At Long Last
Warning Warning Warning - Ridiculous amount of Deathly Hallows spoilers from here on out
Maybe I’m a sentimental idiot for thinking it, but I really can’t help it. I just finished reading Deathly Hallows, something I had been putting off since its release. I knew the sooner I started it, the sooner it would end. All the pieces that had Rowling had slowly built over six books and thousands of pages would resolve themselves, mesh perfectly. And they have. There’s an assured sense of loneliness now, in the “post-Harry Potter” world … a sense of despair that the stories that have been drawn out for seven books are now finally at end. There’s no waiting for the next installment, no speculating at what’s going to happen. Just a final, definitive end.
At the same time, if the story had to end at all, Deathly Hallows was indisputably ideal for it. There was an incredible satisfaction in it. The characters that needed to survive, did in the end survive. Those that had died earlier returned, albeit momentarily, before the end. And all the nagging questions were finally answered.
Snape finally proved his allegiances once and for all. After Half-Blood Prince, though, it became almost perfectly obvious that Severus, though slimy he may be, was stilly inherently good. After all the times he saved Harry, all the times suspicions against him proved false, after everything Rowling put forth about seeing the best in people, there was no possibility of betrayal. Moreover, the root of his despicable nature only becomes more evident in light of the last novel. His terrible resentment towards James Potter for stealing away the woman he loved coupled with his own guilt about causing her death almost, almost, justifies his cruel treatment of Harry. And it’s not only Snape that Rowling redeems in Deathly Hallows. Dudley Dursley, after six books worth of torment, actually wishes Harry well. Through Snape’s memory, the root of Petunia’s aversion to the magical world, one of jealousy rather than spite, finally comes out. I actually found myself pitying the young Petunia, who had simply wanted to be a part of the same world Lily was.
Another aspect of Deathly Hallows that struck me as rather amazing was how small, seemingly insignificant characters and details came back to form the backbone of the plot. Rowling mentions the wizard Grindelwald sparingly before the last book, though his friendship with Dumbledore seems crucial to the Deathly Hallows aspect. Ollivander and Gregorovitch, who are also named but a few times, play much larger roles. Rowling also seemed to renege on a promise not to introduce any new characters; and yet, by foraying into Dumbledore’s past, Rowling makes her point once again that no one is entirely faultless or faulted. By introducing Kendra, Percival and Ariana Dumbledore, we see Albus as someone more than an omnipotent headmaster. Besides Dumbledore’s story there was an incredible amount of back story presented through the last novel. We learn of Lily and Snape’s past, the entire Deathly Hallows story, and the Grindelwald ordeal. And Rowling weaves all of these sub-stories into the main plotline, adding an incredible depth to a “children’s novel.”
The novel’s climax, with the battle at Hogwarts, was without a doubt the most exhilarating part of the book. While Hogwarts’ professors and students, house elves and coats of armor, took on Voldemort’s Death Eaters, Harry, Ron and Hermione run against the clock trying to locate the Ravenclaw Horcrux. Ron and Hermione return to the Chamber of Secrets, vacant since the second book, and Harry to the Room of Requirement to find the missing diadem. Characters missing and forgotten, including Harry’s Quidditch teammates, and a redeemed Percy, come back into the mix. After nearly thirty chapters away from Hogwarts, anyone and everyone returns to the Castle for the final battle. And it is this, Rowling uncanny ability to connect seemingly unimportant details together that makes the climax so cathartic and invigorating.
The epilogue was a bit cheesy, but satisfying none the less. To have left Harry at Hogwarts, amidst his victory over Voldemort, would have left too many loose ends for a final novel. Courtesy of the epilogue, we are assured that Harry does end up with Ginny, Hermione with Ron, and lots of procreation later we have the next generation of Hogwartians. Few authors want someone else continuing or branching off their work, though it seems Deathly Hallows has done exactly that. Rowling’s provided enough back story for a novel on James Potter’s generation, and left the door wide open for on Harry’s children.
In summary … magnificent, outstanding, incredible, without compare. And now, an encore, from book one to seven. Thank goodness for all this summer free time.
Maybe I’m a sentimental idiot for thinking it, but I really can’t help it. I just finished reading Deathly Hallows, something I had been putting off since its release. I knew the sooner I started it, the sooner it would end. All the pieces that had Rowling had slowly built over six books and thousands of pages would resolve themselves, mesh perfectly. And they have. There’s an assured sense of loneliness now, in the “post-Harry Potter” world … a sense of despair that the stories that have been drawn out for seven books are now finally at end. There’s no waiting for the next installment, no speculating at what’s going to happen. Just a final, definitive end.
At the same time, if the story had to end at all, Deathly Hallows was indisputably ideal for it. There was an incredible satisfaction in it. The characters that needed to survive, did in the end survive. Those that had died earlier returned, albeit momentarily, before the end. And all the nagging questions were finally answered.
Snape finally proved his allegiances once and for all. After Half-Blood Prince, though, it became almost perfectly obvious that Severus, though slimy he may be, was stilly inherently good. After all the times he saved Harry, all the times suspicions against him proved false, after everything Rowling put forth about seeing the best in people, there was no possibility of betrayal. Moreover, the root of his despicable nature only becomes more evident in light of the last novel. His terrible resentment towards James Potter for stealing away the woman he loved coupled with his own guilt about causing her death almost, almost, justifies his cruel treatment of Harry. And it’s not only Snape that Rowling redeems in Deathly Hallows. Dudley Dursley, after six books worth of torment, actually wishes Harry well. Through Snape’s memory, the root of Petunia’s aversion to the magical world, one of jealousy rather than spite, finally comes out. I actually found myself pitying the young Petunia, who had simply wanted to be a part of the same world Lily was.
Another aspect of Deathly Hallows that struck me as rather amazing was how small, seemingly insignificant characters and details came back to form the backbone of the plot. Rowling mentions the wizard Grindelwald sparingly before the last book, though his friendship with Dumbledore seems crucial to the Deathly Hallows aspect. Ollivander and Gregorovitch, who are also named but a few times, play much larger roles. Rowling also seemed to renege on a promise not to introduce any new characters; and yet, by foraying into Dumbledore’s past, Rowling makes her point once again that no one is entirely faultless or faulted. By introducing Kendra, Percival and Ariana Dumbledore, we see Albus as someone more than an omnipotent headmaster. Besides Dumbledore’s story there was an incredible amount of back story presented through the last novel. We learn of Lily and Snape’s past, the entire Deathly Hallows story, and the Grindelwald ordeal. And Rowling weaves all of these sub-stories into the main plotline, adding an incredible depth to a “children’s novel.”
The novel’s climax, with the battle at Hogwarts, was without a doubt the most exhilarating part of the book. While Hogwarts’ professors and students, house elves and coats of armor, took on Voldemort’s Death Eaters, Harry, Ron and Hermione run against the clock trying to locate the Ravenclaw Horcrux. Ron and Hermione return to the Chamber of Secrets, vacant since the second book, and Harry to the Room of Requirement to find the missing diadem. Characters missing and forgotten, including Harry’s Quidditch teammates, and a redeemed Percy, come back into the mix. After nearly thirty chapters away from Hogwarts, anyone and everyone returns to the Castle for the final battle. And it is this, Rowling uncanny ability to connect seemingly unimportant details together that makes the climax so cathartic and invigorating.
The epilogue was a bit cheesy, but satisfying none the less. To have left Harry at Hogwarts, amidst his victory over Voldemort, would have left too many loose ends for a final novel. Courtesy of the epilogue, we are assured that Harry does end up with Ginny, Hermione with Ron, and lots of procreation later we have the next generation of Hogwartians. Few authors want someone else continuing or branching off their work, though it seems Deathly Hallows has done exactly that. Rowling’s provided enough back story for a novel on James Potter’s generation, and left the door wide open for on Harry’s children.
In summary … magnificent, outstanding, incredible, without compare. And now, an encore, from book one to seven. Thank goodness for all this summer free time.