|
|
Post by Kahlessa on May 23, 2007 17:13:52 GMT -5
Warning! May contain spoilers!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I moved this to another area to avoid spoiling anything for those who have not read the 6th book yet.
From The One
May 23, 2007 2:51 a.m.
On the internet I have seen on many many boards discussions about Snape. Whether he'll be a villain or a hero. Some people have suggested that he killed Dumbledore on his orders... Can that be true?
|
|
|
|
Post by Kahlessa on May 23, 2007 17:26:55 GMT -5
I definitely think Snape did exactly as Dumbledore wanted. There are many things that point to this, but I’ll just bring up a couple for now.
I think Dumbledore was dying during the entire book of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Destroying the horacrux that so badly injured his hand had fatally injured Dumbledore. In the first book, Snape makes a reference to potions being able to slow death. I got the impression that Dumbledore knew he was running out of time.
I think Dumbledore also knew that Voldemort had ordered Draco Malfoy to kill him, and Dumbledore made Snape promise that if it came to that, Snape would kill him instead, so Draco would not become a murderer.
In the Goblet of Fire, Hermione says, “If we can’t trust Dumbledore, we can’t trust anyone. In the Order of the Phoenix, Lupin says the same thing. So if Dumbledore was wrong about Snape, it is not just a plot twist. The world of Harry Potter and his friends is a much darker and more hopeless place.
I’ll have more later.
|
|
|
|
Post by The One on Jun 4, 2007 21:10:39 GMT -5
Exactly my thoughts, Kahlessa. I also thought that Snape is a major character in HP books, spanning all seven, that you can't simply finish the book as him being a bad guy...
And for Dumbledore dying, I see another purpose. In all the previous six HP books, Harry is in the shadow of Dumbledore. Though he did all the heroic things, Dumbledore is the one who did the thinking most of the time and taught Harry how to fight Voldemort. Now if the headmaster is still alive, it'd be a fight between him and Voldemort. So imo, that is another reason why J.K. Rowling thought to 'kill' Dumbledore, so Harry can fight his war...
|
|
|
|
Post by Kahlessa on Jun 4, 2007 22:00:23 GMT -5
J.K. Rowling was at Radio City Music Hall last fall with Stephen King and John Irving for a reading for charity. During the question and answer session, Rowling made it clear that Dumbledore was really dead. She said, (similar to what you said), that a hero has to eventually face the foe alone. Sort of like Gandalf and Frodo in Lord of the Rings. Even though Gandalf didn’t really die, Frodo thought he had, and so Frodo had to face his foes without his teacher, with only his friend Sam to help. Likewise, Harry won’t have Dumbledore to help him, but he will have Ron and Hermione.
Though I wonder about Dumbledore in the portrait of former headmasters of Hogwarts. Many of the other portraits seem very animated. So Dumbledore may be able to advise Harry, but he won’t be able to stand beside him when Harry faces Voldemort.
|
|
|
|
Post by The One on Jul 30, 2007 4:47:56 GMT -5
OK Kahlessa, and everyone else too, I finished it!
It's simply awesome, isn't it? A wonderful end to such a great story... And it turned out to be exactly like we thought, isn't it? What we have discussed in the above posts, they all came true...
By the way, I have a lot to say about the book, but for the moment there are two things that I want to discuss, which touched my heart...
First, what Neville has turned out to be. He's turned out to be a real hero, an inspirational leader amongst the few in Hogwarts who really wanted to resist the evil... He says that it helps to stand up to them. It's certainly something really touching and inspiring...
The second things is, at the very last chapter. After everything was over, Harry had the courage to accept Sanpe for what he was - a real hero. I say he was courages because after all those years of hatred, finally when he learned the truth, he has given him the due respect:
Remember the following lines. Harry says to his son "Albus Severus, you are named for two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I've ever known..."
That statement says it all... After years of hatred, if he's able to accept that he was wrong and that Snape was a true hero, then Harry too, in my opinion, is a great person... I always have a respect for people who are willing to change their attitudes after being presented with accurate facts. And for those who aren't..., well, remember Global Warming...
|
|
|
|
Post by Kahlessa on Jul 30, 2007 5:15:50 GMT -5
I loved how the book ended as well. I wasn't surprised by Snape; as I said, I strongly suspected he was in love with Lily. But Harry and Ginny naming their son "Albus Severus" was very fitting. Dumbledore and Snape did more to protect Harry than anyone else. Neville's transformation into a leader was very satisfying to see. And he got to behead the snake with Griffindor's sword, and he ended up as a professor at Hogwarts. I had expected him to take out Bellatrix, but the way it happened was "totally sweet" as a co-worker of mine put it. Molly Weasley was magnificent in her battle with Bellatrix. A friend of mine, who has three sons, commented, "Any woman who has raised six sons, including a set of twins, is not someone you want to mess with." Mothers protecting their children was a strong theme in the book. I liked how Narcissa lied to Voldemort about Harry being dead so she could get into the castle and find her son. (Good thing Harry saved Draco's life so he could answer her truthfully.) I had predicted that Narcissa might intervene to protect her son in a way Voldemort wouldn't count on. So it was nice to see Draco with his family 19 years later. His nod to Harry and friends showed that while they will probably never become friends, they aren't enemies either. If Draco has a happy ending, his mother got that for him. I just hope Draco didn't marry "that cow" Pansy Parkinson.  |
|
|
|
Post by The One on Jul 30, 2007 20:56:32 GMT -5
Well, that's for us to decide, isn't it? It hasn't mentioned there who married him...
Yeah, I agree with you. Just as Dumbledore said, Draco was never a murderer... It's fitting that he ended up in the good side.
But I have a little disappointment as well. I was hoping to see a chapter after the defeat of Voldemort, about how the things were. A nice chapter in which we could see how the things came back to normal, how the tributes were paid to those whom gave their life (like Lupin, Tonks, Fred...) and all that. There was a nice such chapter in book 4.
|
|
|
|
Post by Lukaran on Aug 7, 2007 13:54:26 GMT -5
Kahlessa,
you were right about Snape! I thought he was probably good but I didn't know for sure. I was worried that the last book would leave that unresolved and keep us arguing. But Rowling tied up all the loose ends. That's why I enjoyed the final book and the entire series.
|
|
|
|
Post by Lukaran on Aug 12, 2007 20:40:59 GMT -5
Well, that's for us to decide, isn't it? It hasn't mentioned there who married him... I doubt it was Pansy Parkinson, because I think the book would have mentioned it if she was Draco's wife. I think Draco had matured beyond her. Remember how eager she was to betray Harry to Voldemort? Draco on the other hand seemed very reluctant to help Voldemort with anything. |
|
