Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows

Harry friggin' Potter and the Deathly friggin' Hallows. It took me a bit longer to read this book than I wanted it to. The book was just too bulky for me to carry across the country, so I opted to wait for Tina to bring her copy to me once she finished it. Which means I looked a bit goofy reading it on the subway after everyone had already read it, ducking and running away from any spoilers that might cross my path. But it was sooooo worth the wait. I used to say Year 3, ...the Prisoner of Azkaban was my favorite installment of the series. But no longer, my friends. ...The Deathly Hallows is by far the best of the series, and I think everyone will agree with me when they say it was a great way to go out.

By the way, the rest of this post is going to be loaded with spoilers, so don't read any more if you haven't already finished the book. I mean, like, totally and completely finished it and read every single word. But then again, if you haven't already finished the book, you should not be wasting time reading this! Get to reading, already!

----------------------------------

I think this book should be renamed Harry Potter and the 12,000 Deaths. Seriously. People started dying on PAGE THREE of the book. And it didn't stop until the second to last page of the book. Some were sadder than others (like the first woman who died...we didn't even know who she was). It was sad to lose Mad Eye, but he was missing an eye so it wasn't even like a while person or anything. :) Losing Fred was the saddest, I think, but also Lupin and Tonks. And the non-human deaths, like Hedwig and Dobby. Hell, I can't even keep track of everyone who died.

[By the way, Aaron told me a funny story about his boyfriend, Michael. He was talking to Michael about the books (Michael has never read any books or seen any movies...from the series, I mean), and I think he mentioned Cedric Diggory dying in the fourth book. Michael looked at him, shocked, and said, "Wait, people are dying in these books?!" I just thought it was funny.]

Ok so overall this book was SO intense. Every sentence was important. I contantly found myself having to slow down so I could get the story fully, even though I really wanted to speed up and get through it as quickly as I could. It was that intense!

Things got especially crazy toward the end when the mysteries of the series were wrapped up and everything was revealed. Speaking of that, I'm really glad that everything was answered in this book, because I was kind of embarrassed that I didn't fully get understand the whole story! And I was afraid to admit it, since it's written for kids! But I am happy to say that all of my questions were answered, and I fully understand the prophecy and all that stuff (maybe with a little help from Sarah).

Even though the most intense moments of the book were at the end, I do feel like a lot of stuff was anticlimactic...

Take Snape for instance. We got 6.5 books thinking he is this evil guy (even though he wasn't officially revealed as evil until Year 6, Harry never trusted him, even for a minute). He hardly appears in Year 7 at all, and then there is one chapter where we learn that he is actually Dumbledore's sidekick in the whole prophecy being carried out and he was afctually the least evil of them all. Oh yeah, and we found this out after he died. Um, what?! It was so anticlimactic.

And is it just me, or did Voldemort die kind of quickly? Like, there is this really intense moment where Harry is walking through the Dark Forest, with the ghosts of Sirius, James, and Lily, and he becomes one with himself and realizes he has to die for the sake of the prophecy, and he's ok with it, and Voldemort kinda kills him. And then he and Dumbledore talk on a cloud or something, and we find out that Harry is a horcrux and Voldemort only killed a part of his own soul in Harry, then Harry plays dead, and McGonnagal screams and everyone mourns, Neville cuts of a snake's head, and Harry jumps up to save the day, he puts a protective charm around him and Voldemort so nobody can interfere, and you think there is going to be this really huge crazy battle. But instead, they both fire spells simultaneously and the next thing you know Voldemort is dead. HELLO?! Talk about a whole lot of working up to nothing.

Um, I really hope nobody was reading this who hasn't already finished the book. Because if you haven't, I just ruined it for you.

There were some great funny moments in the book too, and they were definitely a welcomed change from all of the intense deaths and revelations. Ron & Hermione's flirtation cracked me up, and I'm glad Voldemort mocked Harry's power that he got from 'love,' because I always thought that was a bit silly. But I think the greatest part (I literally laughed out loud on the subway) was when Mrs. Weasley came out of nowhere and shouted, "NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!" It is, perhaps, the single greatest line in the entire 7-book series.

Oh yeah, and the Epilogue kind of creeped me out. Like, it was weird for me to imagine Ginny and Harry getting married, and Ron & Hermione. It made me uncomfortable. And Harry and Ginny named their second oldest Albus Severus? Sandwiched in between a James and a Lily, talk about a Jan Brady complex! Not exactly sure where Ron & Hermione got Hugo and Rose (the only thing I can think of was that the first letters are the same, with the genders switched), but it beats Hugo and Rose. What's with Harry and Ginny getting all Hollywood with the names?!? It's a good thing they didn't have a fourth child, or else it could have ended up Rubius Kreacher (or Myrtle Minerva?)

Needless to say, by the end of this book, I was sobbing. Not, like, tears trickling down my cheeks. No. I broke down with audible wheezes and sobs. I'm not exactly sure why. But I did it, and I'm kind of embarrassed about it. Thank God I wasn't still on the subway by that point. Um, and how amazing is this movie going to be? I hope they don't cut too much out (like they did for the 5th film), and actually have a brilliant script for it. It's going to be super intense. And I won't go see it with Sarah because she might drown me in her tears. But I will DEFINITELY be seeing it in IMAX-3D. If you haven't tried it yet, it's the ONLY was to see HP films!

The greatest thing about J.K. Rowling is that she has this entire world down to a T. Not only has she published the encyclopedia Magical Creatures and Where to Find Them, (fictionally written by a wizard, whose grandson ends up marrying Luna Lovegood), but she also gave further details beyond the Epilogue about what happens to some of the other supporting characters. She revealed all of the info in some online chat, and it was posted by someone on Wikipedia. So here it is, straight from J.K. herself:

Harry becomes an Auror for the Ministry of Magic, and is later appointed head of the department. Harry owns Sirius's motorcycle, which Arthur Weasley repaired for him. Because Voldemort's soul fragment inside him was destroyed, Harry can no longer speak Parseltongue.
Ron works for a time with George at his store, Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, and eventually becomes an Auror.
Hermione initially works for the Ministry of Magic in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, greatly improving life for house-elves and their ilk. She later moves to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and assists in eradicating oppressive, pro-pureblood laws. She also finds her parents in Australia and removes the memory modification charm she put on them.
Luna Lovegood searches the world for odd and unique creatures. She eventually marries Rolf, the grandson of the famed naturalist, Newt Scamander.
Ginny Weasley plays for the Holyhead Harpies Quidditch team for a time, then leaves her athletic career behind for marriage and family with Harry. She eventually becomes the lead Quidditch correspondent for the Daily Prophet.
George Weasley runs his successful joke shop, helped by Ron. He names his first child Fred, after his late twin brother.
Slytherin House has become more diluted and is no longer the pureblood bastion it once was. Nevertheless, its dark reputation lingers.
Voldemort's jinx on the Defence Against the Dark Arts (DADA) position is broken with his death, and there is a permanent DADA teacher.
Firenze is welcomed back into his herd, who acknowledge that his pro-human leanings were not shameful, but honourable.
Kingsley Shacklebolt becomes the Minister for Magic, with Percy Weasley working under him as a high official.
As part of the changes introduced by Kingsley Shacklebolt, Azkaban no longer uses Dementors. As a result, the world is now a "much sunnier place".
Dolores Umbridge is arrested, interrogated, and imprisoned for crimes against Muggle-borns.
The Quibbler has returned to its usual condition of "advanced lunacy", and is appreciated for its unintentional humour.
A portrait of Snape was not in the headmaster's office as he abandoned his post before dying. Harry intends to fight the absence of Snape's portrait, and reveals to all Snape's true allegiance.

Um, so now what am I supposed to do with my time, sit around and twiddle my thumbs? Maybe I should go back and re-read. Yes. I will re-read the books and then watch the corresponding film immediately. I am excited to actually be able to figure out what was left out and what they changed. I'm SUCH a nerd.