Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Discussion [SPOILERS!]

[Berger_4_]

well, i just finished it, and i must say, it was pretty damn awesome. the ending did seem a little rushed to me, but really what else was she gonna do? write about harry getting with ginny? it would have been nice though to find what happened to the secondary characters (george, percy, kingsley and the rest...even kreacher) a little more...even the primary characters could have been not developed, but...cleared up a little more...i guess it was better to have the ending short than drawn out for 3 chapters

it was nice to see dumbledore again, but the one thing i didn't like was how voldemort didn't go and check to make sure harry was dead. i mean, he's been chasing this kid for 17 years, and he's gonna believe the word of one of the people whom he disowned?

oh, and one last thing...the camping! why did the camping need to take 2/3's of the book up? it was starting to get a little tedious there, especially when all she was talking about was how they were hungry and getting mad at eachother

other than that, i utterly enjoyed it. i don't think theres really gonna be room for another book. i just don't see how she could fit it in, unless harry's kids have to fight or something. she's not gonna go back to right after the battle and stuff, and like it said, his scar hadn't hurt for 19 years (which i assumed meant everything was good in the world) so there wouldn't have been any conflict in there...but i'm rambling. so all in all, i really, really liked it!

[Patrick]

Originally Posted by ernie

Wouldn't it just be considered disarming the wandmaker? Nothing was said about needing to disarm the "owner" of the elder wand magically or while he held the wand. Essentially I believe it needs to be taken from the current person who possesses it against their will which stealing certainly does. Grinnewald out smarted the wandmaker making him master of the wand....if the wand so chose which apparently it did.

i cant recall..did it say the wandmaker had it with him? Like he was disarmed and taken? Or was it just stolen from him? Like while he was sleeping, etc sort of style. Because it he wasn't disarmed..there is a huge flaw in the story.

[ernie]

Originally Posted by Patrick

i cant recall..did it say the wandmaker had it with him? Like he was disarmed and taken? Or was it just stolen from him? Like while he was sleeping, etc sort of style. Because it he wasn't disarmed..there is a huge flaw in the story.

The story never said one had to be disarmed while in physical possession of the wand for the wand to switch allegiance. The history of the wand was one of disarming and death mainly because of the wizards that pursued it. However, if the wand felt you had rightfully outwitted the opponent (which is all disarming is) in other ways I see no reason why it wouldn't switch allegiance. Grinnewald outsmarted the wandmaker and was rewarded with the wands allegiance.

[flamingchina]

Well, she could do something like Orson Scott Card did with the bean/ender series, and write the last book again from the point of view of the students at hogwarts I guess...

[FireFly]

Originally Posted by ernie

The story never said one had to be disarmed while in physical possession of the wand for the wand to switch allegiance. The history of the wand was one of disarming and death mainly because of the wizards that pursued it. However, if the wand felt you had rightfully outwitted the opponent (which is all disarming is) in other ways I see no reason why it wouldn't switch allegiance. Grinnewald outsmarted the wandmaker and was rewarded with the wands allegiance.

Not to mention that a wand like that probably wants to be used and the wandmaker wasn't using it. So when someone came along that was going to kill with it, it probably had no issues switching allegiances.

[Patrick]

Originally Posted by FireFly

Not to mention that a wand like that probably wants to be used and the wandmaker wasn't using it. So when someone came along that was going to kill with it, it probably had no issues switching allegiances.

How do we know the wand maker was not using it???

[FireFly]

Originally Posted by Patrick

How do we know the wand maker was not using it???

It says he was only trying to emulate it's qualities. If he was using it, he'd be killing people with it. Also, i think he probably would've died as if he was using it, he would've had it with him, and there would've been a battle. It's all just speculation.

[Antithesis]

It's interesting to me to hear that people were getting tired of reading the "camping out" parts ... those parts are, to me, some of the more important ones in the book. I think one of the themes in the series is friendship, the importance of true friendship, along with family. Those parts highlight that importance a great deal to me ... you have to have Harry and Hermione go through all of those hardships in order to make Ron's transgressions that much more aggregious and Harry and Hermione's forgiveness of him that much more profound.

I suppose it could be shortened up a bit but the major events in there need to be shown ... it is not as if they are just chillin out or anything.

[bigtmac19]

Originally Posted by Antithesis

It's interesting to me to hear that people were getting tired of reading the "camping out" parts ... those parts are, to me, some of the more important ones in the book. I think one of the themes in the series is friendship, the importance of true friendship, along with family. Those parts highlight that importance a great deal to me ... you have to have Harry and Hermione go through all of those hardships in order to make Ron's transgressions that much more aggregious and Harry and Hermione's forgiveness of him that much more profound.

I suppose it could be shortened up a bit but the major events in there need to be shown ... it is not as if they are just chillin out or anything.

I agree with you. Very well said.

[Berger_4_]

Originally Posted by Antithesis

It's interesting to me to hear that people were getting tired of reading the "camping out" parts ... those parts are, to me, some of the more important ones in the book. I think one of the themes in the series is friendship, the importance of true friendship, along with family. Those parts highlight that importance a great deal to me ... you have to have Harry and Hermione go through all of those hardships in order to make Ron's transgressions that much more aggregious and Harry and Hermione's forgiveness of him that much more profound.

I suppose it could be shortened up a bit but the major events in there need to be shown ... it is not as if they are just chillin out or anything.

i understand that, but i still don't think there needed to be 400 pages worth of them camping. yes, ron gets pissed and leaves. then they figure a little bit of stuff out and ron comes back. done

[nmhen]

Just finished it, good book, great series.

I can't wait to see Morgan Freeman play Dumbledore when they do this book's movie.

I didn't have a problem with the camping, per se. I did have a problem with the pacing. I thought there was way too much time elapsed in the first 600 pages with little to nothing going on, and then she hit the turbos for the last 150 pages.

No matter, because I thought she did her usual terrific job of telling a story - and a complex one - in a manner that kids can understand but adults can still enjoy.

I read last year that she went from unemployed when she started working on HP to a billionaire 2 years ago. Amazing.

[Pagal4321]

Finished it a couple of nights ago and this was a great book, best of them all I think.
Everything was summed up pretty nicely in the end there, most loose ends tied up. It just amazed me how everything from the last few books actually came back into the story and was relevant. Makes me wonder how far ahead she planned when she was writing the Goblet of Fire.

Also, about the wand question, I beleive the wand chooses the wizard, correct? And if this wand-maker was simply tryingt o emulate the qualities of the wand and not actually using it, I can't see any reason why the wand would not choose Grindelwald. He seemed quite ready, willing and able to kill with it.

I can't wait to see Morgan Freeman play Dumbledore when they do this book's movie

Sayyyy what??? Don't they only use British actors for these movies??

[Antithesis]

Originally Posted by Berger_4_

i understand that, but i still don't think there needed to be 400 pages worth of them camping. yes, ron gets pissed and leaves. then they figure a little bit of stuff out and ron comes back. done

But where are they supposed to stay while searching for the Horcruxes? I get what you're saying ... this book is certainly very different from the others structurally but what else was JK Rowling supposed to be writing in those parts instead? Or should the book have just been 200 pages shorter? I honestly feel (we obviously disagree here) that there is very little that can be cut from that part of the book while keeping the integrity and weight of those scenes intact.

Not only do those parts highlight the friendship aspect but they also reinforce the "Doing what is right and what is easy are two different things" theme of the series. I could go on and on about the importance of that section of the book but I don't want to bore anyone about it or start ranting

This last books was head and shoulders above the rest, and to me that is saying something. It's clear that JK Rowling took the time to plan out the series because Deathly Hallows feels like an appropriate closure to the series. Has anyone other than me read Stephen King's Dark Tower series of books? They were written over 35 years and he admits over and over again that little planning went into it. By the time you get around to the 5th, 6th, and 7th books in that series (of 7), it's almost as if you are reading a different story from where you started, and it is also obvious that King was figuring things out as he went on. That experience makes me appreciate what JK Rowling did with these books even more!

Regarding the planning of the series, JK Rowling has said on numerous occasions that she plotted out the entire story before writing any of the books, and the story ended up very,very close to where she had meant it to at the beginning. She did say that one character survived that was not originally supposed to and that two did not survive that were supposed to.

[MissTeeks]

Originally Posted by Antithesis

She did say that one character survived that was not originally supposed to and that two did not survive that were supposed to.

In this article from USAToday, Jo said that Mr. Weasley was the person who got the reprive, while Lupin and Tonks were the two that were supposed to survive but didn't.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/n...spoilers_N.htm

[sureLoss]

Rowlings expands on her original Epilouge.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19959323/

As for his occupation, Harry, along with Ron, is working at the Auror Department at the Ministry of Magic. After all these years, Harry is now the department head.
“Harry and Ron utterly revolutionized the Auror Department,” Rowling said. “They are now the experts. It doesn’t matter how old they are or what else they’ve done.”
Meanwhile, Hermione, Ron’s wife, is “pretty high up” in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, despite laughing at the idea of becoming a lawyer in “Deathly Hallows.”

[peter12]

I finished the book in about a day and I have to say I really loved it. Rowling doesn't get enough credit for her mastery in character development and how those characters interact with one another in such a real fashion. The chapter after Harry has "died" and is talking with Dumbledore is actually quite beautiful, almost poetic.

As for the ending, I liked it. The book reaches a huge climax, lets you know enough to know that all is okay and then just ends. To me, it seemed to add credibility to Rowling's creds not only as a writer, but as an artist. The story is done, she's done her work and nothing more is going to come of it.

[Magnum PEI]

Just finished it, and gotta say it was awesome. I was pretty sure Snape was still on Harry's side, and figured the doe patronus was his. The camping part dragged a little, but you could say the same about the other books when they're just going to school. I also liked how Harry left the Dursley's on somewhat friendly terms.

[Superfraggle]

Loved it and thought it was brilliant as well. Could also have done without the 19 years later thing.

Not that I think she will end up writing another book, as others have been speculating but, if she did, it could be made to work quite easily. She would just have to start all over with new characters in the same world. I think the fascination of the series has as much to do with its setting as anything else, and the characters could easily be let go of or regulated to secondary roles (as teachers or consultants or something), with a whole new crew taking over. Maybe exploring other parts of the wizarding world.

[Patrick]

Originally Posted by Superfraggle

Loved it and thought it was brilliant as well. Could also have done without the 19 years later thing.

Not that I think she will end up writing another book, as others have been speculating but, if she did, it could be made to work quite easily. She would just have to start all over with new characters in the same world. I think the fascination of the series has as much to do with its setting as anything else, and the characters could easily be let go of or regulated to secondary roles (as teachers or consultants or something), with a whole new crew taking over. Maybe exploring other parts of the wizarding world.

If she does a new series she should look at going the view from the other magic schools. Like Crums school etc.

[FireFly]

For those who'd like more answers...

http://www.mugglenet.com/app/news/full_story/1156

JK Rowling does a Q&A with some fans. It doesn't answer everything, but there are some neat things in there.