After reading Harry Potter, I felt as if I was ending a stage in my life. I remember when I was really small, used to get picked on, and of course....wore glasses. I never really focused in class, I always felt sports were just plain awesome. I was basically alone. This is the first time I'm bringing this out, but I think it had to be done for this book.
Then I picked up Sorcerer's Stone. I was introduced with Harry Potter, a boy who had lost his parents in a terrible confrontation with Voldemort, a sinister warlord. I can't say how this relates to me, but as the story goes on, I feel as if I can understand the characters. Instead of not really relating, I could feel and understand why they did this or that. But through out the whole series, I stuck with Harry and his two friends. Later when I was in I think second grade...when I finished the book. I'm not saying I had a Voldemort in my life, or a stone I had to find, or even a broomstick that I flew to get a golden snitch. But in reality, Harry Potter was me. A loner, with friends, but couldn't explain his problems. Who was brave, a loyal friend, but in pain of the history that he once had.
Harry and I grew up. I was 17 when I picked up Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows. The age that Harry was about to be, and I knew from the previous books that things would change. Previously, I was pushed into a fantasy world mixed with reality, of Basilisks, Werewolves, Dark Wizards, Evil Spells, House Elves, Goblins, Trolls, Giants, and a boy that was stuck in between it all. Hunted down by a man who's soul was not complete, who had this one chance to become one again. And there was just so much more.
And now, Harry and I were at the end. The book starts out in Privet Drive, with Harry's Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and Dudley leaving to be safe from the vile that is plagueing the lands. Voldemort is rising from power, Dumbledore is dead, Death eaters are killing Muggles and Half Bloods. Harry soon realizes he needs to finish what he started, destroy the Horcruxes and kill Voldemort. But he isn't going alone. The trio of Harry, Ron, and Hermione travel through far out lands to destroy these dark objects. Points like the Sword of Gryffindor is used again in this book, where Ron desperately tries to destroy a Horcrux, and wins. But there is alot of seperation, also. Ron left for quite some time, Harry doesn't know whether his friends will survive or not, Mad-Eye is dead, he's on the run, and his scar is forming it all into pain. This is a story of teenage struggle, with a fantasy twist and real pain we all go through. Loss and fear.
And through it all, it seems the heroes suffice. At one point they arrive at Gringotts, which you probably know from Book 1, as a goblin bank with many secrets. When they arrive, they begin to search for one certain Horcrux, but all hell breaks loose. The items are red hot, and duplicate when touched. Harry reaches for the horcrux with the Sword, but fails. Meanwhile, the goblins know he's there, and a guarding Dragon is in mighty rage. Luckily, the trio escape on the dragon, exhausted of what has happened so far.
But we're only half way there. The story leads us at the Malfoy mansion, where some recognizable characters are back such as Mr.Ollivander, the man who sold harry's wand, is back...even Griphook and Dean. Meanwhile, Hermione is being tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange, an evil Death Eater and servant of the Dark Lord. When all hope is lost, and Harry pleads for help out of mythical fool, a character we all might know from the second book comes back.
Dobby the House Elf, a free elf that Harry potter freed from Lucious Malfoy. Harry tells Dobby to get the others, and leave ron and Himself at the mansion. Dobby does so, and dissapears. Harry is then pinned down upstairs, Bellatrix holding her knife at Hermione, the Death eaters battling Harry and Ron. When all of a sudden, and this is my favorite part, wreckage falls on Bellatrix and nearly misses, her wand is taken, and Dobby arrives back, and muses:
"Dobby is a free elf!"
Though many die that we know and love, Harry Potter is a story of not being afraid, sticking with friends when they're the only people you have, and going that extra mile to not only save us all...but save yourself. The Battle of Hogwarts reigns, many people die, die for Harry, and the rest continue to fight. People such as Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall. Harry learns the past of Dumbledore and Snape, heroes that were once loners and trying to make sense of the world. So many things packed into a book, and they all make sense.
Harry knows what he must do. Fred is dead, Hagrid seems to be dead, people are dieing around him. He nows that he must die now, he must be killed because he as the fragment of Voldemort that the Dark Lord will always want. And when Harry sacrifices himself, he turns out to be in a white room, strikes a conversation with Dumbledore, and realizes: He is the last Horcrux that Voldemort needs. Harry also realizes Dumbledore was a man who was seeking greatness, who at one point didn't care for others...but in the end, helped all. Hagrid carries Harry's body back to Hogwarts, rests it on the feet of Lord Voldemort, and hears his battle cry of happiness and success. But in the thick of it all, one surprising character fights back. Neville Longbottom strikes Nagini with the Sword, chants "Dumbledore's Army!" and the battle continues.
We come to a point where it's only Harry and Voldemort, something that had never happened before, just the two battleing of pure skill. Harry realizes that Voldemort never had any love, never had the friends he did, so in the clash of magic...Harry strikes voldemort down.
From what I summarized, the book seems not that exciting, but if you read it...if you remembered all the times Harry had and the great adventures he had now...and you remembered one thing: Even a person like Harry, with crooked glasses and what he seemed to be false hope, can change the world...and save it. Give hope to people who held onto hope, who stayed on the ride even when there was dangerous parts. Who stayed until the end. And the story concludes, Harry now grown up as his friends next to him, watching his son and his daughter ride away on the Hogwarts express like he did years and years ago.
And when I close the book, I slowly place it on my table in my room, the table where I put the first book many years ago, and smiled. Because it was not the end. Just a mere conclusion. The rest is for your mind to decide, like it did imagining the world JK Rowling put in.
And I remember when I was about 7 or 6, picking up the first book, where I would never be in the same world again. I sought refuge, for I had a horrible past like Harry's, but I had friends that stayed with me like our main Hero. I remember cheering when Harry stabbed the basilisk, when he caught that one golden snitch, when he strided on Buckbeak, when he risked his life to battle the Hungarian Horntail in the Triwizard tournament. Harry and I had been through rough times, but I knew I was with him the entire journey. And in the end, when the last word was written and Harry Potter continued his glorious life, I asked myself why he did it. Why he went through it all. And I realized it was family. Real family. Family that was gone, family that remained, family that would be.
And to this day and forward, I will remember the one of the last quotes two characters shared in the series.
"Tell me one last thing," Said Harry. "Is this real? Or has this been happening inside my head?"
Dumbledore beamed at him, and his voice sounded loud and strong in Harry's ears even though the bright mist was descending again, obscuring his figure.
"Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?"
I grew up with Harry, and here we are.
-Jason H (LHT)
^Fixing spelling errors, just typed it so fast
