I totally agree that she had this whole thing more or less mapped out from day one. I'm boggled about how she pulled it off. Amazing.

I'm not too sure about the ending, though. I'll have to wait and see how it strikes me in a few days. After having it be pumped for years and years about the dark, tragic ending, I was expecting a little more, I think. Plus, having Harry not really die after taking on the role of the sacrificial hero was: A) not really fitting for the dark tone of the books; B) diminishing the impact of his character and sacrifice, sort of a literary version of having your cake and eating it too; C) A little too much like that whole part in The Chronicles of Narnia when Aslan willingly sacrifices himself then is reborn because of the noble sacrifice.

Still, even with those issues, this was pretty much the best thing EVAR.

Anyone get the significance of the crying baby or whatever it was in the King's Cross scene near the end?

Yea, I can see your point... though I love how she had (at least me) completely believing that Harry would die -- and then the thrill of realizing he wouldn't.

I also loved the idea that, because Harry had willingly sacrificed himself for wizard-kind, he offered them all a version of the protection his mother had given him. Loved that.

I missed the crying baby at the end! I will go re-read that chapter and report back.

People never like to kill off the hero. Look at Buffy getting killed multiple times only to come back. Same might be said for Ripley in the Alien series, where she should have stayed "dead" after Alien 3, but you can't keep a good hero down.

Of course, that doesn't bug me as much as Optimus Prime not dying in the current Transformers movie. That was what made the cartoon Transformers movie so cool, that Optimus really does sacrifice himself.

Yeah the whole ending was so intense I wonder if I actually absorbed it as much as I should have. I loved how Neville got to be the big hero in the end (although that was kind of a given) but the epilogue...I don't know it bugged me a little bit. It was so cheesey.

The book as a whole was incredible though! Dumbledor being just a regular guy with faults and mistakes, that was great. And SNAPE! Oh man, that part blew my mind!!!

I thought the baby was Voldemort? Or, I'm not sure, maybe the darkest parts of Dumbledor? Heh, its tricky

I agree -- the end part was supa cheese. But I kinda loved it; I felt like after seven epic novels of turmoil, she was intentionally over-the-top with just how happily ever they lived... and it was so short, I found it kinda charming.

It was a nice hat tip to the zillions of people who obviously have been longing for the two couples to hook up and make future generations of Hogwarters. :)

The epilogue was a bit corny, but it did tie up all the major loose ends of the book. And, like Dana said, it was short, which probably made it infinitely more bearable.

Plus, that brief bit where Harry tells his son that Snape was one of the bravest men he ever knew struck me as one of the saddest moments in the entire series.

OMG, YES! I totally welled up when Harry said that about Snape to his son (and that he had named his son after Snape too -- I weep!!).

I knew Snape was secretly a hero.

I cried so much towards the end! Especially when Hagrid carried his dead body, ugh!! I think I need to read the whole thing again though, I feel like theres no closure, even though there is.

Maybe I'm still just upset that she killed Lupin and Tonks. Just about my favorite characters, and they didn't even get to be a sweet happy couple very much!

OK, I just finished. I'm happy with the conclusion.

Yes, JK had obviously mapped out most of her complex (sometimes convoluted) plot from the beginning -- that became more evident with each volume, and I was most amazed with the already-destroyed Horcruxes in the previous book.

Speaking of Horcruxes, I had a sneaking suspicion that Harry himself was one by the end of book 6. It was dealt with in an interesting way -- and how come Harry still had his scar in the epilogue? (It wasn't there when he was in his King's Cross station 'heaven'.)

Early reports were that Hermione was going to die. I'm glad she didn't -- there were plenty of hero's-helper deaths. I loved those long Ron-less scenes where not much appeared to happen, and when so much was exchanged between Harry and Hermione in silence... reminded me a bit of the first half of final season of The Sopranos.

And the final showdown -- good, but WORDY. Wow, if the film version includes all that Harry-Voldemort dialogue, audiences will be all squirms and giggles.

Grim @1 and Erik @3: I'm feeling a tiny bit cheated over the death-to-life thing too. If he'd died though, JK would never have been safe walking the streets again.

Kiku @4 and Dana @5: Very cheesy flash-forward epilogue, but I was kinda OK with it too. I'm left wondering what became of Minerva McGonagall, who has always been my favorite Hogwarts prof.

Kiku @8: I agree about Lupin and Tonks. Especially Tonks. And just after having a freaky-hair baby too! Way sad.

This series was an amazing pop-entertainment achievement, I'm glad I came along for the ride, AND I hope JK moves on to something else and does not revisit this world again. All good things must end. And preferably end well. Like the Potter series.

I finished it last night. I know, I'm a bit behind. I like to sponge up every detail the first time around.

#1: I believe the crying baby was the bit of Voldemort's fragmented soul that latched onto Harry when he was a baby. The Horcrux/Voldemortian connection/scar part of him which was destroyed in the self-sacrifice sequence. As Dumby said, Harry's soul is now whole and entirely his own.

#9: The scar in Harry's halfway-heaven wasn't there because it wasn't part of his ideal, painless, unflawed self. Note that both Dumbledore and Harry had spotless hands (even though Dumbledore's had been cursed and Harry's had been scarred from Umbridge's punishment). It was there in the epilogue because, like George's ear, Dark Magic wounds can't be healed completely.

All epic novel series need cheesy, drawn out, moralistic endings, if only so that the author can say flat-out, "Happily ever after, The End, now stop bugging me about a #8." However, there is one HP-related book I would be thrilled to see Rowling write: The Tales of Beedle the Bard. Can I get a hail yeh?

i too agree that the epilogue was a bit cheesy but at the same time necessary for some people, you know if it hadnt been there then people all over the world would be bitching about what happens after he beats voldemort, but at the same time i loved it when the boy asked about slytherin and harry commented on how snape was in slytherin and he was one of the bravest men he ever knew, and i was also puzzled by the baby at the end, but maybe there isnt really any significance to it, maybe its just there

heres something that i was pissed about that nobody else has mentioned, why the fuck did fred die, that was so unnecessary, seriously after all the people she killed off in the last book(dont think im saying the other people werent necessary) why did she kill fred, sure it got to show the weasley family greaving over a lost son but why didnt they just have the weasley family greaving over tonks and lupin, im mad, and slightly depressed, seriously poor george too