Finished Deathly Hallows? SPOILERS WILL PROBABLY ABOUND.- Page 5

[kelzama]

Posted: 7/22/07 at 11:33pm

As I recall (I plead bedtime as an excuse to not go research) it was specifically someone who had not shown any propensity for magic, then showed it late in life.

So Mrs. W & Percy wouldn't be it.

And I seem to remember it coming from JKR's site (FAQ maybe?) but didn't want to get skewered for incorrect citation.

[Anakela]

Posted: 7/22/07 at 11:39pm

re: doing magic late, I thought maybe Trelawney, using her wand to make the crystal balls crack people in the head during the fight?

Or maybe JKR just dropped that late in life plot line?

This is the quote from the interview:
"In my books, magic almost always shows itself in a person before age 11; however, there is a character who does manage in desperate circumstances to do magic quite late in life, but that is very rare in the world I am writing about."
transcript

[Craig]

Posted: 7/23/07 at 12:00am

anyone else see some parallels with the Star Wars mythology? Not overt or exact.. but.. "shades" of some elementals...

[Craww]

Posted: 7/23/07 at 12:02am

He loved Harry, I believe that, but he was certainly ready to allow his sacrifice if it meant destroying Voldemort.

Even with the lengthy explanation of motives in the Kings Cross sequence, I feel like Dumbledore was not only allowing the sacrifice, but grooming Harry for it. I think that aspect of the character became evident for me in Order of the Phoenix, and I'm happy it was elaborated on in this book.

Besides the epilogue, the thing I'm most dissatisfied with was the Remus and Tonks plot. Lupin was one of my favorite characters after Azkaban, so I was pretty surprised that she managed to make me not even care about the death once we got to it.

I also still don't care about Ginny at all. There was never proper build up with her character, and with Harry developing feelings for her. It was all very a tell and not show sort of relationship, and ultimately kind of irritating for me.

[Roninjoey]

Posted: 7/23/07 at 1:09am

I think the parallels with Star Wars are superficial, since Star Wars is a classic bildungsroman as well. Both Harry Potter and Star Wars have the themes and events writers have been writing about for thousands of years.

[~FloweryFriend~]

Posted: 7/23/07 at 1:11am

Just wanted to crash in and say that I loved it. Not disappointed.

But I wish that the epilogue had discussed professions...

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 7/23/07 at 1:12am

I also still don't care about Ginny at all. There was never proper build up with her character, and with Harry developing feelings for her. It was all very a tell and not show sort of relationship, and ultimately kind of irritating for me.

The undeniable neatness of the Lily/Ginny parallel is appealing, but I think this is such a valid criticism. I find it really hard not to be bothered by the fact that we as readers are never privy to a single conversation between Ginny and Harry alone other than their short conversation in the library in Order of the Phoenix and the one where they break up. What do they see in each other? All of the things that fit them together are superficial, which is a pity.

At the same time, I'm not all that invested in Ginny, and in some sense I'm glad that time wasn't wasted on that relationship in lieu of something that I cared more about. It's a flaw that I didn't care much, but it's something that I can live with, all things considered, when I was so happy with the way the rest turned out.

[Taryn]

Posted: 7/23/07 at 2:17am

JKR really cut herself off at the knees in terms of Ginny. She built up her character in books 5 and 6 to be much more interesting now that she was comfortable enough to be her normal self around Harry. We discovered that she was an independent, talented, funny, tough young witch, very much the product of having a bunch of older brothers. And then in the last book, we're given next to nothing about her, except that Harry is often longing for her. At least for me, it sucked out a lot of my personal investment in Ginny. (This was actually a problem for a lot of secondary characters because we saw so little of them.)

[Craww]

Posted: 7/23/07 at 2:49am

I was glad Ginny wasn't in the book much. I found her kind of infuriating in book 6, because they were telling us she was suddenly interesting, without really showing us exactly why.

It was a little dissatisfying, but ultimately acceptable. I'll always have my long list of Anybody But Ginnys that Harry should have ended up with instead. I understand that he would have never, in the pages of the book, found his rightful place at the bottom of Ron and Hermione's marital bed. Nor would he have run away with Luna or Neville for romance and adventure with one of the two DA members that were infinitely more interesting than Ginny. No psychosexual violent involvement with a stable full of Thestrals, either.

[Roninjoey]

Posted: 7/23/07 at 12:29pm

I read a pretty good article about why Harry and Ginny ended up together. If you pay attention to the books, Ginny has had a crush on Harry ever since book two and it's mentioned in every single book. It really isn't until book four pretty much that Ginny is able to even hold a conversation with Harry. Harry spends so much time at The Burrow and hanging around the Weasleys that even though we don't see it, we can assume he gets to know Ginny fairly well.

In Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix, Harry's got Cho Chang tunnel vision. When he finally gets her though, he doesn't like her because all she does is cry and play games with him. I think one of the things about Harry is that he loves to laugh and have a good time, and he uses his sense of humor to keep himself sane. Pretty early on Ginny is quickly established as a funny character, who uses her sense of humor to navigate life--just like Harry.

That Harry has a lot on his mind and a lot going on. I can understand that it took him a little while to open his eyes to this girl who is Ron's sister and always used to run away from him anyway. Once he starts spending more time around her (Quidditch team, DA lessons) and gets to really know her, I think he really starts to see her for the first time.

I like the Harry/Ginny relationship very much. It threw me for a loop at first but afterwards I think it felt inevitable.

[singingwendy]

Posted: 7/23/07 at 12:47pm

I agree...I like the Ginny and Harry relationship.

Let's not forget, along with all her early "Harry worship", she was also possessed by Voldemort, just like Harry. And Harry saved her in "Chamber of Secrets". Ginny has been destined for Harry since the beginning. It just took Harry a few years to figure it out!

The other thing we discover after reading the epilogue is that since Ron married Hermione and Harry married Ginny they're now all part of the same family. And even Lily wants Teddy to marry Victoire so that he can "really be part of the family", which just reinforces the whole idea of family, which I think is one of the biggest things Harry has been searching for throughout these 7 books.

[Ariella]

Posted: 7/23/07 at 12:58pm

In this book, Ginny seemed more like a plot device than she had in the past. Essentially, she served her purpose by drawing Harry into the Weasley family and creating a family of their own. I think the conclusion of this book was inevitable for Harry and Ginny, providing Harry survived, and I'm happy things turned out the way they did. However, Ginny was not nearly as interesting in this book as she might have been, but I accept that she was downplayed in favor of more crucial and compelling parts of the plot. Romance shouldn't be Harry's first priority in the face of his mission, and Harry's dedication to finding the Horcruxes/Hallows would have been put in question if the Ginny subplot had played a more active role.

[istillbelieve24601]

Posted: 7/23/07 at 1:03pm

Totally O/T... but did anyone try to submit a question for the Bloomsbury JK Rowling Deathly Hallows online chat? I know the link to submit a question is off Bloomsbury.com, but I can't find the link and the banner that says "Click here" isn't clickable. I can't make the day of the online chat to ask the question live, and I really doubt anyone besides me will even want to know the answer to the question: "Did you name Hermione and Ron's son Hugo because of Victor Hugo?"

[DBillyP]

Posted: 7/23/07 at 1:27pm

Flowery, I hoped the epilogue would mention professions as well. I think it is interesting that the one profession we learn is Neville's. I thought Harry might end up as headmaster, but it seems that none of the professor's at Hogwarts were married.

[Magdalene]

Posted: 7/23/07 at 1:27pm

Is Victoire Bill & Fleur's daughter? I missed that somewhere...

[bwayballerina]

Posted: 7/23/07 at 1:50pm

I finished the book last night, and still haven't really processed it all yet.
I agree with those who say that the epilogue didn't sit quite right with them... I liked it, but thought it could have been written better, and slightly less hokey. But I'm glad that we had it, and that it showed a sort of "circle of life" if you will, with Harry/Ginny and Ron/Hermione sending their kids off to Hogwarts.
I'm still kind of confused about the whole chapter with Harry and Dumbledore talking at Kings Cross; I'll have to go back and reread it again.
And regarding the character who shows magic late in life, my guess is that it's Neville's grandma.

[Taryn]

Posted: 7/23/07 at 2:00pm

No, according to the quote, the person who showed magic late in life was supposed to be NON-MAGICAL, i.e. a Muggle or a Squib. Not just someone who showed more ability than we had seen before.

[Ariella]

Posted: 7/23/07 at 2:07pm

Yeah, I'm pretty sure Victoire is Bill and Fleur's daughter. It's a French name so that fits. The only other option would be Ron/Hermione, but I doubt Ron would allow Viktor Krum to infiltrate their state of wedded bliss.

[Kitzarina]

Posted: 7/23/07 at 2:13pm

Victoire is French for "victory," so I feel fairly confident that she is Bill and Fleur's daughter.

*sniffle* I'm now listening to the audio book, and it's making everything feel so much more REAL. Jim Dale does an amazing job portraying these characters and bringing out the intensley visual aspects of Jo's writing. I can only imagine how much of a mess I'll be when I get into the Battle of Hogwarts...

[Anakela]

Posted: 7/23/07 at 2:18pm

I forgot to add earlier- I loved the way that each person destroyed a horcrux.

Posted: 7/23/07 at 2:23pm

Yeah! When Neville chopped off Nagini's head, I actually pumped my fist in the air. I was so happy!

[Johnnytoc]

Posted: 7/23/07 at 4:24pm

I finished reading the book about an hour ago. The biggest thing still bugging me about the epilogue is, if both of Teddy's parents were killed, shouldn't harry and Ginny have raised him from then, as opposed to him just moving in with them when he's 19? Who raised Teddy?

Overall, I really loved this book. I Never considered that Hedwig and Dobby might die, but the moments fit. I absolutely loved Mrs. Weasley's lines and Prof Trelawney's scene.

[kelzama]

Posted: 7/23/07 at 4:28pm

I thought it a beautiful way to remind us of the murkiness of the prophesy, that Voldemort had set such stock in the literal meaning of the words that he never considered that the Chosen One would require the help of others to bring V's downfall. Also echoed the song of the Sorting Hat (OotP?) that only as a unified front would Hogwarts survive.

[Anakela]

Posted: 7/23/07 at 4:43pm

Who raised Teddy?

Tonks' mom maybe?

Ok, question: did anyone else think, after finishing the books, that James Potter was kind of an ass? Just a little bit? No, just me? I think JKR did such a great job of showing how *much* Snape sacrificed, for how long, that every time I think back about how James treated Snape now all I can think is James was kind of an ass.

Yes, yes, he grew up and outgrew the bullying and sacrificed himself so that Lily could try and flee the house with baby Harry, etc.

And I wonder, if his parents weren't killed, if Harry Potter would have been the same as his father while at Hogwarts- pulling curses to hang the other 'lesser' students upside down and such- how much of Harry Potter was what was inside of Harry Potter, (not 'inside' literally ie the horcrux, but just inside- you know what I mean), and how much of Harry Potter- the empathy, etc.- was a result of growing up with the Dursleys?

[DBillyP]

Posted: 7/23/07 at 4:44pm

Johnny, I thought that about Teddy at first as well. As I thought about it, however, I surmised that Harry and Teddy both may have gone to live with the Weasleys. At 17 and 16, Harry and Ginny probably didn't get married right away.