Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (theories and discussion - may contain spoilers)

Spoiler

I have to agree. In fact I found a few things in this book quite suprising. I remember reading it and thinking "they can't put that in a children's book" but apparantly they can and they have.

 

No spoilers.

I personally don't think of this series as children's books. Thereis obviously a lot to appeal to young readers, and Rowling definitely does not talk down to her readers. But I know of more avid adult Harry Potter readers than younger ones.

I do know some younger HP movie fans who'd just as soon not bother with reading the books...

 

Yes, I really do hate those. "lol ive seen the moovees so i can say Hairy Pooter sux!lolol" Eurgh.

 

Yeah I hate it when people judge a book by the movie. There are loads of people that I know, not all of them are really young - many my age... who've only ever watched the films and then proceed to judge the books

Cogito I didn't mean that the book was only for children, I too know lots of adults that read them. I suppose I meant that.... i'll put it in the spoiler in case lol.

Spoiler

The books got quite dark to say that there is such a large proportion of young children that read the books, or have the books read to them.

 

I absoloutley adored the book. I have been hooked on Harry Potter since the day Philosophers Stone was released, and I felt that this was truly a fitting and beautiful ending to the series.

Spoiler

I felt that the deaths were... targic, but necesary. I even felt a jolt of grief for Crabbe; like Harry said, no-one should die like that. Dobby's death tore me up, especially the funeral! I did feel that Tonks and Lupin dying seemed like a bit of an... afterthought? I feel that they were important enough characters to justify us seeing them die, yet we were just informed that they had died. I also was heartbroken that they killed Colin Creevey! Why?!

I also feel that the ending would have been improved if (bear with me here!) JK had listed the 50 other victims who gave their lives fighting Voldemort and his army. Yes, it may have been time-consuming, but I don't care; I want to know if the minor characters we have spent 10 years falling for survived the battle! Cho, Ernie, Justin, Lavender (Lavender especially, as the last we heard she was being mauled by Fenrir!), Hannah, Seamus, Dean, Susan, Anjelina, Alicia, Micheal, Terry, Padma, Parvati, Katie... well, you get the picture!

I loved that Snape was good! I have had my doubts about him throughout the series, but what an ending for him!

The 'Nineteen Years Later' section was... I dunno... It seemed a bit cheesey to be honest!

But, on the whole, I felt the book was an amazing ending to a phenomenal series.

 

That wasn't aimed your way, but more at the newscasters who treat it solely as a children's phenomenon, that point the cameras at a few colorful adult fans as if to say "and here are a couple of kooky older fans recapturing their childhood."

If anything, I think Jo Rowling targeted an audience that has grown with the series and who are now young adults. The themes have matured as Harry has.

 

Yeah. Just think: If you were seven when the first HP book came out, a great age to have that book read to you, you'd be seventeen now- exactly the age Harry is in this book, and ready to deal with the morals Harry does.
And of course you can have kids read what happens in that book: They'll have to encounter death sometime. It's part of life. And the way Rowling handles it gently and optimistically towards the end is a great way to introduce them.

 

Note: Please keep this topic solely for Harry Potter discussion.

Off topic posts will be deleted.

 

Puzzled here - hasn't it been staying on topic? Or did something already get purged, and I didn't see it?

 

Not sure... I haven't seen anything go off topic all day but I might have missed it. I was online when that was posted though.

 

none. I'm just telling people only to post in here on Harry Potter and not to go off that area.

Also, I don't think you really have to post those spoiler tags unless you talk about another Harry Potter book, after all, anyone who goes into this thread has been warned that this thread will contain spoilers.

 

I'll certainly continue to use spoilers, because some people are just stupid like that when it comes to the internet and warnings. (Also, I frown on the idea of reminding us not to go off-topic when there hasn't been a single sign we were going to do so; the past three posts have been off-topic because of it. It's like saying "so, what would you say if I crashed this car?" while driving. It bugs people. Siiigh.)

So anyway:

Spoiler

My only problem with the epilogue is that it left a lot of characters hanging. We know about Neville, Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Draco, and...that's it. What happened to George? Luna? All the people who were about to die? As Jmitchell said, it was a nice ending, but I could use some closure. Still, it does leave the door open for just about anything in the future... >=D

 

Yeah but LP did tell us to use them lol... better safe than sorry really. Better not to upset anybody at all.

 

First a word about spoilers:
The thread contains info by people who have read the book, but it also contains speculation from those who have not, or had not when the thread began. So spoilers are still the considerate way to go.

Ivan:

Spoiler

I have heard that Ms. Rowling has been reconsidering her original intentions to terminate the series after 7 books. I suspect the epilog is deliberately incomplete to not overly constrain the future of the characters and environment.

 

Oh yeah I heard that too...

 

I was just reading the Wikipedia article on Slytherin (cause seriously, what better do I have to do at 5 a.m.?) apparently there was originally going to be a Slytherin who was half-Squib half-Muggle, and related to the Weasleys. That's an interesting tidbit that would have been interesting...

Spoiler

also, it said Slughorn fought for Hogwarts, I don't know I thought it said <random teacher> disarmed Slughorn

on an unrelated note, where was Fawkes?! Harry was supposed to get a new pet in this one!


Oh, also: The thing about Harry Potter being a kids book. The first one was written for eight to twelve year olds (about) the second for twelve, then thirteen, 14, 15, 16, and finally seventeen. It sortof evolved with it's audience. Which as it is the only such story I know of, it's massive staying power is explained. It went from a children's story to a young adult novel. Man, if only other stuff did that... Power Rangers would be dealing with Law and Order issues and have rangers with drug addictions...

 

I finally finished it all, damn I read slowly.

Spoiler

For my correct theories, I got that the murder was planned, and that the mirror and pensieve were coming into play. But I kept thinking that the Deluminator would somehow repel Dementors.

All in all, it was a good ending and was on par with the rest of the series. Always a fan of the team dynamic -- which is why V was so cool. I loved the way everything was tied together as well, there's just something about having most of the information in front of you - makes you want to go through the others stories.

Maybe it was just me, but some of the syntax seemed a little odd at times (esp. in the beginning). Or perhaps that's one of the many reasons I read so slow?

Anyway, it's stories like this that make me want to pursue writing novels. My own little slice of immortality I dare say.

Hehe... I thought it was [spoilers]. Technically, it was multiple.

 

Another series that does what Edward mentioned is the Tiffany Aching series, which is basically Harry Potter that's been delightfully inverted: It's about a girl on the fantastical planet of Discworld training to be a witch. And since they're by Terry Pratchett, they're bound to be hilarious. But the thing is, the time that passes between the books is "real time", and it reflects in tone, too: The first book, a silly easy read, took place when Tiffany was 9. The second, released two years later, had Tiffany as an 11-year-old, and the tone was that much more serious. And the most recent, released January, had Tiffany as a 13-year-old and it certainly got very dark at parts. (Ah, heck, I'll just say what I'm getting at: READ THESE BOOKS!)
So what we gather from both this series and that is that aging your characters, while a risky move, is extremely rewarding if you play it off right.

 

It was just a statement, no need for any comotion in my opinon.

 

my take on the book:

Spoiler

persoannaly, i loved the book. i thought it was brilliant. there were the occasional parts were i had to stop and think twice about whathad happened, but to be honest it made it slightly more interesting.

as for the epilouge, i think that as shewas planning to finish writing the stories after the seventh book, by writing an epilouge it sort of seals everything off, rather than leaving everyone hanging. if she had left it hanging, it would have filled everyone with hope that the books might continue, but judging on the way thatshe ended it, i am thinking that there wil be no more.

the death of Lupin and Tonks made my cry my eyes out i mean, i know the deaths were relevant and that, but why did they both have to die, it is so sad. i also cried when Dobby died, it was sooooo sad. the end made me smile, and my favourite chapter in the book was Kings Cross, where Harry has a heart to heart with Dumbledore. i made me smile and cry and i just love that old guy i loved thefact thatthere was the element of trust going on between Harry and Dumbledore, i made you think for once that you should trust the people you love, even if everyone else doesn't, which in the end Harry does.

in general i thought it was an excellent book. every time i read JK's books i find them seriously hard to put down and they always seem to leave me feeling . . . empty, but in a good way. although, they make me seem sometimes like my life and what i do is irrelevant, but once again, in a good way. anyway, before i keep on talking and talking and talkng, an excellent book, thouroughly enjoyed it and the entire series for that matter.

just out of curiousity, what is everyone's favourite book in the series?

 

I think Chamber of secrets was great, HBP and ye Deathly Hallows

She still has some unaswered questions though, like the veil n stuff!

 

What exactly is unanswered with that? and what other mysteries are you referring to?

 

The Department of Mysteries, for a few. And the other characters (WHEREZ MAH LUNA?! D=). If JK wrote more books in that world but centering on other characters, that would be GREAT.

Also, my favorite book was Deathly Hallows by far.

 

My personal preference would be something along the lines of:

V. Phoneix
VII. Hallows
I. Philosopher's Stone
III. Azkaban
IV. Goblet
VI. Prince
II. Chamber

Though my memory of them is a bit shaky, and some lines blur. So who is to be sure?

 

well, my order would be

Hallows
Azkaban
Half-blood
Phoneix
Goblet of Fire
Chamber of Secrets
Philosephers Stone

and i don't get the veil. why did he die 'dos he'd fallen through it??