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Note: this became more of an essay than a review; I hadn't expected to write so much. Be warned!
Before the book's completion, I had weighed in on the subject as thoroughly as the next Harry nerd, producing theories and conjectures with my equally mad friends; some speculations were proven right, while others were completely blown out of the water and through it all, J. K. Rowling managed to spring surprise after surprise on her unsuspecting reader. This seventh and final book in the wonderful series takes seemingly negligent details from the previous books and, in a show of true craftsmanship, carefully connects them to the missing pieces – the locket in Order of the Phoenix proven to be a Horcrux in Deathly Hallows serves as an example – to unveil the masterpiece that the series is as a whole.
Did Ms. Rowling take advantage of details she'd written in an earlier work to add a twist or were those details a part of a cleverly crafted plot? My inclination leans toward the latter; I believe that such details found throughout the series – the locket, the diary in Chamber of Secrets, the Invisibility Cloak, and so forth – were deliberately placed transitional pieces intended to tie the books so tightly together as to be rendered incomplete if removed from the set.
But on to the final book itself.
I mentioned that a few of my speculations saw light; I suspected, for instance, that the mysterious R.A.B. would be Sirius' predeceased brother, Regulus Black. Readers were led to believe that Regulus met his end at Voldemort's hands as punishment for deserting the Death Eaters. But Kreacher, of all characters, explains that Regulus died in his final act of insubordination – removing one of the Voldemort's most dangerous Horcruxes and replacing it with a fake.
This surprising insight into Regulus Black's character, the supposed golden child of the Black family, also reveals new depths in Kreacher's dour personality – a result of neglect and loneliness. A touching twist, Kreacher becomes positively adorable during Harry & Cos. stay at
I suspected, at the close of Half-Blood Prince, that Harry would be the final Horcrux – a suspicion confirmed – but I had fully expected Harry to die in the final battle, taking Voldemort down with him. In yet another surprising manipulation of detail, however, Harry survives Voldemort's attack even as Voldemort destroys the Horcrux he had unwittingly created because of the blood flowing in Voldemort's veins – the blood Voldemort used to recreate his body during the graveyard ritual in Goblet of Fire. Harry willingly faces death, returns to life, and defeats Voldemort in a battle of wands. As in GoF, Harry uses Expelliarmus while Voldemort tries the Killing Curse; this time, however, the wands are not brothers but instead are both under Harry's control in another of Ms. Rowling's well-plotted turn of events. Voldemort's curse, cast by a wand answerable only to Harry, rebounds upon himself, and Harry defeats his enemy without ever uttering the words "Avada Kedavra."
Harry loses so many and suffers so much without once killing an enemy.
Some of his losses were tragic – Mad-Eye Moody dies within the first few chapters, but his death is for Harry's survival. Similarly, Dobby dies as he comes to Harry's aid, taking Bellatrix's knife in the gut. George Weasley suffers a terribly physical injury in the beginning of the journey, but loses much more when Fred dies during the battle at Hogwarts – and I wish Ms. Rowling had explored this further. It is incredibly poetic that Percy, the estranged brother that reunites himself with his family, is at the side of his fallen brother, but the twins had such a bond; I would have liked to read George's reaction, as heart-wrenching as it would have been.
Remus and Tonks are dead at the end of the battle, leaving their baby son in such similar circumstances as Harry's own beginnings. It is fitting, however, that Harry had been made godfather – and that Harry lived to be the godfather to Teddy Lupin that Sirius hadn't had the chance to be.
Extremely enjoyable was the death of Bellatrix Lestrange – by the wand of Molly Weasley, who is revealed to be a fearsome witch. Coming off the shock of Fred's untimely death, she battles the most devoted Death Eater in a fierce one-on-one duel and bests the mad witch (and swears for the first time in the series!).
And yet of all the characters, the most touching and tragic story is one Severus Snape. He dies; Voldemort orders his snake to kill Snape, in order to gain true ownership of his wand (a futile attempt, as it was answerable only to Harry, but neither of them were to know that until Harry dies). With his final breath, however, Snape instructs Harry to take his most precious and most important memories; in the Penseive, the memories reveal hidden struggles and sacrifices of the most surprising degree. Harry's dive into Snape's memories reveals that his most loathed professor loved unrequitedly Harry's own mother, from Lily Evans and even as Lily Potter. Lily and Severus parted ways after the Levicorpus incident, and Lily dies without ever knowing the depth of Severus' affection; he joins Dumbledore's Order and protects Harry not out of debt to Harry's father, but out of love for his mother.
This sheds new light on Snape's rivalry with James – much more than a mere "schoolboy grudge" – and reveals Snape's true nature; the memories show that Snape's Patronus always took the shape of a doe, the same as Lily's. This bittersweetly reaffirms Snape's love for Lily, and her love for James – also known as Prongs.
Snape also completely clears his name; as Dumbledore pleads with his old pupil and friend at the end of Half-Blood Prince, it is not a request to spare his life, but to end it. He was right in trusting Snape all along, without ever revealing that it is his unending love for Lily Potter that made Snape trustworthy to begin with.
I may have liked the epilogue least, of all the story arcs in the final book. I like knowing the end Ms. Rowling had in mind for her characters; in fact, I particularly enjoyed that Harry named his second son Albus Severus (an unfortunate name though it may be) – a tribute acknowledging Snape's strength, Harry shows how completely he has forgiven his former Potions Master for making his Hogwarts years a misery. I also loved that Harry didn't become the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, that he didn't become the next Hogwarts Headmaster. I would have been completely at peace with the series had Ms. Rowling not written the epilogue, however (I think I would have enjoyed conjuring up my own conclusion), but it is the fairy-tale ending to the oftentimes dark and disturbing journey. Old battles are over; hatchets are buried.
The Wizarding World is picture-perfect.
Okay, that was a 1,152-word monster. I'll try to limit future posts to 1,000 or less.
