[Someone Else]

I'm thinking the 26th (Saturday) would be a good time, I don't think you'd have to wait that long. The only people who would want to watch the movie over and over would be like, kids ages 8-9. I doubt that their parents would want to watch it so many times, and the kids that are old enough to actually watch the movie by themselves (ages 13+) here in the U.S. wouldn't want to watch it a billion times over.

[Sea of Time]

Well, Eugine, we had to know that this one would be the best seller out of all of them. The PG-13 rating makes it appealing to teens and kids alike. Plus it is the favorite book to many people.

[My Best Wishes]

Sea_of_Time, on Nov 21 2005, 08:22 AM, said:

How can you confuse him with me?!? I'm insulted! Shame, WD, shame.

Lol and how can you confuse me with him :blink:. I got a bit sick of the same one, my next one is grey and blue. I'm not trying to copy and i did have doubts having two users with grey sets.

Hmmm on the 26th, isn't that when The lion witch and the wardobe comes out?

Does anyone have any concerns that they skipped so much in the last 3 movies and this book is so much logner?

[Karst]

Live in United States, Georgia. Movie is rated PG-13. Haven't seen it yet. Heard it was closer to the book than the other movies. SOOO WANT TO SEE IT!!!!

ok, bye now.

[Andross]

The movie was pretty good - it did keep with the book for the most part in that it didn't diverge from the plot. However, there were a good deal of parts missing from the movie. Understandable I s'pose, as they didn't want to make a three hour romp. Still, it was a tad disappointing that a lot of different sections didn't make it into the movie.

[TheEnglishman]

People at school have seen it and they've given it mixed views. Some have said it's really good but others have said it's not great.
I don't know if I'm going to see it or not. I haven't decided.

[kate]

I don't understand why they have those people as actors. I mean, I understand that the British don't have the American obsession with putting perfect looking people in their movies, and I'm fine with that, but seriously. That and they can't act! And what's with moody? omg that eye made me nearly die from laughter. And hey, I don't know if you noticed, but Daniel Radcliffe (Harry) is the executive producers son :blink: hmm, how bout that.

[Sea of Time]

Do you people like this new director that has done the third and forth movies, or Chris Columbus, who did the first two?

[Zxor]

1st was good, 2nd sucked, 3rd THE WORST, 4th was good.
The 4th one actually did alot from the book, except doppy gave Harry the giliweed..>> And it did have humor in it, though I wished they would start showing more on quidich. It is like the best part of the series.

[Andross]

Zxor, on Nov 21 2005, 09:46 PM, said:

1st was good, 2nd sucked, 3rd THE WORST, 4th was good.
The 4th one actually did alot from the book, except doppy gave Harry the giliweed..>> And it did have humor in it, though I wished they would start showing more on quidich. It is like the best part of the series.

*echem*

The 4th did a lot less than you think apparently - I can name a good 10 things (as in, entire scenes) that were missing from the movie. And there's probably more that if I went through the book real quick, I could find.

[Someone Else]

Zxor, on Nov 21 2005, 09:46 PM, said:

1st was good, 2nd sucked, 3rd THE WORST

Actually...

1st the worst, 2nd okay, 3rd was good, haven't watched 4th yet.

:blink:

The director for the first two movies sucked. Those movies were so boring.

[Sea of Time]

I thought they changed too much from the book with the 3rd. What was up with that shrunken head? But it turned out well anyway.

[Golden Djinn13]

People are already making illegal copies of this movie, and its been out for a few days... How do
they do it :agitated:

[Sea of Time]

Do they steal it from the company, or do they just tape it at the theatres?

[kate]

They tape it. That's why most of them have awful quality. Oh and umm, andross, that stuff was missing because it's 600 freaking pages >.< they said they'd be cutting everything except key things while they were making it. I know it takes away largely from the book, but movies made from books normally do

[Someone Else]

Unless they made a 2-disk Special Extended Edition, with a bonus of 2-disk 5 hours Special Features. :3

[TheEnglishman]

It's gonna be hell making the 5th movie. Some much would need to be left out!

[Sea of Time]

Wind Dude, on Nov 23 2005, 12:17 PM, said:

Unless they made a 2-disk Special Extended Edition, with a bonus of 2-disk 5 hours Special Features. :3

No, only LOTR can do that. HP can't do that because they're busy filming the next movie.

[Andross]

As a note:

The new director is loads better than the old one. In the last two movies, the style, lighting, aesthetics, and attention to composition was just way above that of the first two movies. There's no comparison. The fact that the actors have matured more helps quite a bit too - the dialogue in the original seems a bit too forced and just doesn't seem too natural.

[Sea of Time]

Yeah, the first two looked very kiddish and kind of surreal. However, he was more true to the book. But, the new ones are more mature and make you feel like you're right there.

[Someone Else]

Watched the movie today. Hell yes, it was awesome. Probably, no scratch that, it IS the best of them all so far.

But I agree full heartedly with Andross, alot was missing. But it IS understandable, I guess. It just felt like the movie was rushing from the beginning to the end a little bit too much, which is funny because the first two movies felt very slow-paced and boring to me. It was especially apparent when the 2nd Challenge and the 3rd Challenge seemed to be held almost consecutively. Also, there was no feeling that the movie took the course of one school year. Where were all the seasons? Where was Fall, Winter, Spring? Yes, I know that there was a scene where there was snow behind Cho Chang, but still.

The movie did surprise me in certain scenes. Such as the scene where those girls from Fluer (sp) Delacour's school came into the Great Hall for the first time... and Ron's looking at their butts. XD And when Hagrid was dancing with Fluer's headmistress...

Oh yeah. And Emma Wattson's hot.

[TheEnglishman]

Wind Dude, on Dec 4 2005, 05:37 AM, said:

Oh yeah. And Emma Wattson's hot.

That is a very popular opinon in our school. :)

[Eugine]

I thought she looked better in the third movie, she grew quickly but nothing happened to her breasts, so yeah... She needs some more.

This post has been edited by Eugine: 04 December 2005 - 06:29 AM

[Someone Else]

Did that come from Eugine..?

Dear lord, don't let this become an "Emma Watson's boobs" topic. x.x; She has boobs, and I think they're fine. It's all about her face, dude. XD

[Sea of Time]

I'm seeing the movie in about three hours. Thank you for not spoiling anything, people!

[Werebarrret/St Jimmy]

The 3rd and 4th were different directors. I liked both, but felt less should have been changed.

This post has been edited by Werebarrret/St Jimmy: 04 December 2005 - 07:27 PM

[Sea of Time]

Do you mean what was cut out? Or what was changed from the book? Those are two very different things there.

[Folcon]

I know this is quite a bump, but, I just heard there is actualy going to be a Harry Potter theme park. But should we be surprised?

[Eugine]

Great find escout (although I had to do my own news finding ;_:)

I'm not surprised this is happening, since Harry Potter is now huge. Anything with Harry Potter makes a profit.
As long as they make the atmosphere there feel really Harry Potter, I'll be on my visit list. Also, Rowling is overseeing that the park resembles the book, so I guess it'll pwn.

[Folcon]

Uh, yea. I didn't post a link or anything cause I was focused on something else at the time, and I only heard a brief blurb on the news, before someone else changed the channel.

[TheEnglishman]

I read about it in the paper. I can't believe that they'd do this, but I guess it's all about the money creating an enjoyable time out for the family.

[Neon]

Harry potter is huge now because it has the accumulated fans from the last 6 books, eagerly anticipating the 7th. What's going to happen when it's over and the books begin to fade into memory...

[TheEnglishman]

They don't have the same advantage as Lord of the Rings did, because they've already made them into films.

[Folcon]

Me111, on Jun 1 2007, 03:26 AM, said:

I read about it in the paper. I can't believe that they'd do this, but I guess it's all about the money creating an enjoyable time out for the family.

What's sad is that it will be added onto Islands of Adventure in Orlando, FL. Or so I've heard. They'll spend something like $265 million on a twenty acre park. Twenty acres. That is nowhere near big enough for a Harry Potter theme park. They need to just build a compleatly seperate park somewhere else with a lot more room. What all could they put in twenty acres besides Hogwarts Castle and a few shops, not much.

[Someone Else]

Man, ignorant people think Harry Potter is kiddy already, but that isn't going to help.

Certain parts of the park better scare the **** out of me, or it isn't going to be right at all.

[FlamingDuck]

I doubt they will, WD. It seems like Harry Potter is aiming for a slightly younger audience, who don't neccessarily want to have the **** scared out of them. If it is at all scary, it'll probably be an "oh God, something just popped out at me" sort of startled.

[TheEnglishman]

I just read a review for the new Harry Potter game. I was shocked as it got a rating higher than 'totally crap'.

[Sea of Time]

The games, apparently, have really improved over the years. EA has solidified themselves as a solid 6/10 company. They can't make anything worse, and they can't make anything better. Go mediocrity.

[My Best Wishes]

IGN gave the Wii version a 8, I'm yet to find a review for the DS, or to play it yet for that matter.

[Sea of Time]

Our city's major newspaper is putting up a "contest" of sorts for the new Harry Potter book. They're picking two young writers from the city and giving them one day to read the entire seventh book and then write a 600 word review. The book comes on Saturday at midnight, and they want the review for Sunday. I'm planning on entering, but what are my chances of reading 800 pages and then writing a 600 word review in 10 hours?

[TheEnglishman]

Lots of coffee would be needed. I managed to do the 6th book in two or three days but I doubt I could do it with this one.

[Wiflewood]

I could do it. You'd have 24 hours to read it, which is plenty of time. However writing a good review after staying up so long is probably quite a hard thing to do.

Do you win anything after entering this?

[TheEnglishman]

I think the only thing worth winning for something like that would be money. In a large amount.

[Sea of Time]

You get paid for the article, and its a major newspaper, so that's a pretty sum. Also, you get the book free.

[My Best Wishes]

That sounds pretty cool SoT. You should really try it. Just make up the ending :(

Also, for those (if any) who are getting the DS Order of the Pheonix, It's pretty good. You have the abilities to do the lessons and games ( like exploding snap and gobstones) and stuff. I was impressed. And the dueling is really cool.

[Golden Legacy]

SoT, is the last book confirmed to be 800 pages, or was that just an estimate? Curious.

[Golden Djinn13]

It is actually confirmed to be in the around 800 pages long.

[Sea of Time]

783 is the number being circulated, and it's probably the truth considering how much has to be covered in the book.

[Someone Else]

What's the status report, SOT? You going for it?

[My Best Wishes]

Since this is the HP topic afterall.
A word describing the new Movie? Can you say ****?
No really that's not quite fair. It's not bad. A large improvement over the rest, but it really does stick to the storyline completely. There's no small things, no Qudditch(sp?) no fights with Malfoy. None of Fred and George's Wizarding things. Apart from what's needed. And no Aftermath.

[Sea of Time]

Wind Dude, on Jul 9 2007, 10:20 AM, said:

What's the status report, SOT? You going for it?

I'm entering as we speak, and they give the results on the 17th. I hope I get in, I definitely have the credentials (being able to go without sleep and being able to read really fast)

[TheEnglishman]

Well good luck with that.
I couldn't go without sleep for a book though. Even for my favourites I'd still only read until I got tired.

[Sea of Time]

What if it was for money and eternal glory?

[TheEnglishman]

Eternal glory?
"Hey did ya hear about the buy who read Harry Potter in a day?"
"Yeah!"
...
"How sad is he!"
:D
I'd be nervous about writing something for a major paper. It's got to be of quite a high standard. Then again it's good experience. One day when you write for the 'Maple Syrup Times' about how Bill Cosby has affected today's society I can say 'I used to trade petty insults with that guy!'

[Someone Else]

Watched the new movie. It was sauteed in awesome sauce, practically every second of it. There's only about two parts that disappointed me:

First, they only showed one session of Harry's punishment of writing "I won't tell lies." It just didn't give the feeling of how cruel Umbridge was.

Second, they made the Patronus Charm seems a lot easier to master than it actually was. A lot of the kids seemed to master it on seemingly the first lesson of that charm. =P

However, the movie was very well done and easily the best so far. They did a great job with Umbridge, and whoever played her did a wonderful job of it, from the clearing of the throat ("He-hem!") to how overly cute and quaint her office was (to the point that it was appropriately disgusting).

And I just want to throw in that I think maybe Emma Watson is a little too pretty to play Hermione? Wait, why am I complaining? She looks a little bit like a young(er) Keira Knightley. XP

[My Best Wishes]

Yea she has gotten a bit hot. But who's complaining.
I also felt Malfoy had very little time in that movie compared to how important he is in the next book.
How does anyone think how they will do the Inferi for the next movie? I'm thinking the Zombie sprites from Wc3.

[Someone Else]

Hm. You're right. Malfoy was astonishingly... missing. There just wasn't room for him I guess.

And like you said before, the movie completely ripped Quidditch out. They could have at least referenced it, but it's like the whole school had Quidditch erased from their minds. But, the movie was good enough that I just forgot. :P

Checked the more recent reviews for the new game. GameSpot gave it bad reviews for every platform, but IGN gave all of them a 7+, with the Wii the highest score and DS version the lowest score. I don't care about GameSpot's reviews anymore, though. I'll download the PC demo and try it... though I might wait until I get a Wii to buy it... if I ever get one. I'll probably end up settling with the PC version, though like I said I'll wait. Though I'm having trouble with money now. Can't manage for crap.

[Golden Djinn13]

I saw the new movie, and I thought it was a complete waste of my time. I don't feel like going into detail, but it really wasn't good IMO.

[Aquamarine]

I'm not going to read any of the posts in this topic because of spoilers. All I wanted to say is that I've pre-ordered the book and I can't wait!

[TheEnglishman]

Hopefully I'll get it on Saturday but I've already got one book on the go at the moment. I don't like stopping part way through one for another.

[Someone Else]

Pre-order'd as well.

I don't know how you couldn't like the new movie. I thought it was good step up from the 3rd and 4th (which were already pretty good) and INFINITELY better than the crap that Chris Columbus did with the first two.

[My Best Wishes]

Oh there's no doubt that they are getting better, as well as the kid's acting. But they're still not good. Check LOTR and other novels. I'm sure JK Rowling can afford a better budget.

[Someone Else]

Okey dokey then...

Well, I guess I'll comment on the game demo now. The biggest flaw with the demo is that it's timed. REALLY timed. 10 minutes timed, and after that it exits itself and tells you about all the great stuff you'll be able to do in the full version.

With that said, the game seems pretty good, as long as you play it without expecting it to overachieve. There's plenty to do and the game is fun to look at, and sounds nice too. I have a gamepad for my PC, and it's pretty obvious that's what it was intended to be played on. Movement is with the left analog and you do spell gestures with the right analog. There will be times where you'll accidentally cast Depulso when you wanted to cast Wingardium Leviosa, but after a while you get the hang of it. Oh, and there's a PHYSICS ENGINE this time, which makes manipulating stuff more fun. You can pick up stone benches with Wingardium Leviosa and then use Depulso to make it fly at unsuspecting Slytherins. There's even a function where you can Target the Nearest NPC which will make Harry, Ron, and Hermione point there wands at a random person which will make them run away scared. :P

So yeah, it's fun. It's just a shame about that time limit. This game is pretty much all about exploration and experimenting which makes timing the demo a pretty retarded move. EA fails.

[PDM]

On the topic of emma watson; she's a knock-out sometimes, other times she's a manly boner killer.


I guess it just depends on the situation.

[FlamingDuck]

I'm not even bothering with seeing the movie. I didn't really like 2&3, and I don't remember anything from 4, even though I watched it. So I figure that 8 bucks and 2 and a half hours can be better used. I might get it on DVD, though.

[TheEnglishman]

That's how I feel. Last one I saw at the Cinema was 3. That's when the movies peaked for me.

[Werebarrret/St Jimmy]

I don't understand the longest book=shortest movie logic. I'dve liked to see more anarchy at hogwards, personally. And I wanted to see Sirius's mum =(

[Someone Else]

PDM, on Jul 18 2007, 12:16 AM, said:

On the topic of emma watson; she's a knock-out sometimes, other times she's a manly boner killer.


I guess it just depends on the situation.

Yeah, she does look a little manish sometimes.

[Golden Legacy]

Emma's definitely a lot more attractive now (I saw her on Late Night w/ Conan O Brien).

That said, last book, few more days. Pumped. Excited. No words to describe the anticipation.


EDIT: This is just awesome.

[gsninja]

I'm gonna be so happy once I buy the last book. My excitement is beyond description. =D

[Sea of Time]

Dudes, I ****ing won the contest!

I get the book for free, and I get it before midnight. Then I write the very first review of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for the city's best newspaper! I'm crazy pumped to do it, and I can't believe (out of at least 500 entries) I actually won. Wish me luck!

[My Best Wishes]

Sea of Time, on Jul 20 2007, 02:36 PM, said:

Dudes, I ****ing won the contest!

I get the book for free, and I get it before midnight. Then I write the very first review of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for the city's best newspaper! I'm crazy pumped to do it, and I can't believe (out of at least 500 entries) I actually won. Wish me luck!

It's bad luck to say good luck. Break a leg. (From the Producers)
Nah that is something to win a contest like that. Are you gonna submit the review here?

[Someone Else]

What the hell. Did you get picked from a random drawing or something?

So like, break a lgg.

[TheEnglishman]

It's just like I told you SoT...

Me111, on Jul 11 2007, 09:31 PM, said:

Then again it's good experience. One day when you write for the 'Maple Syrup Times' about how Bill Cosby has affected today's society I can say 'I used to trade petty insults with that guy!'

Seriously though good luck. I'm sure you'll do great.
Try and include GSSF somewhere in there. :o

[Sea of Time]

Wind Dude, on Jul 20 2007, 01:42 AM, said:

What the hell. Did you get picked from a random drawing or something?

So like, break a lgg.

No, I had to send a letter of qualification and a sample of my writing. So it was skill-based, not random.

[Golden Djinn13]

I'd hate to say break a lgg, so instead I wish you well with your article. :P

I'm at a difficult point right now since I didn't reserve the book this year, and haven't withdrawn any money to buy the book. I'm gonna have to be up early tomorrow to get cash from the bank, and race to the nearest stores to find out if they have any left. :o

[Wiflewood]

3.5 hours.

Should I go down to wait at the bookshop? the buses are still running...

Nah. I might get my picture taken when I'm not looking and put in the local newspaper.
I'd never live it down T_T

Awesome on winning the comp SoT!! As Me111 says, try to get GSSF in, haha!
As in "Hogwarts reminded me of a certain internet forum I ran across, called GSSF, where everyone was awesome"

[Someone Else]

Yeah, and we all know that members are split into Houses here. Me and Platinum are in Ravenclaw while Me111 and SOT are Hufflepuff while everyone else random is Gryffindor or something. PDM would be the only Slytherin.

[Wiflewood]

Hufflepuff is just really the house where all the unremarkable people that weren't good enough to get into the other 3 houses go. If you're really clever you go to Ravenclaw, a good guy (or brave, apparantley) to Gryffindor, evil (or cunning, supposedly) to Slytherin, and the rest get shunted into Hufflepuff.

[TheEnglishman]

So I get put under the category of everyone else? Curses! :o
I saw a report earlier of these people who were waiting outside one of the bookshops. They had an American family dressed up as different characters. The dad pulled off a very impressive Lucius Malfoy look. Unfortunately for them the rain means they'll probably all die in floods. It's a sign from God to say how evil Harry Potter is!

[Someone Else]

I actually don't like the "houses" thing in Harry Potter. So the good/brave guys are in Gryffindor, evil and mean kids go to Slytherin, smart and cunning people in Ravenclaw, and nice kids in Hufflepuff. Oookay.

[TheEnglishman]

Our houses at school are just randomly assigned. No sorting hat or anything. :o

[Someone Else]

Gee, that's boring. :o But we don't even get houses here, be thankful for that!

[TheEnglishman]

Got meh copy. I haven't read it yet as it's early o'clock. Maybe later.

[My Best Wishes]

My brother is brining me one home from work.
Better be worth the last like 10 years of my life :o

[TheEnglishman]

It's pretty interesting so far. I was fairly surprised that

Spoiler

Moody is (apparently) killed off.

[Wiflewood]

Up to page 210.

[TheEnglishman]

387. Today I've literally been reading like mad. I don't often get so caught up in one book, but I can't help it.

Spoiler

DOBBY'S DEAD!
...
HURRAY!

[Sea of Time]

Finished the book! I figure it's pointless to put anything in spoiler tags right now since nobody else is finished the book, but just to let everyone know, the ending is effing amazing and very fitting. Have fun!

[Wiflewood]

405.

I could easily finish it this evening but I'm debating about it. Maybe I should save some of it till tomorrow.

[Sea of Time]

I read it in one sitting. Be a man.

[Someone Else]

minor spoiler:

Spoiler

Nooo! Hedwig! :o

Almost page 100, got it this morning. I'm not reading it in one sitting, I'll take my time with it. So I'm not highlighting any spoilers.

[Wiflewood]

Finished. ****ING AWESOME.

[Sea of Time]

It's easily the best book of the series, as I highlighted in my review, which is sent and ready for publish. Now I can get some sleep!

[TheEnglishman]

I finished it at 12:15am. It's very good.

[FlamingDuck]

You totally should post your review, SoT.

Spoiler

Does it seem to anyone else that the deaths at the end were really rushed over? I didn't really feel sad about...most of them. I hesitate to say more, even in spoiler tags. As for Dobby...YAY!

[Wiflewood]

FD:

Spoiler

Yeah, I agree. We didn't even see how those 2 people in the battle died...

[FlamingDuck]

Wifle:

Spoiler

I think it was in the explosion...But I dunno.

[Sea of Time]

http://www.whatsonwinnipeg.com/index.php?o...ew&id=26281

The web pages on this site keep changing, but this is my review as it appeared in the newspaper. They actually used the "crown jewel" quote on the cover of the paper! Awesome!

[TheEnglishman]

Awesome.
I'm unsure about this line though:

Quote

This is what kept me frantically turning pages late into the night.

Was this the same night that you came online and told us that you didn't want to read anymore? And where was GSSF in that review?! :P
Seriously though, well done.

[Wiflewood]

Nice review. I have a few criticisms here and there, but I won't point them out unless you want me to.

[Sea of Time]

Me111, on Jul 22 2007, 02:34 PM, said:

Awesome.
I'm unsure about this line though:

I wasn't going to lie! And it was fun to read...except not at 4 in the morning.

Quote

Nice review. I have a few criticisms here and there, but I won't point them out unless you want me to.

Do it.

[Someone Else]

I'm more than halfway through the book (more than 300 pages) and I don't feel like the story really went anywhere until now. It was all the same crap that Harry was unsure of what to do and where to go. Anyone else felt the same?

[TheEnglishman]

He does sort of sit there for awhile. Maybe he's just lazy.

[Ironsight]

yeah, it kinda got pointless to read those parts after the third time

[My Best Wishes]

Sea of Time, on Jul 23 2007, 09:28 AM, said:

I wasn't going to lie! And it was fun to read...except not at 4 in the morning.
Do it.

I'm clearly not English or Wifle, but I thought you were biased. You didn't pick at it enough, it wasn't good enough. Don't misinterpet me, it was good, but really. The first 200-250 pages are just slow and uneventfull. Except

Spoiler

Moody's death

(which was my most hated bit). And in the last part, it all fitted too nicely.

Spoiler

They found the cup, the tiara and everything else all wrapped up in a nice little package. (An expression).

I feel she had a large case of writers block, then ended it the way Monty Python and the Holy Grail ended. (FYI John Cleese had no idea how to end it, and just had the police arrest everyone (If you haven't seen it)).

Spoiler

I felt it was all too rushed, and all worked together too easily. And it was hardly a duel between Harry and Voldermort. Really, 10 years in the making for that? And she killed Fred, Lupin and Tonks! WTF! I understand that by my reasoning it would be a pretty crap ending for no one good to die, but she killed too many... At least Snape was a good person.

But that's just me. It was a good book, except how it took ages to get there, and then just ended when it did.

I guess I am critizing the book, not your review. But really, I thought it was great. (The review, very well done SoT (John)).

I'm going to miss it now.

[TheEnglishman]

I'd agree that the final battle wasn't quite as 'epic' as I thought I would be. I guess though if they flung a load of spells at each other it would be repeating the same sort of fight that they had in the 4th book.

[Wiflewood]

watch, on Jul 23 2007, 10:29 AM, said:

I'm clearly not English or Wifle, but I thought you were biased. You didn't pick at it enough, it wasn't good enough. Don't misinterpet me, it was good, but really. The first 200-250 pages are just slow and uneventfull. Except

Spoiler

Moody's death

(which was my most hated bit). And in the last part, it all fitted too nicely.

Spoiler

They found the cup, the tiara and everything else all wrapped up in a nice little package. (An expression).

I feel she had a large case of writers block, then ended it the way Monty Python and the Holy Grail ended. (FYI John Cleese had no idea how to end it, and just had the police arrest everyone (If you haven't seen it)).

Spoiler

I felt it was all too rushed, and all worked together too easily. And it was hardly a duel between Harry and Voldermort. Really, 10 years in the making for that? And she killed Fred, Lupin and Tonks! WTF! I understand that by my reasoning it would be a pretty crap ending for no one good to die, but she killed too many... At least Snape was a good person.

But that's just me. It was a good book, except how it took ages to get there, and then just ended when it did.

I guess I am critizing the book, not your review. But really, I thought it was great. (The review, very well done SoT (John)).

I'm going to miss it now.

Yeah, I have to agree with you on some parts. I thought the first half of the book was pretty good though, even if nothing really significant happened, I thought it really brought about the

Spoiler

they're all around us, inflitrated ministry, no hope left, have to split up and go it alone, no communication

themes.

I think the only criticisms I had were:

Spoiler

-Hiding the tiara in the room of requirement was pretty cheap
-Crabbe being able to conjure some uber-all consuming fire thing after being portrayed as a dunce for 6 books, and it being only one of the few things in the world to destroy a horcrux which it did.
-Killing off 2 major characters (Tonks and Lupin) without elaborating or anything on how they died (Just that harry saw them dead, she didn't explain how they died or anything)
-How did Dumbledore beat Grindlewald in a duel when Grindlewald had the unbeatable wand?
-The bit about Harry dying and going to a station and meeting dumbledore who just explained everything. :/
-Molly killing Bellatrix. It should have been Neville.

However I disagree with you that

Spoiler

EVERYTHING fitted together nicely. They didn't "find the cup + tiara and everything wrapped up in a nice neat package, they had to steal from a dragon guarded vault in gringots for petes sake. :P
I thought the way that dumbledore had harry's death planned from the start was a big and interesting plot twist, if a tad unbelievable.

Overall though I thought it was a really good ending to the series. I liked the epilogue.



@SoT. Ok, theres not a lot of things but here is where I thought it could have been a bit better:

• Some words that you chose just didn't seem to flow in the text very well. In the first line "riveting" for example. It makes sense of course, but I dunno, just doesn't seem to flow. Maybe 'Thrilling' would have been better. Also describing Harry as 'brash', where perhaps 'reckless' may have flowed better. But this is just my personal taste, maybe other people preffered the words you've used. Other things such as 'Make no mistake' could have sounded better with other phrases in their place. Usually when someone says 'make no mistake', you're expecting them to say 'BUT' a sentence later. For example "Make no mistake, harry potter is awesome, BUT blah blah blah", whereas you were using it to link to the previous paragraph. It probably would have sounded better to me if you had said "Make no mistake, Harry potter is the crown jewel of the series, but 'much darker' blah blah, or "Make no mistake, much darker blah blah, BUT it is still the crown jewel of the series. Also, the last sentence didn't really make a lot of sense. Were you reffering to our world or his world? Cos if its his world then its pretty obvious, since hes the only thing to hold onto really. Again, stuff like this may be just personal choice, I'd be interested to see what other people thought.
  
  
  
• You used a pretty odd tense for most of it, and kept changing tense, which made it quite hard to read. By this, I mean you said "Although he clearly yearns for a normal life, he has devoted himself to Dumbledore's plan, to destroy those wicked inventions, the Horcruxes." instead of "Harry yearns for a normal life, but instead he must fulfill Dumbledore's plan to destroy those wicked inventions, the Horcruxes" which I would have said. Its quite hard to explain how you've written it, but in that last sentence for example, you've kind of mixed present and past together. "He clearly yearns for a normal life" (Present) "he has devoted himself" (Past). I dunno, it just makes it harder to read.
  
  
  
  
• Lastly, the structure. In a 500 word review you've used 18 paragraphs, and it seemed a lot of time, when sentences were on their own, it made them stand out more, when they would have worked better in a longer string of text. Because the sentences stood out, it seemed like you were emphasising very trivial things such as "Harry Potter, over the course of seven years, has grown from a meek boy into nothing less than a hero." Usually, when writing a book or whatever, short snappy sentences are meant to have a lot more emphasis or whatever, but when the whole thing is made of short sentences, well its hard to explain in words, so I wrote this:
  
  
  Bill was walking down the street back to his house. He opened the gate, and walked down his drive to the front door, turned the handle and went in. He looked around for his mum, and called out her name.
  
  There was no reply.
  
  
  Ok, and compare that to this:
  
  Bill was walking down the street back to his house.
  
  He opened the gate.
  
  He walked down his drive to the front door.
  
  Then he turned the handle and went in. He looked around for his mum.
  
  Bill called out her name.
  
  There was no reply.
  
  
  
  Yeah I know its not the best example, but you're review was more like the second one, where it seemed you were emphasising everything.

..But enough criticism. Apart from the way you wrote it, the content was very good, and you used a lot of memorable lines, for example "This is what kept me frantically turning pages late into the night." was very good.

[FlamingDuck]

Wifle was right about the tense shifts, they did make it kind of hard to read. I used to think my English teacher was mental about them, but I guess she was right.

It still was nice to read, however. And I guess you couldn't have revealed too much about the end, so you couldn't really complain about anything past page 500. A few of the word choices were kinda weird, like someone just looked up synonyms without really checking the context. For instance,

Quote

Fans of the series will find themselves unable to put the book down, pining to learn what evil awaits Harry around each corner.

I think pining is more of a "oh, my best friend died, I'm gonna sit here and wish he was still alive" or "I'm trapped in a prison camp and want to go home" sort of a word, while maybe "anxious" or just "wanting" would have fit better.

And this sentence confused me for a second:

Quote

It provides a dark and dramatic finale, the final showdown between the Chosen One, Harry Potter, and the Dark Lord himself, Voldemort.

It made me think that Chosen One+Harry Potter+Voldemort had a big duel. I probably would have left the "Chosen One" part out, or said "the final showdown between the Harry Potter, whom people are calling the Chosen One, and the Dark Lord himself, Voldemort."

You know, stuff like that. The paragraphs were a little overdone, but I don't know if that was the newspaper's formatting or yours.

Anyway, very nice review. Did you get any prize money?

[My Best Wishes]

Wiflewood, on Jul 23 2007, 10:23 PM, said:

Yeah, I have to agree with you on some parts. I thought the first half of the book was pretty good though, even if nothing really significant happened, I thought it really brought about the

Spoiler

they're all around us, inflitrated ministry, no hope left, have to split up and go it alone, no communication

themes.


I think the only criticisms I had were:

Spoiler

-Hiding the tiara in the room of requirement was pretty cheap
-Crabbe being able to conjure some uber-all consuming fire thing after being portrayed as a dunce for 6 books, and it being only one of the few things in the world to destroy a horcrux which it did.
-Killing off 2 major characters (Tonks and Lupin) without elaborating or anything on how they died (Just that harry saw them dead, she didn't explain how they died or anything)
-How did Dumbledore beat Grindlewald in a duel when Grindlewald had the unbeatable wand?
-The bit about Harry dying and going to a station and meeting dumbledore who just explained everything. :/
-Molly killing Bellatrix. It should have been Neville.

First Paragraph
Now that you mention that, she did that quite nicely.

Spoiler

Stunning Umbridge, how good was that!

Second

Spoiler

-Considering the few who knew about the room, and the fewer still who would have known to hide stuff there. It wasn't bad, I mean it was either that or something like the Chamber of Secrets.
-Yea that was just rediculas. If Hermione couldn't have done that, how could Crabbe have. Didn't either him or Goyle nearly fail the first or second year? On the subject of them though. I liked the transformation the Malfoy's in general undertook.
-I cannot believe she did that. Why kill those two? Fred was bad enough, I wanted more Wizarding Wheezes.
-It's Dumbledore? Good point.
-I liked that part, it needed to be done. Consider it a near death experiance.
-Agreed, but it was funny. "YOU *****!". Got to be the closest thing to sweaing in Harry Potter.

On the subject on Hallows though. I hated the thought. One ring to rule them all anyone? Luke, use the force! It's been done.

[gsninja]

Spoiler

The fact that Fred died made me want to throttle J.K. Rowling. I mean...killing one of the twins? It's absurd. D=

I agree that she should have elaborated more on the death of Lupin and Tonks. They're important characters, especially Lupin, so it's disappointing to leave the cause of their deaths hanging.

I also agree that Harry's duel with Voldemort should have been longer. The dialogue was pretty intense, but the duel was too short. I was expecting them to be firing several spells before the Expelliarmus + Avada Kedavra clash.

I love the plot twist with how Dumbledore had planned Harry's death all along, and how Snape really was a good guy. That really caught my interest. =D

One last thing I want to point out: I LOVE how freakin awesome Proffesor McGonagall can be. XP

Ok, I'm done.

[TheEnglishman]

gsninja, on Jul 25 2007, 12:51 AM, said:

Spoiler

One last thing I want to point out: I LOVE how freakin awesome Proffesor McGonagall can be. XP

Ok, I'm done.

Spoiler

I'd have been pretty angry if she had been killed. She's one of the better characters and I felt she should have been included more in the book.

[Someone Else]

Spoiler

Am I the only one that thinks the Harry + Ginny relationship is fake and weird?

Nice ending, but I predicted it as soon as I learned that Harry had some of Voldemort's soul left in him.

The scene where Harry and Voldemort are taunting each other before the duel was corny and cliche. I didn't think that the duel needed to be any longer than it already was, though. Harry besting Voldemort like that was enough, anything more would be, again, cliche.

The way the diadem was destroyed, Crabbe knew a curse to make fire that breaks Horcruxes... that seems to be a little too convenient and too easy when Harry and the gang had been wondering how to break Horcruxes for practically 250+ pages.

Neville should have bested Bellatrix.

I don't think there needed to be an elaboration on Tonks and Lupin died. In the confusion of battle, it's realistic for people not to know how their friends dided.

I have to wonder about what the movie for this book will be like. A lot of details are absolutely necessary and can't be skipped, but Harry spends too much time sitting around wondering what to do in the beginning for it to be interesting. Also, Ginny is apparently supposed to be pretty, but the actress they have for her now isn't particularly good-looking, she's just average.

[Wiflewood]

Another point thats caught my attention after reading some posts on the cosforums (www.cosforums.com) is this topic:

http://www.cosforums...ad.php?t=108699

Can't remember if you need to sign up to read it. If you do, then here is the first post:

Spoiler

Harry Wins on a Technicality?

hroughout these books, JKR has emphasized over and over that Harry has a power that the Dark Lord knows not. And she's also mentioned, many times, that that power is love. But when it came down to the final battle between Harry, and Voldemort, Harry wins because technically the Elder wand was rightfully his; And therefore it wouldn't kill him.

At least that's how I interpreted it.

So my question is...Where did the love come in? I thought that Voldemort was supposed to be defeated by the power that he knew not. But instead he was defeated by a technicality in wand ownership. Which, by the way, was just now introduced to us in this book. There was no mention of anything like this anywhere in the previous books. Harry has disarmed many people. So do all of their wands belong to Him?

The only way that I can see love playing any part in Voldemort's fall, is that it was Harry's love for his friends that made him try to sacrifice himself. And maybe it was his love that kept him on his quest to hunt down the horcruxes.

But still, even though I liked the final duel, I was expecting something more impressive. Harry beat Voldemort with Expelliarmus....

So any thoughts?

[Someone Else]

Spoiler

To be honest I wondered about that too. Wha? Wands can be claimed to different owners simply with expelliarmus? Da ****? Perhaps if the wand makes it's way back to the initial owner, expelliarmus is cancelled?

[Lightning Star]

I've only read the first book, and I can't remember if I read the second one or not. My parents didn't want me reading it, 'cause the Christian radio they listened to were like "zomg, harry potter is liek, teh evil wiht witchcraft! it shall burn in hell!" So yeah, then they didn't want me reading it anymore. That was when I was 10 and actually did what they told me to.

I'll probably go over to my sister's house to catch up on the movies. Again, I've seen the first and I think bits and pieces of the second. I'm a little too busy to sit and read all of those books.

Just curious, in the later books, does Rowling go into too much detail on some parts, or is everything she writes nessecary to the plot? Like you can make an abridged version of the book and still follow along? 'Cause I've seen some of the books are massive, and I'm wondering if it's worth reading it all.

[Someone Else]

The 7th and last book definitely has way too much crap put into in the first half. Tell you what, why don't you just go to Wikipedia? They have nice summaries of all the books.

[My Best Wishes]

Sparknotes.com

They are worth it in my opinion. Been reading them since maybe grade 3? That's about 8-9 years.

[TheEnglishman]

watch, on Jul 26 2007, 07:40 AM, said:

Sparknotes.com

They are worth it in my opinion. Been reading them since maybe grade 3? That's about 8-9 years.

We had to use that site for English last year. It's not bad.

[My Best Wishes]

You had to use the site?? Most teachers hate those type of sites... (Sparknotes, Wikipedia)

[FlamingDuck]

I don't like the movies. Just read the books. The first few only take like 3 hours each.

Spoiler

I was probably too tired to notice this, but how did Expelliarmus kill Voldemort? Did his own curse backfire?

And Tonks and Lupin totally should have had their own death scene. Or at least some mention of it, instead of Harry just seeing their bodies. Everyone else who died before had at least a chapter devoted to it, or some mention of Harry's feelings.

[TheEnglishman]

watch, on Jul 26 2007, 12:38 PM, said:

You had to use the site?? Most teachers hate those type of sites... (Sparknotes, Wikipedia)

We didn't have to use it, they just felt it would be useful.

[Someone Else]

FlamingDuck, on Jul 26 2007, 06:35 AM, said:

Spoiler

I was probably too tired to notice this, but how did Expelliarmus kill Voldemort? Did his own curse backfire?

Spoiler

In short, the Elder Wand technically belonged to Harry, so as Harry used Expelliarmus, the wand turned on old Voldy. I think...

Hey guys, the Epilogue in the book sucked so here's some real information that people actually care about.

Spoiler

No crap about their little gremlins.

Spoilers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Potter_...allows#Epilogue

[Eugine]

I'm reading the book now. Started yesterday. Got it the 21st, but I was reading the 'His Dark Materials' series. I knew if I picked up HP: DH I would have lost interest in the books.

I'm currently at The

Spoiler

Lies and Life of Dumbledore

(I assume some people will think the chapter name can be considered a spoiler?), and well, I agree with WD to an extent. Nothing is happening.
The book is excellently written, and eventhough it's dragged, JK just knows how to write, and I believe I'm be captivated by anything she writes. Can't wait to find out what happens.

[Folcon]

FlamingDuck, on Jul 26 2007, 09:35 AM, said:

I don't like the movies. Just read the books. The first few only take like 3 hours each.

Spoiler

I was probably too tired to notice this, but how did Expelliarmus kill Voldemort? Did his own curse backfire?

And Tonks and Lupin totally should have had their own death scene. Or at least some mention of it, instead of Harry just seeing their bodies. Everyone else who died before had at least a chapter devoted to it, or some mention of Harry's feelings.

Spoiler

But there can't be a death scene for Lupin and Tonks as they were never with Harry when they died. And the books, for the most part, are written in first person from Harry's POV. So since he never saw them die, they don't get their own chapter about it. Shame to kill of Fred, or was it George.

I think one of my favorite parts in the book was the house elves attacking.

[Someone Else]

I'll keep say it though, Eugine: The book picks up pretty fast after you get half-way in. It's a good book, don't worry.

Spoiler

Yeah, it's almost better this way to not know how Tonks and Lupin died. It's a frikkin' WAR, how often do people know exactly how friends die in battles? There's a reason why the term is "Killed in Action" or KIA.

It's a shame about Fred though, what exactly does it bring to the story to kill Fred?

[FlamingDuck]

Spoiler

One of the Weasley's had it coming...They survived too long as a clan, no matter how many close calls they had. I was betting on Percy, though.

[Someone Else]

Spoiler

Percy dying would've been a half and half. Half of it is touching because he was finally at peace with his family. But the other half is bad because... he was finally at peace with his family.

[The Wind Seer]

I read the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows three nights ago. It was so awesome! (I can't wait for the film)

[Platinum Sun]

Wind Dude, on Jul 26 2007, 05:34 PM, said:

Spoiler

It's a shame about Fred though, what exactly does it bring to the story to kill Fred?

Spoiler

I think it gave Mrs. Weasley an excuse to go freakin' ballistic on Bellatrix. That was awesome.

[TheEnglishman]

Spoiler

I can't imagine Julie Walters saying "NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU *****!" when the film is made. :P

[Platinum Sun]

Oh come on, you know that they're going to cut that out of the movie. Pansies.

[Someone Else]

Spoiler

Really? Because I thought that JK Rowling put that in solely FOR the movie's sake.

[Eugine]

Just finished the book. The first half is OK, but the second half is superb. I think Deathly Hallows might just be my favourite HP book. I hated the epilogue though. Everything there seemed so predictable and weird.

[Someone Else]

I agree, the epilogue is lame and left a bad feeling, for me at least. Like you said, the stuff they put in there was predictable

Spoiler

except for Neville becoming professor of herbology.

Spoiler

Honestly, who didn't expect Ginny and Harry to get married, and Ron and Hermione? Who didn't see them having kids?

She tells you all the stuff you don't really care about.

If you want to read some good stuff, check this out: More Epilogue

Spoiler

I still want to know what happens to George now that Fred is dead. I think JK Rowling should actually make a whole fact book about all the side characters too.

[Platinum Sun]

Spoiler

I expected Professor Longbottom. He's always loved herbology, it was the only thing he didn't suck at. I thought that the predicatability was endearing in a "happily ever after" sort of way. And as for the fate of George, he expanded upon his repitoire of ear jokes, became the world's greatest prank tycoon ever, and died of a heroin overdose.

[Ironsight]

i just finished the book last night, and id have to agree. i think the epilouge wasnt that good. it was also kind of confusing :P

[Someone Else]

Yeah that too. There were too many new characters

Spoiler

who had names that we were already familiar with (Lily, James, Albus)

which made it confusing.

[Platinum Sun]

All those characters were dead. It was pretty clear that they were talking about someone new.

[Ironsight]

well, you get it into your head that those people are dead, but then suddently theres a bunch of people with the same names walking around. and these people are named after people that have been mention in the story since book 1, so when you reed those names, you attomaticly assume that thats who there talking about :P

[Platinum Sun]

That'll teach you to assume. Next time, pay attention and take an active role in what you're reading instead of sinking into your comfort zone of familiar characters and allowing yourself to become a mindless sheep.

[My Best Wishes]

Wind Dude, on Jul 27 2007, 10:01 AM, said:

Spoiler

Percy dying would've been a half and half. Half of it is touching because he was finally at peace with his family. But the other half is bad because... he was finally at peace with his family.

I quite liked that happening, I thought it was a very nice touch to have.

WD, I agree with you on your little side book idea, that would be cool to see what happened to everybody at the end.

Spoiler

Percy, George, Charlie, Bill and Fluer, Krum(?), more about Malfoy etc. New headmaster of Hogwarts, Mcgonagall?

[Toasty]

This is the perfect topic for wheatswording.

I just tried, but my brain isn't random enought atm since I just got back from an organised working thingy, and I'm pretty darn tired.

But I know what happens at the end! Because my youth pastor grabbed the book from one of the kids in the cabbin a few nights ago and read us the ending where

Spoiler

Snape Dies

! But it wasn't mean and stuff like it sounds like, it was actually pretty funny. and the kid who was reading it wasn't mad either.

[Sea of Time]

For the epilogue, I would have preferred seeing Harry as an Auror killing off rogue dark wizards.

Spoiler

He would also be single, I never really believed that him and Ginny should be long term.

The epilogue was predictable, and I'm not sure I liked it.

[Platinum Sun]

Thile that would've been fun, I think it was a more

Spoiler

comforting and conclusive ending the way it was, since everything was good and Harry's battle was over. However, JK did reveal in an interview that Harry became an Auror.

Whether he still is in the Epilogue is a mystery.

[Aquamarine]

Just read the book. Good stuff, but not my favorite.

I didn't like how whenever

Spoiler

Harry, Ron and Hermione were in trouble, somebody would appear out of nowhere and save them, or something would happen by complete accident and save them.

Spoiler

I didn't like the epilogue and final duel, but the battle of Hogwarts was awesomesauce. Alos, I think it's good that they didn't show the deaths of Lupin and Tonks, because it just makes it all teh more sader, not knowing who else could have died in the battle.

Spoiler

Before I read the book I was so sure Hagrid would die, but thank goodness he didn't! He's my favorite character, always was, and I'm glad he survived all the books.

[My Best Wishes]

What now though? Does she attempt to move on and encounter something like the Seinfeld Curse or just retire on her riches.
Or (hopefully) more spin off's like fantastic beasts and where to find them, and quidditch through out the ages.

[Aquamarine]

Her are some other things I have decided to say about the book, and I am sure you will all be very interested.

First off, I went to bed last night at about 2 AM and there were about 80-100 pages left. I decided to read about another 15 or do pages and then I tried to go to sleep. Unfortunately, the book was right next to me and starring into my face, pleading me to read it till the end. And so I did. I finally finished at 6 AM and it was already quite bright outside before I fell asleep. THAT is how good the book was.

But still,

Spoiler

I didn't like how Rowling tried to cram almost all the characters from each of the previous six books into it. Some of the characters just didn't fit in with the story and pace of the, such as Wormtail and Umbridge. they just seemd out of place if you ask me. Though nobody is asking me...

Spoiler

For me, the saddest part of all the Harry Potter books was when he used the Stone of Resurrection to create James, Lily, Sirius and Lupin. I really felt sad when he was talking to them. I don't know how Rowling did it, but I was close to tears. Don't make fun of me!

Spoiler

But the stupidest thing in the entire book was that Harry named his children after dead people he cared about. I think that's just pathetic and a bit sick! Especially naming that one boy Severus, instead of giving him Sirius's name. Had he already forgotten how much Snape hated him, and how evil he was towards him in Hogwarts?

[Platinum Sun]

Spoiler

She didn't have to do much cramming.

This was a huge ass book with a lot of events and personally I would've felt let down

Spoiler

as those were some of my favorite characters. (Well, not wormtail,

he showed up just long enough to die and that suited me just fine.

I found the

Spoiler

resurrection scene comforting. It kept Harry's deathmarch from getting too emo. (And believe me, heroic deathmarches can get waaaay emo.

Watch The Green Mile sometime and you'll know what I mean.

I'm thinking that Sirius was

Spoiler

James' middle name,

it was never said in the epilogue you know. And as for Harry's

Spoiler

honoring of Snape,

I think it was quite well placed. Perhaps you missed it because you were fighting off sleep depravation during the last chapter, but

Spoiler

Snape had been one of Dumbledore's biggest players the whole time. Of course it was a secret because Dumbledore likes watching his little puppets

scurry around like blind rats in a maze,but you get my point. If Han Solo has taught us anything, it's that you can be a hero even if you're a total douchebag.

[Aquamarine]

I know that

Spoiler

Snape was on Dumbledore's side all the time

, I wasn't so sleepy to miss that. Actually, I wasn't sleepy almost at all. The only part I couldn't remember because of my lack of sleep was

Spoiler

when Molly killed Bellatrix

. I remembered

Spoiler

them fighting

, but when I saw in this topic somebody mention

Spoiler

her death

, I was like "Wha?" and I went and read that part again.

Nevetheless, I still think it's stupid

Spoiler

he named his son after Snape.

Wow, using spoiler tags to cover only parts of the sentences is fun!

[Platinum Sun]

Well who else would he

Spoiler

name his son after?

He'd already used up all the cool ones

Spoiler

Albus

,

Spoiler

James

,

Spoiler

Lily

,

Spoiler

Remus

, and presumably

Spoiler

Sirius

according to my theory. I mean there was no shortage of dead people

Spoiler

to name a kid after

, but who wants to be named

Spoiler

Dobby

, (ick) or

Spoiler

Fred

. I think naming someone that would be a bit insensistive considering that

Spoiler

George the earless wonder

is still alive. It's the simple matter that all the other dead people sucked. I mean, if my dad

Spoiler

named me "Scrimegour"

or something I would plot my entire life to kill him. Then I would

Spoiler

name my child after my father

, ensuring the continuation of the circle of death.

And if you thought that

Spoiler

abusing spoiler tags

was fun when you're

Spoiler

reviewing Harry Potter

, you should try doing it all the time

Spoiler

just to mess with people

. It's hilarious.

When I

Spoiler

--------

saw this

Spoiler

-----

under

Spoiler

------- --------- -----

EVER!

Spoiler

-

like

Spoiler

------ ----

sinc up with

Spoiler

-----

one of those ghost mediums with nice boobs like Patricia Arkette

Spoiler

------ ----- ---

Rosanne Arkette

Spoiler

------ ------ --

might even make the stretch

Spoiler

----- ---- --

Courtney Cox through David Arkette. Maybe if I'm going

Spoiler

-- ---

that far

Spoiler

------------ ---------

Jennifer Aniston.

Spoiler

-------

never told anyone

Spoiler

----

I respect your hair. the

Spoiler

----------

ate

Spoiler

----------

increasing monkey, I was

Spoiler

--------

bacon popsicles

Spoiler

------- ------- --

then kidnap a porcupine

Spoiler

------ ----- ------

worried

Spoiler

-----------------

pointless adventure full of idiots

Spoiler

------------

angry

Spoiler

-----------

lemmings capture the essence

Spoiler

------- ------- -----

you'll want to paint the pidgeon thoroughly

Spoiler

------- -------

of the games

Spoiler

-----------

mason jar

Spoiler

-------------

or the

Spoiler

------ ------- ----

if you kill all the lions

Spoiler

------ ----- ------ ----

going to have a crap-load of bunnies....

Spoiler

------ ------ ----

by bunnies

Spoiler

- ----

stupid people that need to die.

Spoiler

------- ---

part of the ecosystem.

Spoiler

------ ----- --

personalities

Spoiler

-----------

cookie

Spoiler

----------

ever.

Spoiler

--------- ------ ---

then all of it goes in a blender

Spoiler

---- ----- ----

that, it was good.

Spoiler

--------

saw this

Spoiler

-----

under

Spoiler

------- --------- -----

EVER!

Spoiler

------------------------

can't see for a week.

Spoiler

-------- ---

means

Spoiler

------

I may have said too much. You may want to

Spoiler

stop reading this as it is destroying your mind.

Just

Spoiler

splatter random tags

like that. Do you have any idea

Spoiler

how pissed everyone will be when they find out that there's nothing under

those? Not very...

[Someone Else]

Harry is better than that, Aqua. He doesn't keep

Spoiler

immature grudges

; you do realize that

Spoiler

Snape

was the one who hid

Spoiler

Gordric's sword in the lake

and

Spoiler

led Harry to it

?

Spoiler

Snape had been helping Harry all along though out the book

,

Spoiler

was a double agent, Snape had worked his ass of for Dumbledore AND Harry's sake.

Spoiler

I do believe this topic has been wheat sworded! Good work PS!

[Toasty]

Spoiler

Hmm....not quite awesome enough by my standards. If it was by my standards, I'd be on the floor suffocateing from laughter right now. Either that, or gapeing in awe in the awesomeness of an ultimate post.

[Aquamarine]

Wind Dude, on Aug 2 2007, 09:42 PM, said:

Harry is better than that, Aqua. He doesn't keep

Spoiler

immature grudges

Spoiler

Immature grudges? Snape had been ruining his life for six years, six long years, I don't think you can call what I said an "immature grudge", even after what Harry found out at the end of the book.

[Golden Legacy]

All right, I've been meaning to post in this topic for a while. SoT has already seen this post on Facebook, so now I'll post it here.

Spoiler

1) Holy crap is this book dark. Intense. I can't even believe it would be considered a "children's book". The deaths of Hedwig and Mad-Eye were so sudden, so early in the book that I was taken aback - this is, in my opinion, one of Rowling's best achievements with this book, the all together truly fearful atmosphere as the Death Eaters wreak casualties and havoc on the Wizarding world.

2) Snape. Just, wow. That had to some of Rowling's best writing right there. You just can't help but feel sorry for him, even respect him. And it turned out he was always on Dumbledore's side, and more importantly, that he loved Lily. I'm a sentimental guy, but even for me, I was nearly crying when he revealed his Patronus as the Silver Doe...

3) Grindelwald - friends with Dumbledore?! Wow.

4) I was kind of annoyed with the scene in the Room of Requirement, where Harry encounters Crabbe, Goyle, and Malfoy. How on Earth did Crabbe even THINK for himself, let alone produce that crazy cursed, advanced Dark Magic fire? But hey, it shattered the Diadem, which is cool (and felt rather coincidental, but ah well).

5) Fred. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

6) Lupin. Tonks. Real tears streaming down my cheeks then. And they were just married in the book... and had their baby... My only regret here is that Rowling didn't show how they died, as she had done with Fred... I feel those two characters deserved it too.

7) The references Rowling makes to earlier events and items in the book, I thought, were great touches. Ron and Hermione going into the Chamber of Secrets to get the Basilisk Fang, the Shreaking Shack/Whomping Willow, the Yule Ball during one of the memories Snape reveals to Harry...

8) Snape's death. Gruesome... especially after finding out afterwards the truth of his past life, as well as the actual duty he was doing loyally for Dumbledore.

9) Peter Pettigrew. Now here's something I really didn't like. Since the 3rd book, we've all known that Peter "owed" something to Harry... I was expecting for him to do a little more for him, instead of just hesitating for a moment at the Malfoy Manor. Being strangled with the hand that Voldemort gave him definitely felt "normal" for Voldemort's evilness, but I only wish that Pettigrew could have, I dunno... just done something more. Still lamentable, though.

10) Dobby... I loved when he returned. But to die, and especially the way he did... and the touching scene with Harry building Dobby's grave by Bill and Fleur's house. *sniff* that Bellatrix is a @#$%^&*.

11) Speaking of her... NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU B**** - absolutely hilarious. I do think that someone else should have taken her down though... Neville, to avenge his poor parents... or Hermione, after that ******* woman tortured her.

12)R.A.B. is Regulus. As was expected. I wish there was more to this though - after being left hanging after the Half-Blood Prince wondering who R.A.B. was, it just seemed like Regulus' story was told, by Kreacher, and while definitely dark and well-crafted, it isn't mentioned again. Ehh, maybe it's just me that's annoyed at this.

12) Rowling really built up the tension leading into the Battle for Hogwarts - very well-done, very fast-paced. Could have seen more of it though. Then again, if it meant seeing another horrible death...

13) Neville with the Gryffindor Sword, slashing Nagini. Wow. Boy's got guts. I was glad to see his Grandmother accepting him more.

14) Harry's out-of-body experience after being "killed" by Voldemort. Had a Matrix-ish feel to it, from how I pictured it. Loved the closure that occurred between Harry and Dumbledore.

15) Harry had a piece of Voldemort's soul in him from the day the Killing Curse had failed. amazing plot twist.

16) Voldemort had a part of Harry's protected soul in himself after drawing blood from him to regain his body. THAT WAS BRILLIANT!!! Definitely an "OMG, HELL YES!" moment.

17) Voldemort and Harry circling each other in the final duel (mostly duel of words). Cool scene, a heart-throbber. The talk about the Elder Wand got slightly confusing (Snape kills Dumbledore, he's the rightful owner, Voldemort take it from Dumbledore, he should be the owner, he kills Snape, so he should have it, blah blah blah... throw in Draco's role in it, and I got a bit lost).

18) Epilogue. Albus Severus? Hugo? Nice tough by Rowling, but it did feel too... fanfiction-like. Glad with the Harry/Ginny and Ron Hermione pairings, but it was hard to keep track of their kids.

19) Where is the "true" Epilogue? Where is the Wizarding world rebuilding itself? Where is Harry returning and reforming his relationship with Ginny, where's the insight into what happened in their lives in those 19 years? I mean, things like Kingsley Shacklebolt being instated as Minister of Magic, things like Neville becoming Hogwarts Professor... the ending was too heavily-focused on Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, and their kids... it just left the rest of the Wizarding World "out there".
---

Now, some questions of mine.
20) It's been said before that the fact that Lily had green eyes, and that Harry had them too, would be significant - did we ever find out why?

21) Similarly, the reason why some people return as ghosts and others don't was supposed to be clarified. Any ideas?

22) Rowling didn't address the issue of the veil from the Department of Mysteries?! Nothing more about it... AND nothing from the Mirror of Erised. I dunno, anyone found that odd?

[Platinum Sun]

Spoiler

The impression that I got was that whether or not to return as a ghost was a decision that the deceased made, and that none of the people that died in the books would've chosen to return.

[Aquamarine]

Spoiler

What PS said is true. Rowling DID actually clarify that in one of the previous books. When people die, they can choose whether to come back as a ghost or just... die. Apparently, only cowards choose to be ghosts though.

What I think about number 9) of GL's post:

Spoiler

I noticed that too, and completely agree with you. They mentioned that a few times in the previous books, and so I thought it was going to be something a bit more spectacular, a bit more important. That is why I said earlier that Wormtail seems out of place in the book. Rowling gives him ONE PAGE in which he saves Harry's life and dies. I believe she had something more in plan for him, but just couldn't work him into the book.

20) of GL's post:

Spoiler

Also something I remembered right after finishing the book. Before it was released, Rowling kept saying over and over again that Harry's eyes being the same colour as his mother's is extremely important. I guess that's another thing she couldn't fit into the book well.

Another thing I remembered:

Spoiler

Again, before the book was released, Rowling said that there was a "reason" that Sirius had died. In other words, I expected him, or his death, to play a major role in the book. Was that reason so that Aberforth could have the other part of the mirror? Or so that Regulus would go to destroy the locket?

Oh, and also:

Spoiler

BLEARGH BLEARGH!

[Someone Else]

Aquamarine, on Aug 3 2007, 04:28 AM, said:

Spoiler

Immature grudges? Snape had been ruining his life for six years, six long years, I don't think you can call what I said an "immature grudge", even after what Harry found out at the end of the book.

Spoiler

No... it would an immature grudge. Snape basically died for Harry's sake, and even if Snape had made life hard for six years, he's helped Harry to, unless he dies randomly of an unnatural cause, live longer than he would have dying by Voldemort's hand. Six years isn't that long compared to a happy lifetime.

[Golden Djinn13]

Spoiler

I still find it odd how J.K. could make Snape a likable character at all. After all he put Harry through, it was kind of weird to be feeling sorry for him.

[Toasty]

That's a pretty common plot device. For instance, in the show "24," a character in the first season named Tony Almaeda is almost like Jack's (the main character) nemesis, or at least like he was out to get Jack. By the time Tony dies much later in the series, he's Jack's best friend.

[Folcon]

Spoiler

Here's something I've been wondering: If that goblin ran off with the sword of Gryphandor, then how did Neville get it to kill the snake? Did he use the fake in the headmaster's office?

[Golden Djinn13]

Spoiler

My theory on that was this: If a person that belongs to Gryffindor was in need of the sword (Like Harry was in the second book), then the sword will come to them no matter what. In Neville's case he had to kill Nagini.

I could be wrong, but...whatever.

Btw...

Spoiler

Didn't Voldemort seem kinda like a scrawny punk at the very end. It was weird seeing the most feared Dark wizard become powerless and talked down by Harry...

[Golden Legacy]

Golden Djinn13, on Aug 5 2007, 11:37 AM, said:

Btw...

Spoiler

Didn't Voldemort seem kinda like a scrawny punk at the very end. It was weird seeing the most feared Dark wizard become powerless and talked down by Harry...

No doubt, yes, but also remember

Spoiler

that he had just lost all of his Death Eaters, including Bellatrix, so that must have played a factor. And besides, let's face it... if Harry ever had an actual duel with Voldemort, he would have lost, since there's no comparison of magical ability between them, so Rowling probably thought this would have been the most realistic way to portray it. It wasn't bad, the actual talking... but yeah, I'd have wanted a bit more action myself

.

[Golden Djinn13]

Spoiler

I just thought it would be more epic and worth the wait if Harry had his own phoenix wand and it acted on its own as it had in the first part of the book. It was still a good way to kill off Voldemort though.

Spoiler

On a side note, I think that after all of this was over, J.K. should've explained if Harry, Ron, and Hermoine were able to graduate and get careers as Aurors,e tc. even though they didn't attend their last year of school.

[Platinum Sun]

I think that

Spoiler

killing Voldemort

handily qualifies you to be an Auror. I'm just sayin'

[Aquamarine]

Rowling said

Spoiler

a few things on the internets about the characters. Harry did become an Auror, and so did Ron after doing some other job. I'll find the link... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Potter_..._and_supplement
There ya go.

[FlamingDuck]

Golden Legacy, on Aug 3 2007, 10:57 AM, said:

Spoiler

Now, some questions of mine.
20) It's been said before that the fact that Lily had green eyes, and that Harry had them too, would be significant - did we ever find out why?

21) Similarly, the reason why some people return as ghosts and others don't was supposed to be clarified. Any ideas?

22) Rowling didn't address the issue of the veil from the Department of Mysteries?! Nothing more about it... AND nothing from the Mirror of Erised. I dunno, anyone found that odd?

Spoiler

20) I think it was to remind Snape about Lily.

21) In Order of the Phoenix, Nick says it's choice, and that he was too cowardly to face death.

22) I sort of guessed that the Mirror of Erised was gone, but the veil did seem kinda absent.

All in all, I guess the series is too massive to completely tie up in one book. And the Epilogue was kinda disappointing. Snape is pretty kickin, too.

Anyway, I just reread the entire series, and JK Rowling is mad, mad genius.

[Golden Djinn13]

Platinum Sun, on Aug 5 2007, 02:26 PM, said:

I think that

Spoiler

killing Voldemort

handily qualifies you to be an Auror. I'm just sayin'

I never thought of it that way. :P

Spoiler

Another question I had about all of this is: Why wasn't Malfoy arrested/taken at the end, for being a Death Eater?

[Platinum Sun]

The story cuts to the Epilogue almost immediately following the

Spoiler

battle for Hogwarts. In the interem he probably served some time in Azkaban, or just ratted on everyone in his rolodex.

Something tells me he would've squealed like a stuck pig if he was put before the Wizengamut.

Spoiler

His parents defected at the last second, perhaps that bought them a pity reprieve as well.

[FlamingDuck]

Spoiler

I thought all the rest of his Death Eater pals were either dead or incarcerated, so there's really not much to rat about. And is Azkaban such a god-awful place now that there are no dementors? And what happened to the dementors? The book easily could have gone on for another hundred pages.

[Eugine]

This answers lots of questions, including your question GD13. Mind you, I think you should complete DH before reading. (Most likely everyone has read it already)

[Golden Djinn13]

Wow...That really answered most of my questions. I don't think I have anymore left.

[Aquamarine]

I just remembered something. On the 297th page of the European book

Spoiler

Hermione created blue fire with her wand. This blue fire could be caught in a bottle or jar and carried around.

That's exactly like the blue fire from Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Do you think it's just a coincidence?

[Platinum Sun]

Yes. That is totally a coincidence. Rowling doesn't strike me as a Zelda player.

[Aquamarine]

Agreed. But perhaps her husband...?

Yeah, I doubt it too.

[Someone Else]

Nah, blue fire was in Harry Potter before Rowling married her new hubby I think.

[Golden Legacy]

Going back to the first book when Hermione used that blue fire to burn Snape's cape at Harry's first Quidditch match, yes. I think there was another occasion somewhere else in the series where Harry, Ron, and Hermione were huddled around it during the winter to keep warm too.

[Aquamarine]

But I mean blue fire that can be carried around in a jar. Thinking up of a blue coloured fire isn't at all hard, but making it transportable in bottles is amazingly like OoT.

[FlamingDuck]

Okay, Aqua. In a completely different conspiracy theory, does anyone think that
(spoiler for the book Sabriel. Go read it. Now.)

Spoiler

the end was a lot like the end in Sabriel? I mean, Sabriel runs back to her old school which is a sort of castle where she learned magic to fortify it and fight off the major bad guy. All her friends help, a few characters die, etc. Then, she gets killed by the major baddie, but is prevented from dieing and comes back to life and defeats him. Sound familiar?

[My Best Wishes]

Golden Legacy, on Aug 11 2007, 02:35 PM, said:

Going back to the first book when Hermione used that blue fire to burn Snape's cape at Harry's first Quidditch match, yes. I think there was another occasion somewhere else in the series where Harry, Ron, and Hermione were huddled around it during the winter to keep warm too.

They were huddling around it when Snape took Harry's copy of Qudditch throughout the ages away from him, because Libary books were not allowed outside the castle. Then Harry went to get it back and saw Snape's leg.

[Someone Else]

If I hadn't remembered that scene myself I'd have thought that what you said was extremely kinky.

[My Best Wishes]

watch, on Aug 12 2007, 02:58 PM, said:

Harry saw Snape's leg.

Wind Dude, on Aug 13 2007, 10:32 AM, said:

If I hadn't remembered that scene myself I'd have thought that what you said was extremely kinky.

:ph34r:

I feel the only question I still have after that Q&A link was posted is one that Wifle I think raised. How was crabbe/goyle able to create one of the few substances that could destroy the Horcrux? If Hermonie couldn't do it, how could he?

[Platinum Sun]

Crabbe was trained in Dark Magic because he was a junior Death Eater, Hemione was not.

[FlamingDuck]

I think Hermione said something along the lines of "Oh, I would have never used that because it's so dangerous!" Oh well.

[Someone Else]

I'm guessing it was something along the lines of that you would have to be a complete idiot to consider using a spell so dangerous. It still smells like a plot device to me, though.

[Golden Legacy]

^ I was just shocked that Crabbe managed two coherent sentences in a row.

[TheEnglishman]

Maybe he just pretended to be dumb for seven years so he could fool everybody. Maybe he's the strongest wizard of them all! :ph34r:

[Aquamarine]

I read that part again last night, and Harry says that he can't believe what Crabbe did, since he barely even spoke. Hermione says he must have learned Fiendfire from the Carrows. So yeah..

[Someone Else]

Me111, on Aug 14 2007, 03:31 AM, said:

Maybe he just pretended to be dumb for seven years so he could fool everybody. Maybe he's the strongest wizard of them all! ;)

Too bad he kinda like... died. :ph34r:

If that's a spoiler to you now, you weren't much of a Potter fan to begin with.

[TheEnglishman]

Joking obviously.
Maybe it wasn't an accident though. Maybe he was murdered!
*conspiracy*

[Someone Else]

Crazy, but it might just be possible...

Hey, maybe it was suicide. I mean, it was his own fire that he created. Maybe he was depressed at how small his brain was or how baby-like his face is, so that whenever he threatened 1st Years for lunch money they always just laughed at him and used Wingardium Leviousa on his underpants to give him a magical wedgie.

[Golden Legacy]

All right, all right. Crabbe isn't worth the whole discussion we're having, to be honest.

What would you say is your favorite scene in Deathly Hallows? For me, one of them will always be the scene where Harry is walking towards the clearing where Voldemort and the Death Eaters are, and his parents, Sirius, and Lupin are walking with him... very deep and emotional.


EDIT: Added in a poll.

[Aquamarine]

Golden Legacy, on Aug 14 2007, 07:43 PM, said:

What would you say is your favorite scene in Deathly Hallows? For me, one of them will always be the scene where Harry is walking towards the clearing where Voldemort and the Death Eaters are, and his parents, Sirius, and Lupin are walking with him... very deep and emotional.

Exactly what I was thinking when you posed that question. That part made me feel emotions stronger than in any part of the previous books, or Deathly Hallows for that matter. But the whole Battle for Hogwarts was just awesome.

My fave book is still probably the Goblet of Fire, though Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows are close.

EDIT: Oh, and you typed Sorcerer's wrong.

I fixed it, thanks for pointing it out. - GL

[TheEnglishman]

For me it would either be 3 or 4. Both were good for me.

[My Best Wishes]

Half bloody Prince
Prisoner of Azkaban
Chamber of Secrets
Deathly Hallows
Philospers Stone
Goblet of Fire
Order of the Pheonix

[Someone Else]

I could have sworn that Sorcerer was spelled "Sorceror".

All of the books seem to have little things that make each of them special. Except maybe Chamber, where Harry keeps wondering about being in Slytherin and such but that's still kind of prevalent in the other books, except he's more focused on his link with Voldemort.

I liked the Hogwarts Battle a lot. There's something about big battle scenes that actually strike me as more emotional than a walk with your dead friends and family. (although that's very good too) People are fighting to the death for something that they believe in, and they'll put their petty differences aside to come together and fight for the same cause. There's also that, in battle, you won't always be entirely sure where everybody is or if they're okay, which is pretty emotional in it's own right and that also seems to show another level of trust, in a way at least.

[FlamingDuck]

I like when they stop abusing Kreacher. Yup. And Prisoner of Azkaban is my favorite.

[Eugine]

Order of the Phoenix. After reading OoTP, I really started to appreciate Harry Potter, it became part of me ^^

[Aquamarine]

Ooo, part of you... Sounds dirty.

Anyhow, in my opinion OoTP was possibly one of the worst(though it was still excellent), since the whole point of the book was to make it longer and bigger than GoF. It's all about how Harry is worrying because nobody believes him about Voldemort coming back, and his love life and other crap nobody cares about. The battle between Voldemort and Dumbledore was quite pathetic to be honest. It was supposed to be a clash between the two most powerful wizards alive, but all that happened was Dumbledore walking towards Voldemort and statues jumping in front of him to save his life like ten times.

[TheEnglishman]

Well if they had the big supper mega fight of death in the fifth book, what would they do for the last two?