I liked the Christian imagery in the book. Harry has to willingly die to save everyone. I thought that was Rowling’s little poke at the fundies who love to hate her so much.
I also laughed a little thinking that my four year old will be able to read the books without all the waiting. “Why when I was reading Harry Potter we had to wait two years between sequels. You kids have it easy today!” 
[QUOTE=ENugent]
HP is actually the main reason that our daughter’s middle name isn’t Bellatrix. We had decided to use the name of a star, and we really liked that one, but didn’t want to give her a name that was “evil”. (We went with Maia instead, if anyone cares.)
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Out of curiosity, do you know what “Bellatrix” means? While it’s literal meaning (a female warrior, or “warlike,” when used as an adjective) isn’t necessarily “evil,” it may not have very positive connotations. (Although it’s perfect for Rowling’s character…)
7 horcrux. the soul in tommy was not a horcrux, he couldn’t be alive without a soul in him. he wasn’t into suicide.
he didn’t know he created a horcrux in harry. and created one in nagini thinking he would have 7. he also didn’t know harry had destroyed one.
so as far as tommy knew he had:
diary, ring, cup, crown, locket, nagini.
the diary was destroyed before he regained a body.
so what he really had (until things were destroyed) was:
ring, cup, crown, locket, nagini, harry.
i don’t think that harry died in his show-down with tommy-boy at aragog’s web. it was more of a near death expir. bright white light, talking to loved one, not feeling pain, being at peace, a feeling of timelessness. sound familiar?? it really reads like the many accounts of people who have been “brought back”.
so i’m thinking near death, not resurrection. if he really went all the way dead… why didn’t he see the four he called with the stone? they said they would be with him.
tim314, you got it. that is why dumbledore had the gleam of triumph. he saw a chance that harry could survive. that after tommy used harry’s blood to rebuild a body, he couldn’t kill harry.
[QUOTE=LavenderBlue]
I also laughed a little thinking that my four year old will be able to read the books without all the waiting. “Why when I was reading Harry Potter we had to wait two years between sequels. You kids have it easy today!” 
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I only read the books after I saw an advance test screening of the Goblet of Fire movie. I started reading the first book the day Half-Blood Prince came out (and, inhaling them, finished with HBP a week and a half later), so this was the first time I had to impatiently wait for a book release. I just found out a couple of weeks ago that Rowling took a THREE YEAR BREAK between Prisoner of Azkaban and Order of the Phoenix!! I feel so sorry for you folks who started with the books much earlier.
[QUOTE=Eltanin]
Out of curiosity, do you know what “Bellatrix” means? While it’s literal meaning (a female warrior, or “warlike,” when used as an adjective) isn’t necessarily “evil,” it may not have very positive connotations. (Although it’s perfect for Rowling’s character…)
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Yes, we liked the “female warrior” meaning - not that we were choosing it primarily for the original meaning.
I agree, it’s a perfect name for Rowling’s character.
Didn’t Rowling say the last word of the last chapter was “scar”? She lied!!!
Hi All,
I got my copy yesterday at 2:30 pm and finished (took 2 1/2 hours off for dinner/movie break) at 12:30 a.m. My eyes still hurt LOL and I did re-read the last two hundred pages this morning since I missed some key points (like Neville killing Nagini and getting the sword) the first time around.
The action was pretty good and some good scenes- I liked the anxiety of the Malfoys, the “freeing” (hopefully) of the Mudbloods being questioned and Malfoy Manor again later on ( 
Dobby). Kreacher’s turnaround was a bit too easy but it worked.
I was disappointed in the flow of the story, but again I may have missed some of the good details and wlll fill differently on a re-read. When you have an epic like this (and in most of the past books, I felt J.K Rowling did this well enough), it is far more satisfying to follow the different supplementary storylines (Voldemort & gang, Snape as Headmaster, Neville/Ginny/Luna at school, etc) through out the book as the primary story is presented (Harry, Ron & Hermione’s ). Instead, most of the book happened in the primary storyline and the characters were just given information as opposed to having some things revealed or suggested to the reader before the main characters find out. It just seemed a little clunky here and there but I really liked how it ended (without the epilogue) so I am just picking a little bit here.
I can’t remember McGonagall’s Patronus(es) being described before, got a chuckle at the three bespectled cats. I did like the backstory part on Snape, explained alot about Petunia as well. Snape wanting to see Lily’s eyes as he died was very emotional (I knew he was mostly good ).
I finished the book earlier today and I feel pretty satisfied with the ending. I wish Draco had done what Dudley did in the beginning. I also wanted to find out if Harry became an Auror, dammit! I really wish she would write just one more telling us more about 19 years after Voldemort’s defeat. Harry Potter and the Wrath of Bridezilla? Anyone?
Back to this one though, I’ve been solidly convinced that Snape was a good guy since I finished book 6. I couldn’t see any other reason for Dumbledore to plead with him at the end. I have to admit though that I lost faith in him about half way through this one. It was such a nice surprise to find out that I’d at least gotten that much right and shouldn’t have doubted him. Now that I think about it, the fact that Snape only gave Ginny a detention with Hagrid for trying to steal the sword should have given it away. I do wish they’d had one last chat.
As for the other deaths, it seems that Ms Rowling went down my list of favorite secondary characters and was knocking them off one at a time. Fred, Lupin, Tonks, Hedwig argh! I’ll even admit to liking Dobby and almost liking Colin.
I wonder if the person who found Harry’s Firebolt put it up for sale on Wizard-ebay.
[QUOTE=Pithy Moniker]
I also wanted to find out if Harry became an Auror, dammit!
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Assuming I understand the whole Elder Wand thing, it’s unlikely that Harry would be able to work as an Auror. If ever he were defeated by some magical criminal who knew about the details surrounding the Elder Wand, then there’d be a Bad Man running around with the kickass wand (can’t remember right now whether that’d mean re-exhuming Dumbledore’s wand or just taking Harry’s).
Someone else had to point out to me the significance of Snape’s final words. “Look at me…”
Harry has Lily’s eyes.
[QUOTE=mnemosyne]
Didn’t Rowling say the last word of the last chapter was “scar”? She lied!!!
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She disclaimed this in an interview a few weeks ago; she said it had been for a long time, but wasn’t anymore.
I picked up my copy* Saturday night; started reading around 5:45 pm and, except for a few short breaks, finished around 1:30 am. So about 7-1/2 hours. This morning Mr. S agreed to abandon his rereading of the previous books (he was near the beginning of book 5) to start book 7, so we could talk about it after he was done. Otherwise I might burst! (As I read in the car on the way home, I read a few non-spoiler bits aloud to him, like some of the funny stuff in the “Seven Potters” chapter. He’s not quite as sensitive to spoilers; I’ve been giving him little hints like “Wands are important,” and he asked me whether (if telling wouldn’t spoil the plot) there were any scenes at St. Mungo’s. When I mentioned a death I’d just read about, he asked who it was and after confirming that he really wanted to know, I told him about Moody. Can’t wait until he’s done! He just finished “The Silver Doe.”
Overall I’m happy with the result. Too bad a lot will be left out of the movie. Loved Molly’s “YOU BITCH!”, was shocked about Lupin AND Tonks, and oh, poor Fred and George (though I was right that one twin would probably bite it). I had also speculated that Hedwig would not survive. I also enjoyed the little naughty bits (wandwork, Merlin’s left --, effing, etc.) Hopefully JKR will give us more epilogue at a later date; I agree that we should get to find out more detail beyond “and they all lived happily ever after.”
And now I must return to Muggle-land and get some work done.
[QUOTE=Only Mostly Dead]
Assuming I understand the whole Elder Wand thing, it’s unlikely that Harry would be able to work as an Auror. If ever he were defeated by some magical criminal who knew about the details surrounding the Elder Wand, then there’d be a Bad Man running around with the kickass wand (can’t remember right now whether that’d mean re-exhuming Dumbledore’s wand or just taking Harry’s).
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Not so. Harry used the Elder Wand to repair his holly-and-Phoenix wand. I assume the Elder Wand is going in the vault at Gringott’s, never to be seen again. That said, if i understand what happened to the “ownership” of the Elder Wand, if any wizard disarmed Harry of his holly wand, the ownership of the Elder Wand would transfer to that person. They just wouldn’t have access to it.
When it said Charley was overtaking Slughorn, obvious Slughorn was fighting-right?
Harry say that he’s going to return the Elder Wand to Dumbledore’s tomb, not his vault.
Also, I originally spelt it “Elder Wang” and thought that was too funny not to share.
[QUOTE=SNenc]
I assume the Elder Wand is going in the vault at Gringott’s, never to be seen again.
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I think he said he was going to put it back where it came from - ie, in the hands of Dumbledore’s corpse. Another way for it never to be seen again.
[QUOTE=Rysto]
Harry say that he’s going to return the Elder Wand to Dumbledore’s tomb, not his vault.
Also, I originally spelt it “Elder Wang” and thought that was too funny not to share.
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Is that like WoW’s elusive Epic Wang?
[QUOTE=SNenc]
Not so. Harry used the Elder Wand to repair his holly-and-Phoenix wand. I assume the Elder Wand is going in the vault at Gringott’s, never to be seen again.
[/QUOTE]
Do you reckon Harry’s account will still be in good standing there, seeing as how he robbed it and all?
[QUOTE=MILTBore]
Other question: why did Voldemort think that it was necessary to kill a holder of the Elder Wand in order to pass its power on? I mean, he met and spoke with a LIVING former wielder of the wand, who very obviously had survived having had it took from him. Why would he then be so certain that he needed to actually kill Snape?
[/quote]
He had to “defeat” Snape, and for Voldemort, the only way to be 100% sure of “defeating” someone is to kill.
I wondered about this too. Since Grindy is alive after the encounter, and he had been such close friends with Dumbledore at one point, perhaps neither was willing to use killing spells against the other. Either that, or Dumbledore jumped him while he was on the can or something.
Ah, Dumbledore meets Pulp Fiction.
I called it! Who’s your daddy, huh? Is his name “Diceman”?
Seriously, I predicted that Dumbledore’s withered arm was the result of a curse that would eventually kill him, and that because of this he was willing to die for the cause.
I’m glad to see that Snape was on the side of good all along. How do you like Harry giving his kid the name "Albus Severus Potter? It shows that Harry finally came to appreciate how tough of a position Snape found himself in. Snape had to watch horrible things going on, knowing that he couldn’t do anything to stop it without blowing his cover.
BTW, remember how he sent Ginny down to Hagrid’s as punishment for trying to steal the sword? In light of what we know now, it’s safe to say that Snape knew damn well that Ginny wouldn’t be punished at all. It really was foolish to think that Snape would consider a trip into the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid to be punishment. He knew that Hagrid was a close friend of Harry & crew.
Lastly, I love how Mrs. Weasely killed Bellatrix. You mess with her kids, you pay with your life. Molly even called Bellatrix a bitch.
[QUOTE=MILTBore]
Other question: why did Voldemort think that it was necessary to kill a holder of the Elder Wand in order to pass its power on? I mean, he met and spoke with a LIVING former wielder of the wand, who very obviously had survived having had it took from him. Why would he then be so certain that he needed to actually kill Snape?
[/quote]
I think the idea was that gaining the full power of the Elder Wand, as opposed to just being able to use it, required killing the previous owner.
As I understand it, any wizard can use any wand, but in order to use the full potential of a wand you must be its master. Ollivander said that the rules regarding mastery of wands were complex (undoubtedly to give J.K. Rowling some wiggle room) but you can win mastery of a wand by defeating the old master in a duel. As I remember it, Grindelwald fired a spell or two as he stole the Elder Wand. Perhaps that counted as a duel, as far as the wand was concerned. In any event, Dumbledore definitely defeated Grindelwald in a duel and claimed the wand as his. And as Harry realized, Draco disarmed Dumbledore, making him the wand’s rightful master.
It’s possible that the Elder Wand, aka the Death Stick, would also accept as its master anyone who killed the previous owner. Thus, you could steal the wand, kill the owner, and claim mastery of the wand even if your actions did not qualify as a duel. We never actually see if this theory works, because neither Dumbledore nor Snape were the master of the Elder Wand when they died.
I think the idea that the wand is “unbeatable” was just hyperbole. Obviously, the owner of the Elder Wand had been defeated many times throughout history. It’s just an extremely powerful wand.