I finished the book. 12 hours straight reading. I’ve got a headache.
It was good. And the deaths were both expected and unexpected, and the
ending sweet.
I enjoyed it, and I’m glad the tale is done. Harry Potter deserves it!
I hope Rowling writes another book. I’d like to see what her imagination
can conjure up now that Potter is over…
Lessons Learned 
finished an hour ago. gotta let it sink in.
12 hours to read 700+ pages? Gosh your good.
12 hours to read 700+ pages? Gosh your good.
Bob: yeah, me too. There are some things bugging me, for instance how did longbottom wind up with the sword? I thought it was lost with Griphook. I need to reread that part, maybe I skipped that paragraph by accident.
Pool; I know. 😉 lol.I’ve been reading since I was 4. I’ve won awards for reading as a kid…I’m a certifiable dork/geek.
voldemort had put the sorting hat on neville and set it on fire. neville broke the body bind curse, took the hat off and pulled the sword of gryfindor out of the sorting hat – just like harry did when he was fighting the basilisk in the chamber of secrets.
Bob: thanks. But that still leaves the question of how the sword transfered from Griphook to the Sorting Hat. Rowling made it very clear that the goblin would not relinquish the sword willingly or easily.
So at some point between the break-in at Gringotts and the invasion of Hogwarts, the sword somehow transfered ownership. I don’t remember any explaination being given. I haven’t had time to reread the relevant passages, and I was tired and headachy by the end of the book, so I may have missed it, but if I’m right, then Rowling goofed.
I reread the passage last night where neville confronts voldemort and the book doesn’t explain HOW or why the sorting hat obtained the sword, neville just pulled it out of the hat and beheaded the snake. I need to go back to the chamber of secrets where dumbledore explains to harry why the hat produced the sword for him in the chamber when he was fighting the basilisk. something to do with purity of purpose and being in tremendous need, I think. I don’t think “ownership” comes into it, so the fact that griphook had it is irrelevant. neville’s need to defeat voldemort would constitute greater need and neville has more than demonstrated his character as being deserving. imho!
Bob: thank makes sense, if that was the case. Rowling should still have reminded readers of that trick, though. I just have a vague sense that this book was not as tightly crafted as the previous 6 books have been, as if Rowling was in a rush to finish it once and for all, and did not dedicate as much attention to polishing up her plot threads as she typically does.
I disagree with your analysis. I think you’re just feeling cheated by her use of the same “deus ex machina” literary device she used what, 5 books ago? They never explained how the Sword of Griffendor got into the hat then, either–only that “only a true Griffendor could pull THAT out of a hat”. There was no rush or unpolished plot line, as it was perfectly consistent with the world she has created.
I disagree with your analysis. I think you’re just feeling cheated by her use of the same “deus ex machina” literary device she used what, 5 books ago? They never explained how the Sword of Griffendor got into the hat then, either–only that “only a true Griffendor could pull THAT out of a hat”. There was no rush or unpolished plot line, as it was perfectly consistent with the world she has created.