Nov. 2017: WOW. How much can I cry in the car? The final portions of this book kept me rapt with attention, and mind-boggled at the layering -- JKR includes callbacks to things that occurred thousands of pages earlier. No detail is irrelevant in this story. Harry turns 17 (of age, in the wizarding world), has lost his mentor/father figure, leaves Hogwarts, and, perhaps most adult of all, learns to see both his hero and his enemy as complex, faulted humans. Having not read this since 2007, I could not honestly remember how Snape was redeemed. From page 1, I hated that guy! Surely there was nothing she could do to change my view of him. And then...she did. Also -- I need to look up some analysis of the dizzying wand exchanges that happened. I loved how the wands helped tell a story of power: who deserves it, who wants it, who gets it, and who uses it best. 
 Favorite quotes: 
 "Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?" 
 "Dumbledore watched her fly away, and as her silvery glow faded he turned back to Snape, and his eyes were full of tears. 
 'After all this time?' 
 'Always,' said Snape." 
 "It is a curious thing, Harry, but perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it. Those who, like you, have leadership thrust upon them, and take up the mantle because they must, and find to their own surprise that they wear it well." 
 "Every second he breathed, the smell of the grass, the cool air on his face, was so precious: To think that people had years and years, time to waste, so much time it dragged, and he was clinging to each second." 
 "That which Voldemort does not value, he takes no trouble to comprehend. Of house-elves and children's tales, of love, loyalty, and innocence, Voldemort knows and understands nothing. Nothing. That they all have a power beyond his own, a power beyond the reach of any magic is a truth he has never grasped." 
 August 2007: Five stars. I need to go back and re-read some parts in earlier books. Even the ones I just read. Whew. That's all I'll say.