Deathly Hallows Discussion: Spoilers!!!

[Menolly]

Welcome Dragonlily!

I don't think I've seen you post here since I became mod...

I finally have DH in my hot little hands. Beorn's still at camp, so I don't have to fight him for it. But, it was gone when I woke up this morning...

...sigh...Hyperception won't be off work again until next Sunday. Do I allow him to read it first on his day off? Or make him wait until I'm done? He's already up to page 93...grrr...

[Menolly]

*exasperated exhalation*

Comments overheard so far as Hyperception reads DH on the other side of the bed...

Spoiler

"Hey-hey! Now you can finally tell Fred and George apart!"

"I didn't realize Harry had green eyes..."

"You find out what it stands for !"

"That's going to be weird and mean..."

"Alohamora!"

And lots of laughing...

And he's only up to page 231.

[emotional leper]

The book is far better than I would have believed it. That's all I have to say for the moment.

That and two little MOTHER FRACKING twits ruined the ending for me before I even read it.

I work at a grocery store, at the moment, that happens to have a book section. We were selling before midnight, they walked in. I could hear them talking about the book. About an hour later, they walked up, and I asked if they'd buy it. And then they told me the entire ending. They'd just sat down, read the last four or so chapters, and then told me.

I threw them out of the store, rather forcibly, I must admit. My exact words while holding them both in rather painful grips were,

Spoiler

Get the F***out of my store right NOW, or I call the cops!

edited.

[Menolly]

...oh dear...

EL, even though it has spoiler tags, could you edit that one word just a little? Please? If not, I'll have to do it...

[Dragonlily]

Welcome Dragonlily!

I don't think I've seen you post here since I became mod...

Thank you, Menolly. That was because there hasn't been anything new in two years. I'm too busy, mostly.

That was an adorable story about Harry's first broom.

Spoiler

I didn't have any trouble with Kreature's transformation. For most of us, being treated kindly and considerately matters.

Spoiler

I do have trouble with Snape risking everything to protect Lily's son, whom he loathes. But it was good to know Dumbledore was right about him.

[Menolly]

edited.

*wry grin*

Sorry about that, but thanks...

[Seafoam Understone]

Spoiler

I do have trouble with Snape risking everything to protect Lily's son, whom he loathes. But it was good to know Dumbledore was right about him.

Spoiler

Well I've said in the "Is Snape Evil?" thread that a man lonely and has an unrequited love will go to almost any lengths despite the love that he has for a woman is unreturned. Lily's kindness obviously melted Severis' hardened heart at one time and as hokey and corny as it may sound he just didn't have the guts to tell her that he was in love with her and thus locked it away.
For Lily's sake and her's alone did he help Harry along. But because of James he likewise was mean (but think of this... never actually cruel) to Harry.
So therein lies a Shakespearian tragedy.

Spoiler

His death didn't surprise me and his sacrifice to save Harry once more didn't surprise me, almost in a way a redemption.

:edited by moderator:

[Menolly]

I am sorry for editing, Seafoam, but as I am still waiting to even start the book, that struck me enough as to classify it as a spoiler...

[Dragonlily]

Brave of you to moderate this thread, Menolly. If you can't steal back your family copy, how about getting another copy?

Spoiler

I'm wondering what happened to Hermione's family. Also to Umbridge. I didn't see those threads tied up.

[Menolly]

Hyperception just finished, so it's all mine. Mine, I say!!

*rubbing hands together*

[Dragonlily]

We'll see you tomorrow, then.

[A Gunslinger]

Greta book. Read it all in about a day. Wow.

Spoiler

Ahem.... has anyone seen Cameraman Jenn around?


Guns is just askin'. Heh.

I am proud to have been right about Snape AND about his reason for being so trusted by Dumbledore. I knew that hsi unrequieted love for Lily HAD to be it...thought so for YEARS!

I was wrong about Harry being/housing a Horcrux though. I couldn't rule it out completely, but it seemed illogical that he wouldn't have been told by D. HOWEVER, we saw a side to D we never had before....his nearly Gandolf like propensity towrds using people to further his benevolance. Now it makes sense.

TWO big Q's right off the bat:

1) How did Neville attain the Sword out of the Sorting Hat after the Troll had taken posession of it during the battle in Gryngotts? Did Godric Gryfindor own BOTH the sword and the cap? Were the two items that closely linked?

2) Was the baby in King's crossing (the scaly weird crying thing... the manifestation of the HORCRUX that was in Harry? If so....

..... I see me a sequel!!!! Oh Jennnnnnnn-i-fer??!!!!!! Where are you, dear?!!!

[I'm Murrin]

Guns:

Spoiler

I think it was implied in that chapter by Dumbledore ("has more to fear of coming here again", IIRC) and in the following part where Voldemort was apparently affected similarly to Harry by the spell, that the child-like thing in the station was what is left of Voldemort's soul altogether. Note that it seems similar to the description of Voldemort's physical body before Wormtail restored him.

[Dragonlily]

Spoiler

1) How did Neville attain the Sword out of the Sorting Hat after the Troll had taken posession of it during the battle in Gryngotts? Did Godric Gryfindor own BOTH the sword and the cap? Were the two items that closely linked?

I think that's the only possible answer, Guns.

And why did part of my lines suddenly become huge? Font size says normal.

[Seafoam Understone]

Spoiler

TWO big Q's right off the bat:

1) How did Neville attain the Sword out of the Sorting Hat after the Troll had taken posession of it during the battle in Gryngotts? Did Godric Gryfindor own BOTH the sword and the cap? Were the two items that closely linked?

Spoiler

Remember that Dumbledore told Harry in "CoS" that only a "true Gryffindor could have pulled the sword out of the hat." Wouldn't it stand to reason that Neville was likewise a true one? I don't think that it would have to apply to any one person, but to those who are rightly belonging in their house.

Spoiler

As far as the Sorting Hat goes... that in-of-itself is a mystery. It seems to have been enchanted by all 4 founders of Hogwarts so that it would be used to help whomever house needs it, on top of selecting students for whatever house they're best suited in.

Spoiler

I'm just glad things turned out the way it did and for the epilogue being 19 years later because it leaves a wonderfully wide gap for other authors to fill in the blanks. Just imagine the possibilites!

Yeah what IS up with the font sizer??
Oh how soon are we going to be able to edit out the spoiler tags? I mean anyone new to the site/forum is gonna go HUH? WHAT? when all they see are just big huge black blocks ...

[Menolly]

Yeah what IS up with the font sizer??

I dunno...Just had that happen to me for the first time today myself.

Oh how soon are we going to be able to edit out the spoiler tags? I mean anyone new to the site/forum is gonna go HUH? WHAT? when all they see are just big huge black blocks ...

What does everyone else say? Perhaps a month?

Man, now that's hard. Quoting a post with spoilers in it that I will not look at...

[Dragonlily]

I can't stand it. I can't concentrate on anything else. I'm going to have to reread it now.

[stormrider]

Spoiler

Well, Snape and JRK just won me $85. I made 6 bets with people who were convinced Snape was a bad guy. I knew that the Snape/Lily explanation was the only plausible one, but I always hated it. To my great relief, however, it was explained in such a way that I was able to accept and appreciate it. I actually ended up liking it, especially after finding out that his Patronus was a doe. And I always knew he would have to die, but it still depressed the crap out of me. I loved the fact that Harry named one of his kids after Dumbledore and Snape -- I was afraid he wouldn't give Snape's sacrifices enough recognition. I had a lot of other impressions about the book, but I've spent all day feeling sorry for Snape and his miserable life -- I feel kind of down, for some reason, and I'm too tired to go into the rest of it.

[aliantha]

Murrin, thanks for the link to Elizabeth Hand's review. I read it in the paper this morning and I agree with you that it was nicely done.

Yup, I agree with everybody: Best book yet.

Spoiler

Saddest deaths, for me: A tossup between Dobby and Remus & Tonks. The thing with Dobby really yanked me around -- on one page, I'm laughing at Dobby standing up to the Death Eaters ("I, Dobby, am here to save Harry Potter!") and on the next page I'm crying because he's dead.

There was actually a fair amount of that laughing one minute/crying the next for me. George loses an ear and everybody's sad, then he makes a crack about it and Fred calls his pun pathetic and I'm laughing.

I dunno whether I'd rather have seen Remus & Tonks fall in battle or not. It did have an impact to find out at exactly the same time Harry found out. Plus there are only so many places Harry could be, and as the POV character he simply couldn't be *every*where.

I was right and wrong about Snape -- right in that he had a thing for Lily, but wrong in that he was really a bad guy. Oh well... I'm fascinated that Jo was able to let so little slip about Snape's and Lily's relationship in earlier books. Very little foreshadowing. Nicely done.

There was also very little foreshadowing of Dumbledore's "sordid" past in the previous books, tho that was easier to do, given that he didn't have that many scenes with Harry, all in all.

Say, that last meeting between Harry and Dumbledore in King's Cross -- Christian imagery, anyone?

We're under a "HP discussion" blackout here. I finished the book around 6pm yesterday, while Batty was at work; she finished it sometime overnight. MagickMaker didn't even get her hands on the book until about 2:30am, when I picked her up from the Amtrak station, and she fell asleep almost as soon as she got home. So she's only on about page 300. And she won't let Batty and me talk about it until she's done. I tell ya, it's makin' me crazy!

One last: Batty was allowed to bring home the 6-ft-tall Harry Potter cutout (it's the illustration from the front of the book) that BAM used to advertise the midnight party. She left work at about 7pm yesterday, dressed as a witch and carrying the giant Harry, and some tourists stopped her and took her picture! She's going to take the cutout back to college with her and put it in her dorm room (which Mom is very happy about...).

[Cameraman Jenn]

Guns, Here I am with a big serving of humble pie in front of me. Guns was right about everything and I was wrong wrong WRONG! How's that?