Finished!

[lillibet]

OK, I know I'm far from the first person on my flist to finish HP7 and both J. and I have a continuity question. I know how upset many people are about spoilers, so I'm not even putting this behind a cut--I'll put my question in the first comment, instead. Many thanks to anyone who can answer this one for us.

Comments

[lillibet.livejournal.com]

How did Neville get the sword?

[bedfull-o-books.livejournal.com]

I was wondering the same thing. Bugs me...

[spatch]

It descended from the sky in a golden chariot, apparently.

I believe it came from the flaming Sorting Hat -- nearly the exact same way Harry had received it in the first place.

[mdm-sosostris.livejournal.com]

Argh. I know. It's not that I wasn't glad to see it show up, but what the hell?

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

Like Spatch says: he pulled it out of the Sorting Hat. Which is incidentally also a relic of Gryffindor's, and apparently functions (when it is not lying around making up its Sorting Song for the rest of the year) as some kind of Emergency Sword-Delivery Portal. Only a true Gryffindor could have yada yada yada. :-)

I bet the goblins were pissed when it disappeared out from under them, of course... but it really did BELONG to the wizards, even if (it being goblin-made) they didn't see it that way.

[bedfull-o-books.livejournal.com]

I am only partly assuaged by the soting had explanation. You'd think that because the sword was given to the goblins freely and for services rendered, it no longer belonged to Gryffindor and therefore would no longer be available to the hat.

[lillibet.livejournal.com]

Of course! Thank you!

[clauclauclaudia]

Well, there's always the possibility the Ministry was actually right on this one: the sword wasn't Dumbledore's to bequeath so not Harry's to trade. I'm guessing that is indeed the case, and that it and the Hat belong to Hogwarts rather than to individuals.

[clauclauclaudia]

I like to think the Sorting Hat is related to all the Founders (or how could it properly sort as they would?) and if the hero were in another house and proved his loyalty, wit, cunning, what have you, it would pop out one of the other relics at need. :) There's no evidence for this--it just appeals to my sense of symmetry.

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

hee -- so if Harry had THOUGHT of that, he might have been able to produce Ravenclaw's diadem that way!!

[clauclauclaudia]

If he showed enough wit. ;-) I'd have fobbed that task off on Hermione, were I he.

[clauclauclaudia]

Silly me. *Luna*.

[redknight.livejournal.com]

I was wondering about that, too. I was ready pretty quickly towards the end and I figured I had missed something, but I'm glad to hear it's not just me!