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 | harry potter (without spoilers) |
Tuesday was my birthday (yes, it’s a busy week at our house), which we mostly celebrated by Dane staying home from work so I could read Harry Potter all day. And I couldn’t post to tell you about it because I was busy with the reading of the Harry Potter, in case that wasn’t clear.
I’ve finished. So now I’m wondering: Should I name the baby Seamus? Cho? Neville? Lavender? Hmm. Probably not.
I’m also not wondering how the surviving characters are employed or which character got killed off instead of which other character, since I read the interview.
So, how’d you like the book? Did it meet all your Potter-y expectations? (I’m okay with spoilers in the comments section.)
I liked it. I thought the epilogue was kind of meh, by which I suppose I mean “sappy but also reassuring.”
BUT! How does Neville get the Sword of Gryffindor? I mean, I know it came out of the Sorting Hat, but how did it cease to be in the goblin’s possession? Hmmmmm??? When Harry pulled it out of the hat a few books ago, hadn’t the sword already been in the castle? This is troubling me.
There were so many predictable outcomes in this book, yet I think if I had been in JKR’s shoes I’d have played it exactly the same way. With so many millions of people’s expectations set so high for this book, giving them anything other than what they wanted would have been to risk pop culture disaster on a scale not seen since the final episode of Seinfeld.
On the whole, thumbs up. But did Ron say “effing” so much in all the other books? Really.
Happy Birthday!
I was happy with the book. I was prepared for Harry to die once I found out (for sure) about the 7th Horcrux. My sister and I had long suspected that’s what #7 was, but I was glad it ended the way it did.
Also, I guess Ron was 17 (an adult in the wizarding world) so it’s probably a given he’d be saying something. You can’t walk up to Voldemort and say “Gosh darnit!”
And as for the sword, I think it was just supposed to be able to appear to someone who was brave and deserving in their time of need. I don’t think distance (whether it was in Hogwarts or not) had anything to do with it. The goblin didn’t deserve it, that’s for sure.
PS I was even sad about Dobby. Poor Dobby. And it was nice Kreacher turned out to not be such a jerk after all, for all his earlier hideousness.
Yeah, I’m making peace with the sword. I don’t like it, but it’s not going to change, so… eh.
Poor Dobby, I agree. But better him than Hermione (whoops, did I say that?).
I had the same question about the sword; seems a little too convenient for me. I wondered if “effing” was an Americanization of “bloody,” but I haven’t seen a foreign copy. My biggest beef? I thought they would make more of the connection between Neville and Harry, i.e. that the roles might have been switched. It was a red herring from an earlier book…
I felt that way about the Harry/Neville connection too. I don’t think Neville even knows he almost could have been the one! Or at least I don’t remember anyone ever telling him… but maybe I’m wrong. I was glad to see him get in on the battle action at the end there, though.