verloren1983 | Done done done!

Sorry I've been MIA the past few days, guys. After I was spoiled a bit by a comment, I've been avoiding everything but AIM like the plague. I finished the book this afternoon, though, so I'm back! (be afraid, be very afraid XD)

It took longer than I expected to read. Partially because I had a harder time getting into it except toward the end. Partially because I've had to work all weekend. But mostly because I was multi-tasking. Talking to people on AIM slows down the reading speed considerably, apparently. Who knew. XD (I'm not complaining, mind. I wouldn't have done it if I minded. <3) So. Without any further ado... the mandatory half coherant reaction post, only about 12 hours after I finished it, but nevermind. XD

SPOILERS FOR DEATHLY HALLOWS!
If you haven't read/finished the book and don't want to be spoiled, DO NOT read this post.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Okay, so my first thought after finishing the book is that she should've left off the epilogue. Really. It ended just fine without it, and it was (as a friend said) pretty much the corniest ending ever. Guh. It didn't even tell us anything except that they all get married and have kids. What was the fucking point? We could've figured that out, kthnxbye. And it was poorly written, and didn't fit in with the rest of the book at all. She just should've chucked it, honestly.

I'm extremely disappointed that she went for the "Harry is a horcrux" route. I mean really, just... there are no words, even, for how I feel about that. It almost feels like she cheated on it and it's so incredibly cheap.

And as much as I knew the Harry/Ginny thing was going to happen, I still cringed when it did. And DRACO got married? To a woman? *shakes head* Although she did still give us wiggle room there for us Harry/Draco shippers. Mostly I think we'll be looking at pre DH or pre epilogue fic for that ship from now on, though.

I'm also disappointed that we didn't learn more about the veil. I've always been curious about that ever since we first saw it in book 5, and... yeah, I'd been hoping...

But my reaction isn't all negative. Not in the slightest. I had so many varying reactions to so many things... my sister was watching me read for a bit near the beginning, and she said that I went from laughing to frowning to laughing again to cringing in less than a minute.

Snape. Oh, Snape. <333 That poor poor man. I'd guessed that he was in love with Lily, but I never would've figured that it went back that far. And oh, he was really so brave and funny and sweet and oh. *squishes him* Yes, he fell in with a bad crowd, but he was essentially a good man, and you can kind of see how that happened. His parents fought all the time, and he'd been rejected by the girl that he loved... he was just looking for acceptance from somebody, really.

And Kreacher! *snuggles him too* I was right on part of his story- I figured that Regulus had taken the house elf with him to the cave, but I'd thought that Regulus made Kreacher drink the potion. I'd never considered that Voldemort might've taken Kreacher first or the Regulus was actually affectionate toward him. It had to've been TORTURE for Kreacher to watch Regulus die. And then to not be able to fulfill his master's last wish? More torture. And probably why he went insane. *snuggles him more* And he turned out to be alright in the end. That was a surprise.

There are two characters that I love who I wanted to strangle in this book- Lupin and Ron. I know that fear can make people do things that they'd normally never, ever do, but... GUH. I was sitting there going, "And you're one of my favorite characters WHY?!" for both of them. At least they both ended up coming to their senses. Lupin was so cute when Ted was born, too. And then going, "I have pictures!" later to try and break the tension. ^_^

I still thought that the Lupin/Tonks thing seemed rather forced. And random. It came out of fucking nowhere in HBP, and DH didn't diminish that feeling at all. It was almost like JKR saw all the Sirius/Remus shipping and decided to go, "No, really, Remus is straight, see? *inserts totally random crack pairing*" And then to do that and just kill both of them off right after they have a kid? Jeez.

Fred! T_T I can't freaking believe... well, actually, I can. I thought she might kill one of the twins. But really... that was the death that hurt the most.

Eeeeeee, Ron/Hermione! *squee* I quite literally squeed (twice) when they finally, FINALLY kissed. *bounces* Really, just... it makes me so happy. <3 And I love how Harry was like, 'Uh, guys? People are kinda dying here.' And they were like, 'Oh, yeah, right. Forgot.' Hee. <333

Harry is obviously a much better person than I am- I don't think I could've forgiven Dumbledore. (And by the way, was it just me that thought that JKR was trying a little too hard with trying to redeem him with that weird in-limbo conversation?) I mean, the WHOLE TIME, he kept Harry alive for the sole purpose of getting him killed in the end. It wasn't just a possibility, he knew that Harry would have to die. This just seems very callous to me. When we saw Dumbledore in Snape's memories, talking about it like he didn't even fucking care, it just... I don't care what anyone says, Albus Dumbledore is not the man we've always thought him to be, and I can't say that I like him very much anymore. I know that no one is perfect, but sending a CHILD to death and not giving a shit? I can see his point, when he was talking to Harry. He's really not much better than Grindelwald, is he? Or Voldemort? He used everyone to his own ends without a second thought to how it would affect them... maybe this is coming out a bit wrong, because I'm not trying to say that Dumbledore was EVIL, but... I don't know how to explain it, really.

Though I did like finding out more about his background. I honestly didn't see any of that stuff coming.

I'm disappointed that Neville didn't kill Bellatrix. However, Neville was completely fantastic otherwise, so I feel like I really can't complain. ^_^ Eternal love for Neville. And Luna, too, while I'm at it. She was great. I love her. <3

I've never been a big fan of Dobby (he irritates me >_<), but oh. <3 Poor thing. And poor Hedwig too. T_T

And ~hello~ fanon Draco! Or was that just me? For once, he was actually decent and not a complete ass. He even kinda sorta helped them! Sort of. As much as he could've gotten away with in that sort of situation, anyway. And the Malfoys in general really impressed me, actually. They finally realized what the real deal was with Voldemort and were just trying to survive and protect each other. And Narcissa asking about Draco and then lying to Voldemort about Harry being dead? Love. <3 Lucius constantly asking about Draco? Also love. <3

And Dudley. Oh my god. It kind of sucks that Harry didn't get to kick his ass just for good measure, but... wow. Just wow. Never thought I'd see Dudley actually show gratefulness for everything. And concern for Harry's welfare. (!)

Alright. Enough rambling. I can't think of anything else to say at the moment, but I'm sure I'll post if I come up with something. XD