expecting rather a higher bodycount, which may be my adult inclinations foisting themselves upon what is still really a children's story. I did feel the "Oh crap, all bets are off" once Hedwig went down. But then JKR seemed to pull back and put the kid gloves back on. I really wanted to see our kids really come to face with the "kill or be killed" of it all, maybe some moral dilemnas involving "but they're under the Imperius curse, and aren't committing these acts of their own volition". Maybe just have someone they merely stunned or disarmed come to and a chapter later come back and kill a student.
Hmmm, what? Wrong book? Oh.