I cried nonstop through book 7. I couldn’t help it. Even the happy parts were so….so….beautiful, and that hit me with more sobs. I think what was best was the simplicity in parts. Sure, it was an adventure, with mysteries tripping us up along the way, but at heart the books are about love, and friendship, and loyalty. That’s probably why Dumbledore’s death shook me to the core. I mean, he seems to stand for EVERYTHING…and then he’s gone…just gone. But no, he’ll never be gone, not as long as people stand up for what’s right. At any rate, he needed to die, so he wouldn’t be a crutch for Harry. But still…

A marvelous adventure in book 7 was watching Harry’s friend’s loyalty. The world needs a few more Rons and Hermiones. Or “Hermys”, as I like to say lol

I don’t like Voldy-Moldy, but I he’s not my least-favorite character. No, my least favorite characters happen to be Rita, Auntie Muriel, and that Queen of Toads…Umbridge. They represent something more than just Ultimate Evil. They represent…….oh, I can’t even find the word for their cruelty. Lies? Nah, not strong enough. I don’t know, but sometimes I wonder who the real villians are.

Speaking of Rita, why wasn’t Hermione’s threats able to cow her anymore? I think I was actually angry at Hermione for a while, but maybe I was just scared of Rita. No, not Rita, but her stories. When I read her article, I actually had to set down the book and catch my breath. It was always easy, in book 5, to relatively ignore her lies (except about Hagrid) because Harry KNEW they were lies. He KNEW it. Dumbledore…oh Dumbledore…and Aberforth! He was a great character, because I’ve always wanted to meet ol’ Dumbly’s family. I fully felt Aberforth’s grief when he told his story, and yelled with delight at Harry’s determination to go on with his quest. It says a lot that neither Rita nor Doge were right about Dumbledore.

Dumbledore’s story says a lot about the old man. It made him seem better, in fact, because it made him seem human. He was hardly perfect.

“What do you see when you look into the Mirror?”
“I? I see myself holding a pair of thick, woolen socks.”

The epilogue was perfect. Truly perfect. Nothing else to say.

I do have ONE complaint about book 7, but it’s a small one. I understand that Dumbledore’s story is spectacular, and splendid, and what many readers have wanted for a long time, but was it needed? I still say book 7 is the best, but in many places, it became DUMBLEDORE’S story, and not HARRY’S story. I was less than thrilled with Dumbledore’s betrayal, but not because of the actual betrayal. I just wish Dumbledore wasn’t……well……in control of anything. No, it was still Harry’s choice to live or die. I don’t know, maybe I’m just crazy.

LONG LIVE DUMBLEDORE’S ARMY!
FlyingDove

As for Voldemort, he wouldn’t have wanted to become a ghost either. There would be no power that he could weild as a ghost. He ultimately feared death and thought that the only way to be as powerful as he envisioned himself was to live forever. Beating death was his goal, not living a life that would ensure that he had any kind of satisfactory chance at happiness in the complete cycle of life.

I like Greg’s comment that Deathly Hallows is more about faith than about death. I think it’s really a combination of the two. We see all the characters and how they do or do not have faith–in themselves, in each other, and in what will happen if and when they die. Harry and Luna are the ones who have the most faith that they will once again be with loved ones after death; for Harry that is cemented in his walk in the Forest and his talk with Dumbledore at King’s Cross; for Luna, she’s had that faith since early childhood.

But Voldemort only has faith in himself and fears anything beyond what he can control. He doesn’t seem to understand or accept that there is something waiting for him beyond this life. If he did, it would indicate that he does have a conscience that acknowledges the horror of all that he has done, and as we have seen, he has no remorse, even when Harry tries to tell him what awaits him in his present state.

Raffy, I like your points about loyalty and Voldemort’s complete disregard for his followers. It seems a very good example of any tyrant and how they view and treat their followers.

Pat

To add to your excellent podcast on an excellent topic: One aspect of Voldy’s not understanding loyalty that I saw was in the way he mistreated his followers. He thought he had their unending loyalty, and therefore saw no problem in torturing them and threatening their lives. The way he treated the Malfoys, by not appreciating Narcissa’s love for her only son, led to losing the Malfoys’ loyalty to him, which led to Narcissa’s lie in the forest, to the duel, to his death.

Another aspect of his not understanding love was in his attempt to AK Harry at the end. Voldy’s AK curse had never worked on Harry. He experienced that twice. Once it led to the end of his life, salvaged only through the Horcruxes. And the second time it was entirely unsuccessful. Why on earth did he think the AK would work in the Great Hall? Because even if he understood by that time that Love had prevented him from succeeding, he only understood it as a shield, a shield that given enough force, would break, like in a Star Trek episode (“Captain, shields are at 30%. They won’t hold much longer!”) He didn’t get that it was in a different class altogether. And that of course was the AK that rebounded and killed him.

HA HA HA HA HA! That’s fantastic!

By the way, is Luna and the Lovegoods the name of a wizard rock band? If not, I’m officially staking my claim to it. Penny and I are going to release some old-timey harmony folk songs in the spirit of O Brother Where Art Thou? Our first single will be called, “I Am a Man of Constant Expelliarmus.” That actually sounds a little gross.

Just to clarify- I may be changing my mind on OoTP. Now that all 7 books are out and I am really able to make an informed decision I am not sure. I re-read OoTP before the movie came out and I found myself enjoying it more than I had in the past. One of these days I am going to force myself to sit down and really decide what my book ranking will be. Good times. But I will say I agree with Mizz Andy. I really wish we had learned more about the department of mysteries/veil in DH. Maybe Jo will write about them in some future charity work?

Shimon- good call. I agree with you on all of those. I especially like the Neville loyalty one. I can not wait to discuss Neville in all of his awesomeness on a future episode!!

I did re read it before the movie but was kind of distracted by DH coming out. The Snape/Harry scenes now make so much more sense. I still have a problem though, I feel like the book was just a vehicle for her story rather than having a story itself. It got her from Book 4 to Book 6 but left so many things unanswered. The whole Department of Mysteries was a huge let down, it offered so much and yet delivered nothing apart from Sirius’s death.

I do wonder whether she has a whole other series up her sleeve revolving around the Dept of Mysteries.

PoA will probably always be my favourite, DH is very close on its heels.

As for the movies, I am still a sucker for PoA directed by Cuaron… I love the atmosphere he created in that movie, it was so evocative of the book.

I also liked the talk on children’s tales. The fact of the matter is that in most cultures, fairy and folk tales form a large part of a child’s early moral education. A lot of of us grew up hearing tales like “The Tortoise and the Hare” from Aesop’s Fables or things like Cinderella (as Hermione mentions in DH) by the Brother’s Grimm which was really our first introduction into the ways of the outside world. This is hugely important in that Voldemort never grew up with someone to nurture and guide him on the right path- I think Dumbledore tried to assist in this respect when he first encountered Tom in the orphanage, but I think by that time the child that would become Lord Voldemort had already created his own world view. When I was reading DH I kinda chuckled a bit when Rowling introduced the Tale of the three brothers, because I think in a way Rowling was putting out a wink and a nod to herself in the sense that the kind of stories that she has been creating on the surface may seem like child’s play, but offers a decidedly deeper wisdom with some fundamental truths to explore.

Ok, back to contemplating mounds of homework.