For those who’ve finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Thoughts appear at random.
OMGWTF HEDWIG.
Voldemort continues to be a sadly and unjustly underwritten character. The scenes with the Gaunts and at the orphanage turned out to be as pointless as they were overlong and unilluminating, because being a sociopath is not a hereditary condition, and there should be a reason the rest of the kids at that orphanage didn’t turn out snake-eyed, scenery-chewing mass murderers. Whoever said Voldemort is as much a part of the backdrop as Hogwarts got it exactly right. Which is fine, as it turns out, because he’s still terrifying in a way most Evil Overlords wish they were. His Public Address System of Doom was an excellent touch. His greatest joy is to frighten, to stir up fear like a kid poking an anthill with a stick, to watch you looking over your shoulder and checking under your bed for him. Killing is almost a disappointment to him, because dead people can’t be scared.
All of which is somewhat tarnished by the (however amusing) fact that he couldn’t kill Harry because he violated the Section D, Line 7 clause of the Stealing Someone’s Blood to Make Yourself a Body contract, and he died because he failed to read the fine print in the terms and conditions of lifting fairy tale wands from dead people.
I don’t know why I’m surprised that Rowling took the tired and obvious path with Snape. She’s been going for the obvious answer a lot lately, so I should have been expecting it. She’s done such a good job making Snape sympathetic and interesting that his story comes off fittingly tragic even as poorly as it’s recited to us. Dumbledore and Snape’s scenes in “The Prince’s Tale” might be the worst-written passages I’ve ever read in any book. I imagine them enacted by sock puppets in the movie.
My feeling in the end is that Snape, as a character, deserved better than to end up just another man who thought himself a hero for loving a woman who didn’t love him back, and to have nothing to comfort him his entire life but his doe Patronus. He deserved to grow up and move on. He deserved much more than Dumbledore did to take his own life, on his own terms. He deserved to have his story told better. Having Potter’s second-born named for him is not an adequate memorial to the man. (Also, “Albus Severus”? Poor little bastard.)
Rowling didn’t drop the ball on everyone. Dumbledore was a cold-blooded bastard all along, just like we all knew he was. Kreacher just wanted someone to be nice to him. Lupin had a nasty, cowardly side lurking underneath his impenetrable politeness. It hasn’t escaped Ron’s notice that he’s not allowed to be good at anything but chess when Harry and Hermione are around.
That “epilogue” was beyond belief. Next time, Rowling, leave the fanfiction to the fans. They’ve already done it better.
Lyn, that was the sort of lawyering I suspect insures that Hermione’s vault at Gringott’s is something she needn’t ever worry about having to visit. I’d forgotten about Draco having at least disarmed Dumbledore.
I’ve assumed that Harry survived the AK because of the blood/connection thing, not because the Elder Wand recognized him, specifically, as its master at that point.
Absolutely, I agree. My point here was that the first AK against Harry actually was successful– if Harry hadn’t had the blood connection with Voldemort, he would have died. I was just saying that if Harry had fought against the first AK, then it would have rebounded, just like the one in the great hall (except of course, Voldy would not have died, because he still had two remaining horcruxes at that point).
I don’t think it’s the case that the Elder Wand didn’t work for Voldemort at all– it’s just that he wasn’t completely comfortable with it, as he would have been if the wand had chosen him. I’m pretty sure it was successful for him most of the time– it’s just that the Elder Wand is supposed to do things above and beyond a normal wand, which it wasn’t doing.
“I don’t think it’s the case that the Elder Wand didn’t work for Voldemort at all– it’s just that he wasn’t completely comfortable with it, as he would have been if the wand had chosen him. I’m pretty sure it was successful for him most of the time– it’s just that the Elder Wand is supposed to do things above and beyond a normal wand, which it wasn’t doing.”
That was my impression.
I was just saying that if Harry had fought against the first AK, then it would have rebounded, just like the one in the great hall (except of course, Voldy would not have died, because he still had two remaining horcruxes at that point).
Right, it was necessary for Harry to die (or “die”) in order to kill the accidental Harrycrux that got made when Voldy tried to kill him as a baby. And had he not done so willingly – if death had not been his intention – then it’s possible that by killing him, Voldemort would have gained mastery of Elder Wand after all.
that was the sort of lawyering I suspect insures that Hermione’s vault at Gringott’s is something she needn’t ever worry about having to visit. I’d forgotten about Draco having at least disarmed Dumbledore
Speaking of Gringott’s, I always thought it was interesting that despite their supposedly stringent security features it was still possible for Molly Weasley to withdraw money from Harry’s vault every time she did his school shopping, which seemed to happen almost yearly in the later books. Maybe he’d made special arrangements for certain other people to access his stash, but even if he did, he was underage, and the only people who could be considered his legal guardians in either the Muggle or wizarding worlds would be the Dursleys and Sirius Black. But Molly Weasley can just stop off in Gringott’s while she’s in Diagon Alley, and make a withdrawal for him? Lol.
Whatever it was, it was probably as misunderstood as anything anybody in his family did.
What really cracked me up was when his Patronus turned out to be a goat as well.
I think Dumbledore once mentioned that his brother got in trouble over trying to “charm” goats. Which makes me wonder now if there was actual magic involved, or if he was just found lurking near a barn door with flowers, wine, and a Barry White record.
Snape’s doe patronus clearly symbolized his undying love for Lily, but why a doe? Was Lily’s patronus always a doe, or did it change form when she fell in love with James? If so, why did hers change to match his, rather than vice-versa? If it was the second person to fall in love, wouldn’t Lupin’s patronus have changed rather than Tonk’s? Or is it just the powerful shift in emotions? But then, why did Snape’s change if he’d always loved her…or was it always a doe from the first time he cast it? Groan…. Too many questions… does anyone here understand patronus theory?
I reckon it’d be quite sweet if Lily’s Patronus just happened to be a doe, rather than it changing to match James. After all, a lot of people, myself included, wondered why the hell Lily fell in love with an arrogant bully like James. My theory is that she found out about the Marauders mastering advanced Animagus magic in order to look after Lupin, and was touched by their loyalty (especially in light of Snape’s betrayal). Imagine, then, mastering the Patronus charm, only to find out your guardian is the female counterpart to the Animagus form of the maybe-not-so-bad guy who’s been hitting on you. Something in common after all!
Given that Snape was devoted to Lily since before they started at Hogwarts, I wouldn’t be surprised if his patronus was always a doe. And I prefer to believe that the correlation between Lily’s patronus and James’ animagus form was just a coincidence. Did we ever find out what James’ patronus form was?