Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7)

All right, I read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows the day it was released, but I've decided that it's time for it to receive a review from me.

As midnight struck, fans everywhere around the world jumped in excitement, finally being able to get their hands on the most hyped book in history. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is a truly phenomenal book where the amazing JK Rowling truly unleashed her imagination and creativity. All the questions that have been intensely debated by millions everywhere was answered in wondrous fashion.

**SPOILER ALERT**

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is told in a significantly different manner than the first six books, yet understandably so. It starts off with Lord Voldemort having a meeting with his Death Eaters, where the Malfoys are shown to be neglecting Voldemort after his behavior with them. A death of a teacher ends the dark chapter.

Harry, Ron and Hermione don't return to Hogwarts in order to search for Voldemort's remaining Horcruxes as instructed by Dumbledore. They, of course, have no idea what lies in store for them. A seemingly peaceful wedding is violently disturbed and the trio have no choice but to escape to Grimmauld Place.

They infiltrate the Ministry of Magic where they get their first Horcrux, but not without consequences. They are not able to return to Grimmauld Place and Ron is severely injured. And that's when their camping begins. The country is all looking for Harry as Voldemort has complete control over the Ministry of Magic and has instructed Severus Snape (Dumbledore's killer) to be Headmaster of Hogwarts. They are pushed to their limits as the war rages on. Harry has visions of Voldemort's actions and emotions throughout the story. Poor Draco is being terrorized cruelly by Voldemort and his parents are unable to do anything about it. It's really a taste of his own medicine.

Harry and Hermione venture into Godric's Hollow, where one of the most touching moments in the series occurs. A beautiful moment is shared by Harry and Hermione as they visit James and Lily Potter's graves. They meet Bathilda Baghost, a magical historian, who is actually dead and under control of Voldemort's snake, Nagini. It attacks Harry and Hermione. They escape, but Harry's wand is shattered. The trio go to Xenophilius Lovegood's house and they discover the tale of the Deathly Hallows. Intrigued, they learn about the fable Elder Wand, which in due time, is what Voldemort is going to retrieve.

Since Voldemort's name has been tabooed, once anyone mutters his name,
the person who said it is instantly tracked by Snatchers and Death Eaters. Harry, however, accidentally uttered the name and he is taken hostage to Malfoy Manor alongside Ron and Hermione. They discover that Luna and Ollivander are also hostages.

Terror strikes Malfoy Manor. Harry, Ron and Hermione all give false identities to the Death Eaters. Unfortunately, their cover is blown as a Death Eater recognizes Hermione from the Daily Prophet. The crazy and evil Bellatrix Lestrange enters the scene, and a layer of complications are thrown into the loop. She notices Godric Gryffindor's sword, and panics, thinking they have broken into her vault in Gringott's. Bellatrix brutally tortures Hermione yet she sticks to her story that it's a fake. In the end, they are saved thanks to Dobby but he is killed.

As the trio spend time in Shell Cottage, a beautiful cottage that overlooks the sea, they organize a plan alongside Griphook (a goblin) to break into Bellatrix's vault. They succeed in breaking into the vault and getting Hufflepuff's Horcrux, but they lose Godric Gryffindor's sword along the way.

After they break out and escape on a dragon, they fear that the beast would never stop flying, and as it descends closer to a lake, they all jump. Finally, Harry has a vision of Voldemort discovering that his Horcruxes have been found and is on his way to Hogwarts to get the other Horcrux. The trio rush to Hogsmeade, and into the Hog's Head, where Aberforth reveals to them the full extent of the life of his brother, Albus Dumbledore. Finally, they meet Neville and through a tunnel enter Hogwarts.

And the war begins. And what a war it is.

The DA and Order of the Phoenix all fight alongside Harry against the Death Eaters and Voldemort. Hermione destroys Hufflepuff's Horcrux as Harry is told a shocking tale from the Grey Lady, who happens to be Rowena Ravenclaw's daughter. The Unknoweable Room is destroyed as a powerful, magical fire burns it to pieces.

The trio witness Snape's gruesome murder, and as he dies, he releases not just blood, but memories, which Harry quickly collects. And as he takes his last breath, he looks into Harry's green eyes and falls to the ground, thus marking the end of a wondrous double agent.

Harry watches these memories, and this is where Rowling really surprised us. Severus Snape, the cold and cruel man, was in love with Harry Potter's mother, Lily Evans. It is truly remarkable how Rowling handled the amazing relationship between Snape, Lily, and the Marauders. Finally, Severus Snape steps out on stage and all eyes and tears are on him. What a terribly unfortunate tale from the Prince...

Towards the end of the memory, Harry sees that he has to die by Voldemort in order for Voldemort to die. Harry, who we've seen grow from a petite eleven year old, has to surrender himself to Voldemort and let him kill him. The chapter was running rampant with emotions as Harry had to walk down to the Forbidden Forest to allow himself to be gone.

As he is struck by Voldemort's curse, he enters a surreal place. A kind of limbo lingering between life and death. Harry encounters Dumbledore, who reveals to him the true extent of Voldemort's errors. Harry is not dead because he was mistakenly turned into a Horcrux. In the process, Voldemort just destroyed a part of himself and no one else.

Harry then revives, and it seems Voldemort had also fallen. Harry has to feign death in order for them to not notice he is alive. Voldemort asks Narcissa Malfoy to check on him. Her gentle hands creep up under Harry's shirt and feel his heartbeats. In a whisper heard only by Harry, she asks him if Draco is alive and in the castle. He breathes "Yes" and understands that Narcissa did not care for Voldemort at all, but only for her family and in order for her to look for Draco in the castle was to be part of the conquering army. As they enter the castle, Harry witnesses Bellatrix nearly killing Ginny. An enraged Molly has a fierce duel with Bellatrix, and in the end, the evil witch is finally defeated. The heroes of this chapter were the mothers, and rightfully so. Harry then defeats Voldemort because Voldemort's curse is rebounded on him because Harry was the owner of the Elder Wand, which Voldemort was using. And the Elder Wand would not kill its own master.

Finally, an Epilogue that clearly states the end of an amazing series...

**SPOILERS DONE**

JK Rowling has proved to the world how intelligent she is. Her plotting is quite unbelievable, and characterization is splendid. This is a world in which I'll sorely miss returning to. The Harry Potter series are bright stars in the sky for writers. So, Miss Rowling, I, and millions of others would like to thank you dearly for the amazing stories you have shared with us. You will be remembered for the ages.

The first three books in the Harry Potter series were light and amusing, although there has always been a theme of darkness underpinning the series. In this final book darkness is unleashed.

Harry Potter and his friends are without the support of Dumbledore, and although not alone, they are isolated and working with very little. Hermoine, Ron and Harry are on the run from Voldemort, but also from much of Wizarding society including the establisment such as the Ministry. Forced to camp out and avoid just about everyone. There is betrayal, darkness, mistrust and even indecision and falling out amongst themselves.

Dumbledore has left them a mission which only the three can pursue, and left them with little information in which to pursue it. Two missions emerge - the mission to find the Horcruxes which Voldemort has left and destroy them. These Horcruxes contain a little of voldemort in each, and while one survives so does Voldemort. The second mission which is distracting them is the pursuit of the Deathly hallows, which is a tale in Beedle the Bard, and the question hangs tantalisingly as to whether they exist or not.

The story is long, and emotionally charged. It is very reminiscent of C S Lewis's Last Battle - the forces of good evil - but there is Christian imagery running through this - the need to die to be reborn, the presence of good and evil in one soul, the use of soul imagery and resurrection stories. There is even Crucifixion of sorts in here - magically done of course.

It is fascinating to see a modern reweaving of King Arthur and the holy Grail myths with various flawed heros and heroines along the way. Rowling has drawn widely from a variety of traditional English tales to finish this last potter work and it is a very satisfying comclusion to the series.

It is good to know the ending, and that it is a beginning as well.

The Deathly Hallows brings to a close perhaps the most beloved book series of all time. Harry Potter has become a cultural phenomenon the likes of which we have never seen before. To say expectations were high is an understatement of the highest order.

The book starts in uncharted territory - without Albus Dumbledore as leader. The absence of Dumbledore was, of course, essential to Harry's journey, and it shows early on in the fact that the book edges much further into chaos than the other 6.

SPOILER TO FOLLOW:


There are some strokes of absolute Rowling genius in DH.

1. The Hallows themselves are an utterly fascinating concept. The fact that Voldemort, Grindelwald (the two most evil wizards in history) AND Dumbledore were all fascinated with them makes them all the more compelling.

2. Many readers did not like what Rowling did to Dumbledore's character in this last book. I disagree. I think it was necessary to explore the fallible side of Dumbledore. He always seemed just a bit too perfect to me. I found that I liked him WAY better than I ever have before.

3. In general, the plot was everything I've come to expect. The brilliance of Ms. Rowling has never been in exceptional writing technique, but in her creativity in telling a story and even more important than that, her uncanny knack of planning the storyline so well that the intricate plot weaves nearly seamlessly in and out of 7 books over a decade's time.

4. The final scenes with Dumbledore and Voldemort were quite well done. I would have been disappointed if Harry had used avada kedavra to kill Riddle. The last discussion that Harry has with Voldemort was really good too. Voldemort's fear at finding Harry alive once again was nearly palpable. He was far more frightened than Harry. I could not have imagined it any better.

Why the book did not quite make fantastic

1. The camping scene was WAY WAY too long. It was the first time EVER in a Harry Potter book that I found myself a tad bored. I feel as though this section could have been cut short by several chapters and still been fine.

2. It was more complicated than it needed to be, and some of the explanations didn't make sense to me.

-The worst, of course, was Ron "learning" to speak parseltongue to get the basilisk fang out of the chamber of secrets. It is incongruous with how rare the ability is said to have been. I didn't buy it.
-Next,the whole disarming of wands and becoming it's new master made no sense whatsoever. The D.A. practiced disarming spells all the time - why didn't wands change ownership then?
-the Elder wand was said to have been unbeatable. That's why Grindelwald and Voldemort wanted it. So how did Dumbledore defeat Grindelwald when he had the wand? Makes no sense. They were supposed to have been about evenly matched in skill. You would have thought that Grindelwald would have had the edge in the duel.

3. By FAR my biggest beef with the book was it's treatment of Snape. Throughout the series, he has been the most intriguing, mysterious and wondered about character. After he killed DD in book 6, fans literally discussed his true motives for YEARS. Was he on DD's orders? Was he working for Voldemort the entire time? I consider Severus Snape the most important character in the books outside of Voldemort and Harry. And we get his explanation, his back story in one chapter?????? It was a serious letdown, and it was why the book got 4 stars from me.

If you've read the other books in the series, this is a absolute MUST READ. You won't be sorry.

Ahh, the Harry Potter books comes to an end.
If you haven't understood yet, this IS the last HP book. It's just as good as the one before, if not better.
My only complain is that horrible epilogue, which ruined it for me. I wish I hadn't read it. It gives such a short overview of what happened, doesn't take care of all the characters, and leaves nothing to the (though obvious) imagination. Shame shame.
Still worth the buy though ;D

It was very interesting and a good book. I recomended for people of all ages. Is my favorite book of all seven's.