<p>Some more explanations to come - J K Rowling says maybe she’ll write an encyclopedia with more back stories and other details:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19935372/[/url]”>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19935372/</a></p>
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<p>I think “James Severus” would have worked better than “Albus Severus” as a name, symbolically.</p>
<p>My D says she thinks James’ middle name is Sirius. But I agree, TheDad, about the symbolism. I also think 3 kids - two with normal names and one named Albus Severus was JK Rowling just having fun. Can’t you hear the mom calling, “Jiiiiimmmmy! Lillllllllly! Allllllbus!” Kinda like those Cabbage Patch doll names that just didn’t go together.</p>
<p>I think it would have been disrespectful to Snape to name a son “James Severus”. He hated the man.</p>
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Actually, I think that when Harry directs Ron to destroy the locket-horcrux & when he tells Neville that the snake must be destroyed, he IS putting a very high level of trust in each – what greater level of trust & confidence can there be but to delegate those tasks? </p>
<p>And while I agree that I would have like to see a more dramatic, last-minute display from Snape – I think that there wasn’t much he could have done other than to keep his cover preserved until the end. Snape’s situation was rather interesting, actually; DD had delegated to him the task of telling Harry that he must die - so Snape really should have tried to make contact in some way earlier. But Harry would never have trusted Snape or believed him if he had learned any way other than via the Pensieve – so Snape really had to be dying to impart that information, though he certainly could not have planned it that way. </p>
<p>And the whole message of the book, expressed through DD, is that love is more powerful than magic – so Snape was motivated not by a “crush” but by his love for Lily, which I think was genuine, even though I don’t think Lily ever regarded him as anything more than a friend. </p>
<p>The only part I don’t get is why Snape was not more angry & resentful of DD, because Snape had promised DD “anything” in exchange for protection of Lily, and DD obviously failed to protect her – the fact that DD had “borrowed” the invisibility cloak from James at precisely the time that DD knew from Snape that LV intended to kill the Potters is a little bit fishy to me as well. (My guess is that DD anticipates that the Potters will die, and rather than warning them/protecting them he instead simply takes the precaution of making sure that the cloak does not fall into LV’s hands). Anyway… I’d think Snape would hate DD forever after that. After all we learn about DD in book 7, I’m not nearly as distressed over his death as I was at the end of book 6.</p>
<p>As to Draco – I read somewhere that JK Rowling said that all the events at the end of book 7 were foreshadowed at the end of book 1, and in the denouement at the end of Philosopher’s Stone, DD tells Harry that Snape hated James because James saved his life – so it looks like JKR is bringing the relationships full circle – with the Draco/Harry relationship becoming the adult counterpart to the Snape/James relationship. (Similarly, Harry steps into Sirius’ shoes as godfather to the orphaned Teddy). </p>
<p>So yes, it would have been nice to see them change… but I think that JKR is being more realistic as to human nature, and also true to her (DD’s) admonition that people are not defined by who they are but by the choices they make. Draco is impelled toward evil, but in the end he wimps out and does not kill when he has the opportunity – a passive rather than active choice, but still a choice.</p>
<p>The msnbc article above said JK will be on the Today show as well as Dateline NBC.</p>
<p>She also said the hardest scene in ALL of the books for her was Harry walking to his death accompanied by his parents, Lupin, and Sirius. She said she sobbed unbearably when she finished. That scene made me cry the hardest too. I tear up just typing about it.</p>
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Yeah, apparently war in the wizard and muggle worlds coincide. Plus, the whole “For the Greater Good” was pretty transparent as to how alike the wars were.</p>
<p>I’ll come back to this thread later (I’m still in Geneva but have finally found semi-reliable internet access!), but this is what I posted on LiveJournal after reading it last night (six hours, including breaks):</p>
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<p>I didn’t have an issue with the epilogue being “too happy”; I just didn’t think that “…and then everyone got married and had lots of babies” was a very satisfying conclusion to the series, though I did adore Harry for the “bravest man I’ve ever known” comment.</p>
<p>Oh, and I can’t stand Rickman!Snape, personally. I don’t find him attractive, and book!Snape is supposed to be really gaunt and in his late thirties!</p>
<p>More later.</p>
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Ancient, I tell you, dry & dessicated, with libido and physical presence down to the equivalent of a spectral class-M dwarf star.</p>
<p>hahaha@TheDad!!!</p>
<p>I think that the point is that Rickman, at 61, is too old for the part.</p>
<p>I agree that Rowling is a genius. Did anyone else skip to the end? I read 600 pages in the first two nights and then when I knew I needed to go to bed, I skipped to about page 700 and read the end.</p>
<p>I have a girlfriend who likes to read the first chapter, then the last chapter and then the rest of a book.</p>
<p>Anyhow, I loved Mrs. Weasley’s part in the Battle of Hogwarts.</p>
<p>And the real genius part of this is that:
1)Harry lived and Harry died! How cool is that? We got to see all his friends reactions when they thought he was dead. Only we were in on the secret that he was alive.
2) Dumbledore came back to life (what everyone wanted), but only for Harry!</p>
<p>Love this book so much. Hated to see Dobby go.</p>
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Yes – a friend who has not yet read the book emailed me, “Did Harry die in the end?” – my reply:</p>
<p>a. Yes
b. No.
c. Maybe
d. All of the above
e. None of the above</p>
<p>My friend says I’m a meanie for not telling her… but actually - I did tell her! Those are all correct answers depending on how literally you interpret the question and your interpretation of the book ending.</p>
<p>I should have re-read book 6 before reading book 7. I got confused at the end, especially when Draco was suddenly the rightful owner of the elder wand. (I vaguely remembered him being present at Dumbledore’s death, but forgot that it was Draco who disarmed him). After I finished, I had to go back and re-read the end of 6, then read the end of 7 again before it finally made sense.</p>
<p>I did catch that Neville got the sword because it will present itself to any worthy Griffandor, and it came out of the sorting hat for him just as it did for Harry in the Chamber.</p>
<p>I’m glad someone else on this thread explained the crying baby in King’s Cross to me - I thought it was the piece of Voldemort’s soul that came from Harry, but I was confused.</p>
<p>And I too thought the epilogue was rather poorly written (although I LOVED knowing that everyone ended up with the person I thought they’d be with!), but after reading an earlier post here I see what the IMPORANT point of the epilogue was - Harry’s telling his son that it would he his choice whether to be Gryffandor or Slytherin. Reinforces Dumbledore’s earlier points that it is our choices that determine who we are.</p>
<p>JK Rowling has done a brilliant job with this series. Kids love it, adults love it - something to be appreciated on so many different levels. Witness this long discussion on this rather brainy-type website!</p>
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Do I know you, Texasmom?</p>
<p>It drives my family crazy, but I hate surprises. I seldom watch movies, and when I do, they are usually ones where my family has already watched it and told me about it (in detail.) I am participating on this thread and am only about half-way through the book. I didn’t read books 3-6. I read all the spoilers, and my D tells me the stories in detail. I had no interest in experiencing Sirius’ death or Dumbledore’s. I choose library books by reading the jacket, the beginning, and very often, the end.</p>
<p>As I said, it drives my family crazy. Perhaps it satisfies my need for control, I don’t know. But, as I frequently have to point out (because so many people seem to think it’s criminal behavior), it isn’t hurting anybody, and I save a lot of time (avoiding books who’s endings I don’t like.)</p>
<p>I also prefer to eat dessert first. I go straight to the happy endings! :)</p>
<p>I am enjoying this HP book, though. So satisfying picking up all the meaningful details because I know what to look for.</p>
<p>Binx, JK Rowling has said that she hates hearing about people who do that! She actually sounded quite angry about it. Better not tell her that story!</p>
<p>Sounds like JK has more of a control problem than I do! 
I won’t tell her if you don’t.</p>
<p>Ah, I found the quote (in an article linked from the MSNBC link you gave out):
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<p>Yeah, we’ll definitely need to keep this information private. Gotta protect the CCers.</p>
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That was indeed the point. :p</p>
<p>Goodness - she loathes me both for reading the end of the book and for eating dessert first. I am devastated.</p>