First it is seeing a clip of Voldemort in a suit appearing before Harry on a crowded train station

That wasn't real, just a figment of Harry's imagination, I think.

I watched film!Luna feeding the baby thestral...

What's so bad about this?

If you're gonna cut shit out of the book in the interest of time, then you can't be making shit up and adding it instead.

Huh. I thought it fit perfectly. Plus, Luna being able to see the thestrals is well-established, and I thought the movie version handled it beautifully.

Plus, there was that great cut to Ron eating a sausage. Win-win.

That wasn't real, just a figment of Harry's imagination, I think.

I got the impression it was but it didn't happen in the book.

What's so bad about this?

Again, not in the book.

Huh. I thought it fit perfectly. Plus, Luna being able to see the thestrals is well-established, and I thought the movie version handled it beautifully.

Yeah, I know Luna could see the Thestrals but there was no baby Thestral in the book.

And that's my arguement. If you have to cut whole chapters out of a book, so that the movie can come in at a reasonable length, you can't then go adding brand new stuff.

Sorry, this is an old sore point for me, and isn't really suitable in this thread.

Directionless and lost for 200 pages is much more endurable (if that's a word) than directionless and lost and written by Marti Noxon for 23 episodes.

I may have to tag this.

People have pretty much said the things that I would have said.

I knew that Aberforth was the Hog's Head bartender, and during the Slough of Despond section (see Kat's quote above) kept saying, "Just freaking go ask Aberforth if you can't arse yourself to go to Godric's Hollow!" I don't read anything other than the books themselves, so I figure it had to be in one of them somewhere.

I heard somewhere that Scholastic did the Who-Shot-JR thing and put several versions of the book through the production process to discourage early leaks, etc. Based on the Seven Harrys, I'm thinking there were 7 versions.

Although, the 7 Harrys parallel the 7 Horcruxes nicely.

And speaking of - if Polyjuice Potion recreates a person down to their vision...and you are a 17yo boy...wouldn't you be a little uncomfortable with your best friend and your "sister" suddenly having *all* your physical characteristics?

Sorry, this is an old sore point for me, and isn't really suitable in this thread.

It's totally suitable in this thread! And I totally get where you're coming from on the stance of book vs. movie. I don't have a huge issue with a lot of what they choose to cull between the book and the movie when it comes to HP, and I never read LOTR so I have no opinion there and just love the movies on their own, but Kevin Sullivan royally FUCKED with Anne of Green Gables when he made that horrid third "thing" he calls a film. None of what happened in that movie happened anywhere in the books and in fact, it was Anne's children who fought and were killed in WWI in the books. NOT GILBERT!

Which is to say, I am with you on having that same sore spot and you are totally in the right thread!!

(Joe doedn't like watching the HP movies with me because I mutter "Wrong. Wrong. Nope, that wasn't McGonagall - that was Flitwick. Wrong." all through them. I've come to view the movies almost as I view the fic. A good retelling.)

I have had "Lily's Eyes" from The Secret Garden stuck in my head for the past week. It is driving. me. mad.

Me too! I don't even know if Lily Potter had hazel eyes....

I was so worried about Snape and whether or not he was evil and what Neville was doing that I was not enjoying the middle section at all, so I skipped until I found Snape. And I read to the end. It relieved me enough that I could go back and enjoy the rest.

I skipped until I found Snape.

I did that, but with Ron. After a chapter of him being gone, I couldn't bear it any more and had to check and see when he showed up again. I flipped forward a few chapters, saw the words "Ron said..." and was content that he returned, so I went back to where I was and happily continued reading.

I never wavered in my belief that Snape was Dumbledore's man, so I'm good with how it ended, though I had the same, "Wait, that's it???" when he died... until the silvery stuff.

I've never really had a horse in any of the ship races, so how it ended was fine by me. No, wait - that's not true. I did always figure Hermione and Ron would end up together, and that seemed right. Harry and Ginny never grabbed me, but I didn't really have any particular designs for who he should have ended up with. That is, I would have been fine without the epilogue, and I'd have wished them all the best for the future. Having said that, the epilogue didn't bug.

I absolutely felt like there was this whole other, and at times, surely more interesting, story going on with the rest of the characters, but I get why we weren't privy to it. Leaves her lots of room to play in the world again if she wants, though. Which is to say, yeah, some of the tent camping bits dragged for me, too, but that's just a minor thing.

Overall, really enjoyed it. Dobby's death was very sad, and I got totally verklempt when they appeared in the Requirement Room at the end and all those kids were there, and then more and more started showing up from Dumbledore's Army, and then, just... everyone. ::dabs at eyes::

For a bit, I really thought she was going to off Harry, and I was all, "Bold move, lady... you got some kahones on you," but then I was all, "Phew!" I mean, can you imagine the wailing and gnashing of teeth? Yikes. Then again, she could, like, buy an island, build a castle with a badass moat and laugh at the crazy fen from behind her fortified walls, so...

***

I have such a bad memory of the specific details of the book, that I'm only vaguely aware when things change, even dramatically, from book to movie. I loved Luna so much in the movie, that I'm happy with whatever they did there. I did wonder about how the Requirement Room was discovered - I couldn't remember from the book, though I didn't think it was quite like the movie.

Finally finished!

Dumbledore, you utter and complete asshead.

Poor Snape -- all that time as an undercover good guy, and he dies unredeemed at the hand of Voldemort's pet snake???

Albus Severus is a horrible name to give a child, emotional resonance be damned. And why does Harry get to name all the kids? Where's little Fred Potter?

I cried, predictably, at all of the parent/child stuff. And at Harry being so brave at the end.