whom do you think Rowling 'spared'? She claims someone was originally supposed to die but didn't. I thought maybe it was Hagrid or Draco. But the scene where Mrs. Weasley goes after Bellatrix suggests that maybe Ginny was supposed to die? (sure, she was upset about Fred, but it reads almost as if ginny were struck down). Do you think Harry was the one that was spared? it seems like he was meant to live, though. the ending was so complicated, but the scenes after he talks to dumbledore in King's Cross don't seem like a lame attempt to get around his death. even though they essentially are.

A number of characters seemed criminally ignored in this one, particularly Ginny, but also Hagrid & even Snape. Of course, that is a result of the limited 3rd person POV Rowling has been using throughout all of the books. It was kinda a shame to have all of that friend/foe bullshit in book 6 and then have nothing at all through book 7 until Snape's final scene. there wasn't much to further the debate. although i guess the debate really just needed to end.

I was not surprised by Snape's loyalty. it was pretty clear that he had a thing for Lily. I really thought Snape was present at her death (i'm STILL not sure how anyone knows what happened the night of the Potters' murder). also -- Snape did NOTHING to protect the students at hogwart's. is that because he was annoyed with Dumbledore's final secret (that they were protecting potter so he could die?). if snape was that annoyed, why did he even bother helping with the whole sword dealy? confusing.

All of the background info on Dumbledore was really interesting. it gave the book a bit of a slower pace in the first half, though. i like that the final book threw Dumbledore into doubt, although book 5 had a bit of that as well. i liked the 'twist' where Harry had to die because he had part of Voldemort's soul (although I also thought that was telegraphed in book 6).

I'd say the biggest surprises were all the deaths, some of which just seemed unnecessary. did dobby really need to die? tonks & lupin seemed silly deaths as well. mad eye was a surprise, only because it was so early. Hedwig was also a shock. i wasn't saddened by fred's death. i figured one of the weasley's would go. laura and i suspected it would be one of the parents. i was also surprised that the malfoy's all survived. i mean, his dad really should have been killed. voldemort seemed reluctant to kill him even though he and his son sucked at being death eaters. how many times did Lucius screw up? like, forty?

i thought the final hiding place of the crown was a bit lame. after all the trouble he went through to hide the others, the room of requirement seemed silly. how could he have thought that he was the only one who knew about the room when it was FILLED with stuff other students had hidden through the years? i mean, come on.

did the book really have to feel like the lord of the rings? i was waiting for Ron to start whining about the precious around his neck before he stormed off only to return. plus there's the whole 'destroy the powerful magic object by going into the most dangerous place ever' storyline. but whatever. it wasn't a complete ripoff. it just felt like similar with the horcrux things.

i wish cho had died. i hated her.

was the denoument as short as it felt? this is the final book in a series and we get a short walk where the kids talk to eachother and then harry says he's tired? that's it? no hagrid? not sure what i expected -- and the epilogue clearly takes care of the 'friends forever' shit. but the lack of hagrid in the last 3 books was odd.

didn't it seem really pointless that ron and hermione went to the chamber of secrets and brought back all of the basilisk teeth? and was Neville using the fake sword or the real one when he killed Nagani? and if it was the real one, why didn't Ron & hermione just use it instead of getting the teeth? and if it was the fake one, how did it actually kill the snake? or did the snake not have the same indestructible properties as the other horcruxes because it was a living thing? [EDIT: I was informed by a fellow Potter reader that the sword appeared out of the sorting hat, so it was the real deal. prior to that, rom & hermione needed the teeth. so that's one less hole.]

jeez -- the more i think about this, the more holes i see. which isn't necessarily a new problem for these books. but damn. you'd think someone would have pointed these out to her.