As was expected, as soon as I hit the chapter "Malfoy's Manor," I couldn't put the book down until I was forced to last night because it was late, I was tired, and I knew I would be up until at least four if I tried to finish the book. As it was, I still read probably 350 pages last night. Then the first thing I did this morning was finish the book.
Deathly Hallows gets the biggest declaration of love from me. I do indeed have a favorite Harry Potter book, and this is it. I love everything about this book—even the camping parts that so many people were bored by and upset with. It seemed to me that a lot of people held the same opinions that Ron yells at Harry right before he leaves: "We thought you knew what you were doing! We thought Dumbledore had told you what to do, we thought you had a real plan!" Which I thought was pretty ridiculous of people . . . every reader knew that Harry didn't know where the Horcruxes were. Did they expect him to figure it out right away? The camping scenes where nothing seems to happen made sense. It made the story more realistic, it made it plausible. Sure, Rowling could have let them figure it all out quickly and easily, but how lame would that have been? Very lame, in my opinion.
As you might have noticed, I'm all about realism, even in the entirely fictional Wizarding world. I know that witches and wizards don't exist and that Voldemort isn't real. But Rowling created rules for this world. There are things that can't be done or undone by magic; there are laws that must be followed, and because they're being followed by real characters, the fictional world is able to come to life. It's fabulous, and I love it.
And speaking of real characters, this is where I could go off on the brilliance of Snape's character . . . the fact that as a reader, you hate him because of his hatred of Harry, but you can't fully hate him because Dumbledore trusts him. And even though Snape appears to be a bad guy, and you feel justified, finally, in hating him, a part of you feels remorse because you don't want Snape to be a bad guy. You don't want Dumbledore to be wrong about him. Snape is probably one of my very favorite literary characters because he's so complex. It's wonderful.
Anyway, after that tangent, on to the lists, because I could sit here and write about this book all day if I allowed myself.
The Good: The way Rowling manages to take you through six books' worth of reminiscing in a few chapters, and continues to sneak those memories in throughout the book; Harry's last encounter with Uncle Vernon; Dudley's concern about Harry's welfare, and his gratitude: "I don't think you're a waste of space"; "Blimey, Dudley, did the dementors blow a different personality into you?"; everyone's willingness (well, minus Dung) to become a Harry doppelgänger; Ron and Hermione's actions in order to keep their families safe while they're off doing dangerous things with Harry; Harry, Ron, and Hermione getting the things they were left from Dumbledore; the happiness of Bill and Fleur's wedding (before they're attacked, of course); Hermione realizing that the locket had been in Grimmauld Place; Kreacher's story; Harry's kindness toward Kreacher; Griphook keeping quiet about the fake sword; Harry and Hermione visiting his parents' grave; the monument at Godric's Hollow; Snape's Patronus leading Harry to the sword; Ron saving Harry; Ron destroying the Horcrux; Hermione's anger at Ron when he returns (she's a girl—of course she's going to be mad—plus, it's pretty funny); Ron's story about the Deluminator; Ron's complete concern for Hermione's welfare at Malfoy's manor; Dobby coming and saving the day—I love that little elf; Harry deciding to go after Horcruxes and not Hallows; escaping Gringotts with the cup on the back of the dragon; Aberforth saving Harry from the Death Eaters; Neville—oh my gosh, everything about Neville; everyone in the Room of Requirement wanting to fight and help; Percy coming back (this always makes me cry); the Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff Houses standing up between Harry and the Slytherins (this also always makes me cry); Ron opening the Chamber of Secrets and Hermione destroying the cup; Hermione kissing Ron: "Is this the moment? OI! There's a war going on here!"; Harry realizing where the diadem is; Harry and Ron saving Malfoy—twice: "And that's the second time we've saved your life tonight, you two-faced bastard!"; Snape's story; Harry's willing sacrifice; the fact that Voldemort's haste to make himself stronger actually weakens him by keeping Harry alive; the one last explanation of everything from Dumbledore; Neville's defiance, pulling the sword from the Sorting Hat, and killing Nagini; Kreacher leading the house-elves (I cry here too); "NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!"—the best mom moment ever (I laughed aloud the first time I read it); Harry being the master of the Elder Wand; Harry defeating Voldemort; Harry repairing his own wand; the epilogue.
The Bad: Hedwig's death; Mad-Eye falling; George's ear; Lupin's (understandable) cowardice, and his fight with Harry; everything about the Ministry; the Muggle-born Registration Commission, and the fact that Umbridge is over it; Yaxley seeing Grimmauld Place; Ron leaving—yes, I cried, and was so happy when Ron comes back fairly quickly and pretty awesomely; Harry's anger at Dumbledore; Xenophilius Lovegood trying to turn Harry in; Harry's obsession with the Hallows; Harry yelling Voldemort's name; Dobby's death (more crying); Griphook running away with Gryffindor's sword; Fred dying—I cry the hardest here—with tears running down my face; Lupin, Tonks, Colin Creevey, and all the other people who die (the battle pretty much has me in constant tears).
The Ugly: Mad-Eye's magical eye in Umbridge's office door; Voldemort placing Nagini in Bathilda Bagshot's body (ew, gross); Bellatrix Lestrange's obvious enjoyment of torturing Hermione; the way Snape dies and why.
And there you have it—the last of my Harry Potter posts. I hope you enjoyed them. And if you didn't, oh well. At least I enjoyed writing them.
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