October 12, 2014
Almost exactly 15 years ago, I began reading the Harry Potter series. I'm done with it now, and overall I was satisfied with how it ended. I mean, Harry killed Voldemort, which is what was supposed to happen all along. Many people say that the final book is the best in the series, but I disagree. Good, perhaps almost great, but not the best. I'll mainly focus on the stuff that nagged at me.
First off, it was Voldemort's own stupidity and pride that killed him in the end. He's pretty much a dumbass; a powerful wizard, sure, but really lacking in perspective when it comes to other people. For instance, he keeps accusing everyone, like literally everyone, of lying to him. Paranoid much? For sure; when Harry is inside Voldemort's head, he hears him thinking that he can't trust anybody. Plus, he's convinced that he's the only one who knows about certain places at Hogwarts, like the room of lost items and the Shrieking Shack. You'd think that he'd figure that, in the thirty or so years since he left school, that some other curious, clever students would go exploring, too. He really seemed to think that he was that much smarter than everybody else, and that was really his downfall.
I didn't really get Harry's reasoning as to how the Elder Wand was truly his, as the argument about it transferring from Dumbledore to Draco Malfoy didn't really hold. But fuck it, he then kills Voldemort, so whatevs, right? I don't know...
I wanted Percy to reunite with the Weasleys, but the way it was executed was cheesy and awkward. It would have been cool if, for instance, he'd been a spy in the Ministry for the Order, but his family didn't know until the last minute because they needed to keep up appearances, since Arthur had to go into hiding after the whole scene at the Malfoys's house. The whole scene was just bizarre, maybe a failed attempt at some lightheartedness and comic relief before the big battle.
Some characters die, of course, and I remember some die-hard fans getting worked up about Fred. I would have liked to have seen a lot more of George after that, missing an ear and his other half. Rowling made a point of having a brief epilogue showing Harry and Ginny with their kids, Hermoine and Ron, and even a married Draco, and briefly mentioned Neville's job as Herbology professor, why not more of the other characters? After Voldemort went down, the ending overall felt rushed.
Especially since much of the book dragged. Harry Potter belongs at Hogwarts, and the continued unsuccessful search for horcruxes while they camped out and bickered in the woods wasn't the most exciting. It's appropriate that the final battle took place at the school, that Harry killed Voldemort in the Great Hall. I almost would have rather spent the year at Hogwarts with Neville, seeing his continued resistance of the Death Eaters working there with Snape (not bad after all, as I always knew) as headmaster.
Oh, and the backstory about Snape's longtime love for Lily explained so much. Don't know if it makes him more sympathetic or more creepy...I guess both.
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