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Author Topic: The Ending of the Latest (and Last) Harry Potter  (Read 12976 times)

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JIM DOHERTY

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The Ending of the Latest (and Last) Harry Potter
« on: August 02, 2007, 03:50:12 PM »

If you haven't read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows yet, I'm sorry to spoil the surprise for you, but doesn't this ending seem a bit familiar to you?




Hermione looked at him tenderly and said, "But now that Ron's dead we can finally be together, Harry."

"Don't be silly," replied Harry.  "You're taking the fall, Precious."

"Harry, you can't mean that, you do such wild unpredictable things.  But after all we've meant to each other."

"You don't get it, Sweetheart.  When a man's boarding school roommate is killed, he's supposed to do something about.  It doesn't matter what you thought of him, he was your roommate, and you're supposed to do something about it.  Then it happens we were both members of the Order of the Phoenix.  If I was to let you get away with Ron's murder, it'd be bad.  Bad for the Order.  Bad for every wizard everywhere.  Still, I hope they don't hang you, Precious, by that sweet neck."

"Hang me?"

"If you're lucky, you'll get life at Azkaban.  With good behavior, they'll let you out in twenty years.  If they do, I'll be waiting for you.  If they don't, I'll never forget you."

"They'll never send me to Azkaban," shouted Hermione, as she reached for her wand.

But Harry's was already out. "Avera kadavera!" he said before Hermione could utter the words of her own fatal curse.

She lay on ground, her soul slowly but surely separating itself from her body.  She looked up at Harry in disbelief.

"How could you?" she asked.

Harry only had a moment before he'd be talking to a corpse, but he managed to get it in.

"It was easy," he said.



With apologies to the late lamented Dashiell Hammett and Mickey Spillane.  You all knew I wouldn't REALLY spoil it all for you, didn't you?

« Last Edit: August 02, 2007, 03:56:36 PM by JIM DOHERTY »
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Ingrid

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Re: The Ending of the Latest (and Last) Harry Potter
« Reply #1 on: August 02, 2007, 05:14:51 PM »

I haven't read the book, but I was a little surprised.  This didn't sound like Rowling. Did you make it up? Do I take it that the friends weren't really killing each other off?
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JIM DOHERTY

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Re: The Ending of the Latest (and Last) Harry Potter
« Reply #2 on: August 02, 2007, 05:42:48 PM »

Ingrid,

Yes, I basically adapted the endings of The Maltese Falcon and I the Jury.  It was a comment on how much harder and darker Deathly Hallows was the earlier books in the series.

It was a joke.

Bob Mueller

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Re: The Ending of the Latest (and Last) Harry Potter
« Reply #3 on: August 02, 2007, 05:52:29 PM »

"Avera kadavera"?????

 :D :D :D :D
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Matthew S.

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Re: The Ending of the Latest (and Last) Harry Potter
« Reply #4 on: August 02, 2007, 06:04:00 PM »

If Harry Potter were really like that I'd have all of them instead of just two.

Matthew S.
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Peg H

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Re: The Ending of the Latest (and Last) Harry Potter
« Reply #5 on: August 02, 2007, 09:08:57 PM »

 ;D Loved it Jim, what a hoot!

Peg H
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Charmaine

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Re: The Ending of the Latest (and Last) Harry Potter
« Reply #6 on: August 03, 2007, 12:39:29 AM »

"Avera kadavera"?????

 :D :D :D :D

'Tis the fatal kill curse, Bob.

That was a good 'un, Jim! It was a pretty dark book, wasn't it? I like that Rowling never pulls her punches with the kids. But it may have been a rather difficult thing for the younger ones.

I was lurking on a Potter forum (Mugglenet!) and read that Rowling gave more particulars about the fab four's future in an interview -- Harry becomes head of the Auror Department (sniffing out evil magic users), Ginny joins a woman's professional sports team (having a brain fart -- the flying broom thing/golden snitch thing) until retiring to raise kids, Ron joins his brother in running the wizard joke shop, Hermione leads the fight to protect magical critters like those house elves, Luna becomes a magical naturalist
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Ingrid

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Re: The Ending of the Latest (and Last) Harry Potter
« Reply #7 on: August 03, 2007, 10:39:54 AM »

Hah!  There!  You see?  In the Potter series, the good people win. You don't want to end on a note of despair and hopelessness. That's quite different from the sort of honesty that includes bad happenings in a children's book.  Keep in mind the witches, wolves, and evil stepmothers.  They don't get away with it. Actually, I like that in novels, too.
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JIM DOHERTY

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Re: The Ending of the Latest (and Last) Harry Potter
« Reply #8 on: August 03, 2007, 12:03:53 PM »

Ingrid,

Actually, in The Maltese Falcon and I the Jury the good people win too.  It's just that you're not sure who the bad people, at least who all the bad people are.  And, in the case of Falcon, it's not absolutely clear who the good guys are.  But since both heroes reach their goal, the discovery of the murderer of their partner, you can't really call the endings hopeless or despairing.

Seriously though, I do agree that a large part of the appeal of the Potter series is the triumph over evil and the rewarding of good.  I'd also add that it's an excellent example of Raymond Chandler's recipe for compelling fiction (which would indicate that my hard-boiled parody might not be that far off the mark), the story of the hero's adventure in the search for hidden truth.  And also the fact that Harry is, like Chandler's Marlowe, a man fit for adventure.

BTW, lest I take too much credit, the idea of rewriting Harry so that the ending resembles a famous PI story climax was first used by award-winning mystery novelist Bill Crider over at another list I'm on, Rara-Avis, just the other day.  All I did was add a few more flourishes.

Ingrid

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Re: The Ending of the Latest (and Last) Harry Potter
« Reply #9 on: August 03, 2007, 02:15:04 PM »

No doubt, you're right, Jim.  You usually are. I didn't like THE MALTESE FALCON and am not a fan of American hardboiled fiction. So you have to take my opinions with a grain of salt. I'm thinking of the Harry Potter series now.  We have been introduced painstakingly to the kindness, fairness, loyalty, etc. of Harry"s friends.  You cannot possibly turn all this on its head and say that in one instance that gets you killed, and in the other it was all pretense all along. That was why I balked at your scenario.  (which was otherwise both funny and clever)
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penny

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Re: The Ending of the Latest (and Last) Harry Potter
« Reply #10 on: August 22, 2007, 11:54:56 AM »

Jim, you can't imagine what your post did to me:
I came across it before reading the book - which I've just finished moments ago.
I didn't want to read a spoiler, but my eyes got a glimpse of the line: Now that's Ron gone..."

I didn't even read the rest of it. I was sure, till the very end, that Ron was the one who was going to die. I kept expecting it during all of the 750 pages!! Speak about a spoiler...

(There's this rumor that one of the three dies in this book.)

Imagine how surprised I was to reach the end!

I quickly came here to see what the thread was really about!  ;D

Penny
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