Deathly Hallows review

[geri_chan]

Finally finished the book!

I'm still trying to process this all in my head, but here are my first impressions. I'm such a geek that I actually jotted down notes before I went to bed so that I wouldn't forget what I wanted to comment on! ^_^

Well, first off, already posted this on lupin_snape, but I loved that in the beginning of the book, Lupin seemed utterly miserable being married to Tonks! I thought, "Aha! See, he doesn't really love her--he's pining after Snape!" That's definitely something that a Snupin fanfic writer can play around with! And Snape accidentally injured George when he was trying to protect Lupin! I was kind of upset about Lupin and Tonks having a baby together, because in my mind, Lupin would feel obligated to stay with Tonks even if he didn't love her. In canon it turned out to be the opposite, of course--he thought they would be better off without them. Lots of people said this was OOC, and I'm not sure whether I agree or not. On one hand, I do--we've never seen Lupin lose it like this before, not even when Sirius died, and I hate the image of him as a deadbeat dad. On the other hand, while I have no doubt that he's brave and would willingly risk his life to protect the people that he cares about, emotionally, he seems insecure and not as brave. He didn't stand up to James and Sirius to protect Snape in school; he never says why, but the impression I get is that he was afraid of losing their friendship. And their friendship was apparently not strong enough to keep Sirius from suspecting that he was the traitor, and possibly Lily and James as well. I don't think it's outright stated whether they suspected him or not, but if they trusted Peter, that leaves only Sirius or Lupin to be the traitor. And in HBP, Lupin either doesn't love Tonks but doesn't have the guts to tell her, "Hey, I'm just not that into you," or he does love her, but thinks that he's not good enough for her. None of that points to a guy who will be good at being in a committed relationship, particularly with a new baby being thrown into the mix.

And speaking of the baby--what the hell were they thinking, having a baby in the middle of a war, when both parents are essentially soldiers in that war? Maybe I'm being too harsh, because obviously the Potters and the Longbottoms did the same thing, and maybe life and love need to go even in the midst of war, but it seems irresponsible to me. Was it an accident? Does the wizarding world not have reliable birth control, or does it not work effectively on witches and wizards? Or did Tonks purposely get pregnant to force Lupin to marry her? Definitely more fanfiction fodder here. Again, mentioned this on lupin_snape, but my pet theory is that Lupin was acting weird because it was a sham marriage and the baby was someone else's. For some reason, the real father could not or would not step up to the plate, so Lupin agreed to pose as the dad. I would really love it if it was Kingsley's baby; I like Tonks/Kingsley, and maybe she knew he needed to be protecting the Prime Minister, and she didn't want to distract him from his duties, so she didn't tell him the baby was his. It would be funny if the baby was born with brown skin and then everyone would be, "Oh, I guess Lupin isn't the father, after all." ;) Although a few people pointed out that since the baby is a metamorphmagus, he can easily change the color of his skin.

I was also wondering what happened to Lupin's role as a spy in Fenrir's pack, but maybe he gave that up because he figured that Snape would have blown his cover to the Death Eaters. In HBP it seemed like maybe they were setting the werewolves up to play an important role in the final battle, but nothing came of it in the end. Phooey, because I really did want to use the werewolf pack in a fic that I was planning; I was going to have Draco being turned as his punishment for not killing Dumbledore. But hey, there's always AU.

It's interesting to learn that not all the Death Eaters have the Dark Mark, only the inner circle.

I liked the way that a little kindness brought Kreacher over to the trio's side. I admit, that's something I hadn't expected. Yay, for Hermione, after everyone mocked her for SPEW!

I did like what seemed to be a running theme about people not being wholly good or evil. Scrimgeour is someone who values appearance and politics over substance and doing the right thing. But he's not evil, and he dies protecting Harry, which made me feel a bit more kindly towards him. It shows that people can be wrong without being evil. And then there are the Malfoys. I'm not sure about Narcissa, but Lucius probably is evil, and yet he's human enough to love his wife and son, and in the end, they choose their son over Voldemort. Draco--I was a bit disappointed, I thought he'd do something a little more heroic in the end, but at least he didn't identify Harry and Hermione to the Death Eaters, and he did try to protect Goyle. I liked that Ron wasn't steadfastly loyal to Harry thoughout, although that shocked me, but I liked it because it made him seem more human. He screwed up, but he came to his senses and rejoined his friends, and maybe their bond is stronger for having survived that period of doubt and betrayal. And the bit about Mr. Lovegood: a nice contrast to the Malfoys, who are bad people who in the end (sort of) do the right thing for love of their son. While Lovegood is an essentially good person who does a bad thing for love of his daughter.

I was disappointed that the four Houses didn't really come together in the end, as the Sorting Hat said that they must. In a sense, they did, since Slughorn amazingly stayed to fight and Snape was on their side all along, but none of the Slytherin students fought on the side of the Order. I didn't expect a mass conversion, but I thought maybe one or two would have suffered losses at the hands of the Death Eaters and decide to turn against them. I was hoping Theodore Nott might have played a role here. JKR mentioned on her website that he's a clever boy who's a loner and doesn't feel the need to hang around with Draco and his lackeys. That sounds like someone who can think for himself. It also says that his father is a widower, so maybe Voldie was somehow responsible for the death of Mrs. Nott, or he could have killed Mr. Nott during one of his fits of rage at losing Harry Potter, leaving Theodore a vengeful orphan. Aside from Draco, we don't get anything but a 2-dimensional stereotype of the Slytherins, and that disappointed me. They don't have to be good, but let them be human, with complex emotions and motivations.

Oh, and getting back to people not being wholly good or evil--Dumbledore! All that stuff about his family and Grindevald! In hindsight, not so shocking. We had hints from the scene in the cave where he drank the potion that he'd done something he felt ashamed of. And his determination to stick to the Light makes sense in view of his past temptations. I find that I can forgive his past mistakes more easily--it was wrong, but he was a young and self-centered boy at the time--but what's harder to forgive is his manipulation of Harry. As Snape puts it, he's essentially raised and trained a teenage boy to kill himself, and when Snape is criticizing your morals, something has to be wrong! Maybe he knew or at least hoped that Harry would survive if he offered himself as a willing sacrifice, but that is still a horrible thing to ask of a seventeen year old boy, one you claim to love as a son. And yes, Voldemort would probably have taken over the world if Harry didn't sacrifice himself, but still, it's easier to talk about sacrificing an individual for the greater good when you're not that individual. Harry obviously forgives Dumbledore, but I'm not sure that I do.

Speaking of ethics, doesn't  it seem that everyone on the side of the Order was flinging around those Unforgivable Curses pretty freely? Yes, they were fighting a war, but does using the weapons of your enemy make you more like them? Even if it's justified this time, will it become easier to use it in the future, under less just circumstances? Rowling never addresses this, and it disturbs me a little, since we've been hearing how evil these spells are since Book 4.

Percy survived and redeemed himself--yay! But I would have liked a little something more, like he realized his mistake earlier and had secretly been gathering information for the Order while working at the Ministry.

The deaths: this is weird, but Hedwig's death affected me more than Fred's at first, I'm not sure if I can properly explain why. Fred at least died fighting, but Hedwig got caught by a stray spell blast while trapped in her cage--a senseless death of a helpless creature; she didn't even die trying to protect Harry. And to see Harry's dear pet, who's been with him for the past six years, die suddenly like that was awful. And poor Dobby! I think by the time I got to Fred I was so worried about Snape that I was feeling too numb to cry. But now it's starting to hit me. Poor George--and Rowling doesn't even show the incredible suffering he must go through, losing not just a brother, but his twin. Yes, I'm glad that the book had a happy ending. But I felt that the sacrifices of the fallen should have been honored more.

Lupin and Tonks and Snape: again, said this on lupin_snape, but while I didn't want Lupin and Snape to die, I prefer that they're both dead rather than having just Snape die while Lupin lives happily ever after with Tonks, or have Snape live on alone without Lupin. As for Snape, deep down I suspected that he would die, though I hoped he wouldn't. Obviously, I'm a Snape/Lupin shipper so I don't care much for the whole Snape/Lily unrequited love, but at least I feel vindicated that he was Dumbledore's man all along. But I feel so bad for him. He had this miserable life, sacrificed so much, and he dies in the end without even having the satisfaction of seeing Voldemort fall. This is what I refer to as "life sucks and then you die". I think Snape deserved to live and find a little happiness to make up for all his past misery.

I sort of wanted to know what happened to the Dursleys after the war ended. Presumably they went back to living a normal life on Privet Drive, but I wondered if Dudley and Harry ever became friends. I liked that Dudley turned out to be kind of decent after all. And I did feel sorry for young Petunia, writing to Dumbledore and begging to come to Hogwarts.

The epilogue: I'm gonna sound a bit mean and petty here, but it reads sort of like a bad fanfic, with a slew of characters named after dead loved ones. I actually do like Albus Severus, because it shows that Harry got past his hatred of Snape and honored his courage. I don't like him naming his kids James and Lily, because it seems a little creepy and incestuous to me to name siblings after husband and wife. And there's the remarkable coincidence of Ginny, Hermione, and Draco's wife all happening to have gotten pregnant at more or less the same time, since they all have kids starting at Hogwarts this year. A little corny, but I must admit, I do prefer this to "Harry dies". I'm glad it ended happily; I would have been so angry if Harry also had a "life sucks and then you die" ending. When Tonks and Lupin died, I was thinking in the back of my mind, "Well, Harry has to live now or who's going to raise the poor kid?"

And I guess I have to eat a little crow here. I pooh-poohed all those theories about Harry being a Horcrux, but they were right in the end! They had a great theory on Mugglecast that a Dementor would suck the portion of Voldemort's soul out of Harry, but it didn't turn out that way, although it would have been cool.

One last thought: while I'm not a Harry/Draco shipper, I did like the little slashy bit where Harry rescues Draco from the fire and Draco is cling to him tightly on the broomstick! ^_^

EDIT: Forgot to mention this the first time around, but did anyone else think that Snape died a little too easily? I mean, he didn't manage to get one hex or spell off before Nagini killed him. I know that it happened suddenly, but still...he may not be up to Voldemort's level, but we know he's a pretty powerful wizard. I'd expect him to go down fighting. I thought he was going to die, but that he'd manage to kill Nagini before he did.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Yes I agree with you about Snape all down the line. And also about the three houses uniting but let's get all the Slytherins out of the way. *eyeball roll* Oh yeah. Good one.

Interesting thoughts on Tonks and Lupin - I was distinctly annoyed about their deaths, especially since it was done in such a cursory manner. I figured that Hedwig was toast a long time ago, so I was OK with that, and I thought Dobby's death was actually handled very well.

Harry/Ginny. *sigh* It read more like a trio fic, don't you think?

The Dursleys began to worry me half-way through the story, since we never actually heard that they were safe (unless I blinked and missed it?) so I was wondering if they would pop back up at a bad moment.

[tetsubinatu.livejournal.com]

Oops! That was me above. Thought I was already signed in...

[sephiebacchus.livejournal.com]

I also felt there were alot of angles to the story that were not completely wrapped up. Although, JKR has a perfect "out" for this error - we only see events through Harry's eyes and he cannot be anywhere. I suppose she felt us experiencing the grief over Fred, Lupin, and Tonks through Harry would be enough. It is not.

"All was well". Is an extremely poor way to finish the series! There was such a simple way to rearrange the last two sentences to have it end awesomely, and with the word "scar". Something like "Harry knew all was well, for not once in the past nineteen years had he felt even the slightest prickling from his scar". But I won't go into the ridiculousness of the epilogue.

Where did the Dudley's go?? How can you not mention them. It's one thing if they were sent over to Australia with the Grangers (way to take the easy way out Herm)- but they were under Order protection!

I totally agree about the free use of the Unforgiveables - and Harry uses them most! He uses Crucio right in front of his Head of House and the woman doesn't even blink an eye. WHAT! I do like how Harry's final incantation was only Expelliarmus (sp?).

OH NOW I remember what I really wanted to say:

On one hand, I don't get why Snape didn't fight. Because if he was the last one who could tell Harry the truth about the last Horocux, why wouldn't he fight for life?

OTOH: I believe, as well, that Snape is a powerful wizard. If he can sprout bat like wings and soar out of a Hogwarts window, he can feel the presence of another mind. Maybe he knew Harry was there, and did not want to make a move that would endanger the boy. Or, Snape accepted that he would have to die at the hands of V-man who would make it a slow death. Perhaps Snape believed that if Harry caught up with him, he would be AKed and have no way to tell Harry the truth. So, he suffered the snake bite and lived long enough to share his memories and look once more into Lily's eyes.

P.S. Snape and Dumbledore turned out to be the best (most developed) characters of the entire series!

Now, I believe he's dead (Snape), but a lot of people do not. No portrait, no body... Works for fanfics, but for canon, I think he's gone over. If I was Snape and I lived such a miserable life and was responsible for my only love's death (heterosexual love that is), I'd want to die. I wouldn't use any potion to spare my life. His memories even show us that Snape wanted to die so badly before Dumbledore gave him a cause. Wow, I could go on with this. But I won't bore you.


A final comment. Maybe the loose ends, those character stories we don't see, maybe JKR will pick up on their lives if she decides to continue writing. I don't see why she can't. There's no need to focus on Harry anymore, but she did create this world and could do so much more with it.

...Or she could pull a King move (Gunslinger), and just rewrite everything at a later point =D

[ave-ebony.livejournal.com]

I also hate the bad-Slytherins thing. To make all Slytherins selfish and bad. The Malfoys caring only for their son. Snape caring only for Lily. How can readers believe it? HARRY was nearly in Slytherin for god´s sake!
I also don´t understand why JKR pictured Snape as she did. It is not possible to be best friends with a Gryffindor muggle born and walking around wawing around D-E banners.

[geri-chan.livejournal.com]

Well, people can be pretty contradictory at times. Orson Scott Card (who incidentally just did an interview on Snapecast) once wrote a rant against gay marriage on his website, and yet in the same rant he claims to have gay friends. I do believe that Snape could have liked Lily and still been a Death Eater--she was a childhood friend before he became indoctrinated, so he still holds onto his feelings of affection for her even as he falls in with the DE crowd. But I would have liked to see more of how this came about. If he loved Lily so much, why wouldn't he give up his DE friends to remain in her good graces? Was he afraid of being an outcast in Slytherin? Was it because of his hatred for his Muggle father, sort of wanting to symbolically excise the Muggle part of himself? That, I could find very believable, but we don't really get to see what makes Snape tick aside from Lily, although there are hints about his unhappy family life.

Incidentally, I went through something like this with Dylan Rosier in my own fics. He wants to be a Death Eater just like his father, but he likes Hermione for her intelligence and independence. He sort of sees her as an exception to the rule of Muggleborns being inferior, and he tries to keep those two parts of his life separate, but he begins to question his faith in the DEs, and eventually he realizes that he's going to have to make a choice between the two. Not that I'm claiming to be a JKR by any means, but I do like playing around with the plot holes that she leaves, like the lack of information on the Slytherins! ^_^

It would have been nice to see Snape or say, Draco, going through that sort of moral struggle. Like maybe Draco not really being sure if he supports the "good" side, but he feels obligated to help Harry because he saved his life.

Strangely enough, Slughorn did a noble thing in the end, staying to risk his life and fight with the others. As far as we know, he had no real personal stake in the battle like Snape or the Malfoys did, but he stayed anyway. I would have liked to have known what motivated him to make that decision.

[geri-chan.livejournal.com]

OTOH: I believe, as well, that Snape is a powerful wizard. If he can sprout bat like wings and soar out of a Hogwarts window, he can feel the presence of another mind. Maybe he knew Harry was there, and did not want to make a move that would endanger the boy. Or, Snape accepted that he would have to die at the hands of V-man who would make it a slow death. Perhaps Snape believed that if Harry caught up with him, he would be AKed and have no way to tell Harry the truth. So, he suffered the snake bite and lived long enough to share his memories and look once more into Lily's eyes.

I've been mulling over your comment in my head, and I'd like to use that idea in a future fic, if you don't mind--Snape not fighting back because he needs to protect Harry and live long enough to pass on the memory to him. I'd be sure to credit you in the author's notes. ^_^ I need to finish my current AU fic first, but I'm eager to begin working on a post-DH story after that.

[geri-chan.livejournal.com]

Ah, what you say about Snape makes perfect sense! That seems a lot more logical, that he was protecting Harry and/or ensuring that the crucial memories get passed on. And good point about his death--I'm so firmly entrenched in my little Snupin universe that sometimes I forget to think like canon Snape. ;) What does he have left to live for once his goal has been accomplished? Maybe he would welcome death and finally find peace in the afterlife, or get a second chance at being reborn into a better life, if reincarnation exists in the HP universe.

Thanks for sharing your insights--I really like your last line for the book, btw! I wish JKR had used it.

Thank you for your review. :)

[mysticdreamer32.livejournal.com]

My husband was so happy that Harry lived and had a family. He didn't give thought to much else, other than poor Fred. I however think it sucked that Snape never got his happy ending. Though I'm a true Snupin lover , I believe it unfair that Remus got a wife and a kid and all Snape got nothing but *is he dead or not?* I know it appears he is dead, but I hope either way he found peace cause he really deserves it. Great review! I enjoyed your thoughts on Tonks and Lupin's marriage and why. I was unhappy that their baby was orphaned , but such is life. All and all I'd say it was a good series however- I'll bear in mind all of the character deaths before reading any new books of hers.

Inter-house cooperation

[(Anonymous)]

The three houses did work together. Snape did more than anyone besides Harry, and he's a Slytherin. Regulus Black was a Slytherin, and he helped. And finally, Horace Slughorn, the new-old head of Slytherin House, fought on the same side as McGonagall.

So, Slytherin DID join the fight against Voldemort. Also, did anyone notice how reluctant Draco was, to identify Harry, Ron, & Hermione? Turned out he wasn't all bad, either.

But oh, the "Prince's Story," is and will always be my favorite part out of all 7 books.

Re: Inter-house cooperation

[geri-chan.livejournal.com]

Very good point. And yes, I did notice how Draco was reluctant to identify them. I figured that he knew it was them, but he didn't want their blood on his hands. I was hoping for something a little more heroic from him, rather than passive resistance, but maybe that would be out of character. Well, he did try to protect Goyle at the end, so maybe that was a little heroic. And I did love Narcissa's choice at the end, where she lies that Harry is dead because all she cares about is finding her son.

But I was really hoping for at least a few of the current Slytherin students to join in the fight like the other houses. Maybe because I have a little Theodore Nott obsession, and I was hoping this would be his chance to shine. ^_^ He sounds like such an intriguing character from the bits of information that JKR posted on her website that never made it into the books. Ah well, that's what fanfic is for!

[http://users.livejournal.com/___flight_risk/]

There are a few shippy moments in the books, if you squint really hard.

Hehe! I didn't come to the fandom until after DH, but for some reason, I immediately paired Lupin and Snape. I don't really know why. Maybe because I saw Snape's disliking of Lupin being related to disappointment. Why? Because James and Sirius (despite my love for him) were just cruel meatheads and Lupin was intelligent and kind but content to stay quiet when his friends were being pricks. I would sympathize with Snape on this point, that being the coward who stands by and watches is even worse than being the one who commits the crime because at least the latter had the courage to go out there and do something. And of course, you can't really be disappointed in someone unless you hold them in a particular esteem to begin with.

LURVE your essay and what I've read of your fics! <3

[geri-chan.livejournal.com]

Yes, we were just talking on the original Snapedom thread about how Lupin's behavior was worse than the other Marauders', although it took me some time to realize this. Ooh, and good point that "you can't really be disappointed in someone unless you hold them in a particular esteem to begin with," because that does support the Snupin ship! I always had the impression that they could've been friends if Lupin hadn't been afraid of the other Marauders' reaction. And what my fanfic Snape hates most about Lupin isn't that Lupin almost killed him, but that he valued the Marauders' friendship over his relationship with Snape.

I'm glad you're enjoying the essay and the fics! Thanks for coming over from Snapedom to visit! ^_^