Chat about the new book here -WITH SPOILERS APLENTY!-

Piste

I think everyone who has read the book already should have someplace to discuss it openly discussing anything that other people might think as "spoilers" so if you haven't finished the book yet- don't read on!

So I've just finished the book and wowza! Gotta be my favourite so far. I was pretty surprised by all the deaths, luckily only a couple of small deaths like Hedwig and Dobby had been spoiled for me so Moody, Pettigrew, Fred, et al's deaths really came as a shock to me.

I was convinced that Snape was a baddy all along and was really pleasantly surprised to find out he was better than I had ever thought, I was almost in tears at the bits with the pensieve where you find out he was in love with Lily.

I know it seemed obvious, but I never expected an Epic Battle Scene, it kind of got me wondering, if the other books hadn't been made into a movie would she have written an Epic Battle Scene or would the final scenes be much quieter and private between Harry and Voldemort? I can't wait to see the whole Hogwarts scene up on the big screen anyway!

I felt pretty smug when Dumbledore tells Harry that he's a Horcrux, I had that theory for a while and people kept saying "nah that's silly!"

What I really loved, probably above all else in the book was the "Nineteen Years Later" bit t the end, I honestly didn't expect anything like that and it was so sweet it had me in tears!

This book was totally worth queueing in the lashing rain for, it certainly didn't dissappoint and was much more than I expected to be, a good 9 hours well spent!

Sleepy

Aye, enjoyed it immensely. Even though there weren't many surprises (I think most of what happened aside from the Hallows themselves had been guessed on here or other sites). Killing Lupin and Tonks was a surprise though, especially since that effectively left Harry to be a father at 17!

Piste

Well in the "Nineteen Years Later" part at the end there;s no mention of Teddy being in Harry and Ginny's care, though he is mentioned. That's an interesting point though, I wonder who raised him?

polly oliver

I don't think harry was left to raise tonks and lupin's son. I assume that was tonks mother. Really enjoyed it. Possibly she should have called it Harry Potter and the massive bloodbath. Most shocking bit for me was Mrs Weasly fighting Bellatrix lestrange and calling her a bitch. Took me five hours to read it and i'm really glad i'm a fast reader as I started crying when mad eye died and only stopped when i finished the book.

sophya

Enjoyed it a lot. Surprised at a lot of the deaths especially Lupin and Tonks as it came out of nowhere. Knew Snape was good, why would Rowling deliberately make a character that grey and not redeem him.

I was bawling my eyes out when Kretcher told the story of Regulus dying. Anyone else find this really sad???

I was glad to see the Malfoys somewhat redeemed, they are among my favourite characters.In the epilogue I was surprised to see Draco mentioned. Wonder who his wife is??

Piste

Yeah I was very surprised by the "Bitch!" and two "Bastard!"s that were in the book!

CarefulNow

"So why in the name of Merlin's saggy left —"
I was surprised Lupin and Tonks died. I was expecting Snape to die.
The epilogue could've been a lot better.

Corruptedmorals

Snape did die..

I felt smug at the locket and RAB parts..though they were blindingly obvious. Didn't think Kreacher would redeem himself. I wanted to know how the hell Voldy and Snape can fly? Didn't expect Snape to redeem himself either, that was strange. I didn't find Lupin and Tonks dying strange, huge battle, somebody's got to die. I thought when it said the three red-headed figures thing that George and Ron had died as well..

Fantastic, best of the lot.

JC 2K3

I was fairly sure Snape would redeem himself, otherwise the whole series would have been a bit flawed(ie. Harry knew he was evil since book one, if he actually was evil it'd be a bit stupid since Dumbledore trusted him so much).

I felt it dragged a bit at times; Harry, Ron and Hermione going around the place wasn't as pleasurable to read as them attending lessons and talking in the common room in Hogwarts. It picked up though, the last one or two hundred pages were fantastic.

I'm very glad that it wasn't spoiled in the slighest for me, in fact the only true spoiler I heard was that Harry and Ginny got married and had 3 kids, which wasn't much of a spoiler tbh. *Pats self on back for limiting internet use over the last 3/4 days.

Corruptedmorals wrote:

Snape did die..

And he expected it.....

Piste wrote:

Yeah I was very surprised by the "Bitch!" and two "Bastard!"s that were in the book!

Don't forget the "arse"


After reading that, and indeed even after just reading the first chapter 3 days ago, I'm thinking how the hell are they going to make this into an anyway decent movie if it's going to be aimed towards kids?

snickerpuss

Just finished. Loved it. Bawled like a big eejit.
Didn't really like the epilogue, felt really tacked on and silly. I dunno.
Anyway, the thing about Snape was really sad and Dumbledore knowing Harry would have to die and not being the great person we thought he was was quite shocking.
Was not remotely shocked at Harry being a Horcrux.
Need to go find someone else who has read it IRL and have a rant at them!

Villaricos

I loved it! It had me gripped.

So glad Snape was good after all, that whole thing about loving Lily was so cute.

And yea she was right, pretty much a bloodbath.

How cool was Neville?!!:D

Did think the whole travelling around in tent dragged a wee bit but still, twas so good!

Sleepy

Neville really came into his own alright. Well happy to see that.

I agree with snickerpuss about the epilogue, it did seem a little contrived, thought JK Rowling could have maybe written it a little better.

Corruptedmorals

It was just to stop someone else doing it really....I liked it though.

poppybell

I really liked the book. Thought it was great, I think it was a little shorter then everywhere was saying, by like 100 pages! Ah well.

Always thought Snape was going to turn out to be good. The chapter with his memories was probably my favourite.

I thought the saddest part was probably when they buried Dobby....call me soft! And of course when Harry was walking to his "death" in bits for both those scenes.

I didn't like the epilogue, simply because I think it seemed almost rushed. I was looking forward to that bit aswell but I was disappointed.

On the whole though I thought it was a brilliant read, I'm a bit gutted it's all over now!

whatawaster

I really really really enjoyed it. Didn't think it was the best of the books though mainly because I missed Hogwarts and the interactions with Snape, McGonagall etc.
The camping did get a bit old, and I agree the epilogue could have been better.
But apart from that I loved it. So pleased about Snape.

Bits that made me want to cry were when Luna had the pictures of her friends on the ceiling and when Harry is reading his Mum's letter.

Loved Grindlewald, Kreacher and Dobby and the Malfoys.

I'm thoroughly depressed it's all over though.

highlydebased

I was suprised over the not going back to school business.....ah well.

Presently on page 193 after 90 minutes reading

abelard

I liked it on the whole. Particularly the parallels and differences between Dumbledore and Voldemort and the whole Horcruxes v Hallows idea. I did enjoy going further back into the past of Dumbledore, and especially Snape. I also kind of liked what became of the Malfoy's.

The epilogue did leave me a bit cold too though. I guess it just wasn't in any way surprising that Harry and Ginny/Ron and Hermione got together. It was nice that Neville got a mention, but I would liked to have heard what happened to some more of the secondary characters, particularly Luna and the rest of the Weasleys.

It does feel a bit odd for it all to be over.

sioda

Just finished and loved the whole lot like everyone else suprised by Lupin and Tonks. Wont be able to hear an ear joke again.

Loved the epilogue coz it really tied it up. Would have felt there was always the chance of an eigth novel.

Kreacher was brilliant in every scene as was Dobby.

Really feel the bit about moody's eye will freak out small kids but I loved it.

Lookin forward to giving it a re read

dajaffa

OMG loved the book. I figured Snape was good + I KNEW Neville would end up teaching Herbology!

I have to say the quotes at the start kinda made me feel like I was being prepared for Harry's dying + for the 3 pages after Snape's memories I was in bits thinking he was going to die, the Hallows got me hopeful, I figured/hoped that there were going to play a big part rather than being a red herring.

The only thing was though that much of it wasn't as fun as the other books to read, but it fitted the book perfectly, I've just always loved the happy bits of the books + up until Kreacher starting to redeem himself there isn't really any..... now I want to have my memory wiped + read them all again as if for the first time!

Piste

I thought the most emotional part of the book was the bit where Harry is walking to his "Death" and sees all the people he knew who have died and when his dad said something like "we'll be here for you right through it" that set me off crying, it was such a parent thing to say, like the sort of thin a parent might say to their kid who was lying in Hospital dying...I'm getting teary just thinking about it!

I also really liked the colours used in it, like in the battles she describes most of the spells as being red or green and the red and there's this one bit where Voldemort and Harry are looking into eachothers eyes (aww bless...) and t's Red vs. Green again....red for danger green for safety and I thought it was a nice touch.

Faith

That was great!

I have to digest it before I can discuss it though!

the evil lime

Piste wrote:

I also really liked the colours used in it, like in the battles she describes most of the spells as being red or green and the red and there's this one bit where Voldemort and Harry are looking into eachothers eyes (aww bless...) and t's Red vs. Green again....red for danger green for safety and I thought it was a nice touch.

The odd thing being that the eyes are the flipside of the spells, with the Death Eater's Killing Curses being green, and the Order et al using the red stunning spells.

Of course, Harry would have looked pretty odd with red eyes.

And now that I think of it, star wars used the same colour scheme with the lazers.

Crumble Froo

im pressed. the start of it, i was a bit meh... i loved the opening scene though, and the chaos/destruction after that was good... but then it got a bit myeh for a while... almost seemed like chapters *had* been written for bits, and then decided against, and summarised into paragraphs, it just kinda felt too choppy.

similarly, the travelling bits werent among the most fascinating chapters ive ever read from rowling... but wow... thats all i can complain about, the rest was excellent, id kinda gone in with assumptions as to what was gonna happen (i said i didnt care what else happened, as long as lupin and tonks had their happy ending... ... felt like a slap from a dead fish when that happened).... but totally page turning stuff after that.

when ron left, i was in shock! i couldnt see how he was going to find them again, i really did think he was gone out of it for much longer than he was. jebus though, even in the end, him and hermione didnt stop bickering though, did they?!

im trying to think, what else really struck me... fred dying was really sad, and i really really wanted for malfoy to turn over a new leaf, i love how that worked out, fair ****s to narcissa anyway. i actually thought hagrid died when the spiders went off that time, but apparnetly not, ill have to reread it anyway...

i dont think teddy was left to be brought up harry's son... harry says to his kid, i think twas albus, that he might as well be family at this stage, as he has dinner there about 4 times a week.

and who the hell is victoire? fleur and bill's kid? cos if it is... why in the hell does she have a name so close to victor krum? and why is ron's kid called rose? after madame rosmerta who he'd a crush on?

the only spoilers i heard were that one 'NOT MY DAUGHTER BITCH!'... which, it has to be said, was an awesome quote, and an awesome scene. however... why did bellatrix die just after laughing, the same was as sirius? i dont get it.. yeah, sure, they were family and all, but myeh... i dont like the way their deaths are somehow connected by that.

im kinda surprised that neither ron nor hermione died... a little disappointed maybe... but i suppose that as far as hugely dramatic deaths and aftermaths go, we've had more than our fill between dumbledore and sirius (why sirius?! WHY?????????!!!!!!! *still upset*).

the snape thing, i really really thought the ****er would turn out to be good going into this book, and the more i read, the more i *knew* he wouldnt... and then he goes and dies, and woosh! the whole truth comes out then.

ok, i think that's about it from me now... for now...

CarefulNow

narco wrote:

and who the hell is victoire? fleur and bill's kid?

Yeah Victoire is definitely their kid. James says "Our cousin".

bounty_hunter

I have to say I'm very slightly disappointed. Not because it wasn't brilliant, but because every one of my theories turned out to be correct, so it really took away the element of shock in what should have been some huge revelations. I kinda felt myself thinking "ah yes, I knew this all along", rather than "OMG no wai!!11!1" like I had thought reading some of the previous books when something shocking happened. At the same time though, it does give you a kind of warm feeling like you really knew the story!

And bizzarely the death that upset me most of all was Hedwig! What was the point in that?! Lupin and Tonks also, very upsetting. I would have liked to read a bit more about the mourning that followed the deaths of Fred, Tonks and Lupin before it cut to the "19 years later" bit, just to feel some kind of closure for the families or something.

Is it just me or is anyone else feeling a slight sense of actual loss over some of the characters who died? Maybe it's just because the story I've been following for the last 10 years has finally ended.

Extreme-LoopZ

I felt sorry for Dobby the most, he was an awesome character. I'm probably going to get slated for this, but in all honesty, I thought it was good, but not great. Maybe I just had my hopes too high, but I definately found Order of the Phoenix and HBP way more enjoyable. For the first half of the book I actually found my mind wandering at times, which has never happened before with the other books in the series. But as someone else has said already, it was just all the loose ends coming together, half of them the reader could figure out for themselves. I also didn't like the 19 years later part, ok it gave closure, but I would have perfered not to have known. Just a tad predictable and soppy but that's just me. But on the whole I did enjoy it alot.:)

Now the real question is, what do we do for the rest of our lives, no more waiting and wondering what the next Harry Potter book will bring?! :eek:

phasers

The book was very predictable to me, by Chapter 4 I knew what was going to happen, there was no sense of excitement at all
Half Blood Prince was far better in my opinion, stories were more developed than one quick chapter and then being attacked
maybe I got my hopes up too high with all the hype around it....

I still enjoyed it though, I think when he returned to Hogwarts was fantastic, ending where it all began I suppose.
when the centaurs and house elves came out and fought was brilliant, because Voldemort saw all those creatures beneath him
learning more about Dumbledore felt wrong to me for some reason, like snooping on your grandfather, but if his past hadn't been explored I think everybody would have wondered..
I NEVER thought Hedwig would die, that was the saddest death to me for some reason, Hedwig was so innocent, he didn't deserve to die....
and George, poor one eared George, lost his ear, his best friend, his twin brother, his business partner... I feel for him more than I do anybody else

mp3guy

Spent ages reading it yesterday, I'm a slow enough reader. But I must say I'm really happy with it, the whole thing about snape was really good. Looking forward to seeing it in movie form in a few years time.

Rockerette

The 19 Years Later was terrible I thought.. So cheesy..

It was I think the worst part of the 7 books to read.. I was almost cringing, going 'for gods sake..'.. All the happy kids, appropriately names, running round.. happy ever after.. Anyone coulda written it..

I thought it was pretty unnecessary..

Best bit of it was that chapter I thought was 'Draco caught sight of Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny staring at him, nodded curtly, and turned away again.'
I loved the Malfoy's story in the book, and in Hogwarts.. 'he saw... Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy running through the crowd, not even attempting to fight, screaming for their son.'

Thats the whole 'power of love' notion, just with people we previously didn't have many good feelings for..
and when Narcissa whispers to Harry about Draco, good stuff.


I was a bit disappointed with it overall.
Snape' story was great, loved the Lily-related aspect, and his memories was my favourite chapter.


I'd give it... a 7/10 I think..
I think with all the build-up and hype, it just couldn't live up to it..

Extreme-LoopZ

sorry for another post, the the other thing that really annoyed me was Voldemort. He was such a deadly character, but by the end he just seemed so one-dimensional. I dunno, I just always thought he'd have another trick up his sleave. And then he just dies. And that's it, over. kinda sucked

JC 2K3

2 things that annoyed me:

-How was Harry so sure the ressurection stone was in the snitch?
-Ravenclaw's Diadem was Harry's first guess at what the Horcrux in Hogwarts was. Far too convenient.

teckno

Myself, I really enjoyed the book and to me it was the best book so far, I felt JK tied all the loose ends together perfectly, and I am glad that the final chapters were based in Hogwarts. My only small gripe in the book was the part where Ron and Hermione manage to enter the chamber of secrets and retrieve a Basilik fang. First of all it should have been impossible for Ron to open the chamber and why was a Basilik fang available so easily, chamber of secrets as book 2 after all.
Nevertheless I enjoyed the book and felt everything else about it was perfect!

Crumble Froo

yeah, i was a bit dubious about ron being able to open the chamber alright, though as for the basilisk fang being there... sure nobody's been down to clear up the chamber since book two, so of course its still there!

JC 2K3

There were a lot of inconsitencies all right...

teckno

The locked door behind the department of mystery's did not play any part really or did I miss something??, I thought that would have a major impact. I also expected the chamber of secrets to play a bigger role in this book. I also felt the mirror of Erised would come back into play and it didn't.
Also i also thought that we would learn more about the "Beyond the Veil" but that also did not come into play

JC 2K3

She says she's going to write an "Encyclopedia of Magic", so perhaps all will be explained in there?

highlydebased

Just finished it now.

Not bad....a few parts I was critical of.


Feels odd not having another book to look foward to....:(

athtrasna

I loved it, found it hard to put down - made me late yesterday! Though I must admit to having read the last 2 pages the minute I got the book, couldn't wait 607 pages to find out.

I loved Kreacher, especially at the end when the Hogwarts house elves came out fighting. Snape and Malfoy bits were good too, especially Snape's memories.

Found some bits boring, all the travelling, some of the stuff in the forest before Harry went to meet Voldemort.

But I loved the battle scenes, the cameraderie of Hogwarts fighting for the greater good, and that Harry finally got answers from Dumbledore.

Didn't mind the 19 years later but I would have liked to know more about the others - and who was head at Hogwarts?

monomaniac

Also just finished - it's great to have this thread. My wife is re-reading HBP before starting Deathly Hallows so I've been dying to hear some other opinions.

Really surprised that so many people predicted what was going to happen. The only bits I worked out in advance:
- who R.A.B. would be - plenty of clues in the HBP
- Ron and Hermione getting together finally (even though the whole world saw this one coming did anyone else clap when Hermione laid on one Ron?)

Was convinced Harry was going to die the whole way through the book up until King's Cross. That was a bizzare chapter - might need to read it again. Who/what was the small naked boy that Harry saw but couldn't help?

Hadn't a clue what the hallows were going to be - loved all the back stories and history.

Favurite part of the book was the final confrontation and when Harry called Voldermort "Riddle". He schooled his ass!

Agree with a lot of the opinions about the epilogue - it didn't seem to fit. I would liked to have known what Harry did for a living - was he an Auror etc?

randomchild

Loved it. Really great way to finish off the series, and that finale at Hogwarts was spectacular. God Neville has become my new favorite character! Their some really tragic parts to the book, mainly the Regulus and Snape back stories. Also it was really interesting seeing a darker, less Christ like side of Dumbledore. The only reservation I had was that R.A.B died in the cave. This seemed like a bit of a cop out, although I loved it because it was emotional reading having kreacher tell the tale, I thought the character would be a lot more interesting if he survived, and hunted more horcuxes. The interaction with Harry would have been very interesting.

ec18

just plain stupid

bounty_hunter

ec18 wrote:

just plain stupid

Can you elaborate on that a bit?

Corruptedmorals

JC 2K3 wrote:

-Ravenclaw's Diadem was Harry's first guess at what the Horcrux in Hogwarts was. Far too convenient.

Didn't Dumbledore say something at the end of HBP that as far as he knows, nothing remains of Ravenclaw's? So once Harry heard of the diadem- he'd jump at it?

JC 2K3

Yeah, but that's part of my gripe, we're supposed to accept that Dumbledore's guesses just happen to be 100% right all of the time.

Extreme-LoopZ

Was convinced Harry was going to die the whole way through the book up until King's Cross. That was a bizzare chapter - might need to read it again. Who/what was the small naked boy that Harry saw but couldn't help?

Monomaniac, Is that not Voldemort? I thought it was.....because Harry says something like "I've seen what you become" or something to that effect, right before they fight. Could be wrong, but what/who else could it be? Coz Voldemort hurt himself aswell when he tried to kill Harry in the forest....

dajaffa

monomaniac wrote:

Was convinced Harry was going to die the whole way through the book up until King's Cross. That was a bizzare chapter - might need to read it again. Who/what was the small naked boy that Harry saw but couldn't help?

I would liked to have known what Harry did for a living - was he an Auror etc?

I think the baby was Voldermort, cause Harry's tries to get him to feel remorse as he's seen what he's condemned to otherwise... thou my eyes were pretty sleepy at the time...

And me too, though the lack of information about stuff like that leaves me with a glimmer of hope that there'll be some sort of what happened in those 19 years type book.

bounty_hunter

JC 2K3 wrote:

Yeah, but that's part of my gripe, we're supposed to accept that Dumbledore's guesses just happen to be 100% right all of the time.

Yeah but the fact was that Voldemort seemed to be choosing relics relating to to Hogwarts in some way, so it was only fitting that once he had something of Slytherin's and Hufflepuff's he should have something of Ravenclaw's too. And since the Diadem was know to be Ravenclaw's "famous object", that was the most obvious and likely option. Not too difficult to figure out from what I can see, I would have been surprised if Harry didn't go for that. You have to remember that Voldemort believed nobody else knew his secret, so the idea of it being too obvious doesn't come into play. That was the whole point of it, he slipped up in believing that he was far more clever than anybody else and nobody else could possibly figure it out.

Corruptedmorals

Ah Wikipedia says that the creature is the part of Harry's soul that's been destroyed..

keefg

Great book. Loads of loose ends tied up for me. I am not one of those people who over analize the story to figure it out, I just prefer the story to unravel at the authors pace.

Agree with the 19 years later chapter though......bit of a cop out and I would have liked to known what happened to all the other major characters as well.

Felt a bit that there are no more books to look forward to, unless JK decides to follow up on Harry & Ron's kids ............or JK gives the OK for another author to carry on the torch (maybe fill in the 19 years bit).

Does anyone think this will happen? Let's face it Lucas gave the OK for "expanded universe" Star Wars stories.

Maybe someone will expand on the wizarding world without Harry etc, just use Hogwarts as the backdrop and use some of the DA characters???

There is a LOT of money to be made out of this franchise ..........so we shall have to wait and see.............

monomaniac

Corruptedmorals wrote:

Ah Wikipedia says that the creature is the part of Harry's soul that's been destroyed..

Ahhh - nice one cheers. Makes sense.

Redisle

Just finished reading this, great book, I especially liked the chapter with snapes memories, I was actually like Oh my god, what the hell. It was a very good read
One thing that bothers me though,
The sword of griffondor, In the vault at gringotts the gobiln double crosses them and takes the sword, harry pockets the horcrux, there was no mention of them getting the sword back, even later when ron had to get basilisk fangs to kill the horcrux... they never got the sword back from the goblin.. so how did neville pull it out of the sorting hat? Fair enough Harry had done so previously but that was when it had been stored in Dumbledors office was it not? Yet Neville pulled it from the hat even when it was in the goblins possesion probably locked up in a safe...
Maybe its just one of the qualities of the sword... ahh I don't know, dosent really matter much anyway,
Still, Excellent book,
But now there is no more hp books to look forward to