So uh... let the countdown begin.

I hope I'm not the only one who'll be waiting outside the bookstore at midnight.

Nate and I will be buying two copies at midnight. We're going to reserve them sometime this week. Gonna get the books at walmart rather than a bookstore because it's cheaper and faster. After we've each finished our copy, we're going to return both of them because my mom just bought this for me for my birthday.

Ooh that is nice Janey. They are charging way more for it here though, the bandits.

No kyle you aren't the only one planning to be in the shop cometh the witching hour. Think my sister and I will be too. I had to reserve ours in February. Even though I really wasn't impressed with the last book.

Yeah, me neither. I think the series got better steadily till Goblet of Fire, where it peaked, and has been going downhill since.


Each time a new one comes out my mom gets it at Costco that day. They have plenty in stock.

She almost paid $150 for it at Barnes and Noble, but I told her she should just get it at Walmart. They're only charging $107.

Why not? I thought they've been getting slowly better even though the 6th book was slow at parts.

I don't know if I will be. I'll be out of the state. Maybe if I'm lucky me and my gf (who I'll be visiting) will still be together at midnight to go to the bookstore together.

Nah I thought the last book was really horribly paced. It was like she was determined it all had to happen in a year but to be honest I think it would have worked better as two books. You felt rushed through it and I have to say I wasn't all that emotionally involved with the end of the book. Not like I have been in the past. If she had got to slow it up a bit and really put all the stuff in I though had got lost along the way then the final build up for the year could have been tremendous.

If the spoiler I heard, which I will tell you if you PM me, is true, then

I have it preordered from Amazon with like 50% off so it's now $18, fuck waiting

snape dies

he takes a bullet for harry

lol

So what do we think then?

Are we allowed to say in here, then?

I tried making the font small, but couldn't figure out how.

I have marked the topic so we can discuss it in here. Bear can decide when to lift the embargo on spoilers elsewhere.

Well, I thought it was fucking rad.

I really liked the chapter with the pensieve and Snape and Lily, etc. But it was very sad. I'd have preferred to see Snape with her instead of James. I was certain he was a good guy, but he was still a petty lump of ass a lot of times throughout the series. But I guess it gave him an excuse.

There were a whole lot of things I liked about it, really, and I'm too lazy to put them all yet. I guess I just liked most of it.

I think I would've preferred for Harry to stay dead, though.

And I didn't really like the epilogue. It seemed hasty and weird. Also I was expecting some Luna Longbottomage.

I also thought the Epilogue was a dumb and too short.

Looked like Dean Thomas got Luna! I really rather liked her character by this book.

I loved that Neville went all Bruce Willis in Hogwarts, though expected either him or Harry to not make it after the major 'up yours Voldemort!' they both pulled. JK is rubbish with the deaths. They shoot past with bollocks all build up and emotion - I found myself not actually caring that much. The only one done decently was Dobby. Still not sure about the epilogue either. Though if you think about it it closes a lot of doors on people using the character without killing him off. It settles his whole life out and prevents him from running off with Hermione or having gay sex with Draco. Well mostly.

Actually, I agree with you on the deaths thing, in that Dobby's was the only one done very well.

I thought she was doing Harry's pretty well, but then he came back. I would've liked to see the scene with him and Dumbledore still, but then have them end up getting on the train together, though maybe not till the very end.

I liked the part where he was pretending to be dead (well, I thought that was kinda dumb, but I liked the stuff going on around him).

I just reread The Prince's Tale or whatever that Snape chapter was called>_>

What do you mean about the closing doors thing? Like other authors writing Harry Potter stuff? I don't really see her letting them, anyway.

And I wouldn't have minded a little gay sex with Draco. I thought they were building up something there, but then he just nodded at him at the train station. They couldn't have become friends? Would've been kind of like a reconciliation with Snape.

I also liked Neville's character in this one. I'm not sure how that's going to be in the movie, though, his actor does a great job of playign an awkward dork, but I don't know about a badass. This one seems like the movie would have to be huge, really. It's not as long as a couple of the other books, but it has a lot more packed into it that would suck if it were cut. I can't see it working under three hours.

P.S.

I think jk feared anyone messing with her creations now or in the future. Like now for instance Tolkien's descendents doing LOTR stuff and people writing what Elizabeth Bennett did after she married Darcy. Copyright doesn't last forever. Plus she now can't be nagged to write more Potter stories. Well she could but she can point out his life is settled now she has written at 30-odd with a wife and 3 kids. At the same time as giving herself a host of characters should she ever want to go back.

I wondered about the Draco thing myself. Though if you think about it Draco never showed any remorse. He might have been scared and needing rescued by Harry but he never really was grateful so you wouldn't have had a kissing and making up thing between them. He didn't blank them at the train station though. Wonder who his missus was?

Ron's such a dork, and it's hard to believe that Snape could do everything he did, knowing that Harry's the son of the douchebaggiest douchebag in the universe and his only real love. I respect that.

I don't respect that he got caught in the FRIEND ZONE LOL no but seriously it's going to be annoying hearing guys talking about it, you know, on the internet.

I also love that Dumbledore wasn't the true paragon of goodness or whatever, keeping Harry Potter out of Christian fantasy shit like lord of the rings and narnia, even though he totally pulled a jesus.

and I totally called his brother being the bar guy

I read the seven books this week, and it was pretty intense, but I don't think that the series will go down in history just because of the huge spread in intended audience between all the books. It was awesome for us because we grew along with the books and characters, but if you're 10 with the entire collection books 5-7 are going to be a bit much, and if you're 18 with them books 1 and 2 are going to be pretty fucking ridiculous. Well maybe not, but the first few books are undoubtedly in a more childlike style than the last few. Maybe we'll have to ration them out to our kids.

Oh, I also love that 'that awful boy' turned out to be snape, and that Petunia wanted to go to Hogwarts, oh and dudley's apology shit this book was good

edit: and that lily's eyes were the last thing snape wanted to see before he died

I have yet to finish it, and will not read the rest of this topic until I do. But Dobby coming back totally took me by suurprise

Yeah, I didn't really think about her using the epilogue as sort of a tactic. And I never knew that there were sequels to Pride and Prejudice. Any good? I liked that book decently.

And yeah, Draco didn't seem to show much remorse, but he constantly showed hesitation over evil stuff, which often led to him not actually going through with it. And he probably was grateful, he just didn't know how to express it to his nemesis. I was also wondering who the chick was. In the earlier books I kinda expected him to get with Ginny or Hermione. For some reason.


Why was Ron so dorky?

I also liked Dumbledore being kind of an asshat. And I liked his brother. I didn't call it per se, but I've checked out the Harry Potter board some at GFAQs since it's been around, and a lot of them had that theory and that RAB was Regulus, and that Harry was a horcrux, and Petunia was jealous of Lily, and probably other crap that came true that I'm not remembering.

What I did is I saw the fifth movie, then reread the sixth book, which I'd only read once, then read this one. I might read it again, now that I have an actual copy.

You're right about the growing with them thing, I never really thought about that. But the series'll still go down in history for the megahugeness. And I'm pretty sure I would still like the earlier books if I read them now for the first time, and I know I'd have liked the later ones if I'd read them when I was young. But I'm a lot cooler than most people.

I thought Snape got shafted. So did Lupin and Tonks. And Moody.

Oh yeah, I also thought Snape might turn out to be a vampire at some point. I forget what all of my reasoning was. And then when it said he flew off looking like a bat or something I remembered that and thought maybe I was right. But I guess not.

the whole dumbledore had everything planned the fuck out for years sort of surprised me a little bit, because i knew he had some shit up his sleeve before he died, but the last book when snape offed him it didn't seem like it was planned, at all.

i was a little disappointed about the general lack of description during the fight though... i didn't want to fucking read about harry finding some diadem in a closet, i wanted action damnit.

also, gringotts was pretty rad, that's probably my favorite part.

was interesting learning all that shit about snape though, still don't like him.

I really thought it was a fitting last book but did anyone else think the first 300 pages were absolutely worthless? I was thinking god damn does this book have any direction. But in the end I was pleased.

Also 500000 points to J.K. Rowling for making Mrs. Weasley the most awesome character ever, "NOT MY DAUGHTER YOU BITCH."

Just finished reading it. Overall, I liked it. I was expecting a lot more with the whole Hallows and the last fight with Harry and Voldemort, but oh well.

Also, one thing I really annoyed me. Harry would toss around the Unforgivables, yet when it came to Death Eaters trying to blow his head off, he never did the same? WTF Harry. No wonder the wizarding world got taken over by those retards.

That, and the epilogue just really sucked.

Other then all that, loved the chapter with Snape's past. He's still a douchebag and I'm glad he's dead, but I did kinda feel sorry for him in a way.

I suspect the P&P sequels won't be worth it - less human observation and commentary on society and more Lizzie and Darcy gets married and has sex! from what I hear. Though I admit I haven't read any.

Lupin and Tonks wuz robbed. Everything was hurried so they could leave behind a son Harry would be godfather too. It really did disappoint me that she made Lupin do Potter angst. It made all the original four so bloody juvenile. Lupin should have been allowed to progress really. Sirius was kind of understandable in the constant conflict of his family, Peter was just weak, James arrogant but died young so you didn't see him grow up, but Lupin had been it, seen it and done it. Poor Tonks. If I had been her I would have belted him one. And JK had her run after him and promptlycough it. He was the werewolf and she was bloody Lassie.

Ron is a muppet but I had to laugh at his carefully orchestrated Get Hermione campaign. I think he spent the whole book with his arm round her shoulders. The kiss bit was hilarious - 'Oi - there is a war on you know!'

The epilogue was cheesy as fuck. It was like "here is confirmation that they lived happy ever after" and I didn't want that. That's not to say I wanted everyone to die or anything, but come on. Hokey/10. And Albus Severus Potter? Worst name ever. I feel bad for the little nonexistent kid.

As for the rest of the book, I was satisfied, but not until close to the end. I felt like a lot of the book was stuffed with fluff, and at one point counted 80 pages in which nothing happened and they all just slept in a tent, packed it up, and then slept in it somewhere else. For a while there, Hermione wouldn't stop nagging the shit out of Harry about Occlumency bull shit. "Dumbledore said this," and "Dumbledore wants that," well, Dumbledore's DEAD, you little bitch.

But towards the end, when the whole Snape/Lily think happened, it was cool. And I really liked that Harry died, but he didn't die. Oh and I may have read over the explanation, and I'm too lazy to look back, but what was that thing on the ground crying and shit when he was naked in King's Cross?

Well it was him dead and so that was the shard of Voldemorts soul that was stuck to Harry's making him an accidental Horcrux. When he died they were separated. Then the blood brought him back, without Voldemort's soul shard.

I absolutely loved the book. Some of things I feel worth commenting on are:

The Deaths: Like some have said, it's sad that only Dobby's really had that much of an emotional impact. Mad-Eye shouldn't have died until the end, killing Fred was just gratuitous (along with Hedwig) I don't think she should've killed Tonks, but Remus needed to go out in a badass werewolf battle damn it.

The pacing: Without school, the gang really just sat around and didn't do shit. I love when Hermione goes "Hay, it's Christmas Eve" and that's when you realize how little they've actually done. They really should've wised up and asked at least ONE person to help them on their quest...like fucking McGonagal. I swear she's been underused the entire series.

The spells: Damn it Harry, I know you can do more than stupefy, disarm, and cast a patronus. Other than Harry's lack of creativity, I liked the great use of magic displayed by everyone else. It shocked me at first to see Harry use the Cruciatus and Imperious curses, I almost expected to him fucking Avada Kedavra Voldemort, but I'm really glad he didn't.

The Deathly Hallows: The ressurection stone really came out of nowhere and was a bit Deus-y (but the scene where he called up all his loved ones and asked "Will you stay wil me?" had me crying) I thought the stone would've been a modified version of the Philosopher's Stone, tying shit up from the first book. It's cool that Harry and Voldemort share common ancestors though.

Harry & Ginny: A little more should've been shown of them at the burrow maybe just talking, instead of the snogging scene then WOMG IN THE FUTURE WE FUCK AND HAVE KIDS

Lily & Snape: Shit, after reading all that about Snape I've got to find out what made Lily love James so much, he's never been portrayed as anything but an asshole, while Snape was that guy who really loved her just had shitty friends that sort of drove them apart.

The Epilogue: I thought this bit was really funny, truth be told. Unlike the rest of the book it seemed like something from a fanfiction, but I loved it. It shows our characters, grown up, living their lives, and happy. If anything, I would've wanted it longer just to see who else married who, who's teaching at the school/is headmaster, what Harry and company do for a living, ect. At least naming the Minister of Magic would've been nice, or maybe some of the changes made to the Wizard governing system (because their wolrd pretty much fucking collapsed during this book)

Another part I really loved was when they all sat around at Sirius' house with Kreacher cooking for them and shit, it just made me laugh/

Oh gods yeah. He needed some good old revenge on Greyback. Though Trelawney braining the werewolf with a crystal ball rocked. One thing I really loved about this book is that the women don't half kick arse. MacGonagall storming past with a load of stampeding desks. Molly beating the shit out of Bellatrix etc etc. Class.

I've been dying to figure out what this is and after reading the 7th book nothing comes to mind immediately, although it's been a while since I've seen the 3rd movie:



Can anyone figure out what those parts of the movie are? I mean they'd have to be pretty obvious things if they were enough to give Rowling goosebumps when she saw them.

I'm also a little mad we never learn any more about the Veil that Sirius fell into, nor do we know anything about the mysterious door in the Department of Mysteries that was referenced and that JK wouldn't comment on to the press.



Ah, why didn't I think of this? And all this time I thought JK messed up by not resolving the whole "importance of Harry's eyes" issue.

Basically, to sum up my feelings of the book:

Snape = amazing
I'm glad that Dumbledore wasn't a perfect saint
Epilogue was really cheesy, but in some ways necessary
The 100 pages or so of aimless wandering in the wilderness was too slow/poorly paced
Dobby's death was the only one that was well done, but it was extremely touching/effective

http://youtube.com/watch?v=c16wK-low4E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4598QCL1WI

^^

People like that are jokes of human beings. It doesn't make them cool, and it's not really all that funny. It's just pointless and cruel, petty and immature. Luckily I'd say nothing that can be spoiled quickly in this book has as big of an impact on the overall story as "Dumbledore (or Sirius) is dead!" had.

Yeah, I really hate that. I'm all for laughing at other people's misfortune, but when you see somebody just sitting there genuinely happy and you take that away for no reason, and then just laugh as they're devastated, fuck you.

I was wondering, though, what was the big spoiler this time around? There was definitely nothing so succinct as "Snape kills Dumbledore!" Did people just say like "Happily ever after!"?


Also, I just found out last night that Terry Gilliam was originally slated to direct the movies. WHAT THE FUCK

That would've been so much cooler. A million times better, no doubt. I can't even IMAGINE what they would've been like. But he was Rowling's first choice, and he really wanted to do it. But the Warner Brothers fags wanted Chris Columbus (why, I have no idea, he's nothing special AT ALL).

Most of the stuff I've seen and stories I've heard revolved around "Voldemort kills Snape!" and "Ron and Hermione get married, Ginny and Harry get married and have kids!". The second one is pretty stupid because it's painfully obvious if you're already expecting the 4 characters to survive (I was 99% sure at least 3 of them would). Some of them read a list that was passed around the internet of each character death and the page number.

"Harry is the last Horocrux" would've been a much better spoiler to shout if they had to choose one, in my opinion.

Okay that's what I thought, but I wanted to be sure. My mother read it too, and asked me, and I told her that, and then I started doubting myself.

Did Fenrir die?

It just said he was knocked unconscious, and we never see him again.

Finished, btw

Yeah he just got knocked out with a crystal ball.

luma how can you like that mrs. weasley line

its like something out of a horrible michael bay movie, or i guess linda hamilton in terminator 2

the book was okay, the epilogue was not a good end to the series as nothing really happened aside from harry and ginny squirting out kids, i guess it wouldnt have felt as tacked on if we had seen some of their relationship from the past 19 years. since in the last few books they only hold hands and barely see each other.

i would have rather seen the five years after this book and maybe just leave it with ginny being pregnant or something

and yeah, all the interviews with the author saying how it was so hard to write this book made me think something was going to happen, aka someone significant dying. dobby and fred are second tier really, lupin and tonks no one gives two shits about and its obvious by the sentence devoted to them.

Pretty sure Fenrir died by the wording "He didn't get up again"

mang, i feel like a dick for laughing at that second video.

>_>

also, remus should have totally gone nuts on fenrir

and i'm glad neville turned out not be a complete dork and ended up doing pretty well (he's herbology prof. now right?)

Pfft, Herbology professor or not, he was a total badass in this book giving the Carrows hell and shit. He certaintly showed more 'tude than Harry ever has.

Snape isn't significant? Snape is arguably the most honorable/noble/brave man in the book, maybe besides Harry. I think it'd be pretty damned hard to kill him if I was his author, knowing how important he is and how much he's sacrificed and done, and how much he's lost.

I'd say Dobby is pretty important too, which shows with his death being the most well-written and emotional of all of them in the book.

Speaking of Dobby, whatever happened to Winky?

Pretty sure her use ran out after goblet of fire.

Still would've liked to have seen her slashing ankles with the rest.

Defintely my favorite book so far, even though Rowling's "It's the last book so I'm killing 50% of the characters" attitude got on my nerves.

I just have one question. In OOTP Voldemort was able to minipulate Harry's images and faked Harry into believing that Sirius was dying, which led Harry right to him. Was their a particular reason why Voldemort didn't do this again?

It's obvious that Harry was clinging onto every image of Voldemort he saw, I don't see why Voldemort couldn't just send Harry an image of Molly Weasley being tortured, or Ginny being killed. I had such a hard time believing that it took the Snatchers/Death Eaters that long to find Harry when Voldemort had pretty much the entire wizarding world in the palm of his hand.



Yeah, none of the spoilers even bothered me this year because it's obvious at least a few characters would die. Pretty much everyone expected Snape to get killed anyway.

I just thought of this...

Why wasn't Voldemort out looking for a 7th horcrux to put his soul into? Harry was apparently the 7th and final horcrux, but Voldemort didn't know that did he? I read through these books way too fast...

Here is what they did outside Borders in Glasgow.

The wee fucks. Glad I was elsewhere. If I had been in a main bookshop I would have been sorely tempted to have had a supersoaker along with me!

Colin died?



And Kyle: I was thinking of that too. Maybe Voldemort didn't know Harry was seeing his memories, or maybe he just didn't care >_>

Well, Voldemort's a pinhead. For the most powerful dark wizard of all time he sure acted dumb in this book.