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with what’s going on here, click here
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order)!
Now that I’ve finished reading the Harry
Potter British editions, an odd feeling has settled over me. It’s been over ten
years since I read through the series in order, yet I couldn’t finish then
because the last book didn’t arrive until 2007. The feeling of reading them
all, within the span of seven months, is hard to explain. It’s one of
accomplishment, yet, now that I’ve finished, one of loss. The feeling both
fills my heart and makes it ache.
Below, I dive into the darkest and the
deadliest book in the Harry Potter series, where Harry faces a choice between
Hallows and horcurxes, where Harry lets Voldemort grasp one so he can beat him
to the other, and where Harry walks to his death, ready but not alone…
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
First Line: “The
two men appeared out of nowhere, a few yards apart in the narrow, moonlit
lane.”
British vs. American
English: I’ve
been overseas so there are some things I read in these versions and don’t even
recognize as different. Like garbage vs. bin or fight vs. row. But here are a
few differences that popped out to me.
(British edition word/phrase =
interpretation/definition)
y-fronts
= boxer briefs
trussed-up = tied up
television aerial = TV antenna
cudgel =
beat, wrack
hangdog = downcast
done a bunk = to escape, flee
Laugh-Worthy
Moment: They were few and far
between in this tome, but there was the occasional chuckle. Nothing specific, but I appreciated that even with Voldemort
bearing down, even in their darkest hour, there was lightness (momentarily)
when Harry reunited with McGonagall and when the DA and Order members started
flooding through Hog’s Head into the Room of Requirement. It wasn’t depressing
or dreary as it could have been, but optimistic at being reunited and ready to
fight.
Cry-Worthy
Moment: How can I pick?!? This
book is drenched in my tears (figuratively), and I teared up at least a half
dozen times in the last 200 pages. But what really tugged on my heartstrings
was when Harry used the Resurrection Stone to summon his mom, dad, Sirius and
Lupin to accompany him on his walk to Voldemort, and to his death.
Notable
Quote: “Do not pity the dead,
Harry. Pity the living, and, above all, those who live without love.” –Albus
Dumbledore, page 578
Last
Line: “All was well.”
Thoughts:
I had an overwhelming feeling as I read through the
second half of the book that the pages left couldn't possibly hold the rest of
the story. There simply wasn’t enough room, especially when I reached the last
50 pages, then the last 30, then the last 15. It ended so quickly for me—too
quickly, in fact. Actually, I’d rather it hadn’t ended at all.
Deathly
Hallows stands alone as the only book in which Harry spent most
of his time away from Hogwarts. He didn’t attend school (not that he could’ve
since he had a price on his head), but instead went on the run from Voldemort,
the Death Eaters and the Ministry. Ron and Hermione joined him without
question. Harry takes on the mission that Dumbledore passed to him upon his
death. It's not an easy mission, but the hunt itself proves not to be the only obstacle. Upon Dumbledore’s death, Rita Skeeter wrote a tell-all book, and after Harry reads snippets, his faith
in Dumbledore is in question. Why didn’t Dumbledore tell him about his brother
and sister? About his father’s imprisonment and his mother’s tragic death? With Dumbledore's troubled history coming to light, it felt like Harry hadn't known Dumbledore at all. However, I prefer to think that Dumbledore didn't want to trudge up his own painful past and instead focused on the task at hand when he was with Harry.
No matter that Harry's faith in Dumbedore is shaken, he continues on the hunt for horcruxes,
assisted by his best friends. At the start of the book, two horcruxes have
already been destroyed (the diary and the ring) and three remain (the locket,
the cup and as it’s eventually discovered, the diadem) before the trio can go
after Nagini and Voldemort. Their hunt leads them to the three hardest places to
infiltrate in the Wizarding World: the Ministry of Magic,
Gringotts, and finally Hogwarts. Even though they planned for weeks before attempting the first two
break-ins, neither one went according to plan (which I appreciated) and both
showed the trio’s youth and relative innocence. As Deathly Hallows drove on, the speed at which the horcruxes were
found and destroyed increased so that the pace was feverish near the end.
Even though the horcruxes were important, the title of
this book reflects another collection of magical objects: the Hallows. While
Dumbledore told Harry about the horcruxes, he didn’t mention anything about the
Hallows. He did leave Hermione a clue in the form of a children’s book, the
Tales of Beedle the Bard, which includes the Tale of the Three Brothers. These
brothers bested Death and asked for three gifts in return: an unbeatable wand, a
stone to resurrect the dead, and a clock of invisibility. Most wizards consider
this tale a legend, but some know it to be true, and Harry instantly recognizes
that the cloak is the one that’s been in his possession since his first year.
Even though Harry obsesses over the Hallows initially, as together they make
the owner the master of death, he doesn’t seek the wand when Voldemort goes after
it. Instead, Harry returns his focus to the horcruxes, as he understands that’s
the mission Dumbledore wanted him to focus on.
The trio’s friendship has never been perfect. There have
been fights and misunderstandings, but there’s never been something like what happens in Deathly Hallows. Harry, Ron and Hermione are in a tough situation (which is an understatement)
and after they lose access to Grimmauld Place, they’re camping in the forest
with little to no food. And after they retrieve the horcruxed locket, they’re
wearing it in shifts, which deeply affects their mood. Ron takes it the hardest
and after an ugly, cringe-worthy row, he leaves in a fit of anger. Harry and
Hermione struggle on, visiting Godric’s Hollow and barely talking. Fortunately,
Ron’s return timing couldn’t have been better, as he saves Harry from being
drowned and strangled by the locket horcrux, which Ron then destroys with the
sword of Gryffindor. Harry destroyed the diary, Ron destroyed the locket and
Neville destroyed Nagini but when Hermione destroyed the cup horcrux, it
happened off-screen (as they say, as technically it's off-page). However, I
would have liked to read that scene and experienced what destroying a horcrux was like for Hermione. I always
related to her the most (bushy-haired with my nose in a book), so
it would have been nice to see her destroy the cup in the midst of the Battle
of Hogwarts.
One thing that happened way too often in this book was
death. Of course, the book is called Deathly
Hallows (emphasis on deathly) and the wizarding world is in the midst of an
all-out war, but still, dying sucks. We lose Hedwig, Mad-Eye, Dobby, Fred,
Lupin, Tonks, Snape and so many others. Dobby and Fred were especially tough
for me to read. Dobby because of his faithfulness to and friendship with Harry.
Fred because the twins were always comic relief and tearing them in two is like
taking a hammer to the heart. In the real world, war doesn’t leave anyone
untouched, and I am grateful that Rowling showed that in her writing.
In the end, I wanted more. I wanted more closure for
Harry, Ron and Hermione. We know now the details of their lives—that Harry
married Ginny and Ron married Hermione. We know how many children they had and
their names, but I wanted more in the book. I wanted more than a group hug and
a joyous dinner and a quick chat with Ron and Hermione before the story jumped
forward to Platform 9 ¾ nineteen years later. Truthfully, I wanted more than
was necessary. I wanted to see the trio not only rid the world of evil, but
help put the world back together again. It’s selfish of me, I know.
In the end, simply knowing that “all was well” should be
enough. Because I can imagine the rest myself.
Thanks for sticking around for seven months (and one
week, with last week’s delay) of me reading the Harry Potter British editions!
I enjoyed this journey back into the heart of Hogwarts, back into the pull of
the horcruxes and the Hallows, back into the lives of my favorite trio: Harry,
Hermione and Ron. I enjoyed this journey with the Boy Who Lived, and I hope you
did as well.
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