book review on harry potter and the deathly hallows

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

By j.k. rowling.

'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' is a very satisfying ending to the long-loved book series about the boy wizard Harry Potter. It does justice to the reputation of the entire series by telling the story of the finale with great finesse.

About the Book

Article written by Mohandas Alva

M.A. Degree in English Literature from Manipal University, India.

‘ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ‘ by J. K. Rowling is a very fitting ending to the seven-book series about magic, wizards, and witches by J. K. Rowling. It is also one of the most highly-rated Harry Potter books of all time. This book has been commended by many critics for how well the plot renders itself to Rowling’s masterful storytelling and how well the character arcs are completed in this book, especially that of Severus Snape.

Furthermore, ‘ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ‘ rewards readers with the long-awaited standoff between Harry Potter and Voldemort . Though these two have faced each other several times before in the series and even in this very book, it is the finality of the last duel that makes it more satisfying to read about.

Portrayal of Love

The most essential trope in the story of ‘ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ‘ has to be love because a lot of events that occur in this book are strongly influenced by it. Furthermore, the idea of love being a very strong form of magic that Voldemort never understood or even cared to find out about is very illustrative of his very psyche. Voldemort grew up never experiencing love, and that is why the lack of love got deeply embedded in his identity.

Instead of trying to overcome his fear of love and its uncertainty, Voldemort decided to take a different path that doesn’t require love at all. He intended to become the strongest wizard of his time and to triumph over what he thought was a paltry feeling. He believed that there was no need for love and also that just through fear, he could conquer anyone who stood in his way.

Harry, on the other hand, was brought up in slightly similar circumstances, where his aunt, uncle, and cousin never gave him affection or love. However, Harry grew up very empathetic and kind, despite how less loved he was, until his eleventh birthday when he found out that he is a very famous wizard already loved by the entirety of Wizardkind. Furthermore, his friendship with Ron, Hermione, Hagrid, and even the others like Neville, the Weasley Twins, Luna, and Ginny, reinforced his belief in love. Harry is the embodiment of a kind and loving soul right from the first time he boards the Hogwarts Express.

When Malfoy tries to win Harry’s friendship through the promise of power and fame, Harry doesn’t concede and instead decides to stay friends with Ron, the boy who helped him get through the platform to board the Hogwarts Express. This is an illustration of how Harry is very sensitive to the idea of love and empathy.

Love, like this friendship that blossoms between Ron and Harry, is very simple and innocent. It sees and feels the most subtle depths of the human condition and is not easily tarnished by grandiose ideas like fame or power. Love does not require anything in return, and it is non-expecting and simply takes pride in giving freely without expectations of anything to be returned.

Love is also an essential emotion and theme that fuels Snape’s allegiance to Dumbledore, and Snape’s undying love for Lily Potter eventually helps Harry defeat Voldemort. Here too, love is given freely without any expectations.

Snape’s love for Lily Potter is unconditional, and despite her death and there being no reciprocity of any form for Snape’s actions that exhibit love, he continues on his mission to protect her son out of the love he has for her. ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ does a great job of showing this very strong and significant meaning of love through its characters’ actions. J. K. Rowling does a great job sticking to the writers’ adage “Show, don’t tell,”, especially in the case of ‘love.’

Another example of this trope is Molly’s vicious attack on Bellatrix, which seems to stem from her pure love for her daughter Ginny. Despite being a relatively tame witch with no field experience as an auror or a witch with any such combat experience, Molly Weasley musters all her might and becomes very vicious when her daughter Ginny is attacked by Bellatrix Lestrange, one of the most powerful witches present in that battle. Molly shows no signs of fear and attacks her back with all her strength, eventually defeating Bellatrix and killing her. This illustrates the strong effect that love has on people and how one can rise to great lengths when their love is threatened.

Although there are several instances of love portrayed in this book, one final example that is worth mentioning is the sacrifices of Dobby, Lupin, Tonks, Fred, Mad-Eye Moody, and many others. They all fight out of love for their ‘tribe’ even if it is worth losing their life over. Dobby dies due to a knife thrown at him by Bellatrix Lestrange when he is apparating with Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the goblin Griphook at Malfoy Manor.

However, Dobby doesn’t show any regret when he dies in the arms of Harry. He is just very grateful for his life and happy that he is with his friend Harry Potter when he is dying. Lupin and Tonks die during the Battle of Hogwarts, and despite having a newly born son Teddy, they fight the battle because they believe in the cause they fight for and hope that their son can grow up in a world free from Voldemort.

Fred, too, dies during the battle, and he, too, is willing to sacrifice his life despite the consequences because of his love for his family and fellow beings. Mad-Eye Moody, one of the strongest wizards in the Order of the Phoenix, dies during the Battle of the Seven Potters, and he too is not afraid of death and faces it bravely because he is confident in the cause he is fighting for and is willing to risk a lot to see the end of Voldemort’s reign. All of these people are brave and strong because of how strong their love is for the cause they fight for.

‘The finale’ is an essential part of every story because it helps summarize the essence of the entire story and determine the deeper messages propagated through the story. It is not an easy task to write a finale for a large book series with a lot of details and plot points that need to follow continuity and stay faithful to the thematic structure of the series. However, J. K. Rowling does a great job in telling the finale of this story without there being any inconsistencies within the series.

The major element of this finale is the conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist. Harry Potter and Voldemort have had a lot of history in this book series, but it is the eventual resolution of their conflict that ultimately assigns completeness to it. Unlike real-life events, which are meant to just occur on their own with no innate pattern or need for continuity, most books are written by authors with intent and are therefore expected to mean something beyond the mere nature of events occurring by themselves.

Voldemort’s cause for Pure-Blood supremacy is something that is inconvenient to most people and questions their freedom which is why living in harmony with each other is a better and more inclusive ideology to uphold. Therefore, Harry champions that cause and, along with his many supporters and friends, fights for this cause. However, Voldemort is a very powerful wizard with a large army of dark wizards and witches called Death Eaters and is, therefore, no easy challenge to face.

The way Rowling uses the plot as a means to illustrate the complexity of Harry’s growth from a boy to the ‘Chosen One’ who ultimately defeats Voldemort is what makes this finale all the more exciting to read.

Even in just ‘ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, ‘ Harry starts out strengthening his grudge against Snape with no clue about the Horcruxes and their whereabouts. He is confused, aimless, and has no real goal beyond a vague and abstract resolve that involves finding Horcruxes and destroying them. However, as the book progresses, a lot of things begin to change significantly.

Due to Harry’s connection to Voldemort’s mind, Harry begins to understand his foe better and make sense of how he is thinking and feeling. Even though he was explicitly told by Dumbledore, Snape, and even Hermione and Ron not to pay heed to this connection, Harry chooses his own path, takes a decision, and uses this connection to get a lot of important details he needs, including the identity of the last two Horcruxes. In the meantime, Harry, with the help of his friends and other random elements, makes great progress in his search for Horcruxes.

Furthermore, he uncovers nuanced details about the Deathly Hallows, something that wasn’t even on the cards until that point. This widens Harry’s horizon further, and Harry adjusts his ‘map’ to fit in this new detail. This keeps on going until Harry figures out further details from the Pensieve and Snape’s memories.

This changes him significantly, making him stronger and ready to face Voldemort, eventually facing him defenseless in the forest. Despite the killing curse being targeted at him, Harry is still alive. Finally, when all the Horcruxes are destroyed, Harry confidently vanquishes Voldemort.

It is this growth and significant change that makes this finale more worthwhile to read. Harry starts off from being a boy who lives in a cupboard under the stairs to the boy who brings an end to the rule of a tyrant that even the strongest of wizards couldn’t put an end to.

The prophecy is only a mere trigger for these events to have taken place and does nothing beyond giving the story an interesting side. It is Harry’s actions alone that let him transform into the boy that kills the Dark Lord. The finale of this book is a triumph because it allows the reader to witness true growth in its characters . This theme of growth can also be applied to other characters in this book, including Ron, Hermione, and especially Neville. Neville Longbottom , who was always a scared kid and got bullied constantly for his shortcomings, ends up eventually killing the snake Nagini, ending the need to destroy Horcruxes which is what helps Harry to eventually kill Voldemort.

Why is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows a good book?

‘ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ‘ is a great book because despite being the final book in the Harry Potter book series, it not only works as a book that ends the story and plot drawn in previous books but also works as a standalone book with its own story. Furthermore, ‘ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ‘ does justice to all the themes portrayed in previous books and adds several interesting themes of its own that weren’t as obvious in previous installments. These include testing the friendship between the trio, digging deeper into loyalties and allegiance, and also revealing the true motivations of some characters like Snape.

Why is Deathly Hallows book so boring?

While a part of ‘ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ‘ is definitely slow-paced and lacks action like the rest of the book, it is by no means boring as a whole. While some readers might find this boring, from the perspective of the plot, this ‘limbo’ in the book serves as an illustration of the characters’ feelings themselves, and this phase eventually leads to Ron leaving the forest and going back to his house. If a reader feels bored, it is meant to induce that exact feeling to illustrate how it must have actually felt when the trio was wandering purposelessly and in search of Horcruxes they didn’t know where to find.

Is Harry potter dead?

No, Harry Potter is not dead in ‘ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows .’ He is said to be the Horcrux of Voldemort, which is why he is supposed to die if he wants all the Horcruxes to be destroyed. The reason Dumbledore stated that Harry must be killed by Voldemort himself is that Voldemort’s ‘rebirth’ in ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’ occurs because Wormtail uses Harry’s blood, and as long as Voldemort is alive, Harry simply cannot die because he is still under the protection of his mother’s love. So, in the end, Harry Potter comes back alive and doesn’t die.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: A Wonderful Finale to the Book Series

Book Title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Book Description: 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' culminates the series with satisfying resolutions, from Snape's arc to key battles, leading to Voldemort's defeat.

Book Author: J.K. Rowling

Book Edition: First Edition

Book Format: Hardcover

Publisher - Organization: Bloomsbury Publishing

Date published: July 21, 2007

ISBN: 978-0-7475-8349-3

Number Of Pages: 607

• Writing Style
• Lasting Effect on the Reader

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows  is a wonderful finale to the book series. It makes great use of the plot and its characters to weave a very interesting story into existence. Furthermore, it also does justice to most of its character arcs, including that of Severus Snape who has been portrayed as a villain for most parts of the series, despite being crucial in the victory of the protagonist Harry Potter against Voldemort, the antagonist. Many of the events in this book are also very satisfying for the reader including the scene where Molly Weasley battles Bellatrix Lestrange and kills her, Neville Longbottom uses the Sword of Gryffindor to kill the snake Nagini, and Harry eventually kills Voldemort putting an end to the battles and the war.

• A very well-written conclusion to an interesting book series.
• Very satisfying character arcs for readers to indulge in.
• The eventual triumph of good over evil in a very thrilling battle scene.
• A very long book and sometimes feels overdrawn in some places.
• Most lovable characters of the book series have very little presence in this book.
• Some inconsistencies with the logic of how wands work.

About Mohandas Alva

Mohandas is very passionate about deciphering the nature of language and its role as a sole medium of storytelling in literature. His interests sometimes digress from literature to philosophy and the sciences but eventually, the art and craft of narrating a significant story never fail to thrill him.

Cite This Page

Alva, Mohandas " Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Review ⭐ " Book Analysis , https://bookanalysis.com/jk-rowling/harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows/review/ . Accessed 9 April 2024.

The Harry Potter section of Book Analysis analyzes and explorers the Harry Potter series. The characters, names, terminology, and all related indicia are trademarks of Warner Bros ©. The content on Book Analysis was created by Harry Potter fans, with the aim of providing a thorough in-depth analysis and commentary to complement and provide an additional perspective to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

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Book Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

J.k. rowling delivers a truly magical finale..

[SPOILER WARNING: It should go without saying since you're reading a review of the book, but some spoilers for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows are mentioned beyond this point. We're not giving everything away, but the structure of the novel and key plot points are discussed. You've been warned.]

With each novel in the boy-wizard series, Rowling seems to have evolved her characters along with her storytelling. Each book saw Harry, Ron, Hermione and friends changing and growing older, as Rowling's style matured in tandem. There's no doubt that she's grown as an author over the course of the series, but the evolution seems more like an intentional effort to have the complexity of the book itself mirror the state of the characters and the world they live in. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is the culmination of all this. Far from the simple story of an orphan boy living under the stairs, we've now come to an epic showdown between the forces of good and evil. Appropriately, Hallows is a very different book than any of the previous ones. The sense of humor, wonderment, and charm that are present in many of the previous books is largely absent here. There are light moments, of course, but the time for cracking jokes about booger-flavored jelly beans is over. This is war.

Rowling's writing style reflects the gravity of the events in her fantasy world, as she takes an overall get-down-to-business approach with her prose. That's not to say the book is overly straight-forward. And there are certain passages -- like the conversation between Harry and another character "at the close" -- that read more like epic poetry than something out of a modern-day fantasy novel.

The book is 36 chapters (759 pages in all) and seems to be presented in four movements. The action begins with Harry's departure from the Dursley's, but let's just say it's not exactly a trip to Platform 9 3/4 this time. We then follow Harry, Ron and Hermione on a quest through the English countryside, hiding from Death Eaters and in search of Voldemort's remaining Horcruxes. The action then turns to the mystery of the Deathly Hallows -- a trio of legendary relics that have fascinated curious wizards for ages, including Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald. Finally, the action comes to a gut-wrenching, edge-of-your-seat climax with the Battle of Hogwarts. Blood is shed, lives are lost, and Harry and Voldemort face-off once and for all.

We had high hopes that Rowling would leave no stone unturned in this last installment, and sure enough she manages to answer every single question and illuminate the secrets behind every mystery. What's the deal with Snape? Does Dumbledore have one last trick up his entombed sleeve? You'll find out.

Beyond just resolving outstanding issues, the author brings the entire series full circle by giving most of her memorable characters from the saga some sort of role to play in the finale -- everyone from Buckbeak the Hippogriff to Professor Trelawny sees some kind of action. And even after wrapping things up with a fine finish, Rowling delights by including a flash-forward epilogue that further satisfies our curiosity with a 30-something glimpse of the surviving heroes. She does all of this without ever making it feel cliché or forced.

In the end, things turned out a lot like we had anticipated, but Rowling kept us guessing right up until the very end. To her credit, Harry's world is one where the specter of death looms over everyone -- just like our own -- and we're never entirely sure about the safety of anyone.

The conclusion of Harry Potter's story is a masterfully told tale of love, loss, hope and the triumph of good over evil. And with this paramount work, J.K. Rowling secures her place in the pantheon of classic fantasy authors like J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis.

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The Boy Who Lived

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By Christopher Hitchens

• Aug. 12, 2007

In March 1940, in the “midnight of the century” that marked the depth of the Hitler-Stalin pact (or in other words, at a time when civilization was menaced by an alliance between two Voldemorts or “You-Know-Whos”), George Orwell took the time to examine the state of affairs in fantasy fiction for young people. And what he found (in an essay called “Boys’ Weeklies”) was an extraordinary level of addiction to the form of story that was set in English boarding schools. Every week, boys (and girls) from the poorer quarters of industrial towns and from the outer edges of the English-speaking Empire would invest some part of their pocket-money to keep up with the adventures of Billy Bunter, Harry Wharton, Bob Cherry, Jack Blake and the other blazer-wearing denizens of Greyfriars and St. Jim’s. As he wrote:

“It is quite clear that there are tens and scores of thousands of people to whom every detail of life at a ‘posh’ public school is wildly thrilling and romantic. They happen to be outside that mystic world of quadrangles and house-colors, but they can yearn after it, daydream about it, live mentally in it for hours at a stretch. The question is, Who are these people?”

I wish that the morose veteran of Eton and St. Cyprian’s had been able to join me on the publication night of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” when I went to a bookstore in Menlo Park, Calif., to collect my embargoed copy on behalf of the Book Review. Never mind the stall that said “Get Your House Colors Here” and was dealing with customers wise in the lore of Ravenclaw and Slytherin. On the floor of the shop, largely transformed into the Gryffindor common room for the occasion, sat dozens of small children listening raptly to a reading from a massively plausible Hagrid. Of the 2,000 or so people in the forecourt, perhaps one-third had taken the trouble to wear prefect gowns and other Hogwarts or quidditch impedimenta. Many wore a lightning-flash on their foreheads: Orwell would have recoiled at seeing the symbol of Sir Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists on otherwise unblemished brows, even if the emblem was tamed by its new white-magic associations. And this was a sideshow to the circus, all across the English-speaking and even non-English world, as the countdown to the witching hour began.

I would give a lot to understand this phenomenon better. Part of it must have to do with the extreme banality and conformity of school life as it is experienced today, with everything oriented toward safety on the one hand and correctness on the other. But this on its own would not explain my youngest daughter a few years ago, sitting for hours on end with her tiny elbow flattening the pages of a fat book, and occasionally laughing out loud at the appearance of Scabbers the rat. (One hears that not all children retain the affection for reading that the Harry Potter books have inculcated: this isn’t true in my house at least.)

Scabbers turns out to mutate into something a bit worse than a rat, and the ancient charm of metamorphosis is one that J. K. Rowling has exploited to the uttermost. Another well-tested appeal, that of the orphan hero, has also been given an intensive workout with the Copperfield-like privations of the eponymous hero. For Orwell, the English school story from Tom Brown to Kipling’s Stalky and Co. was intimately bound up with dreams of wealth and class and snobbery, yet Rowling has succeeded in unmooring it from these considerations and giving us a world of youthful democracy and diversity, in which the humble leading figure has a name that — though it was given to a Shakespearean martial hero and king — could as well belong to an English labor union official. Perhaps Anglophilia continues to play its part, but if I were one of the few surviving teachers of Anglo-Saxon I would rejoice at the way in which such terms as muggle and Wizengamot, and such names as Godric, Wulfric and Dumbledore, had become common currency. At this rate, the teaching of “Beowulf” could be revived. The many Latin incantations and imprecations could also help rekindle interest in the study of a “dead” language.

In other respects, too, one recognizes the school story formula. If a French or German or other “foreign” character appears in the Harry Potter novels, it is always as a cliché: Fleur and Krum both speak as if to be from “the Continent” is a joke in itself. The ban on sexual matters is also observed fairly pedantically, though as time has elapsed Rowling has probably acquired male readers who find themselves having vaguely impure thoughts about Hermione Granger (if not, because the thing seems somehow impossible, about Ginny Weasley). Most interesting of all, perhaps, and as noted by Orwell, “religion is also taboo.” The schoolchildren appear to know nothing of Christianity; in this latest novel Harry and even Hermione are ignorant of two well-known biblical verses encountered in a churchyard. That the main characters nonetheless have a strong moral code and a solid ethical commitment will be a mystery to some — like his holiness the pope and other clerical authorities who have denounced the series — while seeming unexceptionable to many others. As Hermione phrases it, sounding convincingly Kantian or even Russellian about something called the Resurrection Stone:

“How can I possibly prove it doesn’t exist? Do you expect me to get hold of — of all the pebbles in the world and test them? I mean, you could claim that anything’s real if the only basis for believing in it is that nobody’s proved it doesn’t exist.”

For all this apparently staunch secularism, it is ontology that ultimately slackens the tension that ought to have kept these tales vivid and alive. Theologians have never been able to answer the challenge that contrasts God’s claims to simultaneous omnipotence and benevolence: whence then cometh evil? The question is the same if inverted in a Manichean form: how can Voldemort and his wicked forces have such power and yet be unable to destroy a mild-mannered and rather disorganized schoolboy? In a short story this discrepancy might be handled and also swiftly resolved in favor of one outcome or another, but over the course of seven full-length books the mystery, at least for this reader, loses its ability to compel, and in this culminating episode the enterprise actually becomes tedious. Is there really no Death Eater or dementor who is able to grasp the simple advantage of surprise?

The repeated tactic of deus ex machina (without a deus) has a deplorable effect on both the plot and the dialogue. The need for Rowling to play catch-up with her many convolutions infects her characters as well. Here is Harry trying to straighten things out with a servile house-elf:

“ ‘I don’t understand you, Kreacher,’ he said finally. ‘Voldemort tried to kill you, Regulus died to bring Voldemort down, but you were still happy to betray Sirius to Voldemort? You were happy to go to Narcissa and Bellatrix, and pass information to Voldemort through them ...’ ”

Yes, well, one sees why he is confused. The exchange takes place during an abysmally long period during which the threesome of Harry, Hermione and Ron are flung together, with weeks of time to spend camping invisibly and only a few inexplicable escapes from death to alleviate the narrative. The grand context of Hogwarts School is removed, at least until the closing scenes, and Rowling also keeps forgetting that things are either magical or they are not: Hermione’s family surely can’t be any safer from the Dark Lord by moving to Australia, and Hagrid’s corporeal bulk cannot make any difference to his ability, or otherwise, to mount a broomstick. A boring subtext, about the wisdom or otherwise of actually uttering Voldemort’s name, meanwhile robs the apotropaic device of its force.

For some time now the novels have been attempting a kind of secular dramatization of the battle between good and evil. The Ministry of Magic (one of Rowling’s better inventions) has been seeking to impose a version of the Nuremberg Laws on England, classifying its subjects according to blood and maintaining its own Gestapo as well as its own Azkaban gulag. But again, over time and over many, many pages this scenario fails to chill: most of the “muggle” population goes about its ordinary existence, and every time the secret police close in, our heroes are able to “disapparate” — a term that always makes me think of an attempt at English by George W. Bush. The prejudice against bank-monopoly goblins is modeled more or less on anti-Semitism and the foul treatment of elves is meant to put us in mind of slavery, but the overall effect of this is somewhat thin and derivative, and subject to diminishing returns.

In this final volume there is a good deal of loose-end gathering to be done. Which side was Snape really on? Can Neville Longbottom rise above himself? Are the Malfoys as black as they have been painted? Unfortunately — and with the solid exception of Neville, whose gallantry is well evoked — these resolutions prove to possess all the excitement of an old-style Perry Mason-type summing-up, prompted by a stock character who says, “There’s just one thing I don’t understand. ...” Most of all this is true of Voldemort himself, who becomes more tiresome than an Ian Fleming villain, or the vicious but verbose Nicolae Carpathia in the Left Behind series, as he offers boastful explanations that are at once grandiose and vacuous. This bad and pedantic habit persists until the final duel, which at least sees us back in the old school precincts once again. “We must not let in daylight upon magic,” as Walter Bagehot remarked in another connection, and the wish to have everything clarified is eventually self-defeating in its own terms. In her correct determination to bring down the curtain decisively, Rowling has gone further than she should, and given us not so much a happy ending as an ending which suggests that evil has actually been defeated (you should forgive the expression) for good.

Greater authors — Arthur Conan Doyle most notably — have been in the same dilemma when seeking closure. And, like Conan Doyle, Rowling has won imperishable renown for giving us an identifiable hero and a fine caricature of a villain, and for making a fictional bit of King’s Cross station as luminous as a certain address on nearby Baker Street. It is given to few authors to create a world apart, and to populate it as well as illustrate it in the mind. As one who actually did once go to boarding school by steam train, at 8, I enjoyed reading aloud to children and coming across Diagon Alley and Grimmauld Place, and also shuddering at the memory of the sarcastic schoolmasters (and Privet Drives) I have known.

The distinctly slushy close of the story may seem to hold out the faint promise of a sequel, but I honestly think and sincerely hope that this will not occur. The toys have been put firmly back in the box, the wand has been folded up, and the conjuror is discreetly accepting payment while the children clamor for fresh entertainments. (I recommend that they graduate to Philip Pullman, whose daemon scheme is finer than any patronus.) It’s achievement enough that “19 years later,” as the last chapter-heading has it, and quite probably for many decades after that, there will still be millions of adults who recall their initiation to literature as a little touch of Harry in the night.

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS

By J. K. Rowling. Illustrated by Mary GrandPré.

759 pp. Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic. $34.99.

A review on Aug. 12 about “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” by J. K. Rowling, misstated the location of the California bookstore where the reviewer collected his embargoed copy of the novel. The store, not named in the review, was Kepler’s Books and Magazines, which is in Menlo Park, not Stanford.

How we handle corrections

Christopher Hitchens is a columnist for Vanity Fair. His most recent book is “God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything.”

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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling (Harry Potter: Book 7)

Harry has left Hogwarts to dedicate himself to the quest for final Horcruxes, together with his friends Ron and Hermione. Harry is also searching for the answers he feels Dumbledore has left unanswered and his feelings for his beloved old headmaster veer from anger and bitterness to painful loss. Voldemort continues his rise and nowhere seems to be safe anymore. With three gifts, bequeathed by Dumbledore to our intrepid trio, they set off on their deadliest task yet and know that this could be the end of everything they hold dear, even themselves. With Voldemort ever closer our hero must not hesitate; the final battle is coming and no one knows what the outcome will be.

The seventh and final instalment of the Harry Potter series sold 11 million copies in the first 24 hour of its release. To say it was eagerly awaited would be an understatement. It was like holding the holy grail when my copy arrived (pre-ordered of course) and I savoured the moment before I actually opened the book; this would be the last time I would hold a Harry Potter book that I had not read, once I had finished this, that would be it, no more. That lasted about three seconds, I read the book in almost one sitting, this was to get me complete and undivided attention, no telephones answered, no friends welcomed in if they called, just this long awaited last piece of the puzzle and me.

“ ‘What is it’ he asked as he reached the dressing table which was heaped high with what looked and smelled like dirty laundry. ‘ There’, she said pointing at the shapeless mass. And in the instant that he looked away, his eyes raking the tangles mess for a sword hilt, a ruby, she moved weirdly: he saw it out of the corner of his eye; panic made him turn and horror paralysed him as he saw the old body collapsing and the great snake pouring from the place where her neck had been.” Chapter seventeen: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

And did it deliver? You bet your sweet behind!! There are many loose ends that are tied up here, lovely little snippets of additional information that enable to not merely understand why and event has occurred but understand the characters personality (JK Rowling is so good at this), why they would react a certain way. There are of course many revelations not just for Harry but for the reader and some suspicions you may have had about some characters are found to be true! The end of the book really takes you there and back before you reach the conclusion and I am not surprised that Rowling cried when she had completed it, it was emotionally draining for me and I was only reading it!! It has been said that this and the Half Blood Prince were really one book splint into two, rather than two separate stories, and I do believe that to be true.

“ And the source of the light stepped out from behind an oak. It was a silver-white doe, moon-bright and dazzling, picking her way over the ground, still silent, and leaving no hoof prints in the fine powdering of snow. She stepped towards him, her beautiful head with it’s wide long-lashes eyes held high. Harry stared at the creature, filled with wonder, not at her strangeness, but at her inexplicable familiarity. He felt that he had been waiting for her to come, but that he had forgotten, until this moment, that they had arranged to meet. His impulse to shout for Hermione, which had been so strong a moment ago, had gone. He knew, he would have staked his life on it, that she had come for him, and him alone.” Chapter nineteen: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

I would still say that Half Blood Prince is my favourite but it’s a close call and very difficult to separate the two. All I can say is that you will not be disappointed when you read the Deathly Hallows. How can a series of books, written for children (although admittedly I think us grown ups were considered a bit more in the writing of the last three) become something so entrenched in peoples imaginations? It’s simple, I KNOW that I was destined to go to Hogwarts, that I have special powers that I remain ignorant of and that there is more to life than the world we see around us, it is only by some fluke that my true destiny was never fulfilled and that Harry Potter was written as a way of letting me experience a little of what could have been – also, JK Rowling isn’t too bad a writer. I feel a little sad that there will be no more books, but in a way, it was good it has ended leaving you wanting more, and now I have my own daughter, I cannot wait until she is old enough and we can read them together.

10/10 I feel a little sad that there will be no more Harry Potter books.

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Review by Amanda White

31 positive reader review(s) for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

370 positive reader review(s) in total for the Harry Potter series

JK Rowling biography

JUNIOR BOOYSE from SOUTH AFRICA

BEST BOOK EVER,YOU SHOULD TRY THIS BOOK OUT AWESOME.............

Gokulnath from India

It was a good book. But when help came too readily, it brought down the quality of the book. But it was a stupid way to put Neville in the fight. His parents were aurors, super aurors and you make him fight with weeds. Stupid indeed! And Ron too must age been shown as a hero's friend. He should have defeated 2 or 3 death eaters. All these seven years, he was never shown as a warrior. And he and Neville went on to become aurors.

Himanshu from India

10 stars are not enough for these HARRY POTTER SERIES!!!

Corrine Y from United States

Avada Kedavra! On July 21, 2007, J.K. Rowling released the final iconic novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, of an astonishing seven book series. The Harry Potter series are still wildly loved to this day, with 400 million copies sold worldwide, and translated in 68 different languages. The Deathly Hallows is about Harry Potter and his friends finding ways to destroy Voldemort. They learn that even good contains a bit of evil, and vise versa. Even though the trio faces many difficulties, they persevere. And most importantly, they learn that love conquers fear, and this allows then to be selfless in many ways. The Deathly Hallows is written in third person and portrays the thoughts and emotions of each character. This allows readers to thoroughly see inside the characters’ heads. The Deathly Hallows is marvelously written, and closes the series out beautifully.

T from Australia

This book was awesome you should definetly read it. I love everything about it and the idea of the Hallows was great. The only disappointment is that there is no more books.

Lakshmy from India

I have read all the 8 books. I liked all of the books. I request the author to write more!

S. P from South Africa

HARRY POTTER is a brilliant set of books with a well thought out plot. The deathly hallows which is the 7th and concluding entry Spreads out its complex plot in one book While Some Parts of the book Were Bloated. Most Of the story Was good if Not Excellent. Its a smart and slick conclusion with a deep religous,Polictical And Philosphical message. It has A build Up Pace With Sudden Deaths that show the Evil Of War. HP ROCKS and so does JK Rowling. Hope Cursed Child is a Movie With Dan,Emma,Rupert,Evanna,Matthew,Bonnie in it. Currently Waiting For Fantastic Beasts Movie. So Excited. Pray Fantastic Beasts Does Brillantly at the box office and critically. Fantastic beasts movie is the prequel to main Harry potter Verse. The Potter Movies Were Great [All 8 Got good reviews and made tons of cash ]

Vidya from UAE

Excellent way to finish off this wonderful seires!! J. K. Rowling has outdone herself! Wish I could read the Cursed Child as soon as it comes out...

Prashant from India

Excellent book written by J K Rowling. I wish there could be another book.

Asma from Pakistan

Loved it it was a treat!

Himika from India

A spellbinding end to the series! Leaves any reader with tears in his or her eyes when he or she comes to the last page. Basically Harry is every readers' companion in growing up and learning about life, because love, innocence, cruelty, friendship and victory of good over evil is the same in our Muggle world as it is in the magic one. Hats off to Rowling! HP is a religion, it is immortal because "the stories that we love live on in us forever."(Lovely review Himika - Lee @ Fantasy Book Review)

Emma from NZ

I love this book for some reason when I read it it I get shaky. I've read it at least 7 times for it is the ultimate book! The chapters are always new and exciting bringing on unexpected twists. Characters have great roles and bad turns to good without the simplest knowing. This is the best book ever : D

Rachel from USA

I love these books and the movies. The movies follow the book completely. My favorite part about the movies is that you can see the cast grow up. The plot is amazing and I love the actors they picked for their parts. My favorite is Alan Rickman as Snape. The last movie makes me cry when Snape dies.

Nathan from Pamilan

Ages since I read this book the first time. Still the book has its own charm and an everlasting magic of its own. But it seems that Jk Rowling is blundering by alienating herself from the genre where she can work wonders. I'm sure that there are billions who feel the same. I just hope that our wishes travel till her and persuade her to weave new stories in the wonderful world she has created. It's really agonising to realise that the above mentioned wish may never come true... But that will always be my fantasy.

Piper from England

Amazing book, don't let anyone tell you different, the best series ever, J.K. Rowling and her books are Brilliant, BEST SEQUEL ever!!!

Sharna from England

You can't beat any of the Harry Potter books, I only wish Rowling would continue writing forever. It would just be brilliant to hear about Rosie and Albus Severus. The fact that the end leaves you wanting more is infuriating and amazing. I turned the last page, and cried. But then I found the 19 years later bit. A nice touch. Xxx

Jon from England

Best in the series by far.

Nikola from Australia

Amazing. Harry Potter is my life. I've been very impressed with the whole series and I just keep reading them over and over agian. Brilliant

Miggz from Pakistan

This is the best series ever! I have read all the parts and am only 12!

Joshua from England

Usualy I would never give such a dynamic brilliant book an 8 but like some people say, it can be a little boring at times. I am a MASSIVE J.K. Rowling fan, books 1 to 5 were amazing but J.K. Rowling just seemed to stop caring about her charecters, killing off the best ones. In my oppinion it could have taken a more interesting route to the final battle but it didnt and I am unhappy it didn't. Even though it was imaginative and detailed it lacked that wow that you get in the other books.

skanda from india

awesome.................................

Tarun from India

The best book I have ever read in my life!

Guillemette from Belgium

I LOVE THIS BOOK! I think it is just magical and entertaining!

D from Ukraine

This is the book for eyes and heart to feast on!

Daniel from Sheffield

Over 4 years on from this publication and I still find people are taking the books too seriously, at the end of the day, J Rowlings initial target audience was children. To create a series of books that can not only entertain and keep children interested, but also capture the imagination of millions of adults worldwide, is something that happens very rarely and should never be forgotten. But now for the matter of Deathly Hallows, I think certain people have been far too critical. I personally believe that the series was concluded excellently, many loose ends were tied and many unexpected twists were included in the plot. I would have perhaps liked Harry to have had some sort of special power in him to defeat Voldemort but maybe that would have been too cliche and easy to finish this story. I am overall still extremely satisfied at the end of Harry's adventure and I remain adamant that Rowling created an excellent conclusion and deserves all the plaudits she recieves and one day she will become Dame Joanne Rowling for her outstanding contritubion to British and Worldwide reading for young and old alike. Personally, J.K. Rowling is probably the only ever hero/heroin I have had in my life and I am eternally grateful for that.

Sharnali from OAE

Basically Harry Potter is a legend. JK Rowling, if you read this, you inspire me!!!

Jamie from Australia

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is AWESOME!!! I annoy everyone at school, talking about Harry Potter!

Riley from U.S.

@Anon I honestly think books 6 & 7 were the best from the series. Greatly written, as if planned out. Everything ends in a way that makes you think "Oh my gosh! I remember that happening!" If you think these 2 books are horrible especially 7, then you should not be reading or reviewing fatasy books because this book is the greatest book I've ever read.

Perky from London

This has to be the best book I've ever read. I loved it, the storyline is fantatic and my favourite character is Ginny Weasley, even from the first book. I'm so sad that the series has ended!!!!!!!!!! I love this book.

Arielle from US

Well, I'm on chapter 10 right now and well - is the rest of the damn book good or not? Well, this is actually the first time I heard something bad about it, well I quess I should just read some more and find out myself...

TY from United States

Best book ever, it helps wrap the sequel up well, and has many twists. I hope she writes one more book about Harry's future, but if not this is a good enough book to close out the best sequel ever.

9.6 /10 from 32 reviews

All JK Rowling Reviews

• Harry Potter (Harry Potter)
• The Tales of Beedle the Bard (Harry Potter Companion)
• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Harry Potter Companion)
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Harry Potter: Book 1)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter: Book 2)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter: Book 3)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter: Book 4)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter: Book 5)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter: Book 6)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter: Book 7)

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HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS

From the harry potter series , vol. 7.

by J.K. Rowling & illustrated by Mary GrandPré ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 21, 2007

Following the lead of its six preceding episodes this one may be sprawling, untidy and, particularly in its treatment of...

The epic adventure ends where, and as, it should in this long-awaited heart- (and, predictably, door-) stopping closer. With the entire tale now laid out, it easier to see the themes and qualities that not only bind it into one coherent, humongous saga, but have also so strongly bound millions of readers to its decade-long unfolding.

Many of those themes—the Hero’s Journey, the wonder of magic-working, the cluelessness of grown-ups, the sweet confusion of adolescence—are standard fare in stories for young readers (or readers who remember being young), but Rowling has shown uncommon skill in playing them with and against each other, and also woven them into a darn good bildungsroman, populated by memorable characters and infused with a saving, irrepressible sense of fun. In The Deathly Hallows , she opens with a vintage, riveting escape scene, then sends Harry, Ron and Hermione into a months-long flight from the ascendant and hotly pursuing forces of Lord Voldemort—this journey also becomes a desperate search for the remaining horcruxes that make him unkillable. Allies both known and unexpected gather to help, but it is strength of spirit and character that, particularly in Harry’s case, blossom here after developing throughout the series, carrying these “three teenagers in a tent whose only achievement was not, yet, to be dead,” past hopelessness, sharp divisions and other challenges to a decisive faceoff against a seemingly unconquerable adversary. There is a slow stretch toward the middle as the trio, having passed through a succession of refuges, hides out in the wilderness for some soul searching, but Rowling kicks up the pace in the second half. Strewing the plot with dueling spells, narrow squeaks and multiple corpses, lightening the load with well-placed humor and casting a sharp light on the flaws and graces of her characters, she builds to a suitably huge, compelling and, like illustrator Mary GrandPré’s chapter-head vignettes, stylish climactic battle on the grounds of Hogwarts.

Pub Date: July 21, 2007

ISBN: 978-0-545-01022-1

Page Count: 759

Publisher: Levine/Scholastic

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY

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by J.K. Rowling ; illustrated by Jim Field

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by J.K. Rowling ; illustrated by Minalima

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SEEN & HEARD

BOOK TO SCREEN

THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL

From the school for good and evil series , vol. 1.

by Soman Chainani ; illustrated by Iacopo Bruno ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 14, 2013

Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.

Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.

Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and  her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).

Pub Date: May 14, 2013

ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2

Page Count: 496

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013

CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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by Soman Chainani ; illustrated by Iacopo Bruno

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by Soman Chainani ; illustrated by RaidesArt

by Soman Chainani ; illustrated by Julia Iredale

A ROVER'S STORY

by Jasmine Warga ; illustrated by Matt Rockefeller ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 4, 2022

The intelligences here may be (mostly) artificial, but the feelings are genuine and deep.

A Mars rover discovers that it has a heart to go with its two brains.

Warga follows her cybernetic narrator from first awareness to final resting place—and stony indeed will be any readers who remain unmoved by the journey. Though unable to ask questions of the hazmats (named for their suits) assembling it in a NASA lab, the rover, dubbed Resilience by an Ohio sixth grader, gets its first inklings of human feelings from two workers who talk to it, play it music, and write its pleasingly bug-free code. Other machines (even chatty cellphones) reject the notion that there’s any real value to emotions. But the longer those conversations go, the more human many start sounding, particularly after Res lands in Mars’ Jezero Crater and, with help from Fly, a comically excitable drone, and bossy satellite Guardian, sets off on twin missions to look for evidence of life and see if an older, silenced rover can be brought back online. Along with giving her characters, human and otherwise, distinct voices and engaging personalities, the author quietly builds solid relationships (it’s hardly a surprise when, after Fly is downed in a dust storm, Res trundles heroically to the rescue in defiance of orders) on the way to rest and joyful reunions years later. A subplot involving brown-skinned, Arabic-speaking NASA coder Rania unfolds through her daughter Sophia’s letters to Res.

Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2022

ISBN: 978-0-06-311392-3

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: July 12, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2022

CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling - review

Oh my goodness I had forgotten how good these books are.

It must be about 7 years since I last read the Harry Potter series and I knew I loved them but I think I had forgotten how truly mesmerising they are.

The Deathly Hallows, as I am sure most of you know, is the 7th and final book in the series. In this last battle Harry must face Voldemort for one last time. Who will win?

Firstly: the new covers. I love the feel of them. They are a really smooth matte with embossed titles and it looks divine. The illustrations are, in my opinion, awesome. The old covers will still hold more sentimental value but the new ones are stunning.

Next, on to the actual book. What I think is most magical about the writing is its ability to grasp anybody, no matter what age, and turn them into a bookworm. They simply cannot put it down. There is not a page with a dull moment. I think a big contributor to this is chapter length. I find it very rare that a book has ideal chapter length but these ones are a perfect example. I didn't just put it down because I found it impossible to finish a chapter and at the same time I didn't feel like it stopped and started every other page. J K Rowling is a genius.

So, should you read this book? If you've read them already or are a movie fan, what are you doing? Go find your copy and start now! The rest of you may be harder to persuade. If you have convinced yourself it's the 'wrong genre' or you are 'too old' read a few chapters and I promise you will love it. It contains so many different genres and, at 14, I still find it laugh out loud funny. No one is ever too old for the magic of Hogwarts.

Buy this book at the Guardian Bookshop .

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Harry potter and the deathly hallows: harry potter, book 7, common sense media reviewers.

Grim, gripping end to the biggest saga in history.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

Author J.K. Rowling borrows from many established

The whole series is full of positive messages abou

Harry finishes his hero's journey with bravery, da

Kingsley Shacklebolt is Black and is an important

At least 50 heroic characters die in the final bat

Kissing and one bawdy joke.

Infrequent use of "damn" and "hell," plus "effing,

Wine, mead, champagne, fire whiskey, and brandy se

Parents need to know that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is the seventh and final book in J.K. Rowling's series about an orphan who discovers that he's a wizard tasked with saving the magical world from the evil Lord Voldemort. There have been major character deaths since Book 4. Here, so many notable…

Educational Value

Author J.K. Rowling borrows from many established stories and myths to piece together her magical world. Kids can look up more about centaurs, elves, giants, hippogriffs, werewolves, vampires, acromantulas (giant spiders), inferi (reanimated dead), magic wands, flying brooms, etc., compare the author's take with other interpretations, and think about how and why she weaves these magical elements and beings into her stories. The registration and persecution of those who aren't "pure blood" witches or wizards mirrors the many times in real human history when those not of a certain race or religion have been persecuted and even systematically annihilated.

Positive Messages

The whole series is full of positive messages about the power of love, friendship, and self-sacrifice. In this book, evil's reign must be overcome with many acts, big and small, of rebellion and sacrifice. Trust is also tested among friends and mentors.

Positive Role Models

Harry finishes his hero's journey with bravery, daring, and self-sacrifice. He faces a lot of doubt both about the task in front of him and about whether to trust Dumbledore, the mentor who set him on this difficult path. In the end he chooses trust and he accepts the fact that Dumbledore made mistakes in his life and learned from them -- he wasn't perfect. Ron faces so many doubts that he deserts his friends but later makes amends. Hermione is the stalwart character here. Her careful planning and considerations help the central trio survive on the run.

Diverse Representations

Kingsley Shacklebolt is Black and is an important member of the Order of the Phoenix. Students of color who fight in the climactic battle include Cho Chang, the Patil twins, Lee Jordan, and Angelina Johnson. Characters in the wizarding world face a lot of discrimination, especially for not being "pure- lood." In this book, it's gotten so bad that they're being rounded up, put on trial, and jailed. Harry and friends fight against this pure-blood mania with everything they have. Some diverse family structures are described: Harry grew up with his aunt and uncle, Neville with his grandmother, and Tom Riddle in an orphanage. Women have prominent roles at Hogwarts: Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout are both heads of houses.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

At least 50 heroic characters die in the final battle, including some who are very well loved. A very significant apparent death. Many other deaths on both sides, from curses, a giant snake, strangulation, and a stabbing. Scenes of torture, with characters writhing in pain, and some injuries that can't be healed by magic (e.g. an ear is cursed off). Violent action sequences include a flying motorcycle crash, explosions, snake attacks, kidnapping, a near-drowning, and a number of chases, duels with wands, and close-call escapes. Constant talk in the news about the deaths of both wizards and Muggles at the hands of Death Eaters. Stories recalled of tragic family deaths and an attack on a girl that left her permanently scarred, mentally. Harry finally visits his parents' gravesite and the home where they were killed.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Infrequent use of "damn" and "hell," plus "effing," "bastard," and one (very memorable) "bitch."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Wine, mead, champagne, fire whiskey, and brandy served to adults and older teens (you're considered of legal age at 17 in the wizarding world). Pipe smoke spotted at a wedding.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is the seventh and final book in J.K. Rowling' s series about an orphan who discovers that he's a wizard tasked with saving the magical world from the evil Lord Voldemort. There have been major character deaths since Book 4 . Here, so many notable characters die (or appear to die) that it's almost hard to keep track by the end. One or two deaths will really stick with readers, depending on who they liked best throughout the series. Get ready to have a few good cries with kids. Most happen in battle, but others are caused by curses, a giant snake, strangulation, and a stabbing. Scenes of torture are described, with characters writhing in pain, and characters sustain injuries that can't be healed by magic. Violent action sequences include a flying motorcycle crash, explosions, snake attacks, kidnapping, a near-drowning, and a number of chases, duels with wands, and close-call escapes. There's constant talk in the news about the deaths of both wizards and Muggles at the hands of Voldemort's followers. Harry finally visits his parents' gravesite and the home where they were killed. Other mature content includes some drinking -- Harry and friends are considered of-age in the wizarding world at 17 and drink wine, mead, and some hard alcohol, but never to excess. Swearing includes mostly "damn" and "hell" but also "effing," "bastard," and one very memorable use of "bitch." Harry finishes his hero's journey with bravery, daring, and self-sacrifice. He faces a lot of doubt both about the task in front of him and about whether to trust Dumbledore, the mentor who set him on his difficult path. In the end, he chooses trust and accepts the fact that Dumbledore wasn't perfect. Parents who want to learn more about the series (and spin-off movies and games) can read our Harry Potter by Age and Stage article .

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Community reviews.

• Parents say (35)
• Kids say (384)

Based on 35 parent reviews

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Awesome book, what's the story.

In HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, Harry has his assigned mission from Dumbledore: a hunt for hidden horcruxes (parts of Voldemort's soul). But he has an agonizingly long wait before he can get started. First he must send his Muggle relatives into hiding so Voldemort can't use them as bait. Then he must escape from the Dursleys' home when a protective charm breaks. This proves extremely difficult, even with the best aurors flying alongside him and a clever plan that results in several decoy Harry Potters. More than one life is lost when the heroes are attacked by Death Eaters on all sides. After a direct attack from Lord Voldemort, Harry is shocked to see his wand mysteriously act of its own accord to save him. Even after that ordeal, Harry still can't set off on his mission because Bill Weasley is getting married. Harry, Ron, and Hermione help with the preparations at the Burrow while trying to plan how they'll live on the run. But when the celebrations are interrupted by news of the Ministry of Magic's fall, the time for planning is over. Harry, Ron, and Hermione barely escape with their lives and are nearly caught by Snatchers -- a gang of wizard kidnappers -- in London. From there they hide out in Grimmauld Place, where they try to work out clues to find the only horcrux they know about: the locket stolen by the mysterious R.A.B. Luckily, the first hint is right in Grimmauld Place. Unluckily, Harry's scar is now bothering him constantly. His connection to Voldemort is stronger than it ever was, and the trio's search for horcruxes may not be a secret for long.

Is It Any Good?

There's everything in this epic fantasy finale and more: mysteries solved, institutions plundered, dragons ridden, sacrifices made, battles fought, and evil defeated. So much happens that not one but two movies were adapted from the last Harry Potter book. It would have been a crime to cut short any of the action scenes in the Ministry of Magic, Gringotts Bank, or the final battle at Hogwarts. All three places are impossible to break into or out of, and yet somehow Harry, Ron, and Hermione pull it off -- and with the kind of narrow nail-biter escapes fans have come to expect from the series.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows delivers the action sequences, but also a lot of mysteries to solve. There's so much to ponder about wand lore, Dumbledore's complicated past, Professor Snape's allegiances, the location of the final horcruxes, Kreacher's cruelty, and more. Wand lore is the most confusing to decipher, as well as the most clever and crucial element to the series' good-vs.-evil struggle. It will leave readers piecing together the complex puzzle until the very end. Dumbledore's past is a sore spot for Harry, who never wanted to see his hero as flawed but learns to accept the man he was -- the very relatable process of realizing that our parents and mentors are human, too. Snape's secrets are the most poignant and heartbreaking and drive Harry to his ultimate act of sacrifice. So many revelations are expertly woven together in the final act, so many beloved characters get their moment to shine (yay, Neville! yay, Mrs. Weasley!) that it's oh so hard to see the true magic of this series come to an end.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about all the loss of life in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Whose death hit you the hardest? Why? Were you braced for it, or did it catch you by surprise? All the known characters that died were willing to die for a cause greater than themselves. Does that make their deaths easier to bear?

A major theme tackled here is the terrible prejudice against those who are not from "pure blood" wizarding families. For not being the "right" kind of witch or wizard, they're ostracized and sent to jail. In real life, author J.K. Rowling has spoken out against the trans community and publicly stated her prejudice against them. Can you still appreciate the message presented in the book knowing that? How separate is a work from its author?

In the Deathly Hallows, Rowling shows Dumbledore in a new light, as a complicated and very flawed character instead of the infallible headmaster. Harry undergoes a period of anger and then finally reaches acceptance. Are we all Harry when faced with the flawed real selves of those we put on pedestals, whether they're authors, actors, or any public figure?

Book Details

• Author : J. K. Rowling
• Illustrator : Mary Grandpre
• Genre : Fantasy
• Topics : Magic and Fantasy , Adventures , Brothers and Sisters , Friendship , Monsters, Ghosts, and Vampires
• Character Strengths : Courage , Perseverance , Teamwork
• Book type : Fiction
• Publisher : Arthur A. Levine
• Publication date : July 21, 2007
• Number of pages : 759
• Last updated : July 14, 2023

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Book Review

Harry potter and the deathly hallows — “harry potter” series.

• J.K. Rowling

Readability Age Range

• Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic, Inc.

Year Published

From the outset, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows moves at breakneck speed. Author J.K. Rowling clambers to tie up loose ends left dangling from the previous six books, creating a final novel with a dark mood and somewhat convoluted story.

It’s a tale of war, and as such, it’s fairly joyless. Though well-crafted and imaginative, it may give readers the sensation of trying to sip water from a fire hydrant as they’re blasted with complex revelations and details in every chapter, with few of Rowling’s characteristic lighthearted “resting places” in between.

As usual, Harry begins by saying goodbye to Privet Drive—this time for good. When he comes of age at midnight, the protective charm provided by his mother’s sacrifice will break, leaving him vulnerable to a Death Eater plot to kidnap him. With help from the Order of the Phoenix and his school friends, he escapes, but not without casualties on both sides. During the fray, Voldemort appears and discovers that he needs a stronger wand to defeat and kill the boy. This begins the Dark Lord’s search for the legendary Elder Wand, an unbeatable weapon with a bloody history. To win its allegiance, a wizard must kill its owner.

At the Burrow, now protected by magical spells placed upon it by the Ministry of Magic, Harry, Ron and Hermione plan to set out in search of those remaining little bits of Voldemort’s mangled soul, the Horcruxes. During Bill and Fleur’s wedding, word arrives that the Ministry has fallen under Death Eater control, and a new era is born. The protective charm around the Burrow breaks, and Harry, Ron and Hermione escape to start a new life on the run.

From here, the bulk of the story surrounds the three main characters staying a step ahead of Death Eaters and camping out in a magically protected tent wherever the Horcrux trail leads. Their search is frustratingly difficult. Tempers run high. Harry is plagued by visions of Voldemort torturing and killing people. And Hermione spends her time poring over a book Dumbledore left her in his will.

Her research leads the trio to The Tale of the Three Brothers. According to this myth, three brothers cheated Death and were rewarded with three magical objects: The Elder Wand, The Resurrection Stone and The Cloak of Invisibility. These Deathly Hallows, if united, would make the possessor master over death. Harry becomes consumed with finding them, much to Ron and Hermione’s dismay. Already owning The Cloak, his greatest desire is for the stone and its power to bring back the dead.

His pride and recklessness lead Death Eaters to their door, and the three friends are taken to Malfoy’s mansion. Hermione’s torture there by Bellatrix LeStrange and their narrow escape from death finally convince Harry to forget about the Hallows and focus on their original mission of destroying Horcruxes.

So the crusaders race to Hogwarts to locate one of the remaining four soul fragments. Once there, they reunite with old comrades from Dumbledore’s Army, now outcasts living in The Room of Requirement. As Harry searches the castle for the Horcrux, Death Eaters alert Voldemort to his presence, and the final battle begins. Then it’s like old home week at Hogwarts with every character and creature from the entire series arriving to join in the fight. By the time Harry has his showdown with Voldemort, only two Horcruxes stand between the Dark Lord and death—one of which also holds the key to Harry’s destiny.

Positive Elements

What Rowling has done well in the past, she continues to do well in Deathly Hallows. Excellent character development leaves no doubt as to the value of nobility and morality. Lines between good and evil are clear (though the heroic portrayal of spells and incantations remains a problem). Cruelty reflects the evil nature of those who use it, and life is assigned value, even in the cases of the most unlovely beings. In fact, when a house-elf gives his life to save Harry, the boy digs the grave himself without magic, believing that this honors the sacrifice in a deeper way.

Themes of true friendship and self-sacrifice are touchingly developed. Harry, Ron and Hermione are nearing adulthood, and their relationships reflect this. Trying to convince Ron and Hermione to stay behind in safety, Harry finds his two friends determined to help him fight Voldemort. Ron and Hermione’s romantic relationship blossoms to genuine love. And it does so without any inappropriate sexuality.

Reflecting on Harry’s godfather’s treatment of the venomous house-elf Kreacher, Hermione warns Harry to learn from Sirius’ mistakes (“I’ve said all along that wizards would pay for how they treat house-elves”). Harry takes her words to heart and eventually inspires in Kreacher the same loyalty that Dumbledore inspired in Hagrid. At being treated kindly, Kreacher’s entire demeanor and even his appearance change for the better. Conversely, Harry’s dishonesty with a goblin who respects him leads that being to turn on him at a crucial moment.

Throughout the Potter series, pride and hunger for power go hand in hand and almost always accompany evil, even in the noblest of characters. So it is in Deathly Hallows. Imagery of peacocks on the walls of Voldemort’s hideout reflects his over-confident belief in his being the most powerful and wisest wizard, a failing that often blinds him. Harry, carrying a Horcrux close to his heart for safekeeping, absorbs some of this arrogance. His resulting obsession with finding the Hallows costs him dearly, and provides a solid life lesson.

Perhaps the most poignant elements of this story surround Voldemort’s quest for a pure-blood wizarding society. The parallels here to Nazi Germany and the Holocaust are profound. Readers familiar with that period in history will shudder when Harry and his friends enter the Ministry to find the golden fountain replaced by a gigantic black statue of a witch and wizard. Carved on the thrones that support them are mounds of human bodies, man, woman and child, their faces grotesquely twisted.

Further, Harry and Hermione witness “trials” of accused Muggle-borns who are summarily convicted and packed off to Azkaban in the care of dementors. Throughout the story, pure-blood wizards risk their lives to hide and protect “undesirables” targeted by the Ministry. Several broadcast an underground radio program, both to boost the spirits of the oppressed and to encourage supporters to protect Muggles and Muggle-borns from tyranny.

Another overarching theme is the need for trust. Who will Harry trust? Who will influence him? With Dumbledore dead, journalist Rita Skeeter publishes a scathing biography containing many half-truths about the old headmaster. Hurt and confused, Harry must choose what to believe. He must develop faith in those who have been loyal in the past and allow them to help him (“He had made his choice … to accept that he had not been told everything that he wanted to know, but simply to trust. He had no desire to doubt again”). In contrast, Voldemort trusts no one, not even those closest to him (“It had been a grave mistake to trust Bellatrix and Malfoy. Didn’t their stupidity and carelessness prove how unwise it was ever to trust?”).

Crude or Profane Language

Obscenities and profanities are sprinkled in a bit more heavily than in previous installments. Characters on both sides of the war use “d n,” “h ,” “b ch,” “bleedin'” and “effing.” Crudities and slang (“rat’s fart,” “snogging,” “bogies,” etc.) show up occasionally as well.

Alcohol Abuse

Following the death of a friend, Harry drinks firewhiskey, which dispels his numbness and “fires him with something that was like courage.” Later it is implied that he has “too much food and wine.”

Sexual Subjects

While not explicitly sexual, the werewolf Fehnrir Greyback makes disturbing, sensual comments when presented with the chance to devour Hermione. There’s kissing between young couples in love.

The Final Battles

Violence peppers almost every chapter of Deathly Hallows. And some of the imagery would do Stephen King proud, particularly in the case of Bathilda Bagshot, a neighbor of Harry’s parents in Godric’s Hollow. Rotting flesh and snake attacks, along with Inferi (dead bodies bewitched to do Voldemort’s bidding), are equal to and sometimes surpass the grotesque pictures Rowling conjured in The Half-Blood Prince.

She promised her readers a story of war against pure evil. Resultantly, this book is fraught with injury and death. More than a few characters—some of them beloved by fans—die. One is “splinched,” his flesh ripped away during disapparation. Another takes a curse to the side of the head and loses an ear. Others burst into flame or strangle themselves. Voldemort and his followers torture the innocent and kill a pleading, helpless woman within the first dozen pages. And through Harry’s mental connection to Voldemort, he is often forced to witness the Dark Lord’s sadistic tactics, even reliving the murders of his own parents as though he were committing them.

Death … And Worse

In several places, Harry contemplates the “peace” of giving up. Standing at his parents’ graves in Godric’s Hollow, he “looks down at the thick snow hiding from his eyes the place where the last of Lily and James lay … not knowing that their son stood so near, his heart still beating … and close to wishing, at this moment, that he was sleeping under the snow with them.” On other pages, Harry longs for “the oncoming oblivion, the promise of nothing, of no feeling.” When his final battle with Voldemort commences, his most pressing question of the dead souls surrounding him is “Does it hurt?” to which one replies, “Dying? Not at all … Quicker and easier than falling asleep.”

Rowling also spends a fair amount of time communicating that there are things far worse than death—Voldemort’s cowardly, loveless subsistence, for example. In fact, death is characterized as a brave and a peaceful existence. A belief that may be what smoothes the way for a description of an elderly man’s “mercy killing.” Certainly, without the additional explanation of salvation through Christ and the heavenly afterlife that provides, this view is disconcerting and may prove oddly tempting to some readers.

Still, despite such musings and enticements, it could be argued that, on the whole, the book is more often respectful of life, as noted above in “Positive Elements.” When Harry is faced with his supposed demise, he reflects on what a treasure his own body is (“Why had he never appreciated what a miracle he was, brain and nerve and bounding heart? It would all be gone … or at least, he would be gone from it”).

Spirituality

The visual imagery of magic, of course, continues to be Harry Potter’s primary problem. Because this book is so dark and its themes so sobering, everything seems more intensely real. As Ron, Harry and Hermione fight to remain hidden, they continually summon the benefits of spells to conceal themselves. Each time their tent is erected they encircle the area mumbling protective incantations and drawing shapes around the campsite with their wands. Partly because of the setting and partly because of the descriptions, their actions here feel quite different from reading about turning buttons into beetles as they’re first learning magic in the early books.

In Rowling’s world, characters embrace many of the same values Christians in the real world espouse. But as Harry, Ron and Hermione struggle to choose between right and wrong, and sort out grey areas, it is the human heart that decides, rather than any divine authority or maxim. Still,Deathly Hallows has a feel for spirituality that comes across as very believable at times. It is even sprinkled with Scripture. For example, the tomb of a wizard family is inscribed with words found in Matthew 6:21: “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Harry doesn’t understand these words, nor does he understand what he finds on his own parents’ tomb: “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” So it appears that Rowling grasps the peace and beauty of these concepts, but chooses not to identify the Author.

Herein lies the difficulty with her constructs of death and soul. We are offered the stirring love and self-sacrifice of a young man willing to die for his friends, as well as the promise of peaceful release in the afterlife. But there’s no truth of salvation to undergird it.

It almost goes without saying, then, that God is absent once again, most conspicuously in this case because Rowling spends so much time expounding on the soul. In her architecture, The Resurrection Stone can be used to bring back the dead from what we are led to believe is peace. They do not want to come back, and it is seen as selfish to force them to. Harry uses the stone before his battle with Voldemort, recalling the souls of those closest to him. They are “less substantial than living bodies, but much more than ghosts.”

As he travels toward what he believes will be certain death, these souls become more real to him than the living and he feels no regret for calling them. They are calm, lovely, completely at peace, and they serve as sources of comfort and encouragement. We get a glimpse of their state of being later when a renewed Dumbledore comes to Harry and expresses tears of regret over his own life decisions. (So perhaps the afterlife isn’ttotal bliss.)

In using Horcruxes, Voldemort has chosen what to do with his soul. And in the end, Harry can do the same. Either he may “go on” from the in-between place in which he lands after Voldemort’s attack, or he may go back to finish the fight. The choice is his (though how Dumbledore knows to tell him this and how he entered Harry’s limbo is anyone’s guess). The fact that Harry has that option at all is no more than a convergence of badly done magic and poor choices on Voldemort’s part. And that means Harry has no discernable, immovable Mover in whom he can place his trust as he careens toward death.

If he has a god, it must be Dumbledore, but that does not seem entirely right either. The ins and out of all this end up generating so much confusion it’s almost as if we’re watching Vizzini in The Princess Bride cackle, “I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me!”

As confusing and troubling as it may seem to have a lightning bolt-branded boy-wizard as a Christ figure, J.K. Rowling tries to create one in Harry. But while he is “savior,” he is also He-Who-Must-Be-Saved. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows conjures a world that practically begs for something to have faith in.

Rowling’s mythology is closest in construction to that of J.R.R. Tolkein and C.S. Lewis, but it doesn’t give evidence of godly faith in any of the ways their stories do. Time columnist Lev Grossman noticed this when he wrote, “If you want to know who dies in Harry Potter, the answer is easy: God. Harry Potter lives in a world free of any religion or spirituality of any kind. He lives surrounded by ghosts but has no one to pray to, even if he were so inclined, which he isn’t. … What does Harry have instead of God? Rowling’s answer, at once glib and profound, is that Harry’s power comes from love. This charming notion represents a cultural sea change. In the new millennium, magic comes not from God or nature or anything grander or more mystical than a mere human emotion. In choosing Rowling as the reigning dreamer of our era, we have chosen a writer who dreams of a secular, bureaucratized, all-too-human sorcery, in which psychology and technology have superseded the sacred.”

There is no doubt that J.K. Rowling will be remembered as one of the most well-read writers of our age. She will also be remembered for ignoring the simple truth of a very old—and sacred—text: We love because He first loved us.

Plot Summary

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Harry Potter and the Ignominious Cop-Out

Two weekends ago, I found myself accidentally proving the old theory that Harry Potter is a gateway drug to the wider world of serious literature. Standing in the very back of a gigantic horde at my local bookstore at midnight, wedged into a knot of adolescents reading People magazine through oversize black plastic glasses, I picked up and nearly finished a great American superclassic that I’d somehow managed to avoid for my entire life: Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men . Under normal circumstances I would have been perfectly happy to go on ignoring it—the paperback had an unmistakable high-school-syllabus stench about it—but I was bored to death and the aisles were clogged with potbellied wizards and it was the only readable book within arm’s reach. A few pages in, I found myself hooked. By the time I got to the register, I was three-quarters of the way through (just after—spoiler alert!—Lennie the man-child mangles the bully Curley’s hand) and all I really wanted to do was finish it. But the employees were all clapping because I was the last customer, so I closed Steinbeck right on the brink of what felt like an impending tragic climax, took my Potter, and left. Ironically, this meant that Of Mice and Men was now suspended at roughly the same point in its dramatic arc as Rowling had suspended the Potter series before Deathly Hallows . So I went home and conducted a curious experiment in parallel reading: a two-day blitz of 860 pages, with a pair of nested climaxes—one hot off the presses, one 70 years old.

I started with Potter. Not since 1841, when New Yorkers swarmed the docks to ask incoming Brits whether Little Nell died in the latest installment of The Old Curiosity Shop (spoiler alert! She totally did), have readers been so simultaneously poised on the brink of a collective climax. My gut, along with the new book’s scary epigraphs, kept telling me that—like Little Nell—Harry had to go. For a children’s series, Potter has been unusually death-obsessed—Harry’s heroism, remember, sprang from the gruesome murder of his parents—and in recent books, the body count has risen quickly: In the previous book, even Harry’s untouchable mentor Dumbledore died. Also, in a larger narrative sense, Rowling owed us. Harry had been too outrageously lucky for too long: He lived for six books in a big bland protective bubble of innocence and nobility and love. As minor characters dropped around him like cursed broomsticks, he lucked his way through unsurvivable encounters with dragons, basilisks, dementors, Death Eaters, and about 34 different manifestations of Voldemort. Now it was time to pop the bubble. We all felt it. Rowling knew it. One of the big reasons we all read Potter so devotedly was that, unlike most kids’ series, there was something serious at stake. And she practically promised us Harry’s death with Book Six’s prophecy about him and Voldemort—“Neither can live while the other survives.”

By now, the book’s final events have been spoiled as thoroughly as a pint of six-month-old cottage cheese in the trunk of a flaming car. And yet I still feel compelled to issue a warning. If you don’t want to know how Harry Potter ends, you need to fling this magazine, very hard and very fast, out of your window or into the nearest vacant horse carriage. Fling it! There’s no time to think! Gaaaaa!

I approached the book with some fear. For one thing, despite the charm and immersive power of Rowling’s magical world, despite her solid instinct for broad, mythic narrative strokes, she’s always had trouble with the basic mechanics of plot. Even by pulp standards, her storytelling is ridiculous. Exposition happens almost exclusively via overheard conversations. Narrative logic falls apart at crucial moments. Every book ends in an orgy of coincidence and revelations and arbitrary switcheroos. (As George Orwell once wrote about Dickens: “rotten architecture, but wonderful gargoyles.”) Since Deathly Hallows was the series-capping megaclimax, I expected to find it ponderous, overactive, dangerously clotted with characters, and confusing. This was pretty much exactly right. All the Rowling signatures are here: She’s still addicted to adverbs and (oddly) the word “bemused,” her caps lock gets stuck at critical moments, foreigners speak in intolerable accents, and everyone stutters uncontrollably at the slightest hint of stress. When the action gets heavy, she cranks the “coincidence” dial up to eleven and flagrantly abuses her imminent-death-thwarted-at-the-last-possible-moment privileges. (In an MSNBC survey of fan reactions to Deathly Hallows , a 10-year-old who claims to have read the entire series eight times observed that, for his taste, the final book leaned a little too heavily on coincidence. I believe this tells us something important.) As for plot, there’s a Mission Impossible –style break-in at the Ministry of Magic and a never-ending camping trip featuring some heavy Lord of the Rings plagiarism and innumerable action sequences in which everyone screams, “No! No! NO! NOOOOOOO!” A few minor characters die; most movingly, Dobby the house-elf. (“And then with a little shudder the elf became quite still, and his eyes were nothing more than great glassy orbs, sprinkled with light from the stars they could not see.”) Much of the book, however, was strangely forgettable.

And then I got to Chapter 33. In a powerful sequence that immediately makes up for much of the prior slog, Harry learns that, in order for the world to live, he has to die. He accepts this with genuine stoic heroism, relishes his last moments of life, and, surrounded by the ghosts of his dead family and friends, marches off to get himself nobly slaughtered. My tear ducts initiated their “misty” sequence; when Harry asked his mother’s spirit to stay close to him, I almost shed an actual tear. The Rowling-skeptic in me kept waiting for the impossible bailout, but it never came: Voldemort smote Harry into oblivion. Suddenly, Potter was a legitimate tragedy. The series had grown up.

Unfortunately, the cop-out—which in retrospect seems as inevitable as I once thought Harry’s death was—comes three pages later. Chapter 35 sees Harry wake up in an ethereal train station (presumably some regional hub halfway along the Heaven-Hell line), where the spirit of Dumbledore gives him special news: Because of the purity of Harry’s self-sacrifice, he’s eligible for a Jesus exemption. He’s not dead. He gets to go back and kill Voldemort. And just as a bonus, his sacrifice has redeemed all of humanity. (As Harry puts it, while he and the Dark Lord circle each other like the knife fighters in “Beat It”: “You won’t be able to kill any of them ever again. Don’t you get it? I was ready to die to stop you from hurting these people … I’ve done what my mother did. They’re protected from you.” I’m not sure, at this point, why they don’t just let Voldemort hang around like an old toothless lion—but I guess that would lack dramatic flair.) After the predictable duel, Rowling wraps things up with an epilogue that is, hands down, the worst piece of writing in the entire 4,000-page series. Harry and the gang, now all thirtysomething and blissfully intermarried, reappear at King’s Cross Station to drop off the next generation of wizards at Platform 9¾ while reveling in har-har family-sitcom humor. The final sentence is remarkably bland and awful, the linguistic crystallization of Rowling’s cop-out: “All was well.”

I’m not opposed to happy endings per se—I’m just opposed to an author trying to get emotional credit for both a tragic and a happy ending without actually earning either. Rowling had been gathering storm clouds for ten years; her fictional sky was as purple and lumpy as a Quidditch stadium full of plums, and the whole world had lined up to watch it rain. She owed this ritual sacrifice to the immortal gods of narrative: either the life of her hero or—infinitely harder to pull off—his convincing and improbable survival. With Harry’s death, the series would have graduated instantly from “light and possibly fluky popular megasuccess” to Heavy Tragic Fantasy Classic. Instead, at the last possible moment, she tacked on an episode of Leave It to Beaver . This is roughly the equivalent of Oedipus Rex’s tearing his eyes out, then stumbling across a wise old friend who tells him: “Hey, guess what, buddy? You know how you just killed your dad and slept with your mom, like the oracle predicted? Well, since you did it all with totally innocent love in your heart, it doesn’t count! Go tell your mom to untie that noose! And look, your eyes just grew back! All is well!” Rowling seems to misunderstand the power of catharsis. It’s not simple reassurance, it’s a primal release.

Meanwhile, back among Steinbeck’s farm laborers, all was not well. In fact, it was terrible. Curley’s wife came out to the barn while Lennie was playing with his puppy, and—you know what? I’m not going to spoil it for you.

BACKSTORY Plenty of critics have noted the coincidence of Harry Potter and The Sopranos —the two great pop-cultural myths of the last ten years —ending simultaneously. But the parallel runs deeper. Both series depended on essentially the same trick: smuggling the mundane back into the exotic, normalizing the abnormal. A wizard buying school supplies carries approximately the same defamiliarizing charge as a mob boss going to therapy. Or, as Rowling once put it, a gun is only “a kind of metal wand that Muggles use to kill each other.”

SEE ALSO: The Incomplete Sayings of Albus Dumbledore

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows By J.K. Rowling. Arthur A. Levine books. 759 pages. $34.99.

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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Book Review

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is the epic conclusion to the Harry Potter series that ranges 7 books and takes the characters of the series through 7 years of their lives. Does this book end the series on a positive note? Or does it fail to live up to expectations? Let’s dive in and figure that out.

As previously stated, the Deathly Hallows is the 7th book in the Harry Potter series written by J.K. Rowling. Originally released in July of 2007. I personally remember getting this book for a birthday present when it came out. The book is 759 pages shared between 36 chapters and an epilogue.

The book starts out in a familiar location at privet drive. Harry’s protection is about to run out so they need to move him to a safe house. To do this many characters choose to fly him out before his birthday using non magical methods like apparating so the Ministry of Magic does not know where he went.

The seriousness of the situation throughout the series starts right away, showing that many characters that we have come to know throughout the series are not necessarily plot armored. Harry gets attacked on the way to the safe house and his owl Hedwig takes a kill spell for him like a person taking a bullet for someone else.

For the most part, Deathly Hallows does not let up on this factor of anyone being mortal in this final chapter. There are slow events throughout but it ramps back up in the end as expected where the climax to the plot has many characters not making it to the end, in fact, J.K Rowling does a really good job of still making the deaths of some characters that are not described in words really meaningful by painting the aftermath of the story.

One thing that Deathly Hallows really plays well with is nostalgia. This book is thick with it. From returning to the wizard bank, the ministry of magic, the burrow, Hogwarts, hogs head in hogsmeade, even the chamber of secrets,  the author makes it clear that as a part of the final journey will be revisiting locations that we have seen before. I think this is a good choice as it not only makes this feel like it ties the world together, but the author does not need to do as much work describing the new scenery and can focus more on the characters in the moment.

The stakes in this chapter are very high and lead to Harry, Ron, and Hermione feeling like fully fledged adults dealing with adult issues. They do not need the help of elders around them as they set off on their own to take out the discovered Horcruxes that keep Lord Voldemort alive.

I don’t tend to mention the movies in the book reviews, but if you read the book over seeing the movie first, you will understand that the journey is much more impactful and well described. There are more run-ins with characters that we have come to see before. Since this chapter of the series does not take much time at Hogwarts, getting interactions or visibility of other characters from the school really pay in dividends throughout the story.

The final battle between Harry and Voldemort is well done, but the story leading right to the end that ties things all together does not feel made up last minute. The story feels deliberate, it feels cohesive. It does a really good job at changing perspectives on characters in the entire series. I wont say anymore about it in a way to prevent giving away the ending to the series.

So with that said, was this book a good conclusion to the series? It absolutely is. I would not say that this book is the strongest in the series for sure, but it leads to a satisfying ending to the series and closes enough of the plot to make me feel that most questions have been answered and that there was a cohesive reason for everything.

So that’s all for the Harry Potter book series reviews. I know this review was shorter than the last few reviews, but that is because talking about this book without spoiling the entire series can be pretty difficult.

If you want to find out where this book ranks in the series you can check out our ranking list for the Harry Potter book series here !

What were your thoughts on the last installment to the Harry Potter series? How does it compare to the other books in the series? Comment below and let us know. If there is other Harry Potter related content that you want to see from DickWizardy please comment below or send us an email using the contact form at the top navigation.

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• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,...

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Book 7

This reviewer’s heart felt more than a touch of sadness as she closed the back cover of HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS. It’s never easy to say goodbye, especially to those we love and cherish, and to a world we believe in totally, without question.

Reading the  Harry Potter  series has been a reader’s excavation: the simple, jeweled surface of THE SORCERER’S STONE caught the attention of bibliophiles the world over nearly a decade ago. Its straightforward yet engaging structure charmed readers of all ages and introduced them to a world of magic and friendship --- and of good and evil.

However, the real magic of Harry Potter’s story is that THE SORCERER’S STONE was just the beginning. After the first three volumes, J.K. Rowling quickly abandoned the “bad guy of the year isn’t who you think it is” method of storytelling (while deliciously depositing other plot treasures here and there, like Ron’s “pet” Scabbers and Ginny’s possession in THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS) and revealed to her faithful readers a deeper, richer world than anyone could have imagined at the outset of the series.

And THE DEATHLY HALLOWS is the richest book of them all. Throughout the series, the majority of the action has taken place with “Harry blinders” on --- that is, because of the third-person limited narration of most of the books, the other characters’ actions, appearances, motivations and loyalties have been colored for the reader by Harry’s opinion of them.

Now that Harry has matured and is on the cusp of manhood, those around him are seen in far more detail and with more care than ever before. Rather than just basing opinion on what surface information he has presented, Harry examines and speculates on the reasons for action in those around him, and the characters are more real because of it. In the first several chapters, the reader is presented with some precious observations about Harry’s loved ones --- a blossoming romance, a marriage, the presentation to Harry of a meaningful birthday gift --- that makes the other cold fact of the book that much harder to handle: Harry’s world is a world at war.

At the very time when the characters become that much more precious to the reader, their lives hang in the balance --- from the moment Harry Ron, Hermione and numerous Order of the Phoenix members depart 4 Privet Drive and are ambushed, it is clear that a war has begun. When everyone finally regroups at the Burrow several hours later, some arrive injured --- and some never return.

True to his resolve, Harry goes willingly into this battle. Gone is the safety of Hogwarts and of the structured familiarity of the school year. Rowling creates a deep sense of unease and restlessness by yanking this security blanket from both her characters and her readers. Though Harry is clearly on a quest, there are many false starts, delayed plans and poorly-executed missions. The reader can very much empathize when Ron, Hermione and Harry, roughing it in the woods on their frustrating search for the Horcruxes, become cranky, sniping and petty.

Though the structure of THE DEATHLY HALLOWS differs slightly from its six predecessors, Rowling’s themes remain familiar --- good versus evil, the redemptive and protective power of love. What Harry discovers on his search for the Horcruxes (as well as the Hallows, but I will leave each reader to discover exactly what the Hallows are) is that, as Sirius has so wisely pointed out to him, “People are not separated into good people and Death Eaters.” The book humanizes both a perceived hero and a perceived villain by displaying both sides of each man’s personalities, light and dark.

Never fear. In addition to the ever-deepening emotional maturity of its main character, THE DEATHLY HALLOWS also offers quite a few nail-biting battle scenes and more than one narrow escape. Rowling still firmly believes that a person’s actions can be just as important as their emotional inner landscape. She has stated that more than a few people will be upset by the high death toll in her final installment of Harry’s battle against Voldemort, and she does with fair warning --- more than a half-dozen characters Harry (and readers) know and love (or love to hate) perish before the ultimate one-on-one battle between the boy hero and evil personified.

In the end, the survivors of this battle cling to each other with love that has deepened and grown over the past nine years. Rowling, who began writing this story longhand over a decade ago, in a café while her infant daughter slept in a stroller beside her, believes unwaveringly in the fundamentals of love and family. She reminds readers that these things are more important than magic, fame, power or glory --- and so does Harry. 

Reviewed by Colleen Christi on July 21, 2007

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Book 7 by J. K. Rowling

• Publication Date: June 26, 2018
• Genres: Fantasy
• Paperback: 784 pages
• Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books
• ISBN-10: 1338299204
• ISBN-13: 9781338299205

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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7) Paperback – July 1, 2009

A spectacular finish to a phenomenal series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is a bittersweet read for fans. The journey is hard, filled with events both tragic and triumphant, the battlefield littered with the bodies of the dearest and despised, but the final chapter is as brilliant and blinding as a phoenix's flame, and fans and skeptics alike will emerge from the confines of the story with full but heavy hearts, giddy and grateful for the experience. --Daphne Durham

• Book 7 of 7 Harry Potter
• Print length 784 pages
• Language English
• Grade level 4 - 7
• Lexile measure 880L
• Dimensions 5.5 x 1.75 x 7.5 inches
• Publisher Scholastic Inc.
• Publication date July 1, 2009
• ISBN-10 0545139708
• ISBN-13 978-1338878981
• See all details

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Editorial Reviews

About the author.

J.K. ROWLING is the author of the enduringly popular, era-defining Harry Potter seven-book series, which have sold over 600 million copies in 85 languages, been listened to as audiobooks for over one billion hours and made into eight smash hit movies. To accompany the series, she wrote three short companion volumes for charity, including Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them , which went on to inspire a new series of films featuring Magizoologist Newt Scamander. Harry’s story as a grown-up was continued in a stage play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child , which J.K. Rowling wrote with playwright Jack Thorne and director John Tiffany.

In 2020, she returned to publishing for younger children with the fairy tale The Ickabog , the royalties for which she donated to her charitable trust, Volant, to help charities working to alleviate the social effects of the Covid 19 pandemic. Her latest children’s novel, The Christmas Pig , was published in 2021.

J.K. Rowling has received many awards and honours for her writing, including for her detective series written under the name Robert Galbraith. She supports a wide number of humanitarian causes through Volant, and is the founder of the international children’s care reform charity Lumos. J.K. Rowling lives in Scotland with her family.

Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Scholastic Inc. (July 1, 2009)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 784 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0545139708
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1338878981
• Reading age ‏ : ‎ 8+ years, from customers
• Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 880L
• Grade level ‏ : ‎ 4 - 7
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.15 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1.75 x 7.5 inches
• #48 in Children's Books on Orphans & Foster Homes
• #1,249 in Children's Friendship Books
• #1,378 in Children's Fantasy & Magic Books

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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Book 7 By J.K. Rowling

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About the author

J.k. rowling.

J.K. Rowling is the author of the enduringly popular, era-defining Harry Potter book series, as well as several stand-alone novels for adults and children, and a bestselling crime fiction series written under the pen name Robert Galbraith.

The Harry Potter books have now sold over 600 million copies worldwide, been translated into 85 languages and made into eight blockbuster films. They continue to be discovered and loved by new generations of readers.

Alongside the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling also wrote three short companion volumes for charity: Quidditch Through the Ages and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, in aid of Comic Relief, and The Tales of Beedle the Bard, in aid of her international children’s charity, Lumos. The companion books and original series are all available as audiobooks.

In 2016, J.K. Rowling collaborated with playwright Jack Thorne and director John Tiffany to continue Harry’s story in a stage play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which opened in London, and is now thrilling audiences on four continents. The script book was published to mark the plays opening in 2016 and instantly topped the bestseller lists.

In the same year, she made her debut as a screenwriter with the film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Inspired by the original companion volume, it was the first in a series of new adventures featuring wizarding world magizoologist Newt Scamander. The second, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, was released in 2018 and the third, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore was released in 2022.

The screenplays were published to coincide with each film’s release: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them - The Original Screenplay (2016), Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald - The Original Screenplay (2018) and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore - The Complete Screenplay (2022).

Fans of Fantastic Beasts and Harry Potter can find out more at www.wizardingworld.com.

J.K. Rowling’s fairy tale for younger children, The Ickabog, was serialised for free online for children during the Covid-19 pandemic in the summer of 2020 and is now published as a book illustrated by children, with her royalties going to her charitable trust, Volant, to benefit charities helping alleviate social deprivation and assist vulnerable groups, particularly women and children.

Her latest children’s novel The Christmas Pig, published in 2021, is a standalone adventure story about a boy’s love for his most treasured thing and how far he will go to find it.

J.K. Rowling also writes novels for adults. The Casual Vacancy was published in 2012 and adapted for television in 2015. Under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, she is the author of the highly acclaimed ‘Strike’ crime series, featuring private detective Cormoran Strike and his partner Robin Ellacott. The first of these, The Cuckoo’s Calling, was published to critical acclaim in 2013, at first without its author’s true identity being known. The Silkworm followed in 2014, Career of Evil in 2015, Lethal White in 2018, Troubled Blood in 2020 and The Ink Black Heart in 2022. The series has also been adapted for television by the BBC and HBO.

J.K. Rowling’s 2008 Harvard Commencement speech was published in 2015 as an illustrated book, Very Good Lives: The Fringe Benefits of Failure and the Importance of Imagination, sold in aid of Lumos and university-wide financial aid at Harvard.

As well as receiving an OBE and Companion of Honour for services to children’s literature, J.K. Rowling has received many other awards and honours, including France’s Legion d’Honneur, Spain’s Prince of Asturias Award and Denmark’s Hans Christian Andersen Award.

J.K. Rowling supports a number of causes through her charitable trust, Volant. She is also the founder and president of Lumos, an international children’s charity fighting for every child’s right to a family by transforming care systems around the world.

www.jkrowling.com

Image: Photography Debra Hurford Brown © J.K. Rowling

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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Harry Potter is leaving Privet Drive for the last time. But as he climbs into the sidecar of Hagrid’s motorbike and they take to the skies, he knows Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters will not be far behind.

The protective charm that has kept him safe until now is broken. But the Dark Lord is breathing fear into everything he loves. And he knows he can’t keep hiding.

To stop Voldemort, Harry knows he must find the remaining Horcruxes and destroy them.

He will have to face his enemy in one final battle.

Publishers: UK Print – Bloomsbury US Print – Scholastic EBook –  Pottermore Digital Audiobook – Pottermore

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Book Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows finishes off an exciting series that is one of the best of all time. In this book Harry finds out that he must kill Lord Voldemort and can only do so by finding his hidden Horcruxes. The book contains an astonishing ending and many characters fight for their lives. It also has twists, turns and plenty of action as Harry, Ron and Hermione run from Death Eaters on the quest to kill Voldemort. I would recommend this book for older readers and adults. Also, I would recommend reading the books before this one to understand what is going on in the story. It is an overall action-packed adventure.

14 Hidden Messages in the Harry Potter Books You Never Noticed

The house colors represent the elements.

I n Harry Potter’s magical world, nothing is as it seemsand that goes for the books themselves. Master storyteller J.K. Rowling wove in all kinds of mysterious meanings, surreptitious signs, and cloaked clues that, when deciphered, illuminate the themes of the story.

For example, everyone knows that students are sorted into the four houses of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry based on their personalitiesbut did you know the house colors have a deeper meaning? “The four Hogwarts houses have a loose association with the four elements, and their colors were chosen accordingly,” Rowling wrote on the official Pottermore site. “Gryffindor (red and gold) is connected to fire; Slytherin (green and silver) to water; Hufflepuff (yellow and black, representing wheat and soil) to earth; and Ravenclaw (blue and bronze; sky and eagle feathers) to air.” For each book’s 20th anniversary, new U.K. editions are being released in all the house colors and crests, with special house-specific content inside. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (the U.K. name for the first book in the series) and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets ‘ house editions are out now and available on Amazon; Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban releases this month.

Harry has two contrasting father figures

Colors also come into play with orphaned Harry’s father figures in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone : Rubeus (or “red”) Hagrid and Albus (or “white”) Dumbledore. Rowling points out that red and white are complementary colors in the mystical science of alchemy, and represent different stages of spiritual transformation. “Where my two characters were concerned, I named them for the alchemical colors to convey their opposing but complementary natures: Red meaning passion (or emotion), white for asceticism; Hagrid being the earthy, warm, and physical man, lord of the forest; Dumbledore the spiritual theoretician, brilliant, idealized, and somewhat detached,” she wrote on Pottermore . “Each is a necessary counterpoint to the other as Harry seeks father figures in his new world.”

Names reveal whoor whatpeople really are

Several of Rowling’s characters’ names have hidden meaningsand in many cases, if you know what they are, you can uncover the plot. For example, in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban , beloved teacher Remus Lupin is discovered to be a werewolf, and Harry’s godfather Sirius Black is revealed to transform into a dog. Remus’s name refers to the Roman myth of Romulus and Remus, two brothers who were raised by wolves; and Lupin comes from the Latin word “lupinus,” meaning “wolfish.” Sirius , on the other hand, is the name of the “dog star” in astronomy, part of the Canis (i.e., canine) Major constellation. Check out more surprising Harry Potter details you may have missed the first time you read the books .

Lupin’s condition is a metaphor for HIV

Speaking of Lupin, Rowling revealed a deeper layer to his werewolf disease and the secrecy surrounding it. “Remus Lupin’s affliction was a conscious reference to blood-borne diseases such as the HIV infection, with the attendant stigma,” Rowling wrote on Pottermore . “The potion Snape brews him is akin to the antiretroviral that will keep him from developing the ‘full-blown’ version of his illness.” Unfortunately, the discrimination Lupin unfairly faces when his condition is made public is the reason he has to leave Hogwarts. “The sense of ‘apartness’ that the management of a chronic condition can impose on its sufferers was an important part of Lupin’s character,” Rowling wrote. In the Prisoner of Azkaban movie , the filmmakers wanted to present Lupin’s condition as an illness, so he appears pallid, unwell, and sad.

Names also reveal the characters’ true natures

Some characters’ names give readers clues to their hidden motivations and feelings. J.K. Rowling is proficient in French, and that shows in her naming of Draco Malfoy and Voldemort . In French, mal foi means “bad faith,” fitting for a character whose family follows the evil wizard He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Voldemort’s name comes from the French vol de mort , or “flight of death,” which makes sense as he fears dying and does everything in his power to gain immortality. Of course, as Chamber of Secrets reveals, “I am Lord Voldemort” is also an anagram of the Dark Lord’s original name, Tom Marvolo Riddle. Rowling assured fans she had no “anti-French feelings” in naming Voldemort. “I needed a name that evokes both power and exoticism,” she said while receiving the French Legion of Honor. (Fun fact: In accordance with French pronunciation, Rowling revealed the last “t” in Voldemort is silent, meaning we’ve been saying it wrong all these years.)

Hedwig symbolizes the comforts of childhood

Although Rowling herself hasn’t elaborated on the meaning behind Harry’s pet owl, the Catholic St. Hedwig had seven children and took care of orphans. Who does this sound like? Harry’s best friend Ron’s mother, Mrs. Weasley, mother of seven who sheltered Harry whenever he needed somewhere to go, sure fits the bill. Hedwig the owl likewise cared for Harry: In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix , he said she was “the only friend he had at number four, Privet Drive [his Muggle relatives’ home].” And perhaps that’s why fans were so saddened when she was killed in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows . “The loss of Hedwig represented a loss of innocence and security,” Rowling said . “Voldemort killing her marked the end of childhood.”

Dementors personify depression

The soul-stealing dementors, creatures that suck hope and happiness out of anyone they’re near, first appear in Prisoner of Azkaban . According to Rowling, they’re a physical manifestation of what it’s like to experience depression. “It’s so difficult to describe [depression] to someone who’s never been there, because it’s not sadness,” Rowling said in an interview with Oprah Winfrey . “I know sadness. Sadness is to cry and to feel. But it’s that cold absence of feelingthat really hollowed-out feeling. That’s what dementors are.” For Harry, dementors also cause him to relive the trauma of his mother’s death at the hands of Voldemort: When dementors are near, he hears her screams. If you just need to read something silly, check out these Harry Potter jokes .

Harry bears a resemblance to another “chosen one”

A sword with magical powers that only can be summoned by a special someonenope, we’re not talking about the legendary King Arthur’s Excalibur, but the sword of Gryffindor. If Harry’s sword bears resemblance to Excalibur, though, does that mean Harry is King Arthur ? Arthur, after all, was also an orphan from humble beginnings who was chosen to possess a powerful sword and become a leader. (Not to mention Dumbledore could be Arthur’s wizard mentor, Merlin, and Hogwarts could be Camelot.) “Gryffindor’s sword owes something to the legend of Excalibur, the sword of King Arthur, which in some legends must be drawn from a stone by the rightful king,” Rowling said on Pottermore . “The idea of fitness to carry the sword is echoed in the sword of Gryffindor’s return to worthy members of its true owner’s house.” Rowling included another intentional throwback to the Arthurian legend. “There is a further allusion to Excalibur emerging from the lake when Harry must dive into a frozen forest pool to retrieve the sword in Deathly Hallows ,” she says. “In other versions of the legend, Excalibur was given to Arthur by the Lady of the Lake, and was returned to the lake when he died.”

Bathrooms are another kind of “room of requirement”

Rowling hasn’t revealed exactly why this is, but bathrooms are really, really important to the Harry Potter books. Nearly everyone has a major scene taking place in the “loo,” as the British call it: the troll fight in Sorcerer’s Stone ; the home of ghost Moaning Myrtle and the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets ; Harry solving a Triwizard Tournament clue in a bathtub in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ; Harry’s wand battle with Draco in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince . Plus, one of the first hints of the hidden Room of Requirement , which changes to fit the seeker’s needs, is Dumbledore mentioning coming across a room full of chamber pots when he had to go the bathroom in Goblet of Fire . Perhaps this potty preoccupation exists because, before bathrooms, wizards apparently went wherever they pleased, cleaning it up with a flick of the wand. “Hogwarts didn’t always have bathrooms,” revealed Pottermore in a tweet that caused a fan frenzy. “Before adopting Muggle plumbing methods in the eighteenth century, witches and wizards simply relieved themselves wherever they stood, and vanished the evidence.”

Snape’s first words to Harry were about his mother

As Pottermore explains, the Harry Potter books often employ floriography, or conveying meaning through flowers, a pastime popular with the Victorians. So, the first words cold Professor Snape says to Harry in Sorcerer’s Stone ”What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?”aren’t just a way to humiliate Harry by asking him about a potion he hasn’t learned yet. Asphodel is a type of lily and means “my regrets follow you to the grave”; wormwood is also associated with regret and bitterness. Snape, who was in love with Harry’s mother, Lily, is telling Harry he bitterly regrets her death. (By the way, the answer to the question is the Draught of Living Death, which Professor Slughorn’s class attempts to make in Half-Blood Prince .) Dive deeper into Snape’s first words to Harry here .

Seven is the most powerful number

In numerology, numbers have mystical meaning, as they do in Harry Potter . Lucky number seven, for example, pops up everywhere : seven Potter books, seven children in the Weasley family, seven players on a Quidditch team, seven years at Hogwarts, seven Horcruxes containing pieces of Voldemort’s soul, and more. In Hogwarts lore, a 13th-century witch named Bridget Wenlock was the first to discover the magical properties of seven. Another number that pops up often? The trinity, or number three: three Deathly Hallows, three unforgivable curses, the three-headed dog, three tasks and three schools in the Triwizard Tournament, and the core trio of Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

Wizards like Starbucks?

The books aren’t the only places secret messages turn up. Look closely in the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix film , and you’ll see what looks like a Starbucks logo in the Black family tapestry at Sirius’s former home and current Order of the Phoenix safe house, 12 Grimmauld Place. (Check it out on the bottom left side of the tapestry in this photo on Pottermore.) Could the filmmakers be paying homage to the coffee shops where J.K. Rowling wrote the early books? In truth, Rowling favored Edinburgh’s The Elephant House, not Starbucks, as the spot to craft her tales. Perhaps the tapestry’s creators at graphic design firm MinaLima were just really in need of caffeine.

There’s a secret Daily Prophet character

The cheeky artists at MinaLima didn’t stop there: There’s subliminal advertising for a wizard perfume called Divine Magic in the Half-Blood Prince and Potter spin-off Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them movies. But perhaps the designers’ boldest move is the creation of a whole new character who appears in the Daily Prophet and New York Ghost newspapers throughout the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts movies: a mischievous criminal called the Ginger Witch . Could this be a long-lost relative of the red-haired Weasley clan? According to MinaLima’s Eduardo Lima , she’s based on a friend of theirs named Debbie.

Mirrors are the window to the soul

Even in the Muggle world, mirrors seem enchanted, but they take on an even greater significance in the wizarding world, reflecting crucial truths about the characters. First in Sorcerer’s Stone , Harry becomes entranced by the image of himself with his parents in the Mirror of Erised (“desire” spelled backward). But the lesson the mirror represents, Rowling says , is that “life can pass you by while you are clinging on to a wish that can never be.” In Goblet of Fire , Harry comes across a Foe-Glass, which reveals your enemies. Then in Order of the Phoenix , Sirius gives Harry a two-way mirror for them to communicateonly to meet his own death soon after. But even after Harry shatters the mirror in frustration, he sees an eye staring back at him in a shard: Harry later discovers it’s Aberforth, Dumbledore’s brother, who helps him to safety using the mirror in Deathly Hallows . If you picked up on these meanings already, try our Harry Potter quiz that only diehard fans can ace .

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The post 14 Hidden Messages in the Harry Potter Books You Never Noticed appeared first on Reader's Digest .

Portents in the heavens and signs of the times: An eclipse, Harry Potter and a scholar changing his mind all in the same week

Analysis Mark Wingfield  |  April 7, 2024

As if it were not enough to have Anne Graham Lotz and Marjorie Taylor Greene warning of God’s judgment on America through a solar eclipse, some in the Religious Right lost their minds over the weekend in two other social media threads.

Baylor University English professor Greg Garrett (a BNG columnist) tweeted a comment about his Harry Potter class that as of April 7 had garnered 2.6 million views and nearly twice as many comments. Garrett’s tweet was a double boogeyman for the Religious Right because in it he affirmed that the Harry Potter series is literature worthy of a college English class and that he has concerns about author J.K. Rowling’s views on transgender people.

Remember that ever since publication of the first book in the mega-best-selling series, Christian fundamentalists have warned the books are teaching children real witchcraft. Now the same people who want Rowling’s books banned from libraries are coming to her defense for her statements about transgender people.

Strange bedfellows indeed. There must a solar eclipse coming. Oh, wait! There is.

Eclipse exaggerations

For weeks now, some from the fringiest parts of the evangelical Christian right have been warning of signs and portents in the heavens that must be read as the sure judgment of God on America.

Never mind that total solar eclipses happen somewhere on the earth about every 18 months, so they are not rare. It’s just that this time, the eclipse will cover a large swath of America. And, you know, if you consider America God’s chosen people and you ignore the rest of the world, well, this must be a warning from God to America.

Self-appointed prophets and prosperity gospel preachers have led the way on this fearmongering. Driving from Austin, Texas, to Waco, Texas, last week and scanning the radio dial, I heard part of an awful sermon about why we must read the book of Revelation literally and therefore pay attention to God’s warning in the eclipse.

And then people like Marjorie Taylor Greene got involved.

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene

On April 5, the controversial Republican representative from Georgia tweeted: “God is sending America strong signs to tell us to repent. Earthquakes and eclipses and many more things to come. I pray that our country listens.”

That tweet was not well received by the general public, who pointed out the scientific and spiritual errors of Greene’s view. But she was not deterred and instead doubled down on her views with another tweet April 7: “Many have mocked and scoffed at this post and even put community notes. Jesus talked about that in Luke 12:54-56. Yes eclipses are predictable and earthquakes happen and we know when comets are passing by, however God created all of these things and uses them to be signs for those of us who believe.”

That was mild compared to what came out April 6 from Anne Graham Lotz , daughter of Billy Graham and an evangelist with 74,000 followers on the social media platform X.

The April 8 eclipse, she explained, will be the third total eclipse visible within the United States in a seven-year period. Then this: “This is the first time in over 1,000 years that any nation has seen something like this. The paths of the three eclipses over our beloved nation form the Hebrew letters that represent the first and last letters of the alphabet … the beginning and the end … the Alpha and the Omega … which is also one of the names the Lord God gives for Himself (Revelation 1:8).”

She continued: “Could God be giving us a sign from the sky? Is He giving us a heads-up warning that time is running out for our nation? In a significant way, God is the Alpha of the United States of America. He is our beginning. We were founded as ‘one nation under God.’ Is He now putting us on notice that He is also our Omega? Is He warning us that the end is near for America as we have known her? While I don’t know the answer to those questions, I do know everything means something.”

Then she issued a call to repentance to “get right with God as a nation.”

Donovan Domingue

Donovan Domingue, professor of physics and astronomy at Georgia College and State University, doesn’t see the spiritual or political signs feared by Greene and Lotz, however. In an eclipse-related post on the university’s website , he said: “All (eclipses) are mathematically predictable. Nature would be indifferent to choosing any existing cities that happen to lie in any paths.”

That comment was in response to those who are trafficking in “wild conspiracy theories” about the 2024 eclipse.

The university article confirmed that the 2017 and 2024 “eclipse pathways overlap to create a giant X across America — a sign of heavenly disapproval to some. But others will travel long distances to the X’s center point near Carbondale, Ill., thinking it the luckiest place on Earth that day.

“Certain people fear the eclipse corridor passes too close to the New Madrid Seismic Zone. They point to a series of earthquakes in the Mississippi Valley that occurred just months after the September 1811 solar eclipse — though Newsweek found no scientific evidence to connect the two.”

Also, this year’s eclipse path will cross through Jonah, Texas, and at least two towns called Nineveh in Indiana and Ohio — “calling to mind the Old Testament story of repentance,” the university noted. And also on April 8, “a horned celestial object nicknamed the ‘Devil’s Comet’ becomes visible.”

Harry Potter

That’s a good segue back to Baylor University in Waco, Texas — which, you guessed it, lies directly in the path of totality for Monday’s eclipse. Coincidence? Only Professor Dumbledore knows.

“It’s like every single thing about culture and academia that has gone wrong in the past 50 years condensed into a single tweet.”

At this ginormous Baptist school on the Brazos, my friend Greg Garrett teaches an extremely popular class on Harry Potter as literature. This class is so popular that students write him personal letters begging to be admitted to the class after it is full.

On April 2, Garrett tweeted : “Today in my Harry Potter class @Baylor, we had a hard and necessary conversation about JK Rowling and her hatred of trans-people. We decided novelist Rowling, who wrote with compassion about diversity, equity, and inclusion, is worth our attention. Twitter Rowling? Shame on her.”

Rowling has drawn international attention for a series of comments about transgender people that began in 2020 and continue to be controversial to this day. She has been denounced by several of the stars of the movie versions of her bestselling books, among others.

Garrett’s tweet elicited an unending string of snarky comments from people who either (a) hate Baylor; (b) hate Harry Potter; (c) hate trans people or (d) all the above.

Some of these were the usual suspects who live on social media to bash liberals.

For example, William Wolfe, former aide to both Al Mohler and Donald Trump — to some, that’s scarier than an eclipse — tweeted: “Shame on @jk_rowling? I don’t think so. Shame on you, @Greg1Garrett, for being a grown man teaching a Harry Potter class and for siding with the disgusting ‘transgender’ movement that preys on and destroys young children’s bodies and souls. And shame on @Baylor for hiring you.”

Basham later returned with a post where she claimed Garrett is in violation of the university’s Statement on Sexuality.

And there were hundreds of common people jumping into the fray with Twitter-style mockery, often receiving individual replies from the professor himself.

One tweeter named “The Oldest Member” said: “’Trans people’ have made themselves hateworthy. We all know it.”

To which Garrett replied: “Congratulations for most accurately representing why I felt JK Rowling’s posts were worthy of discussion at a Christian university.”

John Podhoretz, editor of Commentary , a conservative Jewish publication, summed up the wonder of the weekend’s social media bonfire: “I just can’t get enough of the Harry Potter teacher at Baylor. It’s like every single thing about culture and academia that has gone wrong in the past 50 years condensed into a single tweet.”

Richard Hays reversal

Among all this weekend furor, the world of religion academia turned its attention away from Baylor to Duke University and Fuller Seminary. That’s where New Testament professor Richard B. Hays and his son, Old Testament professor Christopher Hays, taught or teach.

“Hays and Hays have written a new book that’s not coming out until September but has divided religious scholars five months before any of them have read it.”

Hays and Hays have written a new book that’s not coming out until September but has divided religious scholars five months before any of them have read it. All it took to set that five-alarm fire was a simple book announcement from the publisher, Yale University Press : “A fresh, deeply biblical account of God’s expanding grace and mercy, developing a theological framework for the full inclusion of LGBTQ people in Christian communities.”

The notice continues: “In this learned and beautifully written book, Richard and Christopher Hays explore a more expansive way of listening to the overarching story that Scripture tells. They remind us of a dynamic and gracious God who is willing to change his mind, consistently broadening his grace to include more and more people. … The authors — a father and son — point out ongoing conversations within the Bible in which traditional rules, customs and theologies are rethought. They argue that God has already gone on ahead of our debates and expanded his grace to people of different sexualities. If the Bible shows us a God who changes his mind, they say, perhaps today’s Christians should do the same.”

Richard B. Hays and Chris Hays

As you might imagine, “a God who changes his mind” is a phrase Christian conservatives don’t want to hear. That’s fighting language.

BNG columnist Anna Sieges wrote a piece over the weekend explaining why this is such a big deal. The short version is this: Richard Hays in 1996 wrote a chapter in a big academic book that has been the chief defense of many conservative and moderate Christians for not accepting same-sex relations as biblically allowable, and now their favorite author has changed his mind.

In one editorial review , BNG columnist David Gushee, ethics professor at Mercer University, wrote: “This book is an event of historic significance. Senior New Testament scholar Richard Hays here renounces his very widely quoted (and exploited) non-inclusive treatment of human sexuality from 30 years ago. His son, Old Testament scholar Christopher Hays, of Fuller Theological Seminary (!), here clearly and boldly embraces LGBT+ inclusion, surely at the risk of his employment. Their case is made based on biblical materials, notably a trajectory-type vision emphasizing the ever-widening range of God’s mercy across the canon. Traditionalists will not be convinced by the exegesis. Those who have been wounded by the church’s rejection, and their allies, will see this book as occasion for celebration.

“This book is an event of historic significance.”

Sorry for the pun, but the reaction to this forthcoming book will eclipse the momentary hullaballoo over Monday’s darkness and the furor over Harry Potter at Baylor.

Robert Gagnon, professor of theology at Houston Christian University, tweeted extensively about the Hays and Hays book, defending his own view that “Jesus himself” opposed same-sex relations.

In one tweet, Gagnon wrote: “Sadly, Richard Hays (professor emeritus of Duke Divinity School) has backslidden into heresy, reneging on his decades-old published rejection of homosexual practice as immoral. … This will likely lead to an acceleration of evangelical capitulation on the Scripture’s (and Jesus’) male-female foundation for sexual ethics. It will also likely signal Fuller Seminary’s capitulation on sexual ethics.”

Denny Burk, head of the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, also tweeted his grievance: “Richard Hays had penned one of the most important New Testament ethics books ever written and had held the line on what the Bible teaches concerning sexuality. Apparently, that is over.”

While others who are LGBTQ-affirming celebrated the news of Hays changing his mind, many lamented that he’s too late.

For now, only a few people who have read advance copies of the manuscript know exactly the spirit of the case father and son make for inclusion. Everyone else will have to wait five months to read it.

Until then, there’s an eclipse and Harry Potter to occupy those with enquiring minds.

Mark Wingfield

Mark Wingfield  serves as executive director and publisher of Baptist News Global. He is the author of  Honestly: Telling the Truth About the Bible and Ourselves   and  Why Churches Need to Talk About Sexuality .

Related articles:

An oft-quoted biblical scholar changes his mind on LGBTQ inclusion in the church | Opinion by Anna Sieges

My quest to find the word ‘homosexual’ in the Bible  | Opinion by Ed Oxford

Can’t a solar eclipse just be a solar eclipse? | Analysis by Rick Pidcock

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Who could imagine an incomplete Potter saga?

Book fans love to assume that when franchises like the Harry Potter movies get underway, they’ll be able to eventually see the whole series adapted to film. But ask anyone who followed the Divergent series, The Golden Compass or Beautiful Creatures , and they’d tell you that this particular fate is never guaranteed. Hogwarts alum Tom Felton fully admitted to knowing that very truth while making some of the best 2000s movies . He even revealed that after all these years, it’s kind of "strange" how everything worked out so that the series reached Deathly Hallows.

Speaking with Collider on behalf of a new set of Harry Potter Funko toys, brought to the world by Kinder chocolate, the star reminisced about his time working on all eight films in Warner Bros.’ legendary fantasy family franchise. And what he had to say about the process of greenlighting each movie may surprise some of you, as this is how he described the thinking at work:

Well, it was a strange thing because I think people always assumed that we were gonna make the eight films from day one, and that was never the case. It was always, 'We're gonna make one. That did okay, so we're gonna make another one. That did better, so we're gonna make another one.' We were never promised the fact that we were gonna all be coming back next year. I think we all assumed that they would replace us with half-decent actors at some point.

Between the years of 2001 and 2011, it was almost like clockwork to see a new chapter of wizarding excitement in theaters at a regular interval. While there was always a question of how long the younger members of the Harry Potter cast would be present for the ride, the matter of whether the series would be completed never seemed to be up for debate.

To be honest, thinking about the potential for anyone to replace any of the other core cast members of the Potter youth is as alien to me as those rumors back in the day that stated Jake Gyllenhaal was going to replace Tobey Maguire on Spider-Man 2 . The same could be said about the possibility that we might not have seen Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows adapted into one movie, much less two.

Thankfully, it never came to that point, as Tom Felton himself discussed in his continued remarks. Citing his co-stars as inspiration to keep stepping up his game, he discussed the rest of his magical fate as follows:

But luckily they kept us on and we got better. So, yeah, I was lucky enough to have the best of both worlds. I was able to still stay at my muggle school while attending Hogwarts, and sort of go back and forth over months at a time. And I’ve got three older brothers, so they keep me pretty grounded.

Mr. Felton has certainly kept himself busy in his post- Harry Potter years. With roles in films like Rise of the Planet of the Apes , and TV smash hits such as The Flash , the original Draco Malfoy actor has had a good degree of career longevity in the years that have passed. The fact that he reflects on this career making role so fondly only makes that fact all the more enjoyable, especially as Felton’s feelings on Draco’s arc are pretty spot on.

I think I speak for anyone who’s enjoyed these films when I say that while I’m thankful all seven books were adapted as films, the experience wouldn’t have been as rewarding if it wasn’t for the continued participation of Tom Felton and his Wizarding World co-stars. Magic can only carry a series so far, as the actors present are vital to making such delights come to life.

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While the Harry Potter movie franchise has been concluded for over a decade now, there are still plenty of opportunities to enjoy the fun of the Wizarding World. Those films are currently streaming for those of you with a Peacock subscription , if you want to travel back to series past. Or, you can wait until 2026, at which point the Harry Potter TV show will supposedly premiere on Max.

Mike Reyes is the Senior Movie Contributor at CinemaBlend, though that title’s more of a guideline really. Passionate about entertainment since grade school, the movies have always held a special place in his life, which explains his current occupation. Mike graduated from Drew University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science, but swore off of running for public office a long time ago. Mike's expertise ranges from James Bond to everything Alita, making for a brilliantly eclectic resume. He fights for the user.

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It Took 95 Takes To Nail This Harry Potter Scene

95 takes and 30 cameras later, this scene was truly magical.

The Big Picture

• "The Seven Harrys" scene in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 took 95 takes to complete due to the complex transformations of multiple cast members.
• Daniel Radcliffe studied his co-stars' movements to accurately portray their personalities in the scene.
• 30 cameras were used to capture precise facial expressions of characters transforming into Harry Potter for the Deathly Hallows Part 1 scene.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is enveloped with countless spells , whimsical creatures, and the magnificent Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It's no easy task to bring to life such a massively popular book series , but the brilliant cast and crew of the successful franchise were able to gift fans with a magical cinematic experience that many still rewatch every year. The 8-film series continuously proved its dedication to the craft throughout each installment, creating some of the most iconic fantasy scenes in showbiz.

Seeing Diagon Alley for the first time or even the Flying Ford Anglia soaring through England are just some of the many unforgettable moments within the Harry Potter collection. These classic scenes required an immense amount of technical practice, patience, and attention to detail to be able to pull them off. In fact, there is one particular scene the cast and crew of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 found to be just as difficult as performing a real magic trick: “The Seven Harrys” scene, which took 95 takes to complete!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

As Harry, Ron and Hermione race against time and evil to destroy the Horcruxes, they uncover the existence of the three most powerful objects in the wizarding world: the Deathly Hallows.

How Was "The Seven Harrys" Scene in 'Deathly Hallows Part 1' Filmed?

The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 is when the darkest turns come into play for Harry Potter ( Daniel Radcliffe ) and his friends. After Professor Snape ( Alan Rickman ) murders Albus Dumbledore ( Michael Gambon ) and Death Eaters are on the rampage, a shadow of unrest and gloom hangs over the future of magic. Harry is left with very few clues to the locations of the remaining horcruxes and finds himself in hiding amongst the chaos. Muggles are being killed and wizards are losing hope, but the Order of the Phoenix has other plans.

"The Seven Harrys" scene takes place right at the beginning of Deathly Hallows Part 1 . When Harry, his friends, and the members of the Order of the Phoenix gather at Privet Drive, an air of danger fills the air. With Harry's magical protection spell now broken, he must be taken to a safe place — the Weasley family 's Burrow. The mission is to transport Harry safely through the air, requiring everyone to transform their physical appearances to mirror Harry's by drinking Polyjuice potion.

Tom Felton's Advice to the Cast of the New 'Harry Potter' Adaptation? Do Crimes

Ron ( Rupert Grint ) , Hermione ( Emma Watson ), Fred ( James Phelps ), George ( Oliver Phelps ), Fleur Delacour ( Clémence Poésy ), and Mundungus Fletcher ( Andy Linden ) all magically become Harry look-alikes, just before the Battle of the Seven Potters. The scene is a marvel to watch unfold in The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 . Not surprisingly, "The Seven Harrys" scene was incredibly difficult to film, requiring an estimated 95 takes to accomplish . In order to shoot each character reshaping into Harry's form, the crew utilized a motion control camera. According to Radcliffe himself, the process was a painstaking one, as it required that the actors barely move an inch:

"Basically you have a motion control camera and it’s programmed by computer so that it does exactly the same moves each time. We’d shoot one version with me as one of the characters and we shoot another version with me as another character. And it was very specific stuff so like if you’ve moved too far an inch to your left, it was unusable because then you would, in theory, be standing on a version of me."

At the time of the production in 2010, this kind of technology was fairly new to the film industry, but the cast and crew's excitement to take on the creative process resulted in the magic we see in "The Seven Harrys" scene.

Daniel Radcliffe Was Challenged To Thoroughly Study His Co-Stars

Not only was "The Seven Harrys" scene technically challenging to shoot for the crew, but Daniel Radcliffe had a particularly challenging task. Director David Yates , who directed the last three installments of the Harry Potter film series, urged Radcliffe to intensely study his co-stars so each version of the Harry look-alikes would embody their true personalities. The actors performed their characters in front of Radcliffe, allowing him to analyze their smallest body movements and mannerisms . By doing so, the scene feels more believable and fans are able to spot the differences in each Harry.

Radcliffe confesses it was a great learning experience to study his peers in the film's behind-the-scenes footage : “You start to look at people in a very analytical way when you’re kind of studying them. Like Rupert [Grint] walks with a real wiggle in his hips. You know it’s actually quite a sexy walk if, you know, if that’s appropriate to say." Since Radcliffe and his co-stars had to be filmed transforming into Harry Potter, all of their intricate facial expressions needed to be captured precisely. Therefore, not just one camera was used — the scene required 30 backup cameras. To achieve the highest level of effects, the crew paired the newly enhanced technology with ultraviolet make-up techniques to bring about the detailed expressions for the seven Harrys. The 30 cameras shot the characters at every angle possible to ensure the effects of the Polyjuice potion were believable. The result, all these years later, remains a benchmark in the franchise.

"The Seven Harrys" Scene Remains a Standout Moment in the Franchise

With the Harry Potter franchise nearing its end on the big screen and the final battle with Voldemort looming over the story, every scene and moment in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 and Part 2 mattered . As a result, the final two movies in the franchise contain many memorable scenes that have stayed with fans long after the movies left theaters. It is then a testament in favor of "The Seven Harrys" scene that it was able to stand out in a movie that contained so many iconic moments. Not only does Part 1 include Hermione's emotional decision to "obliviate" her parents' memories, but it also featured Dobby's gut-wrenching death.

"The Seven Harrys" scene is so beautifully executed and eye-striking , it's no wonder David Yates felt the scene was "the film equivalent of actually doing a magic trick," as the production is even more magical than the outcome. Ultimately, the hard work and dedication of the cast and crew paid off tremendously, as "The Seven Harrys" is not only one of the most memorable moments in The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 , but in the entire series as a whole.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 is available to stream on Max and Peacock in the U.S.

Watch on Max

Screen Rant

The harry potter tv show can do a key character death justice after the original movies rushed past it.

The Harry Potter TV remake has the opportunity to give one character a proper send-off, even though the movie didn’t do his death justice.

• HBO's Harry Potter TV show has the chance to fix past mistakes, like rushing through a key character death from Deathly Hallows.
• The series can expand on battles and character arcs, providing a better platform for emotional send-offs that were lacking in the movies.
• Mad-Eye Moody's death is a prime example of a missed opportunity in the books and films, highlighting the need for a more emotional farewell.

HBO's Harry Potter TV show has the opportunity to fix certain elements of the movies, and it can finally do a key character death justice after the initial adaptation rushed right past it . The Harry Potter movies have a positive legacy compared to many other book adaptations of their time. However, they don't always do the source material justice. In certain instances — like the Harry Potter movies' worst death — they even repeat the problems from J.K. Rowling's books. And this is the case for another key Harry Potter death , which deserves more attention in both the books and films.

Fortunately, Harry Potter will get a second chance on the small screen, and it can spend more time on details like that. A TV show's runtime will allow the supporting characters to be fleshed out further, and their send-offs can be treated with the weight that they deserve. Harry Potter 's battles can also be expanded and improved , something that would help several character deaths hit harder, including one Deathly Hallows - Part 1 speeds through too quickly.

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Hbo's harry potter show can finally do mad-eye moody's death justice, the books & movies speed past his sacrifice.

Mad-Eye Moody is introduced in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire — and though the real Moody doesn't show up until Order of the Phoenix, the character plays a prominent role in the latter half of the series. It's largely thanks to Moody that Harry escapes Privet Drive unharmed after his 17th birthday, and that doesn't get acknowledged enough. After all, Moody perishes getting Harry to safety in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1 . Unfortunately, this is quickly rushed past with everything else happening during the Battle of the Seven Potters .

The Deathly Hallows movie doesn't show Moody's death in battle, nor does it give it adequate attention after it's announced.

The Deathly Hallows movie doesn't show Moody's death in battle, nor does it give it adequate attention after it's announced. The remaining Order members briefly mourn Moody, but developments like George Weasley losing his ear distract from the battle's major deaths. And while it's fair to say that things move quickly in battle, Moody isn't really mentioned again after his flight from Privet Drive. It's a disappointing way for his character to go, and it's something HBO's Harry Potter remake should rectify when it reaches the later books .

Mad-Eye Moody Deserved A Better Death In The Books & Movies

Even j.k. rowling's source material doesn't do it justice.

It's obvious that Mad-Eye Moody deserves a better send-off in the Harry Potter movies, but it's hard to blame them for failing this moment. After all, even the source material doesn't do Moody's death justice . Like the movies, the Harry Potter books don't actually show Moody going down fighting. This could have been portrayed as a valiant moment for a character who dedicated his life to fighting evil wizards. Showing his death on-screen would have allowed Moody to have one last epic scene before taking his final bow.

It's obvious that Mad-Eye Moody deserves a better send-off in the Harry Potter movies, but it's hard to blame them for failing this moment.

The books also move quickly during and after the Battle of the Seven Potters , with the characters jumping from loss to loss without time to truly grieve. While this is realistic, it doesn't work after failing to show Moody's final fight. Instead, it feels as though the character is an afterthought of the battle — a means of showing that people are dying during the war. The death is meant to pack a punch, but its lack of attention strips it of emotion. The Harry Potter TV show must ensure to fix that, making this moment a tearjerker instead.

How The Harry Potter Remake Can Give The Character A Better Send-Off

Showing the full battle of the seven potters is the best way to do it.

When it comes to giving Mad-Eye Moody a better send-off, the Harry Potter remake already has an easy way to do it. Rather than showing the Battle of the Seven Potters from Harry's perspective alone, the series should allow viewers to see this fight from multiple vantage points. This would make Moody's weight pack a greater punch , as fans would actually see it — and they'd get a reminder of what a great character he is right before it happens. It would also make the Battle of the Seven Potters more epic in general, as there's plenty of chaos that unfolds outside of Harry's sight.

Rather than showing the Battle of the Seven Potters from Harry's perspective alone, the series should allow viewers to see this fight from multiple vantage points.

Additionally, the HBO show should give Moody a more emotional send-off than a toast at the Burrow . It could change Harry Potter canon and have the Order recover Moody's body, enabling them to have a funeral to say goodbye. Of course, the characters could also host a funeral of sorts without the body. Moody certainly deserves a proper send-off, so the Harry Potter series must find a way to make it happen.

Harry Potter

Harry Potter is HBO's remake of the iconic Wizarding World film series that consisted of eight films between 2001 and 2011. Each season adapts a book from JK Rowling's popular series and provides more book-accurate details than the movies did. Upon the announcement of the Harry Potter TV show, the series received harsh criticism for the involvement of Rowling and for many thinking a reboot was unnecessary.