Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Author: J.K. Rowling
Published: 14th July 2007
Genre: Children’s literature, Fantasy, Fiction
Start Date: 29th July 2022
Finish Date: 31st July 2022
Summary
It's no longer safe for Harry at Hogwarts, so he and his best friends, Ron and Hermione, are on the run. Professor Dumbledore has given them clues about what they need to do to defeat the dark wizard, Lord Voldemort, once and for all, but it's up to them to figure out what these hints and suggestions really mean. Their cross-country odyssey has them searching desperately for the answers, while evading capture or death at every turn. At the same time, their friendship, fortitude, and sense of right and wrong are tested in ways they never could have imagined. The ultimate battle between good and evil that closes out this final chapter of the epic series takes place where Harry's Wizarding life began: at Hogwarts. The satisfying conclusion offers shocking last-minute twists, incredible acts of courage, powerful new forms of magic, and the resolution of many mysteries. Above all, this intense, cathartic book serves as a clear statement of the message at the heart of the Harry Potter series: that choice matters much more than destiny, and that love will always triumph over death.
Review
This is my first time since the movies come out that I have read the Harry Potter series, I have fond memories of Harry Potter.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is the seventh and final book in this modern witchcraft series. It relates the story of Harry Potter’s final duel against the evil Lord Voldemort. However, this confrontation actually takes place toward the end of the story. A lot of things happen before Harry and his friends are ready for the battle of their lives.
From the outset, events move at a breakneck speed. J.K. Rowling scrambles to tie up the loose ends left dangling from the previous six books. In the process, she puts forth a final book with a dark mood and a somewhat convoluted storyline.
In every book of the series, Rowling has presented a multitude of new characters, places, spells, rules and scores of unimaginable twists and subplots. This one is altogether a towering fictional edifice whose vividness is enough to make up for any serious deficiencies in its design.
The biggest takeaway from the Deathly Hallows is that J.K Rowling continues to maximise on the things she has done well in the previous books. An excellent character development leaves little doubt as to the value of nobility and morality. Cruelty becomes the defining trait of those evil in nature and life is assigned value, even when it comes to the most unlovely beings. In fact, when a house-elf lays down his life to save Harry’s, the latter digs the grave himself. He does not use his wizardly skills to do so, believing that this would honour the elf’s sacrifice in a much deeper way.
Themes of true friendship and self-sacrifice have been exquisitely drawn up. The changing relationship of Harry, Ron and Hermione bears testimony to their approaching adulthood. Harry finds his two friends determined to assist him in his face-off with Voldemort. Ron and Hermione’s romantic relationship blossoms into genuine love, without any inappropriate sexuality. The book waxes and wanes throughout, with some parts more gripping and even chilling than others.
Throughout the Harry Potter series, pride and hunger for power go hand in hand and almost always accompany evil, even in the noblest of characters. The imagery of peacocks on the walls of Voldemort’s hideout reflects his misplaced belief in his being the most powerful and wisest wizard. Harry, carrying a Horcrux close to his heart for safekeeping, absorbs some of this arrogance. His resulting obsession with finding the Hallows costs him dearly, and provides him a valuable life lesson.
Perhaps the most poignant elements of the Deathly Hallows revolve around the quest for a pure-blood wizardly society. Well-read readers cannot help but relate this to the ghastly events that occurred in Nazi Germany.
J.K Rowling has always maintained that she had plotted the entire Potter series before she started working on it. This truly reflects in the way the protagonists, the principal families and their allegiances, the design of the Hogwarts, and the grand plan for a final confrontation between the good and the bad all fall into place in the series finale. It is the end of a wonderful series of book and I finished it on Harry Potter's birthday.
I am comparing the films to the books. In the book, Dedalus Diggle and Hestia Jones, members of the Order of the Phoenix, took the Dursley's away to safety, as they would have been unable to hide from Voldemort themselves. In the film, they appear to leave of their own accord. It's not explained in the film how Harry obtained the fragment of mirror he often peeks at throughout the film.
Moody tells them all that they are to head to The Burrow in the film. In the book, they all head to separate locations (related to the Order) and they then use a port-key to The Burrow. In the book, Harry keeps Hedwig in a cage, she is not set free.
In the book, Harry and Hagrid's pursuers realise that it is the real Harry not because Hedwig attacks one of them, but because Harry casts Expelliarmus at Stan Shunpike instead of stupefying or killing him. In the book, Voldemort gives up pursuit because Harry's wand shoots golden sparks at him, allowing Harry and Hagrid enough time to cross the magical boundaries protecting the Tonks' house. In the film, Harry simply manages to flee when the wand Voldemort was using broke . In the book, Harry wakes up in the Tonks' house wandless, without Hagrid, and accuses Andromeda Tonks of being Bellatrix. Neither Andromeda or Ted Tonks appear in the films. Descriptions of how the others fared in the Battle of the Seven Potters, such as Tonks praising Ron for his aerial duelling skills in stunning a Death Eater in mid-air, and Hermione's surprise, are either omitted or shortened in the film.
In 12 Grimmauld Place, the dust version of Dumbledore is defeated in the book by saying 'kill,' or a variant of the word. However, in the film, he simply disintegrates when it reaches the trio. Hermione was not very polite to Kreacher in the film, but in the book, she is very kind toward him. Harry appeases Kreacher by giving him the fake locket, and gains knowledge from Kreacher about Regulus Black and his adventures in the book. In the film, they work out who Regulus was alone after a time but a proper backstory for him was never told.
In the books, the Magic is Might statue portrayed a witch and wizard upon thrones made of muggles. In the film, the witch and wizard are standing and part of the statue foundation is a layer of muggles, being crushed under the weight. In the book, Harry, while pretending to be Albert Runcorn, meets Percy and Arthur Weasley in an elevator and he warns Arthur that he was being tracked. This never happens in the film.
When Harry breaks into Dolores Umbridge's office in the book, he takes Moody's eye from the door which alerts the Ministry that there was an intruder. In the book, Harry enters the chamber where Mary Cattermole was being interrogated alone, and under the invisibility cloak. In the film, he walks in in plain view along with Ron. In the book, Harry and Hermione take out Umbridge and Yaxley before they had a chance to react. In the film, Harry just stupefies Umbridge in the face. In the book, the Patronus then cast by Umbridge only protects the interrogators; in the film, it protects everyone in the chamber.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️