Author: J.K. Rowling
Narrator: Jim Dale
Publisher: Pottermore Publishing
Publication Date: November 2015
Genre: Children’s / Fantasy / Young Adult
Buy The Book: Amazon | BN | Audible
Description: ‘Give me Harry Potter,' said Voldemort's voice, 'and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you will be rewarded.'
As he climbs into the sidecar of Hagrid's motorbike and takes to the skies, leaving Privet Drive for the last time, Harry Potter knows that Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters are not far behind. The protective charm that has kept Harry safe until now is broken, but he cannot keep hiding. The Dark Lord is breathing fear into everything Harry loves and to stop him Harry will have to find and destroy the remaining Horcruxes. The final battle must begin - Harry must stand and face his enemy...
Having become classics of our time, the Harry Potter stories never fail to bring comfort and escapism. With their message of hope, belonging and the enduring power of truth and love, the story of the Boy Who Lived continues to delight generations of new listeners.
My Thoughts: My feelings while reading this book were very bittersweet. Even knowing how it would play out, I wanted to savor this last Harry Potter story. Knowing I would cry as some of the main characters are killed did not deter me. The same feeling of hopelessness I felt before came back, compassion for Harry to lose so many loved ones, anger on his behalf for the cruelties and evil committed against him for no good reason and lastly pride that in spite of it all, Harry continues to be a giver instead of a taker, a boy quickly becoming a man and putting the needs of others in front of his own. Even at the very end, knowing that one of them must die, he is willing to make that ultimate sacrifice.
Most of this story takes place away from Hogwarts, unfortunately. Though Rowling does an amazing job of drawing us into the world Harry is currently situated, I still found myself missing the days at Hogwarts, as I’m sure Harry did. Sadly, there was no Diagon Alley trip to buy school supplies, no boarding of the Hogwarts Express at Platform 9 ¾ , no sorting hat ceremony, no Quidditch, no pranks by Peeves to contend with, no excursions to Hogsmeade on the weekends and no Halloween feast, just to name a few. After seven years, I had become so enamored of life at Hogwarts that not being able to be there bothered me a great deal. Instead, Harry is living in hiding with Ron and Hermione as public enemy #1. He is being hunted by Death Eaters constantly, so they are not staying in one place for too long. After a very near miss when Harry is being moved from the Dursleys and again at Bill and Fleur’s wedding, Harry’s only choice is to hide while hunting the Horcruxes. Luckily for him and Ron, Hermione foresaw this eventuality and planned ahead with supplies. Unfortunately, none of them know where to find the Horcruxes or how to destroy them.
Their quest takes them to several places as they try to decipher the clues that Dumbledore left for them. Tempers are short as well. They are all frustrated and I felt frustrated for them. Ultimately, the war comes full circle as Harry and his friends return to Hogwarts for the final showdown with Voldemort and his followers. Harry learns many truths that were kept from him until now and I felt that finding them out now made his resolve stronger. I don’t think he could have or would have appreciated the significance of the Deathly Hallows in his first or second year.
So now I have finished the series for the fourth time, breaking my own rule of never re-reading a book. I have thoroughly enjoyed this adventure with Harry, Ron and Hermione once again and I must say that this time around was even better. I am sad to see it end, however. This is a story that could have stretched into another 3 books, in my opinion. The audio narration performance by Jim Dale was both riveting and brilliant and makes the enjoyment of this series more pronounced.
I will miss Harry, Ron and Hermione but I know they are just a short distance away from me anytime I want to visit them again. And as Sirius said to Harry at the end of Azkaban, “the ones who love us never really leave us, you can always find them in here.”
My Final Verdict: As with every reading of the books in this series, there are things that stand out and resonate much louder for me than in prior readings that I somehow overlooked or forgot. In this reading those moments, in no particular order, were as follows:
1. Tonks and Remus get married and are having a baby, but Remus seems to be a reluctant father and Harry is angry and chastises Remus for not doing all he can to be with his family.
2. When Harry and the lookalikes all leave the house on Privet Drive, Harry’s destination is the home of Tonks’s parents before going to the Burrow.
3. Harry provides the hair for the Polyjuice potion willingly instead of Hermione yanking it out of his head.
4. Hermione wipes her parents’s memory and they go to Australia with new names. I don’t remember anything being clarified before about where or how they ended up.
5. Their departure from the Burrow is planned ahead instead of being a spur of the moment decision.
6. Ron puts out the story that he is ill with spattergroit to explain his absence from Hogwarts. Honestly, it never occurred to me in prior readings that their absence from Hogwarts would ever be an issue, in light of the events occurring in the wizarding world.
7. Hermione makes the connection of the ability of basilisk venom to destroy horcruxes before they leave the Burrow.
8. Harry uses Polyjuice potion to disguise himself at Bill and Fleur’s wedding.
9. Hagrid and Viktor Krum are both guests at the wedding.
10. Arthur Weasley sends his Petronus to Harry, Hermione and Ron to let them know everyone escaped and are fine.
11. Kreacher and Regulus went to the cave to switch out the lockets and Kreacher was ordered to leave and return to Grimmauld Place. Regulus was dragged into the water by the infieri. It was heartbreaking to hear Kreacher relating this to Harry and explained so much about why Kreacher was behaving the way he was up to this point. Kreacher’s attitude towards Harry, Hermione and Ron begins to thaw after he is shown kindness and when he tells Harry that he will have supper waiting for them upon their return from the ministry got me right in the feels.
12. Harry and Hermione use Polyjuice potion to disguise themselves as an elderly couple for their trip to Godric’s Hollow.
13. Phineas Nigellus Black reveals to Harry that the sword of Gryffindor destroyed the ring horcrux.
14. Rita Skeeter used veritas serum on Bathilda Bagshot to write her novel on Dumbledore. Honestly, she could give Dolores Umbridge a run for her money on which one I would love to slap into next week.
15. Bathilda is Grindelwald’s great aunt.
16. Harry realizes the resurrection stone is inside the snitch that was left for him by Dumbledore.
17. Harry, Hermione and Ron don’t get grabbed by the Snatchers right after leaving Lovegood’s house.
18. Griphook tells Harry that Gryffindor stole the sword himself and the goblins are the rightful owners.
19. A Deatheater confronts Harry, Hermione and Ron when they go to Gringotts to get into Bellatrix’s vault. Of course, I already knew that the bank had been warned of imposters but forgot that a Deatheater would be present.
20. Voldemort kills Severus Snape in the shrieking shack. The location didn’t really matter to me but I was surprised that I had forgotten something from one of the most heartbreaking scenes of the book. I will always wish that Harry and Snape could have mended their fences, but finally knowing the truth of everything and the role Snape played was therapeutic for Harry.
21. The gem in the ring worn by Marvolo Gaunt, that later was turned into a horcrux that cursed Dumbledore, was the resurrection stone. Has this book been edited and content changed? Did I read the same book the last three times? I honestly don’t remember this at all.
22. Kreacher makes an appearance at Hogwarts fighting alongside the elves.
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