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Reader Comments: (Page 31)

I just finished the book, what a great read!

There were some scenes which made me cringe and wonder how JKR could put it in the grand finale of such a great series. However I also appreciate the ingeniously constructed plot twists and touching moments! Some scenes almost brought tears to my eyes, such as Dumbledore and the other headmasters greeting the three in the end.

I want to share some minor things I would have expected to be included in the final book, unfortunately they were left unanswered. Firstly, given the whole tragic background of Snape, I believe his was too shallow, too insignificant. Harry and Hermione had escaped the snake before, yet Snape could not? His was not even a sacrifice: It was out of sheer luck that Harry was at the scene and Snape was able to relay his memories. I was also unnerved by the "Bellatrix holding a knife to Hermione's throat" cliche. Also, does anyone know why exactly the Elder wand obeys Harry? Sure he disarmed Draco, but Draco wasn't even using the Elder wand; it was miles away in Dumbledore's coffin. Also as I recall, Grindelwald STOLE the Elder wand, he never earned it's obence. Thus when Dumbledore beat him in the duel, he didn't beat the true owner of the Elder wand at all.

Posted by brian from berkeley,CA on July 23, 2007 6:33 PM

Re: Imperious curse on Grngotts employees. Yes it is unkind to use such a curse on relative innocents, but as some one else pointed out, the war was against absolute evil. The curse does not particularly appear to discomfort the recipient, and Harry didn't use them to harm themselves or others. Consider the scene in "Star Wars" where Obi-Wan and Luke are stopped by stromtroopers in Mos Eisley. Obi-Wan uses a Jedi version of the curse (or maybe a confundus/ memory charm) to get by them: "These aren't the 'droids you're looking for." "These aren't the 'droids we're loooking for." etc. No real harm done, but it allowed our hero to get where he needed to go.

Posted by et from the wild west on July 23, 2007 6:44 PM

A lot of people are complaining about the last chapter due to its simplicity. As I was reading I also noticed it was simple and different in style from the rest of the book. Then it hit me. Was this the chapter JK had written very early and kept in that yellow (or red) folder under wraps. She always knew how it would end. Was this it? The style and prose fits in more with the first two books then the last five. So I think she put in this prewritten chapter as she had originally written it, without any editing, rewriting or changes. Just my theory.

BTW, they need to get one heck of a director for the DH movie and revert the grounds at Hogwarts back to the way Chris Columbus had them set up (correctly, IMHO) in the first two movies.

This was the best book of the lot. Thanks JK for a great ride.

Posted by mark from Orlando, Florida on July 23, 2007 6:53 PM

What I am still wondering is that, in chapter 1 of book 7 Voldemort makes fun of Bellatrix and Narcissa's family because their neice (Tonks) marries Lupin (a werewolf), Bellatrix gets defensive about it and says that she nor Narcissa have spoken to their sister (now Mrs. Tonks) ever since she married that Muggle. Well, if Ted Tonks was in fact a Muggle, then how did he mend Harry's ribs, arm, and regrow Harry's tooth? He took credit for it, but muggles can't fix those things.

Posted by Heather from Charlevoix, MI on July 23, 2007 6:56 PM

Did anyone else realize that Harry never had to use an Unforgivable Curse to Lord Voldemort? It was Harry's Expelliarmus that blocked Voldemort's Avada Kedavra and caused it to ricochet back, resulting in his . Even in the final duel between the two, Rowling managed to prevent Harry from stooping to Voldemort's level and becoming a er.

Posted by Shuchita from Atlanta, GA on July 23, 2007 7:09 PM

Thank you, Damien from Plymouth, for the brilliant analysis of the future. At the risk of underestimating athletes, though, I think Harry's destined to be more than a quidditch player.
How about Luna - divination professor? detective/investigator (with that eagle eye intuition)? interior designer?

A few random points:
1. I think Lupin d because he was so sad about having a potential werewolf baby. What would Teddy's life have been like if his father was feeling dreadful guilt every full moon? I don't know why Tonks d.
2. I believe Hermione's and Ron's daughter is named Rose so that we know that she has red hair.
3. I think the reason people are having difficulty figuring out exactly what moment the cover illustration depicts is because you need a FLOW CHART to figure out what is happening with everybody's wands in the last few chapters of the book. I'm sure the artist just gave up trying to sort that out.
4. There certainly are too many swear words, and too many unforgivable curses by good guys; at least the snogging is mature and heartfelt.
5. I believe the last chapter was written for people like me, who read it first in order to enjoy the book at a less frantic pace. She answers (almost) all the important questions: Does Harry live or ? Is Snape good or bad? Is Voldemort defeated? And you don't even have to read the rest of the book to know!

Lastly, thank you a thousand times to the creators of this site. I hope JK is combing it for future proofreaders for her Harry Potter encyclopedia.

Posted by ina from detroit, mi on July 23, 2007 7:12 PM

Darn work... Just now finished the book. Two days and 30 pages of comments already! I teared up a bit when Harry was digging Dobby's grave, and while I only said "Boo" out loud when Fred, Remus and Tonks d, I started to cry later. But it kinda is strange that we never see how Remus and Tonks d, we just see the - thought they were more important characters to just arbitrarily get ed off.

I don't know, though, some of the anticipated s were a bit anticlimactic. I was expecting a lot more from Peter, for instance, than his hand going out of control and strangles him when he refrains from ing Harry. Sort of like she was simply trying to get rid of him.

I'm inclined to agree with what Ashley R said in the first few pages about the book being a crowd pleaser. But for the few twists that had little to do with the plot (such as the really creepy Godric's Hollow scene with Bathilda Bagshot), I was starting to think maybe it was ghost written, almost didn't seem Jo's style. I got over it, though. Just proves we're smart!

Posted by Monkeeshrines from orlando fl on July 23, 2007 7:13 PM

Wow. All I can say about what I thought is WOW. I truly thank J.K Rowling for creating the world of Harry Potter, which I ache to belong in! And thanks to everyone on this site who came up with ideas and theories! I can't believe how many things came true! Such as Snape being a good guy, Aberforth being the Hog's Head barman etc. What shocked me was Harry being a Horcrux. You see, I was one of those people who refused to believe that JK would allow that to be true, because all the evidence pointed towards it. So I assumed she would put in another twist, and Harry was just a red herring, to deter us. I have so much to say, yet it has all been said, so I am merely echoing the thoughts of others! I cried throughout the whole of 'The Forest Again', where Harry had to face his , spoke to Lupin and his parents as he walked throught he forest. I couldn't concentrate because I was crying that hard. I also loved 'The Prince's Tale', it was so sad to hear that Snape was in love with Lily, an unrequited love.I always felt that Snape had some grand plan with Dumbledore, and it was true. I must say how shocked I was when Hedwig d. She may not have been a person, but an important character nevertheless. Also reading of Dobby's sprang tears to my eyes,he had been such a loyal friend to Harry. And I could barely register that Lupin and Tonks had d, after the shock of Fred's passing. it was for me, the biggest shock, but he d doing what he did best, cracking a joke. It was cute that Percy came back to fight. I have a few questions.
1. How many Horcruxes were there? If Harry AND Nagini were both Horcruxes, then there must have been seven, including the other items.
2. Who was the person that was to perform magic in later life? I had to reread the book but still found no evidence upon reading.
3. DH didn't explain why some people come back as ghosts, and some do not.
4. Also, what was Dudley's memory that he had relived while being under threat of Dementors?
5. So many important questions!
Who else felt that the epilogue was slightly cheesy, and not very informative? Most HP fans could have deduced as much, and I wish she gave more deatils on the other characters!
On a final note, I noticed that in Order of the Pheonix, when Petunia said "They guard the wizard prison Azkaban," it echoes Snape's words to Lily back then. Although at the time we didn't realise it, the "awful boy" she was referring to was Snape! Harry defeated Voldemort with Expeliarmus once more, and he did not use the ing Curse. I think this was great because it just shows how pure of heart he was. Thank you once again JK Rowling, for creating the books I grew up with, and the books I am sure to read again and again, in years to come!

Posted by Rashida from England on July 23, 2007 7:15 PM

I loved the book...but I felt that the Nineteen Years Later part was severly lacking...I also feel that there should automatically be more books just to make the seventh more understanding..such as a wandlore book explaining the importance and lineage of wands..also a story about dark wizards through the ages..i desperately want to know more about Grindelwald...and would like to learn about other dark wizards that may have influenced Voldemort.

Posted by David Olson from Coon Rapids, Minnesota on July 23, 2007 7:58 PM

I think that they named their child Rose in reminder of Harry's maternal grandparents who named Petunia and Lily after flowers.

Hugo, I have no Idea. Scorpious ummm Draco isn't all that great of a name either.

George would've probably named his child after Fred (if he had one).

I liked the bit about Dumbledore showing that he wasn't perfect it made me like hime even more than I already did. I think that his Mom and Sister had pretty names, Kendra and Arianna.

So Andromeda looks like Bellatrix, but with brown hair. Did anyone else notice that?

Book 6 was basically about the background of Tom Riddle. Book 7 was the backgound of Dumbledore.

I've always wanted to know more about Grindelwald and I didn't think she would include it, but she did.

Luna and Dean probably ended up together.

Posted by Nikki on July 23, 2007 8:09 PM

Alright, overall I thought the book was really good. The best in the series of course. But i think it could have been better. I was tired of JKR saying Harry Ron and Hermione in the woods, in the woods, in the woods, i think she could have explained their locations a little better. I also think she should have explained how Lupin and Tonks d. That has been bothering me, i would like to know how it happened. And the US front cover explains when harry disarmed the Elder Wand and they were both reaching for it. Too bad Harry Potter is over, still 2 movies to go though. My biggest complaint is the epilogue. I thought it was pointless. We got to hear the children's names even though i had a hard time figuring out whose kid was whose. I also would have liked to hear the jobs they got and what was going on with the trio. Other than those small details best Harry Potter ever. I great way to end the best book series ever. Just wish it wasn't over, hard to believe it is.

Posted by Corey from IN Indiana on July 23, 2007 8:10 PM

To the people mad at Harry for using the Imperius Curse. What you have to realize is that the only reason that it is illegal is only because when Eaters used it on people, ministry officials couldn't tell who was acting on free and who was being forced to obey. Just because it is illegal in the eyes of the law doesn't mean it's evil.

To all the Snape haters, saying that the only reason he protected Harry is because he loved Lily. Who cares?! It doesn't matter why someone does something, all that matters is that they do it. Why do kids clean their rooms as children? So they can get allowance. But who cares.

To the people disputing wandlore. I have gathered that The Elder Wand passes ownership when it is taken by force from it's living master, or, when it's living master is either ed or defeated by another.

Posted by Christian from San Ramon, California on July 23, 2007 8:11 PM

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