What follows here is my personal take on “The End” and obviously,
[cut text=”Here Be Spoilers”]
I liked it. I absolutely loved the first 30 or so chapters. It was packed with action and information, and though there were a few things I wasn’t a huge fan of (Lupin/Tonks, wtf?), I had no gripes.
Now, the Snape issue. I’ve said I would deny knowledge of all things HP if Snape turned out to be good, and now I’m going to explain why I’m not too upset by the ending. Dumbledore was dying. He would have died from the poison with or without Snape’s “help”. I care nothing about Draco’s soul, so the fact that Snape struck down DD is not heroic to me in anyway whatsoever. Snape was always a coward and a jerk, and nothing in Book 7 negates that, in my opinion. He still wanted Harry to die, and he still harbored hatred of James and Harry.
The deaths. Oh, my, the deaths. Mad-Eye dying gave me a sense of dread that I kept throughout the whole book. Now for the sadness. I cried, a lot, when Dobby died. It was totally due to the writing, as I was never a Dobby fan. I always liked Dobby, but I never would have thought his death would have me bawling. I think I was too much in shock to cry for Fred, but after I finished reading, it hurt pretty badly. Lupin’s death was unexpected, as I had been in the camp of “Lupin will die at Peter’s silver hand”. I had no emotional attachment to Tonks, but it was sad to know that Teddy had lost his mom, dad, and grandfather to the war.
The Epilogue. Hee! After such a dark, serious story, it seemed almost too schmaltzy. I like that my ships were supported and there can be no disputing of them. Neville teaching Herbology–perfection. I would like to have read that McGonagall was now Headmistress of Hogwarts, but a full ending for every character wasn’t the idea of the epilogue. I could have done without any Severus mention, but hey, I can always take a Sharpie to that section. I’m a little confused as to who Victoire is, but I’m sure I’ll pick it up somewhere in fandom.–Popular opinion is that she’s Bill and Fleur’s daughter.[/cut]
So there you have it.
I can’t wait to see what everyone else thinks.
Agree? Disagree?
Reading it at all?