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sophieisgod) wrote2007-07-21 12:24 pm
sophieisgod) wrote2007-07-21 12:24 pm
Entry tags:
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows
I got the book at midnight. I finished at at 4:30, listening to the OotP soundtrack on repeat all the way ("Possession"...*sob*). I cried until after 5. I reread the last 150 pages. I slept at 7. And I am eternally grateful to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
darkangsty42 for her magnificent read-all-the-books-in-a-week idea.
Um, wow? I have never cried so hard at a book in my entire life. And I have no idea how to start writing this, so I'm afraid I'm just going to have to spew (har har) it out. I did have some sort of notes, I swear.
Harry's Fakeout!Death
I've never really liked the "Harry is a Horcrux" theory, because the idea of him carrying a piece of Voldemort in him all this time always *really* creeped me out. But this was gorgeous. And because I'd reread GoF (thanks, Morgan!), I'd paid more attention to the "gleam of triumph" and reckoned that the blood thing was pretty damn important. And the whole Deathly Hallows thing (does anyone else always completely forget about the title of the book until it crops up and is immensely important?) was immense and beautiful and so like the Mirror of Erised and I love it. I mean, there's always this thing about 'Harry is an extraordinary character because he can love', and sometimes I love him and sometimes I don't (CAPSLOCK, anyone?) but now I get it. Now I completely understand why he deserves these seven books. And it says so much about the way JK Rowling has written this character and his story that when it was revealed he was a Horcrux and he had to die it didn't seem like a fakeout. It felt like this boy who had been through so much was finally going to be with the people he loved. He was going to sacrifice himself. And it felt right. Of course, I am immensely glad it was a Fakeout!Death because we get all the angst and none of the implications, but WOW.
Ooh, and I *love* that he used Expelliarmus and not Avada Kedavra.
"Expelliarmus is a useful spell, Harry, but the Death Eaters seem to think it is your signature move..."
*Especially* because it seemed like he was edging towards it, having already used the Imperius and the Cruciatus. But of course, he's too human, and I love you, Jo!
Dumbledore
Yay, a flawed mentor! With something of a penance complex. I actually love it. And we get the Mirror of Erised mystery solved! And he's not just this fond, benign old man, he's a proper person, with guilt and issues and mistakes in his past! FUCK YEAH!
"I had learned that I was not to be trusted with power..."
As Harry gets more heroic his heroes begin to lose their shine... I love this more than words can say. And again with the PS shoutouts/continuity/awesome... GRINDELWALD! And of course I was already crying by that point (more on that story later) but the "King's Cross" chapter was beautiful. And Aberforth's Patronus is a goat! And there's so much more to say but I'll leave it to someone more articulate... I love you, Jo!
Snape
Snape loved Lily! I knew it! It's weird though, I'd always been on the side of Snape-and-Dumbledore-somehow-arranged-the-death-beforehand until, like, yesterday, when I was finishing up HBP and thought "Come on, he's got to be evil!" And like with the Harry Fakeout!death, it could have been either and it would have been awesome, but this is so much better. "The Prince's Tale" was a truly magnificent chapter. I'm not sure why, but I loved that Lily called him "Sev". And, oh, it's just so fucking tragic. I mean, can you imagine the emotional agony of this character. In love with a dead woman, forced to protect her son (the spitting image of his father), knowing he caused her death, mistrusted by the vast majority of people, thinking he was used by Dumbledore, a double agent for years, killed by a giant fucking snake...
'Look... at... me...' he whispered.
Oh, and Albus Severus? Killed me dead. I love you, Jo.
Ron
Firstly, and most importantly, he didn't die! He married Hermione and they had clever ginger babies! And oh my fucking god, I love him. My expectations were completely subverted: we didn't get Heroic Ronald, Sacrificer Of Own Life For Sake Of Bespectacled Friend, we got Angsty, Insecure Ron, The Abandoner. And of course we knew he was coming back, but it was still devastating and horrible and genius.
‘He knew what he was doing when he gave me the Deluminator, didn’t he? He - well,’ Ron’s ears turned bright red and he became engrossed in a tuft of grass at his feet, which he prodded with his toe, ‘he must’ve know I’d run out on you.’
‘No,’ Harry corrected him. ‘He must’ve know you’d always want to come back.’
Yeah, I cried (more on that story later). Harry/Ron is one of my favourite (non-slashy) relationships in the series, and this whole arc was so incredibly painful to read. Argh, my heart. And again with the PS continuity and heartbreaking characterisation, with the Horcrux locket playing on all his many insecurities and breaking my heart and he still managed to stab it. That's my boy, Ron. That's my boy. Oh yeah, and Ron-with-Horcrux-round-neck totally = Frodo + The One Ring. And he got to be clever ("Always the tone of surprise...") and heroic (though thankfully without death)! And his first kiss with Hermione was earned on the basis of elf-rights! Excellent kiss, by the way. There was whooping. And I love him.
The Weasleys
I can't believe she did it. She killed Fred. And that was the moment I started full-on, properly, earnestly sobbing, and I didn't stop until half an hour after I'd finished the book. I couldn't breathe properly when George came back all covered in blood, but this was horrible. And I can't say any more about without crying again, so I won't.
Percy came back and redeemed himself! With witty duelling banter and everything! And CAPSLOCK MOLLY killed Bellatrix ('NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!') and Mr Weasley's Patronus is a weasel, and Ginny married Harry and I love them all. And I love you, Jo.
Lupin
Oh, God. Remus did as he always has and broke my heart into little wolf-shaped pieces. With the Tonks/marriage/baby angst, and fighting with Harry and the manly kicking over of chairs!
'Dont' you understand what I've done to my wife and my unborn child? I should never have married her, I've made her an outcast!'
Anyone else feel it'd be worth being an outcast to be married to Remus Lupin?
But then there was joy, and hope, and Teddy Remus Lupin, and making Harry the godfather. And I should have known, I should have known it would end in tears, but I forgot. And we didn't see him die, we just saw him lying there peacefully with Tonks, and the shock of it makes it worse. And as much as I was already crying for Fred, this hurt so much that I couldn't
continue for a full five minutes because I couldn't see the page anymore. Andtempla_otmena was clinging to the hope that he had to survive and be happy for Lily and James and Sirius, because he was the only one left, but I always knew he'd die, and it fucking hurts. The Marauders are gone; like FilmSirius says, Harry & co. are the young ones now.
I'm clinging to the hope that all this heartbreaking plot means that Steve Fucking Kloves can't escape doing Tonks/Remus in HBP.
Lily as the fourth Marauder
Her Patronus was a doe. Of course it was a doe. And it'll probably angertempla_otmena slightly (through the tears, of course) that once again it's all about Lily rather than James, but that passage in "The Forest Again" was so fucking beautiful that it's hard to care.
Beside him, making scarcely a sound, walked James, Sirius, Lupin and Lily, and their presence was his courage, and the reason he was able to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
Neville
Neville's the leader of the fucking Resistance! Neville is the master of the Room of Requirement! Neville killed Nagini! Neville is Professor of Herbology!
A list of Awesome Things
- Harry has Fabian Prewett's watch. Ohh,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
shoebox_project.
- The Taboo. So very, very warped.
- The Battle Of Hogwarts. I squealed so hard when I saw that chapter title. It was incredible, like the siege in Beauty & The Beast, but better, if that's possible.
- Hermione calling Ron a complete arse
- The return of the DA, including Ernie Macmillan, who I love for being so very pompous.
- Narcissa covering for Harry.
- Harry calling Voldemort 'Tom Riddle'
- George's ear-related humour
- Potterwatch: Romulus!
- Kreacher coming good
- The last words Dumbledore spoke to Kingsley and Remus
- Teddy's turquoise hair
- Robbing FUCKING GRINGOTTS! WITH A DRAGON!
- Dumbledore's Army, Still Recruiting
- Kingsley Shacklebolt: Minister for Magic
- Malfoy naming his son Scorpius... The fuck?
- James and Lily and Albus Severus
- Luna's bedroom
A list of some of the many things that made me cry
- Dudley's farewell
- George's near-death experience
- Harry vs Lupin
- Ron leaving
- Ron returning
- Ron offering himself to Bellatrix in exchange for Hermione
- Ron bellowing "HERMIONE! HERMIONE!" as he hears her getting tortured.
- Dobby's gravestone
- Fred
- The Weasleys surrounding Fred's body
- Lupin and Tonks
- Colin Creevey
- The Marauders
- Harry choosing death
- The Last Stand
- Harry's Standing Ovation
- Nineteen years later...
Well, that's it then. My childhood is officially over. Tissue, anyone?
darkangsty42 for her magnificent read-all-the-books-in-a-week idea.Um, wow? I have never cried so hard at a book in my entire life. And I have no idea how to start writing this, so I'm afraid I'm just going to have to spew (har har) it out. I did have some sort of notes, I swear.
Harry's Fakeout!Death
I've never really liked the "Harry is a Horcrux" theory, because the idea of him carrying a piece of Voldemort in him all this time always *really* creeped me out. But this was gorgeous. And because I'd reread GoF (thanks, Morgan!), I'd paid more attention to the "gleam of triumph" and reckoned that the blood thing was pretty damn important. And the whole Deathly Hallows thing (does anyone else always completely forget about the title of the book until it crops up and is immensely important?) was immense and beautiful and so like the Mirror of Erised and I love it. I mean, there's always this thing about 'Harry is an extraordinary character because he can love', and sometimes I love him and sometimes I don't (CAPSLOCK, anyone?) but now I get it. Now I completely understand why he deserves these seven books. And it says so much about the way JK Rowling has written this character and his story that when it was revealed he was a Horcrux and he had to die it didn't seem like a fakeout. It felt like this boy who had been through so much was finally going to be with the people he loved. He was going to sacrifice himself. And it felt right. Of course, I am immensely glad it was a Fakeout!Death because we get all the angst and none of the implications, but WOW.
Ooh, and I *love* that he used Expelliarmus and not Avada Kedavra.
"Expelliarmus is a useful spell, Harry, but the Death Eaters seem to think it is your signature move..."
*Especially* because it seemed like he was edging towards it, having already used the Imperius and the Cruciatus. But of course, he's too human, and I love you, Jo!
Dumbledore
Yay, a flawed mentor! With something of a penance complex. I actually love it. And we get the Mirror of Erised mystery solved! And he's not just this fond, benign old man, he's a proper person, with guilt and issues and mistakes in his past! FUCK YEAH!
"I had learned that I was not to be trusted with power..."
As Harry gets more heroic his heroes begin to lose their shine... I love this more than words can say. And again with the PS shoutouts/continuity/awesome... GRINDELWALD! And of course I was already crying by that point (more on that story later) but the "King's Cross" chapter was beautiful. And Aberforth's Patronus is a goat! And there's so much more to say but I'll leave it to someone more articulate... I love you, Jo!
Snape
Snape loved Lily! I knew it! It's weird though, I'd always been on the side of Snape-and-Dumbledore-somehow-arranged-the-death-beforehand until, like, yesterday, when I was finishing up HBP and thought "Come on, he's got to be evil!" And like with the Harry Fakeout!death, it could have been either and it would have been awesome, but this is so much better. "The Prince's Tale" was a truly magnificent chapter. I'm not sure why, but I loved that Lily called him "Sev". And, oh, it's just so fucking tragic. I mean, can you imagine the emotional agony of this character. In love with a dead woman, forced to protect her son (the spitting image of his father), knowing he caused her death, mistrusted by the vast majority of people, thinking he was used by Dumbledore, a double agent for years, killed by a giant fucking snake...
'Look... at... me...' he whispered.
Oh, and Albus Severus? Killed me dead. I love you, Jo.
Ron
Firstly, and most importantly, he didn't die! He married Hermione and they had clever ginger babies! And oh my fucking god, I love him. My expectations were completely subverted: we didn't get Heroic Ronald, Sacrificer Of Own Life For Sake Of Bespectacled Friend, we got Angsty, Insecure Ron, The Abandoner. And of course we knew he was coming back, but it was still devastating and horrible and genius.
‘He knew what he was doing when he gave me the Deluminator, didn’t he? He - well,’ Ron’s ears turned bright red and he became engrossed in a tuft of grass at his feet, which he prodded with his toe, ‘he must’ve know I’d run out on you.’
‘No,’ Harry corrected him. ‘He must’ve know you’d always want to come back.’
Yeah, I cried (more on that story later). Harry/Ron is one of my favourite (non-slashy) relationships in the series, and this whole arc was so incredibly painful to read. Argh, my heart. And again with the PS continuity and heartbreaking characterisation, with the Horcrux locket playing on all his many insecurities and breaking my heart and he still managed to stab it. That's my boy, Ron. That's my boy. Oh yeah, and Ron-with-Horcrux-round-neck totally = Frodo + The One Ring. And he got to be clever ("Always the tone of surprise...") and heroic (though thankfully without death)! And his first kiss with Hermione was earned on the basis of elf-rights! Excellent kiss, by the way. There was whooping. And I love him.
The Weasleys
I can't believe she did it. She killed Fred. And that was the moment I started full-on, properly, earnestly sobbing, and I didn't stop until half an hour after I'd finished the book. I couldn't breathe properly when George came back all covered in blood, but this was horrible. And I can't say any more about without crying again, so I won't.
Percy came back and redeemed himself! With witty duelling banter and everything! And CAPSLOCK MOLLY killed Bellatrix ('NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!') and Mr Weasley's Patronus is a weasel, and Ginny married Harry and I love them all. And I love you, Jo.
Lupin
Oh, God. Remus did as he always has and broke my heart into little wolf-shaped pieces. With the Tonks/marriage/baby angst, and fighting with Harry and the manly kicking over of chairs!
'Dont' you understand what I've done to my wife and my unborn child? I should never have married her, I've made her an outcast!'
Anyone else feel it'd be worth being an outcast to be married to Remus Lupin?
But then there was joy, and hope, and Teddy Remus Lupin, and making Harry the godfather. And I should have known, I should have known it would end in tears, but I forgot. And we didn't see him die, we just saw him lying there peacefully with Tonks, and the shock of it makes it worse. And as much as I was already crying for Fred, this hurt so much that I couldn't
continue for a full five minutes because I couldn't see the page anymore. And
templa_otmena was clinging to the hope that he had to survive and be happy for Lily and James and Sirius, because he was the only one left, but I always knew he'd die, and it fucking hurts. The Marauders are gone; like FilmSirius says, Harry & co. are the young ones now.I'm clinging to the hope that all this heartbreaking plot means that Steve Fucking Kloves can't escape doing Tonks/Remus in HBP.
Lily as the fourth Marauder
Her Patronus was a doe. Of course it was a doe. And it'll probably anger
templa_otmena slightly (through the tears, of course) that once again it's all about Lily rather than James, but that passage in "The Forest Again" was so fucking beautiful that it's hard to care.Beside him, making scarcely a sound, walked James, Sirius, Lupin and Lily, and their presence was his courage, and the reason he was able to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
Neville
Neville's the leader of the fucking Resistance! Neville is the master of the Room of Requirement! Neville killed Nagini! Neville is Professor of Herbology!
A list of Awesome Things
- Harry has Fabian Prewett's watch. Ohh,
shoebox_project.- The Taboo. So very, very warped.
- The Battle Of Hogwarts. I squealed so hard when I saw that chapter title. It was incredible, like the siege in Beauty & The Beast, but better, if that's possible.
- Hermione calling Ron a complete arse
- The return of the DA, including Ernie Macmillan, who I love for being so very pompous.
- Narcissa covering for Harry.
- Harry calling Voldemort 'Tom Riddle'
- George's ear-related humour
- Potterwatch: Romulus!
- Kreacher coming good
- The last words Dumbledore spoke to Kingsley and Remus
- Teddy's turquoise hair
- Robbing FUCKING GRINGOTTS! WITH A DRAGON!
- Dumbledore's Army, Still Recruiting
- Kingsley Shacklebolt: Minister for Magic
- Malfoy naming his son Scorpius... The fuck?
- James and Lily and Albus Severus
- Luna's bedroom
A list of some of the many things that made me cry
- Dudley's farewell
- George's near-death experience
- Harry vs Lupin
- Ron leaving
- Ron returning
- Ron offering himself to Bellatrix in exchange for Hermione
- Ron bellowing "HERMIONE! HERMIONE!" as he hears her getting tortured.
- Dobby's gravestone
- Fred
- The Weasleys surrounding Fred's body
- Lupin and Tonks
- Colin Creevey
- The Marauders
- Harry choosing death
- The Last Stand
- Harry's Standing Ovation
- Nineteen years later...
Well, that's it then. My childhood is officially over. Tissue, anyone?