Farewell, O Franchise!

Alas, poor Snape, we hardly knew ye!

I am gratified that my belief that Snape was obviously acting on Dumbledore’s orders were confirmed, but I do wish he’d had more screen time. (Page time? Whatever.) I did howl like a wolf over the “Do you want me to do it now, or would you like a few minutes to compose an epigraph first?” Poor Snape. I would go read good Snape fan fic in tribute, if I thought there was any chance of locating it in a sea of horrors.

My secret hope that Harry would fail miserably, and Neville would turn out to be the chosen one were sadly dashed, but at least Neville got to do something reasonably heroic. (I confess at this point that I’ve never really liked Harry all that much. Hermione, absolutely, Ron, sure, much of the supporting cast completely, but Harry was just too noble and brave and overpowered and whiny. I was rootin’ for Neville, because that’s the sort of twist I’d have pulled, but…ah, well. It’s easy to backseat drive, I haven’t had to write the series. I never liked Luke Skywalker or Frodo either. From this we can probably determine that Ursula dislikes wide-eyed and noble young heroes, and prefers cynical grumps, or at the very least immaculately clad anti-heroes with cutting senses of humor.)

Man, high body count in this one, huh? And most of the cool people bit it off screen. Hedwig! Noooo! Mad-Eye! Nooo! Fred! Noooo! Err…Lupin and Tonks? That was…anti-climactic. I confess, there was a minute when I looked up and said “Is somebody punishing fandom for all that Sirius/Remus fan fic?”… And was their kid a werewolf or not!? Curses!

I shed no tears that Dobby bit it. I have been praying someone would kick that little punk into a fireplace for ages.

But hey, let’s hear it for Kreacher, huh? Finally! Someone treats an evil character right and is rewarded! Kudos! About time.

There were a couple of fairly glaring plot holes, but there are always a couple of plot holes. I am generally satisfied. A few fairly good setpieces–the Battle of Hogwarts was nice, McGonnagal kicking ass is always appreciated. Also, while sections of the book dragged a bit from a reading standpoint, I must confess the whole “I am living in the woods and wondering what the hell to do next,” was admirably authentic. “We’re clueless. And in the woods. And clueless. Darn.”

I enjoyed it. And now I’ll have to go back to waiting for the next George R. Martin book to get my hit of epicness.

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