Author Topic: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ***Spoilers***  (Read 23574 times)

Phaz

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Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ***Spoilers***
« Reply #15 on: July 24, 2007, 12:16:27 AM »
[hide]The Thestrals question has been answered by JKR on her official FAQ.  Link

Quote
Why could Harry see the Thestrals 'Order of the Phoenix'? Shouldn't he have been able to see them much earlier, because he saw his parents/Quirrell/Cedric die?

I’ve been asked this a lot. Harry didn’t see his parents die. He was in his cot at the time (he was just over a year old) and, as I say in ‘Philosopher’s Stone’, all he saw was a flash of green light. He didn’t see Quirrell’s death, either. Harry had passed out before Quirrell died and was only told about it by Dumbledore in the last chapter.

He did, however, witness the murder of Cedric, and it is this that makes him able to see the Thestrals at last. Why couldn’t he see the Thestrals on his trip back to the train station? Well, I didn’t want to start a new mystery, which would not be resolved for a long time, at the very end of the fourth book. I decided, therefore, that until Harry is over the first shock, and really feels what death means (ie, when he fully appreciates that Cedric is gone forever and that he can never come back, which takes time, whatever age you are) he would not be able to see the Thestrals. After two months away from school during which he has dwelled endlessly on his memories of the murder and had nightmares about it, the Thestrals have taken shape and form and he can see them quite clearly.

One thing I've wondered, is why Dumbledore sent Harry after the Hallows (ie putting the stone in the snitch).  In the end, they really didn't make any kind of difference.  The stone didn't really do much more than give him a little more confidence, but I think he already had enough.  The cloak would of been his anyway since he got it from his dad, and we never heard before this that normal cloaks wear out over time.

Harry going after the hallows really didn't help him beat Voldemort at all.  It seems like if Dumbledore just sent them after the horcruxes, everything would of worked out nearly the same.  Harry would of ended up as the master of the wand, and Voldemort would of died in the same way.  The objects were never united, and Dumbledore seemed to expect that Harry wouldn't unite them.

I just don't understand why Dumbledore sent them on that quest, when doing so didn't really make a difference as far as I can tell. 

[/hide]

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Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ***Spoilers***
« Reply #16 on: July 24, 2007, 01:57:19 AM »
[hide]Although if Harry hadn't known about the Hallows, he wouldn't have understood what Voldemort was trying to get done, and he wouldn't have understood the importance of the wand, which certainly had an impact on the outcome. I'll agree though that the Hallows was tacked on. Rowling can claim all she wants that she had it all planned out ahead of time, but that doesn't hold any water with me. I think she looked at what she had written and found ways to tie things together. If the Hallows were intended all along, we would have had more of an idea of their existence a long time ago . . .[/hide]

fellsmum

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Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ***Spoilers***
« Reply #17 on: July 24, 2007, 03:07:24 AM »
I read it the first day and want to see what others thought. I don't know how these hide tags work.

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Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ***Spoilers***
« Reply #18 on: July 24, 2007, 04:37:08 AM »
So, to read the hidden tags I have to post?  Well, here it is!
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Nessa

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Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ***Spoilers***
« Reply #19 on: July 24, 2007, 05:03:48 AM »
i wrote a review
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Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ***Spoilers***
« Reply #20 on: July 24, 2007, 01:03:53 PM »
Here's my post!
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Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ***Spoilers***
« Reply #21 on: July 24, 2007, 04:21:33 PM »
Wow, very few things on this site annoy me, but these hidden posts are certainly managing to do it.  Die! Die! Die!
If I had any clue, would I be here?

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Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ***Spoilers***
« Reply #22 on: July 24, 2007, 04:23:03 PM »
1) The hide thing is dumb. I have to post this just to read.
2) I'll post more when I know more.

Ok, I agree with most people, but here's one thing that bugged me that no one has mentioned yet.

Poor Snape! All this debate over whether he's good or evil, and what does he get? Nothing. That whole "flashback to let you know he was good" thing sucked. I expected him to turn on Voldemort at the very end, to enable Harry to win, or something like that. But all he got was an ignomius death, making him entirely inconsequential at the end. Sad, sad, sad!

Speaking of inconsequential, the entire Deathly Hallows subplot could have been removed. Seriously, this woman needs to get a new editor (or more likely, just listen to the one she's got). If it doesn't affect the plot, leave it out!

The thing with the ghosts was pretty touching, I'll admit. It was the only thing in the book that really pulled at my heartstrings.

The "19 years later" did feel very tacked on, but I'm glad it was there. Anything that let me know Harry and Ginny were happy together, and Ron and Hermione as well, was fine with me. That's all the "happily ever after" I needed.

I'm still not sure I get the convoluted explanation about the wand at the end. Voldemort was holding the unbeatable Elder Wand (that Dumbledore beat someone to win... how is this wand unbeatable again?), and the Elder Wand really belonged to Harry because Snape killed Dumbledore but Draco picked up the Elder Wand and Harry disarmed Draco who had his own wand and not the Elder Wand at the time, so when Voldemort cast a killing curse at Harry it bounced back and hit Voldemort? Did I get that right? Because if so, I would like to walk up to Ms. Rowling and kick her in the shins. Can ANYONE explain how that makes sense?

Oh, one more thing. I really did like how she got around Harry's death. If anything in the whole series made sense, it was that. Voldemort couldn't die because he'd spread his soul around to various objects, and had accidentally put one of those pieces in Harry. Thus Harry could use the very same power that Voldemort used to cheat death. I thought it was brilliantly done.
« Last Edit: July 24, 2007, 04:50:38 PM by Tage »
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Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ***Spoilers***
« Reply #23 on: July 24, 2007, 04:38:58 PM »
I think I'm going to add Hidden to all posts automatically just so you have to post to read any thread, it makes things on the forum much more active (I think we've had more "I'm posting just to read" posts in this thread then we've had normal posts in the whole forum the past week).
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Tink

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Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ***Spoilers***
« Reply #24 on: July 24, 2007, 07:20:37 PM »
I'm still not sure I get the convoluted explanation about the wand at the end. Voldemort was holding the unbeatable Elder Wand (that Dumbledore beat someone to win... how is this wand unbeatable again?), and the Elder Wand really belonged to Harry because Snape killed Dumbledore but Draco picked up the Elder Wand and Harry disarmed Draco who had his own wand and not the Elder Wand at the time, so when Voldemort cast a killing curse at Harry it bounced back and hit Voldemort? Did I get that right? Because if so, I would like to walk up to Ms. Rowling and kick her in the shins. Can ANYONE explain how that makes sense?

[hide]Okay, this is how I understand this (and if anyone else has a better explanation, please add. I'm not sure I understood this completely either). Draco had beat Dumbledore and could have killed him. When he did this, the wand gave its allegiance to Draco, even though Draco never touched the Elder wand. So when Snape killed Dumbledore, he didn't become the wand's rightful owner because Dumbledore had already been beaten. Then Harry beat Draco (again without killing him either), so Harry became the wand's rightful owner and gained its allegiance. So when Voldemort tried to use the wand on Harry, Harry was able to overpower, and somehow the curse hit Voldemort.

Also, the unbeatable thing. I'm not sure. I think it's because although the wand is powerful, others can use cunning and such to beat the owner (as in the story how the brother was killed while drunk and the wand was taken from him, and obviously how Dumdledore was able to beat Grindelwald).[/hide]
« Last Edit: July 24, 2007, 07:23:21 PM by Tink »

Peter Ahlstrom

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Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ***Spoilers***
« Reply #25 on: July 24, 2007, 09:37:51 PM »
The Thestrals question has been answered by JKR on her official FAQ.
But the first part of her explanation on that FAQ doesn't jive with what I remember reading in the book on Sunday. [hide]Harry was standing up in his cot and looking right at his mom and Voldemort.[/hide] I can accept the second part though, which would clear up my issue entirely.

As for problems with the wand explanation, or the battle...remember, people... The Harry Potter magic system has always been poorly thought out and poorly explained. Spells are difficult because you have to remember how to pronounce the words correctly? What, the most powerful wizards are the ones with the best diction? Come on!! Anyway, the magic is just the way it is—it's a little late to suddenly notice it makes no sense.
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Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ***Spoilers***
« Reply #26 on: July 24, 2007, 09:46:18 PM »
[hide]I'm liking this hide thing because it makes you all seem like you've gone mad. Unless I post. Then I'm in on the madness. When I use this hidey hole feature.[/hide]
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Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ***Spoilers***
« Reply #27 on: July 25, 2007, 05:24:20 AM »
[hide]I agree with Tinks explanation about the Elder Wand. I kind of saw the Deathly Hallows as a psychological preparation for Harry in order to face Voldemort. Even though I think for Dumbledore, they were a plan B for Harry if he could destroy the Horcruxes.

I'm so happy I figured out Harry was a Horcrux after book 6. People told be he couldn't be, but I was right.

Actually, I found a lot of this book to be predictable. Not a whole lot a surprises. I guess that's oaky because I was worried there would be some surprises that would have ruined the series for me. I will admit that I was a little surprised by the body count in this one. I really felt that any character had an equal chance of being knocked off.

I actually find Snape to be a really great character after this book. Wether he's good or evil is still debateable. I like that.

I was very satisfied with this book.[/hide]
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Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ***Spoilers***
« Reply #28 on: July 25, 2007, 05:57:42 AM »
I love this book. Now can I see the spoilers?
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Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ***Spoilers***
« Reply #29 on: July 25, 2007, 01:12:05 PM »
oki, finished last night, reading now.