**SPOILERS** -- The Biggest Surprises

[maggie21]

The biggest surprise for me...........The whole Deathly Hallows thing.Saddest thing Dobby's death and Harry's grief over it.Sobbed and sobbed over Harry's trip into the forest to meet his death.Not my favorite book however,it's only my first read.Cheers to JKR for a wonderful ride into the Harry Potter world!

[ellymarch]

I wondered about "Hugo" too. Maybe it's a stretch, but is it a tribute to Hagrid? Seemed like a strange name to pluck out of the air and paste on a Weasley!

[Psychee]

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ellymarch wrote:
I wondered about "Hugo" too. Maybe it's a stretch, but is it a tribute to Hagrid? Seemed like a strange name to pluck out of the air and paste on a Weasley!

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It has to be Hermione's dad's name which we never learned, don't you think?

[hihi]

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Psychee wrote:

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ellymarch wrote:
I wondered about "Hugo" too. Maybe it's a stretch, but is it a tribute to Hagrid? Seemed like a strange name to pluck out of the air and paste on a Weasley!

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It has to be Hermione's dad's name which we never learned, don't you think?

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I don't know. If you look at the biography part about JKR, it says she won a Hugo award. I thought that she had just run out of names, that didn't include every dead person he had met.

[dcsbelle]

Am I misremembering (neologism?) this or did the entire Slytherin House get up and leave except for Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle? It was very disheartening to see that at the critical moment they were interested only in saving their own skins.

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Psychee wrote:
This wasn't a surprise for me, but it might have been for those people who believed that Zacharias Smith was going to be a big deal in this story -- he ran home as soon as he could, getting in front of first years! I thought that was interesting...

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[dcsbelle]

He was instructed to supervise the evacuation with Madame Pomfrey and presumably was attempting to maintain an orderly retreat from the Hog's Head end. I can see him being worried about Mrs. Norris there and regretting that they were separated before he got his orders. Incidently, that's also a big fear of mine that I won't be home to get my cats to safety in the event of a natural or manmade disaster.

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Psychee wrote:
Did anyone else notice that Filch left the building with his cat still in it?

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[Psychee]

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dcsbelle wrote:
Am I misremembering (neologism?) this or did the entire Slytherin House get up and leave except for Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle? It was very disheartening to see that at the critical moment they were interested only in saving their own skins.

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The whole Slytherin table left. Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle left, too, but sneaked back to try to find Harry. I actually think that this was Crabbe and Goyle's idea, and that Malfoy just felt safer hiding in the castle than going off to be with Voldemort, but that is just a guess. He seemed to be thwarting the others in a passive kind of way...

In contrast to the Slytherins, too many of the Gryffindors stayed...

Saving their own skins is what Slytherins are about... with a few wonderful exceptions -- Snape and Slughorn -- both of whom were fighting for Lily. I think there was a message there...

[dcsbelle]

Yes, but just for this once I had hoped that some of them would take the Sorting Hat's exhortation to heart and unite with the other Houses to fight a common enemy. That was the biggest disappointment of the book for me.

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Psychee wrote:

[Psychee]

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dcsbelle wrote:
Yes, but just for this once I had hoped that some of them would take the Sorting Hat's exhortation to heart and unite with the other Houses to fight a common enemy. That was the biggest disappointment of the book for me.

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But that could not have realistically happened in the timeline. Slughorn himself fighting Voldemort was a miracle in itself.

What we got to see, though, was that 19 years later, some things had changed. Enough had changed that Harry was telling his kid that it would be OK if he was in Slytherin. We don't get to see Slytherin kids being different, but we do get a certain degree of hope that attitudes are changing for the better.

Don't you think?

[dcsbelle]

But there wasn't ONE Slytherin who was concerned about something more than his own skin? Even though they were sorted as Slytherins there most have been some qualities of the other houses inside them. That makes a whole generation of Slytherins who are a wash out as decent human beings.

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Psychee wrote:

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dcsbelle wrote:
Yes, but just for this once I had hoped that some of them would take the Sorting Hat's exhortation to heart and unite with the other Houses to fight a common enemy. That was the biggest disappointment of the book for me.

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But that could not have realistically happened in the timeline. Slughorn himself fighting Voldemort was a miracle in itself.

What we got to see, though, was that 19 years later, some things had changed. Enough had changed that Harry was telling his kid that it would be OK if he was in Slytherin. We don't get to see Slytherin kids being different, but we do get a certain degree of hope that attitudes are changing for the better.

Don't you think?

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[Psychee]

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dcsbelle wrote:
But there wasn't ONE Slytherin who was concerned about something more than his own skin? Even though they were sorted as Slytherins there most have been some qualities of the other houses inside them. That makes a whole generation of Slytherins who are a wash out as decent human beings.

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Not one Slytherin. Remember, though, that they had just spent a year under the Carrows' tutelage. They probably all were heavily indoctrinated out of any "anti-Dark" tendencies they might have had earlier.

[LollyTeen]

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JohnGranger wrote:

The scripture on the gravestones was a shocker and a delight (I had to wonder what Richard Abanes would make of Christ and St. Paul making appearances in a Potter novel, albeit without attribution) and I shook my head at the "saintly" joke George makes about the hole in his head. Ms. Rowling didn't think the ending was enough of a hit on her fundamentalist critics?

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I was surprised by this, too. Mr. Granger - this must have felt like quite a vindication for you. As a fellow Christian and Potter fan, the ending recalled lots of scriptural allegory. I also felt it was (indeed) a smack to the fundamentalists - especially those who won't condescend to read the books and actually know what they're talking about. I'm sure C.S. Lewis and Tolkein had similar supporters and detractors as JKR.

[dancingchick094]

br> One question? why are some people surprised that McGonnagal wasn't a DE? Where did anyone get the idea that she was one?

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I was wondering that too. I took it as a for sure thing that McGonagall was good. I remember in the 5th book Harry said that when everyone else might be dead or gone, McGonagall would still be there, and i thought that too. And it was true. Never for a second did it cross my mind that she was a double-crosser.

[ConnieAnnKirk]

It was a long and hotly debated theory proposed on these B&N boards (and in other places, too, apparently).

~ConnieK

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dancingchick094 wrote:
br> One question? why are some people surprised that McGonnagal wasn't a DE? Where did anyone get the idea that she was one?

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I was wondering that too. I took it as a for sure thing that McGonagall was good. I remember in the 5th book Harry said that when everyone else might be dead or gone, McGonagall would still be there, and i thought that too. And it was true. Never for a second did it cross my mind that she was a double-crosser.

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[dancingchick094]

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Psychee wrote:
Did anyone else notice that Filch left the building with his cat still in it?

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Hahahaha. I never did. Good catch Psychee. I have been waiting for her to die for the whole series. Does anyone know if she did?

[Psychee]

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dancingchick094 wrote:

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Psychee wrote:
Did anyone else notice that Filch left the building with his cat still in it?

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Hahahaha. I never did. Good catch Psychee. I have been waiting for her to die for the whole series. Does anyone know if she did?

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Nope, last time we saw her she was batting owls telling them to get back where they belong, lol...

[dancingchick094]

NanMcd, yeahh I agree with you about the relatives thing, but you have to admit it's ironic that they're related. I think the secret was broken because Lily and James died. I know Harry was still living, but we never found out how to perform the Fidelius Charm, so we don't know for sure. But, I think it might work like the Unbreakable Vow, where the people are joined (or something along the lines of that). For all we know, Harry might not have taken part in the charm, so it won't work for him. After all, he was just a baby when he lived there. Or, perhaps the charm was broken because Wormtail died. The house would be overgrown no matter the charm on it. And, the people would be able to put the sign there because the house was famous. That's where Voldemort lost power. Everyone knew the story and where it took place.

[Proper-T]

Yeah you know what else surprised me?

Crabbe and Goyle spoke. Something we were aware they do, we just never actually witnessed it in words. But speak they did... especially Crabbe. Damn near killed them all didn't he?

I for one have just realized that I would've preferred to never hear them talk...

[Psychee]

I found a lot of the magic shown in this book thrilling and surprising...

That FiendFyre was pretty cool (hot?, lol),
the "Defend the castle!" spell of McGonagall getting all the statuary to fight, loved the way that McGonagall dueled with Snape (those daggers! ),
Hermione's fitting a warehouse of stuff into a beaded bag,
Voldemort (and Snape) flying
The talking Patronuses
Wormtail's hand strangling him
The wedding ceremony magic
The different colors and tastes of people in Polyjuice (Harry's is gold while Goyle's tasted like bogies, lol)
Hermione's sliding stair charm
and so much more...

[PattyBNUChick]

Yes, I found that missing also. I thought that would play a larger part in the book.

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dcsbelle wrote:
Yes, but just for this once I had hoped that some of them would take the Sorting Hat's exhortation to heart and unite with the other Houses to fight a common enemy. That was the biggest disappointment of the book for me.

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Psychee wrote:

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