I have started a new blog.  In this case it is a kid’s book review blog.  I am working the kinks out of it right now, but please check it out at http://nplsbookquest.wordpress.com.  You can use the review form to write a review of kid’s or parenting books, music, games, TV shows, movies, etc.  Or just read other people’s reviews to find books that you might like.

Thanks again for your support!  I had a great time talking about Harry Potter and I hope you all did, too.

As with the previous six books, we only saw the Dursleys in the first couple of chapters in the book.  During this brief brush, Dudley redeemed himself (to some extent) by letting Harry know that he appreciated how Harry saved his life.  Petunia and Vernon did not even acknowledge that they would never see Harry again.  The family was then taken into hiding, to be protected against Voldemort.  What happened to them after that?   What did they do during the year they were in hiding?  Where is Dudley 19 years later? 

While we learned a little more about Petunia and her jealousy of Lily’s magical abilities, I am still curious to learn what Dumbledore had said to her in previous correspondence.  

On the whole, I need more Dursley information!!  

Make sure you hand in your submission by September 30th, along with a form that must be filled out, to the Norwalk Public Library.  All artwork handed in will be entered into a cover art contest.  All submissions must be in the tradition of Harry Potter to be accepted.  Each person who turns in an accepted submission will be given a bound copy of the book.

Get creative and let us know if you have any questions!

One friend believes that Voldemort is still alive, because of the way the last sentence of the book was phrased – “The scar had not pained Harry for nineteen years.  All was well.”  Does this mean that one day it might start hurting him again?  It says in the book that Voldemort is dead, and Rowling has always been adamant about the dead not being able to come back to life, so I believe that he is gone forever.

However, Ted Lupin, who lost both his parents by followers of Voldemort, and is now Harry’s godson, could have his own story.  Harry has children that might follow in his footsteps.  

Rowling seems determined not to write more than an encyclopedia on the series later, and I’m not sure anything can be as good as the original series.  But who knows?  Maybe Rowling’s children will want to continue with the Harry Potter tradition later.   

What do you think?  Did J.K. Rowling leave the story open enough that if she chose to, she or someone else could write more about Harry’s magical world?   

Is it because of the prophecy?  This does not make sense to me, because their torture happened after Voldemort had disappeared, and therefore it had been decided that the prophecy was talking about the Potters, not the Longbottoms.  Maybe these Death Eaters thought the Longbottoms had information on Voldemort’s whereabouts?

Does anyone else have ideas or suggestions?  Or do you feel that if it wasn’t important enough for Rowling to put it in the book, then it must not really matter?

Dumbledore was correct about Wormtail.  Peter Pettigrew owed Harry and repaid his debt in Book 7.  I was not at all emotional over his death, or all that surprised about it, but it happened in the most unexpected way.  The hand that Voldemort gave him stranged him to death after Wormtail showed mercy on Harry.  Was this due to the betrayal that Wormtail showed Voldemort?  Did Voldemort predict Wormtail’s disloyalty and give him a hand that would do this purposefully?  How did the hand know? 

Rowling did a phenomenal job building Snape up as a despicable, evil character.  Although I firmly believed that Snape was good, Rowling had me going for most of Book 7.  It seemed that he was just your typical villain until the very end.  Then we learned the truth and learned that he was more than just good, he was a hero.  As I wrote about in my earlier review of the book, the Harry Potter books center on the power of love, and, we learned, that Snape most certainly was able to love.  He loved Lily right up to the day she died.  It was her impending death and realization that Snape was responsible for it by revealing the Prophecy to Voldemort, that turned him to the good side and made Dumbledore trust him unconditionally.  Snape risked his life for the Order of the Phoenix for many years, and in the end died for it.  By giving Harry his memories, he was also redeemed.  

Like Harry and Dumbledore, Snape made many choices that changed the course of his life.  He was placed into the House of Slytherin, and even though Lily was his best friend, he befriended others that turned him onto Dark Magic and ruined his relationship with the girl he had loved his whole life.  Later he made the choice to tell Voldemort the part of the Prophecy he had overheard, and, when hearing that Voldemort believed he had to kill the Potters in order to survive, Snape realized what he had done.  He inadvertently caused the death of Lily, which caused him such grief that he turned to the good side, continuing to do his work for the Order until the day he died.  

While he was not always good, and did make some horrific choices in life, Harry realizes how brave and heroic Snape really was.  Harry himself was tempted by evil, like the Deathly Hallows, as was Dumbledore.  Snape redeemed himself in the end and made himself a true hero.