Book 7 - Unanswered Questions (SPOILERS likely)

[PTeppic]

Having finished Deathly Hallows I was impressed by how many loose ends were tied up (some from much earlier books).

However, it did raise one or two questions:


Whatever happened to the Dusleys?
Did Neville find Luna was the girl for him?
How had James been given the Cloak in the first place - Peverell family heirloom?


Any others, or thoughts?

[Balinor]

Well, I thought the book was good on the wohole although (spoiler) I did miss the usual hogwarts setting for the most of it. The part where they went back and had the battle with the teachers I thought was ablosutely brilliant. Althought I think it could have done with including more about the other creatures (like the giants and thestrals etc) that were present.

In regards to the 3 questions you posted.

1) Don't know but would be nice to get an answre

2) I expect so. There seemed to be something there and (spoiler)the others got together as I expected

3) Well (spoilers) they said it was handed down from father to son so I assume that James was given it by his dad. I didn't see anything to suggest
otherwise


Although I thought the book was great there was some things I was a bit disappointed with .two things stand out at the moment for me - (spoilers)

1) Dumbledore seeing himself as a power hungry maniac was a bit disappointing. I expected more

2) Supposedly 2 main characters die (I assume this refers to Dobby and Fred). I think that she should have killed off either Harry, Ron or Hermionie. In my eyes Fred wasn't involved enough to be counted as a main character and dobby hadn't been involved enough. Mad-eye, Tonks and Lupin were (IMO) at least as important.

[PTeppic]

For your (2), it's a good question as to whom she meant: Hedwig, Dobby or Remus; although he's been in it since 4, Mad-Eye has always been a little more distant and Tonks was always more on the edge. It does mean all four original Marauders are now dead though...

[purple_kathryn]

I've just finished reading it (started a bit late due to babysitting duties)

Gah feeling kind of depressed that the train ride is now over. Loved the ending and yes I'd liked to have found out about what happened to some of the characters

[PTeppic]

I think it's kind of inevitable, the feeling of depression about it being over. I used to do amateur theatricals at school and always felt empty once the show was over the year. I feel the same sometimes after reading a large run of other series of closely related books too, e.g. Eddings or Tolkein.

[The Ace]

Yeah, it's over but most of my questions have been answered and the full story wasn't bad at all.

[little smaug]

I'd have liked to know what some of the other characters were doing 19 years on, and what jobs the trio were doing (I thought Harry would have been DADA teacher). And I want to know who raised Teddy after he was orphaned.

[PTeppic]

I thought about the Teddy issue earlier, and in the end didn't include it in my original list of unanswereds. I think I came down on whoever was looking after him during the battle. Though, with Harry as godfather, presumably he would have a hand/paw?

Also, was wondering about the main trio's jobs whilst cooking tea. What does the saviour of the wizarding world do afterwards, apart from the obvious with Ginny... [I'll also be curious to see how they film the epilogue in three years time: new actors or aging make-up?]

Extrapolating, who's head at Hogwarts, for example, McGonagall? Was the Riddle "curse" lifted after his death and do Hogwarts now have DADA teachers lasting more than a year? Is Kingsley still Minister? Did Ollivander return to wand-making (though he'd likely have died by then anyway)? How many of the death eaters died, were captured etc? Draco seemed to be tolerated at Kings Cross, so how have they been accepted into society (Slytherin house seems to have been partially restored to equal favour, at least in some eyes)? Did Umbridge ever repent of her ways? Or Rita Skeeter?

However, despite all those questions, I think I'm happy not having that detail. Yes, it provides the options for another book/series/charity-publication(#), but in this instance I think adding detail would be unnecessary. We saw our ending, we just needed to wind-down slightly after the roller-coaster. Almost like a drug addict, here's a final hit before you hit the big "All was well." otherwise you'd be going back for more, and then some more, and more...

(#) If she wanted, JKR could do a very nice "where are they now" or "This is your life" style booklet for the next "Comic Relief" and still include loads of detail. The rest of the DA, Order, teachers and family: jobs and partners/families. The ministry, Hogwarts and Diagon Alley institutions' positions.

[purple_kathryn]

Originally Posted by little smaug

And I want to know who raised Teddy after he was orphaned.

I was assuming Andromeda

[pyan]

And who married Draco Malfoy?

[Commonmind]

Originally Posted by Balinor

2) Supposedly 2 main characters die (I assume this refers to Dobby and Fred). I think that she should have killed off either Harry, Ron or Hermionie. In my eyes Fred wasn't involved enough to be counted as a main character and dobby hadn't been involved enough. Mad-eye, Tonks and Lupin were (IMO) at least as important.

One of the main things individuals are forgetting when they bring this up, is that J.K. originally stated that two characters died that she did not mean, or plan, to kill. You're trying to discern who the two main characters were, and unfortunately you're getting lost trying to decide whom is more crucial to the story. If you read her original quote, you might understand a bit better, and therefore will no longer try and weigh the importance of specific characters over another, which is subjective anyway (for author, and reader):

“The final chapter is hidden away, although it’s now changed very slightly. One character got a reprieve. But I have to say two die that I didn’t intend to die,” she said. “A price has to be paid. We are dealing with pure evil here. They don’t target extras do they? They go for the main characters. Well, I do.”

[Commonmind]

Originally Posted by pyan

And who married Draco Malfoy?

I think the fact that it went unmentioned meant it wasn't worth mentioning - left ambiguous for a reason.

[PTeppic]

I guessed that as well: if she wasn't a Slytherin in Harry/Draco's year (or possibly in the DA) then it's unlikely we'll have met her. And so she's basically irrelevant. Pure-blood, almost certainly though. Which means a few years younger or older than Draco, or foreign, since "all" British witches go to Hogwarts.

[No Inspiration]

Did Rowling not state that a character would manage to achieve magic later on in life? Did I miss this, or was it not in the book.
Lena.

[The Upright Man]

it was overall good, despite the vagueness of moody's death