[rustyspeedy]

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Speaking of the doe. Was I the only one who was *sure* on first reading that the patronus which leads Harry to the sword was Ginny's??
I figured
* Harry wouldn't recognize it from DA training cause it changed like Tonks' when they were together, a doe to match his Stag.
* Earlier in the book, Ginny and co. were caught trying to steal the fake sword which indicated she was after it.
* Harry checks the Marauder's Map and doesn't see her soon before the Doe appears, and they make note of the fact that she isn't at Hogwarts due to the Holidays.

I was positive it would turn out to be her, and was trying to figure how she had realized the office sword was a fake, got the real one and how she tracked Harry (working theory was some sort of spell she set while kissing him on his birthday).

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That does follow pretty well. It was pretty nicely thought out and I admit I didn't even explore that possibility, but that is because I was pretty sure it was Snape all along.

The sword he puts in Gringotts ended up being a fake. I was sure that this wasn't an accident because I was waiting for Snape's redemption that, as was said, was patently obvious at the end of book 7.

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Finally, what exact role did the Deathly Hallows actually play? Besides the elder wand backfiring and owning Vold the other two didn't do anything. Was it just to teach Harry not to fear death?

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Well, technically he was a master of all of the Hallows once he went to face Voldemort. Though the logic in him 'owning' the wand is somewhat flawed, he was a master of the cloak and the resurrection stone as well.

Technically he 'united' the three Hallows before he went to face Voldemort. You can look at him bravely walking to death as 'conquering' it, or him coming back as kind of doing the same thing.

The stories are parallel as well, as was mentioned earlier. Perhaps owning the cloak can be attributed to him 'choosing' it, and him walking to certain Death also parallels the story. Coming back can probably be attributed to the Hallows though, even though there was some weird logic about him being anchored to Voldemort.