Deathly Hallows Chapter 34

[montavilla.livejournal.com]

The Forest Again

The title of this chapter puzzles me, since Harry hasn’t been to the Forbidden Forest once this book. Sure, he’s been to a lot of other forests, but not to this one. So how is he going to it again? Shouldn’t the title be “Yet Another Bloody Forest”?

In case we got confused by the last chapter and took away the message that Snape’s life was more awful than anyone could have possibly conceived rather than the intended one, JKR recaps it for us. The important part of the chapter was that OMG! HARRY HAS TO DIE!

Neither would live, neither would survive. So, that pretty much makes hash out of the Prophecy. With its very carefully chosen words.

Harry hears his heart beating fiercely, valiantly, and wonders how many more beats it has before it stops forever.

He wonders if it will hurt. But, for all his fierce, valiant will to live, it does not occur to him to disobey—to try to run or escape. Why would it? We know that trying to run from Voldemort buys you one or two years at the most. And that’s if you are good at turning yourself into an armchair.

Harry starts wishing he could have died earlier—so that it would over with by now, I guess. He envies Hedwig her quick death. I think Hedwig might disagree with him about that. I’m sure that given her choice, getting killed while swinging around in a cramped little cage would not be it. I never really thought about it, but what a horrible last few minutes she had!

Or, Harry thinks, it might have been better to die while throwing himself in front of a killing curse meant for someone else. Like Lily did. That was an easy way to go.

Man! Everybody got a better death than Harry! Lily, James, Hedwig… nobody else ever had to die knowing about it beforehand! Nobody had to walk up to Voldemort, completely defenseless, and let the Dark Lord kill him for a greater cause.

Nobody except… Señor Snapo!

Harry reflects that the betrayal by Dumbledore was almost nothing. It was all Harry’s fault; he had been too foolish to question his own right of existence. He was only meant to live as long as it took to eliminate Voldemort’s Horcruxes.

So… when he was a baby, Dumbledore already knew that there were multiple Horcruxes? Or maybe just one? Dumbledore looked at baby Harry and thought to himself, As soon as I figure out where Tom has hidden his real Horcrux, the baby gets it!

Yeah, but Snape was disgusting. Because he wasn’t planning to kill a child. He just didn’t care.

How neat, how elegant Harry thinks, for Dumbledore to assign the task of destroying the Horcruxes to the last one of all!

Good try, JKR. But, no. It’s not neat or elegant. It’s idiotic to assign the task of destroying Horcruxes to a guy who doesn’t have 1) the magical knowledge or skill to detect a Horcrux, and 2) the magical knowledge or skill to destroy one.

I suppose one could call it elegant to trick Voldemort into killing the last bit of his soul by making the person holding it chase down the other soul bits. But I wouldn’t use that word. The phrase I would use is needlessly clever. It’s basically Dumbledore showing off.

Harry decides that Dumbledore knew Harry would choose to die, because Dumbledore had taken the time to understand him. No. First off, Dumbledore (with help from Voldemort) created your suicidal heroism. That’s not understanding, that’s manipulation.

He left you with the most unfriendly Muggles in the world—so that you wouldn’t have any attachments outside of the wizarding world. Then he made Hogwarts the fulfillment of any fantasies you might have had about friends, achievement, and plain old specialness. Then he trained you to become heroic and self-sacrificing (when it came to your health or life).

Moreover… sacrificing yourself so that people you care about will live? Not that big a leap. Yes, there are people who won’t die for others. But every mother in this series would die for her child, and all the people that Harry regrets dying tonight--Fred, Lupin, and Tonks—would have done the same. They did do the same, that’s why they’re dead.

And they didn’t even need to be trained.

Harry then thinks some more about dying and realizes that he messed up by not killing the snake, but Dumbledore was smart enough to know that, too, and that was why Hermione and Ron were allowed to come on his quest. That, and the fact that he wouldn’t have accomplished any of it without them.

He looks at his battered old Fabian watch and sees that he has only half an hour left before Voldemort starts killing everyone else. I guess the Prince’s Tale didn’t last that long after all.

Harry finally stands up, and his heart keeps beating wildly, as though it would like a vote in this whole dying business… isn’t it odd how disconnected Harry is from his organs? He’s great with the limbs and all—with those Seeker reflexes—but when it comes to his heart, or his penis chest monster libido, those are foreign elements.

And goodness knows his brain is like some distant relative that only shows up once a year for a visit.

Hehe. Harry puts on the Invisibility Cloak and walks through the castle, feeling like a ghost. The part that cracks me up is that he’s hoping someone will stop him—but of course, they can’t possibly see him through the most Special Invisibility Cloak in history.

At the entrance, he nearly bumps into Neville and Oliver Wood, who are carrying in the body of Colin Creevey. JKR’s explanation for how Colin, a Muggleborn who would have been kicked out of school, came to be here is that he arrived with the other D.A. members. Take that, continuity hounds!

After having Neville help him carry Colin however far it was, Oliver Wood decides he really didn’t need help. He takes the body up on his shoulders and Neville is therefore free (and alone) for Harry to assign one last task to.

Harry pulls off the Cloak, almost giving Neville a heart attack. When Neville suspiciously asks if Harry is going to give himself up to Voldemort, Harry lies in the most unconvincing way and tells Neville that the big snake Voldemort likes has to be killed.

Just in case Ron and Hermione might be too busy. By being dead or something. Harry reflects that this is how Dumbledore would have done it—there were three people originally on the quest, and, once he’s dead, there will still be three. Ron, Hermione, and Neville taking his place.

Yeah, Harry. This is why Dumbledore is an idiot. If it were me? I would have a hundred people gunning for that snake. Ever watch an army of ants take on something bigger? They may be small, but they win because there are a lot of them.

Hehe. Harry stumbles through the instructions, telling Neville that “Just in case they’re—busy—and you get the chance—“

And Neville cuts right in with, “Kill the snake?”

See. This is why Neville rocks. No emo moments for him. He goes right to what needs to be done. Kill the snake? Right. Got it. Later, Harry. I have to go haul in another ten bodies.

So Harry puts on the Cloak again, and comes upon Ginny leaning over a random girl, who is whispering for her mother. I have to tell you that this moment bugged the hell out of me, because—like everyone else in the world—I hate that characters are killed off, as Guy Fleegman says, “to show that the situation’s serious.”

So, it gave me great satisfaction to have Marietta come and play the part of the girl—complete with a heroic death. She did it for all the red shirts in the world.

“I want to go home” the girl cries. “I don’t want to fight anymore!”

As Ginny comforts her, Harry envies the girl for being able to say that. He wants to be stopped, to go home—

And then he realizes that Hogwarts was his home. His first and best home, just like Voldemort and Snape. Except for Snape it was probably more like a prison.

Snape’s family home was pretty terrible (at least, we can infer that it was), but look what happened to him at Hogwarts! Within a few minutes of getting on the train, he had acquired two enemies who used him as target practice for seven years. The culmination of that was that he was nearly killed, while his tormentors were glorified for their clever pranks. He was allowed two or three years outside of the school, then he bound himself to Dumbledore for the rest of his life. A life filled with frustration and fear. Snape seemed a lot happier in that shabby little library at Spinner’s End.

Harry passes on, and Ginny, because she’s his soul mate senses something and turns to look after him. But the specialness of that moment is eclipsed when Harry passes by Hagrid’s hut and thinks about all the great times eating rock cakes that are now gone forever…

Squirrel!

As Harry enters the forest, he comes into a swarm of Dementors and he falters. Then he realizes that he doesn’t have to walk alone and pulls out the Snitch that Dumbledore left him. He kisses it and says, “I am about to die.”

The Snitch opens and the Resurrection Stone, with its Deathly Hallows symbol appears. The stone is cracked. Now, this is the part that confuses me. Did Voldemort put the Horcrux in the stone or in the ring? The ring was cursed, but the stone was cracked… And neither appears to have been completely destroyed.

Horcrux or not, the stone works when Harry turns it over in his hands three times. Four dead people—neither ghost nor flesh—approach him. They are James, Lily, Sirius, and Remus.

I don’t exactly get why Remus is there with the others. James and Lily were, of course, Harry’s parents and they died for him. Sirius was his Godfather. Remus was merely Harry’s emotionally distant teacher for a year.

Now, if you think of Sirius and Remus as a couple, then it makes more sense.

But if they aren’t, then why not Tonks as well? Why not Moody? Why not Fred? Why not Hedwig?

And why, with all the rest, not Snape?

Okay, Harry and Snape hated each other, so maybe not.

But was Remus really closer to Harry than Fred?

And, what with all the portraits and the ghosts and everything—these James and Lily dead figures don’t seem all that different than the ones who came out of Voldemort’s wand. Except this time, they have a bit more time to talk to Harry. Oh, and this time, instead of trying to save him from Voldemort, they’re happy to have him die.

“I didn’t want you to die,” Harry tells him. “Any of you. I’m sorry—“

I guess this is why Snape showing up would be a bad idea. If he had, the line would have read something like this: “I didn’t want you to die. Any of you. Except Snape. I was fine with that one. “

Harry asks if they can walk with him as he goes to Voldemort and they agree. Sirius assures him that no one else will see them, as they are invisible to everyone but Harry. “We are part of you,” Sirius says.

Interestingly, although invisible to everyone else, the ghosties can see Harry through the Invisibility Cloak. Why is this? I don’t know. Magic. Love. Whatever.

They walk through the forest and the ghosties act like Patroni against the Dementors. Harry doesn’t actually know where Voldemort is, so it’s lucky that he stumbles on Yaxley and Dolohov. They let us know that time is nearly up and then conveniently turn around and head back to Voldemort so that Harry can follow them.

As it turns out, the Death Eaters have set up camp in Aragog’s old lair—still covered in giant cobwebs. The narrator notes that the giant spiders were driven out of the area in order to fight for the Death Eaters. Really? How exactly did that happen? Can Death Eaters control the giant spiders that no one else can? I mean, if you drive a wild animal out of its home, it generally doesn’t start fighting for you. It generally starts fighting to get you out.

But never mind. The Death Eaters are all standing around a flickering fire. Just like in every Death Eater fic ever written. Fenrir’s there, which means I ought to go back and change that DVD extra so that Ginny doesn’t kill him. Lucius is there, looking terrified. Check. Narcissa merely look apprehensive. I guess that makes her better than him. I’ll bet the Hat sorted her too soon. There are also two giants, sitting down by still towering over everyone else. Nice image. Still doesn’t justify the camping trip in OotP.

I like the description of Voldemort standing still with his hands folded over the Elder Wand. It makes him seem like a statue of a saint. Strange, perverted religious imagery. Especially since the cage with Nagini in it is floating right behind his head. JKR even describes it as looking like a “monstrous halo.”

Also, Voldemort is described as either praying or counting in his head—Harry’s not sure which. But either, the irrationality of praying or the super-rationality of counting, is apparently evil at this moment.

Voldemort admits that he was mistaken to think Harry would arrive, but Harry calls out to let him know he wasn’t, and steps into the light. The Death Eaters, like any good evil chorus, immediately start making “rabble-rabble” noises.

Hagrid’s voice cuts above the Death Eaters. Harry sees that he has been tied to a nearby tree. I hope it was Grawp who did it.

Hagrid is silenced by someone, and the only other person of note is Bellatrix, who has jumped up and now stands watching Harry and Voldemort like they’re the Williams sisters and this is Wimbleton. Her breast is heaving and I find that incredibly annoying. Good God, woman. Can’t you stop imitating a romance novel cover for a single moment? I swear, this part was written for Helena Bonham Carter.

Hehe. And Bellatrix, at her breast-heaving, open-mouthed panting, blazing-eyed worst reminds Harry of Ginny. Can you imagine? Every time Harry ever has sex with Ginny, he’s going to think of Bellatrix. Wow.

You know, if Harry had become the new Dark Lord, then this would have been Ginny. Except that Ginny, having Hermione to advise her, had dated other boys to make Harry jealous and thus excited his interest. Poor Bellatrix never got that hint, and so Voldemort barely ever looks at her no matter how much she simulates orgasm just from being in his presence.

Is just coincidence or is it another subtle dick joke when Harry thinks about the feel of Ginny’s lips on his… and Voldmort raises his wand? Perhaps this is a moment when Harry and Voldemort’s truly souls become one.

Or maybe it’s just a way to draw out the moment a little longer. Because time does seem to slow down as much as possible before Voldemort casts the inevitable killing curse. Harry sees a flash of green light, and the screen goes black.

*****

I’ve ragged as much as I can about this chapter. That’s my purpose, but I must admit that it is the best chapter in the book. It’s well written, well-paced, and, even though we know exactly what’s going to happen, there’s still tension and suspense.

Well done, JKR. I just wish that more of the chapters had been this good. And, you know, that the plot had been less stupid.

Fan Service:
Remus and Sirius together again!
James and Lily live! Sort of!
Harry dies!

Fan Slappage:
Two giants. That’s it? Where are the Inferi? The werewolves?

DVD Extras:

INT: A CLASSROOM AT HOGWARTS

The room is fairly crowded with people sitting at desks and filling in forms. Marietta Edgecombe and Colin Creevey wander in exchanging puzzled glances with each other.

A young woman with red hair approaches them. It is Lily Potter. She carries a clipboard.

LILY
Hello. Welcome to the afterlife. Please take a seat and fill in this form.

She hands each of them a piece of paper. Marietta takes one, bewildered.

MARIETTA
What’s this for?

LILY
We have to determine where you’re going to go.

Fred Weasley wanders up, his form in his hand.

FRED
Excuse me? What does this mean? “Going On”?

LILY
You have a choice, you see. Most people prefer to go on to the after life. Like it’s a new adventure.

FRED
So, what does “Wait” mean?

LILY
Some like to wait around for their loved ones to join them. I’d be careful about that one. It tends to mean doing administrative work.

She sighs and taps her clipboard.

MARIETTA
(peering at her form)
What is “Ghost”?

LILY
Oh, that’s an option where you take on the form of a ghost. Some people choose that. Cowards, mostly.

MARIETTA
I don’t know. There’s a certain person I could see haunting…

COLIN
“Portrait”?

LILY
That’s only open if you’ve had your portrait painted. Then you get to hang out and tell people what to do.

FRED
You know, the afterlife is not at all what I expected it to be.

LILY
Oh? What did you expect?

COLIN
More famous people.

MARIETTA
Less paperwork.

FRED
More fireworks.

LILY
Well, I guess we can’t always get what we want, can we?

Remus Lupin appears in the doorway, looking around curiously.

LUPIN
Lily Potter?

A joyous cry comes from the back of the room:

SIRIUS
Remus!

He comes loping up, looking young and fit. Lupin stares at him.

LUPIN
Sirius? What are you doing here?

SIRIUS
I came to greet you!

They hug and kiss.

TONKS
(disgusted)
Oh my God. I knew it.

She appears behind them, framed in the doorway.

TONKS (cont’d)
It was him all the time!

LUPIN
Yes.

LILY
(gaping at Sirius)
I thought you were straight.

SIRIUS
(proudly)
Camouflage, baby. Just more reason I couldn’t stand my family.

James Pottter appears from a door in the back.

JAMES
Lily! Sirius! Come on. It’s time.

LILY
Already? (She sighs and puts her clipboard down.) Fill out that form. I’ll be back in a few minutes.

JAMES
Lupin, you too.

The four of them join hands and Disapparate.

Marietta hands a form to Tonks, and the four of them move towards empty desks.

FRED
(starting) Merlin’s pants!

He picks something up from the floor.

COLIN
What is it?

FRED
(looking ill) It’s my brother’s ear.

FADE OUT

Comments

[soldurios.livejournal.com]

Two things: An LJ cut would be awesome and Snape didn't know he was going to die. Nor did he go into death willingly.

[montavilla.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I just fixed the non-cut thing.

As for Snape, I think he had to know that every time he saw Voldemort there was a good chance he'd be caught out and killed. And, although he instinctively raised his wand, he died without defending himself.

[jodel-from-aol.livejournal.com]

>I hated the ghosts telling Harry to die. And of course he died, once again, doing nothing and just giving himself up.<

And it's taken 7 long books to get him to the point that he would do it.

And, really, when you take a closer look, for the past few books whenever Harry *did* try to accomplish anything it only made things worse for someone else. That was certainly the case in *this* book. And indeed that can be said for OotP and HBP as well. You *could* even apply it to GoF, but he was being forced to compete in that one, not told to stay out of things. The last time Harry did anything on his own, that was really *effective* was in PoA, and before that, CoS. (He meddled in PS/SS and only made things worse.)

[ellecain.livejournal.com]

I hated the ghosts telling Harry to die. And of course he died, once again, doing nothing and just giving himself up

Did anyone get a weird suicide-bomber vibe from this part?

[montavilla.livejournal.com]

Harry asked Dumbledore for permission to tell Hermione and Ron back in HBP, when he was attending special lessons. Dumbledore agreed to bring them into the secret, since they had proven their loyalty. (I guess none of the Order adults had done that?)

And the gifts Dumbledore left to Hermione and Ron in his will imply that he's expecting them to go along with Harry on the quest.

If the point of having Horcrux!Harry hunt down the Horcruxes is that Voldemort would be reluctant to kill off a piece of his soul, then it would make sense to let Voldemort know about it. Which would be easy, since Dumbledore only had to let Snape know to tell him.

But I'm sure Dumbledore was concerned that if Voldemort about the soul bit, he'd use it to possess Harry (regardless of the pain) and make him all evil or something.

[lissa2.livejournal.com]

"I hated the ghosts telling Harry to die"
Yes it was very creepy especially the part where they looked all smiley. Ok so you agree that Harry has to die and you don't intend to try and stop him, but why must you smile like you're watching Harry getting married or something?

There is a theory that "the ghosts" were just a figment of Harry's imgagination that he subconsciously created to encourage himself. But if that was the case why did he need the stone to create them? and how were they able to protect him from the dementors?
There's another theory that it was Dumbledore's doing. I think that if one of these thoeries are true then JKR should have made it clear in the text.

I swear I'm going to wet myself laughing if in the film James, Lily and Sirius will try to stop him while in tears.

[jodel-from-aol.livejournal.com]

Er... LJ cut?

Yes this *was* probably the most engaging chapter in the book. And it's another mark of "Fail" that we had to wait this long for it. Although, really, given the context there wasn't anywhere else to put it. We *had* to wait for it.

But, you are absolutely right, this chapter has all the emotional authenticy anyone could ask for. Unfortunately it completely shreds any attempt at sense or rationality, and what it *appears* to be, isn't what it actually is. This is the chapter where the whole world grieves for Rowling's mother.

I honestly don't begrudge that. Losing a parent is a horrible wrench, it's no shame to empathise, and about the only thing it isn't is unique. That's the point. Insofar as there is a point.

At the same time, it's very difficult to try to get hold of anything that doesn't crumble away at a touch when you are moving in a dreamscape. Rowling completely threw any attempt at logic or continuity in this chapter. It *is* effectively a dream sequence. And a far more successful one than then one that follows it.

And insofar as the issues that Rowling raises by attempting to inject profundities into Potter's stream-of-consiousness; yeah, did Albus already know there were multiple Horcruxes when he first looked at Harry's scar? Sure didn't seem like it when we watched him leave Harry on the Dursley's doorstep. But neither did it seem like there was any surprise expressed that Harry had that scar. My mind is skittering back to the most relevant irrelevance of the first half of the series about now and wondering all over again about that bloody "missing" 24 hours. Had he already got a look at the kid and had a chance to examine that scar? He certainly talks as if he had any time the subject comes up later, but it sure didn't look like it from what Rowling showed us.

And as for Colin Creevy; Rowling's explanation only contradicts her own story. We distinctly heard Minerva chivvying a Creevy out of the castle during the evacuation, so there was no need for him to sneak in with the DA. He was already there, and as a sixth year in May may have already turned 17 and had every right to be there. *I* say that Rowling simply forgot that the Creevy's were supposed to be muggleborn and we just need to retrofit them as halfbloods (and it was Dennis that Minerva was forcing to leave the building).

[montavilla.livejournal.com]

I suppose it's quite possible that Harry simply forgot which brother was which. I mean, with his thing about not recognizing people outside his immediate circle of friends. :)

But it really can work the why JKR says. Some of the D.A. showed up before Harry went to Ravenclaw tower. Colin might have one of them--even though Harry doesn't recognize him.

Still, you're right that Colin would likely be 17 by the same of the battle. And Minerva wouldn't be his teacher if he had been forced to leave earlier. And he was sitting with the Gryffindors, which strongly implies that he was a student and not someone who showed up in the room.

[oryx_leucoryx]

Had he already got a look at the kid and had a chance to examine that scar?

Hagrid talks as if this was the first chance Dumbledore has to see either of them, but Hagrid wasn't with Harry the entire time - at some point he went to chat with Minerva to tell her about his very secret and responsible assignment. So Dumbledore could ahve used this time to examine Harry. And (later?) consult his silver instruments.

[lissa2.livejournal.com]

The Creevys can't be halfbloods since the basilick (sp?) petrified Colin in CoS and we know it only did it to muggle-borns (Hermione,Penny,Justin).
But I see no plot hole in either Dennis or Colin being in Hogwarts. Both brothers could have been summoned to Hogwarts by one of their pureblood classmates or by a DA member who was a Hogwarts student at the time. They had the DA coins.

[oryx_leucoryx]

In contrast to most readers, this was one of the most annoying chapters for me to read the first time around. By the time I got there I was so sick of Harry my mind was just yelling 'OK, die already, who cares about you?'

Man! Everybody got a better death than Harry!
Reinforcing what I said above.

So… when he was a baby, Dumbledore already knew that there were multiple Horcruxes? Or maybe just one? Dumbledore looked at baby Harry and thought to himself, As soon as I figure out where Tom has hidden his real Horcrux, the baby gets it!

Since Albus did nothing to search for any Horcrux, I think he figured Harry was the one. He was just waiting for circumstances to be such that Harry's death would be perceived as noble sacrifice rather than cruelty or negligence by Albus. Even after the diary, supposedly a disposable weapon-Horcrux, Albus didn't seek the 'other' one. I guess it looked like the prophecy coming true - diaryTom died by Harry's hand, all that was left was for Harry to die by Tom's hand.

Harry decides that Dumbledore knew Harry would choose to die, because Dumbledore had taken the time to understand him. No. First off, Dumbledore (with help from Voldemort) created your suicidal heroism. That’s not understanding, that’s manipulation.


Exactly.

Agreeing with you about Albus' overly clever stupidity.

And then he realizes that Hogwarts was his home. His first and best home, just like Voldemort and Snape. Except for Snape it was probably more like a prison.

Yes.

The figures from the stone - those were the people who have the power to make Harry want to die, those he would want to join. And perhaps Remus is here to correct the error of holding Harry to prevent him from running through the veil after Sirius died. As for Severus - he is probably the only dead one who would have preferred for Harry to keep living rather than join him.

Is just coincidence or is it another subtle dick joke when Harry thinks about the feel of Ginny’s lips on his… and Voldmort raises his wand? Perhaps this is a moment when Harry and Voldemort’s truly souls become one.


Loved this. As well as Bellatrix's heaving chest and her reminding harry of Ginny.

And loved the DVD extra. So Lily has been handing out forms for 16.5 years until Harry was about to show up? And Fred will be waiting with George's ear for the rest of George?

[montavilla.livejournal.com]

Loved this. As well as Bellatrix's heaving chest and her reminding harry of Ginny.

It's weird what you pick up on a second reading. I hadn't reread this chapter until I started working on the spork--didn't quite see the point. When other people pointed out the Bellatrix/Ginny connection, I thought they were exaggerating!

[jodel-from-aol.livejournal.com]

By this point, it takes a bit of a lurch to remember that it was still very easy, going in to this book, to believe that Harry being a Horcrux somehow equipped him with some necessary quality that would enable him to destroy the other Horcruxes.

I cannot make up my mind as to whether Rowling might have originally intended it that way or not. It is possible that she might have, but the notion of Ron having "earned" the right to destroy the Locket by pulling Harry (and the sword) out of the pond evidently had just too much "dramatic appeal". And once she had broken the "rules" that way she couldn't make Harry able to destroy Horcruxes because he was one, and went overboard in the other direction, by not letting him do anything toward wrecking any of the rest of them. *Finding* them, yes, but destroying them, not a chance.

Which really ended up undermining the whole point of sending Harry after them in the first place.

[oryx_leucoryx]

The 'best' reason for Dumbledore to send Harry after the Horcruxes was his understanding that Harry was protected from death (completely? no matter how he was about to die?) as long as Tom was in his Harry-derived body. Of course nobody who joined him had that kind of protection. So why not send a bigger crew, to make sure *someone* survived with Harry? And why not train Harry better? At the very least Dumbledore should have taught Harry how to destroy a Horcrux and give him a list of places Dumbledore had already searched and ruled out. (And why not mention that Rowena Ravenclaw had that diadem, though it is thought to have been long lost?)

So perhaps Dumbles left those books out, unprotected from whatever security means have so far kept people from summoning his property away, with the intent of getting Severus to deliver them to the kids. But really, all he needed to do was schedule one more lesson with Harry sometime in May.

[seductivedark.livejournal.com]

And goodness knows his brain is like some distant relative that only shows up once a year for a visit.

It's even more distant than that - like my late Aunt Issy, Harry's brain only shows up once every two decades.

Guy Fleegman

Yay Guy!

Harry passes on...

Wishful thinking in the words there much?

Squirrel!

Yup.

Interestingly, although invisible to everyone else, the ghosties can see Harry through the Invisibility Cloak. Why is this?

Because he fell asleep watching Snape's memories and never made the Death March in Canon Life? Because this is the beginning of his descent into madness culminating with the exchange with "Dumbledore" at "King's Cross?" Because this is what Snape Legillimensed into his brain when he looked into Harry's eyes before taking a powder out of the WW and the books?

Fenrir’s there, which means I ought to go back and change that DVD extra so that Ginny doesn’t kill him.

See above.

Strange, perverted religious imagery.

I'm all for that.

Where are the Inferi? The werewolves?

The werewolves are here (http://blogs.dixcdn.com/shine_a_light/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/dogs_playing_poker.jpg). The Inferi went on the beer run.

Love the DVD extras!

[montavilla.livejournal.com]

Hehe. I think you're right about the werewolves. I seem to remember a fair number of fics featuring werewolf support groups. Why not poker nights?

[oryx_leucoryx]

Interestingly, although invisible to everyone else, the ghosties can see Harry through the Invisibility Cloak. Why is this?


I forgot to comment on that one: Must have something to do with both the stone and the cloak being Hallows. Since the ghosts come from beyond death they get to see where even Death can't. Or something.

[the-bitter-word.livejournal.com]

I'm with oryx on this one. This chapter was one big "Oh, come on!" experience for me. I hated that Potter marched loyally to his death, abandoning everyone who looked to him for inspiration. I hated that "others don't have to stand in for you, Potter" was a pretext, because who can trust Voldemort to keep his word to stop the killing? I hated the ghouls cheering Potter on, telling him he was so brave to, essentially, throw in the towel. I even hated ineffectual Ginny (in character for this book), beaten-down Lucius, and OH NOES! HARRY! Hagrid.

The morality of the books went seriously off the rails... well, volumes ago, but this was the chapter that confirmed it. Harry's death was suicide plain and simple, with the not-quite faith but hope that Dumbledore was right and Voldemort would be a little more vulnerable, with no thought for what would happen until Nagini was killed.

Then there was the Potter isolation so profound only the dead could share it. Other martyrs commanded or taught. Even those who died espousing non-violence preached to millions. Organizing with others is where it's at, not simply giving up. People become visible targets because they act, not just because the Prophecy said so. Effective martyrs die for a cause, not just because some old guy said so. What cause did Potter have -- kill Voldemort? What use is that, when another Dark Lord is sure to arise within a generation or so?

To accomplish the "kill Voldemort" task, Potter sat complaining in a forest for most of the book, bungled a few expeditions, Crucio'd and Imperiused his way out of things, actually did watch others suffer and die, took an automaton's walk in the forest with the young and unshabby dead, then stood there like a lump of coal waiting to be killed. Even Christ protested aloud at some point, but not Potter, he was just that deplete of intelligence, he was just that insensate. All he could do was lie to Neville about his plan to give up.

I agree with those who say that if there's any message at all, it nothing but a suicide bomber's belief that one's life is expendable if it hastens the demise of the enemy. Oh, and don't question the orders of your white-bearded leader. And, your family is cheering you on in your death march.

The best part of this chapter was the Death Eaters' disappointment that Potter hadn't shown up. It was almost like Potter dissed Voldemort's birthday party and crushed his feelings. I wonder if Voldie regretted killing Snape when he thought Potter wouldn't show. Not that anyone gave much thought to Snape.

Speaking of which, I would love to read your take of Lily presenting Snape with a form in the afterlife, if it avoided the woobieness that dogs Snape post-DH.

[jodel-from-aol.livejournal.com]

Well, we didn't see Snape show up to be handed a form to fill out. Admittedly, with his luck he'd be handed one by Fred rather than Lily, since he would wander in while they were on escort duty, but it's another reason to assume that Lucius's plan worked.

One

[tdotm.livejournal.com]

--- “He wonders if it will hurt...it does not occur to him to disobey—to try to run or escape. ”

Why, oh why, oh why , is he so inert? Why no raging against his fate? Why didn’t he walk up to Dumbledore’s portrait and shake it about, screaming for his attention? Don’t tell me - he’s still sleeping and Harry didn’t want to disturb him – despite the fact that he’s just a memory and sleeping is probably just a charming conceit as opposed to a need to recharge. Even if it’s needed, he could catch up in 10 minutes time, as Harry begins the loneliest walk of all. I’ve heard 1,000 alternative theories of how Voldemort could be defeated, usually involving Dementors, or killing Voldie and capturing his ‘essence’ in a magical Ghostbusters type trap. Why didn’t Harry come up with any of them? I know JKR was determined for him to follow in Aslan’s footsteps, but he should at least have had to be *persuaded* that there was no other solution. He just seemed to shrug. If it had been sprung on me at 17, that I had to sacrifice myself (rather than go down fighting) I’d have thrown a magnificent tantrum. Harry, one of the most self-absorbed characters in literature just accepts it. He whines to himself (and us) but still goes ahead, why? Because it was the Gospel according to Holy Dumbles. Honestly, the whole thing makes me want to spit.

Also, he envies Hedwig? Head first into an unexplained lake of nitro-glycerine, or whatever caused that vast fire-ball that was seen for miles around? Harry is such a selfish git.

--- “How neat, how elegant Harry thinks, for Dumbledore to assign the task of destroying the Horcruxes to the last one of all!”

Not so much neat, as nonsense – leaving all the* vital* seek and destroying to an incompetent git for NO GOOD REASON. Jeez! I’m presuming that this isn’t Harry being mistaken, but JKR explaining her reasoning through him. As I frequently say when this particular sub-plot smacks me in the face, it should have been because Dumbledore worried about the reactions of the rest of the Order. Even the cooler heads would be hesitant to let Harry sacrifice himself; the Weasleys, Remus etc would find it almost impossible to accept. Not because he’s the Chosen One – after all, that could easily entail dying for the cause – but because they actually cared about him. They’d want to explore every other possible avenue first and they *wouldn’t* accept Dumbles’ word as Gospel.

Actually, I have a sneaking suspicion that Dumbles came up with his ideas/jumped to conclusions and they instantly became set in stone. If he’d drink the liquid in the cave because he ‘knew’ it had to be drunk, why not send Harry to his death because he felt ‘sure’ that there was no choice? How many alternatives did he explore, if any? In Book 2, I’d have had no doubt that he always did his best by Harry and co. Sadly his character was such a failure over time, that I have no trouble in thinking the worst.

--- “that was why Hermione and Ron were allowed to come on his quest. That, and the fact that he wouldn’t have accomplished any of it without them.”

It would have been so much better if Harry hadn’t been there at all. The locket would have had little chance of getting to Ron if he was having Hermione three times a day. Without it, he might have done something constructive about being hungry, eg call a bloody House Elf. Hermione, with fewer gussets to scrub, might have remembered to pack some food - and also wouldn’t have been tortured to within an inch of her life. Even better, Remus would be the third member of the Trio and their shenanigans would be exciting, edge of the seat stuff – not yawns and eye-rolls.

Before the book came out, a friend was longing for it to end with the words “It had all been a dream” just for the lolz at the fandom exploding. I joked that it would be even better if the very first words had been “Harry Potter was dead”. I’m not joking now.

Re: One

[montavilla.livejournal.com]

Why no raging against his fate?

I don't have the link, but someone did a pretty good "re-do" version of Deathly Hallows. (Basically, s/he took the story JKR wrote and cut out all the stupid bits). In this part of the book, Harry did rage and Snape (who was not dead), was the one to lead him to Voldemort to die. It turned out to be very moving.

I joked that it would be even better if the very first words had been “Harry Potter was dead”. I’m not joking now.

That is a great opening line.

Two

[tdotm.livejournal.com]

--- “Then he realizes that he doesn’t have to walk alone and pulls out the Snitch that Dumbledore left him. He kisses it and says, “I am about to die.”

I have to admit that line choked me up. Walking to your death - with no way out - isn’t like dying in battle, or taking as many of the b*stards down with you as you can. All that time with your thoughts would make your fear grow and grow. That fear (totally justified) totally struck a chord. I rather liked this scene and not just because my dream of Harry’s death was about to come true!

---“I don’t exactly get why Remus is there with the others. James and Lily were, of course, Harry’s parents and they died for him. Sirius was his Godfather. Remus was merely Harry’s emotionally distant teacher for a year.”

Maurauders rule, that's why! Apart from how they’re all dead. Honestly, the 20 year re-union for the Gryffindor class of 79(?) is going to be hella quiet.

---“Narcissa merely look apprehensive... I’ll bet the Hat sorted her too soon.”

Mwah!!

---“Hagrid’s voice cuts above the Death Eaters. Harry sees that he has been tied to a nearby tree. I hope it was Grawp who did it.”

More Mwah!! At least Voldemort didn’t engage in endless chat and gloating first. I suppose that’s only necessary when Harry needs time to escape. It's certainly not because Voldemort learnt from his earlier mistakes.

---“I just wish that more of the chapters had been this good. And, you know, that the plot had been less stupid.”

And she hadn’t sh*t on all her characters from a height even greater than that from which Hedwig plummeted to her death.

---“Two giants. That’s it? Where are the Inferi? The werewolves?”

If it wasn’t a full moon, wouldn't the werewolves would just be some blokes? I thought Fenrir was an exception in his permanently semi-changed condition. I think the rest of the giants were killed off during that brilliant attack on the Village of Hogsmeade that was the exciting culmination of the Giant sub-plot in OotP. However, if I could create zombies, I’d have apparated between Horcruxes and spent the rest of the time creating 1,000 brand spanking new, living dead. I’d have made a special point of collecting James and Lily Potter - if they weren't too decomposed. Also, if I had to visit Dumbles’ tomb, I’d have left with more than the Elder Wand, that's for sure – how cool would that have been? That would damage morale!

Re: Two

[seductivedark.livejournal.com]

I’d have made a special point of collecting James and Lily Potter - if they weren't too decomposed. Also, if I had to visit Dumbles’ tomb, I’d have left with more than the Elder Wand, that's for sure – how cool would that have been? That would damage morale!

Dumbledore at the head of an Inferi army for Voldemort would have been brilliant. Lily and James, decomposed as they would have been, would have been truly frightening and demoralizing to more than just Harry. Rowling would have been in her element writing OTT stuff, fans would have eaten it up.

Part 1 of 2

[madderbrad.livejournal.com]

Great review (as usual). I particularly loved your snark/ragging in this one, it worked well for me.

Great summary too:

I must admit that it is the best chapter in the book. It’s well written, well-paced, and, even though we know exactly what’s going to happen, there’s still tension and suspense.

Well done, JKR. I just wish that more of the chapters had been this good. And, you know, that the plot had been less stupid.

Such a pity that Rowling was so useless at plotting the end to her series. Oh well.

This was the only chapter in the book which engaged me; I found myself quite moved by Harry's death march into the forest, his reunion with the spirits of his loved ones. Which surprised me at the time, because otherwise I'd been finding DH quite a joke, part of my mind watching the other part in its perusal and thinking "no, this book is SO BAD, I must be reading it wrong". You know, like when you're at the cinema watching a bad movie which just can't hold your interest, so part of you 'watches' the other part which is watching the movie.

Anyway, Harry's communion with his ghostly companions was well done. Since then, though, I've come to deplore Rowling's fatalistic view of death which permeated the book, and in particular the contradiction that Harry's parents, who had died to protect him, who had so exhorted him to escape Voldemort in GoF, would now essentially *encourage* him to walk to his slaughter. Ugh.

Neither would live, neither would survive. So, that pretty much makes hash out of the Prophecy. With its very carefully chosen words.

THANK YOU for saying that. I was a big fan of the prophecy, coming out of OotP - I thought it would prove to be a marvellous mechanism for angst and drama in the last segment of the series. Instead I was utterly confounded when Rowling deliberately did an about-face in the next book, making the prophecy a farce (when Harry reveals the secret to his two best friends Hermione gets punched in the eye by a joke telescope two nanoseconds following, defusing the moment entirely) and then having Albus ("I speak for the author, you'd better listen to me if you want to understand how you're supposed to read this story") Dumbledore poo-poo the whole idea of a prophecy. And then it is never really used again.

I've come across a couple of fans who have tried their hardest to shoehorn the prophecy into a more refined interpretation which allows them to retain their adoration of 'Jo', but no, facts are facts - after putting up the Prophecy as the foundation of the story for her fifth book, in the very next novel she proceeded to trash it, and then it never appears in DH at all. Until she throws it in for this chapter - making a further hash of it, as you say - and then has Harry nonsensically quote it in the big confrontation coming up, hoping that it will stick with the readers anyway.

I think the Prophecy is one of the best examples of Rowling chucking in every bit of popular myth which caught her fancy, only to later prove incapable of incorporating it in a meaningful or consistent way in the end game of her series. And of how she'd conjure up something to work as a one-shot wonder for just one book, unthinking or uncaring of the implications for the rest of the series.

Like others here I don't think Snape went willingly to his death. He always knew it was a risk, but didn't know, when he was summoned, that Voldemort intended to kill him there and then.

Good try, JKR. But, no. It’s not neat or elegant. It’s idiotic to assign the task of destroying Horcruxes to a guy who doesn’t have 1) the magical knowledge or skill to detect a Horcrux, and 2) the magical knowledge or skill to destroy one.

Applause. Yeah, Rowling wants - needs - us to believe that it all makes sense. But it doesn't. Her story/series is made of fairy floss ... it looks nice, but bite into it and it's empty air, nothing of substance.

Re: Part 1 of 2

[montavilla.livejournal.com]

If JKR had really trashed the prophecy, then that might have been more interesting. There was a time when I thought it would be great if the real hero had turned out to be Neville--in that he was the true prophecy boy and would end up killing Voldemort directly.

I even toyed with the idea of it being Draco Malfoy (who was born on June 6, according to JKR's website). If you want to be technical, there's an outside possibility that he could have been born "as the Seventh moon dies." Moon cycles being what they are.

Of course, Neville or Draco could possibly have undone Voldemort and fulfilled the prophecy. If JKR had wanted to junk it altogether, she could have made the solution completely different. Like having everyone swarm Voldemort like an army of ants. Or having Hermione kill him. Or Marietta Edgecombe.

But then she wanted divination to be both nonsense and powerful magic.

Part 2 of 2

[madderbrad.livejournal.com]

I suppose one could call it elegant to trick Voldemort into killing the last bit of his soul by making the person holding it chase down the other soul bits. But I wouldnt use that word. The phrase I would use is needlessly clever. Its basically Dumbledore showing off.

And I continue to detest Dumbledore's statement of the last chapter that it is 'essential' that Voldemort is the one that kills Harry. Bull. Anyone can destroy a horcrux. And the 'shared blood' gimmick would have worked regardless of whom tried to kill Harry. Pfah. I am disgusted at how Rowling, in these last few chapters of her series, tries to camouflage things to *appear* as if her story is sound, when in fact any reader who asks "why?" to many of these crucial statements would discover just how many errors and flaws riddle the story. Dumbledore instructing us that it is *essential* that things fall out this way ... when in fact he gives no *reason* for this. Harry waving his arms and quoting the prophecy - in this and the later chapter - to try and have it stick in the readers' minds as something that was relevant after all. The supposed 'elegance' here in Dumbledore's 'plan'. 'Love' being the 'power' that killed Voldemort (I still read fans saying that). Pfah.

it gave me great satisfaction to have Marietta come and play the part of the girlcomplete with a heroic death

How do you know that the girl died? She's speaking when we see her with Ginny, and that's an end to that little vignette. Marietta didn't die in your DVD Extra either, did she?

Harry passes on, and Ginny, because she's his soul mate senses something and turns to look after him.

Gah, CURSE YOU! The ONE, sole scene in the entire series which might show the FAINTEST POSSIBILITY of that asinine, post-publication addendum of Harry and Ginny being 'soul mates', and you had to mention it!!

Nah -

He thought he saw Ginny look around as he passed, and wondered whether she had sensed someone walking nearby, but he did not speak, and he did not look back.

Harry only *thinks* he saw Ginny look around. And even if she did, it might have been simply because she heard something. Or for no reason at all.

No, no 'soul mate' connection here. What 'soul mate' would let her 'mate' pass RIGHT BY her on the way to his execution? Without calling out "HARRRRRRRRRRYYYY, NOOOOOOOO!!!"?

Ginny, having Hermione to advise her, had dated other boys to make Harry jealous and thus excited his interest.

Well, jealousy IS the hallmark of Rowling's version of teenage romance - the series is riddled with it. Ron jealous of Hermione/Krum for years. All that nonsense in HBP with Hermione jealous of Lavender, Ron of McLaggin. Harry's monster insanely jealous of Dean. Ginny blatantly jealous of anything female in the near proximity of Harry - eleven year old girls, Cho Chang, any woman he might come across in his travels. Pfah. Jealousy equals romantic love in Rowling's world.

Okay, for you to make amends for bring up that 'soul mate' evidence-but-not-really scene I'm going to start lobbying now for what I want you to write for the final DVD Extra. Entitled "19 years and Ten Minutes Later" I'd like Ginny to be hit by a meteorite that falls outside Kings Cross Station, please. Preferably a redhead-seeking meteorite, maybe it can hit two targets at once?

And I'd like to remind you that it's not canon that Hermione and Ron are married; Hermione's surname is never mentioned (not like 'the five Potters'). Hermione doesn't rebuke Ron for his cowardly/lazy confounding of muggles because, well, she's just given up on him, she's not interested, she's not with him. And the Harry/Ginny dynamic is basically dead in the epilogue (just like Ginny will be post-meteorite).

(I'm not very good at this lobbying thing, am I? Well, I have two more chapters to improve.)

:-)

Re: Part 2 of 2

[montavilla.livejournal.com]

Hehehe.

I just have to ask. It's obvious that you love Hermione. Why in Heaven's name would you want to saddle her with the world's worst boyfriend? I wouldn't leave her with Harry. I'd have her marry someone better. Like... um... there's gotta be someone...

How about Percy? He's smart and courageous and very polite in most circumstances. The only thing Bill has on him is the rock-star hair.

Or Charlie? He trains dragons!

[mary-j-59.livejournal.com]

I've got to say, I'm with Oryx and The Bitter Word in not finding this chapter moving at all. In my case, I think it was because everything after Snape's "death" was a total anticlimax. Rowling had dropped the ball on her main conflict; she had managed to avoid a confrontation she'd been building toward since the early chapters of her first book in favor of obscure wandlore and blind obedience. I just didn't care any more. Looking back, I can see that this chapter ought to be moving, but when I was reading it, I couldn't care about the feelings of the boy who had reveled in torturing an enemy and passively watched another enemy die without lifting a finger to save him. So that was my other problem; not only was this chapter an anticlimax, I also couldn't manage to care about what happened to Harry any more.

[montavilla.livejournal.com]

I was much the same on the first read. I was most likely still in shock from the previous chapter. And, as you say, disappointed that the dramatic confrontation between Snape and Harry never appeared.

I don't think I was as down on Harry as I am now. But even if I had liked him a lot more than I did I still never believed JKR would really kill him off and I was quite prepared for him to have a near-death experience. So, the chapter didn't thrill or scare me.

It's only reading it now that it seems as good as it does.

It's hard too pull a really good death-scene fake out. Adults readers are just bound to be too jaded to take it seriously. How many death fake-outs does one see by the age of twenty now? It must be hundreds.

[sigune.livejournal.com]

What I remember most about reading this chapter for the first time was total shock at the fact that James and Lily encouraged their son to walk to his death at age 17. I would have expected Lily to scream, "WHAT? Do you think I threw myself in front of that curse for this? Your father and I died so you can kill yourself when Dumbledore says so? The idea was for you to live, sweetie. RUN, you little idiot, RUN!" But that's me, I guess.
- Eh. This part just creeped me out.

[montavilla.livejournal.com]

I don't know that I needed them to do that. I knew that Harry was going to have to do this in order for the story to play out--so I didn't feel that Kübler-Ross stages of grief thing.

I just wanted it to be over at this point. So, we could get to the falling action.

[horridporrid.livejournal.com]

I'm with Oryx, The Bitter Word, and Mary J 59. :) This chapter did not move me. But...

I’ve ragged as much as I can about this chapter. That’s my purpose, but I must admit that it is the best chapter in the book. It’s well written, well-paced, and, even though we know exactly what’s going to happen, there’s still tension and suspense.
Well done, JKR. I just wish that more of the chapters had been this good. And, you know, that the plot had been less stupid.

I think you're right that, taken completely out of its DH context, its one of JKR's better efforts. (Relative to DH, anyway. It's been so long since I've read the series that I'm leery of saying she hasn't had better chapters in other books.) But having read through DH, this chapter strikes me as emotional manipulation.

I neither liked nor cared for Harry by this point, and probably more importantly, I didn't trust the author. So I read this from the point of view of someone being conned. I don't think Harry really wants to live, so I don't believe he's really all that troubled by his beating heart. I think it's stage-action forced into place by an author who wants me to want Harry to live. But I can see her pulling scenery into place in the background, madly beating on an old drum, and I ain't buying it.

It probably doesn't help that the beating heart thing reminded me of a scene in one of Jack London's books (either "White Fang" or "Call of the Wild") where a young man is facing death. I read it when I was a wee young girl and it hit me hard. He looks at his hand and marvels over its mechanical elegance, and I remember stopping and looking at my hand, and just... I mean, it was Jack London, so unfair comparison. But I got to this part in DH, and thought, "Yeah, right. I've seen this before. And I've seen it better."

And then came this:

Then he realizes that he doesn’t have to walk alone and pulls out the Snitch that Dumbledore left him. He kisses it and says, “I am about to die.”

As a sassy Southern friend of mine would say, "Oh my God. He thinks he's our Lord and Savior." (It's a line best delivered in a Southern accent. I don't know why. *g*) At which point I just gave up.

I mean, seriously? Harry becomes the Christ? Really? And right after easily, and enjoyably, torturing someone to boot. Yeah, that's got the Sermon on the Mount written all over it. Jesus would be so proud. ;P

On a totally different note:
I adore the bureaucratic take on the after-life. No wonder Lily is so eager for Harry to die. She's wants away from that clipboard.

And this:
Man! Everybody got a better death than Harry! Lily, James, Hedwig… nobody else ever had to die knowing about it beforehand! Nobody had to walk up to Voldemort, completely defenseless, and let the Dark Lord kill him for a greater cause.
Nobody except… Señor Snapo!
and this:
...Harry passes by Hagrid’s hut and thinks about all the great times eating rock cakes that are now gone forever…
Squirrel!
made me LOL. :D Gosh, how much better would DH have been with dear old Dug (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_%282009_film%29#Cast_and_characters) in the title role? I tell you one thing, I'd have cared like a wild-mad-caring-thing if Dug was being sent to die.

[oryx_leucoryx]

I adore the bureaucratic take on the after-life. No wonder Lily is so eager for Harry to die. She's wants away from that clipboard.


But then he survives and she is stuck with the clipboard for at least 19 more years.

[eir-de-scania.livejournal.com]

The title of this chapter puzzles me, since Harry hasn’t been to the Forbidden Forest once this book. Sure, he’s been to a lot of other forests, but not to this one. So how is he going to it again? Shouldn’t the title be “Yet Another Bloody Forest”?
*** # Yes, but Bloomsbury veto'ed it.
# JKR is a townie. Forest as forest.

Take your pick.


Harry reflects that the betrayal by Dumbledore was almost nothing.
*** Brainwashing, anyone?


Moreover… sacrificing yourself so that people you care about will live?
***Isn't Harry supposed to be some king of Jesus-clone? he was supposed to have died for you (as an atheist I'm probably not included) but it seems like a hell of a lot of people has died for him as a result.

I guess the Prince’s Tale didn’t last that long after all.
***JKR timeline, dear. It's elastic.


And goodness knows his brain is like some distant relative that only shows up once a year for a visit.
***Do you blame him? He comes from JKR's brain, so he probably had a good idea of what would happen. I bet he gave up in OotP, and just have followed the stream since. Can't say I blame him


Yeah, Harry. This is why Dumbledore is an idiot. If it were me? I would have a hundred people gunning for that snake.
***Now now, that wouldn't be noble, would it? Not that DD was noble, but he liked to preted he was. Failing spectacularily.


See. This is why Neville rocks. No emo moments for him.
***No Voldemort connection for him, no DD connection either. Not even much of a JKR connection. So he could mature and find himself and his strength without being interrupted by two megalomaniac wizards and an author who had lost her thread and didn't want/get help.

Within a few minutes of getting on the train, he had acquired two enemies who used him as target practice for seven years.
***I think that's more fanon than canon. Yes, there seem to have been an on-going feud, but S&J had other students to hex, a map to make and even school work. Sev was more than a match for James, hadn't he had help from Sirius in SWM I'm not certain it would have been Sec that dangled upside-down.

In GH, finally, JKR shows us Sev had friends, albeit bad ones. But perhaps Slyths doesn't back up each other?


I don’t exactly get why Remus is there with the others. James and Lily were, of course, Harry’s parents and they died for him. Sirius was his Godfather. Remus was merely Harry’s emotionally distant teacher for a year.
***I'm with you here. My guess is JKR reads S/R slash. (Yes, I saw you were thinking among the same lines.)


And why, with all the rest, not Snape?
***He wouldn't be seen dead with James.

[madderbrad.livejournal.com]

And goodness knows his brain is like some distant relative that only shows up once a year for a visit.

***Do you blame him? He comes from JKR's brain, so he probably had a good idea of what would happen. I bet he gave up in OotP, and just have followed the stream since. Can't say I blame him.

Rowling's on record as having said that some characters, particularly Hermione, tended to 'run away' from her - I think that was the phrase. The interview came out between OotP and HBP, I think; we members of the H/Hr community were very disappointed that Rowling caught up with Hermione, reined her back and lobotomised her to lust after Won Won in the sixth book.

Harry probably saw that happen and so welcomed death. :-)

And why, with all the rest, not Snape?

***He wouldn't be seen dead with James.

Ha ha ha!!! Excellent. :-)

# 2

[eir-de-scania.livejournal.com]

The narrator notes that the giant spiders were driven out of the area in order to fight for the Death Eaters. Really?
***Reminds me of war elephants. They were supposed to rush forward and trample enemies, but could just rush forward and trample their own army.

Fenrir’s there, which means I ought to go back and change that DVD extra so that Ginny doesn’t kill him.
***Werewolves are notoriously hard to kill.


I like the description of Voldemort standing still with his hands folded over the Elder Wand. It makes him seem like a statue of a saint. Strange, perverted religious imagery. Especially since the cage with Nagini in it is floating right behind his head. JKR even describes it as looking like a “monstrous halo.”
***Sometimes Voldie manage to look evil and dangerous.


Hehe. And Bellatrix, at her breast-heaving, open-mouthed panting, blazing-eyed worst reminds Harry of Ginny. Can you imagine? Every time Harry ever has sex with Ginny, he’s going to think of Bellatrix. Wow.
***Note to those wanting Ginny dead: this is the sex life she'll get: her husband closes his eyes and think of Bellatrix. Feel happier now?


As usual, the DVD was much too good to make it into canon.