HP:HBP

[psocoptera]

Wow. Oh wow oh wow oh wow oh wow. So fabulous.

I have no idea what I want to talk about first. The shippy squeeing? The unbelievable final act? The fact that, to lead up to the last book, the ending has hung further out over the cliff than we've seen from Rowling before? Fascinating parallels to fanfic? I will follow in allecto's footprints (also, dude! there's a Death Eater named Alecto! I *so totally* squeed for you when I read that.) and make a List. But it is a really wordy list, because I'm like that.

1) I've been saying for awhile now that I hoped Snape actually *was* evil, undermining the whole cliche of the asshole with the heart of gold. Now that Things Are Looking More That Way Than Ever, I'm not sure how I feel about it. People have pointed out that Snape could have in fact done it at Dumbledore's request - who knows what sort of Legilimency/Occlumency communication passed between them in those seconds - which does set up the climax in which Snape is trying to explain to Harry what Really Happened and Harry has to find his inward power of Dumbledore-like loving forgiveness to believe him and trust him, but *does not* explain to me why Snape would make the Unbreakable Vow months earlier. Unless Snape had just been planning to die rather than fulfill it, but if he was willing to die to save Dumbledore, would he really have gone along with Dumbledore's choice to die?

2) Snape finally managed to succeed in teaching Harry some Potions! Haha!

3) Harry and Dumbledore on the island: so, so heartbreaking.

4) It's really interesting to see the last book being set up to finally move away from the school story and transition into the classic Quest for the Dark Lord's Only Weaknesses. I like that we still also have a Mysterious Clue - and maybe there'll still be time for one more DADA teacher to not be who they seem?

5) I felt a lot of satisfaction with the plot in this one, much more than in 5. Nice interflow of problems and solutions - the whole unfolding in the early part where Harry needs to take Potions, but he can't take Potions because Snape won't let him, so the new teacher must be Potions and Snape must be moving on to DADA finally. Slughorn giving him the Felix, him using the Felix to get what he needs from Slughorn. Even the Vanishing Cabinet thing - something I had completely forgotten from 5, showing up again. Love it when that happens.

6) Okay, when did Harry get the Marauder's Map back? At the end of 4, someone - Dumbledore? had both the Map and Cloak. I recall that Harry used the Cloak in 5, so someone must have given it to him, but the Map also?

7). Oh, Draco. You are so like unto fan Draco, except for your lack of leather trousers. But you weep! And Harry is obsessed with you! Canonically obsessed, which exasperates Hermione and Ron! And he stalks back and forth in front of the Room of Requirement requiring what you require! And you petrified him in an otherwise abandoned train compartment! Oh oh oh.

8) Even as it became more and more obvious Dumbledore was going to die - he finally dresses down the Dursleys, which has needed doing for 5 books now, he shares all of his research with Harry so that Harry can carry on the work, the injury to his hand shows us he's not invulnerable - I *so did not want to believe it*. Especially after his absence from most of the last book, I really admired him this time, and cared about him, and, and, I *knew* he had to die so that Harry wouldn't have anyone to be coming to save him (which Harry helpfully explained to us ::grin::), but, waaaah.

9) Hermione and the Confundus Charm. Okay, did anybody else feel like Harry should have totally chewed her out for interfering in his Quidditch trials? Or that she is scaaaary? I know I argued with someone - GS I think - about this as of last book, but I think I've come around: she really seems to feel like she can do anything to anyone, and it's ok, and unlike Harry she never ends up in detention or facing Dumbledore's disapproval... Harry may be Pure Of Heart, but I think he's at least in part *stayed* that way because he has people who would be appalled if he misused his power. Hermione may not be The Chosen One (and I thought that was Anakin, anyways), but she's the best in their year, and while she might not have had the innate malice of a Voldemort, I could see her on track to becoming a Rufus Scrimgeour, concerned with Morale and Law and convinced she's justified in doing whatever she can. Of course, we know she's passionate about justice and fairness too, but will that be enough?

10) I'm really glad to see all of the ships basically resolved. Well, I guess Ron and Hermione still haven't actually vowed eternal love or whatever, but I feel like almost all of the unattached people who seemed to really need 'ships have basically shaken out into pairings, and we can get on with Quests and climactic battles against Evil without a lot of teen romantic angst.

11) I really enjoyed the writing in this one. Harry gets some great lines. Draco leaving Harry bleeding in the train compartment was a lovely echo of the DA kids leaving Draco and his goons oozing in the luggage rack at the end of 5. The lake under the cliff full of the dead was incredibly realized. I feel like we finally got a sense of what Voldemort's real evil looked like - I mean, we've never really known, did he kill a few people? A few dozen? No, he's filled a *lake* with corpses.

But the single most heartbreaking image would have to be the Gryffindor hourglass broken and the rubies spilling out. That right there was when I really believed Dumbledore was dead, that the heart of Gryffindor was broken and blood had been spilled at Hogwards. Oh *yeah*, JKR. Build up your metaphors then hit us with them.

So, yeah. Wow. Wow wow. Cannot wait until 2007.

Comments

[allectofromlj]

Dude, I *know*! In the midst of tears and sadness and fear and everything else, I was grinning.

And, you know. utterly exhausted. I went to bed at 10:40 last night and just woke up...

[amythis.livejournal.com]

Re Snape, you're probably right.

Re the plot, it felt both simpler (smoother) and more layered.

LOL, re Draco. And, yep, JKR used the word "obsess" and forms of it.

Yeah, it was clear that Dumbledore would die, but it still choked me up.

Hermione is out of control! Poor Ron!

Re the ships, but I like the teen romantic angst. :-P I think JKR must've been taking the mickey out of shippers. I mean, Filch/Pince, come on!

The lake under the cliff full of the dead was incredibly realized.

Some of her best writing ever.