Deathly Hallows: I open at the close

Fast facts:

Book title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Author: J.K. Rowling

Genre/Audience: YA, youth, fiction, fantasy

Rating: 10/10

Worth the read?: For the last time, yes!

Y’all.

I finished this book three weeks ago and have been thwarted from blogging about it every single day since. I marked thirteen different parts of the book I wanted to call attention to, elaborate on, or ask questions about. But you know what’s sad? I’ve read 6 more books since I finished Deathly Hallows, and I’m not sure it’s fresh enough anymore for me to write anything magical. Alas, earwax—er, I mean—alas, I shall try.

[Spoilers immediately ahead!]

character development of remus lupin

On this read through the series, I spent a lot of time taking note of Remus Lupin’s character development, and Deathly Hallows is chock-full of change for him. I mean, in the course of these pages he goes from a single werewolf to a married daddy-to-be, and then to a war hero mourned deeply. I get why J.K. Rowling felt it necessary to leave a baby motherless and fatherless, as that’s both realistic and monumental symbolism, but it doesn’t make losing Tonks and Remus any easier.

The fight between Harry and Lupin at Grimmauld Place has always been one of my least favorite moments in the series. For a long time I hated that it even happened—primarily because it confirms that Lupin was, in fact, merely a human, capable of being a real jerk in an attempt at self-preservation. I thought it made both Harry and Lupin look awful, and I just never understood why, why, why things went so sour.

I get it now.

Lupin’s life has been lived in shadows, hiding from the shame of his “furry little problem.” He really didn’t think he was worth loving, let alone worth being a husband or a father. He desperately wanted to do these things, but the fear that his shame would be forced upon anyone else was simply too much. Lupin would never have overcome this fear, I now know, had Harry not ripped into him (painful as it may be to read).

Lupin confirms this himself when, later on, Harry, Ron, and Hermione hear him on Potter Watch. When asked what he would say to Harry if he was listening, code-name Romulus says:

“I’d tell him we’re all with him in spirit, and I’d tell him to follow his instincts, which are good and nearly always right.”

And then, when Teddy Remus Lupin has been born, Lupin asks Harry: “You’ll be godfather?” In those moments, all really was well. But well was never meant to stay put. Neither were Teddy’s parents. They were always meant to fight, always meant to make the world safer for their little boy. Just like James and Lily.

death approaches

Some of the most poignant moments in the series come when people lose their lives. The losses in book seven are immense.

Dobby.

Dobby: how his continual pursuit to save Harry’s life resulted, ultimately, in the most human of deaths and burials. No magic. Just compassion, gratitude, and grief. Dobby was a free elf.

Fred.

Fred: how brothers, reunited at last, are laughing and bringing light to the darkest of places when, all at once, the darkness reminds them that they are not sovereign. That their magic cannot save them. That they are really, actually, seriously fighting a war.

Fred was my favorite Weasley.

Snape.

Snape: a supremely rude hero with a heck of a lot of skeletons. But, at the end of it all, he was “always” a good guy, although he was most certainly never a friend.

friendship

But, then, sometimes it’s the moments when friendships abound that stick out the most.

“That’s right,” said Luna encouragingly, as if they were back in the Room of Requirement and this was simply spell practice for the D.A. “That’s right, Harry . . . come on, think of something happy. . . .”

“Something happy?” he said, his voice cracked.

“We’re all still here,” she whispered, “we’re still fighting. Come on, now.”

This moment with Luna is so tender, so kind, and so quiet. While surrounded by the chaos of war, Luna is steady and strong. It gets my heart. I can hear her innocent, mousy voice coaxing Harry to find the shred of hope he needed to save them. Luna saved them. Ah, man, Luna…she’s great.

There are but two more moments I wish to discuss before closing the door on Harry and friends one final time (until next time).

horcruxes or hallows?

The first, in the Forbidden Forest:

I open at the close.

Breathing fast and hard, he stared down at it. Now that he wanted time to move as slowly as possible, it seemed to have sped up, and understanding was coming so fast it seemed to have bypassed thought. This was the close. This was the moment.

He pressed the golden metal to his lips and whispered, “I am about to die.”

Harry’s lost loved ones return at once, and Harry resigns himself once and for all to the death that is so rapidly chasing him down.

“Does it hurt?”

The childish question had fallen from Harry’s lips before he could stop it.

“Dying? Not at all,” said Sirius. “Quicker and easier than falling asleep.”

Little does Harry know, he is not merely the Master of Death; he is also a Horcrux. How many times did the thought race through his head, “Horcruxes or Hallows? Horcruxes or Hallows?”

And, in the end, he had them both.

The final moment in Deathly Hallows I wish to discuss is, without a doubt, my favorite moment of the entire series.

the most loyal character

After Voldemort has returned, Hagrid has placed Harry on the ground, and the resurgence has begun, there is one sentence—albeit a long one—that reduces me to tears every. single. time.

It encompasses the most significant growth of any character in the series. It shows the power of love so fully, and, ah, it reminds me that each of us has a role to play.

The house-elves of Hogwarts swarmed into the entrance hall, screaming and waving carving knives and cleavers, and at their head, the locket of Regulus Black bouncing on his chest, was Kreacher, his bullfrog’s voice audible even above this din: “Fight! Fight! Fight for my Master, defender of the house-elves! Fight the Dark Lord, in the name of brave Regulus Black!”

Are you sobbing, too?!

Kreacher, regarded as worthless muck by Sirius, and, in turn, treated poorly for so long, has never forgotten the one person who saw him through clear eyes, saw him for all of his value, saw him for the heart beating in his chest. And Kreacher, loyal not because he had to be, but because he wanted to be, fought for his master.

Sweet, sweet Kreacher.

A house-elf worth dying for.

And isn’t that the summation of Harry Potter? That love, above all else, should be our guide, should be our motivation, should be the thing that, no matter time, separation, or death, we should always continue fighting for.

See you soon, friends. In the mean time, keep fighting for love.