So I really really want to talk to someone about the ending - so many questions still!! My only other Harry Potter friend is in TN and she hasn't finished reading yet.... and I don't frequent the Harry Potter sites, and I think they've kind of blocked discussion on some of them to give people a chance to read it..... I read it all day yesterday from about 10 AM (when my book was delivered) - midnight! I'm dying to discuss! Will anyone talk with me??

BTW - I don't feel I'm spoiling anything for anyone if the title of this post is "discuss the ending"....

So am I the only crazy one that's read it so far???

No you are not the only one who has finished. I read till 5 yesterday morning, took a nap and then read till I finished it. I have been waiting on my broth and sis to finish.

I'm done too even with a terribly busy day and a MIL who wouldn't shut up I finished about 10:30 last night.

So what do you all think?? What do you think about Snape? I'm still confused about what was going on in the weird "limbo/heaven" space...... and I'm still confused about the twin core wand, and did Harry lose the stone in the woods? He said he wasn't going back for something... did he just mean the snitch that he had won in his first Quidditch match? But he's keeping the Resurrection stone? What would he need it for? Just b/c he doesn't want to destroy it?

And where did Neville get the Gryffindor sword? Did it come out of the Sorting Hat?

And what did they end up becoming other than parents & married? I guess I'd like to know what kind of jobs they ended up with.... do they work for the ministry? Is Harry an Auror or is there a need for them anymore? What happened to Tonks & Lupin's baby, Teddy? I know he grows up and goes to Hogwarts.... but who is the "cousin" he's kissing? And who took care of him? I'm left with so many questions!!

Oh and what happened to Luna? We didn't really find out what happened to her, did we? And I can't believe all the people that died! Oh my gosh I was trying to count them all..... Hedwig, the teacher that was never mentioned before that taught Muggle studies, Mad Eye, Lupin, Tonks, Crabbe, Dobby, Snape, that woman that wrote the History of Magic, Tonks's father and whoever was with him (can't remember who that was), Colin Creevy, Fred, George just lost his ear..... and supposedly "50 others" that were fighting at the school.... am I missing anyone?

And whoa what about Malfoy? You would think maybe just maybe he would be nicer to Harry in the future - but it seems he was still the same as the kids were getting on the Hogwarts train - I mean, yes, he didn't say anything nasty - but he hardly looked at them either. I understand their humiliation to a point, but you would hope they'd learn from their mistakes.....

Ooh and I don't want to hear anyone calling Harry Potter the book of the devil..... come on the entire last seen COULD be given a Christian message by connecting it to Jesus & to the battle at the end of the world....... Jesus died for us willingly, He came back b/c His power conquered death.... and at the end we will fight together to destroy Satan..........well as a Christian, I could come up with that "lesson" from the book... I doubt J.K. Rowling meant it that way, but you COULD use Harry Potter to teach Christian messages.......oh especially about how he dug the grave for Dobby and the goblin said how he was unlike other wizards - b/c he treated all creatures as if they had worth - and he hung out with those that weren't the most popular or accomplished - like Neville & Luna......just like Jesus hung out with prostitutes and tax collectors and such......so anyway, NO it's not the "Devil's book" or going to send anyone to hell for reading it......

The parts about Snape were really interesting. In a way he's a terrible person despite him being spy for Dumbledore, he wasn't upset about the thought of another mother dying just Lily and the only reason he was interested in saving Harry was because of his mother.

I thought it was pretty clear that Harry dropped the snitch containing the stone in the forest and was planning on leaving it there.

I think Neville got the sword from the hat, it was where Harry got it and the hat was around during the fight.

Judging by the name of the cousin she would be Bill's daughter and I'd think Teddy was raised by his grandma (just a guess).

Lavender Brown died I think, the werewolf was biting her and stuff. It was kind of hard to keep track and there are some scenes where you can't tell if someone is injured or dead.

Forgot to add that the Church of England has some approved books about teaching religion to kids using Harry Potter, I saw it on Yahoo the other day.

I think just about anything can be twisted to what you want to see. Look at the bible, there are so many ways to interpret it, that's why there are so many different churches. It's all in how you look at things if something is good or bad. I'm not trying to say anything bad about any church I'm just using it as an example of how you can take one passage and find different meanings.

So did anybody pick up on who the new headmaster was? I'm guessing McGonagall?

Oh it's gotta be McGonagall - she's the only one that makes sense to me. I always thought she'd be great at it.

Anyone wonder if Deloros Umbridge is dead? I can't believe that the centaurs let her get away.... I kinda thought they would rip her apart......guess I was kinda hoping for it. She's just pure evil.

I'm still wondering what they all ended up doing as "careers"...

Me too. It is totally set up for another series too. I hope JK gets the writing bug again!

I think McGonagall must be Headmistress - she rocks!

I also think Teddy was kissing Fleur and Bill's daughter since "Victoire" is a French name.

As for the wand, this is what I think happend:

Harry's original wand was a twin to Voldemort's, Voldemort got a new wand (Lucius') because he thought it would beat Harry's wand, but it didn't. So Voldemort went searching for the Elder Wand (believed to be "unbeatable"). Harry ended up being the Elder Wand's chosen master because he had unarmed Draco Malfoy who was the previous master. When Voldemort tried to use the Elder Wand to do the Avada Kadavra curse, Harry used "Expelliarmus" the disarming spell. The spells collided and Harry's made Voldemort's rebound so he was killed with his own spell.

As for the Limbo/Heaven:
Harry chose to die to help the others - in allowing Voldemort to kill him, Harry really allowed Voldemort to kill the part of his soul that was residing in Harry as a Horcrux. In addition, Harry's sacrifice did for the others what Lily's sacrafice did for Harry - it created a protection charm over them. So Harry comes to and then waits for Neville to kill the snake (the last Horcrux) and then Harry can duel Voldemort knowing that one of them would have to die.

I'm so glad you started this thread! I've been dying to talk with someone since I finished the book!

Here's my take on your questions:

The resurrection stone: Harry dropped the stone in the clearing just as he made himself known to Voldemort & the Death Eaters (the precise moment when his parents disappeared). That is what he was talking about when he told Dumbledore he would leave it there where no one would be likely to find it.

When Voldemort tried to kill Harry in the clearing, he was using the Elder wand. Since Harry was it's rightful owner, it would not kill him. Rather, it killed only the Horcruxe (the part of Voldemort's soul that lived in Harry). Also, since Harry's blood was in Voldemort, he could not die as long as Voldemort lived - that was a part of the protection his mother left him when she sacrificed herself. We don't really know if the scene at King's Cross was real, but as Dumbledore told Harry, it doesn't really matter. Harry learned the answers he needed to defeat Voldemort, whether he figured it out in his subconscious or in some sort of "limbo" with Dumbledore.

Neville was able to pull the Gryffindor sword out of the sorting hat just as Harry did in the Chamber of Secrets. We learned then that it would appear for a true Gryffindor who shows courage & bravery in a moment of need.

As for the end, I guess she just let us know what she felt we needed to know, w/o too many details. We know that Teddy grew up ok even w/o his parents & that Harry is fulfilling his role of Godfather. I also think Victoire is Charlie's daughter. We know that Neville & Luna are ok, though we don't know what happened to Luna. I think that Malfoy acted just as you'd expect him too - a tiger can't change it's stripes, right? I also would have liked more info about what they all were doing as adults, but I also like that she left some things up to the imagination. I do think she did a pretty good job of ensuring that there would be no further sequals.

I have a couple of questions that maybe someone can answer:

Is there any significance in the names of Ron & Hermione's children, Rose and Hugo?

Also, how did Malfoy, Crabbe & Goyle get into the Room of Requirement with Harry? In Half-Blood Prince, Harry wants to follow Malfoy into the RofR, but can't b/c he doesn't know the exact reason why Malfoy is going in. In this book, when Harry asks the room to open to the place where hidden things go, he does so silently. So how could Malfoy know what to ask for? Did I miss something, or was that an error on JKR's part?

Bec
(admitted Harry Potter nerd - can't wait until my kids are old enough to read these books so I can experience it all again through them!)

OMG... I tore through that book on Saturday, possibly faster than any other! I think it took me 8 hours. Hehehehe. I was ravenous!!

Ok, loved the book, hated some of the deaths, but it's more realistic that way, to be honest. Good guys do die sometimes! But, I was totally left unfullfilled by the ending. It was like... "Ummmmmmmmm, they all live happily ever after and stuff is good!" I felt robbed. The whole "19 years later" thing... yah, that was great to see where they were down the road, but it totally left out the best parts! Like the reunion between Harry and Ginny! I mean, that had to be an eletrically charged situation seeing as how she's been in love with him since book 1, and they were together briefly, and have been skulking around sad, madly in love! I wanted to see the moment they realized they coudl be together! I'm not talking 'porn' writing here, just a very emotional reunion where they run into each others arms or something! It was, of course, a fantastic book, but I wanted more! Of course, I'm unsatiable when it comes to HP, so I am going to want more regardless! I was so ticked when Tonks and Lupin died!! That was so wrong! But it sure leaves an opening for another Harry type character there!!! His parents were killed when he was a baby while battling Voldemort, his Godfather is the infamous (and wicked hot) Harry Potter! Hmmmmm.

Are Rose and Huga Mermione's parent's names? I can't recall if they've ever been said... maybe in the first book. I'll have to check!

re romantic reunions, marriages, etc. and what's been going on in the 19 years...

she's writing action/adventure -- not soap opera.

let's see do I really want to read 19 years of bringing up the children (daddy can I zap the cat? DAD! this spells homework is TOOOOOOOO hard!), domestic squabbles (raised to a high art by Hermione and Ron).

Thank you, NO!!!!!!!

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tho' must admit it would be nice to know what they were about as adults (like just what is Harry's job?) and yes, a few more details about the faculty at Hogwarts

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and a dream come true would be for Harry or Hermione to become Headmaster

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at this point, a future book would have to be about the children or even grand children.

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interesting tidbit -- how Harry, Voldomort, Malfoy and many others are all distantly related cousins of some sort -- one big family feud it would seem.

I also hated to see Tonks & Lupin die. Although, it certainly gives Harry & Teddy a lot in common, and also gives Harry a chance to live out Sirius's unfulfilled destiny of being an involved Godfather. Sort of a way for Harry to honor Sirius, I guess.

I thought the house elves were great in this book. I loved the bit about Kreacher's role with the locket horcrux.

Also, Lavendar Brown didn't die (at least not in the scene we saw). Hermione stunned Greyback before he could get to her, then Trelawney dropped a crystal ball onto his head (a nice bit of comic relief, I thought).

I will be surprised if JKR ever tries to bring back these characters, whether it's about Harry's kids or Teddy. My guess is that it won't be long before other "authors" come out with a new wave of Potter-related books. All the mock Hogwarts textbooks and Harry Potter theory books crack me up. I guess people will always find ways to capitalize on things that are so successful (a different topic, sorry!).

Bec

I don't want to bring down this thread, so if you'd like to discuss in a PM that's fine. Just feel that you've been bashing me a lot lately. Sorry.

Hmmm on the "Room of Requirement", I think Malfoy, Crabbe, & Goyle might have known that Harry might look for something in that particular room... and perhaps that was enough to get them in. It didn't go into a whole lot of detail there though...

Did anyone find it weird that it was "19" years later as the epilogue? Was there something significant with "19" years that I just didn't get? Or what was that thing about every generation having a "dark lord/wizard"? Do you think she left it open with "19" years instead of 20? Was it every 10 years a dark wizard rises?

I also found it kinda weird that they would continue the House of Slytherin - true, Snape came out of it and was good - but he was only good b/c he loved Lily. I don't think anyone else good came out of that House..... I know Slytherin helped form the school, but man - it just seems like a breeding ground for bad wizards - why not take it down to three houses? Maybe then Hufflepuff would finally get mentioned...... (I always end up in Hufflepuff on those "sorting" websites.... and not a whole lot is ever said about Hufflepuff! And we get a stupid "Cup" as our Horcrux? Lame!) Hm speaking of the Horcrux - what was significant about the "cup"? and how did Bellatrix end up with it?

The whole scene in the bank was disastrous, huh? I can't wait to see that part made into a movie.... riding out on the dragon, multiplying treasure that burns, crazy little goblin running off with the sword - was that the goblin played by "mini me" Vern? (can't remember his last name sorry!)

Yes I wondered if they went back to school - I mean yes, they defeated the dark lord, but that doesn't mean they know everything there is to know about magic - there's tons to learn! But the schooling all seems so strange - why don't they start school until they are 11? What happens before then? If they aren't allowed to use magic and they grow up in a wizarding family - do they just watch everyone else use it & try not to use it by accident b/c they don't even know how? B/c remember - Lily & Harry both used magic before they even knew they were wizards - so it seems kind of reckless to me to not teach them quite young how to at least control it somewhat or learn to not use it in the "muggle" world....

And do they have Hogwarts colleges? Where do they go to learn further magic? They still haven't learned how to create their own spells.... like Snape did in his Potions book.... where did he learn how to do that? And did he actually try out that sectaseprum (or whatever it was) on someone while he was in school? How did he learn how to alter all those potions so they were correct? And then why didn't he write the idiot that wrote the potions book all of his corrections? Seems like a really stupid wizard wrote that Potions book if none of the potions were really working out right using the book's directions..... (okay so that's back to the Half-Blood Prince, but I didn't have anyone to discuss that one with so I'm adding stuff to this discussion)

When they started talking about training for careers in the earlier books I thought it might be on the job training or special classes at the Ministry. The wizarding population isn't that big so they wouldn't have lots of people going on to further their education since some people wouldn't need to so a college might not be needed.

I think I have it figured out. Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle were useing a charm to hide in the corridor. They overheard Harry say that he was looking for the diadem. Of course Malfoy spent a lot of time in the place everything is hidden in the last book, so he already knew how to get in.

I enjoyed the book. Although it did leave me wanting a little more. I would love to know what they do for a living. Oh well, I know it is just something I am going to have to come to terms with.

Thanks for starting this thread!