On Saturday, July 23rd, 2022, at 1 P.M. Potter Manor time, James and Lily were in Lily's room to record another video for Lily Luna's World.

"Hello, all," greeted Lily cheerfully as the recording began, "My name is Lily Luna Potter and welcome back to Lily Luna's World. I am once again joined by my favorite brother James Sirius Potter and today we are going to be reviewing the eighth Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter, and the Deathly Hallows Part 2."

"A good place to start," piped up James, "Is the portrayal of Ollivander. I thought John Hurt's portrayal of Ollivander was spot on. The discussion that Ollivander has with Harry about the Wandlore genuinely captures a sense of aura and mysteriousness. "

"I agree with that," nodded Lily, "The discussion of Wandlore was spot on. The history of the Elder Wand should have been touched on a little more. but that was overall a very good scene."

"The history of the Elder Wand was touched on a bit in Part 1," James reminded Lily, "I don't think that's such a big deal."

""It would have made the scene a little more complete though," said Lily matter of factly.

"While I think the break in to Gringotts and the Golden Cup multiplying was well done," interjected James, "One thing I didn't like was Hermione being the one who came up with the idea to escape on the dragon. The book makes clear that dad was the one who had that idea, and he should have gotten proper credit for it."

"I agree," said Lily bluntly, "Though that's not as bad as Hermione rather than dad saying "I trusted you! And all this time you've been his friend!" in the Prisoner of Azkaban movie, "Since dad was the one who had the relationship with Remus throughout the year, it makes a lot more sense for him to say that line. Hermione isn't Miss Everything you know."

"One of my least favorite moments in this movie," said Lily clearly, "Is Luna yelling "HARRY POTTER! YOU LISTEN TO ME RIGHT NOW!" That is just way too out of character for Luna. The fandom often criticizes the Goblet of Fire movie for Dumbledore's lack of calmness after Harry's name comes out of the Goblet of Fire. This is in that same vain. Luna doesn't yell or approach situations with confrontation. "

"Hard agree," said James in an equally clear voice, "Not to mention that in the book, Luna actually does accompany dad to Ravenclaw Tower to get a look at the statue of Ravenclaw."

"I'm so glad that it was a true friend like Luna who accompanied Harry and not that bitch crybaby crying machine. "

"One area where this movie could have shined and blew it was when it failed to fully portray the weight of the deaths of Fred, Remus, and Tonks," observed James, "I feel like this movie doesn't really make viewers feel those deaths. This is in sharp contrast to the end of Deathly Hallows Part 1 in which Dobby's death is captured with heartbreak and poignancy. I feel like you really feel Dobby's death in Deathly Hallows Part 1. I just don't feel that with the deaths of Fred, Remus, and Tonks in Deathly Hallows Part 2."

"That's because," said Lily critically, "The movie doesn't slow down to reflect on those deaths. Part 2 is about 20 minutes shorter than Part 1 and that's not necessarily a good thing."

"What about Snape's memories?" asked James, "How do we feel about those?"

"The portrayal was okay, but they were a little incomplete," replied Lily, "In the book, Lily actually asks Snape not to talk to her on the Hogwarts Express because she feels genuine hurt about being estranged from Petunia after they had seen Dumbledore's letter. ":

"Petunia has no right to bitch about people invading her privacy, she is a big snoop herself," snarled James, "As for Snape, the movies whitewash him a bit, just as they whitewash Ron and Draco. In the book, Snape ADMITS to Dumbledore that he had asked Voldemort to spare Lily but was okay with her husband and son being murdered as long as he could have what he wanted. "

"Always," said Lily, shaking her head, "Doesn't feel believable considering Snape's consistent history of poor treatment of dad. Snape did not deserve a redemption arc and I'm not buying that he got one."

"On the other hand," said James heavily, "The movie's portrayal of dad's use of the Resurrection Stone to speak with his parents, Sirius, and Remus before he walked to his death hit the poignancy note perfectly. I genuinely shed some tears every time I see that scene."

"So do I," nodded Lily, "The scene where dad uses the Resurrection Stone just hits home and hits hard and that means the filmmakers did their job in making that scene powerful and emotionally charged."

"Now," continued James, "I would have liked for Neville's line that "I'll join you when Hell freezes over," to be included in the movie.

"That's a minor thing," said Lily calmly, "I do feel that the movie depicted Neville standing up to Voldemort well, even telling Voldemort that he would die in vain."

"Something that is definitely not minor," piped up James, "Is the shit portrayal of Voldemort's death. Seriously? Having him collapse and disintegrate? No. Just. No."

"He should have simply died and been dead like any normal human," insisted Lily, "The whole point in the book was that after it all, Voldemort was still just a mortal human like any other human. There being nothing unique about his death would have been the better way to show it."

"Let's delve into the biggie, the one that divides the fandom: the fate of the Elder Wand in the book vs the movie. I just say it. Having dad break the Elder Wand instead of returning it to Dumbledore's tomb was a GOOD book to movie change and here's why: the Elder Wand is not necessarily passed down by murder, although it can be. The way it is truly passed down is by defeat. To win the Elder Wand, one must beat its current owner. Dad didn't win the Elder Wand from Draco via murder. Dad won the Elder Wand from Draco by disarming him, which was the same way Draco won the Elder Wand from Dumbledore."

"I see where you're going," realized Lily, "Any number of things could be considered someone defeating someone. Someone could take control of the Elder Wand by defeating dad in any number of ways. And if someone who really wanted the Elder Wand realized that it was buried with Dumbledore and that Harry was now its master, it wouldn't be that hard for someone to win the Elder Wand from dad in a very subtle way. And if that happened, who knows what intent the next master might have or how future events would play out from there."
"

"Exactly," declared James fiercely, "By breaking the Elder Wand, dad destroyed its power and ended the cycle. Destroying it made it absolute. One headcanon I have about the Elder Wand is that it would be willing to destroy itself and not repair itself if ordered to by its current master. As such, dad breaking its power by breaking it makes complete sense to me."

"And," added Lily, "By throwing the pieces into the Black Lake, dad ensured they would get water damage that make future repair truly impossible. He did do the thing right in the movie. Almost. There should have been a scene just before that of dad using the Elder Wand to repair his own wand."

"Not including a scene where dad repaired his own Wand first did create an inconsistently," agreed James.

"It was also an emotionally meaningful moment for dad and his wand when they were reunited," added Lily, "That's a scene that needed including."

"Let's talk about the epilogue," smiled James.

"I like it," grinned Lily, "I enjoy the scene where you are giving me a ride on your trolley. I think it shows the good relationship we have. "

"I also like his advice to Albus about sorting and how there would not be anything wrong with going into Slytherin," interjected James, I think the parent to child dynamics are shown well."

"I LOVE that the series ended with Leaving Hogwarts playing," said Lily, "I get goosebumps from that. By bringing back the same end music from Sorcerer's Stone with the next generation kids present, the scene creates a passing of the torch feel."

"It does," nodded James, "Time is like a predator that stalks our lives."

"Indeed," nodded Lily, "Time is like a predator that stalks us all our lives."

"So," said James, "I'd give Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 an overall score of 8 out of 10. There are some flaws, but the handling of the Elder Wand's fate and the ending scene push me over to an 8 when I was on the 7-8 line."

"I stay at a 7," piped up Lily, "I can't into the 8 range because the mishandling of Voldemort's death scene really bothers me and so does dad never repairing his own wand. Now, we will have a different way of parting today."

With that, James and Lily hummed the tune of Leaving Hogwarts before the video ended.