Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

*****

5 Stars/5

Warning, this review has spoilers for this book and the entire series.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is the final brilliant book in the Harry Potter series and it answers all the question raised in the previous books but still leaves us wanting more. This is different from all the other books as the war has been lost and Hogwarts is not the main setting of the story. While this is the most adult book in the series, the series does still feel innocent especially as the characters do not think like most teenagers.

These books have all been about how love triumphs all and that death is not the end but the beginning of a new story. Unfortunately, it was obvious that the Deathly Hallows were added just to this book as there was no references to them in previous books unlike the Horcruxes. One thing I have never liked in this series is the labelling of Slytherin students as evil, as just because they are cunning and ambitious does not mean they will all turn into Death Eaters. Is it bad that I was more upset over Hedwig dying than Moody’s death?

I always felt that Harry should have died at the end of this series for two reasons, firstly then Rowling would not have been pressured to write more in the series, and secondly it felt like Harry’s entire life was destined to stopping Voldemort and, like Frodo in The Lord of the Rings, I am not sure he would have been able to move and carry on with his life without a purpose. I also really liked Neville’s development over the series as he has gained confidence and has become the person he was meant to be.

I love Ron and Hermione’s relationship and when I first read this book when I was younger, I was hoping that they would end up together but now I feel that with the amount of time they spent together without acting on their feelings they would have been stuck in the friend zone. Snape is one of the most interesting and complex characters and I loved learning more about his past. I also liked hearing about Dumbledore’s darker past which I feels humanises him. I guessed what was going to happen to Lupin and Tonks in this book after Harry was named Godfather, as I could tell that Ted’s situation would mirror Harry’s.

When I first read this series I thought the ending would have been about Hogwarts and maybe Harry and Voldemort’s links to the houses or that Neville was actually the chosen one. After I finished this book when it originally came out I felt like my childhood had ended as I had grown up with these characters and even now 8 years later I also got the same feeling. I would recommend the entire Harry Potter series to everyone, even those who have watched the films as they don’t have the magic of the books.

All was well.