Chasing Grace

This post contains spoilers, for those of you you haven’t read the book yet.

I finished Deathly Hallows last night around 8:30. In case you’re wondering, I did not ’speed-read’ any of it. I simply did little else but read it, seriously neglecting husband, cat and household duties. I’ll be spending today catching up on tasks that I normally accomplish on the weekends. But it was worth it!

It was a good finish to a great story. Parts of it were awesome. While I wouldn’t call J.K. Rowling a great author, I can certainly can say she is a great storyteller. She is very adept at plot twists and creating strong, complex characters.

The main themes of love, loyalty, sacrifice and courage that have run through the series are prominent here, along with forgiveness. I do think the book could have benefited with a bit of editing in the some of the slower sections. But overall it was a pleasure to read and I’m very happy with it.

SPOILERS BELOW!

Thoughts about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows:

• I am so happy that I was right about Severus Snape. He was working for Dumbledore all along. I hesitate to call him a ‘good guy’. His motivation for helping Dumbledore and protecting Harry were not done out of a sense of ‘right and wrong’ but because of his undying love for Lily Potter. Without that love driving him to serve Dumbledore’s purposes, I don’t know that he would have been on the side of ‘good’. But his bravery and sacrifice are indisputable in any case. Right up till his death he did his part to help defeat protect Harry and defeat Voldemort, whatever his motivations may have been.
• Oh dear Neville, it was so satisfying to see him stand up to the dark lord and play a major part in his defeat. I always knew Neville had it in him to be a hero. And I loved the bit about his grandmother putting her attacker in the hospital. Neville’s Gran is not someone to be trifled with.
• I am so upset that Mad-Eye, Fred, Lupin, Tonks, Dobby and Hedwig were killed. Each of their deaths brought tears to my eyes. I still don’t understand why Hedwig had to die. And what is George going to do now without his twin? That’s tragic!
• But it was wonderful when Mrs. Weasley dealt the final blow to Bellatrix near the end. Not my daughter, you bitch! and You will never touch our children again! She may have been protecting Ginny, but she was also avenging her son, Fred.
• The fact that Harry did not actually have to kill Voldemort. Harry did not have to utter the killing curse, but maneuvered Voldemort into to killing himself.
• It was difficult for me to follow the whole elder-wand-inherited-power thing at the end. But after a re-read or two I got it. That may have been one of the weaker elements to the narrative, but it does make sense if you think it through.
• Percy returning to his family and joining the fight at the end.
• Harry saving Draco’s life, not once but twice.
• The part that Narcissa Malfoy played. If Draco’s life was not more important to her than her loyalty to the dark lord, and she had not spared Harry at a very crucial moment, things would have gone much differently.
• The touching mural Luna had painted on her bedroom ceiling of her friends at Hogwarts. This one made me cry a bit too.
• Dumbledore’s dark and complex past. His narrow escape from taking the wrong path in life.
• Dumbledore’s brother Abeforth. He was in some ways wiser and stronger than his brother Albus.
• That scene in Bathilda’s house in Godric’s Hollow may have been one of the creepiest scenes I have ever read. It was very disturbing.
• Oh and Dudley and his respect for Harry. Harry did, after all, save Dudley from a Dementor. I don’t think you’re a waste of space… his handshake and smile when they were parting ways at the beginning. Nothing more is said about their relationship, but one can imagine them keeping in touch after things settle down.

I feel like I’m forgetting a million things. It’s been fun following the adventures of Harry Potter and his friends. I’m glad the story has finished, although I’m also sad that I will no longer have any more to look forward to.