Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (by JK Rowling)

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I re-read the first six of JK Rowling’s Harry Potter books earlier this year, about one per month, alongside many other books; both new (to me) novels, and some I have previously liked by other authors. However when I finished ‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince’, I didn’t want to wait before embarking on the final episode in the saga.

I had only previously read ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ once, back in 2007 when it was first published. I recalled it as having an entirely satisfactory ending, albeit with casualties along the way; but I also remembered being a little disappointed that, other than the final battle, there is nothing set in Hogwarts, and no ‘school story’ section at all.

This time, I read it slowly, knowing in general terms what was coming, but having forgotten almost all the detail. There’s a great deal of tension right from the start. The book opens as two of Lord Voldemort’s supporters head for a meeting, and discuss their strategy to attack Harry and his friends. The ‘dark lord’ hopes that by destroying his nemesis, his rise to power will be uninterrupted.

The scene then moves to Harry’s relatives’ home in Privet Drive. Harry is preparing to leave forever, and has to persuade his Dursley aunt, uncle and cousin to leave too, as they will be in danger once Harry comes of age. Until his 17th birthday he and his home have been under powerful protection, but that is due to be lifted a few days later.

Harry is surprised when quite a number of his friends arrive to escort him, several of whom take polyjuice potion to provide decoys. Their flight sets the theme of the book - fast action, battle against the evil death-eaters, and some tragic casualties.

There’s a brief light interlude when Ron’s brother Bill gets married to Fleur, but the festivities are interrupted…. Harry, Ron and Hermione have to vanish, and do so in a way that was almost reminiscent of Bilbo Baggins disappearing from his birthday party. Their quest is to find and destroy several ‘horcruxes’ - depositories for Voldemort’s fragmented soul - but they have little idea where to start.

It’s a classic quest/adventure story, with little of the humour that lightly peppers some of the earlier books. It’s also much more overtly laced with Christian symbolism: from Christmas carols and church bells to Bible verses on tombstones and discussion of life after death. Not in a preaching way, of course; but this epic good vs evil septology is shown clearly, in this book, as being a kind of parable, or allegory perhaps, from a Christian point of view. (For anyone wanting to explore this further, I would recommend this article).

There are a couple of very moving scenes which brought tears to my eyes, contrasting with the high-action fast-paced escapes or battles that take place in other chapters. More back story is gradually explored, and the author brings together many of the events and symbols from earlier books leading towards the inevitable, dramatic and superb conclusion.

I love the way the author elevates unconditional love, loyalty, courage and friendship in the series, and most of all this book. Harry is by no means a perfect person: he’s quite inclined to break rules, he’s hot tempered, and he makes mistakes. But he is intensely loyal to his friends, determined to continue his quest even if it leads to his destruction. He finds it upsetting when he learns that one of his heroes was flawed too, but Harry has no desire for power, and is even willing to extend mercy to some of his enemies.

It’s definitely better to have read the earlier books before embarking on this one, which makes a fitting conclusion to the series. I would recommend reading this before watching the film versions; despite making this book into a two-part film series (Deathly Hallows part 1 and Deathly Hallows part 2) there is much that’s missing from the films; I don’t think I would have understood them if I had not read the book first.

It's taken me five days to finish this book, despite it being rather shorter than a couple of the earlier volumes (a little over 600 pages in all). That's partly because it has been a busy few days, partly because I deliberately didn't read this book at bedtime, not wanting to trigger bad dreams, and partly because I wanted to savour the language, and the story, and frequently re-read whole sections immediately after finishing them.

Very, very highly recommended to anyone over the age of about twelve.

Review copyright 2019 Sue's Book Reviews