Well, apparently all of you have been done with the book for weeks now, but I've just finished my 21 hours plus of listening to it on CD. I've listened to, rather than read, all seven HP books, so I can't go back and reread sections to figure things out. If I could, right now I'd reread Dumbledore's death scene. Maybe someone can help clarify my confusion about exactly why the Elder Wand was rightfully Draco Mallfoy's--because he was supposed to kill Dumbledore? (Since he didn't actually do it, I don't see why he became the wand's rightful owner.)
As I've enjoyed the books but not been a hardcore fan, I was unprepared for how powerfully this last one affected me; I was truly moved many times, especially as Harry seemed about to die and afterwards when Dumbledore called him a "brave man" and when the headmasters/mistresses cheered. (I agree with those who would have loved to have seen Snape in that scene, too--to have him and Harry finally look into each other's eyes with respect.) I loved the kiss between Ron and Hermione. It was about time! :-*
Snape's courage was admirable, but there was still way too much hatred in him to make him truly good, in my opinion. His hatred of James and later Harry was only slightly overshadowed by his love for Lily.
I found Hermione a strong character despite her weepiness. She was certainly a big part of the success of the mission. Even the way she had organized the Save the House Elves group contributed to Dobby's freedom, which later resulted in her, Harry, and Ron's rescue from the Mallfoys' house. Ginny wasn't boring to me, and I agree that it would have been nice to have seen more of her; she was one of the female characters that I imagine a lot of teenaged girls could relate to.
I would have liked some strings tied up with the Dursleys and especially with Aunt Petunia. I liked that we glimpsed her as a girl and that we see that she and Lily were once close.
I was sad about the deaths of the various characters, but we all knew some deaths were coming. To be honest, no truly major characters (Harry, Ron, Hermione, Hagrid, Ginny) died in this one, except for Snape (and of course, Lord V). No offense to anyone who loved Fred, but he was the perfect Weasley to kill off, as there were basically two of him to begin with. (I couldn't tell any diff between the twins' personalities. Could any of you?) Too bad about both Tonks and Lupin, but little Teddy's tragic orphan similarity to Harry made his being Harry's godson more fitting/poignant.
The whole thing certainly left me feeling like this was the end of a grand epic on the same scale as LOTR, albeit very different in many ways. I was glad that it ended at Hogwarts where so much of the action took place. I found the support Harry found there when he returned quite beautiful and was cheering for him along with his friends.
Hats off to JKR for her achievement!