Pajiba

Great review, and I fully concur.

My love for Potter makes sense now that I consider I grew up loving the Narnia and Dark is Rising series, I guess, though I'd have to say Rowling's books trump them both.

and... a comment full of typos. Sigh.

The conclusion of the series was a painful experience for me. Having grown up with the books -- and having their conclusion fall squarely between my high school graduation and my 18th birthday -- I feel as though there's somewhat of an empty hole where the mystery that is Harry Potter should go. That being said, I feel like JK Rowling wrapped up the series admirably. It was, at least, a satisfying ending. Hey, Dumbledore got a flaw, which endeared me to him even more!

PS: for your list, try the "Sabriel" series. I recommend trying it out.

True, there were promised answers that never came, but there were enough both gut-wrenching and expository scenes to make up for it, at least temporarily, to a die-hard fan.

Interestingly, though, I did not find the ending convoluted. Yeah, the pairing off was a bit... blah... but I, personally, would have imagined those couples living happily ever after anyway. I wish it would have given more information on more characters (see: Weasley, George and Lovegood, Luna), but overall, I approved. The epilogue was written with the first chapters of the first book, so it has the lighthearted feeling of Harry's youth, rather than the more "adult" feeling the books had grown into. And the flash to the future gave assurance that Voldemort wasn't going to come back... AGAIN. It was a lesson that rings of the poems at the beginning, to give the children hope -- that's what Harry does for (son) Albus at the end.
Most importantly, it brought the series full circle.

re: other series to check out, Garth Nix's The Seventh Tower series is perhaps even more enjoyable than his Keys to the Kingdom.

Bonnie- word on Wrinkle in Time. I absolutely loved those books.

I think the critic for Time said that the great thing about HP is that these books made us "lose our cool." It's impossible to maintain the kind of cynical, hipster-ironic detachment that characterises so much of our society today when faced with something like Harry Potter. I definately wasn't cool while reading the seventh- I cried like a tiny baby more often than I care to admit.

Not quite sure how the "PS" ended in the middle. But, umm, to make this NOT a useless comment, let me second bonnie's vote for "A Wrinkle In Time."

Right On! I love HP and I am filled with such an incredible amount of bittersweet feelings for the series. I'm glad that it's over and I know the conclusion, but I'm sad that it's over too. I've been reading HP since I was 15 and it's been a huge part of my life.

Phillip, could you elaborate on the two times that: "Rowling stumble in an effort to tie up all loose ends"?

I loved this book, and I fully intend to re-read the entire series from the beginning...this time paying attention to the little things, since so many seemingly insignificant details mattered so greatly in the end. I plan on reading these books with my future children (as corny as that may sound). I am proud to say that, at age 29, my imagination is still intact, and I hope that someday I will be able to instill the importance of preserving one's imagination in my children's minds and hearts. A healthy imagination and willingness to depart from reality from time to time is the only thing that keeps me sane - and smiling - these days.

"The epilogue was written with the first chapters of the first book, so it has the lighthearted feeling of Harry's youth, rather than the more "adult" feeling the books had grown into."

Now THAT is interesting...and very revealing.

Another great fantasy/adventure series is Redwall by Brian Jacques.

The epilogue can suck my balls. Should've ended with the last real chapter.

It didn't hit me until later, a few hours after I'd finished, that Snape's last request was to see Harry's (and so, Lily's) eyes. Between that and Dobby, there wasn't a dry eye in my (one-person) apartment.

I thought that Victorie might be the daughter of Bill and Fleur. Since she was part of the family.

I still can't believe Percy lived. The prat deserved to die. And Neville needed to be the one to kill Bellatrix, with her own wand. But other than that, what a great finale.

SPOILER
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Responding to a few comments -

I saw somewhere that Victoire might be the offspring of Bill and Fleur. Would make sense given the comment about Teddy becoming part of the family.

RE: the name Albus Severus - Snape saved Harry. Yeah, he had his own reasons, but he still saved Harry. And as far as treating him like shit, how would you feel if the only reminder of the love of your life was also the reason she died and, oh yeah, he happens to be the spawn of your high school nemesis. In the words of Chris Rock, I don't condone it, but I understand.

Great review, Phillip. I've been reading Harry since I was 13 (when the first book became popular) and I loved having the journey wrapped up in such a satisfying way. I second Victor big time on the Ice and Fire books- fantastically written, in a way that recalls Guy Kay's historical fantasy epics. I'm feeling a bit of a parallel between Ice & Fire and Harry Potter in terms of the time between book releases - when are we going to see the next one?

I assumed that Victoire was the daughter of Bill and Fleur. Harry's son James says that she is his cousin, and since Harry is an only child, it must mean Victoire is one of Ginny's brothers' children; plus, Fleur is French and Victoire is a French name.

**Semi-Spoiler**

And as far as Harry naming his kid "Albus Severus"...I think that it's supposed to show how Harry is set apart from people like Snape and Voldemort, in that he doesn't feel the need to spend his life seeking vengeance on others. It's maybe a little unrealistic to think that Harry would name someone after Snape (I was surprised that there wasn't anyone running around named after Fred) but "The Prince's Tale" did a marvelous job of redeeming Snape as a sympathetic character, and ultimately one that Harry could relate to: a lonely child, unwanted, with gifts that make him seem freakish to other people. It was something that Harry could do so that Snape, still all alone as he died, would be remembered, and be remembered as a better person that most people would think.

shyestviolet!!! YOU are a genius. I did not get the whole looking into Harry/Lily's eyes at the last moment--totally missed the import there. Now I'm all weepy on the inside.

Another vote for the "A Wrinkle in Time" trilogy which is still the best children's fantasy ever written. I love those characters in a way I can't love the Potter gang. They're like family.

shyestviolet : "It didn't hit me until later, a few hours after I'd finished, that Snape's last request was to see Harry's (and so, Lily's) eyes. Between that and Dobby, there wasn't a dry eye in my (one-person) apartment."

Whoa- I'm feeling stupid as hell because I didn't even realize this, and after all this talk of how Harry's eyes were so important!!! Was there a specific part that which clarified this?

There's been a lot of bitching about the epilogue (here and elsewhere) and while I didn't enjoy it much (too damn Disney), I fully understand why it was there. Rowling is done with the series. I suspect it's there for her sanity much more than for the fans' appreciation of knowing what happens. Although I cannot for the life of me understand what Harry is supposed to be doing for a living. He, if anyone, should teach DADA.

Loved it, read it in record time. I will now re-read it, though, because I was reading so fast (I needed to know what happened next!!) that I am sure I missed many of the lovely details.

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Spoiler:
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I was completely wrecked about Dobby. :-(

I don't recall Snape allowing for students to be tortured when he was Headmaster. The only thing I remember was that his punishment for Ginny, Luna, and Neville was to send them to the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid, and even Harry laughed at that.

I liked the book right up until the epilogue. There were a few plot points that seemed unnecessary and a few that weren't explained to my satisfaction, but oh, well. Then I got to the epilogue, and it kind of ruined it for me. It wasn't what was written in the epilogue--I love happy endings--but how it was done.

One of my favorite things about Rowling is that she creates wonderful book excerpts and newspaper articles to back up the story--couldn't she have done that instead of dropping the sappiness on us? It didn't really feel like an ending at all.

I loved the Redwall books, and it felt like Rowling was trying to do what Jacques does, but in a very awkward way.

Also, on the fluffier, yet way scarier, side of kid's magical fantasy is John Bellairs--"The House With a Clock in its Walls" is one I've read probably ten times since I was a tyke, and it's still amazing.

Wait...I read it so fast, I must have missed this. When did Snape say he wanted to see Harry's/Lily's eyes?

Also, and this is just nit-picking, but the thing that bugged me most (besides the completely unnecessary epilogue--for goodness' sake, did it really need to be spelled out for us that Harry would marry Ginny and Ron would marry Hermione and that their kids would go to Hogwarts? Sheesh) was the disappearance of the basalisk fangs. They make a big deal of going to get them, and that it was Ron's idea, and then they drop them, and pick them up, armfuls of them, and then...what? Where the hell did they go? It's a minor point, but I jsut kept waiting for them to be used (Ron's one good idea), and they never came back. It was in the back of my mind the whole time Harry and Voldemort were fighting.

Still, though, the blemish of the missing basilisk fangs is nothing compared to the blight of the epilogue. I'll have to read the book again and skip the epilogue, and imagine my own fairy tale ending. I'm sure it will be better, and it will definitely feature Harry and Ginny's twins, Fred and Fredericka.

To all the people who recommended A Song of Ice and Fire - I fully concur, but I think Philip was recommending children's fantasy series, and I would definately not recommend ASOIAF to children.

I'm glad everyone else in the world thinks the epilogue is a copout, but I guess I'd be more pissed if there wasn't one. I just really wanted to know what happened to Luna! And well, everyone else. But her especially.

And I totally didn't get that about the meaning of Victoire's name until I saw Lee's comment. D'oh!

Long-time reader, and this review & subsequent comments have encouraged me to de-lurk.

In terms of post-Potter reading, I recommend Stephen Erikson's series, The Malazan Books of the Fallen; there's absolutely no shame in getting sucked into this series. First volume is called Gardens of the Moon, and the series is worthy of every praise offered to Rowling in this review: the depth of world-building, the intricate strata of plots (mystery, humour, epic, and so on).

Spoilers below, obviously ...

My husband and I spent all weekend reading it out loud to each other. We suffered cracked voices and wet eyes in many parts, and cheers as well (GO NEVILLE!).

I am certain Victorie was Bill & Fleur's daughter.

I second the commenter that said the epilogue was meant for finality, so we know that there won't be another book. It kind of reminded me of Jurassic Park: The Lost World, with the "King Kong" ending, hoping to trump any further sequel.

I also wish we knew more about Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione in the epilogue. I wanted Harry to be the new Headmaster, or the DADA teacher. But he and the others dropped out of school. You can't be a teacher, presumably, if you are a Hogwarts dropout.

"The Prince's Tale" TORE ME UP.

I had one serious plot question:

How did Neville get the sword from the Sorting Hat, when the last time we saw it, Griphook the Goblin was running off with it?

Spoilers:
The sword:
Oh and I assume that Neville got the sword the same way Harry did. I don't think the sword was actually in the hat. I think the hat recognized a Gryffindor in need and brought the sword magically to them from wherever it was in the first place. I think that nasty goblin got the surprise of his life when the sword disappeared from his possession.

Like some other people here, I grew up reading Harry Potter. I started at 10 and now at 18, I'm not sure what I'm gonna obsess over now.

Sigh, as much as I loved the book, the ending ruined it for me. In all of the other books, I was surprised at the ending. I don't know if it's because I spent so much time in HP fandom that I read a *lot* of theories and fanfiction, but everything that happened in the end had been so overdone in fandom. Sigh. She always said that no one had guessed the ending and by that she could only have meant the role that the Deathly Hallows (which is still unclear to me, but whatever) because everything else has been talked over and oever again since Half-Blood Prince came out.

*spoilers*

As for the epilogue, apparently it was the very first thing that Rowling wrote (though she updated it a little) and I can't believe she put that in. It's been a long time and her writing improved since then. The epilogue was just crap. -.- It was all about love and normality for Harry, but it was sappy and bad as hell. Couldn't she at least have said what the trio was doing for a living?

And Albus Severus? Really? The two people who were responsible for your horrible childhood (them and Voldemort), Harry? Do you want your kid to be beat up daily? And is James's middle name Sirius? Because he was the only father figure you ever knew. And glad to know Ginny was a part of naming the kids, dude.

Kaonashi:

I was referring to the Carrows torturing the students. As Headmaster, Snape let this happen.

I understand the very good points everyone is making about naming the child Albus Severus. I personally felt that it was a bit out of character for Harry, but I can deal with the idea of forgiving Snape. Fine. :)

Other unresolved things: I wonder if Draco married Pansy Parkinson? Hopefully she got her wish after years of petting him.

Did anyone else feel like the entire concept of the Deathly Hallows was a bit superfluous? It seemed like they could have just destroyed the Horcruxes, killed Voldemort, and voila! The end. It contributed to our understanding of Dumbledore, for sure, but would we have learned more about other characters if the time had not been devoted to the Hallows?

*SPOILER*

Why isn't anyone mentioning the tragic death of Hedwig!?

I had to put the book down and walk away. And this was within the first couple of chapters!

I highly recommend David Eddings Belgariad series and its sequel the Mallorian saga for anyone going into fantasy withdrawal. Eddings has wonderfully drawn and developed characters and great sense of humor to lighten the heavy points.

I second the vote for John Bellairs, definitely one of my favourites growing up.

Thank you bluetara! My assumption was that of course Fred's name would be reserved for his twin's future children. I would have loved to see Neville and Luna end up together and I can't believe that Hermione isn't Minister of Magic or Headmaster of Hogwarts. I guess that JK wanted to leave her audience with a little room for imagination. But still, I loved Neville from the very beginning, I just knew that he was destined for greatness. His life mirrored Harry's in so many ways, I was kind of expecting him to become a leader in Harry's absence which is exactly what he did.

I loved the book.Almost everything ended the way I expected/wanted.I wondered at first about why Ron or Ginny didn't name one of their children Fred, but when you think about it they were the two youngest Weasleys and I assume that one of their older siblings probably already named a child after Fred.

"It didn't hit me until later, a few hours after I'd finished, that Snape's last request was to see Harry's (and so, Lily's) eyes."

Oh *sob*! In my haste to get to the end of this book, I fear I may have missed a few of the finer details. Thanks so much for pointing that one out, I feel a little overwhelmed right now.

As for the book in general, I think it was the sweetest end she could have given. I was expecting one of the 'triumvirate' to be killed off, so was so pleased that she was kind!

"Fuck all this - Rowling owes me at least a sentence stating that George kept the damn Weasley Wheezes business going."

Good point, but in my mind, he so does.

It was a pretty great conclusion to the series. I always liked Rowling's action scenes in the books, and was immensely disappointed that they could never transfer well to the films because they would have been good & exciting scenes in the movie (I mean come on, Ministry of Magic battle scene my ass).

The series has gotten so big that it seemed that any ending she could have chosen would have seemed cliched, yet I think she carried it off quite well enough that it proves she is a better writer than we can assume she is. These books have quite a lot of depth to them, and certainly they grow with age. And honestly, a book like that which entices and hooks children on reading has to be a great book as it seems that literacy isn't so well-valued anymore.

More books:
Anything written by Neal Stephenson (Snow Crash, The Diamond Age, Zodiac)
A Wrinkle In Time series by Madeleine L'Engle
The Eyre Affair series by Jasper Fforde

The first and last selections are a bit more grown-up, by the way, but I am sure that age matters little when it comes to reading.

I see that many of you didn't like the epilogue and, while I understand where you are coming from, I thought it was fitting. People are complaining that JKR went back to her light and cheery writing style from the beginning of the first book (and I am intrigued to find out here that she wrote it along with those first chapters!). But why would she re-write the epilogue into a darker style she developed while writing the other books when the epilogue is taking place almost 2 decades after Voldemort's downfall? The darker style was fitting in books 3-7 because Dark Magic was taking over and everyone was in grave danger. In the epilogue, cheesy as it may be, everything really is all sunshine and puppies without the threat of Voldemort. The light-hearted style is very fitting, in my opinion.

My problem with the epilogue is that, like many others here, I wish we could have found out what happened to many of the other characters. Luna, George, the rest of the Weasleys, careers for the trio...

The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede is also an excellent fantasy series. I reread them in 7th grade concurrently with the first three Harry Potters and enjoyed both series a lot. The Enchanted Forest books are funny and subversive, and the wizards are evil in this series. I think I ended up doing book reports on a book from each series for English class. I miss middle school assignments; now I have to read really depressingly boring textbooks for credit. Thanks, college.

Loved it, as for those who think the ending was to happy or sappy, what was JK supposed to do? Kill everyone? Have Harry become a haunted embittered veteran? For Luna to go into porn? WHAT?

jeeeeeeez

Does anyone else find it highly unlikely that there WON'T be an eighth book? I mean, what Rowling said is basically "never say never" which, when it comes to sequels, might as well mean it's inevitable.

On another, completely spoiling note, what the hell is the deal with killing Lupin AND Tonks? First the unbelievably idiotic and cliched pregnancy, which betrayed both characters and made me want to vomit, and then they die soon after she made them fall in love with eachother and made them probably the most likable characters in the books. We didn't even see HOW they died. It was just thrown in there for a little extra "darkness."

I would like to see some more criticism of the book out there. I do love the books, having read them since 3rd grade, but in both of the last two there were huge flaws and it just feels like everyone is ignoring those in favor of looking at only the good bits. Do we really need another glowing, vague review of this book?

I felt it was a great ending. Many of the deaths were hard on me personally. Having twins the thought of one with out the other... just heartbreaking. Colin Creevey was what 10 or 11? Tonks & Lupin just had a baby for crying out loud!!

Snape OMG!!! My Snape!!! I could not even breathe when I was reading it. (Alan Rickman I can't even wait)

I think too that all of these people even the very powerful and clever had their issues as everyone does. I think Harry was able to see that and love Sirius, DD, Lupin ect... anyway. And maybe just respect Snape for the 100s of times he got his ass out of hot water. Perhaps for never forgetting Lily.

"re the Basilisk Fangs - Ron and Hermione used one to destroy one of the horcruxes - the cup I believe."

And then the diadem was destroyed by the Fiendfyre that Goyle started. Hermione said that the magical fire was a weapon against Horcruxes, but that she didn't consider using it because it was too volatile. After that, the only Horcrux left was Nagini and Harry himself, so it wasn't a big deal that the Basilisk fangs were lost.

I thought the book was good, yes. But it was a few degrees from being great, and it had the potential to be truly great.
I thought some of the deaths were pointless, included just to pull at heartstrings (Remus and Tonks) and some were just cruelly timed (Fred).
But what really bothered me was the length of time spent camping in various forests while for at least 70 pages it just seemed like "Where are the Horcruxes?" "I don't know." "Why don't you know?" "Because I don't know."
The chapter about Snape was wonderful because it accomplished a great deal. If there had been more moments like that, the book would have benefitted. Dumbledore's hidden past seemed a little too quick for me. There had been no hints at this in prior books and it just seemed hastily thought up and executed.
And I hated the epilogue. It seemed to neat and easy.
However, I realized today as I'm preparing to see the 5th movie again that now everytime I see Fred Weasley in a movie (I LOVE the twins) that I'm just going to get sad and think "You're gonna die."

My only real complaint about the ending was the names. A lot of what Harry was dealing with was left over from his parents' generation, and so a lot of what happened from Prisoner of Azkaband on seemed to be history replaying itself. Knowing that he named his kids after all the major players of the generation before - well, I wish he'd left the past in the past, you know?

I choose to believe Hermione teaches History of Magic, myself.

I hate all of you, as I currently live in Japan and won't be seeing a copy of the book for a few weeks at least, while you all sit around in your smoking jackets with a snifter of fine brandy and a smouldering cigar, discussing what should be and inevitably is a really great book.

A pox on you all, and a pox on all your houses.

Posted by: Some Guy at July 24, 2007 8:35 PM
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Doode, you're on the internet, USE IT! Torrent the fucker and then buy it (if you feel guilty about).

-The Sword of Gryffindor would make itself known to only a true Gryffindor (meaning someone who was honest, brave and true - and Neville was all three), and so it was available to Neville when he was at his greatest need.

-The Basilisk fangs were used by Hermione and Ron to destroy Hufflepuff's cup, and were no longer needed when Ravenclaw's diadem was destroyed in the Fiendfyre.

-Dumbledore's past was never brought up in earlier books because 1) not many people were still alive who would remember what had happened, and 2) those that did adored Dumbledore and chose only to believe that he was the greatest wizard of all time - the past that people learned about and believed in was his heroic, legendary past.

-I had absolutely no issue with the Epilogue, mainly because I took its lighthearted, simplistic tone as a sign that life in the wizarding world had greatly improved since Harry's childhood, and that everyone lived in peace and happiness...which is fine by me.

-I always figured Harry would become an Auror, since that was his goal...but without Voldemort and dark wizards, would he need to? He could have become a professional Seeker, both he and Ginny were great at Quidditch. It seems Nevile was the only one to become a teacher at Hogwarts. And Luna? She's editing The Quibbler, of course.

i feel like i grew up with harry; i started reading the books when i was 11 (harry's age in the first book) and now that the series has ended, i'm only a bit older than he is in the last book. i absolutely love this book...by far the best out of the HP series; it certainly has its flaws, but the ending is just so goddamn satisfying. the epilogue wasn't necessary, but i'm glad it was kind of vague - i'd prefer to imagine how everyone ends up the way i want them to end up. oh, and snape definitely redeemed himself - he had some of the saddest/best quotes of the entire book. i lost it when dumbledore comments on snape's patronus, saying,

"After all this time?"
... "Always." (or something like that, i'm quoting from memory)

Other books for the young 'uns:

Sabriel, Lirael, Abhorson- Garth Nix (freaking awesome)

Wee Free Men, Hat Full of Sky- Terry Pratchett

Anything and Everything by Tamora Pierce (her Alannah books absolutely got me through elementary school)

Beauty, Blue Sword, Outlaws of Sherwood - Robin McKinley

Enchanted Forest books - Patricia C. Wrede

Re: Harry Potter-
I didn't mind the epilogue except that what with naming all of the kids after other characters, I had a hard time keeping straight who was who. And George and Luna?!?!?

I didn't expect this book to be as powerful as it was. I didn't think Rowling would be able to pull it all together and frankly, I didn't think I cared enough about the characters to get really emotionally involved. Man-oh-man was I wrong... two days later I'm still taking it a bit hard (I just graduated college as well so the whole 'endings' thing is coming on strong)

I totally whooped and hollered when Neville came into his own. I love love love that boy.

I absolutely loved the book and had the most perfect weekend of the summer, reading it in the garden, with a bar of chocolate handy! I think JK Rowling did an admirable job of tying up the loose ends. I felt the epilogue was a neat Happy Ever After contrivance, even if it did not, and could not,answer even half our burning questions about the characters' futures.
As for other children's fantasy - anything by Diana Wynne Jones is wonderful reading. She too offers schools of wizardry (pre-Harry Potter) in her Chrestomanci novels, aimed at younger readers, but something like Fire and Hemlock is a satisfying read for older children and adults alike, particularly if you have a nodding acquaintance with the old English and Scottish border ballads. She deserves a much wider readership.
Thank you JK Rowling for all the years of good storytelling you have given us. How amazing to think that for one weekend, people all over the world were immersed in the same book, and how wonderful it is that we can all talk about it together now.

YES SPOILERS

"i lost it when dumbledore comments on snape's patronus, saying,

"After all this time?"
... "Always." "

I had to go back for that. She's done that several times. Stage a significant moment without telling you what's going on. Like, "okay, sooo....he sent that doe to the forest.......and?" Then two or three chapters later Harry explains it to Tom and "wait, lemme go back......OH GAWD!" I didn't pick up on the eyes either and saw someone mention it at veritaserum's forums. "Oh! OHHHH!!" These things can get past me, but the best verrklempt moments, for me, tend to happen when revisiting. The Salon review of the first book mentioned Harry first seeing the Mirror of Erised and just seeing that bit quoted choked me up. "He pressed his hands to the glass. 'I'll come back'". Oy! Dobby and Kreacher inspired both the sad and happy kind of losing it. Even fuckin Oliver (Major) Wood apparated in!

The news of a likely encyclopedia is very cheering, since I think it'd be silly to try to write another novel for the sake of it when the drama is over, but that veil was still kinda left open to interpretation. "Cause it's a MYSTERY! Get it, kid? We don't know what it is!!"

The Baltimore Sun, while going for the stunt early review (Yes, yes NY Times, no one has to read it if they don't want to, and you legally bought it after someone tipped you off that someone was illegally selling it, but, it WAS a stunt) may have put the maligned epilogue the best. She gave him what he'd always wanted--a family. Just a nice, normal family. Give the children triumph. 'Hell with anybody wants to hate on that!

I cried through "The Prince's Tale". I'm not one to cry at books, movies, ect. but it was easily the most heartberaking thing I've ever read. The whole (idk what to call it) heaven thing really kind of blew, but other than that the book met all of my expectations. I even enjoyed the epilogue for the most part.

SPOILERS!!

I really enjoyed this book. I was completely satisfied, yet devastated at the same time that the Potter-universe is over. I've never really liked the films that much, but now I'm looking forward to them just so that I can stretch out the experience.

I had one question (that may be evry obvious) at the end, in the epilogue, when Harry looks at his watch that used to belong to Someone-or-other Prewett (or something) what is that meant to refer to?

also, can someone please direct me to a Harry Potter forum that is good? I'm having trouble finding one that isn't still filled with spoecualtions and spoilers.

Also, my series to add to the list is called the OBERNEWTYN chronicles, by Isobelle Carmody. She is an Australian author, so I don't know if the books are easily found in the States, but give the series a go: they are so awesome, and I need people to share the awesomeness with. Also, second the vote for His Dark Materials trilogy - awesome.

I am actually really really sad that its all over now!

I had all these somewhat insightful, interesting things to say, having just finished the book, but then Kolby had to go and say them all.

I will add that I think Neville's journey throughout the books was pretty well done. He starts off as not much more than a punchline, the awkward kid in Gryffindor who can't seem do anything right. As the books progress, we learn that his parents were famous Aurors who suffered a cruel fate at the hands of Voldemort. He see him mature and find his niche in Herbology and he starts to leave the awkward doofus behind. By the last book, he's lived up to this parents' name, becoming every bit the hero they were (and yes, I would gladly have traded 50 pages or so of the Hoorcrux bitching for more glimpses of the student rebellion at Hogwarts).

As Rowling reminds us repeatedly, the sword of Godric Griffyndor can only be used by a true member of the house, one who embodies the spirit of bravery and heroism that unites its occupants. By the end, Neville is more than worthy of that tradition (and remember, he was the other candidate in the prophecy for the Chosen one), and when he reaches into the sorting hat, as Harry did before him, he finds the weapon he needs to lay waste to his enemies.

SPOILERS... I guess...

What the hell is with everyone complaining about the epilogue? Whining about it being "unnecessary" and such forth... wtf? That's the whole fucking payoff, you gits! Yes, there are things in there that did not NEED to be spelled out, but how many times did Harry say, over and over, he wanted to just have a nice, normal life? To be happy? To have a family?

And you expect her to write the whole goddamned series and never put in a scene where he GETS THAT ONE WISH?

Man, fuck all y'all.

The epilogue is what the whole blasted thing has been about - Harry getting to live the life he wanted. Friends, family, security and comfort, and no one trying to take it away from him, no one trying to mess it up.

And no, before anyone says it, it would NOT have been enough to leave it "implied." Harry deserves - we deserve - that payoff.

And, for the record, I didn't notice a discernable difference in the writing style of the epilogue and the rest of the book. Rowling's prose has always been servicable at best, and I'm certain she revised the epilogue for diction and flow before she included it - I mean, seriously, come on, people. Rowling's pedestrian writing style has earned her contempt from a world of critics whose senses are attuned to the realm of literary fiction, where you don't have to write about anything as long as you do it with panache. Frankly, I could do without the bon mots of so called literary fiction; I like that Rowling cast her lot with structural depth, not rhetorical flourishes. Who cares if the prose is uninspiring? There's something larger at work. And the people complaining about the epilogue have ENTIRELY FUCKING MISSED IT.

Saying that I have a problem with the epilogue doesn't mean that I don't want Harry to be able to have a normal life with the family he always wanted. I just wished it had been better written, given us more information on other characters, and told us about the rebuilding of the wizarding world. Instead, we just got to see Harry's kids, all named after dead people, running around. I was left wondering if they planned on having more so they could name kids after Sirius, Remus, Tonks, hell, maybe even Dobby.

My only other problem with the book is that she completely shafted Ginny's character. JKR went on and on about how Ginny was Harry's equal and a very powerful witch, but she didn't do anything. Even Trelawney had a more memorable battle scene. I figured we'd get some stuff about when she was possessed by the diary and she'd have some valuable information to give Harry, but that wasn't even brought up. I'd have loved a chapter on the rebellion at Hogwarts, perhaps in exchange for one of the chapters where the Trio wander through England, sniping at each other.

And here's a random question: Anyone else wonder if Ariana Dumbledore had been raped? She left it vague enough that little kids wouldn't pick up on it, but I definitely got that impression.

kaija: i'm just guessing, but i think the baby thing in king's cross was the piece of voldemort's soul that was in harry.

Excellent review, and thank you for no spoilers. I know better than to read the comments before mine as they will be FILLED with them. I won't get my hands on Book 7 until the middle of August, so I'm going to be careful of what I read online.

Surely JK's next book will be what happens in the intervening 19 years. Take a rest, spend some of that money, and then get to work. I'll supply the napkins.

Yeah, I would've liked to have seen more Ginny, but in a way I guess it was kind of fitting. I did have to remind myself that she had a good role in Phoenix and then even bigger in Half-Blood cementing her as a badass, but it still came back to Harry's "I've gotta do this alone" followed by "not without US" from Ron and Hermione. Harry held to what he said about keeping people out of danger if he could help it, and indeed agonized over it through the rest of the story. Plus Ron warned him to not fuck with her head. Even with the omniscient narrator I don't think you're ever around anyone on Harry's side unless he's there. That's been the consistent style, so you never know much more than Harry, and Harry's deliberately cutting himself off. But it's still telling that yet again Ginny was being told to stay out of the way and ran into the thick of it with Hermione and Luna.

It must have been deliberate to make it so isolated for a while as you get into the mindset of the trio. "Oh, yeah, Hogwarts". You get the sense they're running around without time to think and completely lose track of themselves. And then I think, "well, we're getting along in the pages, so...what about the Horcrux quest?" and Ron says, "hey, where the hell are you going? Aren't we on a mission here?. Aw, screw this". And then Dumbledore and Snape have to get them back into gear with the sword. Nonetheless I thought it was interesting to get them aimless in the middle, where the previous three books took forever to just initially get going. I shot through Chamber and Azkaban then stalled in Goblet for a few months when it refused to move.

In an MSNBC interview, Rowling admitted that she had originally intended to kill Mr. Weasley, back in "Goblet," but she couldn't do it. He got the reprieve.

I'm surprised no one's mentioned the "Oz" books. They were the first fantasy books I read as a kid.

I can imagine the conversations Harry had with Ginny in naming their youngest child:

HARRY: I'd like to name our boy Albus Severus.

GINNY: Don't I get a say in this? Our first two children are already named after your parents. What about not naming our baby after someone who isn't dead?

HARRY: I figured you wouldn't mind since I after all saved you from a basilisk when you were 11 years old, saved your father when he was bitten by a snake...and oh yeah, defeated Lord Voldemort several times, thus saving the entire wizarding community and pretty much the world.

GINNY: (muttering under breath)

HARRY: Albus Severus it is then.

Sorry, posted this in the wrong place.

I have inhaled these books from their inception, and I am an active member in fandom. While this book ultimately achieved what the last book in the series was meant to achieve, maintaining Harry's innocence while fulfilling of the prophecy and NOT killing Voldemort (vanquishing him with a paltry spell), the book, IMO, was tired. The contrivances were endless, as she tries to marshal the trio from plot point to plot point. I'm not going to list them here, this is not the place, but in several key instances I wondered if Harry had taken stupid pills. The book succeeds as the final installment of the concept, but it fails utterly as a book.

I loved the epilogue. Loved it. I can't believe the stir about these kids names - who cares? It was a lovely end to an amazing series.
My kids have grown up with this series, and I have watched them enjoy it, and I have enjoyed them myself. It was hard to say goodbye to them, but what a wonderful end.

***spoiler***
Though I wonder who would read down this far and not already have seen plenty of spoilers....

I'd like to give another Hoorah! for Neville. As soon as Voldemort brought out the Sorting Hat (though it seemed odd that he did) I thought, "Now Neville needs to pull the sword of Gryffindor out of it." So maybe that part was predictable for me but I loved it anyway. Neville rocks.

spot on. i absolutely fell in love with this series when, one fateful day in my freshman year of college, i fell ill with the flu and my best friend on campus loaned me the first couple HP books to pass the time. i'm so glad she insisted; until that point i'd been adamant that no book could be as good as the hype made it out to be.

i thought they were just as worthy of all the hype as they could have been, if not more so. i've spent six years with harry potter, and read this last piece of the story with sadness that it was ending, but happiness at even having it to begin with. true, we didn't get some answers. the ending was a bit treacly. some characters' deaths felt a bit tacked on. but seriously, i'd like to see somebody else write a seven-book, thousand-page, multi-layered story with a world so astonishingly real and multi-faceted as rowling has done. she's done an amazing job and upon closing the book, my first words were 'thank you.' she's given us something amazing that we can cherish for years to come, and i won't begrudge her a few little plot quibbles here and there. bang-up job, i say. simply amazing.

also, as for fantasy/epic/whatnot stories and series, i'd recommend the gormenghast novels by mervyn peake. astounding writing. it takes awhile to get going, but my is it ever worth it.

SPOILER

I'm nearly done my second go of the book, and I'm still totally in love with it. Yes there are some weak points and the plot can be a little convoluted at times, but I echo a lot of people when I say that I found it totally satisfying.

"I laughed, I cried" is such a cliche, but I really did do both (maybe a little more of the latter). Dobby and Fred's deaths were devastating, but the thing that got me the most was definitely "The Prince's Tale." I love how it only quasi-redeemed Snape: yes, he was on the good side, but not out of morals or principles, but out of plain, heartbreaking, unrequited love. We see that Lily may have broken his heart, but she saved his soul in the end.

And I know it's totally random but although he's always irritated me, I cried even harder when Percy refused to leave Fred's body, and I know it doesn't make sense for a brother's death to give a person a sense of humour, but in my head, Percy DOES ditch the Ministry like he said and he's the one who continues WWW with George.

FUCK YEAH SABRIEL!!!

Here's the thing about the epilogue: A lot of adults hate it and are bitching about it, but keep in mind that the books were always meant to be for kids. Even in 2007, with all the pain and suffering in the world being beamed into their homes 24/7 on CNN and the damn MTV trying to turn them all into whores by the time they're 12, kids still need to know that "They all lived happily ever after."

Count me as one dad who was glad to read it too.

Question about to cover: (SPOILER)

Is that supposed to be Harry and Voldemort both reaching for the Elder Wand after Harry cast Expeliarmus?

Books 1 to 3 were really imaginative and appealed to children and adults alike. Books 4 to 6 had complex themes and plots, appealing to a slightly older group of readers. Book 7 was very disappointing, and I could tell that Rowling rushed it. Anyone who disagrees is wrong, in my opinion. The loose ends felt very tacked on, although there were some good scenes, such as King's Cross and The Prince's Tale. However, it was really convulsed. Don't deny it; this book will remain the ugly duckling of a fantastic series for all time.

Email me if you think I'm missing something, because I'm not much of an expert.

Loved the book; it was a fitting end to the whole series. Including the epilogue, in which Harry finally gets the family and the peaceful life he'd been long denied.

Per Bartap's comment above:

As Rowling reminds us repeatedly, the sword of Godric Griffyndor can only be used by a true member of the house, one who embodies the spirit of bravery and heroism that unites its occupants. By the end, Neville is more than worthy of that tradition (and remember, he was the other candidate in the prophecy for the Chosen one), and when he reaches into the sorting hat, as Harry did before him, he finds the weapon he needs to lay waste to his enemies.

The same could be said of Ron Weasley, who briefly fled the fellowship/quest he shared with Harry and Hermione, yet returned to save Harry's life, retrieve the Gryffindor sword and destroy the locket. Of the three central characters, Ron was clearly the weakest and most bumbling...yet nonetheless found it in himself to be a hero when heroism was required. Ron also was the one who suggested using the basilisk fangs to destroy the remaining Horcruxes at the end of the book, to Hermione's and Harry's delight. And does anyone else see a parallel between Harry, Ron and Hermione in the HP series, and Tolkien's Fellowship of the Ring?

Regarding Nancy's observations of the Nazi-like obsession Voldemort and his followers had with racial purity: There's another historical parallel to be found in Rowling's revelation that Dumbledore himself once subscribed to similar views. The Nazis' racial attitudes were heavily influenced by the eugenics movement of the early 20th century, a movement that, as Michael Crichton points out in the afterword to his novel State of Fear, had many adherents among the political and social elites of the era...including Winston Churchill, who ultimately became the Nazis' most bitter and determined opponent. Just as Churchill rallied opposition to Hitler in real life, Dumbledore did the same to Voldemort and Grindlewald in the book.

And let me second the cheers for Neville and Mrs. Weasley. When Molly charged Bellatrix screaming "NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!", I was having gleeful Sigourney Weaver flashbacks from Aliens. And I freakin' cheered when Neville chopped off the head of Nagini.

One minor quibble: Why wasn't Snape on the wall with the rest of Hogwarts' deceased headmasters at the end?

1. As someone who reads the last page first, and then goes back and reads the last chapter before actually reading the first one, the Epilogue helped keep me from finding out how it ends. Yes, I know a few names of people who survived, but not everyone. I liked that. I then started from the beginning to find out how it got to the end.

2. Coming from a Jewish family, where the tradition is to name children after dead relatives and close friends (as an honor), I found the naming of the children to be quite normal and very sweet.

3. I, too, was confused about Neville pulling the sword out of the hat, but on rereading the book, I caught JK's comment early in the book about only a true Griffindor can pull the sword out of the hat in their moment of need. Griphook had to be pissed, though.

4. I liked how a lot of stuff from BOOK 1 was used in BOOK 7. Nice bookends to the story.

5. I'm amazed that so many people don't "get" the deathly hallows. Harry possessed all 3 when he battled Voldemort, which is why Voldemort couldn't kill him. The deathly hallows give you power over death. Harry had the cape, and the stone (even though he dropped it, it was still his at that point), AND he had the allegience of the elder wand. Even though Voldemort held the elder wand, it didn't work for him and the spells wouldn't hold, because the wand believed it belonged to Harry.

SPOILER!

...as a follow-up to my previous post, I think Harry almost came to feel sorry for Voldemort after seeing what he would become (in the 'train station' with Dumbledore). When he asks Riddle to try for some remorse, he is offering one last chance at hope for a soul so destroyed it's *ALMOST* past the point of no return. In doing so, he's also proving himself to be 'Dumbledore's man, through and through' one last time.

I didn't wonder where the basilisk fangs went...I wondered how on earth Hermione and Ron were carrying them. Correct me if I'm wrong, but these fangs supposedly carry a poison so deadly it can kill the soul within a horcrux- yet you can carry one around without even a pair of gloves? I can assure you that there's no way I would want to have something that deadly slung under my arm as I ran along...what happens if I trip and get pricked, for heaven's sake? Also, while I appreciate that Neville was suffering at Hogwarts in order to keep Dumbledore's Army alive, why was he the only one with the scars and bruises? Ginny was being just as insubordinate, yet nowhere do Harry or Rowling mention physically noticeable results- and couldn't Neville have just used his amazing herbology to heal himself anyway? LOVED Molly Weasley's duel with Bellatrix, btw. My shock upon reading her saying the word b**** was just what I needed to have me cheering along. It was definitely the dirtiest word I can imagine her ever saying. Many other parts of the book were awesome, but for me, the mental image of Molly with her wand won the day. Also, does anyone else wonder whether the hole in George's head grew over with skin?

Kara: Actually she's said Luna is the wizarding equivalent of a naturalist. Whatever that's meant to mean..?

I seem to remember when I lived in the UK that naturalists were like nudists. Or maybe she just means she's like a hippie. Perhaps a Brit can help out with this question.

A few thoughts here: First reading, I hated the epilogue. But when I read it again (twice in 4 days. What a geek), I liked it a bit more. Love the line where he tells Albus that Snape "was the bravest man I ever knew".

Jumping backwards to Harry's birthday, am I the only person who wondered if Ginny was about to give Harry The Ultimate Gift for his birthday? It came across that way to me...

Oh, and have no fear: After reading it, I went to bed and dreamed that Harry and Ron became professional Quidditch players. Pizza Dreams mixed with Potter gives strange thoughts.

I wish she'd given more details on what everyone did later. I mean, come on- who didn't know Harry and Ginny would hook up? And Ron/Hermione? Duh. But still, I'd like to follow up with Luna, more on Neville (my hero!)

Oh, and I want to know what happened to the Dursleys. Especially Dudders.

Sigh. Now that it's over, I have to wonder what I'll read when I get depressed.

Loved it, but wasn't so sure about the epilogue...

I'm recommending the Garth Nix books - 'Sabriel', 'Lirael' and 'Abhorsen' - because they are waaay underrated.

And Philip Pullman's 'His Dark Materials' - because you HAVE to read them before the movies start coming out in December!!!

Why does everyone jump to the conclusion that Ginny had no say in the naming of the children? We don't get James or Lily's middle names so there is plenty of room for Weasley family contributions, and who's to say she didn't suggest "Albus Dumbledore"? Both were obviously part her life, too, helped save the man she loved, and were heroes of probably the biggest battle of their lives. Look at how many kids a generation later were named just after a popular movie comes out.
Many times throughout the book women provide a thoughtful and insightful strength without needing to show off to prove their importance (McGonagall & Mrs. Weasley come to mind...) The girl was never a pushover, and I refuse to believe that she became one in the end.

One minor quibble: Why wasn't Snape on the wall with the rest of Hogwarts' deceased headmasters at the end?

Wouldn't that be because those are paintings of past headmasters? It's not like anyone had time to tack up a painting of Snape after he left.

Snape was not headmaster when he died. He had been sacked. That may be why his portrait did not magically appear on the walls. It may take a few days for the powers that be at Hogwarts to determine that Snape is worth a portrait. Besides, it would have made for an awkward scene for Harry to be able to talk to Snape at that moment and say that he was wrong about him, when it's the only moment when Harry gets to talk to Dumbledore.

Am I the only one that lost it when Hedwig died? I actually had to take a short break to bawl my eyes out.

The final book was as good as all the others. The first couple of chapters went slowly, and three hundred pages into it, I wondered when or if the plot would be resolved. Some parts seemed choppier or more hurried or disconnected than in previous volumes - as if Rowling just wanted to get it over with, or was under deadline pressure. What did happen to Luna Lovegood? What happened to George? And what happened to the Dursleys? The epilogue, I believe, was meant to convey in no uncertain terms that there will be no more Harry Potter books. I was glad there was a happy ending, because after Harry's rotten childhood, didn't he deserve one? I interpreted the series as a metaphor for the emotional battles that would be fought by a child who had been neglected or abused, so a positive outcome seemed appropriate - the kind of series that could give kids hope for the future.

To echo multiple others, the epilogue wasn't my favorite, not just b/c of the sentimentality, but moreso because of the gratuitous usage of the idealized heterosexual family as an arbiter of happy times.

Folks seem to believe that this was necessary to clarify that Volemorts gone for good. Plot-wise, I agree that it's necessary to put a definitive cap on Harry on Voldemort's battle. But I would've appreciated some reminder that the human tendencies and unjust systems that give rise to Voldemort's are something with which we must continually struggle. I think an ending can be hopeful without sacrificing its emotional or philosophical realism.

There were two moments in the epilogue that I didn't hate: One was the look Harry exchanges with Draco, which was a nicely ambiguous (we really don't know where the adult Draco situates himself ideologically) reminder that Death Eaters always walk among us (or ARE us). The other was Harry's advice to Albus regarding the Sorting Hat, which foregrounds the ongoing choices we make between humility and the will to power.

I wish these had been further emphasized.

More thoughts at perverseadult.blogspot.

~tim j-y

I loved the story line of Snape. Beautiful and heartbreaking. Exceeded my expectations. In some ways he sacrificed more than anyone for Harry. JKR at her best storytelling.

I hated the epilogue. I don't begrudge Harry a happy ending, it was just so schmatlzy, simplistic and terribly written (granted JKR is no star when is comes to stylistic writing but I feel like the epilogue was a showcase for that reality) the word lazy even comes to mind although that is not fair considering JKR has pumped out 7 books so quickly. I guess I was just really disappointed. You can have a happy ending and still make it complicated, challenging and interesting. This one - not so much.

What I read was Rowling said Ginny becomes a professional Quidditch player, Harry becomes an Auror, Ron goes to work with George, and Hermione starts out working to promote the rights of magical creatures and ends up in law enforcement.

"When viewing his parents graves we learned that James and Lily died in 1981. And Harry was one at that time, correct? So Harry was born in 1980. Which would make him, in the here and now, the same age as me, 27. But we know in this book he is 17. So why is Deathly Hallows set in 1997? I see no mention of the Spice Girls or Take That!"

It's set in 1997 because he was born in 1980 and the books take Harry through one year per book. She doesn't mention any pop culture references to keep the books from seeming dated when future kids read it. The only thing that dates it for me, is when Dudley gets a VCR player for his birthday.

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS

I lost it at Dobby's funeral, and nothing could have surprised me more as I didn't really care for the character.

I didn't mind the epilogue. It's "and they all lived happily ever after", and after all the fighting and death, readers need that.

OK- another super-late post, but I just finished the book last night. There were a lot of untied loose ends, despite JKR's obvious efforts to tie them up and to bring so much from the earlier books around in this one, but that is to be expected with so much material. But what about HAGRID?

I prefered Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince, but maybe that's just because I knew this was the last.

Lots of you already asked my questions, but I am wondering if, in the epilogue, a new sorting hat has been created? I thought it was engulfed in flames when Voldemort put it on Neville's head? Anything destroyed by dark magic can't be repaired, right? So also, what about Hogwarts? Did they just rebuild? It was pretty trashed in the final battle.
And- If the ugly baby (which will give me nightmares for weeks) was the part of Voldemort's soul that came out of Harry- where are the bits and pieces from all the other horcruxes? It woudl make more sense if that was the part still left in Voldemort, since they were in that purgatory/Kings Cross place. Which I picture like God's office in Bruce Almighty, but whatever.

Spoilers ahead...for those still reading:

- I'd figure that George would be the one Weasley to name his firstborn Fred.

- Voldemort split his soul into seven pieces (one for each Horcrux). I'm guessing that because he doesn't have an whole soul, he cannot pass on to the next life. He's stuck at King's Cross forever.

- On the epilogue: I think Rowling gives Harry everything he wanted. Let's face it. For 7 books and all his life, Harry had gotten the short end of the stick. Forced to live with the Dursleys, forced to live with his fame, forced by Dumbledore and everyone else to become the great hero because he had to one day face Voldemort.

All he's ever wanted is peace and happiness. Like Sam at the end of Lord of the Rings or Egg Chen in Big Trouble In Little China, it's time for him to enjoy the rest of his life.

To avoid being spoiled (it is possible) I've been skittering down the comments looking for the name Mervyn Peake.

His Titus Groan books? Rowling, Tolkien, Lewis, et al. only wish they could be so memorable. AND he illustrated them all, though he was dying of something like MS during the last one. I should warn they are densely and eccentrically written, and are intended for adults.

If you love Philip Pullman, you will love The Well at the World's End, by William Morris. Both adults and children can enjoy it, on different levels.

I found this book terribly chilling and bitter, but no reviews I've read argree with my point of view. As I understood it, the thing crying while Harry is temporarily dead and talking to (an image of) Dumbledore is Harry's own inner child which has been all but killed off. So Harry's soul is no longer whole as it once had been. All throughout the series he had been the kind of person who came the rescue of others, but now he can sit and ignore the cry for help. Eww!

Reread the first chapter, even death eaters are uneasy while the Muggle Studies professor is screaming. Then reread the epilogue, Harry is back at King's Cross. He is now comforting a child, his own. He says, "There's something I never told anyone..." Harry had told Dumbledore about the sorting hat experience so he does not really mean that. "You can choose." So now many years later Harry realizes he chose wrong in ignoring the screams. Depressing.

one thing bothered me in the book....It seemed odd that Snape would recieve the honour of having a kid named after him, but not Sirius. perhaps Jame's middle name is Sirius, but still it would be nice to know. I mean, sirius was practically harry's 'dad' for the middle of the series. wuz up with that?

Sorry to comment on this so far after the book came out, but as a huge potter fan as well as a long-time pajiba devotee I was thrilled to find this review for the first time this morning. as the commenter ella mentioned much earlier in this thread, there's a certain group of people ages 16-20 who really grew up with the series, and I'm proud to include myself in that demographic. As we grew more mature, so did the series--J.K. blossomed as an author just as we were becoming more able to appreciate her true genius, and watching the series evolve as I grew older has made it an incredibly nostalgic, childhood-defining series for me. I know that, when I have children, the first, second, and third books will be what I read to them before they go to bed. However, I do feel slightly bad for those kids who've been exposed to the later books so early in life--I hate to talk down to or underestimate young kids, but if you're a typical eight-year-old, the seventh book's darkness and heart-breaking deaths are simply going to be too much for you. The pacing of having a new book released every two to three years allowed readers from my age group to age at a speed that coincided with the evolution of the series, which makes me feel incredibly connected to the entire saga. I cried like a baby when I read "The Prince's Tale"--the terrible beauty and sheer feeling behind it literally left me speechless, which is definitely saying something in my case. I've been a Snape-defender from the start, even after the red herring of the sixth book, but that chapter blew my mind. Its ability to make us feel so many complicated emotions towards Snape at once (and, indeed, towards the entire series) was really a perfect way to conclude her saga. The Epilogue, though cheesy, was definitely essential--and Harry's little Albus Severus was a real sniffle-inducer. The fact that he has learned to honor Snape's memory after everything they went through was definitely one of the best moments of the series for me.

Now I know this is a sentimental ramble, but there you go. I loved getting to read this review and see that Phillip shares my love of the series--and I adore getting to read all of these comments from fans and Pajibians that show just how much Harry Potter has touched all of our lives.