Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows discussion thread (SPOILERS)

[Needle77]

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I think James would be the original stag, and Lily adopted the doe because of that. James -> Lily -> Snape is the most likely chain of events imo

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Let me make sure I understand what you are saying. Because James animangus form = Stag, Lily's patronus would be a doe. Snape's then would be a doe due to his love for Lily. So it doesn't really matter what Jame's patronus was.

And Tonks went from a dog -> wolf?

[calcbandit]

It turned into a wolf because she married Lupin, a werewolf.

[traz]

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I think James would be the original stag, and Lily adopted the doe because of that. James -> Lily -> Snape is the most likely chain of events imo

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Let me make sure I understand what you are saying. Because James animangus form = Stag, Lily's patronus would be a doe. Snape's then would be a doe due to his love for Lily. So it doesn't really matter what Jame's patronus was.

And Tonks went from a dog -> wolf?

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I don't really understand what you're saying.

Apparently when you love someone, your patronus can take a form to represent that. Lily loved James, so her patronus reflected that. In turn, Snap loved Lily, and his patronus reflected that.

Tonks' patronus reflected her love for lupine. It really all makes sense

[KneeCo]

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I honestly think if you didn't know Snape was good, you weren't reading the book right. The big mystery was how it all fit in, and even that turned out not to be a huge mystery

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Agreed, anyone who thinks DD was getting played for all those years is just not that smart, there's no way DD went out like that big a chump. The missing piece of the puzzle wasn't whether Snape was good or not, it was what did DD know that we didn't (and after mulling and theorizing for a long time between books, I was very satisfied with what the answer ended up being).

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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).

[KneeCo]

http://www.mugglenet.com/app/news/full_story/1156

JKR webchat transcript.

Not a bad or particularly good read. She makes more of the definitive type what-happens-that-isn't-in-the-books statements that she's so keen on recently which is getting kind of annoying, but also demonstrates her appreciation of the fan base and love of her characters which is nice.

[bobman0330]

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I honestly think if you didn't know Snape was good, you weren't reading the book right. The big mystery was how it all fit in, and even that turned out not to be a huge mystery

[/ QUOTE ]

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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I thought exactly this too. I was pretty convinced from the ending scene of Book 6 that Ginny wasn't just going to sit around Hogwarts while Harry was off fighting Voldemort, and the mysterious doe played right into my theories. Oops.

[Fabian]

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http://www.mugglenet.com/app/news/full_story/1156

JKR webchat transcript.

Not a bad or particularly good read. She makes more of the definitive type what-happens-that-isn't-in-the-books statements that she's so keen on recently which is getting kind of annoying, but also demonstrates her appreciation of the fan base and love of her characters which is nice.

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Chely: James patronus is a stag and lilys a doe is that a coincidence?
J.K. Rowling: No, the Patronus often mutates to take the image of the love of one's life (because they so often become the 'happy thought' that generates a Patronus).

Apparently James patronus really was a stag, despite never being explicitly mentioned in the books.

[CallMeIshmael]

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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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Whoa.


This is a very good theory and I have no idea how I missed thinking that at the time.


Dont get me wrong, I thought it was Snape. But, he is easily my fav. character, and the whole book was, for me, a lead up to Snapes story; the Harry/Voldemort stuff was an after thought, so I was obv. looking for Snape to save to day. But, nice thought.

[Dilznoofus]

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I honestly think if you didn't know Snape was good, you weren't reading the book right. The big mystery was how it all fit in, and even that turned out not to be a huge mystery

[/ QUOTE ]

Agreed, anyone who thinks DD was getting played for all those years is just not that smart, there's no way DD went out like that big a chump. The missing piece of the puzzle wasn't whether Snape was good or not, it was what did DD know that we didn't (and after mulling and theorizing for a long time between books, I was very satisfied with what the answer ended up being).

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Dumbledore did concede to Harry that he has made mistakes, and said something about being as clever as he is the mistakes he makes tend to be very big ones.

I wasn't totally certain about Snape, though I certainly believed the scenario that ended up playing out was very likely. However, I willfully avoided analyzing and theorizing too much while I was reading the books. I figured it would take the fun out of it if I ended up being right. Snape tipping off the Order in book 5 would certainly appear to remove all doubt about Snape's allegiance, but I always imagined Rowling would be able to surprise me and find a way around it if she wanted to.

Also, what about the chapter in HBP when Snape tells Bellatrix that the information he gave Voldemort led to the death of Emmeline Vance? Was he lying about that, or did he really cause the death of an innocent person in order to maintain his cover? I'm recalling this from memory so I may have forgotten some detail that answers my question.

[Dilznoofus]

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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).

[/ QUOTE ]


Whoa.


This is a very good theory and I have no idea how I missed thinking that at the time.


Dont get me wrong, I thought it was Snape. But, he is easily my fav. character, and the whole book was, for me, a lead up to Snapes story; the Harry/Voldemort stuff was an after thought, so I was obv. looking for Snape to save to day. But, nice thought.

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Why is Snape your favorite character? He was incredibly brave but was driven by very small and selfish motives and was never what you could consider a "good" guy. I can never shake that no matter how loyal he became to Dumbledore, he would have gladly participated in bringing about his downfall had it not been for the unlucky circumstance that his boss went after the girl he loved.

Or is that why you like him?