13 June 2013

Harry Potter HFriday - Part the Battle then Battle Some More






Let’s get one thing out of the way right now: that epilogue is pretty awful, what with the side-eyes between Harry and Draco and the everyone-having-a-zillion-kids. I read it once (and once will dooooo), so I’m ignoring it this time around.

That's right, JK, I said NO.
When Amycus spits at McGonagall and Harry is like, ::whips off cloak:: “you shouldn’t have done that!” and McGonagall is all, “Harry! Don’t be so gallant!” and then he’s like, “He SPIT at you!” NICE JOB, HARRY. Because like hell you spit at McGonagall and get away with it. Like. hell.

Exactly.
There are so many gorgeous parallels in this part of the book. Like when, Ron freaks out about needing to get past the Whomping Willow and Hermione is all, “Are you a wizard or what?" Turnabout: it's fair play, Weasley. And in Snape's memories where he's on the train with Lily, and James says, "I think if I were in Slytherin, I'd go home, wouldn't you?" Which, we've heard someone say something like that before... ::glares at Draco:: So basically Snape is Harry's foil, not Voldemort, who is just a regular ol' fashioned enemy, and James is Draco's foil. Ouch my brain.

At some point JK gives in to herself and actually lets someone talk about what a long game someone has been playing (I ran out of paper flags before this point so no quote for you!), and to that I say, well played indeed, Lady Jo. 

I don't really have a transition here, so now we come to all the SADS that hit me right in my solar plexus:

OMG

Snape telling Harry to look at him while he dies... because of Lily's eyes... those eyes that never saw him, never knew he longed to hold her close, to live at last, in Lilllllyyyyyy's eeeeeyes...

There are fresh tearstains next to the 2007 ones at the part where Percy comes back and Fred is the one to forgive him - but MORE this time because I knew what was coming and that made it WORSE (tbh I cried every time Fred showed up in this book), and then they’re joking – Percy! Joking! – and then… the world blows apart. Don’t try to tell me JK didn’t mean that figuratively as well as literally; she definitely did because she will kill what we love.

The line about the three homeless boys who made Hogwarts their home hurts a bit, doesn't it?

And Bellatrix’s laugh is like Sirius’s because they are cousins and sometimes families have weird little things in common including the way they die. 



Let’s talk about mothers in these books, SHALL WE?


That’s pretty much it, really. The mothers are all BAMFs.

AND SO WE COME TO THE END.  I am clinging to next week as the Last Week because I'm not ready yet.



11 out of 11 Blibbering Humdingers*


*I really hope someone else is going to cover Luna and the Malfoy's family structure, because they DESERVE IT.

Comments (20)

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kayleigh m's avatar

kayleigh m · 615 weeks ago

Spitting is legit the nastiest thing you can do and I'm kind of disappointed that Voldemort's lackeys would do something so foul. The Cruciatis curse is one thing, but spitting??

I noticed the Hermione/Ron flip and I also really liked that he Wingardium'd and she was like "perfect" and it took me back to the first when he was mocking her for being all smarty-pantsy and they were so teeny and innocent and SOB!
1 reply · active 615 weeks ago
Oh man, I missed the "perfect" thing! Now I have to go back.

My little brother spit on me once, and even though I've FORGIVEN him, I've never FORGOTTEN. (He was 4.)
"So basically Snape is Harry's foil, not Voldemort, who is just a regular ol' fashioned enemy, and James is Draco's foil. Ouch my brain." Wait, so Draco really represents James? That makes the Harry/Draco shipping a tad bit creepy.

BLIBBERING HUMDINGERS! Excellent.

And yeah, I don't mind the epilogue, but... Eh. It's just kind of there and I think JKR just wanted to give a little parallel to the beginning of the book. It gives me hope that one day she will write a series about Albus Severus and his magical quest to change his name (or something). Also, Harry and Draco were clearly meant to be because they both gave their kids horrible horrible names. Scorpius??? It's pretty much guaranteed that child will be the spawn of satan.
1 reply · active 615 weeks ago
Well, no. Draco shares personality traits with James, and he's tied loosely to him because of those traits. But because Harry hates those traits in Draco, he can also see them in James's behavior. Whereas I suspect that if he didn't hate Draco so much, he'd have excused James because Harry hates Snape too.
Wait, are we posting again next week?! I didn't know. Please let it be so!!!

The epilogue is asinine. I don't think there's a single other, better word for it. Asinine.

But moving on the stuff that REALLY matters in this book. OMG, Fred and Percy? And then you can't say fairer than that, and then percy makes a JOKE and Fred gives him props, then BAM. I'm with you--I was constantly on the verge of tears from the moment Percy showed up, and then I lost it.

Hagrid really should have been included in the line about the lost boys of Hogwarts.

I've always felt that the real tension in the books was Snape/Harry as hero/anti-hero. And that's why Snape's death upset me so much in this book. I have no real problem with his dying as part of the story arc--I get that. But it was the WAY he died that eliminated his real chance of redemption with Harry while still alive. I could go on. Guess what? I did, in my own post...
1 reply · active 615 weeks ago
"Hagrid really should have been included in the line about the lost boys of Hogwarts."
YES omg. Yes. But 4 is a weirder number than 3 in Western culture (all cultures? Hmmm...) so 3 it is.

I think the hero/anti-hero tension is more interesting than the hero/villain tension, for sure. I am off to read your post! :D
I like the epilogue! I like it! It's nineteen years later; if the people want to have kids, they'll have had kids IN NINETEEN YEARS. That seems super reasonable. I like the epilogue. I like it. I do.
4 replies · active 615 weeks ago
Awww, you are allowed to like it! I just prefer my head-canon ending, which is nebulous and STUFF.
THE EPILOGUE IS THE WORST AND I CAN'T EVEN TELL IF YOU'RE BEING SARCASTIC
It is NOT the worst! How is it the worst? It could have been less clunky but I think the point she's trying to make (ie war is no longer dividing families the way it did for Harry's whole childhood) is pretty solid and in keeping with the themes from the rest of the book.
Yay, Jenny! I like the epilogue too! SOLIDARITY.
Aww Harry being gallant and defending McGonagall's honor from evil spit because SERIOUSLY DON'T SPIT ON HER.

yes about the mother's love powering over evil. And when it's absent (like with Merope and Tom Riddle) shit does not go well.
1 reply · active 615 weeks ago
Yes! and Hagrid is the exception that proves the rule. *high five*
I WANT YOU TO KNOW I ALREADY HAD THAT SLOTH GIF SAVED SO WHEN I USE IT I DIDN'T STEAL IT

The spitting on McGonagall thing was something I HADN'T remembered from the first readthrough of the book and was obviously completely appalled by, but really Harry? Cruciatus? Not okay.
"Snape is Harry's foil, not Voldemort, who is just a regular ol' fashioned enemy, and James is Draco's foil" *Mouth hangs open a bit* You are right! You are so right!

The mothers ARE all BAMFs. Especially the-ghost-of-Lily, who turns out to be pretty important in all the ways. Oh, Lily :(
OK...so I HAD to read the Epilogue since this was my first time. And there are several things I disagree with, such as the Malfoys not being friends with the Potters and Weasleys AFTER ALL THEY'VE BEEN THROUGH. But these TWO parts, I really liked:

"I can't walk into Herbology and give him LOVE." (Because of course...that's ALL any of us want to do. Walk into Herbology and give Neville love...inappropriate-for-children love.)

"You were named for two headmasters of Hogwarts..." and something about the Slytherin one being the bravest man he ever knew. (WEEEEPS)
2 replies · active 615 weeks ago
I know! TWO headmasters! /sob

I forgot about that walking into Herbology and giving Neville love part. I am WITH you there.
"Because of course...that's ALL any of us want to do. Walk into Herbology and give Neville love...inappropriate-for-children love." This. Truth.
Wooooooah, I love your James as Draco and Snape as Harry interpretation! And how it says James had that unmistakable look of someone who was cared for, even adored, and how Snape didn't have that look AT ALL. THAT IS SO DRACO AND HARRY. NICE ONE, TIKA.

No one spits on McGonagall.
YES. I love the bit where Hermione asks Ron if he's a wizard or what, and it calls back to the first book! Nicely done, JKR.

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