Deathly Hallows Thoughts - Spoiler Warning!

So the final Harry Potter novel was released this weekend. Mrs. X was very excited and as it was a very nice day outside, we happened to be outside playing with Toddler X when it arrived in the mail. She finished in about 24 hours, but this is also with sleeping and attending a little shindig with some former office co-workers. So I actually got to start reading the book before she had finished it.

Overall, I would say that it is a very good book. Very different from the six previous works, but I don’t think anyone would be overly surprised by that. Voldemort is not going to quietly die off while Harry preps for his NEWTs and captains Gryffindor to another Quidditch Championship. Instead, we get the classic hero quest.

I only have a few quibbles with the book. The middle is a little slow and I think if some of the things from the later portions of the book were placed in the middle, it might have alleviated some of the monotony. Granted, this gave her another opportunity to make Ron look like a moron, but I think we all have seen this in Ron before and it doesn’t gain us a whole lot.

Contrasting the middle, the end of the book races along and at times, it feels a tad bit rushed. Some of this is just the pacing of the action, but after 6 books of slow modified development, a racing ending feels a little out of place. Granted, it would have made the book longer, but I don’t think anyone but Rowling would have had a problem with that.

Continuing with length, I think a follow up chapter would have been good. I know the Epilogue was supposed to cover that, but I would have liked to seen a little attention paid to both the fruits of victory and the accompanying mourning of those who fell in the final battle. Of course, I would have also liked to seen Percy go apeshit on Rookwood after he killed Fred, but unfortunately, that didn’t happen. I can’t help but imagine a scene where after Percy realizes that Fred is dead, jumps up and attacks Rookwood in a blind rage, preferably killing him while screaming with bloodlust. Would have made a very interesting comeback for Percy.

Most people’s biggest flaw with the book is the Epilogue. I got a double hit on this, because I misinterpreted how it was to be done. I was expecting a listing of what happened to all major characters (similar to the Epilogue in Band of Brothers or similar tales) rather than a scene concerning a few of the main characters that didn’t really tell us anything (other than that Neville was the Herbology professor now). The other quibble with the Epilogue is that it really wasn’t that well written. Mrs. X pointed out that it felt like really poorly written fan fiction and that Rowling probably wrote it a very long time ago and never really bothered to rewrite it. As such, she hadn’t really applied what she had learned as an author to this section.

Despite these little quirks, I did thoroughly enjoy the book and I think the way the series ended was quite satisfying. I was quite amused reading through the book, how many times it felt like Rowling was deliberately answering a question someone had posed to her before the release of the book, or just shooting down elaborate theories spun by other people. Before the book was released, I read a great deal of elaborate back-stories that people invented on Red Hen. Many of them were quite good and a few of them were even validated. However, many more, especially the more outlandish ones, were blown to pieces. I have to say, this did not overly bother me. Sometimes the simplest way to tell a story is take the straightest path and I think that’s pretty much what Rowling did.

I haven’t caught the Today show interview yet, but I did read a release of it this morning. Apparently, Mr. Weasley was actually supposed to die from the bits Nagini gave him in OotP, but Rowling simply couldn’t kill him. This actually addresses a bit of a sticky point that Mrs. X pointed out as to how Mr. Weasley survived but Snape died, despite suffering almost the same injuries. We’ll just have to leave it as one of those plot points that authors are allowed to get away with once in a while.

The interview did not specifically state the follow up question as to who the two who died instead were, but some of the phrasing around the original question made me think that Lupin and Tonks deaths might have been the two she hadn’t originally been planning to kill. She did apparently say that she would go ahead and write the encyclopedia, although she plans to take a little break before taking that up. Given that she already has reams of material lying in various boxes, I don’t think it will much a writing effort, as it will be more of a compiling of what she already has. I know that she has repeatedly mentioned Dean Thomas’ back-story as one that she wants to tell. So we can now look forward to that and it will shoot down all the theories we will now formulate as to what happened to everyone after Deathly Hallows.

If you had to make me predict what everyone was doing, I would say that Harry takes to the academic circuit. He doesn’t teach at Hogwarts, but he guest lectures every once in a while. I also wouldn’t be surprised if the Ministry encourages him to write the Defense Against the Dark Arts standard textbook. Compiled with his inherited wealth, one can imagine Harry living quite comfortably while staying at home quite a lot. This would leave Ginny free to pursue her own career. Perhaps as an auror, although we’ve never seen enough of Ginny’s other side to wonder what her interests are.

I like to imagine Ron getting in with Magical Games and Sports Division of the ministry, especially once he realizes that he doesn’t quite have the temperament to be an auror. Hermione will probably agitate for Elvish rights and equal treatment for all creatures in some fashion. I’m sure she will continue SPEW as an outside force but some point she might try to work within the ministry to enact change, especially in the House-Elf Liaison office.

In her interview, Rowling mentioned that McGonagall would probably be passed over as headmistress due to her age. One could make the argument that the ministry decides to go the healing route and appoint a Hufflepuff headmistress and Prof. Sprout gets vaulted into the top job. This would clear the way for Neville to get appointed to the Herbology post immediately. However, it’s more likely that the ministry appoints an outside headmaster as an interim leader until things get settled down. This would give Neville time to either work out in the real world for a bit, or to stay on as Prof. Sprout’s assistant, until he gets the job when she retires.

Luna will eventually take over as editor of the Quibbler once her father retires, that much is just about certain. The only real question is whether she marries. I know some have liked the idea of her marrying Neville and I wouldn’t put it past them, given the friendship that they formed as being the leaders of the DA. I could also see Dumbledore’s Army being incorporated as an official group for advanced defense magic education and to be called on to defend Hogwarts if the need arises. Sort of like a wizard national guard. It would just be one more thing that Neville oversees during his tenure as professor.

I have a harder time imagining things for other characters, but I’m certain I could come up with good theories for each of them. I will say that I think that Kingsley should remain Minister of Magic for as long as he wants as he seems like he would be the most fair and honest MoM that has been seen for a while.

On a side note, Naomi Watts has been cast to play Narcissa Malfoy and Stuart Townsend has been cast to play Bill Weasley. Joseph Fiennes (Ralph Fiennes younger brother) has also been cast although his role has not been released. My guess is that he will be playing Tom Riddle Sr. Morfin Gaunt has also been speculated, but this would require a departure from the books since Voldemort is supposed to strongly favor his father in appearance. Having a strong resemblance to your mother’s brother would be a bit odd in that light; but in movies you can pick and choose how you do things.