Things done since yesterday

[bobthemole]

Defended my master's thesis
Went to harry potter release party
Read book by 12:40 pm saturday.
Got actual sleep in the middle of reading the book (damn I'm good)



Disappointments:

Redemption of the Dursleys - Dudley's sort-of thank you was a step but not enough. Petunia's character never felt realistic to me and with HP5 I hoped that she would show Unexpected Depth in her relations with the magical world, but was disappointed here.

Redemption of Slytherin - HOLY MERLIN'S NUTS IN A HANDBASKET! Are all Slytherins baby Death Eaters? Why did every last one of them leave Hogwarts when people from other houses stayed behind to fight?

Details of the Petunia-Dumbledore correspondance - Dumbledore invited teenaged-Petunia to visit Hogwarts after she asked him? And she then refused? And what else have they corresponded about over the years, if at all?

The adult who performs magic for the first time - Didn't JKR say this would happen? Who was it?

"Wand ownership logic" - Don't even get me started

Kreachur's change of heart - Too sudden. After all Kreachur went through, about 20 minutes of being nice to him made him an ardent Potter-phile?

Harry's Various Protections from Voldy's Death Curses - Voldy tried to Avada Kedavra Harry 3 times now (as a baby, in forbidden forest, in great hall) and fails in all three cases. I'm thinking Wile E. Coyotes vs. Roadrunner. *beep beep*

Harry's Various Protections from Voldy's Death Curses continued - So why does Voldy keep insisting that HE has to be the one to kill Harry? Himself. Personally. Because the prophecy SAID SO?

"either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives" - the prophecy makes my mind spin trying to parse the phrasing. Either MUST die at the hand of the other? They can't die by a third party's hand? Then why does Voldy have to *forbid* death eaters from killing harry themselves. If someone else kills Harry doesn't that save Voldy a lot of trouble? All he'd lose is the bit of soul trapped in harry, and he doesn't even know that is missing.
-Neither can live while the other survives?
=> X cannot live while Y survives OR Y cannot live while X survives.
=> X and Y cannot coexist
=> pretty much nonsense.

-If they dont want anyone to use the Wand O' Doom, why not snap it?

Isn't it more accurate to say "Neither can DIE while the other survives"?
Harry didn't die from Voldy's AK in the forest because Voldy was still alive.
Don't know if the inverse would be true since Harry never tried to AK Voldy.

-The Potters and Longbottoms "thrice defied" the Dark Lord making their sons likely candidates for the prophecy. What were these defiances?

More stuff later, maybe. I liked the book overall, it's just not the book I thought I would read.

Comments

[peribothron.livejournal.com]

Yes, I agree there were a lot of jarring things in there that appeared rushed/not completely thought out.

Why did TEW choose Draco of all people? Because LV had wanted Draco to kill Dumble?

I assume that Kreacher's change of heart was when HP gave him the fake locket, because it belonged to Remus. But the assumption that Kreacher obeyed Remus above all else is strange, as he seemed to love Mrs. Black and Bellatrix more in the previous books.

I feel like Godwin's Law was invoked here. Battle against an evil powerhungry wizard in 1945 who wanted to subjugate an inferior race? One who put his hypocritical slogan above the entrance to his famous detention camp? Come on.

Maybe I missed it, but how the hell did Neville get the sword? The real one was lost in Gringott's, no? And if it was the fake one, then how did he manage to destroy a horcrux with it?

Some scenes felt thrown in there just to increase the movie special effects budget.

I did like the fact that no one person destroyed more than one Horcrux.

I agree with your last comment completely. I really expected a funeral, big speech, or something at the end. The 'epilogue' felt cheap.

[musicsword.livejournal.com]

Neville pulled the sword out of the Sorting Hat, which was on fire on top of his head.

Now, don't ask me how the sword got back into the hat, but that's where Harry first found it, so, meh.

[peribothron.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I got that when I reread it, and also saw the earlier part (during the will reading) that said any true Gryffindor could pull the sword from the hat. But that feels slightly like a cheat, since the sword had rightfully been given to the goblin in exchange for services. But oh well.