Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

With Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling's epic masterpiece of the eternal struggle between good and evil, freedom and tyranny, disguised cleverly as a series of children's books, comes to an awe inspiring end. School is out (and indeed the Hogwarts school is not even a scene in the book until later in the story) and Harry and his friends must now apply all that they have learned if they are to survive and triumph.

Most of the book is about the quest that Harry Potter and his friends must go on to find the means to defeat the Dark Lord Voldemort. The task is not an easy one. They have a few clues to go by. In the meantime, the Death Eaters, Voldemort's version of the SS, are after them. One mistake, one misstep will deliver Harry and his friends to the deaths.

And there will be many deaths before the story is concluded. Long time fans of Harry Potter already know that the war for the wizarding world has already been paid for in blood. Sirius Black, beloved father figure, and Dumbledore, beloved mentor, have already gone into the dark. But there will be more, some to be cut down in the flower of their youth. It is the singular great tragedy of any war, no matter how necessary, that those called upon to give the last full measure of devotion are often those with the most to lose, because they have lived so briefly.

There is also at least one scene of torture, done for pleasure among other reasons. It was a hard thing to read for an adult; harder still will it be for a younger reader.

Heroes rise in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Some of them one who has read the other six books will expect. Others are quite unexpected, proving that there is power in redemption.

The quest that Harry and his friends must go on is not only a quest for something physical. As with most quests, it is also a quest for themselves, to find out what they are made of. Being human, albeit magical, Harry, Ron, and Hermione have their flaws, which they must overcome as much as they must the Dark Lord Voldemort's sorcery. Harry has his anger and abandonment issues. Ron has fits of jealousy. Even Hermione has her inner demons to contend with.

It is no revelation to say that there is a final confrontation between Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort. That has been coming since Voldemort destroyed Harry's parents and tried to obliterate Harry. It is the climax of a greater struggle, which will be won by pain, loss, and death. The ending is satisfying beyond the capability to tell.

There is of course a great sadness that Rowling has resolved that there will be no more of Harry Potter. But perhaps, in the future, there will more from the wonderful wizarding world that she has created, that has become along with Middle Earth and Narnia a realm that while it exists only in the imagination, is no less real and enchanting for all that.