Reliving The Magic: The Deathly Hallows

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but
why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”
Dumbledore -
The Deathly Hallows

Wow. That did not take me long at all.

I finished the last instalment of the Potter saga about a week ago, but didn't have time to blog about it until now, so for that I apologise.

Now, I loved so much about this book; the maturity of the text, characters, themes and motifs, not to mention the gripping story, intriguing mysteries and interesting plot points. However, I must say, one of the things that winds me up about the story is that for over half of the book, we get plodding exposition about Harry, Ron and Hermione all not knowing what to do or where to look for Horcruxes, so they just apparate and disapparate at random in the hopes of getting some divine wisdom from Dumbledore (whom Harry feels may still be alive due to his constant sighting of a bright blue eye in the shard mirror which was given to him by recently deceased godfather, Sirius Black).

Please don't get me wrong, I love the way that half of the book was written and we get some truly engaging insight into the dynamics of Ron and Hermione's developing romantic entanglement, but we also get a lot of needless waiting around while they both sit and wait for Harry to reveal some plan they both thought he had which we, as readers, know he couldn't possibly have done. I mean, give the guy a break, up until fairly recently, he hadn't even known Horcruxes exist; how can they possible expect Harry to just know where to look for them?

Potter (somehow) manages to save the day!

Even if they expected Dumbledore to have told them, that's still a lot of expectation to put on their friend. I mean, has Harry ever shown any real signs of forethought when they get themselves into this sort of situation? No, not really. Even from the earliest adventures in The Philosopher's Stone, Harry just seems to bumble through and, with a combination of good friends and quick thinking, saves the day. That's why the wizarding world seems to love him, because he's simply an average boy-wizard who happens to be 'The Chosen One'.

I really feel for Harry, having to deal with all that pressure, I do.

The Horcrux once belonging to
Helga Hufflepuff.

It's also this expectation, pressure and exposition which confuses me as to why they felt the need to split the 'seven Horcruxes/seven books' duality), I understand why they may have felt the desire to drag out the final instalment as much as possible; more films equals more money, of course. But why, when there both The Goblet of Fire and The Half Blood Prince are longer the The Deathly Hallows did they decided to split this one in two, thus making one frankly dull film, and one where I feel the audience isn't allowed to take a breath? It just seems like a silly thing to do me, especially when they could've trimmed the first film down to forty-five minutes of camping adventures leaving us the rest of the film to actually find the Horcruxes.
book into two films (thus ruining the beautiful

Sorry about the rant there - back to the book!

Once Ron has thrown his paddy, come back and rescued Harry from certain death, we finally begin to see some real headway being made into the destruction of Voldemort, and finally, finally, we get the tantalising wizarding action we expected. We get some tales of daring do from our wonder trio as well as some lovely supporting roles from other beloved members of the cast, Bill and Fleur make wonderful aids to the gang, filling the Mr and Mrs Weasley gap we may otherwise have felt in their absence, we also get more time to spend with Olivander; a character I feel, up until this point, had been seriously underwritten. Who better to give us some insight into the history of wand-lore than the best wand maker in the United Kingdom?

Remus Lupin as portrayed
by David Thewlis.

On top of this character development, we have, early on in the story, a wonderful moment where Harry insults Lupin to the point of argument in a bid to convince him to stay with his pregnant wife, Tonks. JK excels herself in this moment by giving us another side to Harry's selfless actions; he must hurt the feelings of the closest thing to a father figure he currently has in order to (hopefully) save his life and allow him to raise his son; something Harry never got to experience on his own. It's this action which allows the reader, I believe, to reconcile the image of Old Harry in the final moments of the book, with the 17 year old wizard in the kitchen of number 12 Grimmauld Place.

Of course, it is this incredibly noble action which makes Lupin's eventual demise all the more heart-wrenching. Not to mention the fact that he and his beloved wife, Tonks, are united in death, but the fact that mere chapters earlier, Lupin honours Harry by asking him to be godfather to his newly born son, Ted. Interestingly enough, however, once Harry sees the couple dead in the great hall of Hogwarts, towards the end of the battle, his first thought isn't that of young, parentless Ted and how Harry will have to become his soul carer, but of his own personal loss. Something which seems, to my mind, to bely the somewhat affected maturity Harry has displayed until this moment.

Photo credit: Potterish.

Personally, I felt that these deaths were the most heartbreaking, though the loss of both Fred and Dobby were utterly horrendous losses to both the characters in the narrative and to the reader. I, for one, felt I'd lost a dear friend when Dobby finally shuffled off his mortal coil. I'm not ashamed to say I shed a tear on the bus home from work while reading, that evening.

I feel now is a good time to state, for the record, that when I read that Mad Eye Moody died in his valiant efforts to transport Harry safely from Privet Drive to the Burrow, that I was utterly shocked, saddened and confused as to how Moody (one of the best Aurors of all time) was so easily killed during (what should've been) a routine excursion.

I was also disappointed to see that very little was done to mourn Moody, up until the moment inside the Ministry when Harry, disguised using Polyjuice Potion, liberates Moody's stolen eye from the door of professional bastard, Dolores Umbridge. Of course, this moment had me punching the air, to see that Moody was remembered in a wonderful moment of Ministry vandalism, though it would've been nice to see a little more sensitivity surrounding the loss of such a wonderfully gruff and impressive character.

Aberforth Dumbledore.

Of course, it's not long that we're without a stern and commanding figure. Indeed, before the book is over, we're introduced to the owner of the dazzlingly blue eye which Harry keeps sighting in the mirror.

It does, of course, belong to Dumbledore.

Though, obviously, not Albus. He's dead, silly.

No, the eye belongs to Aberforth Dumbledore. He is, in many ways, the antithesis of his brother; gruff, stern and altogether a little bit frightening, he is nothing like the sparkling, kind Albus. Indeed, he seems to go to great lengths to differentiate himself from his infinitely more famous brother - we're regaled by tales of the Dumbledore family. Stories of sadness, loss and a family torn asunder. This is a welcome diversion from the excitement of destroying Voldemort, however, as up until this moment, we have heard Albus Dumbledore's name dragged through the mud by none other than quote/unquote 'journalist' Rita Skeeter. What a bitch.

From here, Harry and co. enter Hogwarts through a secret passage guarded by Aberforth and are reunited

Rowena Ravenclaw's lost diadem.

with the bloody and bruised students which we all know and love. Of course, we have Luna, Neville and a selection of other supporting characters, all of whom seem to have been fighting the good fight in Harry's absence. Naturally, it's inspiring to both Harry and the reader when we see that his friends are striving so fervently to stick it to the Death Eaters.

The following chapters of Rowling's narrative are fraught with loss, excitement and tense moments as the whole of Hogwarts rallies to help Harry fend of Voldemort's hordes while simultaneously trying to find the lost diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw.

It's during these chapters that Rowling really steps up to the plate in delivering some scintillating action which certainly kept me on the edge of my seat, all the while enjoying, savouring and remembering every single moment.

Molly Weasley: Resident Boss.

Also stepping up and proving themselves during these moments are many of the supporting cast; Molly Weasley proves her status as ultimate MILF legend by taking down, none other than scum-bag, Bellatrix Lestrange. Not only does she do away with Lestrange, she does so while protecting Ginny and swearing like a sailor. Good golly, Miss Molly.

Another bad-ass in our midst is none other than Neville Longbottom. Neville acts on instructions from Harry to kill Nagini (the final Horcrux) if he gets the chance. What's so incredible about this, is that Neville proves his worth as a true Gryffindor by pulling the sword of Godric Gryffindor from the flaming remnants of the beloved Sorting Hat.

Harry and Dumbledore walk the
line between life and death.

What surprised me, however, was the fact that, once the Horcruxes had been destroyed and Harry had spoken to a facsimile of Dumbledore (did Harry dream it, or did Dumbledore somehow infiltrate Harry's mind from beyond the grave? You decide!), the final confrontation between he and Voldemort is incredibly short lived. Just one spell each was cast and then a final struggle (as depicted in the films) and suddenly, Voldemort falls down, dead.

A sudden conclusion, I'm sure you'll agree, but shockingly satisfying. The fact that all along, Voldemort's arrogance carried him through, believing he would be the ultimate victor, then he was bested by Potter in but a few moments - he never really seems to have stood a chance.

Yes, with this single page, Rowling gives a generation of readers everywhere closure on the stories, characters, places and people we've all grown to know and love. We find Ginny and Harry are married with children, as are Ron and Hermione. There's now a grudging respect between Malfoy and the gang and we find a new generation of students are off to Hogwarts. The magic continues.

This is a beautifully written epilogue to the Potter saga and Rowling handles it beautifully.

From The Philosopher's Stone, to The Deathly Hallows, Harry Potter has been a wondrous ride, one I'm sure I'll partake in again, before too long. And, when I finally have kids, they will all be introduced to the sheer delight of this story.

And, finally, as I read the last page of the story, the overarching majesty that is the Harry Potter series, I felt depressed and elated, saddened and overjoyed, and finally, once I'd closed the book; all was well.

See you next time, dear reader.

Photo credit: fcksbackground. 

Reliving The Magic: The Half Blood Prince

“Dumbledore says people find it far easier to forgive others for being wrong than being right.”
Hermione Granger
The Half Blood Prince

Before we begin, allow me to apologise for the severe delay on this post. What with starting a new job, my reading speed has gone up (thanks to an hour long bus journey each way to and from work) but my time for writing has dropped immensely. In fact, any and all writing time I've had recently has gone into either writing articles for His Vintage Life (available now at W. H. Smiths) or into planning my campy 50's style sci-fi parody "The Man With The Cosmic Quiff: The Adventures of Captain Dirk Hero" (stay tuned for more on that!). So yes, Reliving The Magic has fallen somewhat by the wayside, though, without further delay, here are some of my thoughts on 'The Half Blood Prince'.

To begin with, dear reader, I must be honest with you. While I'd read the first four books in their entirety and had vague memories of making a valiant attempt at book number five, I never even attempted number six. A shameful admission, I know, but by this time I had more important things to worry about, such as how best to create a perfect quiff and how to get girls to notice me. So yes, this book was entirely new to me, which, in all honesty, made it even more exciting.

Obviously, I was familiar with the story thanks to the films, but, as I've said before, it's Rowling's details which make the books so deliriously believable. Once again, she's built upon her previously established Wizarding lore and made her world richer and more colourful with each deft keystroke. Indeed, her use of well-known and well-loved characters is masterful and the addition of new spells, back-stories, myths, legends and monsters makes the whole thing a joy to behold.

Dumbledore and Harry at the pensieve.

Indeed, within this book, some of my favourite Potter moments appear. From Harry's one-on-one extra-curricular lessons with Dumbledore (try getting that past Ofsted!) to the hauntingly tangible horcrux adventure, to the final instalments of the story wherein we find our beloved headmaster entombed in white marble, Rowling creates a narrative which sees our favourite students go from teenagers to adults in the space of a few chapters.

It is, in fact, Harry, Ron and Hermione's determination to carry on the work started by Dumbledore which makes this particular reader finally feel like the trio are maturing and growing into the successful adults they were, undoubtedly, destined to be. What's interesting to note here, is that for the first time in Potter history, I feel like our protagonists have a plan; that when they finally face down Lord Voldemort that they will do so deliberately, confidently; with the wealth of experience and knowledge of magical power befitting a much older generation than they themselves are.

Indeed, Harry seems spurred on, determined, to become the great wizard that Dumbledore believes him to have always been. He is, as the prophecy states, the chosen one, and Harry seems unwilling to let that title mean nothing.

The Dark Mark appears above Hogwarts.

This is particularly poignant since Voldemort essentially created his own worst enemy. His own determination to become the ultimate master of the dark arts leads him to cause the young Harry Potter to have protection against even the darkest spells Voldemort has at his finger tips.

It's the inclusion of this detail, I believe, that cements Potter's inclusion amongst the greatest literary works of all time, indeed, this twist seems almost Shakespearean in nature, execution, and sheer hubris inducing loveliness.

Of course, I'm also furious with Rowling for killing off my absolute favourite character in the saga, but unfortunately, it needed to be done. Harry, Ron and Hermione needed this gut-wrenching shock to inspire them to become something great. This, of course, is something Dumbledore seems to have understood.

The moment that broke my heart. Dumbledore's death.

In fact, it is this sage, Jedi-like ability which causes one to draw comparisons between the Harry/Dumbledore relationship and the similarly wondrous Luke/Obi-Wan relationship of the Star Wars universe.

Yes indeed, Rowling seems to have gone strength to strength with her masterpiece thus far. She succeeds in maturing her characters as time progresses and you can see her writing style ageing with her audience which, I'm sure you'll understand, is no mean feat.

Until next time.

Concept artwork for Dumbledore's Funeral by Adam Brockbank.

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