Sorry for the late posting on this topic. I just finished the book
this week (had to wait for a few others to finish it first). Overall
I thought it was good, and tied up the major plot threads well.
I agree that the camping trip went on *way* too long. After awhile,
it felt like Rowling was just trying to fill out space to make the
book longer. I felt all the Dumbledore backstory took up too much
space as well, and could have been resolved faster.
It would have been nice to see how the students at Hogwarts were
handling things, and more of everyone interacting besides Harry, Ron
and Hermione. The three of them are incredibly boring by themselves.
I also was very irritated by the fact that Rowling had Harry do
Something Really Stupid (Bathilda Bagshot, saying Voldemort's name
aloud when he knows it will reveal their location instantly, etc.) in
order to advance the plot. Part of the reason I disliked Order of the
Phoenix so much was because Harry was so extremely and frustratingly
stupid, especially at the end. Same problem here.
I think it was great how Molly took out Bellatrix. Granted, everyone
had a reason to want to take her out, but it was great to see Molly do
something besides dote on Harry and fret about the safety of her
family for a change.
Don't even get me started on Fred, Lupin and Tonks. Why not Percy,
dammit? Why Lupin *and* Tonks? One would have been fine, and
certainly deserved a more fitting end than being a minor footnote. At
least Dobby died for a reason.
I also have a lot of unanswered questions. I purposefully avoided
finding out anything about this book ahead of time because I wanted to
be surprised and have no idea of what would happen. I'm sure much of
this has been debated elsewhere. If there are other places I should
look for the answers, I'd appreciate any links.
1. How in the hell is it that none of the people who *really*
deserved to die (Umbridge, Greyback, the Malfoys, Cornelius Fudge to
name just a few) didn't? WTF? By the end, the Order of the Phoenix
was reduced to just the Weasleys (and a few future Weasleys). Both
sides would have incurred heavy losses, yet we only hear about one,
and no one cares if one of Malfoy's toadies dies. At least she could
have had Umbridge trampled to death by a Centaur or two.
2. Why is Draco alive and out on the street at the end? Shouldn't he
have been in Azkaban for 2 counts of attempted murder on Dumbledore,
leading the insurgence in book 6 into Hogwarts, and all the other
stuff he did? The whole family is scum, yet he's out on the street.
3. The Deluminator could transport you in certain circumstances. So
why didn't HRH use it when they were about to be captured by
Greyback's crew? If it's of such limited usefulness, why was it never
replicated by any other wizard?
4. Who *didn't* know Snape was in love with Lily? I figured that out
in book 3 or 4. Why did he run away when the castle was being
attacked? Why did he let the students be violently abused as
Headmaster when he promised Dumbledore he would protect the children?
Why would any parent let their child stay at the school under those
circumstances? One of my biggest problems with Rowling has always been
the fact that parents in her books don't act/react the way normal
people would to these situations. YOu'd think there wouldn't be any
students left to abuse after a few weeks under the new regime. But
they didn't object to Umbridge or the Ministry takeover in book 5, so
I guess they're pretty complacent in the Wizard world.
5. What was the point of having Bill get bit by Greyback? Aside from
liking rare steaks, no side effects/problems are ever mentioned again.
So why bother bringing it up if you're not going to do anything with
it?
6. What was the point of Gwarp? Did Hagrid having a half brother
really matter? Did Gwarp improve the story (or Hagrid) much?
7. In book 2, Dobby is freed from the evil Malfoys because Lucius
throws a yucky sock at him. Here, Kreacher mentions that Regulus gave
him a locket. So wouldn't that have freed him from service to the
Blacks or anyone else? This blows a big hole into the plot of Book 5,
doesn't it? At the very least, Kreacher would have been free when
Harry gave him a gift in this book, yet he still serves Harry.
Tripping over the backstory again, I think.
8. Is Griphook going to show up somewhere and demand the Griffindor
sword back from the humans that "stole" it from him again?
9. Despite all that Harry did, what really changed in the Wizarding
world? Is there more equality for all magic races? Do houselves get
more rights? We can't really tell at the end. I think not.
That got really long, thanks for reading my 11 cents on all things
Harry Potter.
Kathryn
(a/k/a RC Freya)
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