rabidsamfan | More on the Deathly Hallows (Reply)

Onward...

I loved Ron coming back. I didn't have a clue who cast the silver doe, and at that point of the narrative I didn't care. That Harry handed Ron the job of destroying the Horcrux was wonderful. I've seen a comment somewhere about each Horcrux being destroyed by a different person and it enchanted me so much that I just sat and stared at it and said "ooh, shiny". It's right for Ron to destroy this one, since it nearly destroyed him first.

I adored Xenophilius. Everything from his name to his desperation and his deep abiding misunderstanding of the world around him. Luna gets it more right, in a Zenlike way. (The painting with the chains of gold!) I loved it that Dumbledore's gift of a book of folktales turned out to be so important, and that the story was, in the main, a true one. Harry's sudden obsession with Hallows made perfectly good sense to me, although I know some people don't like it. He's been quick, throughout the series, to latch onto an idea that he thinks is going to solve everything, especially when he's been floundering. And given Dumbledore's history of Super Sekrit Messages You Have to Decipher, Harry's got some excuse for thinking that he can switch quests midstream.

Malfoy Manor... Ouch! That was incredibly harsh, really, and I'm not looking forward to seeing it on a screen. I did, however, cheer when Dobby turned up! And then came close to weeping when he died. That, of all the deaths in the book, was the one which hit me hardest. I'd figured that every character had a target painted on his or her head, but somehow "every" didn't include Dobby.

Ollivander was good to have back. Griphook was fascinating too. The goblin idea of ownership was also truly wonderful, and explains so much about why the antagonism continues. I'm glad Bill was around to explain. The assault on Gringotts was exciting, the escape marvelous. But you can see the slippage happening. The ends are starting to justify the means and Harry uses the Imperius Curse almost casually.

Aberforth... *does the happy dance* Oh, do I love Aberforth Dumbledore. I love his crotchetyness, I love his patronus, and I love it that he's been helping Dumbledore's Army (and doesn't tell Harry until he decides to trust him.) Neville's arrival made my day.

(I fangirl Neville lots and lots and always have. I love it that he's the one who takes out Nagini.)

As we got into Hogwarts again I was reading so fast that I know I missed details. Harry throwing the Crucio didn't bother me, although I know it bothers lots of people. I figured then (and now) that Rowling was reminding us that you had to mean it. (Meaning that all those kids in detention, being crucioed by their friends, weren't suffering nearly as much as they would have been if the Carrows had been doing it themselves. And given Crabbe and Goyle's general incompetence, if they were best at it, no one else was much good at all.)

The duel between Snape and McGonagall... Man, I will hunt down the director of the seventh movie and whack him over the head with a large frying pan if he fails to give us that. And I have thought for years that Snape can change into something batlike!

The preparations for the battle disappointed me in only one regard. I wanted to see at least one Slytherin student stay for the right reasons. Blaise Zabini or Pansy Parkinson or someone... Ah, well. Any of them who was of age would have been Draco's classmates, right? And Slughorn did better than I thought he would.

The scene in the room of lost things was good, Draco trying to think and being thwarted by Crabbe and Goyle. And yet, still trying to rescue Goyle once the fires started. That he asks about Crabbe, once he can breathe, made me like him better than I've liked him for books and books.

Percy came back! Percy made a joke! Yay! And then Fred... And no time to absorb it, I had to keep reading. I think that George must be the person who got the reprieve, but I'm almost sorry he did.

More action, more fighting in the escape to the Shrieking shack. I like it that we see glimpses of this character or that. I love it that Luna and Ernie and Seamus come to the rescue.

"Are you a wizard or what?" And I cheered, remembering from the very first book, "Are you a witch?".

And then the Shrieking Shack... But that's for another night.