Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
TOTAL ABSOLUTE UNQUESTIONABLE GIGANTIC SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT.
I finished HP7 at 9:30 tonight. I do not have the energy or coherency to write out a review or anything, but I can tell you these things. They are not in any semblance of order, but I wrote them down in the order I remembered them in. You'll be fine. You read the book. xD
HERMIONE AND RON KISSING. BEST KISS EVER. EVER. EVER. He lifted her off the ground! They were all blissful and being in love and right in front of Harry! And-- and! YOU GUYS! Ron and Hermione were kissing!
Hermione saying "Are you a wizard or not?" Such a kickass throwback to Sorceror's Stone."But-- but there's no wood!" "HAVE YOU GONE MAD? ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?"
Molly calling Beatrix a bitch. BEST. THING. EVER. Mollywobbles is the effing best.
"Merlin's baggy Y-fronts."
"All's fair in love and war, and this is a bit of both." RON+HERMIONE=LOVE.
Neville showing up.
Neville kicking ass and taking names.
RON AND HERMIONE GOT MARRIED OMG.
GINNY AND HARRY GOT MARRIED OMG.
The fact that Rose and Hugo exist, so Hermione and Ron must have knocked boots at some point. And there's Lily and James and Albus, so Harry and Ginny got some too. GOOD ON YOU, GUYS.
George's "ear" jokes.
Harry thinking he'd be a godfather just like Sirius.
Harry winning over Kreacher. Kreacher actually being kind of a sweetheart.
Getting to understand house elves, wands, and goblins better. GOBLINS CAN GO HANG. SERIOUSLY.
ALSO RITA SKEETER. YOU POMPOUS SELF-SERVING EVIL WHORE OF BABYLON.
Ron's Moment of Brilliance to go to the Chamber of Secrets. I love that it was him and not Hermione that thought of it. When Ginny said they'd gone to the bathroom, I thought, "They went to the Chamber of Secrets. Nononono. Final showdown in the Chamber. Nononono." And then when they turned up with the basilisk teeth, I thought, "Chamber of Secrets! BRILLIANT! BRILLIANT BRILLIANT BRILLIANT!"
Ron and Hermione falling asleep holding hands.
Neville FINALLY showing up. I totally squealed.
OMG HERMIONE YOU ARE SO FRICKING SMART. And not only is she book-smart, she has so much common sense it makes a body proud. Hiding Ron under the Invisibility Cloak? I never would have done that in a million years. She is a smart cookie.
Ginny getting after Cho Chang for wanting to go with Harry to the Ravenclaw common room and sending Luna instead.
I sincerely love Shell Cottage. I think it's beautiful and serene and gorgeous, and it's so Fleur. I am so glad they got to spend time there.
I love how much we found out about Dumbledore. Seriously, it was so much ownage that it's impossible to even express it.
Trio love. Even when it was cold and wet and rainy and miserable, and even when they were fighting and getting irritated and wanting to strangle each other, they were just so themselves. I couldn't have handled life if one of the trio hadn't made it.
The fact that Ron and Hermione were still essentially the same, even if they were in love. That they still bickered and got after each other and sniped at each other, but were there near each other the second anything happened and were immediately in each other's court.
I fell in love with Harry. I've never been one of the readers that read just because they liked everyone else and tolerated Harry; I've always really enjoyed having Harry as a narrator and being inside his head. But I totally and completely fell for him in this book. He genuinely is a selfless, good-hearted character who is flawed in every conceivable way. None of it makes sense, but he accepts it (finally) with grace and understanding and does what he has to do. I fell in love with Harry.
RON DID NOT DIE. RON DID NOT DIE. RON DID NOT DIE! You don't understand how scared to death I have been that Ron would get killed by some meaningless Killing Curse or whatever, just a totally random act that would murder my soul. I have this bizarre knack for getting really, really afraid for a character that is really close to the main character, but probably in no actual danger of dying. Usually this is the male sidekick. They always stay alive! Samwise Gamgee and Simon Tam, I'm looking at you.
Tacking on from a comment I left in dollsome's journal: I really literally put down the book and waltzed into the kitchen, informed my mother that my theory about Snape was, in fact, correct and pretty much exactly how I pictured it, SO HA!, and left her looking very bewildered in my wake as I went back to reading.
SO HA!, everyone who thought Snape was evil. SO HA!
I love that JKR is my kind of hopeless romantic. She didn't kill off her babies. I don't think she could bear to. Girl after my own heart. I know the ending's absolute fluff and really tidy, but fuck all if I'm going to complain, because it's just the sort of ending I wanted. It's perfect in all senses of the word-- maybe too perfect, but listen, if anyone's going to bitch about the rest of their lives being simple and obvious, I will be first in line to smack that person in the forehead. They deserve a little simple and obvious! They deserve tidiness! They deserve to reap their rewards! I like the tidy ending and I will defend it like woo-cha madness.
I cried so many times.
The quotes at the beginning of the book.
The dedication.
Harry finding all his old things in the trunk and throwing out what he didn't need because he wasn't going back to Hogwarts. It was as if JKR had simply said, "Dear readers, this series is over, and this book is not EVEN going to be the same. Brace yourself. Love, JKR."
During the obituary written by Doge about Dumbledore.
Kreacher having dinner ready for them all.
When Harry turned Lupin away. Dear Remus, WTF? Please get your act together. What is your deal. If you're going to marry a girl, act like you love her for hell's sake. You're not winning me over to Lupin/Tonks here. I am so confused about that pairing.
When Ron stormed off. The line about something breaking between him and Harry... I couldn't handle Ron's behavior all through the beginning of the book. I literally had the thought that if this is how he was going to be, he could go off and die then, because this was not the Ron I'd come to know and love.
That Hermione stayed, and cried so much because Ron had gone... but that she stayed. That ultimately Hermione was the most loyal one, because I always thought Ron would be.
When Ron showed back up ("Are-- you-- mental?" You knew, you knew EXACTLY who it was immediately), holding the Horcrux and Gryffindor's sword; I could see it so clearly in my head and it was such a perfect hero moment. And he was Ron again, and I was so happy that I started to cry.
Ron trying to destroy the Horcrux. I completely sobbed. Completely. I couldn't see the page for the tears.
Harry explaining to Ron that he loves Hermione like a sister and that it's always been that way. Harry picking up and carrying Ron's rucksack for him. Them walking back to the tent with their arms around each other. Just totally mending and forgetting all the damage that had been done-- such a pair of boys.
That Hermione reacted the way she did to Ron's return-- such a girl. I love that their behavior is just so... it's so REAL. I love that Hermione's anger was abrupt and didn't just simmer and explode later; that she just let Ron have it the minute he walked in, even though he was being so sweet and expecting such a welcome.
Harry and Hermione at James and Lily's grave; Harry's thoughts there. I couldn't stop crying. I struggled so much to get through those couple of pages and just how strong Harry's despair was. And Hermione and the Christmas roses, and the quote on the headstone, and them being in the snow and it being Christmas Eve and them only having each other... oh, uncontrollable crying. It was really so beautiful.
Hermione touching the top of Harry's head when she went back inside the tent, at the end of chapter eighteen. Don't know why, but it made me tear up. I think just because it was so gentle and sisterly/motherly-- it was so familial. "I still love you even though you're messed up, I'm still here even if no one else is."
Ron frantically trying to get to Hermione while Bellatrix is torturing her. Again with the sobbing. Him practically trying to climb the walls while she is screaming and screaming... I couldn't handle it. There were just these huge, desperate sobs coming out of my chest. I read this part so fast, because I was sure it was Hermione that would be dead at the end of it and I wanted to get it over with.
Dobby's death.
"Here lies Dobby, a free elf."
Harry digging the grave without magic. Ron and Dean helping him.
Ron sitting on the arm of Hermione's chair when they went in to talk to Griphook; just how close he stuck to Hermione after she'd been tortured.
When Lupin asked Harry to be Ted's godfather.
When Harry thought he'd turn out to be a godfather just like Sirius. Laughed and cried both. Oh, Sirius.
When Percy showed up.
When Fred teased Percy.
When Fred died. It's our Fred... oh, our Fred.
When Percy wouldn't leave him.
The scene in the Great Hall with all the fallen.
Tonks' and Lupin's deaths.
Finding out it was Snape that had cast the doe Patronus... I suspected it was Lily's, but couldn't figure that out. Lo and behold. Oh, Severus, you may never have been one of my favorite characters, but I certainly loved you in my own little way. Thanks for proving yourself a zillion times over.
The last words that Dumbledore says to Harry in King's Cross. "Of course it is happening in your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?" It just made me sit there for a long time before I turned the page and went on. I felt as if it summoned up and soothed every criticism I've faced down and every fear I've had since childhood about being misunderstood and outcast because I loved being in my imagination.
Narcissa actually being kind to Harry and not killing him outright. I've always had a weird soft spot for Narcissa. And I really love that the Malfoys were like... the humans among the Death Eaters. May not be saying much, but it's something.
McGonagall crying over Harry when Hagrid brought him back to the castle.
Albus's middle name is Severus. Cried and cried. I genuinely love Harry as a character; I know some people think he's a bit much, but I truly love how selfless and gracious he is. To name his child after someone he'd had such a hard time with, but who had loved his mother that much? It's gracious and beautiful.
How kind Luna is to everyone. Every time she did or said something in that eerily observant way she has, I was totally touched. I sincerely love her. She is such an imperviously tough and yet completely tender soul. The painting on her ceiling... oh my gosh. Just oh my gosh. She's just that person that loves without question; kindness is returned for kindness and she just loves people. I really have totally completely been on Luna's side since day one, and I've only loved her more with every book.
How much Hermione cried. I love that she is always the first one crying. She is, hands down, my favorite girl character. Probably ever. There are no words to express my love of Hermione, or of Ron, or of Harry.
"We're all going to keep fighting, Harry. You know that?" -Neville
Harry saying "Stay close to me" to Lily. That Lily, James, Sirius, and Lupin were there when Harry was walking to his demise.
That Harry's "last thoughts" were of Ginny.
I know I have a million more, but those are the first ones that came to mind. There were a couple of things that sort of made me go "bzuh?" or dissatisfied me, but they are pretty minute and hardly worth mentioning.
Oh my hell. I loved it.
I finished HP7 at 9:30 tonight. I do not have the energy or coherency to write out a review or anything, but I can tell you these things. They are not in any semblance of order, but I wrote them down in the order I remembered them in. You'll be fine. You read the book. xD
HERMIONE AND RON KISSING. BEST KISS EVER. EVER. EVER. He lifted her off the ground! They were all blissful and being in love and right in front of Harry! And-- and! YOU GUYS! Ron and Hermione were kissing!
Hermione saying "Are you a wizard or not?" Such a kickass throwback to Sorceror's Stone."But-- but there's no wood!" "HAVE YOU GONE MAD? ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?"
Molly calling Beatrix a bitch. BEST. THING. EVER. Mollywobbles is the effing best.
"Merlin's baggy Y-fronts."
"All's fair in love and war, and this is a bit of both." RON+HERMIONE=LOVE.
Neville showing up.
Neville kicking ass and taking names.
RON AND HERMIONE GOT MARRIED OMG.
GINNY AND HARRY GOT MARRIED OMG.
The fact that Rose and Hugo exist, so Hermione and Ron must have knocked boots at some point. And there's Lily and James and Albus, so Harry and Ginny got some too. GOOD ON YOU, GUYS.
George's "ear" jokes.
Harry thinking he'd be a godfather just like Sirius.
Harry winning over Kreacher. Kreacher actually being kind of a sweetheart.
Getting to understand house elves, wands, and goblins better. GOBLINS CAN GO HANG. SERIOUSLY.
ALSO RITA SKEETER. YOU POMPOUS SELF-SERVING EVIL WHORE OF BABYLON.
Ron's Moment of Brilliance to go to the Chamber of Secrets. I love that it was him and not Hermione that thought of it. When Ginny said they'd gone to the bathroom, I thought, "They went to the Chamber of Secrets. Nononono. Final showdown in the Chamber. Nononono." And then when they turned up with the basilisk teeth, I thought, "Chamber of Secrets! BRILLIANT! BRILLIANT BRILLIANT BRILLIANT!"
Ron and Hermione falling asleep holding hands.
Neville FINALLY showing up. I totally squealed.
OMG HERMIONE YOU ARE SO FRICKING SMART. And not only is she book-smart, she has so much common sense it makes a body proud. Hiding Ron under the Invisibility Cloak? I never would have done that in a million years. She is a smart cookie.
Ginny getting after Cho Chang for wanting to go with Harry to the Ravenclaw common room and sending Luna instead.
I sincerely love Shell Cottage. I think it's beautiful and serene and gorgeous, and it's so Fleur. I am so glad they got to spend time there.
I love how much we found out about Dumbledore. Seriously, it was so much ownage that it's impossible to even express it.
Trio love. Even when it was cold and wet and rainy and miserable, and even when they were fighting and getting irritated and wanting to strangle each other, they were just so themselves. I couldn't have handled life if one of the trio hadn't made it.
The fact that Ron and Hermione were still essentially the same, even if they were in love. That they still bickered and got after each other and sniped at each other, but were there near each other the second anything happened and were immediately in each other's court.
I fell in love with Harry. I've never been one of the readers that read just because they liked everyone else and tolerated Harry; I've always really enjoyed having Harry as a narrator and being inside his head. But I totally and completely fell for him in this book. He genuinely is a selfless, good-hearted character who is flawed in every conceivable way. None of it makes sense, but he accepts it (finally) with grace and understanding and does what he has to do. I fell in love with Harry.
RON DID NOT DIE. RON DID NOT DIE. RON DID NOT DIE! You don't understand how scared to death I have been that Ron would get killed by some meaningless Killing Curse or whatever, just a totally random act that would murder my soul. I have this bizarre knack for getting really, really afraid for a character that is really close to the main character, but probably in no actual danger of dying. Usually this is the male sidekick. They always stay alive! Samwise Gamgee and Simon Tam, I'm looking at you.
Tacking on from a comment I left in dollsome's journal: I really literally put down the book and waltzed into the kitchen, informed my mother that my theory about Snape was, in fact, correct and pretty much exactly how I pictured it, SO HA!, and left her looking very bewildered in my wake as I went back to reading.
SO HA!, everyone who thought Snape was evil. SO HA!
I love that JKR is my kind of hopeless romantic. She didn't kill off her babies. I don't think she could bear to. Girl after my own heart. I know the ending's absolute fluff and really tidy, but fuck all if I'm going to complain, because it's just the sort of ending I wanted. It's perfect in all senses of the word-- maybe too perfect, but listen, if anyone's going to bitch about the rest of their lives being simple and obvious, I will be first in line to smack that person in the forehead. They deserve a little simple and obvious! They deserve tidiness! They deserve to reap their rewards! I like the tidy ending and I will defend it like woo-cha madness.
I cried so many times.
The quotes at the beginning of the book.
The dedication.
Harry finding all his old things in the trunk and throwing out what he didn't need because he wasn't going back to Hogwarts. It was as if JKR had simply said, "Dear readers, this series is over, and this book is not EVEN going to be the same. Brace yourself. Love, JKR."
During the obituary written by Doge about Dumbledore.
Kreacher having dinner ready for them all.
When Harry turned Lupin away. Dear Remus, WTF? Please get your act together. What is your deal. If you're going to marry a girl, act like you love her for hell's sake. You're not winning me over to Lupin/Tonks here. I am so confused about that pairing.
When Ron stormed off. The line about something breaking between him and Harry... I couldn't handle Ron's behavior all through the beginning of the book. I literally had the thought that if this is how he was going to be, he could go off and die then, because this was not the Ron I'd come to know and love.
That Hermione stayed, and cried so much because Ron had gone... but that she stayed. That ultimately Hermione was the most loyal one, because I always thought Ron would be.
When Ron showed back up ("Are-- you-- mental?" You knew, you knew EXACTLY who it was immediately), holding the Horcrux and Gryffindor's sword; I could see it so clearly in my head and it was such a perfect hero moment. And he was Ron again, and I was so happy that I started to cry.
Ron trying to destroy the Horcrux. I completely sobbed. Completely. I couldn't see the page for the tears.
Harry explaining to Ron that he loves Hermione like a sister and that it's always been that way. Harry picking up and carrying Ron's rucksack for him. Them walking back to the tent with their arms around each other. Just totally mending and forgetting all the damage that had been done-- such a pair of boys.
That Hermione reacted the way she did to Ron's return-- such a girl. I love that their behavior is just so... it's so REAL. I love that Hermione's anger was abrupt and didn't just simmer and explode later; that she just let Ron have it the minute he walked in, even though he was being so sweet and expecting such a welcome.
Harry and Hermione at James and Lily's grave; Harry's thoughts there. I couldn't stop crying. I struggled so much to get through those couple of pages and just how strong Harry's despair was. And Hermione and the Christmas roses, and the quote on the headstone, and them being in the snow and it being Christmas Eve and them only having each other... oh, uncontrollable crying. It was really so beautiful.
Hermione touching the top of Harry's head when she went back inside the tent, at the end of chapter eighteen. Don't know why, but it made me tear up. I think just because it was so gentle and sisterly/motherly-- it was so familial. "I still love you even though you're messed up, I'm still here even if no one else is."
Ron frantically trying to get to Hermione while Bellatrix is torturing her. Again with the sobbing. Him practically trying to climb the walls while she is screaming and screaming... I couldn't handle it. There were just these huge, desperate sobs coming out of my chest. I read this part so fast, because I was sure it was Hermione that would be dead at the end of it and I wanted to get it over with.
Dobby's death.
"Here lies Dobby, a free elf."
Harry digging the grave without magic. Ron and Dean helping him.
Ron sitting on the arm of Hermione's chair when they went in to talk to Griphook; just how close he stuck to Hermione after she'd been tortured.
When Lupin asked Harry to be Ted's godfather.
When Harry thought he'd turn out to be a godfather just like Sirius. Laughed and cried both. Oh, Sirius.
When Percy showed up.
When Fred teased Percy.
When Fred died. It's our Fred... oh, our Fred.
When Percy wouldn't leave him.
The scene in the Great Hall with all the fallen.
Tonks' and Lupin's deaths.
Finding out it was Snape that had cast the doe Patronus... I suspected it was Lily's, but couldn't figure that out. Lo and behold. Oh, Severus, you may never have been one of my favorite characters, but I certainly loved you in my own little way. Thanks for proving yourself a zillion times over.
The last words that Dumbledore says to Harry in King's Cross. "Of course it is happening in your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?" It just made me sit there for a long time before I turned the page and went on. I felt as if it summoned up and soothed every criticism I've faced down and every fear I've had since childhood about being misunderstood and outcast because I loved being in my imagination.
Narcissa actually being kind to Harry and not killing him outright. I've always had a weird soft spot for Narcissa. And I really love that the Malfoys were like... the humans among the Death Eaters. May not be saying much, but it's something.
McGonagall crying over Harry when Hagrid brought him back to the castle.
Albus's middle name is Severus. Cried and cried. I genuinely love Harry as a character; I know some people think he's a bit much, but I truly love how selfless and gracious he is. To name his child after someone he'd had such a hard time with, but who had loved his mother that much? It's gracious and beautiful.
How kind Luna is to everyone. Every time she did or said something in that eerily observant way she has, I was totally touched. I sincerely love her. She is such an imperviously tough and yet completely tender soul. The painting on her ceiling... oh my gosh. Just oh my gosh. She's just that person that loves without question; kindness is returned for kindness and she just loves people. I really have totally completely been on Luna's side since day one, and I've only loved her more with every book.
How much Hermione cried. I love that she is always the first one crying. She is, hands down, my favorite girl character. Probably ever. There are no words to express my love of Hermione, or of Ron, or of Harry.
"We're all going to keep fighting, Harry. You know that?" -Neville
Harry saying "Stay close to me" to Lily. That Lily, James, Sirius, and Lupin were there when Harry was walking to his demise.
That Harry's "last thoughts" were of Ginny.
I know I have a million more, but those are the first ones that came to mind. There were a couple of things that sort of made me go "bzuh?" or dissatisfied me, but they are pretty minute and hardly worth mentioning.
Oh my hell. I loved it.