Emilianbucks, I’m on your side. Alfonso Cuaron? I hated the sceanes with Aunt Marge and on the Night Bus. Very clumsy direction.

Gak!

I don’t think anything thing else need to be explained. The epilouge was fine. The magical community pulled together at the end. Although, Rowling didn’t say it directly, they all pulled together and fought against evil. They all didn’t mind dieing for a better world.

About the death of Fred, she didnt need to expand on it since Fred was only important because of his interaction with the main characters. He never had a story of his own other than what you hear through the main characters.

Also, Kingsley was appointed Ministry of Magic at the end…

Snape was never going to come out and tell Harry all of that himself. That’s not his character people! Learning his true character through his memories was fitting.

I don’t think any book should continue. Any other book would just be anti-climatic. NO EPILOUGE OF 600 PAGES NEEDS TO BE WRITTEN!

The horcrux in Harry was destroyed by Voldemort because Harry willingly sacrficed his life. Harry didn’t die because Voldemort attached Harry’s life to him because when he took his blood he essentially holding a part of Harry

And why should Hagrid die? What did he do to you?

Too much also happened off screen — Ginny/Neville/Luna raiding Snape’s office, Neville’s resistance, etc. While all this interesting stuff is happening, we’re sitting around watching Harry try to figure out what to do next in the tent, since he doesn’t have a bleeding clue where the H’s are.

My least favourite of the series, by far.

My husband is convinced that Harry is now the Minister of Magic, esp after Dumbledore’s assertion that power is best used by those who don’t seek it, yet who accept it when it is thrust upon them. If Harry is indeed the MoM, it would be entirely fitting that, at the end of the book, he was focused not on his position but on being there for his kids at an important moment in their lives.

I think Rowling purposely left a lot of doors open with that ending so that she would have some elbow room should she ever decide to visit the wizarding world again. The only things she felt she needed to convey were that Voldemort was really dead this time, that Harry was happy, that life goes on, and that all is well.

The coda was sweet, but like most of you, I wish it had been just a bit longer and included more of a sense of aftermath. I think Rowling was perhaps writing for the youngest end of her demo: I imagine kids will love the epilogue.

I really liked the lost in the woods sequence. Harry & Hermione and nobody to help them.

I was right all along about Snape (not a hrd thing to guess, really) and I loved his final line too, but I do wish somehow we’d had more of him. A longer, revelatory scene with Harry would not really have fit, but perhaps McGonegal and Snape? I WANT A SNAPE BOOK! And one about the Founding Wizards. And one about the Next Generation: Salazar Slytherin still looms large, apparently, selfishness and evilish ambition are part of human nature.

I predict that Rowling WILL return to this world eventually. There is too much room to explore. Remember when King retired? HA! As if. I thought that sounded doubtful and I doubt Rowling will stay away from the Potterverse, although I expect a very long gap in publication. **makes sigil to ward off poxy-stinky Lucascurse**

Yeah, he’s going to Slytherin.

I also realized a long time ago that Harry couldn’t really be killed off by JKR, but it seemed clear after HBP that he would have to somehow sacrifice himself and be brought back. I envisioned it being through the use of the Deathly Hallows as this book progressed. I was disappointed at the nebulous nature of his restoration to life. Sigh again.

But nothing’s perfect! It was a great ride and a fun read.

the people going through these epic adventures rarely enjoy them, so when they’re over, those people rarely seek out MORE adventures.

what i’m trying to say is that rowling’s ending for the book is both touching, realistic (in its own internally consistent way) and just the right touch, leaving much of these answers to our imagination rather than spelling them out for us.

and she obeyed one of the first rules of entertainment, no matter the medium: “always leave ‘em wanting more.”

While Ms. Rowling has said she won’t be writing any more Potter books, I would love to see some novels about some of the secondary and tertiary characters, especially the ones who had the most happen to them in this book.

And the best thing about the epilogue…was reading that harry’s son has “severus” in his name. Snape’s love for Lily brought tears to my eyes…

Oh, btw, maybe I am stupid, but…how does exactly Voldemort die? Because the wand refuses to hurt his rightful owner ? And what happened to Harry’s horocrux ? I gotta re-read the last 150 pages a little more slowly…

While the wizards and witches at Hogwarts are heroic, they’re not real people, but real people can be heroic, just by living their lives.

I live a middle class life. I have a wife. I have kids. I go to work every day to feed them, clothe them, and give them a home. There’s nothing magical about it, but to me, the people who get up and go to work, day after day — because they love others — are the real heroes in life.

And that’s something all of us Potter fans can really do in life.

Fred’s death did hit me the hardest, and Harry’s digging Dobby’s grave was a wonderful/sad/touching moment, as was Snape’s “Look me in the eyes”, after his pensieve revelations that line meant so much more.

I did get tired of “sit in tent - argue - feel depressed and lost - repeat”.

Compare and contrast:
Hidden cave, no visible boat, zombies, deadly drink.
Throw Tiara in closet.

The Sorting Hat can pull the sword from wherever it is? O.K., if you say so. I’m just glad Neville was portrayed as strong and true and got his heroic moment.

Draco? A throw away character in this book, barely a cameo. How did he feel afterwards? 5 books hating him, 1 book hating/pitying him, and a final book… ignoring him.

“Don’t hurt ‘em!” – Oh why couldn’t Hagrid have been killed instead of… well, anyone else?

Soooo glad that the novel ended at Hogwarts. That was the perfect place to bring the books to a close. Hogwarts has always been a very important character in it’s own right, and I was missing it during the first of the book.

Overall – excellent – now lets have a real epilogue, of say 600 pages – Harry Potter and the Aftermath.

I actually liked the book pretty much all the way around and while I may have wished a little more from the epilogue, even the little we got was pretty satisfying to me. It felt good to me to know that even after all of that horror and tragedy, Harry’s greatest victory may be the fact that he is able to leave the horror behind him and truly heal to the point where he can lead a normal life. If two decades past and he was still scarred by the whole thing? Man, what a crappy ending that would be.

But, as several others have said already, the ending left some to be desired. The epilogue was overly sappy, and blandly written compared to the rest of the book. Also, I… just didn’t care. Don’t get me wrong, I want the trio and all to live Happily Ever After, I wanted Harry and Ginny to have all those red-haired babies, etc. etc. But more important to me was how the wizarding world pulled itself back together directly afterwards. What do the trio do next? Does Harry end up taking his 7th year afterwards, or does he get some honorary degree? Does he take his NEWTs? Does he end up becoming an Auror? And, this having stricken my heart the most, WHAT HAPPENS TO GEORGE? Sure he’s a business owner, blah blah blah, but he’s lost Fred!! Identical twins who have finished each other’s sentences for years. The grief must be unbearable, and in the end, this half of a pair I have loved and wished I could actually meet for years, gets his final moments as bending over the dead Fred. Insufficient!! HE’S your scathed hero. And there’s no mention of him, or Luna, or Dean, or nearly anybody the heck else in the epilogue of Splenda. I didn’t just fall in love with the Trio, I fell in love with everybody. And I’m just left feeling so… unsatisfied.

Someone Imperius Jo into writing another epilogue about the months, not years, that follow!!

The sword of Gryffindor appears from the Sorting Hat to any heroic Gryffindor in need. Neville was wearing the hat, heroic, and in need.