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pipedreamer
Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 11:26 am Reply with quote
Joined: 28 Apr 2005 Posts: 44 Location: Newcastle, UK
“Some of the characters acted OOC, especially Lupin (I thought he might've been someone else in disguise via Polyjuice Potion!).”
(What, because Lupin has always been this guiding light for Harry, he’s not allowed his own flaws and insecurities? He’s always had an issue with Tonks loving him, and he’s scared witless that the baby is going to be a werewolf too. Considering the kind of life we can guess he’s had – shunned, unable to find work, shabby, patched clothes – you can see why he’s running away. What father could face with any equanimity the idea that his son might despise him for a) being a werewolf and b) creating one? Plus, Harry’s grown up fast and shouldered an adult’s burden – he’s speaking much more as an equal than someone worried they won’t be heard because they’re a kid. Maybe James would have said the same thing.)


“I also had no recollection of Lily's Patronus being a doe, so I thought that having Snape use the doe form as a Patronus was a peculiar admittance on his part that she belonged to someone else (James with his stag Animagus form). "Hey everyone, the woman I loved became someone else's mate! How about I fix that irrevocably in my mind by altering my Patronus into a form that makes it impossible for me to forget what I don't have!"”
(What if the Patronus is simply a physical expression of something inside? Snape obviously accepted that Lily belonged to James. This will no doubt have caused him a lot of pain. That pain – like Harry’s desperate need to feel close to his father created his stag Patronus – will have created the doe without Snape’s volition, in which case he didn’t “choose” to make his Patronus any more than anyone “chooses” what they will be.)


“I thought no-one could fly of their own volition (sure I read JKR saying that), that you had to have an enchanted object like a broom in order to do so, but wasn't Voldemort doing that??”
(It doesn’t say anywhere that Voldemort doesn’t have some form of enchanted object on him/his wand to help him fly. Just because we never read about him explicitly activating something doesn’t mean it’s not there.)

“I'm all for people changing their minds and/or redeeming themselves, but it felt like too many people were doing that. After years of being a mean git, Kreacher turns into Wonder House Elf after just a few nice words from Harry?! Sorry but WHY did Dudley care what happened to Harry? There's never been any indication of remorse on his part, and to be honest, I'm not sure what purpose it served. He could've remained being a spoiled inconsiderate brat and it wouldn't have affected the story at all, and in fact would've been more believable.”
(Well, Harry does save Dudley’s life in book 5, and it’s taken 2 years for Dudley to say thanks. He’s a moron and a brat but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t think about it ever again. He’s simple because he’s grown up being thoughtless – mummy and daddy have always been at his beck and call. But he does grow up a little, after all. Gratitude may be alien to Dudley, which is probably why he looks so confused when he says it. It doesn’t mean that it’s out of canon for him to say so.
Kreature loved Regulus. He's going to love anyone who understands that owning a piece of Regulus's property means the world to him. Sirius hated and abused Kreature, which is why he went pandering to Narcissa and Bellatrix.)



“Luna's dad? Apart from the sad part of him believing she was still down at the river rather than think of where she actually was, the part at his house was a tedious part of the book. Yes I know it was for the Hallows stuff, but still.
The endless running around the countryside where the trio don't know what they're doing...the idea was believable, but the execution dull. I'm not saying that every minute of their day has to be action packed. Hermione cried so much I wanted to hit her. It was like she was turning into movie!Hermione.”
(Can you honestly say that you didn’t ever think it’d be cool to meet the editor of the Quibbler in all his slightly loopy glory? Besides, Xenophilius served to remind us that good people can do “bad” things when their family is being held hostage. Think about it – his daughter is captive at Malfoy Manor and they’re threatening to kill her unless he gives them Harry. Suddenly – as if by magic (hur hur) – Harry turns up on his doorstep and suddenly Lovegood can see a way of getting his daughter back. All he has to do is get the Death Eaters to capture Harry. What choice could he have made?

Hiding out without any sort of a plan can only get so interesting. I enjoyed that part, personally, because it was trio-centric in a way the other 6 books weren’t. They were on their own, with only each other for support and help. They become closer in book 7 than ever before, particularly Harry and Hermione, who Harry tells Ron he loves like a sister. We see Harry appreciating Hermione from an academic point of view but this is really the first time he expresses just how much he values her as someone who’s stuck by him through thick and thin – more than Ron managed!)

As to Hermione – quite frankly I think she was brilliant and nowhere near similar to Movie!Hermione, whom I dislike intensely. She’s everything a Gryffindor ought to be – she is the only one who stays by Harry throughout the whole book. She never gives up on him. Loyal, true, daring, etc. She proves without doubt that she doesn’t belong in Ravenclaw. Of course she cries – she does so at least once in every book, it’s part of who she is when she’s in the grip of any powerful emotion – she cried in 1st year at having no friends; she cries in 2nd year when the Polyjuice goes wrong; in 3rd year when pleading with Snape to listen to the truth in the Shrieking Shack; in 4th year when Harry and Ron finally make up; in 5th year at some point I don’t remember when, and most of 6th year. She cries. It’s in her nature. Sure you may find that annoying but it’s not any inconsistency, right? And it’s nothing to do with the movie!Hermione)



“The Hallows idea felt poorly integrated in terms of the entire series...though I'm willing to be convinced otherwise! The idea was interesting especially considering the effect it had on Dumbledore in his younger days.”
(I agree with you – the Hallows could have been better explained, but if it was all laid out at the beginning there’d be no suspense. They could have been better integrated though. I agree with you there.)


“Dumbledore's more layered character was interesting. Him being a rather merciless manipulator was intriguing, though not sure that some of his earlier handwringing over Harry's misfortunes was very genuine, and that possibility wasn't touched upon in this book. Dumbledore WAS a manipulator...it was irrelevent what happened to the players in his game as long as it ended in Voldemort kicking the bucket once and for all. The end result was for the greater good, but for Harry to name one of his sons after Dumbledore struck me as being simplistic and missing adressing the layers that the Headmaster had to his character, some of them not very laudable.”
(Dumbledore reminds Harry in 1st year that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be. Perhaps he has learned this from his own youth associating with Grindelwald. I agree, his direction of Harry was for the greater good – right to the end he keeps to this ideal. But in JKR’s world, motives matter. I think it might mave been Azazello who said this, and I agree (and I paraphrase) with the assertion that Dumbledore isn’t some cynical chessmaster directing his pieces, irrespective of their fates. He cares about Harry. We can’t deny that. He simply doesn’t let his heart rule his head in the end.
Plus, a lot of Harry’s traits aren’t exactly laudable – he’s stubborn, he can be selfish, mean and he doesn’t hesitate to cast Unforgiveables without any form of moral dilemma whatsoever. Nobody’s perfect.
Plus, reading a Skeeter-produced book about Dumbledore’s youth isn’t quite enough to taint Harry’s recollection of Dumbledore as he knew him. He doubts, and wishes he had asked Dumbledore more about himself. But he never turns away from him. Dumbledore has been a pivotal figure in Harry’s life since he began school. He won’t flip-change his opinion of Dumbledore just like that. And anyway, Harry has a habit of glossing over the bits he doesn’t want to think about Smile )



“What I did like is how some people are portrayed as being quite unlikeable such as Scrimgeour, Snape and Narcissa, yet not necessary evil, that not everyone is clearly good or evil.”
(Yes, I agree. Perhaps the Malfoys were pardoned because Narcissa was instrumental in making Voldemort believe Harry was really dead. If she had said “well, actually, he’s still alive”, how would things have played out? A little differently, I think.)


“WHY did those memories leak out from Snape? Because he was dying? Bit of an abrupt plot device.”
(True, but a necessary one. And after all Snape’s behaviour to Harry, after all that he genuinely seems to dislike him for whatever reason, we discover that Snape is desperate for Harry to know the truth about him, and his reasons for doing what he did. He doesn’t want Harry to spend the rest of his days believing Snape was a traitor.)


“The epilogue STANK!”
(The epilogue felt fan-ficcy. I agree. It was awfully clichéd, particularly the kid’s names. But considering the rumours about the ending have been batted back and forth for I don’t know how many years, who can honestly say they were expecting a happy ending? You could fit a whole new book or 3 in between the penultimate chapter and “nineteen years later”. It’s too much to go into in DH. To be honest, I liked the happily-ever-after idea as an ending. I think Harry, above all, deserves it. It’s taken probably about 30 years to achieve.

Let him have his moment Very Happy )

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Tesla
Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 12:43 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 03 Mar 2007 Posts: 13
Hi pipedreamer. First I'd like to say thanks for responding to my post, and in such a reasonable manner. This is what makes discussion on the book interesting.

Quote:
What, because Lupin has always been this guiding light for Harry, he’s not allowed his own flaws and insecurities? He’s always had an issue with Tonks loving him, and he’s scared witless that the baby is going to be a werewolf too. Considering the kind of life we can guess he’s had – shunned, unable to find work, shabby, patched clothes – you can see why he’s running away. What father could face with any equanimity the idea that his son might despise him for a) being a werewolf and b) creating one? Plus, Harry’s grown up fast and shouldered an adult’s burden – he’s speaking much more as an equal than someone worried they won’t be heard because they’re a kid. Maybe James would have said the same thing.


I can completely agree with you on why Lupin would be concerned and/or afraid. Lupin's always been the most sensible of the Marauders, and yes this doesn't mean that he didn't get up to no good with the others, but I just find it bizarre that in such a dire situation as the wizarding world is facing, both he and Tonks took NO precautions regarding Tonks becoming pregnant. They're both sensible people, so why suddenly forget about contraception? This is a bugbear for me generally, not just in the world of fiction! I do like the glimpse we get of how difficult his life is as a werewolf, as it's believable, kind of the same way that Squibs would have it tough, although surely they're not as reviled as werewolves. I guess I found him reacting in a very 'Sirius' way that just didn't feel genuine for me i.e. forgeting his responsibilities to go galavanting off.

Quote:
What if the Patronus is simply a physical expression of something inside? Snape obviously accepted that Lily belonged to James. This will no doubt have caused him a lot of pain. That pain – like Harry’s desperate need to feel close to his father created his stag Patronus – will have created the doe without Snape’s volition, in which case he didn’t “choose” to make his Patronus any more than anyone “chooses” what they will be.


There's aspects of the Patronus idea that have always been a bit vague, and I'm sure it could be deliberate on the part of JKR. I have trouble resolving the notion that everyone's Patronus is unique (according to JKR) and therefore cannot be imitated by anyone else (although whether this can be done after someone dies, I am unsure), and the Patronus of a person changing due to extreme emotional trauma. It's unique, but it can be changed, and possibly imitated by others depending on circumstance? Hmmm. I also thought that a Patronus has to be formed by holding a happy memory in your mind, certainly for inexperienced spell-casters. I'm sure more experienced witches and wizards would be able to form a Patronus under difficulty and stress, otherwise they wouldn't be of any help, would they! I knew the doe Patronus was Snape's when it appeared (I'm not sure why, to be perfectly honest), but I was left wondering if there was any prior indication that the form would represent Lily other than the fact it was the female equivalent of James' Animagus form. As yet, I have not heard from anyone that there is.

Quote:
It doesn’t say anywhere that Voldemort doesn’t have some form of enchanted object on him/his wand to help him fly. Just because we never read about him explicitly activating something doesn’t mean it’s not there.


True, but I thought I read a brief exchange between two characters in the story that intimated the importance of Voldemort being able to fly essentially by himself. The passage escapes me as I have lent the book to a friend to read, but for some reason I think it might have been Order members...possibly Lupin? I just wonder what the point was of having Voldemort seemingly fly unassisted. Was it to show he's managed to break the normal rules of magic? OK, I can believe that, even though I thought JKR stated specifically that magic doesn't let you fly - otherwise, why would they need brooms?

Quote:
Well, Harry does save Dudley’s life in book 5, and it’s taken 2 years for Dudley to say thanks. He’s a moron and a brat but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t think about it ever again. He’s simple because he’s grown up being thoughtless – mummy and daddy have always been at his beck and call. But he does grow up a little, after all. Gratitude may be alien to Dudley, which is probably why he looks so confused when he says it. It doesn’t mean that it’s out of canon for him to say so.
Kreature loved Regulus. He's going to love anyone who understands that owning a piece of Regulus's property means the world to him. Sirius hated and abused Kreature, which is why he went pandering to Narcissa and Bellatrix.


OK, I'm willing to cut Dudders some slack here! After all, he's young and therefore still malleable in terms of behaviour. I guess that I was pointing him out in the slew of 'conversions' as to being perhaps not so important as others in his change of attitude. Kreacher I can believe becoming changed through considerate behaviour, but it was such a rapid change that I found it a little hard to believe that years of abuse and neglect would not make him wary and perhaps suspicious of Harry's motives. I don't argue that he COULDN'T change; it was just very rapid.

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Can you honestly say that you didn’t ever think it’d be cool to meet the editor of the Quibbler in all his slightly loopy glory?


Um, no it hadn't occurred to me. And I understand what you mean about good people being pushed to bad actions. I do find that an interesting issue. It certainly makes things less black and white. I just found this section dull, plain and simple. It wasn't the subject matter, it was the execution. The same for the countryside sequences. Yes, finally some indication that answers are not easy to come by... it just dragged on too long for me.
I felt that Hermione, like Ginny, was not used to her fullest potential as a character. I've always liked her as a character in the books, and disliked the movie!Hermione because she seems to be missing book!Hermione's backbone. Crying's in her nature? I dunno. Sure there are examples in earlier books, but I thought it was overdone here. Of course it can be argued that the whole situation is pretty disasterous, so now more than ever she'd have a reason to be crying. I've yet to be convinced Wink

I think Dumbledore turned out to be something of a cold-hearted bastard. I'm not complaining about that. I think it's an interesting revelation of his character, that he's not as beneficent as we, and Harry, thought he was. Why do I accept this "change" in his character and not Lupin's? Again, I think it's the execution of it, not the concept itself.

Quote:
“WHY did those memories leak out from Snape? Because he was dying? Bit of an abrupt plot device.”
(True, but a necessary one. And after all Snape’s behaviour to Harry, after all that he genuinely seems to dislike him for whatever reason, we discover that Snape is desperate for Harry to know the truth about him, and his reasons for doing what he did. He doesn’t want Harry to spend the rest of his days believing Snape was a traitor.)


Again, I am unsure due to not having the book to hand, but was there any indication that Snape knew Harry was there before he got bitten by Nagini? I'm also unconvinced as to WHY Snape would want Harry to know he wasn't a traitor. Everything he did before showed nothing but contempt for Harry, regardless of having his mother's eyes. Yes, Harry represents what Snape has lost, therefore difficult to smile in the fact of that. But seriously, what difference would it have made if Harry had thought he was a traitor? Is it for the whole notion of saving your soul through remorse? Also, was Snape's death (if die he did) from snake venom or blood loss? Didn't Arthur Weasley get bitten numerous times by Nagini in an earlier book? Also, Snape being unprepared for being attacked by Nagini? I guess I place too much faith in this character to be aware just how much of a precarious situation he is in whenever he is near Voldemort, but I would've thought he'd have to be a lot more foresightful (surely a made up word!) than this!

The epilogue? OK sure, let Harry have his moment, but let's not roll it in sugar and drench it in treacle! Wink

Any explanation as to why Moody (or Crouch Jnr) could see Harry under the Invisibility Cloak in GoF, even though in DH it was said that the cloak makes the wearer truly invisible?

I disliked that virtually everyone we ever came across in the books got face time in this one...I thought it unnecessary.

So, overall there ARE explanations for most of these things, and whilst I don't expect everything to be spelled out for me, it felt like a departure in story development style on the part of JKR... one of the things that made me wonder if DH was written by someone else. I thought that the fascinating stuff was barely touched on, and the dull stuff drawn out. Of course, it's personal opinion. I still love the earlier books, but this one is a George Lucas Star Wars Ep 1-3 for me.
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Tesla
Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 12:47 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 03 Mar 2007 Posts: 13
Quote:
I think many people who don't like our complaints don't understand that it's not that we HATE the book or thought it was just, like, so totally wrong! How dare she! Much of what occurred in it was expected. It was how Rowling handled some of the information.


Exactly. It's mostly the execution of the concepts I have an issue with. Some however, were just either pointless or cringeworthy.
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pipedreamer
Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 1:39 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 28 Apr 2005 Posts: 44 Location: Newcastle, UK
Hey Tesla!

Always happy for a good debate – thanks for taking my points on board and I look forward to hearing more of your thoughts Very Happy


I think the execution of the final book was always going to be problematic. There are long periods of inactivity where the surroundings seem to bear no relevance to the information imparted in them – it could have been anyone telling Harry about the Deathly Hallows, not just Xenophilius Lovegood. So the dialogue appears clunky and “arranged” in order for Harry – and the reader – to be aware of everything they need to be aware of in order to progress.

As a result, I can see why the execution annoyed people – to a certain extent I agree. JKR has departed from her usual pattern she holds the other 6 years in, the rhythm we feel “safe” with – and ventures out into parts uncharted, to coin a phrase Very Happy

I don’t think that makes it all bad, though. We are missing the structure of a school year – important mental milestones like Halloween, Christmas and Easter. These holidays/events break up the school year into manageable chunks, easy to digest and into which you can pack quite a good amount of pacing without overwhelming the reader.

DH lacks that feel, which is perhaps why the timing and pace feel wrong to some of us. It’s difficult to form some sort of structure when the only guide we are given is the weather and the knowledge that essentially Harry, Hermione and to a lesser extent Ron spend the best part of 6 months sat in a tent. Not exactly tight pacing!

For all that, I like the book more than most of its predecessors because for all the differences it has, it really does feel to me like things are rushing towards a close, some climax that will change the face of a whole Wizarding world. It’s still compelling reading, even if it’s a format that can at times be frustrating.

As for the sugar-coated ending - yeah, it's the cliché of everything, ever, type affair, but hell, I wasn't expecting it! That, in my opinion, made it bearable, if a little sickly!

Seven is an incredibly powerful number, and I find that power reflected in Rowling’s seventh book.

Right, that’s my devil’s advocate deed of the day!

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Tesla
Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 11:24 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 03 Mar 2007 Posts: 13
Yes, I see what you mean about not having that same structure to the story due to the absence of the school year, and it could be argued that the departure in style was deliberate to imbue a sense of dissociation and confusion. I've heard it said that JKR is not big on descriptive writing. It's not something I've noticed myself, as I'm a big fan of dialogue and am not given to a lot of description in my own writing, but perhaps not having the previous structure to the narrative left JKR scratching around a bit in portraying what was going on. I certainly felt that the editor's pen needed to cut a swathe through some of the chapters...tighten it up, bypass some unnecessary (IMHO) characters and stitch things up a little tidier.
Once again, I fully accept this is just a personal opinion, and perhaps down the track it'll be proved that JKR's last HP book is in fact a masterpiece. But I've still got some ways to go to agre with that possibility. Maybe her encyclopedia will reveal things only hinted at in the books.
Thinking on it more, it's like we were missing a book inbetween HBP and DH due to the way characters seemed changed. To have other aspects of their natures revealed so suddenly, I found to be jarring, although some I didn't mind so much e.g Dumbledore, probably cos he got so much page time.
Hmm, anyway, I'm keeping Roland Barthes' Death of the Author in the back of my mind when thinking about DH. I've already twisted the story into something I can believe!
OT, I'm hoping that the hellish flooding is not moving towards you. BTW, what happened to the Thames Barrier?? I hear the Thames broke its banks in Oxfordshire? Gads, you wouldn't know I lived in England 'til I was 16 cos I have no idea how close the flooding's been, only that it's in the middle of the country! I never had any sense of direction!
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rlnttn
Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 2:57 am Reply with quote
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I would give DH a thumbs down. I think that Rowling had great ideas but faltered in the execution of those ideas. In the end who is the audience for her books? If they are meant for children then in my opinion they are too violent, if for adults her writing and characters lack depth.

I started reading the books around 18 months ago so I was able to read books 1-6 with no wait time. The first three books were my favorite, but Goblet of Fire seemed to drag especially in the beginning. Order of the Phoenix too had a slow beginning. Half Blood Prince was better but still not as good as Chamber of Secrets.

Do you think as the books have gotten more popular and secrecy has become more important to the publishers that the quality has decreased? I would imagine the many people read the earlier books and gave feedback before they were published. If only 10 people knew what happened in Deathly Hallows than in my opinion not enough people were involved. The first chapter of DH was great, but the book quickly went downhill. The camping sections were too long and the focus on the trio exclusively got boring.

Most all of the characterizations seemed off. Harry uses Unforgivables! Dumbledore is not who we were lead to believe he was for six books! In the books Harry, Severus, Hermione, Lupin, Tonks and Luna were my favorites and in the end only Harry, Neville and Luna seemed even like themselves.

JKR had her favorite characters and the rest were disposable. For example, most of the people I know IRL find Hagrid annoying, yet she sees him as delightful. To me I was never a fan of the Marauders because they were bullies. Yet she loves Sirius, James and Lily. Did you think that JKR even liked Remus? Personally, I liked Remus and liked Tonks and Remus together. I was not a HUGE fan of the couple, but if I were, I would be pretty mad how they were portrayed in DH. I think JKR adoration of all things Weasley turned me against them too.

I hated to see Snape die although I was pretty sure it would happen. The memories Snape gave to Harry diminished Lily in my eyes. She hung out with Snape when he was her only tie to the magical world but later on knowing about his home life embraced people who bullied him. Yes, Snape hung out with a crowd of people who hated muggles, but Lily hung out with people that hated Snape. And in my book calling a friend a bad name should be easier to forgive than almost feeding you childhood friend to a werewolf.

The whole thing felt disjointed. She pulled out every character from the series, except Lockhart. Dobby, the first goblin Harry met, Stan, Umbridge, etc. all came in for a book cameo. It was too much for me.

I also hated the Epilogue. Never liked Ron, thought Hermione could do better but in JKR’s world if guys and girls bicker they are bound to marry. I would have been happy to see Harry end up with Ginny, Luna or Hermione (really anyone). Still it would have been more effective in my opinion to leave it open ended as to what would happen in their lives. I think she did this because she disliked all the fan fiction. It is her world and she didn’t really want others writing her characters. An author can only present their story not control the readers reaction. Those characters and couples she loved were not necessarily those that the readers loved. In the end I am sure after things calm down there will be fan fiction some of it canon compliant and other AU stories. Even in the epilogue it is never explicitly stated that H/G and R/H are married and I have already seen a one shot written that explains that Hermione is the godmother to Hugo and Rose and that she is married to Snape (Nagini didn’t kill Arthur so why Snape, no funeral, no portrait=alive). So the final ships or final deaths won’t stop people from shipping their favorites despite what JKR wrote. Let's face it, many of the most popular Internet ships were never going to happen in JKR canon anyway.
pipedreamer
Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 8:07 am Reply with quote
Joined: 28 Apr 2005 Posts: 44 Location: Newcastle, UK
I know what you mean by the "cameo" thing, where suddenly everyone seems to be making a guest appearance - I never saw it that way Smile

I can see why it would be so annoying for you. Despite that, I am still very much a fan of DH because I don't believe JKR wraps everything up nicely at all. Bear in mind that there are 19 years of potential fanfiction between the penultimate chapter and the last one - most of which can be argued to be canon-compliant because in those intervening years we have no idea how H/G and R/Hr end up together. 19 years....that's a hell of a lot of fanfiction!

I liked (well, for want of a better word) the seemingly random choices of deaths in DH. It gave me the distinct feeling that in war, some deaths are heroic - like Harry's when everyone believes him to be dead - and some are arbitrary and seemingly totally random, like Colin Creevey's. He didn't even need to be mentioned, but he was, precisely because he had so little to do with the storyline. It's a random, pointless death at the hands of Voldemort and his Death Eaters. It gave me a wonderful sense of unpredictability, the fact that JKR could choose anyone to off in the next few pages.

As to JKR loving certain characters and wanting to save them - well it's only natural. Every author has their favourite characters, and I think JKR's were Fred and George. Despite this, she killed one of them - again in that sudden, shock-death way. No heroic jumping in front of a loved-one death - again just a random curse. It's sudden and quite brutal. I loved it.

The trio are very different in character to the end of the lst book, yes. I agree - however the knowledge that Voldemort is out there and tracking you down, that your best friend needs your help in tracking down parts of a maimed soul and that - in hermione's case - you've had to modify your own parent's memories and pack them off to the other side of the world - will make the average 17 year old Wizard grow up pretty quickly, wouldn't you say? These aren't normal teens, after all.

I'm still fifty fifty over the ending. IN one way, I loved it. In another - it was hugely clichéd.

PS the flooding doesn't affect me up near the Scottish border (I'm in Newcastle on Tyne), but some of my friends in Swindon are a little damp around the edges!
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