The Book High

So I have to admit that I totally cheated. Seeing the tragedy tag on this one made me nervous enough that I had to go and read the last chapter first. I've read enough stories where main characters die or switch sides (yes, I'm glaring at you, [b:1984|5470|1984|George Orwell|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348990566s/5470.jpg|153313]) that I have a hard time reading a story whose ending I can't trust. And enough things happened along the way in this series that I wasn't sure WHERE that tragedy tag might be taking it.

Knowing the end reassured me enough to be willing to take the journey. And while I didn't think this story was quite as well done as some of the other stories, it was still fantastic. Creative and vivid and depressing and bright and horrifying and comforting and just so, so brilliant.

Honestly this series was just so powerful and vast and creative and honest and insightful. It was fascinating to see the exploration of the possible reactions of the wider wizarding world, and to get to see the thoughts and ideas of so many different characters. This whole series is unrestrained. Voldemort is actually terrifying, and several of the scenes with him or his death eaters honestly deserve the horror tag on some of the stories.

And having Harry be the one to fight him actually makes sense here, because Harry's the only one with the POWER to be able to fight him.

Fantastic series, not only fun to read, but also thought-provoking and insightful.

Favorite Quotes:
Harry wondered, afterwards, if he knew something was wrong even before the owl deposited the Daily Prophet in front of him. He dropped a Knut into its pouch, and it hooted and took off. Was there a suspicious softness in the hoot? Did it linger a moment, looking as if it were sorry for the news it delivered?

The problem was that he couldn't be sure. The moment his eyes fell on the headline, it seemed like he always should have known this would happen, and his reactions before the fact became near-impossible to distinguish from ones after the fact.


"I live in reality, Regulus, not in a misty dream-world. And so I simply live with the horrible things."


"You realize," Snape murmured, even as he stood and retrieved the flask of poison from the shelf, "that you are speaking as if the Dark Lord were a burrowing parasite beneath the flesh, and not a Lord-level wizard?"

Regulus blinked innocently. "You mean he's not a grub? The pale skin and the lack of eyes fooled me."


"Of course you think that the spell works, dear brother," he said. "Having it do nothing is the prime requirement for being able to claim genius with no hard work."


The Light in him, that shard of pure Light he had not asked for from Fawkes's death but which had come to him in any case and which it would be stupid not to use, carried him through the Midwinters of his life.


"I didn't mean lived as in survived," said Harry. "Anyone could have done that. I mean lived as in he picked himself up, and forgave the latest tragedy, and went on living with a heart that he didn't allow to scar."


Draco suppressed the urge to shake Harry. Him and his support of free will! Hawthorn would make the best choice for Harry's own political ends, and that was what he should be thinking of, instead of all this endless free will for wizarding Britain. Wizarding Britain was made up of stupid people who didn't know what they wanted, or at least didn't know until someone told them.


But it was the life he had, and he had never given himself—never known how to give himself—in a way that was less than full-hearted. He was no halfway wizard, no halfway companion, no halfway family head.


But perhaps, here, the camera should be put aside, and the photograph permitted not to exist. Some moments should be remembered, not recorded.


"I remember Lily saying once that the saddest words in English are 'might have been.' If that's true, I think the gladdest words are 'might' and 'may.' You don't know if your dearest wish is going to come true, but you can hope until it happens."