Draco evolving... Extra credit

Draco Malfoy throughout the series was a rude, conniving, backstabbing, and horrible person. Although, you could always tell he was a bit hesitant on the horrible things he was doing. The only time that you knew for sure that he was second guessing all the promises he made to Voldemort, when he was faced to Dumbledore in the tower and the time when they were in the Room of Requirements and it comes to flames. Draco evolved to be just like his father, just less guts. His father is practically a slave to Voldemort yet entirely scared of him even though he admires him. Draco, I believe, at the end of the last book is second guessing his decisions he once made, and deciding to come back to the other side. He sees the true side of Voldemort, which all of his followers were oblivious to do to their need and want for fame and power, that he doesn't care about anyone but himself and where HE gets. There are a lot of kept and unkept secrets through out the books and Draco knew some of them but he did not know all of them. I believe that Draco is nothing more than a scared boy at the end of the book who looks back on his decisions and is possibly, but not wanting anyone to know, wishing he wouldn't have gone through with the "killing" of Dumbledore. Although he does find out that Snape was told to kill Dumbledore from Dumbledore himself.

Make-up blog for last exam

The Elder Wand plays a significant part in the story due to Voldemort believing that is all he needs to get to the top and to finish Harry off, especially after what happened in the last encounter when their wands connected. Its hard to explain who has it in the end because for the longest time Dumbledore had it but once he died Voldemort had Snape removed it from his grave. Although, he did not know that Snape did not kill Dumbledore for Voldemort, he killed him due to the verbal contract Dumbledore and Snape had. Realistically the new wand owner was not Snape, it was Draco. Draco is the one who disarmed Dumbledore before Snape killed him. Harry is the one who became Draco’s wand owner when he was at the Malfoy house when captured. So, all in all, the wand owner was Harry but Voldemort did not know any of this. In the end Harry decided to put the wand back into Dumbledore’s casket and he told Dumbledore this towards the end of the story when he was talking to him in Kings Crossing. He feels that the wand should be with Dumbledore due to many different emotions toward Dumbledore. All the things he has done for him throughout the years, protecting him. He feels the wand belongs with Dumbledore and not in use by anyone.... 

Draconian Developments

“Draco, Draco, you are not a killer.” Dumbledore calmly says to the boy standing across from him whom he knows was ordered to do that very act.  The boy has been built up as one of the main antagonist of the series, and yet at this point the reader can feel nothing but sympathy for the would-be-assassin.

The boy has done exactly as he was commanded to do, and has cornered the best wizard of the age unarmed on top of a tower, yet his smug and boastful visage is starting to crumble under Dumbledore’s calm demeanor.  “I haven’t got any options!. . .I’ve got to do it! He’ll kill me!  He’ll kill my whole family!” the now distraught Draco confesses.  This sense of internal struggle is a new concept to the reader in the otherwise static Draco; and with it Rowling shows us that even those put in the worst imaginable situations still have room for redemption.  Draco is born into this family, these expectations, and now it is shown what effect this has had on his psyche.  The rich boy with a false sense of entitlement, the antithesis of our Harry, is shown for the first time as not merely the foil which highlights the protagonists own qualities, but as a human being.  

The fact that Rowling can create these feelings of sympathy is a testament not only to her writing, but to our own willingness to see the good in everyone.  Dumbledore is the embodiment of forgiveness and it is through him that Draco is able to confess his sins and show his remorse.

Extra Credit: The (other) Boy Who Lived

Neville Longbottom has come a long way since first introduced as the blubbering fool that loses everything and can never quite get anything right.  Even his attempts to help in the first books are always at the most inopportune times and end up hurting the group more than helping.  Fast forward seven years and we meet an entirely new man; a battered warrior who has been leading an against-all-odds rebellion against Snape and the Death Eaters who have penetrated Hogwarts.  

The first time we hear about Neville in the Deathly Hallows is when Harry hears about an attempt to break into the office of Snape to steal back the sword of Gryffindor that Harry pulled out of the Sorting Hat in book two.  He not only openly defied the new rule, but reformed Dumbledore’s Army and takes on a very Harry-Potter-esque role and shows his true colors as a Gryffindor.

Neville’s similarities to Harry started with his birth and the choice that presented itself in the prophecy made about Voldemort, but during book seven Neville makes ground in becoming what the very prophecy warned about; the end of Voldemort.  Neville is told by Harry that he needs to kill Nagina, and even after Harry is believed to be dead Neville takes the task to heart and beheads the snake; the last horcrux.  From the boy who loses his Remembrall and appeared to be nothing more than comic relief Neville is transformed into a lion with enough courage to summon the Sword of Gryffindor.

Extra Credit: Elder Wand

“Are you intending to let him kill you,” Snape asks of Dumbledore in the Pensieve scene of the Deathly Hallows.  

“Certainly not. You must kill me,” Dumbledore replied calmly; sealing his fate.  At the time of this exchange Dumbledore simply tells Snape he is dying anyways and would like it to be quick, but by the time the scene is uncovered to Harry it has an entirely different meaning; The Elder Wand.  Dumbledore did not want Draco’s soul to suffer through killing someone, but that was not his sole reason for ordering Snape to be the one to kill him.  Harry learnt from Ollivander about the concept of wands being “mastered” and how a wand must recognize it’s owner.  This introduces a new sense of nobility into the HP lore, that these vessels of magic that we have taken for granted for so many years are not mere replaceable sticks, but have their own sort of soul.  

Wishing to tame this unbeatable wand Voldemort must kill whom he believes to be his greatest disciple, Snape.  Believing he is in control of the world’s most powerful wand he then confronted Harry, and quickly learned that there was more to the story than previously believed.  Draco, not Snape, was the one who disarmed Dumbledore and therefore the power of the wand transferred to him.  Harry had defeated Draco since then, and therefore the wand would only recognize him as it’s master.  

“I don’t want it,” Harry confesses after the battle.  “That wand’s more trouble than it’s worth. . .I’ve had enough trouble for a lifetime.”  

Make-up Blog: The Elder Wand

            In the final demise of Voldemort, the Elder Wand plays a significant role. As with the horcruxes and his earlier pursuit to posses the Sorcerer’s Stone, to Voldemort the Elder Wand represents a way for him to gain immortality. He did everything he could to wield its true power by taking it from Dumbledore’s grave and killing Snape, but he still was not the true master. As Harry points out in the final duel in the Great Hall, the true master upon Dumbledore’s death was Draco Malfoy who had in fact disarmed Dumbledore, not Snape who actually performed the act of killing him. When the trio was caught and taken into Malfoy’s basement, in the process of their escape and saving Hermione from Bellatrix, Harry takes the wand from Draco making him the true master.

            Once Harry has defeated Voldemort by using his favorite disarming spell to rebound Voldemort’s killing curse back onto himself, he goes to the headmaster’s study to talk with the portrait of Dumbledore with Ron and Hermione. Here we find out what Harry intends to do with the Elder Wand. He says that he was happier with his old wand and, though Ollivander had deemed his wand irreparable, uses the power of the Elder Wand to fix his own. With his old wand fixed he declares his intentions of putting the wand back where it came from, despite Ron’s protests, and letting its’ power die as he dies of natural causes later in life. He feels that way because he’s “had enough trouble for a lifetime” which is completely understandable considering what he done and his adult life has only just begun.

Extra Credit: Coming of Age - Neville Longbottom

In my mind, I see a true coming of age story one that has the character mature from that awkward childhood stage still trying to figure out where you belong, into a confident and strong person that has went through some tough experiences and has come out better because of it.  Neville Longbottom does just that throughout the series, finally becoming the man he was always meant to become by the end.  We see Neville in the beginning as this boy, barely capable of doing magic, a disappointment to his family, and an outcast.  He is afraid of Professor Snape and is also so down on himself, that I think results in him failing at potions and their other classes, except to Herbology.  This lack of confidence spans the majority of the series, until Dumbledore’s Army is formed and Neville wants to join.  We finally see Neville emerge from the cowardly boy, into someone who can succeed at magic beside from Herbology, which is a huge turning point in his coming of age.  

From that moment when he joins Dumbledore’s Army and goes to the Ministry with Harry and the others to fight, I knew that Neville’s’ story was far from over.  When we get to the final book Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Neville reveals his true character that he has been building all these years.  We don’t see him until later in the novel, when Harry, Ron, and Hermione need to return to Hogwarts to find Ravenclaw’s Lost Diadem.  Neville was the one to let them back into the castle and he is one of few who stood up to the Carrows and Snape.  Through his Gran’s eyes he was always a disappoint until now, Neville is telling Harry, Ron and Hermione that “she sent me a letter, telling me she was proud of me, that I’m my parents’ son, and to keep it up” (576).  This is a drastic change from the little boy we see in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.  The final moment when Neville’s coming of age is complete, in my opinion, is when he has the sorting hat and “he drew from its depths something silver, with a glittering, rubied handle” and “sliced off the great snake’s head” (733).  With this, the scared boy that was Neville Longbottom is gone.  Every coming of age story needs an ending where the outcast becomes the hero and good does triumph over evil.  Neville Longbottom is one of the most dynamic characters of the entire series and has developed into a brave man.

Extra Credit Blog Post: Luna Lovegood

The emergence of Luna Lovegood in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix adds a spark of joy and depth to the series.  Throughout the series, Harry Potter continues to encounter the oddities of the wizarding world. Ron Weasley had grown up with things like Floo Powder, gnomes, and dishes that washed themselves, but Harry had not. Luna Lovegood is another one of these oddities. Luna is first introduced as Loony Lovegood. She kept her want behind her left ear and wore a necklace of butterbeer caps (Rowling 185). She read her father’s offbeat magazine The Quibbler upside down. She is not what is considered normal in the wizarding world. Luna only does not seem to have friends, except Ginny Weasley, who is just especially nice to her.

Luna and Harry make their first real connection with he can see the threstrals pulling the carriages. “I’ve been able to see them ever since my first day here. They’ve always pulled the carriages. Don’t worry. You’re just as sane as I am” (Rowling 199).  After this connection is made, Luna becomes a part of the Harry Potter support group. She joins Dumbledore’s Army when Professor Umbridge is controlling the school and not letting the students learn proper defense against the dark arts. She becomes another friend, another love one, and another connection for Harry Potter and her new friends. She protects both Ron and Ginny when they are being attacked by Death Eaters in the Ministry of Magic.

Luna’s continuous loyalty, honesty, and good-nature are all apart of her development in the books, she is another strong-willed woman J.K. Rowling creates. She knows about stuff that no one else knows, which is how she becomes so important in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. She is the one Ravenclaw that knows about Rowena Ravenclaw’s lost diadem, which is one of Lord Voldemort’s Horcruxes. She takes Harry to the Ravenclaw Common Room to find the Grey Lady, who is actually Helena Ravenclaw. Without Luna’s help Harry may not have been able to find the last horcrux and the ending of the series could have been better.

J.K. Rowling’s choice to make Luna the one to help Harry find the lost diadem helps Luna’s character develop into a truly strong and loyal person and friend. The reader is not introduce to Luna into the fifth book, her physical development is unknown, but in the last three Harry Potter books her loyalty and honesty continues to development and makes her such an amazing character. 

Extra Credit Blog 4 - Neville Longbottom

Throughout the Harry Potter series, the reader has seen characters develop and mature, sometimes in unexpected ways.  Experience helps shape a person, especially during time of adolescence.  Neville Longbottom is an excellent example of how a person blossoms into his own after struggling to find out where you belong.

When we first meet Neville, he is a clumsy, quiet boy that lacks self-confidence.  He is relentlessly teased at Hogwarts, primarily by Draco, and is constantly being told by his grandmother that he isn’t living up to his parent's accomplishments.  He was often seen as a lost cause.  We begin to see the potential in Neville when he finds he is skilled in Herbology, and even more so with the creation of Dumbledore’s Army.  Throughout the lessons of Dumbledore’s Army, Neville’s defensive spells have improved dramatically.  We begin to see his magical abilities put to work as he eagerly participates in the battle at the Ministry of Magic in book 5, and again at the battle in Hogwarts in book 6.

Neville’s newfound confidence and bravery is exerted full force in Deathly Hallows.  While Harry, Ron and Hermione were on the search for Horcruxes, Neville returned to Hogwarts and restarted Dumbledore’s Army with the help of Ginny and Luna.  With the return of Harry, Ron, and Hermione to Hogwarts, Neville signals the return of the other member of Dumbledore’s Army, and readily participates in the battle to bring the Death Eaters down.  Neville’s true colors are shown as he kills Voldemort’s snake, Nagini.  Neville killed the snake using the sword of Gryffindor, which in turn proves that Neville is a true Gryffindor, something often questioned through his earlier shy and introverted nature.  His resistance of the Dark Arts has helped shape him into the person he is today.  Neville’s courage and perseverance can be admired, for it shows that if you are passionate about something, greatness can happen.   

Blog 3: Snape Unveiled

The most poignant moment in series is also one of the most problematic in my mind. The scene I’m referring to is when Snape’s motives are finally revealed post-mortem. It is one of the most poignant moments because of the tragedy of it all. Here is a man who has been in love with a girl since he was a child who not only marries someone else, but his bullying tormenter. (Just try and imagine how many therapy sessions Snape would have needed for that web of issues.) We see that it was Lily’s death that truly turned Snape away from Voldemort; the source of all of Dumbldore’s questionable trust is Snape’s eternal, albeit unrequited love for Lily.

It is also one of the most problematic scenes for me because his attitude toward Harry through the entire series. He is cruel and heartless and goes out of his way to mock and ridicule him. I understand that he’s a spitting image of his father, James; I can only imagine how jarring it would be to see a living replica of your own childhood tormenter, and how difficult it would be to process that and react to it. But Snape goes out of his way to be hateful to Harry, which I find strange because of his deep love for his mother.

Perhaps Rowling is showing how the negatives often outweigh the positives we see/focus on in people. Snape lived to avenge Lily’s death, so why would he be so cruel to her child? It was no mistake that externally Harry looks so strikingly similar to James, just constantly pushing the memory that Lily chose James over Snape in his face. But if by that logic, he hates James for ‘winning’ Lily and having that life with her, by extension does that mean he actually, in some sense, wishes to be Harry’s father? I have to believe that ultimately, Snape hated James because he married Lily, and all the bullying just poured gasoline on his undying flame for Lily. (Which is not to say that the bullying he experienced wasn’t completely awful and heartbreaking, it was, but I think he held on to it for the rest of his life because ultimately his bully got the girl of his dreams.)

The complexities of Severus Snape still pull on my heartstrings and hurt my brain if I dwell on them long enough. After reading the series three times and watching the movies innumerable evenings I still find him to be the most interesting character of the bunch.

Extra Credit: The Development of Neville Longbottom

            In the seventh book of the Harry Potter series, the reader sees the character of Neville Longbottom change drastically as he is forced to be a leader at Hogwarts while Ron, Hermione and Harry are hunting horcruxes. Throughout the series, Neville is rather clumsy, absentminded, and is always a “step behind” the other students until the fifth book in which he’s a part of Dumbledore’s Army and helps Harry in the Department of Mysteries.

            In the final book, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” Neville appears first in chapter twenty-nine titled, The Lost Diadem, when he leads Harry, Ron, and Hermione into Hogwarts through the Hog’s Head in Hogsmeade. Neville is beaten up and tells stories of the tortures that he has because of arguing with the Carrow siblings, the Death Eater professors. He is hiding in the Room of Requirement and has led others to stay with him and it’s said that, “It’s all down to Neville. He really gets this room” (pg. 577). His leadership shows through the fact that his peers at school look up to him for guidance and direction.

            Secondly, during the battle of Hogwarts, the Death Eaters are dueling against the Order of the Phoenix and the students; it all comes down to the last horcrux, Voldemort’s snake, Nagini. Slightly before, Harry tells Neville that the snake must be killed in order for Lord Voldemort to be conquered. Waiting for the right moment, Neville uses the sword of Gryffindor to behead Nagini, making Voldemort completely vulnerable under attack. In this moment, Neville is deemed worthy of using the sword and truly lives up to the courage that goes along with it. Not only is he seen as heroic, but also he finally accepts himself as a leader.

Luna and Ginny: J.K. is at it Again (Bonus Blogpost 4)

Ginny Weasley changes dramatically between books one and seven in the Harry Potter series. At first, we see her as a timid little girl hiding behind her mom at the slightest notion of Harry's name. All Harry sees of Ginny at first is the flash of her red hair as she darts around corners and away from him. In great contrast, the Ginny Weasley of The Deathly Hallows is mature and even fierce.

At the end of the series, Ginny is transformed into a no-nonsense warrior for good. She helps Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood carry on with Dumbledore's Army as well as wreak havoc during Snape's stint as headmaster. She's extremely calculating and magically skilled. We see her sense of justice when she leaves the room of requirement, venturing out to fight Death Eaters. Ginny even holds her own against Bellatrix Lestrange at one point, albeit with the help of Hermione and Luna. Ginny hasn't been the timid young thing of the first book in quite some time. She's grown into a woman capable of balancing her classwork, the DA, and a bit of insubordination on the side when she isn't battling evil and helping to save Hogwarts.

An interesting contrast to Ginny is Luna Lovegood. Though she fights alongside Ginny and has many of the same accomplishments, Luna has not undergone any severe transformation. Luna remains the same free-spirited and zany character we were introduced to back on the Hogwarts Express. I posit that Luna has not changed because she has no real growth to achieve at this point in her existence. She has always been exactly who she is without the fears or anxieties that seem to plague the other, more socially conscious characters. Ginny, at the start, was very self-conscious and particularly around Harry. In Deathly Hallows, however, Ginny steps up to take a leading role. Luna, on the other hand, maintains her same thirst to do what is right and her desire to help her friends no matter how strange her actions might appear to others.

Extra Credit: Narcissa Malfoy

Narcissa Malfoy was a cold, proud woman who believed in the superiority of Purebloods. She was not a Death Eater, but she supported her husband, Lucius, and Lord Voldemort as they wreaked havoc on Muggle-borns, blood-traitors, and all those who were different, including goblins and werewolves. She looked down upon others, treating them as second-class. In Half Blood Prince, she vehemently told Madam Malkin’s owner that she would not shop at a boutique that sold to the likes of Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Andromeda Tonks, her sister, and Sirius Black, her cousin, were spared her presence as they both openly opposed their family’s beliefs. Andromeda married a Muggle-born and Sirius left his parents’ home. To Narcissa, these were acts of betrayal.

For all her faults and regardless of what she believed in, Narcissa was a mother and a wife-she would not sit quietly and let her family die. After Lucius failed to retrieve the prophecy in Order of the Phoenix and was sent to Azkaban, Voldemort punished the Malfoy’s by choosing Draco to kill Dumbledore in Half Blood Prince. Narcissa believed this was intended to be a mission in which Draco would fail and ultimately die. Despite Bellatrix’s attempts to stop her, Narcissa asked Snape to help Draco. She formed an Unbreakable Vow with Snape, who promised to look over Draco and execute the mission if need be. Lucius was also under her protection. When Lucius was told to give Voldemort his wand, Narcissa covered his hand with hers, a sign of support and consent. Had Lucius refused, they would’ve died.

Narcissa had truly abandoned the idea of Pureblood supremacy the moment she lied to Voldemort. After the duel between Voldemort and Harry, she walked over to Harry to see if he was still alive. After feeling his heart beat, she asked Harry if Draco was still alive. When she received confirmation that he was, she stood up and lied to Voldemort, telling him Harry was dead. In that moment, she didn’t care about Purebloods and Muggle-borns and the war, she wanted to keep her son safe. While the war raged on, Narcissa and Lucius searched for Draco; they had turned their backs on Voldemort.  

Narcissa was on the Voldemort’s side up until the moment she decided to lie to him to save Draco. She was not a nice person, as seen by her previous actions, but when it truly mattered, she came through. She betrayed Voldemort to save her family, an action Voldemort would never understand. 

Extra Credit blog 4: Neville Longbottom

            Neville Longbottom has come such a long way throughout the Harry Potter series.  From the beginning of the books, Neville was seen as that character that always seemed to lack confidence, especially in potions class and when it came to dealing with Draco.  Snape had always intimidated him, which didn’t help his poor performance in his class.  In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, when facing the boggart in Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Neville’s turned into Professor Snape.  It was often wondered whether Neville was chosen for the right house.  Gryffindor’s are known for their bravery, and Neville seemed to lack it.  During Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the audience sees some of his bravery show through when helping Harry fight the Death Eater in the Ministry of Magic.  Even with a broken nose, he still rushed after Harry to help duel the Death Eaters.

            The last novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, really showed the audience, as well as the other characters that Neville was truly meant to be in Gryffindor.  When Harry, Ron, and Hermione make their way back to Hogwarts towards the end of the novel, they are met by Neville to lead them back into the school from the Hog’s Head.  It is learned that Neville has stood strong against the Carrows, who were Death Eaters now in charge of discipline at the school.  Neville would refuse to practice the unforgiveable curses on first years, which led them to seriously injure him.  He was not afraid to resist the Death Eaters and to try and help others from being tortured.  He was truly a brave person.  By the end, when everyone believes Harry to be dead, Neville, out of the whole crowd of people, stands up to Voldemort proclaiming that he will never stop resisting the Dark Arts.  Neville then proceeds to kill the last Horcux, Voldemort’s snake, with the sword of Gryffindor.  Neville has pulled this sword out of the Sorting Hat.  This reverts back to Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, when Harry pulls the sword out of the hat to kill the basilisk.  Dumbledore says that only a true Gryffindor could pull that sword out of the Sorting Hat.  From this, the reader sees that Neville was truly meant to be a Gryffindor, where the brave dwell at heart.

Always.

Throughout the last few weeks of reading the Deathly Hallows I kept thinking about the summer of ‘07, and I know many of you may be asking “why”, but some of you remember that summer as the end of a generation.  July 21st, 2007 was the accumulation of years of midnight-lines, speculation on Snape’s loyalties, and, with the success of movies, a media blitz the likes of which had never been seen; when I picked up Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone at a Scholastic event in 2nd grade I had no idea what I was getting into.  The summer was full of long talks with friends about what they expected from the final book, with cutouts of Snape peering out at you from behind bookshelves in the mall with captions reading “Severus Snape: Friend or Foe?” in eerie scripts.  It was a bonding point between my best friends, and we were first in line that July night to celebrate with the rest of our extended HP-family.

With these emotions on my mind I turned the last page of Nineteen Years Later and closed the book.  Snape’s final act read like that of a Shakespearean tragedy, and it was the nuances of his story that stay fresh on my mind 6 years later.  Snape is transformed the bat-like man who we were sure was trying to kill Harry in the first book to the weak/sobbing man begging for the help from Dumbledore to save him in the last.  This Pensieve scene in particular brings a knock-you-on-your-ass realization to the reader, aided by the vividness in which Rowling delves into it.  Upon learning that Harry must die, “Snape looked horrified.”  Can this really be the same man that we all hated a mere 100 pages prior?  The series ended on a higher note than any of us expected, despite several loved characters dying, and was a worthy conclusion to the books that came before it.  The once-believed nemesis of Harry, Snape ,went from hated to revered, and it all hinged on a single word uttered in the Pensieve that would stick with the reader for the rest of their lives; “Always.”

Can't Get No Satisfaction

The first time I re-read the entire Harry Potter series, I felt pretty unsatisfied with the outcome and this time around was not any different. I have several reasons for this lack of satisfaction. One of them being that I still think Luna and Harry would have been a hilariously wonderful couple, but my frustration made be based on the terrible portrayal of Ginny Weasley in the movies, but I digress. I am well aware that J.K. Rowling could not have answered every question presented in the series or go into a great amount of detail about several different characters, but after seven books there are so many questions left unanswered.

I would have loved to know what happened to all the wizards who were Death Eaters. What happens in the 19 years between Voldemort being defeated and the epilogue? That is the biggest question I have. Once Harry puts the Elder Wand back with Dumbledore, how does he really make sure no one can get to it again? Is there a possibility that one of the Death Eaters chooses to become the next Voldemort or were they all just doing it because they were scared? Do Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter have dinner parties and talk about the times they basically tried to kill each other? I know J.K. Rowling must want the reader to use their imagination, but I just have so many questions that cannot be answered. As much as I love this series, it is hard to have complete satisfaction with everything. 

The Grand Finale

After years of waiting, speculating, and analyzing, I finally had the 7^th book in my hands... and I felt overwhelmingly nervous. I was so excited to see how the series wrapped up, but it was something I had been waiting for for so long, I was terrified that it wouldn’t live up to my expectations! In my heart I felt like Harry would live, but I wasn't totally sure, and I was convinced that one of the members of the trio would die. For some reason, I was also really certain that Hagrid was going to die, or Mrs. Weasley, and I didn’t think I could handle it. Finally, I dove in, and flew through most of the book in a 12-hour period. I cried and laughed and gasped throughout, as I had expected to. And then, when I got to the Battle of Hogwarts… I put the book down. For over a week and a half. I refused to read the ending because I refused for it to be over. My sister, who was dying to be able to talk about the book with me, finally forced me to sit down and read it under the threat that she’d tell me every single spoiler if I didn’t. When I got to the part where Snape reveals everything and Harry is facing his death, I bawled. I was inconsolable. My sister, totally confused, looked at me and said “Um… You should probably finish the book.” I kept reading, realized that Harry was going to live, flew through the ending, and then promptly started bawling again.  At that point, I wasn’t even totally sure how I felt about the ending, I just hated that it had ended!

My long, nostalgic rant has a point, I promise. My experience reading the series, and especially the last book, is extremely relevant to how I felt about it. The end of the Harry Potter series was potentially the most bittersweet experience of my life. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was my first “big book” at age 4, and the last movie came out the same summer that I graduated from high school, so I truly grew up with this series. When I was a little kid, you could find me yelling “UP!” at my family’s broom for hours because I was convinced my Hogwarts letter would eventually arrive, and I needed to practice for when I would be a star player on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Over the years, my love for these books/movies is one of the few things that has remained a constant for me—90% of my other interests at age 4 are not still things I’m interested in, but these books/movies remain as close to my heart as ever. They have seen me through so much, and I owe them a lot. They jump-started my love of reading, which led me to my love of writing and assisted in my academic success. That might sound a little dramatic to some people, who think they’re “just books.” I’d like to think those people are just a little more muggle-y than I am because they don’t understand the magic of reading, and how it can change your life.

I began the journey with these books at an age when I was so young, and I hadn’t learned a lot of life’s important lessons yet. As I grew, the books grew with me. The end of the seventh book symbolized that growth to me, and so personally, I loved it. I think that growing up with the books and learning about history and literature at the same time I was reading these books helped me make a lot of real-world connections that helped me to enjoy the books even more. Questions of what is truly important in life and what is acceptable in the name of the "Greater Good" are explored extensively in these books, and I think Rowling makes a lot of insightful statements about the world in the form of "childrens' books." The echoes of muggle social/cultural issues, such as genocide and racism, give this magical story so much more value than just an entertaining work of fiction. 

As far as the actual book, originally I was a bit upset that J.K. Rowling hadn’t addressed some things, but she answered all my questions in later interviews (what did everyone end up pursuing as a career, what happened to some minor characters, etc). However, I thought the major events all made sense, and supported so many of the lessons/themes that were important throughout the series. I loved that the trio had branched out on their own by the end of the series, but their friendship still remained in tact, despite the inevitable bumps along the way (cough RON cough). It made perfect sense for Hogwarts to be the location of the “final battle” and for so many places that had been important previously (Chamber of Secrets, Room of Requirement, Forbidden Forest, etc) to be instrumental in the series finale. It wouldn’t have felt right if Hogwarts wasn’t revisited at some point in the book, though it was vastly different than the Hogwarts we once knew. Snape’s true motives (though I had believed Snape was a good guy all along) were shocking to me, but then that quickly became one of my favorite threads in this elaborately woven story. I also absolutely loved Harry's conversation with Dumbledore. When I first started reading the series, I saw Dumbledore as the infallible adult superhero that would always save the day; by the end of the series, I loved that he was fallible, but still an admirable and amazing person. This character development was a sign of Harry's growth and maturity, and that I was okay with it made me aware how much I had grown with the series. I was also so glad that Harry survived! Though I could see where it would have made sense for Harry to die, and agree with the theme that “there are worse things than death,” it just wouldn’t have felt right to me if Harry (and the trio, for that matter) hadn’t made it through. I loved that the epilogue was a snapshot of the next generation, bringing the future into a story that had been so dependent upon the relationship between present and past. I loved that Harry named his children after the characters that, in my opinion, had the most interesting developments in the series. I loved it all! Though the whole concept of how Harry survived was a bit confusing the first time around (and maybe still is), overall I felt like all the pieces of the puzzle I had been looking at for over 10 years were finally in place when I put the book down. I wasn’t ready for it to be over, but I loved the finale, and because of that this book is my favorite.

The ending ties together and drives home all the themes that J.K. Rowling has emphasized throughout the series.