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Because I'm a maniac, I've already finished Deathly Hallows. Have no fear--all spoilers will be securely behind the cut. And I'm certainly not going to proof this, so if my grammar sucks or there are crazy typos, then sorry. My bad.
Jason and I arrived at the bookstore at 11:30pm because I didn't think I could manage being in a room with hundreds of other people for more than an hour, even if they are fellow HP fans. We bypassed the Sorting Hat and just got in one of the lines for pre-orders. Poor Jason lasted all of five minutes before getting creeped out by the two Dementors floating about the door, weaving in and out of the lines. He went to wait in the car away from all the "madness" and crowds. I ended up in line with a girl who was busting at the seams to get the last book. I think she told me her entire life story in about ten minutes. She confided in me that she was fairly sure Voldemort would be dying. No? You think? It'd be a pretty crappy ending if he didn't die. She also assured me that she thought Snape was really a good guy. Obviously, she didn't see my shirt, which proclaimed in two-inch letters to, "Trust Snape." We got along fairly well. She said that we were "meant to meet in line" for DH. So, I had someone to squee with when we finally got to the register and paid for our copies shortly after midnight. We parted in the parking lot on the assumption that we were both going home to read at least one chapter before passing out.
I managed three chapters before hitting the sack. I woke up at 8:30, rolled over, pulled the book off the nightstand, and shoved my nose in it. Jason woke up an hour later and laughed at me. He dragged me to breakfast at 10:30, but only after he promised that we would be back home in less than an hour. A brief break was taken from reading at 4:00 so we could go to the grocery store and make dinner. I had my nose back in the book by 5:30. Just as I was getting into the last 200 pages of the book this evening, he shut me away in the bedroom, telling me that he was going to watch a couple movies while I finished. So, I just finished.
All in all, I thought it was very enjoyable. The bit at the end in which Dumbledore attempted to explain the intricate connection between wands and souls and such was slightly confusing. I have a general idea of what was meant, but I'd have to go back for a more careful read to be able to explain it to someone else in detail. I'm not sure if I found all that to be a cop out or to be realistically intricate. Only time and a second read will tell, I suppose.
I wasn't too terribly upset up Mad Eye's death at the beginning. I assumed that someone was going to bite it at that point, but I didn't think it would be any of the main characters. Dobby's death was the first that really hit me and gave me teary eyes, especially after he had done his best to save everyone and remove them from Malfoy Manor. Percy's reaction to Fred's death hit me hard since he had only just made up with his family. And even though Lupin's and Tonk's deaths were somewhat glossed over after the fact (because Harry wasn't there to witness them), it still made my heart feel like lead. Didn't I ask beforehand that Lupin not be killed? :'-( His newborn child being left alone made it all that much worse.
Despite expecting it, I was crushed to read Snape's death. I was actually quite unsatisfied with it after finishing that chapter. However, I can understand why it needed to be done in such a way as to give Harry a moment with a mortally injured Snape so the memories could be passed. I didn't cry until the next chapter when Harry delves into Snape's memories. They were beautifully done, and I was so happy to see them start so early. I, along with many other fans, suspected that JKR was going to take Snape's story in the Lily direction. And even though I knew it was coming, I was still touched by the way she presented their childhood friendship that went through rocky times in their later years at Hogwarts. My favorite moment in the memories was when Dumbledore finally saw Snape's Patronus (and that it had taken the same shape as Lily's due to her love for her). Dumbledore asked Snape something along the lines of, "All this time?" and Snape replies with, "Always." I just thought that single world sums up his character so well. He always struck me as the kind of person who can't let go of things-- bitterness and hatred toward Harry's father as well as the love he has felt for someone for so many years. I was teary throughout most of the memories, but one of the final ones made my actually cry. The one that depicted Snape kneeling in Sirius's old bedroom with the last few lines of one of Lily's letters in his hand. He was crying over the last line: "Love, Lily," even though that line was not written to him. My heart ached for him. And this might be the reason why I was not exactly my sharpest when I came to the scene between Dumbledore and Harry after Voldemort "kills" him the first time.
So, I guess I'm saying that the memories made up for the method in which Snape dies. And I expect all of you fanfiction authors to get to writing and bring our dearly departed potion master back from the dead.
Oh, and I just wanted to pat myself on the back because I knew that the Patronus that led Harry to the swords was Snape's. I just knew it. I actually put the book down for a minute and smiled because I could think of no other person but Snape at that moment.
Anyway, I'm sure I'll have more to say about the book at a later date. Right now I'd just past midnight, and I'm bouncing around, unable to think of much beyond the book I just finished. I'm going to sit here and listen to some angsty music and feel sorry for the people who died in DH.
Jason and I arrived at the bookstore at 11:30pm because I didn't think I could manage being in a room with hundreds of other people for more than an hour, even if they are fellow HP fans. We bypassed the Sorting Hat and just got in one of the lines for pre-orders. Poor Jason lasted all of five minutes before getting creeped out by the two Dementors floating about the door, weaving in and out of the lines. He went to wait in the car away from all the "madness" and crowds. I ended up in line with a girl who was busting at the seams to get the last book. I think she told me her entire life story in about ten minutes. She confided in me that she was fairly sure Voldemort would be dying. No? You think? It'd be a pretty crappy ending if he didn't die. She also assured me that she thought Snape was really a good guy. Obviously, she didn't see my shirt, which proclaimed in two-inch letters to, "Trust Snape." We got along fairly well. She said that we were "meant to meet in line" for DH. So, I had someone to squee with when we finally got to the register and paid for our copies shortly after midnight. We parted in the parking lot on the assumption that we were both going home to read at least one chapter before passing out.
I managed three chapters before hitting the sack. I woke up at 8:30, rolled over, pulled the book off the nightstand, and shoved my nose in it. Jason woke up an hour later and laughed at me. He dragged me to breakfast at 10:30, but only after he promised that we would be back home in less than an hour. A brief break was taken from reading at 4:00 so we could go to the grocery store and make dinner. I had my nose back in the book by 5:30. Just as I was getting into the last 200 pages of the book this evening, he shut me away in the bedroom, telling me that he was going to watch a couple movies while I finished. So, I just finished.
All in all, I thought it was very enjoyable. The bit at the end in which Dumbledore attempted to explain the intricate connection between wands and souls and such was slightly confusing. I have a general idea of what was meant, but I'd have to go back for a more careful read to be able to explain it to someone else in detail. I'm not sure if I found all that to be a cop out or to be realistically intricate. Only time and a second read will tell, I suppose.
I wasn't too terribly upset up Mad Eye's death at the beginning. I assumed that someone was going to bite it at that point, but I didn't think it would be any of the main characters. Dobby's death was the first that really hit me and gave me teary eyes, especially after he had done his best to save everyone and remove them from Malfoy Manor. Percy's reaction to Fred's death hit me hard since he had only just made up with his family. And even though Lupin's and Tonk's deaths were somewhat glossed over after the fact (because Harry wasn't there to witness them), it still made my heart feel like lead. Didn't I ask beforehand that Lupin not be killed? :'-( His newborn child being left alone made it all that much worse.
Despite expecting it, I was crushed to read Snape's death. I was actually quite unsatisfied with it after finishing that chapter. However, I can understand why it needed to be done in such a way as to give Harry a moment with a mortally injured Snape so the memories could be passed. I didn't cry until the next chapter when Harry delves into Snape's memories. They were beautifully done, and I was so happy to see them start so early. I, along with many other fans, suspected that JKR was going to take Snape's story in the Lily direction. And even though I knew it was coming, I was still touched by the way she presented their childhood friendship that went through rocky times in their later years at Hogwarts. My favorite moment in the memories was when Dumbledore finally saw Snape's Patronus (and that it had taken the same shape as Lily's due to her love for her). Dumbledore asked Snape something along the lines of, "All this time?" and Snape replies with, "Always." I just thought that single world sums up his character so well. He always struck me as the kind of person who can't let go of things-- bitterness and hatred toward Harry's father as well as the love he has felt for someone for so many years. I was teary throughout most of the memories, but one of the final ones made my actually cry. The one that depicted Snape kneeling in Sirius's old bedroom with the last few lines of one of Lily's letters in his hand. He was crying over the last line: "Love, Lily," even though that line was not written to him. My heart ached for him. And this might be the reason why I was not exactly my sharpest when I came to the scene between Dumbledore and Harry after Voldemort "kills" him the first time.
So, I guess I'm saying that the memories made up for the method in which Snape dies. And I expect all of you fanfiction authors to get to writing and bring our dearly departed potion master back from the dead.
Oh, and I just wanted to pat myself on the back because I knew that the Patronus that led Harry to the swords was Snape's. I just knew it. I actually put the book down for a minute and smiled because I could think of no other person but Snape at that moment.
Anyway, I'm sure I'll have more to say about the book at a later date. Right now I'd just past midnight, and I'm bouncing around, unable to think of much beyond the book I just finished. I'm going to sit here and listen to some angsty music and feel sorry for the people who died in DH.
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