Dursleys - Blog Posts
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was the final book of the series, creating a different and more pronounced impact than probably all but Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. It was also different for me than the rest of the series as it was the only book I got at midnight, it was the only book (I ever) jumped ahead with—seeing that at the end “All was well” and that this was the only book I read after the movies, having been dismayed by the 4th movie, I didn’t read it for almost 8 years. Reading the book then I was an adult and not a pre-teen or teenager and it, therefore, has a separate place in my heart and in my mind even though I read it after just rereading the entire series. The fact that Deathly Hallows all fits in one book is majesty itself, so much explained and told but not overwhelming.
One of the main themes through the series and highlighted in the Deathly Hallows is how much Harry has to due by himself and how much of the burden he can share with others. As we have grown up with Harry, Ron and Hermione we experience this as well albeit with less dramatic stakes. This is true in both the physical battles of the Seven Potters and the Battle of Hogwarts, but also just in terms of Harry leaning on Hermione and Ron in trying to figure things out but in other times letting them take charge while he rests or sometimes becomes distracted by the Deathly Hallows and not the task at hand: finding and destroying the Horcruxes and also when they all joke around, comforting each other and themselves. This is also true emotionally, in the way we can best understand when Harry leans on Hermione and Luna while burying Dobby.
Another theme throughout the Deathly Hallows is how complicated relationships and individuals can be. Looking past Ron and Hermione and Harry, I mean Harry and Dudley, Draco Malfoy and Xenophilius Lovegood. For Harry and Dudley it happens for both of them; while Harry despises them, he makes sure they’re safe and while the Dursleys have always had disdain and repulsion for Harry, Dudley is worried and angry that they’re not sticking together and helping him, and we know Petunia’s recognition of the final loss of her sister shocks and somewhat destroys her. With Draco, as we saw in the Half-Blood Prince, he reminds us there’s a difference between a bad boy or bully, and a truly bad person. Yes, he’s a bully and elitist, but just like his father he mostly just likes to complain and pump up his ego; he’d do very little actual damage or harm to others, that type of evil or hatred is outside of him. Xenophilius Lovegood, in my opinion, had his best and worst moments in trying to sell Harry and his friends to the Dark Lord. It wasn’t cowardly, it wasn’t weak; there is a difference between sacrificing yourself for a cause or for someone else and sacrificing your child. Xenophilius fought alongside and supported Harry until for him, there really was no more purpose in a better world, an okay world or any world.
The Deathly Hallows also nicely tidy’s up the series with the Chapter “King’s Cross” by referencing for us how just because the Harry Potter Universe was in books and in our minds didn’t make it any less real and for showing us as well as Harry how death, adulthood and life are all things we must accept and how choosing acceptance will help us move forward even if not always easy or instantaneous.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, is probably my least favorite book of the series. It may be because I read it within 72 hours while flying all across the country, or because I spent the majority of that time trying to figure out whether I should trust Snape or not, Harry’s ridiculous trust in the book that I kept thinking could be Voldemort all over again (seriously!?), and of course all the Hermione and Ron drama; but either way, I don’t look back on it fondly (and this was before I knew the ending).
Similar to the Fourth book, the opening of the Half-Blood Prince was entertaining and created a picture outside our normal understanding of Harry Potter. It was also interesting to see Dumbledore’s interaction with the Dursleys, Professor Slughorn who seemed to be a combination of Draco and Gilderoy Lockhart, and of course, seeing the twins great success and finally their mother’s approval.
Another thing I enjoyed in this story is how we slowly learn more about Voldemort along with Harry, seeing how he grew up and how Dumbledore slowly deciphered who he was and what he was up to. But overall, the story for me focuses on whether Harry is right about Draco and Snape, and for both, I feel the results are mixed. In the very end Snape was technically doing everything for Harry’s mother Lily and for Dumbledore, but at the same time he was a ‘double-agent’ and working with the Death Eaters even though his true intentions were very well hidden. Two things: I’d like to know how he convinced Voldemort he was still a true Death Eater as Voldemort seemed to hold him in high regard, and, how did Harry eventually explain all the true intentions of Snape to the others, did they believe him? They trusted in Snape as long as Dumbledore was alive but after that, they believed he had been fooled. With Draco, yes he was trying to do all these secret things to try and murder Dumbledore, but only because he had to, he really didn’t want to and while Harry had mostly matured this was something he couldn’t get past, he couldn’t see that while Draco was a prick, he also could be a victim.
What I do really appreciate about this year that was enjoyable, is the solidification of Harry’s friends, whether part of the Slug Club, Quidditch team or not, this year showed that those involved in the Battle of the Department of Mysteries were Harry’s true friends and he knew that: Neville, Luna and Ginny, along with his core friends Hermione and Ron. Regardless of whatever anyone else thought of him. This is seen even more so when Dumbledore tells Harry to only tell Ron and Hermione about the Horcruxes
Also, there was some fun magic in here: Felix Felices, the Unbreakable Bow, anything the twins created