Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Review (SPOILER ALERT)
If you haven't finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows yet, then don't read any further because I will discuss the book to great lengths in this post and I don't want to spoil it for anyone.
"Brilliant" - that was my first thought when I finally closed the 607 pages, 36 chapters and 7th and final book from the Harry Potter series. Don't think for one moment that J.K Rowling just randomly decided to write 7 books in the series. Jo planned it carefully from the start using the magical number 7 throughout the series 7 horcruxes, 7 potters and 7 books.
The twists and turns and the intricate plot amazed me throughout the series and this excelled in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows where Rowling perfectly manages to keep the suspense, tie up many loose ends and even keep some questions unanswered: What is going to happen to the sorting hat since it burned? How did Neville manage to pull out Gryffindors sword if Griphook had it? What career are Harry,Ginny, Ron, Hermione and Luna following? What happened to the Dursleys and to Hermione's parents? Who's going to be the next Headmaster of Hogwarts? Is Hermione going to convince Harry to set Kreatcher free?
There were a lot of casualties in this book from loved characters like Hedwig, Mad Eye Moody, Dobby the house elf, Fred Weasley, Colin Creevey, Lupin, Tonks and Snape to characters we hardly met like Charity Burbage the muggle teacher at Hogwarts, Scrimgeour the Minister of Magic and Gregorovitch the wandmaker. The dark side also suffered losses with Grindelvald, Goyle,Bellatrix and finally Voldemort, or should we just call him Tom Riddle, dying.
There were a few pleasant surprises in the book and I like the fact that Dudley Dursley tried to reach out to Harry by making him tea and by thanking him for saving his life. To quote Dudley: "I don't think you're a waste of space" was probably the nicest thing that Bid D could say with his limited vocabulary. I also found it hilarious that Putunia Dursley, Lilly's muggle sister, wrote to the headmaster of Hogwarts asking if she could join her sister.
In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Sirius Black gives Harry a two-way mirror to communicate with. In this book Harry keeps seeing piercing, brilliant blue eyes in the mirror that he wrongfully believes belongs to Dumbledore. They actually belong to Dubledore's brother Aberforth who not only sends Dobby to rescue everyone from Malfoy Manor but he also allowed Harry, Neville and the rest of Hogwarts to use the secret entrance from the Hog's Head into Hogwarts saving many students lives. It is also Aberforth that alerts Percy Weasley about the battle of Hogwarts that results him in reconciling with his family and apologising for being a :"Ministry-loving, family-disowning, power-hungry moron."
We finally find out about the 7 horcruxes and where they were buried. Harry already destroyed the first horcrus - Tom Riddels Diary when he found it in the Chamber of secrets in his second year at Hogwarts. The 'fake' golden locket that Harry found in the cave with the note from R.G.B was taken by Sirius brother Regulus Arcturus Black. It is Kreacher who tells them the tale and who fetches Mundungus Fletcher for them. Mundungus admits later that he sold to locket to Umbridge and Harry, Ron and Hermione has to steal it back from her at the Ministry of Magic. The second horcux, Gaunt's ring, was hidden in the shrinking shack and found by Dumbledore. Voldemort didn't realise that this ring was actually also one of the three deathly hallows. Voldemort realises that the Horcruxes are being destroyed when Harry breaks into Gringotts with the help from the goblin, Griphook and retrieves Hufflepuff's Cup Horcrux. Ron and Hermione manage to destroy this horcux.
Now Harry realises that another Horcux, Ravenclaw's Lost Diadem is at Hogwarts. After speaking to Ravenclaws ghost the Grey Lady, Harry found out that the Diadem was hidden in a forest in Albania and that Voldemort found it turned it into a Horcrux and hid it somewhere in Hogwarts. He realises that he's seen it before in the room of requirement and when he finally finds it Crabbe destroys it with fiendfyre. The only horcrux that remains is Nagini the snake and it is Neville that pulls out the sword from the sorting hat and slices off the snake's head.
This brings us to the next surprise in the book that also serves as the title of the final book - the Deathly Hallows (three legendary objects that conquer death: the Elder Wand, Resurrection Stone, and Invisibility Cloak.) Dubledore was afraid to share to much information about the Hallows with Harry fearing that he would, like Dumbledore and Grindelvald, crave power and become obsessed with the Hallows instead of focusing on the more important task of destroying the Horcruxes. We see a completely different side from the perfect Dumbledore but instead of feeling resentful towards him like his brother Aberforth did, I actually feel sorry for him and feel that Jo wrote this to make him seem more human.
This also explains why Dumbledore never wanted to become the Minister of Magic. My favourite chapter in the book, chapter 33: "The Prince's tale" finally answers the question that's been bothering me for so long. Why did Dumbledore trust Snape? The answer is very simple and very beautiful: Snape loved Lily Evans with all his heart and motivated by his lifelong love for Harry's mother he decided to turn away from Voldemort, stay loyal till the end to Dumbledore and do everything in his power to protect Harry. It was Snape who sent the doe Patronus to lead Harry to Gryffindor's sword. Snape also begged Voldemort to spare Lily Evans when he realised that the prophecy was about Lily's son.
I had a weird suspicion in 'Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince' that all was not as it seemed when Snape killed Dumbledore. Now we know that Dumbledore was doomed to die after being cursed by Gaunt's ring. He instructed Snape to kill him to spare Draco from fulfilling Voldemort's task. It was also Dubledore that told Snape to give Voldemort the date of Harry's departure from Privet Drive in order to stay in Voldemort's good books so that Snape can remain at Hogwarts and not leave the students to the mercy of the Carrows. Snape was forced to take part in the chase but hit George accidentally with a curse meant for a death eater that was chasing Lupin.
After all of this came about it is so sad that Voldemort killed Snape because he thought Snape was the master of the elder wand when it was actually Draco Malfoy who took this wand from Dumbledore.In their final battle when Harry and Voldemort duels the elder wand chooses Harry because he took Malfoy's wand and Voldemorts killing curse backfires on himself. Harry repays Snape later in life by naming his second eldest sun after him : 'Alubus Severus,' Harry said quietly, 'you were named for two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew.'
The biggest twist in the book is definitely the weird connection between Harry and Voldemort. To quote Dumbledore on this: 'Tell him the night Lord Voldemort tried to kill him, when Lilly cast her own life between them as a shield, the Killing Curse rebounded upon Lord Voldemort, and a fragment of Voldemort's soul was blasted apart from the whole, and latched itself on to the only living soul left in that collapsing building. Part of Lord Voldemort lives inside Harry, and it is that which gives him power of speech with snakes, and a connection with Lord Voldemort's mind that he has never understood. And while that fragment of soul, unmissed by Voldemort, remains attached to, and protected by Harry, Lord Voldemort cannot die. So Harry must die and Voldemort himself must do it, Severus. That is essential.'
Harry was actually the seventh Horecrux and he had to let Voldemort use the killing curse on him to get his own complete Voldemort soul back. And after letting Voldemort do this Harry didn't die because Voldemort took Harry's blood in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" and used it to rebuild his living body with it.
This brings us to the end of the book and the epilogue that takes place 19 years later at King's Cross station. Rowlings leads us to believe that Harry and Ginny married and they now have three children: James Albus Severus and Lily Potter. Ron and Hermione have two children named Rose and Hugo. We also see Draco Malfoy with his sun Scorpius at the station and learn that Neviile is now the Hogwarts Herbology professor. The book ends with: The scar had not pained Harry for nineteen years. All was well."
In an interview, author J. K. Rowling gave additional information about the characters that is not explicit in the book. Rowling said her original epilogue was “a lot more detailed,” including the name of every child born to the Weasley clan in the past 19 years. (Victoire, who was snogging Teddy — Lupin and Tonks’ son — is Bill and Fleur’s eldest.) “But it didn’t work very well as a piece of writing,” Rowling said. “It felt very much that I had crowbarred in every bit of information I could … In a novel you have to resist the urge to tell everything.”
But now that the seventh and final novel is in the hands of her adoring public, Rowling no longer has to hold back any information about Harry Potter from her fans. And when 14 fans crowded around her in Edinburgh Castle in Scotland earlier this week as part of TODAY’s interview, Rowling was more than willing to share her thoughts about what Harry and his friends are up to now.
We know that Harry marries Ginny and has three kids, essentially, as Rowling explains, creating the family and the peace and calm he never had as a child.As for his occupation, Harry, along with Ron, is working at the Auror Department at the Ministry of Magic. After all these years, Harry is now the department head. “Harry and Ron utterly revolutionized the Auror Department,” Rowling said. “They are now the experts. It doesn’t matter how old they are or what else they’ve done.” Meanwhile, Hermione, Ron’s wife, is “pretty high up” in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, despite laughing at the idea of becoming a lawyer in “Deathly Hallows.” “I would imagine that her brainpower and her knowledge of how the Dark Arts operate would really give her a sound grounding,” Rowling said. Harry, Ron and Hermione don’t join the same Ministry of Magic they had been at odds with for years; they revolutionize it and the ministry evolves into a “really good place to be.” “They made a new world,” Rowling said.
The wizarding naturalist Luna Lovegood, the eccentric Ravenclaw who was fascinated with Crumple-Horned Snorkacks and Umgubular Slashkilters, continues to march to the beat of her own drum. “I think that Luna is now traveling the world looking for various mad creatures,” Rowling said. “She’s a naturalist, whatever the wizarding equivalent of that is.” Luna comes to see the truth about her father, eventually acknowledging there are some creatures that don’t exist. “But I do think that she’s so open-minded and just an incredible person that she probably would be uncovering things that no one’s ever seen before,” Rowling said.
Luna and Neville Longbottom? It’s possible Luna has also found love with another member of the D.A. When she was first asked about the possibility of Luna hooking up with Neville Longbottom several years ago, Rowling’s response was “Definitely not.” But as time passed and she watched her characters mature, Rowling started to “feel a bit of a pull” between the unlikely pair. Ultimately, Rowling left the question of their relationship open at the end of the book because doing otherwise “felt too neat.” Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom: “The damage is done.”There is no chance, however, that Neville’s parents, who were tortured into madness by Bellatrix Lestrange, ever left St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies. “I know people really wanted some hope for that, and I can quite see why because, in a way, what happens to Neville’s parents is even worse than what happened to Harry’s parents,” Rowling said. “The damage that is done, in some cases with very dark magic, is done permanently.” Rowling said Neville finds happiness in his grandmother’s acceptance of him as a gifted wizard and as the new herbology professor at Hogwarts.
The fate of Hogwarts Nineteen years after the Battle of Hogwarts, the school for witchcraft and wizardry is led by an entirely new headmaster (“McGonagall was really getting on a bit”) as well as a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. That position is now as safe as the other teaching posts at Hogwarts, since Voldemort’s death broke the jinx that kept a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor from remaining for more than a year.
While Rowling didn’t clarify whether Harry, Ron and Hermione ever return to school to finish their seventh year, she did say she could see Harry popping up every now and again to give the “odd talk” on Defense Against the Dark Arts.
"Brilliant" - that was my first thought when I finally closed the 607 pages, 36 chapters and 7th and final book from the Harry Potter series. Don't think for one moment that J.K Rowling just randomly decided to write 7 books in the series. Jo planned it carefully from the start using the magical number 7 throughout the series 7 horcruxes, 7 potters and 7 books.
The twists and turns and the intricate plot amazed me throughout the series and this excelled in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows where Rowling perfectly manages to keep the suspense, tie up many loose ends and even keep some questions unanswered: What is going to happen to the sorting hat since it burned? How did Neville manage to pull out Gryffindors sword if Griphook had it? What career are Harry,Ginny, Ron, Hermione and Luna following? What happened to the Dursleys and to Hermione's parents? Who's going to be the next Headmaster of Hogwarts? Is Hermione going to convince Harry to set Kreatcher free?
There were a lot of casualties in this book from loved characters like Hedwig, Mad Eye Moody, Dobby the house elf, Fred Weasley, Colin Creevey, Lupin, Tonks and Snape to characters we hardly met like Charity Burbage the muggle teacher at Hogwarts, Scrimgeour the Minister of Magic and Gregorovitch the wandmaker. The dark side also suffered losses with Grindelvald, Goyle,Bellatrix and finally Voldemort, or should we just call him Tom Riddle, dying.
There were a few pleasant surprises in the book and I like the fact that Dudley Dursley tried to reach out to Harry by making him tea and by thanking him for saving his life. To quote Dudley: "I don't think you're a waste of space" was probably the nicest thing that Bid D could say with his limited vocabulary. I also found it hilarious that Putunia Dursley, Lilly's muggle sister, wrote to the headmaster of Hogwarts asking if she could join her sister.
In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Sirius Black gives Harry a two-way mirror to communicate with. In this book Harry keeps seeing piercing, brilliant blue eyes in the mirror that he wrongfully believes belongs to Dumbledore. They actually belong to Dubledore's brother Aberforth who not only sends Dobby to rescue everyone from Malfoy Manor but he also allowed Harry, Neville and the rest of Hogwarts to use the secret entrance from the Hog's Head into Hogwarts saving many students lives. It is also Aberforth that alerts Percy Weasley about the battle of Hogwarts that results him in reconciling with his family and apologising for being a :"Ministry-loving, family-disowning, power-hungry moron."
We finally find out about the 7 horcruxes and where they were buried. Harry already destroyed the first horcrus - Tom Riddels Diary when he found it in the Chamber of secrets in his second year at Hogwarts. The 'fake' golden locket that Harry found in the cave with the note from R.G.B was taken by Sirius brother Regulus Arcturus Black. It is Kreacher who tells them the tale and who fetches Mundungus Fletcher for them. Mundungus admits later that he sold to locket to Umbridge and Harry, Ron and Hermione has to steal it back from her at the Ministry of Magic. The second horcux, Gaunt's ring, was hidden in the shrinking shack and found by Dumbledore. Voldemort didn't realise that this ring was actually also one of the three deathly hallows. Voldemort realises that the Horcruxes are being destroyed when Harry breaks into Gringotts with the help from the goblin, Griphook and retrieves Hufflepuff's Cup Horcrux. Ron and Hermione manage to destroy this horcux.
Now Harry realises that another Horcux, Ravenclaw's Lost Diadem is at Hogwarts. After speaking to Ravenclaws ghost the Grey Lady, Harry found out that the Diadem was hidden in a forest in Albania and that Voldemort found it turned it into a Horcrux and hid it somewhere in Hogwarts. He realises that he's seen it before in the room of requirement and when he finally finds it Crabbe destroys it with fiendfyre. The only horcrux that remains is Nagini the snake and it is Neville that pulls out the sword from the sorting hat and slices off the snake's head.
This brings us to the next surprise in the book that also serves as the title of the final book - the Deathly Hallows (three legendary objects that conquer death: the Elder Wand, Resurrection Stone, and Invisibility Cloak.) Dubledore was afraid to share to much information about the Hallows with Harry fearing that he would, like Dumbledore and Grindelvald, crave power and become obsessed with the Hallows instead of focusing on the more important task of destroying the Horcruxes. We see a completely different side from the perfect Dumbledore but instead of feeling resentful towards him like his brother Aberforth did, I actually feel sorry for him and feel that Jo wrote this to make him seem more human.
This also explains why Dumbledore never wanted to become the Minister of Magic. My favourite chapter in the book, chapter 33: "The Prince's tale" finally answers the question that's been bothering me for so long. Why did Dumbledore trust Snape? The answer is very simple and very beautiful: Snape loved Lily Evans with all his heart and motivated by his lifelong love for Harry's mother he decided to turn away from Voldemort, stay loyal till the end to Dumbledore and do everything in his power to protect Harry. It was Snape who sent the doe Patronus to lead Harry to Gryffindor's sword. Snape also begged Voldemort to spare Lily Evans when he realised that the prophecy was about Lily's son.
I had a weird suspicion in 'Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince' that all was not as it seemed when Snape killed Dumbledore. Now we know that Dumbledore was doomed to die after being cursed by Gaunt's ring. He instructed Snape to kill him to spare Draco from fulfilling Voldemort's task. It was also Dubledore that told Snape to give Voldemort the date of Harry's departure from Privet Drive in order to stay in Voldemort's good books so that Snape can remain at Hogwarts and not leave the students to the mercy of the Carrows. Snape was forced to take part in the chase but hit George accidentally with a curse meant for a death eater that was chasing Lupin.
After all of this came about it is so sad that Voldemort killed Snape because he thought Snape was the master of the elder wand when it was actually Draco Malfoy who took this wand from Dumbledore.In their final battle when Harry and Voldemort duels the elder wand chooses Harry because he took Malfoy's wand and Voldemorts killing curse backfires on himself. Harry repays Snape later in life by naming his second eldest sun after him : 'Alubus Severus,' Harry said quietly, 'you were named for two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew.'
The biggest twist in the book is definitely the weird connection between Harry and Voldemort. To quote Dumbledore on this: 'Tell him the night Lord Voldemort tried to kill him, when Lilly cast her own life between them as a shield, the Killing Curse rebounded upon Lord Voldemort, and a fragment of Voldemort's soul was blasted apart from the whole, and latched itself on to the only living soul left in that collapsing building. Part of Lord Voldemort lives inside Harry, and it is that which gives him power of speech with snakes, and a connection with Lord Voldemort's mind that he has never understood. And while that fragment of soul, unmissed by Voldemort, remains attached to, and protected by Harry, Lord Voldemort cannot die. So Harry must die and Voldemort himself must do it, Severus. That is essential.'
Harry was actually the seventh Horecrux and he had to let Voldemort use the killing curse on him to get his own complete Voldemort soul back. And after letting Voldemort do this Harry didn't die because Voldemort took Harry's blood in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" and used it to rebuild his living body with it.
This brings us to the end of the book and the epilogue that takes place 19 years later at King's Cross station. Rowlings leads us to believe that Harry and Ginny married and they now have three children: James Albus Severus and Lily Potter. Ron and Hermione have two children named Rose and Hugo. We also see Draco Malfoy with his sun Scorpius at the station and learn that Neviile is now the Hogwarts Herbology professor. The book ends with: The scar had not pained Harry for nineteen years. All was well."
In an interview, author J. K. Rowling gave additional information about the characters that is not explicit in the book. Rowling said her original epilogue was “a lot more detailed,” including the name of every child born to the Weasley clan in the past 19 years. (Victoire, who was snogging Teddy — Lupin and Tonks’ son — is Bill and Fleur’s eldest.) “But it didn’t work very well as a piece of writing,” Rowling said. “It felt very much that I had crowbarred in every bit of information I could … In a novel you have to resist the urge to tell everything.”
But now that the seventh and final novel is in the hands of her adoring public, Rowling no longer has to hold back any information about Harry Potter from her fans. And when 14 fans crowded around her in Edinburgh Castle in Scotland earlier this week as part of TODAY’s interview, Rowling was more than willing to share her thoughts about what Harry and his friends are up to now.
We know that Harry marries Ginny and has three kids, essentially, as Rowling explains, creating the family and the peace and calm he never had as a child.As for his occupation, Harry, along with Ron, is working at the Auror Department at the Ministry of Magic. After all these years, Harry is now the department head. “Harry and Ron utterly revolutionized the Auror Department,” Rowling said. “They are now the experts. It doesn’t matter how old they are or what else they’ve done.” Meanwhile, Hermione, Ron’s wife, is “pretty high up” in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, despite laughing at the idea of becoming a lawyer in “Deathly Hallows.” “I would imagine that her brainpower and her knowledge of how the Dark Arts operate would really give her a sound grounding,” Rowling said. Harry, Ron and Hermione don’t join the same Ministry of Magic they had been at odds with for years; they revolutionize it and the ministry evolves into a “really good place to be.” “They made a new world,” Rowling said.
The wizarding naturalist Luna Lovegood, the eccentric Ravenclaw who was fascinated with Crumple-Horned Snorkacks and Umgubular Slashkilters, continues to march to the beat of her own drum. “I think that Luna is now traveling the world looking for various mad creatures,” Rowling said. “She’s a naturalist, whatever the wizarding equivalent of that is.” Luna comes to see the truth about her father, eventually acknowledging there are some creatures that don’t exist. “But I do think that she’s so open-minded and just an incredible person that she probably would be uncovering things that no one’s ever seen before,” Rowling said.
Luna and Neville Longbottom? It’s possible Luna has also found love with another member of the D.A. When she was first asked about the possibility of Luna hooking up with Neville Longbottom several years ago, Rowling’s response was “Definitely not.” But as time passed and she watched her characters mature, Rowling started to “feel a bit of a pull” between the unlikely pair. Ultimately, Rowling left the question of their relationship open at the end of the book because doing otherwise “felt too neat.” Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom: “The damage is done.”There is no chance, however, that Neville’s parents, who were tortured into madness by Bellatrix Lestrange, ever left St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies. “I know people really wanted some hope for that, and I can quite see why because, in a way, what happens to Neville’s parents is even worse than what happened to Harry’s parents,” Rowling said. “The damage that is done, in some cases with very dark magic, is done permanently.” Rowling said Neville finds happiness in his grandmother’s acceptance of him as a gifted wizard and as the new herbology professor at Hogwarts.
The fate of Hogwarts Nineteen years after the Battle of Hogwarts, the school for witchcraft and wizardry is led by an entirely new headmaster (“McGonagall was really getting on a bit”) as well as a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. That position is now as safe as the other teaching posts at Hogwarts, since Voldemort’s death broke the jinx that kept a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor from remaining for more than a year.
While Rowling didn’t clarify whether Harry, Ron and Hermione ever return to school to finish their seventh year, she did say she could see Harry popping up every now and again to give the “odd talk” on Defense Against the Dark Arts.
Labels: Deathly Hallows, Harry Potter, JK Rowling, review
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