Today I will be explaining which Harry Potter book is my favorite.
1. What is your favorite book? Why?
While I love every book in its own special way, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is my favorite because it was the only one to truly move me. I have heard people say that they cried when Cedric, Sirius, or Dumbledore died, but I didn’t. I think it was because all of their deaths were so sudden and during times of chaos that I didn’t really get a chance to dwell on it because I had to keep reading about the action and battles that followed.
But when Harry is walking to the Forbidden Forest to surrender his life after learning his destiny, I had tears falling down my cheeks. (I was reading alone in my bed in the middle of the night, what other way is there to finish a book??) This was the moment the series had been building up to, all of Voldemort’s failed attempts at killing Harry and now Harry was willingly ending his life in order to save everyone else. There was literally no other way to kill the bad guy!
The inner dialogue he has while walking from the headmaster’s office to the forest (written brilliantly by Rowling) struck me to the core like nothing I had read before. Part of its impact comes from the fact that I, like many other people my age, had grown up with Harry. It’s sort of lame to admit, but I consider him like a friend. When you spend that much time with a character who is written so well, you feel like you know them! Their feelings have been described to you in times of their happiness, anxiety, fear, pain, confusion, and all sorts of situations. Real people don’t normally share their feelings in such detail as those described in books.
So when someone close to me, who I’ve been with through so many crazy experiences, was frightened and wondering what it’s going to be like to die in the next few minutes, I got emotional!
“Terror washed over him as he lay on the floor, with that funeral drum pounding inside him. Would it hurt to die?” – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 34
He was filled with fear but strangely at peace. He finally had the answer to ending this war. He’d had a wild, crazy, eventful life, and although a lot of it was awful (living with the Dursleys, experiencing the deaths of his parents and many close friends), he had made some great friends and achieved much success in his seventeen years – from quidditch playing to patronus producing – that he could die somewhat fulfilled. But that happiness and success was still living and breathing in the castle. He was just getting started in this magical world! He had Ron and Hermione, Ginny, the whole Weasley family, the Order of the Phoenix, the students at Hogwarts, and countless witches and wizards supporting him. He was torn between being happy to have had these relationships at all, and the fact that he was now leaving them behind so they would survive.
“He felt he would have given all the time remaining to him for just one last look at them; but then, would he ever have the strength to stop looking? It was better like this.” – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 34
Such deep life contemplation related to me. I’m sure I’m not alone in having wondered in the past what it will be like to die. His feelings are described so clearly that I can put myself in his shoes. And it’s heartbreaking to imagine being in his situation: a young person who has suffered greatly but still has so much potential for happiness is walking to face his own inevitable death.
“His heart was leaping against his ribs like a frantic bird. Perhaps it knew it had little time left, perhaps it was determined to fulfill a lifetime’s beats before the end.” – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 34
Clearly, chapter 34, The Forest Again, was my favorite chapter even though it’s a really depressing part of the series! On the whole, I liked this book the best because the trio is given their largest and most difficult task: find and destroy Voldemort’s horcruxes. Even though the mission may not have been clear (Dumbledore likes to communicate in riddles, unfortunately), it felt satisfying to follow the story as the good guys made headway on ending Voldemort once and for all.
It was also satisfying to read chapter 33, The Prince’s Tale, which displays a highlight reel of Snape’s memories in order to explain everything to Harry. As a reader, it felt nice to have the author tie up a lot of loose ends about Snape, Dumbledore, and Harry that had been drifting in the breeze since book one. Heading into the final chapters of the story, it felt good to be informed and finally get some answers! So Snape really was a good guy??
The final battle between Harry and Voldemort was a powerful scene. Voldemort’s constant arrogance was met with Harry’s confidence and possession of knowledge to which Voldemort was unaware. After observing Dumbledore and Snape’s memories in the pensieve, Harry had all the pieces of the puzzle. With all of the horcruxes gone, it had become a mortal battle. However, Harry had the advantage as he knew the Elder Wand would not respond to Voldemort.
“Harry saw Voldemort’s green jet meet his own spell, saw the Elder Wand fly high, dark against the sunrise, spinning across the enchanted ceiling like the head of Nagini, spinning through the air toward the master it would not kill, who had come to take full possession of it at last. And Harry, with the unerring skill of the Seeker, caught the wand in his free hand as Voldemort fell backward, arms splayed, the slit pupils of the scarlet eyes rolling upward. Tom Riddle hit the floor with a mundane finality, his body feeble and shrunken, the white hands empty, the snakelike face vacant and unknowing. Voldemort was dead, killed by his own rebounding curse, and Harry stood with two wands in his hand, staring down at his enemy’s shell.” – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, chapter 36
I really agree with Rowling’s decision to have Voldemort die a “mortal death”, in that his body falls to the ground and shows he is human. A lot of people (just judging by what people post on the internet) feel that the movie got this scene wrong. In the film, he basically dissolves into ashes that fly away in the breeze. Some people support this decision, saying it represents the idea that he split his soul so many times that there is nothing left once the last piece is destroyed. But I agree with the others that say having the body there leaves no doubt that he is dead and provides some closure. With all of his defenses gone, he is nothing special, and can be defeated just like anyone else.
Which book in the Harry Potter series is your favorite? Leave a comment!
Thanks for reading!
-Rebecca
I adapted this questionnaire from Over the Moony.
1. What is your favorite book? Why?
2. What is your favorite film? Why?
3. What is your least favorite book? Why?
4. What is your least favorite film? Why?
5. Who is your favorite character? Why?
6. Who is your least favorite character? Why?
7. What would your patronus be?
8. Which of the Deathly Hallows would you choose?
9. Which house would you be in?
10. If you could meet any member of the cast, who would it be?
11. If you were on the Quidditch team, which position would you play?
12. Were you happy with the ending?
13. How much does Harry Potter mean to you?
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