rionaleonhart | So It Would Seem.

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harry potter

So It Would Seem.

The American edition of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is one of the most beautifully put-together books that I have ever seen. I almost want to buy another copy and keep it in a glass case. It does spell 'cosy' with a 'z', though, which throws me off every time I see it, and it doesn't give the names of magical creatures capital letters, which is rather confusing when I'm so used to reading 'Dementors' and 'Veela'. ALSO, CAPITALISING THE FIRST WORD AFTER EVERY COLON IS ODD.

Did anyone else intone 'the greater good' every time the phrase showed up?

Overall, I thought it was good, and it was certainly very gripping, but it didn't really feel like a Harry Potter book to me. It was so thoroughly bleak and depressing, and the bodycount was insane; nine or seven years ago, who could have imagined that the finale would be like this? I fear that the little children we saw in the bookshop (the bookshop was amazing; I've never seen so many people dressed as wizards before, and I couldn't stop grinning at how enthusiastic everyone was) may be rather traumatised.

HARRY/SNITCH FOR EVER. '"Exactly," said Harry, and with his heart beating fast, he pressed his mouth to the Snitch.' 'Harry pressed his mouth again to the Snitch, kissing it, nearly swallowing it, but the cold metal did not yield.' YOU KNOW IT'S TRUE.

Luna is the most adorable person ever in the world. When we saw her bedroom ceiling, I just wanted to hug her a lot. She is far too lovely. And she could recognise Harry when he was Polyjuiced! From his expression! I loved that!

My favourite thing about the book was so insanely, ridiculously awesome that I fear I may have imagined it out of sheer desperate need for it to happen: Phineas Nigellus became their travelling companion. Seriously, how fantastic is that? I hope you're already writing fanfiction about The Adventures of Harry, Hermione and Phineas Nigellus (And Sometimes Ron).

(The Harry/Hermione fans are going to love this one, aren't they?)

Ahahaha, I loved that Ron was basically an insane Internet theorist. 'Maybe Mad-Eye isn't really dead!' 'Look, how can we be sure that Dumbledore died?'

I thought that the way Kreacher became fond of them was lovely. Happy Kreacher is bizarrely adorable!

Sympathetic Malfoys: awesome. Aberforth: awesome. Snape: so awesome. Poor man. As

cmshaw observed:
snape's worst memory wasn't being bullied by james. it was calling his best friend a mudblood and never recovering the friendship from it. that is awful.
Bless him.

At the final encounter between Harry and Voldemort: describing them as 'wrapped in each other'? All that business about how they are bound closer to each other than any others have ever been? Good Lord, there's going to be a lot of slashfic.

On a vaguely similar note, did Lupin, at any point, show any sign that he had married Tonks for any reason other than to stop her moping? If the seemingly random pairing was Rowling's attempt to persuade people that Lupin was not gay for Sirius, it has backfired spectacularly; I came away from the book far more convinced of it than I had been before. (NOOOOOO LUPIN WHY DID YOU HAVE TO DIE?)

I was quite sad that my 'one Horcrux introduced in every book' theory didn't hold, because it would have tied everything together so beautifully. First book: Harry. Second: Riddle's diary. Third: none (alas!). Fourth: Nagini. Fifth: Slytherin's locket. Sixth: the ring and the goblet (STOP HOGGING THE HORCRUXES, HALF-BLOOD PRINCE). Seventh: Ravenclaw's diadem. It would have been so perfect!

Speaking of Ravenclaw: the way of getting into the Ravenclaw common room is awesome (if not entirely secure) and further proof that Ravenclaw is clearly the best house. (I always wondered how on Earth the Gryffindors learnt the new password when it changed, because Harry often seemed to need to be told by random students. Any ideas?)

I can't believe that the entire trio survived! I was certain that Ron was going to die, so I was ridiculously pleased that he didn't, although I knew from the moment of Fred's death that Rowling wouldn't have the heart to kill more than one Weasley. (ONE WAS STILL TOO MUCH. YOU CANNOT KILL ONE OF THE TWINS. I do sort of wish that we could have seen George finding out, even though it would have been horribly distressing.) And Neville (WHO WAS, BY THE WAY, AWESOME) survived! And Luna!

I really didn't like the epilogue; it all felt a bit twee, and I would have been a lot happier without it, really. This may be because it dashed my hopes of Harry, Ron and Hermione all living together for ever. Possibly with Neville and Luna, who would be adorable and sometimes hold hands. And Phineas Nigellus up on the wall. And every few months they would go on adventures, and it would be glorious. They'd somehow absorb Draco Malfoy into their happy little family at some point, too. WHY COULDN'T THIS HAVE HAPPENED?

ALSO: PERCY. LOVE. Maybe the entire Weasley family could be allowed into the House of Awesome. INCLUDING FRED, AS HE WILL OBVIOUSLY HAVE BEEN RESURRECTED SOMEHOW, RIGHT? HE FAKED HIS OWN DEATH AS A HILARIOUS PRACTICAL JOKE, RIGHT?

I can't believe it's all over! These books have been a part of my life since I was ten years old! Well, at least there are four hundred thousand fanfics to read if I feel the desperate need to return to Hogwarts.

Oh, and why hasn't the Internet exploded yet? Am I just looking in the wrong places?

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In my head, it is unchanged.

Fred/George. No matter what.
I have suddenly started shipping Harry/Hermione/Ron, and Harry/Luna/Neville.

... No, rly.

And then Sirius/Remus. Yes. Must write pr0n now. Except not - homeworrrrrrrkkkk. *cries*

I know how you feel! Harry Potter has been a part of my world since I was ten too! It really does feel like my childhood is over, too. :(

I HATED that Remus died. I loved Remus, then was okay with the idea of Remus/Sirius, and then BAM SIRIUS DIED. "Okay, well, then Remus and Tonks would be okay YES YES YES I WIN SHE MADE IT CANON!" "OH NO BITCH I'M GONNA KILL 'EM BOTH!" "NOOOOO!" <---- yes that conversation is made up but whatever. You know it's awesome.

I'm also in love with Teddy, except that APPARENTLY he grew up with goats or something because Harry didn't raise him. YOU ARE A CRAP GODFATHER, HARRY JAMES POTTER.

The entire thing felt a bit like a fanfic, ESPECIALLY the epilogue. But then, I just read a perfectly lovely Teddy/James fic where I absolutely fell in love with the author's Teddy and now I'm slightly okay with the epilogue. But I haven't quite jumped aboard the T/J ship.

Your theory is amazing but far too clever for Rowling. And personally, besides Teddy, I want to know what became of poor George and his one ear and no twin, lovely Luna and badass Neville, and...well basically everyone else she forgot about in the too short, terrifying epilogue.

Basically, I liked the book, but with some of the specifics, I am NOT a happy camper.

Harry was a bit young to raise Teddy, though. I imagine Andromeda raised him - his grandmother, especially after she (woe!) lost her husband, daughter, and son-in-law.

I knew I'd hear that argument, but then, he was far "older" and wiser than most his age by the end of the battle, imo. He had to be, after facing what he did. I'd understand his not doing it on his own, but I wanted more than "Oh yea sometimes he eats at our house."

In the fic I mentioned, however, Andromeda DID raise Teddy and I ended up being okay with it.

except that APPARENTLY he grew up with goats or something

You have just single-handedly made my mental canon 'TEDDY WAS RAISED BY ABERFORTH DUMBLEDORE'. I think I like it! But, of course, if Teddy were being raised by anyone Harry couldn't exactly have said 'I know, let's kidnap him!'

ALSO, CAPITALISING THE FIRST WORD AFTER EVERY COLON IS ODD.

Yes! It is! I do not understand why this was so!

(Also, I must ask someone who is familiar with UK and US versions of HP books, I hear that the UK edition does not have chapter art?!? As someone who loves the chapter art in the US versions, this HORRIFIES ME.)

Also also, I like your version of the epilogue lots and lots.

The UK version doesn't have chapter art, no. The chapter art in this was lovely, although I was a bit irritated when the art at the beginning of Chapter Three spoiled me for the fact that there would be some respect found between Dudley and Harry (which I loved, by the way). It doesn't have a special font for Dumbledore's handwriting, either; it just puts his notes in italics. It's generally far less pretty than the US version. BUT AT LEAST WE ARE SENSIBLE WHEN IT COMES TO COLONS.

I shamefully do love the chapter art, but the UK versions are otherwise far superior. Proper spelling (don't mind me!), nicer smaller font (so a far lower page count), and in particular my biggest peeve on this book was the little *45* for each page number - on the left hand side my brain continually read it as a section break. Argh!

Aw, I'm sad you didn't love it. Sad! I thought it was utterly brilliant. I found out about the Grey Lady and Bloody Baron! And History of Magic was super-duper important! Plus everything else I thought was wonderful other than all the deaths which broke my heart. HEDWIG NO.

(The Harry/Hermione fans are going to love this one, aren't they?)

Other than the really quite mean sister line, heh.

I really enjoyed it, actually! Oh, dear, I didn't make that clear at all, did I? I thought that it didn't feel terribly like a Harry Potter book, and I was upset by some things, but that didn't necessarily make it bad! The things that upset me were all 'NOOOOO I DIDN'T WANT THAT TO HAPPEN', rather than 'NOOOOO THIS IS RUBBISH'.

AND YES, HEDWIG'S DEATH WAS AWFUL. I thought something might have been slightly wrong with me when I was mourning her more than quite a few of the other deaths in the book. I think it might have something to do with the fact that he had just saved her from falling and nooooo!

Hee, I thought of you when we learnt about the Bloody Baron! And when Percy came back, and what a wonderful reunion it was!

Oh, yay! Am glad you did like it, then. :D

When Percy came back I broke down sobbing. Course, half the damn book did that to me, and not just the deaths.

I honestly clicked your lj-cut expecting to find talk of zombies. Heh.

Oh, Harry/Snitch. That line! That one line: He pressed the golden metal to his lips and whispered, “I am about to die.” I shivered. There were quite a few just beautiful turns of phrases in this book, and I was proud of Rowling for it. She's come a long way from The Dursleys lived at 4 Privet Drive and were perfectly normal, thank you very much. WHICH WAS AWESOME IN ITS OWN RIGHT DON'T GET ME WRONG, it's just -- wow. Awesome.

FRED ISN'T DEAD. HE CAN'T BE. THE GEORGE-FINDS-OUT SCENE WAS, LIKE, FOUR WORDS LONG. HE WAS JUST THERE. I DON'T -- FRED WAS MY FAVORITE. I KNOW IT SOUNDS PREPOSTEROUSLY SILLY BUT HE WAS AND NOW -- HE'S NOT DEAD. REALLY HE ISN'T.

And I really appreciated how skewed the perspective was. It's useful to an author, no having to explain all these scenes, but it just reaffirms all the leading she'd done in the other books, dragging the reader into thinking one way or the other about a character because that was how Harry saw them. A+

Also, LUNA. I wasn't ever a big fan of hers until this book. And Neville shone just how I thought he would shine. I wonder: Does Harry's "I love everyone and they are all protected by me" charm still stand, or was it conditional on Voldie's life?

And, yes, I capitalized that on purpose. MUAHAHAHA

FRED WAS EASILY MY FAVOURITE OF THE TWINS. I KNOW PEOPLE WILL SAY THE TWINS ARE THE SAME BUT THEY ARE NOT, ALTHOUGH BOTH ARE WONDERFUL. FRED IS JUST A LITTLE BIT AWESOMER. ALSO NOT DEAD.

Hmmm. I think it might have been that they're only protected from Voldemort. Did we ever have evidence that Harry's mother's sacrifice protected him from anyone else?

You are evil! Evil! THIS IS IN NO WAY AN EXAGGERATION.

I knew Lupin was gonna snuff it he'd just got married and his wife had a baby and he was (mostly) happy -DEAD!
Dobby's death made me cry and then I broke down when you saw Oliver carrying little Colin's body.

However Neville was the MAN! And Molly had one of the BEST lines in the book "NOT MY DAUGHTER YOU BITCH!"

A HUGE grumble I have is no Slythrine kids stayed to fight not even ONE which make the whole House Unity idea that the hat/Dumbledore wanted moot. At lest a handful should have stayed.

Molly was fantastic!

Oh, I hated that none of the Slytherins stayed to fight. I stared at the book afterwards, thinking 'so the only Slytherins who could be considered remotely good were two teachers, one student and a portrait? The only one who was remotely nice is Slughorn? Oh, come on.' The 'it doesn't matter if you're in Slytherin' bit was the only thing I liked about the epilogue, and it still rang slightly false after how thoroughly the house had been demonised. VOLDEMORT WANTS EVERYONE TO BE IN SLYTHERIN. HE MUST TRULY BE EVIL.

I've decided that there WERE Slytherins there, they snuck back after all they are sly enough right?

I KNEW that Harry was a Horcrux. HAH. I share your love for the book. :D

So did I! I was so absolutely convinced of it (after all, it made so much sense) that I felt as if I'd been hit over the head with a frying pan when we saw all the Horcrux locations in Voldemort's mind and realised that none of them could be Harry. It was terribly cunning of Rowling to reveal that he actually was one at the last minute. (I still think it would have made more sense for Voldemort to deliberately make him into one, though; after all, who better to make into a Horcrux than the only person able to kill you?)

It was a nice twist for the people who hadn't guessed that Harry'd have to die in order to defeat Voldemort. I remember putting my Harry-is-a-Horcrux theory to a fellow fan and being told that I was being silly. *cheerleads*

Obviously Remus had to die so he could join his One True Love beyond the veil.

I still can't work out how Harry survived the final battle. I must've read something wrong during the Station incident with Dumbledore. I thought that Dumbledore said that while Voldemort was alive then Harry was. Surely the corollary was that when Voldemort died, Harry finally had to.

And the epilogue? Worst piece of fan-fic *eva*. I'm half-expecting it to crop up on

deleterius...

Having worked out that there is very, very little in the series that isn't from Harry's point of view or isn't witnessed by him, I'm getting Sam Tyler vibes off him. Which is very silly and can probably be explained due to lack of sleep...

*pops head in* Y'know, I had some crazy dreams about a Harry Potter/Doctor Who/Life On Mars crossover.

"Oh, and why hasn't the Internet exploded yet? Am I just looking in the wrong places?"

its_a_fakeis all kinds of hilarious AND has pictures of people eating hats!

Also, Neville is the hero of the entire book. FACT.

Good Lord, there's going to be a lot of slashfic.
Hahahahahahaha.

Also, yes, I was also thoroughly unconvinced with Remus and Tonks' love. It really did make it seem that he was just EVEN MORE GAY for him, didn't it?

Fred dying was sad, but Molly Weasley? MY NEW GODDESS. "NOT MY DAUGHTER YOU BITCH!!" It's practically a meme.

Also, the epilogue was good if only for one thing; THE AS/S SHIP! srsly.

Alas, a belated Happy Birthday! But your fic shall be on it's way soon...

And I haven't spoken to you for ages so I thought I'd best poke and see xD *waves* How was your trip?

Felt like an HP book to me although I freely admit to having been desensitised by all the darkfic.

Lupin is so very gay though.

And Malfoys! Snape! Kreacher! Regulus! I love them all!

Oh, yes, Regulus immediately became my favourite 'offscreen' character. He opposed Voldemort for Kreacher's sake. That is too lovely for words.

And yes, Lupin is extremely gay. I only became firmly of this opinion when I saw how incredibly reluctant he is to be in any lasting relationship with Tonks. Look, Rowling, if your heterosexual pairing manages to make someone believe that one of the participants is gay, you really have created the least convincing canon pairing ever.

And yes, Lupin is extremely gay. I only became firmly of this opinion when I saw how incredibly reluctant he is to be in any lasting relationship with Tonks. Look, Rowling, if your heterosexual pairing manages to make someone believe that one of the participants is gay, you really have created the least convincing canon pairing ever.

I AGREE WITH THIS SO MUCH. I vaguely liked the idea of Sirius/Lupin beforehand, but never really thought about it all that much; by the end of this book, I was all, "well, Lupin clearly found out the hard way that a lavender marriage is COMPLETELY THE WRONG WAY TO GO". (Mpfh, I miss him.)

Also: capitals letters after colons? What? Is this American grammar that I was totally unaware of, or just a bizarre thing that the US HP books do? Because that's sort of insane.

OH MY GOD I CANT BELIEVE YOU DIDNT WRITE ABOUT ZOMBIEGHOST!DUMBLEDORE. I ACTUALLY THOUGHT OF YOU WHEN I READ THAT PART.

I know what you mean though; it didn't actually feel like a Harry Potter book. I loved it nonetheless, but still.

Also, a belated happy birthday to you. I meant to say it over on my journal, but your birthday happens to be on the same day as my younger sister, so I got swept away by that. Sorry!

I do not understand WHY there is capitalization after colons! This is not the way I have seen it done! I do not actually think it is American, I think it is vaguely wrong! To emphasize, I shall use exclamation points!

But we do give love to the letter 'z' in America land. Because it's more hardcore. Organization? Totally more hardcore than Organisation. I have scientific proof. In uh...

Somewhere. The scientific proof is somewhere.

They've capitalized the word after every colon? Why in hell would they go and do THAT? liek srsly, wut. That's not American, that's just stoopid. ~~I know these things are sort of interlocked, shutup.~~

But it's true, we like z's. Also we don't like your extra u. XD

Ah, it's good to know that not all American publishers have such utterly insane conventions.

I will confess that 'Organization XIII' is a lot more evil-looking than 'Organisation XIII'. BUT 'COSY' IS THE LEAST HARDCORE WORD EVER AND SHOULD NOT BE HARDCOREISED (OR, INDEED, HARDCOREIZED). HONESTLY, AMERICA.

I'm not sure what possessed them to do that. Obviously, someone had hit the tequila a little too hard the night before editing.

I think the problem here is that I would seriously want to pronounce 'cosy' as 'cah - see' instead of...cozy. But maybe I'm just insane.

Deep in my heart I KNEW she would kill off a twin BUT THAT DID NOT MAKE IT BETTER. ;_; and no poor George has neither ear nor twin. They don't even look alike anymore!

Epilogue was cheesy. That's all I can really say about it. I mean "and gablahga everyone had children and lived happily ever after, but heaven forbid I tell you how they lived and, like, what they did and stuff." Feh.

Yeah, and Lupin and Tonks? Did not understand that at ALL. I mean he married her...why? So they had a sorta-past-but-not really. That doesn't mean you get married. That means that you were probably focused on someone else *cough* and then went your seperate ways and stayed friends but friends. I was sad that Lupin died too--I mean, he was the only one let of the Maruaders. WHY TAKE THAT. Although with Tonks...I think it didn't really register for me that she died. The characters I liked and noticed and who had personalities -when they died, I noticed- but almost all the deaths were so horribly glossed over that in some cases I was just "...what? Death? ...does it make a difference? *shot*" I know Tonks had some sort of persona being all happy and upbeat and clumsy and with the pink hair, but...that doesn't scream Mary-Sue? She had the pink hair, was upbeat, clumsy, and married a main-ish character that people loved ~~and love to slash~~. I think she's the first time I considered a character in an original story a Mary-Sue and stuck with it. I mean really!

OhgoshtheexchangebetweenPercyandFred.

I have...mixed feelings on Snape. I never really liked him, and this did'nt help much. I feel a little sorry for him--the man wasn't good or evil. He was just manipulated by Dumbledore because of a childhood crush-turned-adult-obsession-type-thing. So yeah, I feel a bit sorry for him. But that doesn't make him better in my head. The man still wasn't nice and if he ever did nice things, it wasn't because he was nice, it was because Dumbledore had something hanging over his head.

Also, on Dumbledore. Double-you tee eff. I could write a book. Well, maybe an essay. Not that people aren't already doing that.

And to end on a happy note: Kreacher! XD It was so cool to read him being treated well and thus acting well.

~~PS who's with me when I think that Luna could be paired with anyone and it would work somehow?~~

MOLLY WEASLEY = AWESOMEST AWESOME.

I laughed so hard at Phineas becoming one of their companions! And playing a part in the silver doe business! Basically, the book was everything I hoped it would be, though like you, I thought it really felt very bleak.

And I really would have been happier without the epilogue. I'm never happy with epilogues, though. I always feel like the author's thrown all their punches already and now they're going back trying to patch things up. LEAVE IT AS IT IS. HONESTLY. ...I would have much preferred an epilogue that was just about, like, everyone starting the process of healing. MORE THAN THAT, though, I would have preferred an epilogue that was just a few pages of elaborate setup for "a whale of a time." That is just how I feel.

YES. MOLLY WEASLEY FIGHTING BELLATRIX LESTRANGE WAS AMAZING.

I was really very sad to see that my 'whale of a time' prediction was incorrect. I had been so certain!

Also, I adored every single one of your HP single-sentence fics.

Eeeee, thank you! I still admire you a ridiculous amount, and so compliments from you make me hop up and down (as opposed, presumably, to hopping once and then hovering) with glee.

I am displeased at the lack of Hufflepuff. What was the Fat Friar's SECRET PAST, hmm?

I'm going to say that he and Nearly Headless Nick had a SECRET AFFAIR, and Nick was (mostly) executed for corrupting a monk. And then the Fat Friar died of heartbreak. WELL, JKR NEVER SAID THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN, DID SHE?

Harry and Voldemort were awesome. Harry was the only one who understood Voldemort! And Harry offered Voldemort a chance to live at the end!

At the start I thought that they were taking Phineas along to spy for them. And then I was terrified that he would never be mentioned again. BUT HE WAS. AND HE WAS AWESOME. You are ruining a great work of art ♥ I grow weary of contradiction ♥ and wanting Slytherin's contribution to be remembered! I am looking forward to your Phineas-drabbles immensely. (Although you are right, the house unity was a crock of lies, and even in the epilogue everyone hates the Slytherins.)

Well, I'm guessing that the ways of getting into the common room are supposed to fit with the strengths of that house. So, er, the Gryffindors must be BRAVE and...complete a quest? Ask a SCARY TEACHER? And the Slytherins trick the portrait into giving them the password with their CUNNING SLYNESS. And the Hufflepuffs are kind to the portrait and talk to it and so are just given the password. I'm guessing Zacharias Smith gets trapped outside a lot and has to force people to give him the password.

Also eee Remus/Sirius! I was dreading all the time that Remus would say 'I have never loved anyone like I love Tonks' or 'I never loved before meeting Tonks'. Or she could have mentioned the ENDLESS AFFAIRS Remus and Sirius were having constantly with people who weren't one another. BUT NO. REALLY NO. My conclusion here is that JKR loves all the 'shippers except the Harmonians.

Although I feel rather sorry for Tonks, because she had to put up with emo!Remus. And also for Andromeda. Poor, poor Andromeda and her losing her entire family.

I'm going to say that he and Nearly Headless Nick had a SECRET AFFAIR, and Nick was (mostly) executed for corrupting a monk. And then the Fat Friar died of heartbreak. WELL, JKR NEVER SAID THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN, DID SHE?

YOUR THEORIES ARE THE BEST EVER.

I thought they were taking Phineas to spy for them, too! And then Hermione said that it was to stop him spying on them and I went NOOOOOO, DON'T JUST KEEP PHINEAS IMPRISONED IN YOUR BAG, HE IS AWESOME AND THE FACT THAT HE IS SARCASTIC DOESN'T MAKE HIM EVIL!

You are ruining a great work of art ♥ I grow weary of contradiction ♥

OH MY GOD YES EXACTLY HE IS AMAZING.

And the Slytherins trick the portrait into giving them the password with their CUNNING SLYNESS.

Ahahaha, that would be brilliant! As is 'And the Hufflepuffs are kind to the portrait and talk to it and so are just given the password. I'm guessing Zacharias Smith gets trapped outside a lot and has to force people to give him the password.' OH MY GOD, I HAVE MISSED YOUR COMMENTS SO MUCH. You are wonderful!

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So It Would Seem.

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