Reviews

So the reason why it took me nearly a month to finish DH when it took me only a couple days/weeks to get through the other books was because I kept re-reading the chapters trying to savour it and make it longer.

Some thoughts:
This book gets dangerous right off the bat, compared to the usual story of things building up over the school year into a climax before the summer. But we're on the run this time and very narrowly escaping Voldemort's forces throughout - a terrifying journey out from Privet Drive to the Burrow, a terrifying escape from Death Eater wedding crashers, then the Ministry, Godric's Hollow, the Lovegoods', Malfoy Manor, Gringotts, then finally back to Hogwarts to face the music.

I always cry reading through the Battle of Hogwarts. Harry's grief for those who die fighting to protect him and his terror for the surviving still in danger, and especially him walking with his dead mother/father/Sirius/Lupin to his own death hurts my heart in a way few other stories can.

"Albus Severus you were named after two headmasters of Hogwarts, one of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew" is and will always be WACKKK to me. Snape protecting Harry only because he loved Lily does not redeem his behaviour the entire rest of his life. Dumbledore "raised [Harry] like a pig for slaughter" - yes, to fulfil the prophecy and ensure Voldemort's defeat for the greater good, but also taking advantage of the fact that Harry would not back down from the greater good... I don't know if either of those are worth naming your kid after. Maybe Harry is more forgiving than I am.

All in all, another satisfying conclusion to my re-re-reread of the series. Mainly nostalgic, but plenty of new realizations re-reading it in my 20s. I'm sure it will again strike different chords as I get older. I will always hold these characters and their stories close to my heart.

(I choose to mostly ignore the spinoffs incl Cursed Child, Fantastic Beasts that come after and I keep JKR's ugly transphobic sentiments in a separate compartment away from the HP series. I will finish enjoying Hogwarts Legacy and the movie series though)