Completely OT...
Aug. 16th, 2005 01:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lonelybritKilled myself last night by staying up just a wee bit to finish the latest Harry Potter.
At this moment in time, I rather liked getting some real history on Lord Voldemort. Considering how bitterly he spoke about his father in Chamber of Secrets, it was a surprise to realise that initially his father had been the one semi-in-his-good-books. I won't say I feel sorry for Voldemort, but I do find him more interesting now. His attitude towards his mother in particular.
Ron/Hermione: Yeah, whatever, it's going to happen I suppose. I had enjoyed their bickering flirting in the earlier books, but in this one they lost their charm. Oh well.
Harry/Ginny: I'll be one of the few to say I'm not altogether unhappy about this. I always root for the underdog, and so always wanted Ginny to get something not because I think they'd be well-suited, but just I think she deserves a little break. Again, this was in the earlier books. I still like her, though.
Dumbledore: It had to happen. Kinda crushed me, but it had to happen. All the books have been about Harry becoming ready to take on Voldemort by himself. Dumbledore 'dying' is the way of saying that now it's time for the real thing. Harry goes it alone now. I don't know if he knew of the Unbreakable Vow before or after Snape told him. I don't know if he always intended to die at Snape's hands so Snape could fully infiltrate the Death Eaters in time for Harry's final confrontation with Voldemort. But I will believe, until the final word of the final book, that he told Snape to kill him. Dumbledore knows he's expendable, especially when it's about Harry, as was shown when he made Harry promise to do whatever he said. Even if it meant only saving himself. And Snape refused, hence the pleading 'Please, Severus' on the tower.
Though of course, I do expect there to be more from Dumbledore in some shape or form in the final book. A wizard like Dumbledore doesn't just die like that. **get a Heroes don't fade away moment**
Draco: I always found him kind of fun and unashamedly evil. I enjoyed that. But when Moaning Myrtle said there was this sensitive boy crying... Yep, I knew it had to be Draco. I get the impression things are now meant to be becoming very serious and less clear-cut and not so black and white. Draco was due for a humanising scene of some sort. And of course I'm a sucker for daddy/parent angst. And his simple plea that otherwise Voldermort would kill his parents... *petpet*
I'm not really expecting Draco to suddenly become good and squeaky clean, but I like seeing him capable of genuinely caring for someone.
Snape: Wholeheartedly agreeing with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
esmerelda_t. I cannot believe that after all this humanising and backstory and history of Snape, he's just the simple bad guy that Harry first took him for. I do believe he is getting tired of playing the double agent. I think the interview with Draco's mum genuinely shook him; who would have expected such a hard proud pure blood to have collapsed so completely like that over her son. Then rather than letting him out, when told about the oath, I do believe Dumbledore told Snape that he would have to kill him. Hence the argument overheard by Hagrid.
That 'Please, Severus'? Yes, Dumbledore saying please kill me. Because for Dumbledore, his first concern is his students and Harry. Harry is the one who has to surive. Dumbledore doesn't. The charade needed to go on, if Snape had intervened, odds are he, Dumbledore and Draco and, maybe, even Harry would have snuffed it. Dumbledore wanted the lesser of two evils.
And finally, that brief confrontation with Harry. 'Don't call me a coward'. And I agree. Snape had done something that he hated and was quite possibly fightened of. And he was furious at Harry as the cause of it all. But in the end he still did it, as Dumbledore had asked. And now he has to face the rest of the war alone.
Will he die? I don't know. Depends on how the character goes in the final book. Either he'll get the noble redeeming hero's death. Or he'll get mortally wounded but somehow survive. But I doubt he'll forgive Harry for this, and visa versa.
Overall, I like it. I think she's come on as a writer since the last book, it read a lot more neatly. And I actually read it. THe last one I did a skim read just to find out what happened. With this one, there were parts when I thought 'Oh, now that's a great turn of phrase... that's funny... that's pretty.' I took my time-ish. Yes, there were phrases that were repeated a little too frequently, but on the whole, definitely one of the better boooks of the series :)
At this moment in time, I rather liked getting some real history on Lord Voldemort. Considering how bitterly he spoke about his father in Chamber of Secrets, it was a surprise to realise that initially his father had been the one semi-in-his-good-books. I won't say I feel sorry for Voldemort, but I do find him more interesting now. His attitude towards his mother in particular.
Ron/Hermione: Yeah, whatever, it's going to happen I suppose. I had enjoyed their bickering flirting in the earlier books, but in this one they lost their charm. Oh well.
Harry/Ginny: I'll be one of the few to say I'm not altogether unhappy about this. I always root for the underdog, and so always wanted Ginny to get something not because I think they'd be well-suited, but just I think she deserves a little break. Again, this was in the earlier books. I still like her, though.
Dumbledore: It had to happen. Kinda crushed me, but it had to happen. All the books have been about Harry becoming ready to take on Voldemort by himself. Dumbledore 'dying' is the way of saying that now it's time for the real thing. Harry goes it alone now. I don't know if he knew of the Unbreakable Vow before or after Snape told him. I don't know if he always intended to die at Snape's hands so Snape could fully infiltrate the Death Eaters in time for Harry's final confrontation with Voldemort. But I will believe, until the final word of the final book, that he told Snape to kill him. Dumbledore knows he's expendable, especially when it's about Harry, as was shown when he made Harry promise to do whatever he said. Even if it meant only saving himself. And Snape refused, hence the pleading 'Please, Severus' on the tower.
Though of course, I do expect there to be more from Dumbledore in some shape or form in the final book. A wizard like Dumbledore doesn't just die like that. **get a Heroes don't fade away moment**
Draco: I always found him kind of fun and unashamedly evil. I enjoyed that. But when Moaning Myrtle said there was this sensitive boy crying... Yep, I knew it had to be Draco. I get the impression things are now meant to be becoming very serious and less clear-cut and not so black and white. Draco was due for a humanising scene of some sort. And of course I'm a sucker for daddy/parent angst. And his simple plea that otherwise Voldermort would kill his parents... *petpet*
I'm not really expecting Draco to suddenly become good and squeaky clean, but I like seeing him capable of genuinely caring for someone.
Snape: Wholeheartedly agreeing with
esmerelda_t. I cannot believe that after all this humanising and backstory and history of Snape, he's just the simple bad guy that Harry first took him for. I do believe he is getting tired of playing the double agent. I think the interview with Draco's mum genuinely shook him; who would have expected such a hard proud pure blood to have collapsed so completely like that over her son. Then rather than letting him out, when told about the oath, I do believe Dumbledore told Snape that he would have to kill him. Hence the argument overheard by Hagrid.That 'Please, Severus'? Yes, Dumbledore saying please kill me. Because for Dumbledore, his first concern is his students and Harry. Harry is the one who has to surive. Dumbledore doesn't. The charade needed to go on, if Snape had intervened, odds are he, Dumbledore and Draco and, maybe, even Harry would have snuffed it. Dumbledore wanted the lesser of two evils.
And finally, that brief confrontation with Harry. 'Don't call me a coward'. And I agree. Snape had done something that he hated and was quite possibly fightened of. And he was furious at Harry as the cause of it all. But in the end he still did it, as Dumbledore had asked. And now he has to face the rest of the war alone.
Will he die? I don't know. Depends on how the character goes in the final book. Either he'll get the noble redeeming hero's death. Or he'll get mortally wounded but somehow survive. But I doubt he'll forgive Harry for this, and visa versa.
Overall, I like it. I think she's come on as a writer since the last book, it read a lot more neatly. And I actually read it. THe last one I did a skim read just to find out what happened. With this one, there were parts when I thought 'Oh, now that's a great turn of phrase... that's funny... that's pretty.' I took my time-ish. Yes, there were phrases that were repeated a little too frequently, but on the whole, definitely one of the better boooks of the series :)
