It is with mixed feelings that I write the review of the book. I have been waiting for this right from the moment I read the first book. But the desire to know the end reached it’s peak when I saw Dumbledore die in the hands of Snape. I just couldn’t wait for the next book. I don’t think I anticipated for any other book in the series as much as I did this one. Did it live up to all the hype and expectations? I cannot say that for sure. In many ways it was like Order of Phoenix, which incidentally happens to be my least favorite of HP series. There were portions where I actually felt bored and there were portions that I absolutely hated.
The fact that Ron deserts Hermione and Harry because he feels Harry is taking them on a wild goose chase. Harry shouting at Lupin for wanting to desert Tonks and accompany him. In Half Blood Prince, I got the feeling that Godric Hollow would reveal many secrets. The only thing that happened there was another attack on Harry and Herm. The part I hated most was Harry doubting Dumbledore’s character, that too based on Rita Skeeters biography. Dumbledore was one person who stood by Harry all his life and made him the person he turned out to be. How many times has Dumbledore saved Harry. How many times, Harry himself had been misrepresented by Rita, yet he chose to mistrust Dumbledore and his intentions. Coming from a person who, to put it in Lupin’s words, was just like James, who would have considered mistrusting his friends the height of dishonor. I wonder why Harry did not choose to extend this consideration to Dumbledore.
Another thing that I did not like about the book is the way Harry comes to become the master of the Elder Wand. It is simply because of a series of lucky coincidences. First his wand is destroyed, then he is captured by Grayback then he grabs Malfoy’s wand to help Hermione escape. All this was purely by chance. In fact he decides not to go after the wand because he deduces that Dumbledore never meant him to have it. It was simply providence that Harry ended up being the master of the wand. This appeared to be a departure from the previous book where Dumbledore tells Harry not to give too much importance to the prophecy. Ultimately, it turns out that Harry acquired the final weapon to slay Voldermot merely because he was destined to.
There are so many unanswered questions too
1) How does Neville come to possess the Gryffindor Sword. It was taken by the Goblin during the Gringotts break-in and it mysteriously finds its way into Neville’s hands when he kills Nagini.
2) We read in Order of Phoenix that Voldemot knew that Harry could read his thoughts. How come Harry is able to make so many excursions into Voldermots brain without him sensing it?
3) Both Harry and McGonagall use unforgivable curses (Imperius) which they never did regardless of the provocation in the previous books.
4) Ron being able to open the door to the Chamber of Secrets by merely behaving like a Psletongue, is quite un-realistic.
5) Why was Mundungus chosen to impersonate Harry during their move from Dursley’s house? He was a well known crook and an unwilling participant.
One thing that makes Harry Potter books so enticing is that, in-spite of it being about a magical world it rings true. This world had rules and everything works within the framework of these rules. This book wandered into the realms of unbelievable in sections.
Most of the clues in the previous books were deciphered by the fans.
1) Harry turns out to be the 7th Horcrux, after all
2) Snape did love Lily Potter and that’s why he switches his allegiance.
3) Ron and Hermione do hookup and so do Ginny and Harry
4) RAB turns out to be Regulus Black (one of the things that was guessed very early and agreed by most of the fans)
However, the build up to these revelations were so good that it didn’t matter that the suspense was broken long back.
The book picks up momentum towards the middle. The break-in at the Gringott’s bank and their subsequent escape is fantastic. It reminded me of Harry’s first task in Goblet of Fire where he retrieves the golden egg from under a dragon’s nose. The last 200 odd pages happen at Hogwarts when everyone prepares for war and fights against the death eaters. All the characters featured in each of the seven books make their appearance and contribute to the war. Grawp, Kreacher, all the creatures in the forbidden forest and even professor Trewelny.
And like all other HP books, the final pages are truly spectacular. Dumbledore explains why Voldermot was unable to defeat or kill Harry. The final battle between Harry and Voldermot, where Harry explains why he is the true owner of the Elder wand was fantastic. Even though, every HP book had a nail biting finish, this was simply the best.
This is perhaps the most hyped and anticipated book in living memory and full credit to JKR, the book did live up to its hype. Although, it is not the best of the HP books, I would still read it many times (I have read it twice already) as I have every HP book. Hats off to JKR, she is truly the master of the Magical world. I earnestly hope she writes many more books.
Updated 24th July 2007
Another question I had was, why Voldermot thought the room of requirements had only been discovered by him. Remember when Harry enters it in HBP, it is quite obvious that people have been hinding things there for centuries. I wonder why Voldermot assumed no one else could enter it, the proof was there right before his eyes.
Nice review. I don’t plan to read it since i have not read any of it. It is amazing that you read it twice in the 2 days that it has been out.
Thank you, Sukumar. Harry Potter is very addictive once you start reading them
I hope you get to read them some time, I am sure you will love it.
Twice already?????!!!! :O But what about your son? Who took care of him? Didn’t Arun read the book?
^^ Oops … Prem here
… the 3rd comment is mine too!
How silly of me! I should have filled in those fields for name & website in my previous two comments … would have been lot easier!
Hi Prem, I stuck a deal with my husband and son. 21st is only for me. Anyway, I was not stuck with the book the whole day. I did hw with Anirudh and I am also telling him the story of book 6, that is his bed time story these days. I stayed up late to finish the book. My son normally sleeps at 8:30. And second time was much faster, I could skim through the boring chapters.
BTW – Arun is not a books lover, quite the opposite. He has not read a single HP book.
BTW, how old do you think is my son. He is 9 years old. He has got his friends and does not want to stick with me the whole day
About “How Neville got Gryffindor’s sword?”… I see this question being repeated by several people. I guess the answer is the same as in Book 2 – when Harry pulled the sword from the sorting hat, down at the Chamber.
Thank you Anonymous. Thats a good theory.
Hi.. Didn’t you feel there were many loose ends towards the end too? Felt the epilogue was too small…No explanation as to what happened to the remaining DA members or George…
Yes Kavitha. I do feel many questions were not properly answered. It makes me wonder if JKR is planning on another book soon.
yup..that does seem posssible….but as far as this book is concerned you cant help admiring Snape or Dumbledore…
felt Snape is one of the most strongest of characters created by JKR….and the assumption abt Neville taking the sword coz he is a true griffindor..wasn’t that sword with that goblin?
Yes, that was my question too. The idea is, if you are a true Gryfindor the sword will come to you when you are in real need.
as far as the unforgivable curses r concerned..Harry does try to use it against Bellatrix in the 5th book…just that he isn’t able to do it…n that is when Bellatrix says he shd mean it when using it…
McGonagall using it..guess she reached the limit of tolerance:)
Hi Archana,
I also felt epoligue cud have been a bit longer.What happens to Gerorge post Fred?Who takes over Hogwarts ? who is the new Minister of Magic?
Kavitha – I don’t recall the incident in book 5 but Harry does mention that conversation in this book.
Karthik – I think we should wait for the next book, what say
Lucky for you! My wifes as devout a fan as myself of HP … and we have a not yet 3 yrs old son, who *demands* all our attention!
So had to go time sharing between looking after him & reading the book … lunch, dinner etc. was all outside stuff for a change 
Good for you, Prem, the suspense would have lasted longer for you than the rest of us
Nice review…well I do agree with some points…and yes I have no idea how Neville gets Gryffindor sword after reading the book!!….well check out this!!!
http://theantisensestrand.wordpress.com/2007/07/22/harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows-no-spoilers/
Thank you Gaurav, for visiting my blog and for the link. I will check it out.
About Mundungus being a part of the seven potters, according to Dumbledore’s instructions, Snape confunded Mundungus to suggest the plan of using seven potters to the Order as decoys, and hence it is deducible that the Order would have asked him to be a part of the plan. It will look very lame if somebody suggests a plan, but then refuses to be a part of it.
But Meenaks, he has been refusing apparently. From the conversations it was quite obvious that he did not want to be part of the group. He himself acknowledges this to Harry & others in Sirus’s house.
Another thing I don’t understand, who was Sanpe’s source for the original plan, was in Mundungus?
Hi Archana ,I agree with Meenaks…but i dont think he was given a chance to refuse…u suggest a plan u take part in it.
Snapes source does seem to be Dung…which must be what he wld have told Voldemort..doesn’t look like anyone else had been involved.. another possibility is of course that the plan was in front of Dumbledore’s protrait…n him later telling it to Snape….
In Book 5 ,the incident when he tries to use cruciatus curse on Lestrange is after she murders Sirius and Harry chases her..Just before the arrival of Voldemort in the Ministry
Thanks Kavitha. Now I remember.
About Ron’s abilities with Parseltongue, may be one can’t have a long conversation with a snake by faking it, but opening a door by instructing a wooden snake on the door seems like possible. Dumbledore who himself was not a Parseltongue was able to understand it perfectly well. So it seems like a skill one can acquire, even if it is not in-born. But of course, Dumbledore is most gifted and Ron is not so good, but still I don’t find it very illogical.
Mrs. Weasley engages Bellatrix during the final battle and Bellatrix dies. The wording is quite ambiguous, but it looks like Molly used a killing curse. I couldn’t think of any other curse that could give the following effect:
//“You—will—never—touch—our—children—again!” screamed Mrs. Weasley. Bellatrix laughed, the same exhilarated laugh her cousin Sirius had given as he toppled backward through the veil, and suddenly Harry knew what was going to happen before it did.
Molly’s curse soared beneath Bellatrix’s outstretched arm and hit her squarely in the chest, directly over her heart.
Bellatrix’s gloating smile froze, her eyes began to bulge: For the tiniest space of time she knew what had happened, and then she toppled, and the watching crowd roared, and Voldemort screamed.//
If it was indeed the unforgivable curse, I don’t see any damage to Molly. Bit strange.
But to me the most fascinating piece was Voldemort dying by getting hit by his own rebouding curse. This is exactly what happened in Godric’s hallow sixteen years ago, and at that time, Voldy was saved by his horcruxes, but this time since he didn’t have any horcurxes, he met his end. I thought Rowling solved the problem of killing him quite intelligently, without anybody else having to use the killing curse on him.
One thing I didn’t understand was the importance ofHarry having Lily’s eyes. I don’t remember it getting used as a significant plot point.
Meenaks,I agree with you on Ron’s parseltongue theory
what do you mean when you say No damage to Holly when she uses the unforgivable curse? I dont think there is any visible effect of murdering someone…maybe the soul will be damaged but then again its justified since she does it for her kid
I think the most significant aspect of Harry having Lily’s eyes is Snape…Lily’s eyes are probably a constant reminder to Snape to pursue his goal..which is to save Harry
Kavitha, I am not talking about visible effects, but about the effect to the soul. I can’t see any justification for a murder just because it was for her child. Getting a soul damaged must be a significant thing, otherwise it would not be such a big deal in the wizarding world. In any case, using an unforgivable curse is a punishable offense. We cannot twist the rules just because it was used against bad people.
I can’t understand any particular significance that Snape may attach to Harry having Lily’s eyes.
Of course Meenaks, the soul getting damaged is a significant thing and murder for children may not be justified but still i dont think she has any choice here does she? I mean if she didnt use it then Lestrange would have definitely done it.Again i dont say it is justified but rather there is no option..
And as far as being a punishable offense is concerned there is no ministry in place at that time.It was under Voldemort’s control…so i doubt there will be any punishment for that at least till the Ministry is rebuilt.
This was told by Dumbledore to Snape
“Her son lives. He has her eyes, precisely her eyes. You remember the shape and color of Lily Evans’s eyes, I am sure?”
Harry’s eyes are a constant reminder to Snape that Lily is living and must live on
My doubt is that Snape knows Harry is Lily’s son. Does having similar eyes add anything significant to being a reminder? Even if Harry didn’t have her eyes, in what way Snape’s reaction would have been different? I don’t really think so.
In any case, if this is the only help of Harry having Lily’s eyes to the plot, then it doesn’t live up to the hype. Or may be we hyped it and not Rowling.
Harry looks a lot like James except for his eyes. so well maybe the eyes will neutralise whatever hatred Snape feels towards James:)))..it does help having a reminder of what he lost than just knowing it.
I feel so coz there are only a couple of instance where his eyes get mentioned in this book and JKR mentioned in some interview that Lily’s eyes will play some significant role in the book..May be it doesn’t live upto the hype but i feel it is definitely having some significance…Remember Snape’s last moments were looking into Harry’s eyes.
Meenaks, I tend to agree with Kavitha. Snape hates james and more often then not associates Harry with James, it is Lilly’s eyes that keep reminding him that he should protect her
Regarding Molly using killing curse are you saying there is no other way to kill in a duel. Even McGnogall tells Slughorn we will duel to kill, does that mean she is threatening to use it on him. So all the people who were killed in a duel had killing curse used on them, which means almost every one who killed a death eater has performed a illigal curse.
Fact that JKR does not make Harry use it says a lot about the ill effects of the curse.
I still don’t agree with the pasletongue logic. If it was so easy, chamber of secrets would have opened many times.
The previous comment was by me
Another question I had was, why Voldermot thought the room of requirements had only been discovered by him. Remember when Harry enters it in HBP, it is quite obvious that people have been hinding things there for centuries. I wonder why Voldermot assumed no one else could enter it, the proof was there right before his eyes.
i have updated the post with this question.
That is great question and is a flaw…of course one possible answer could be that Malfoy was just given that job and he was doing it. He didn’t explain to Voldemort exactly what he was doing towards it(dont see that happening considering the entire of death eaters had used it and Voldemort needs to know what is happening around)..or maybe Voldemort was sure Malfoy was going to fail that he didnt bother asking what he was doing
One thing we have to take into consideration is that the room only shows whatever you want..so room (if it was)described to Voldemort would be different to what he saw so may be Voldemort assumed that is an entirely different room…( very unlikely theory and too many may bes here but couldnt come up with anything:))
But onething about Voldemort which lead to his downfall is his overconfidence..He thinks he is ahead of everyone else…invincible….one of the reasons he didnt even think there is a possibilty Dumbledore might know of Horcruxes.
Kavitha,
If you remember, Harry tries to find a place to hide his portions book in book 6. He enters this room where everyone over the centuries have hidden their things, like illigal objects, experiments gone wrong and it is here he notices the crown. Thats how he is able to recall the place when he looks for the diadem. So, like Harry, it would have been obvious for anyone entering the room that it has been used my many others before and will continue to be used.
Voldermot would have also noticed this when he hid the diadem, so how come he thinks no one will enter. He did not require Malfoy to inform him. Anyway, Malfoy was not in this room of room of requirements.
Meenkas & Archana – Of course McGonagall, Harry & everyone else used the cruciatus & killing curses in book 7. There’s a war & everyone’s life is in danger. The rules of war & rules during peace time are different.
Yes, I thought it was funny when Neville pulls out Godric Gryffindor’s sword from the sorting hat. At least a brief mention on how it got to be there – could have been provided.
And yes, Voldemort’s no fool. He suddenly forgot to practice occlumency? Destroying the horcruxes makes him mortal, not dumb
Same with the requirements room.
I hated the part where Snape’s love for Lily is given in such detail.
And I thought the Hogwarts War was written purely for cinematic effect (when the book is filmed). Its a clear departure from JKR’s style in book 4, say.
I also didn’t the epilog: looked like “Kal Ho Na Ho”! We don’t really need to know that Harry & Ginny marry & have a son “Albus Severus”. Ron & Hermione marry. Sickeningly sweet.
Book dragged on in parts. Pretty readable & engrossing on the whole. Not on par with books 1 thru 4 though: they were the best.
Thanks Priya. Even I hated the Snape / lilly romance and that to at such an important jucture of the book. This book is not in the same league as the rest, I think JKR succumbed to lot of commercial pressures.
Archana…seems your comment puller is well oiled and in full throttle
Thanks Mahesh. Harry Potter is Harry Potter. This has not happened for other posts
Actually she seemed to have lost her touch right from the 5th book…the magic was rising from 1st thru 4th book(i feel 3rd is the best) but it went completely off in the 5th book.
one thing i did thought off note was the way she toned down the death of most of the key characters…kind of a lame end..including Voldermort…it was rather simple at the end.and yeah i do agree most of them have been dramatized too much
did any of you felt inspiration from Lord of the rings..mainly at places where the locket horcrux is mentioned?
i agree with Priyaon the epilogue.As i said before more importance as to how the rest of the characters coped up life after Voldemort would have been better than knowing how many kids Harry and Ron had.
Snape and Lily’s romance? i dont know,i feel the detail was needed mainly coz that was one of the turning points of the series.
Why arent the Malfoys in Azkaban?
Actually I remembered Matrix (where Neo is caught in a railway station between the living and the dead world), when Harry speaks to dumbledore in the end.
I think the Malfoy’s are not in jail because his mother helped Harry
The fact that there is a specific “killing” curse indicates to me that there is not any other way to kill in a duel. All other curses are likely to leave you alive, but may be in a condition that requires treatment from St. Mungo’s. I don’t see any other possibility of somebody dying in a duel.
Harry doesn’t use the killing curse. Even when facing Voldemort, he uses “Expelliarmus” which Lupin considers is Harry’s trademark..!!
Chamber of secrets would not have opened many times. Firstly, not many people know about it, and much less the exact way to open it. Further, known parseltongue wizards have been very less in number. In the whole series, we have encountered not more than three genuine parseltongues. (Even Harry got it along with the scar and not as an in-born quality.) So the ability of somebody accidentally picking up the exact noise to make to instruct a snake to open is very minimal. It is only because Ron was there with Harry when he opened it previously that he knew about the location and the “open” instruction. The possibility of somebody else discovering both together is almost zero.
Snape/Lily romance happened very early, before Harry’s birth. It is just that Harry (and consequently us) got to know about it at the fag end of the series. In view of buidling Snape as a complex character, I feel it is the right thing to do for Rowling to place the revelation at the end. If Harry knew about it earlier, there is no beauty in Snape’s character.
About Voldemort not practicing Occlumency, Dumbledore predicts rather correctly about this saying that Voldemort found entering Harry’s mind a very tortuous experience, very painful, and he is unlikely to do it again. Voldy cannot share a mind/soul which is full of love and friendship and other noble and selfless thoughts.
//The rules of war & rules during peace time are different. //
I disagree with this. When Dumbledore asks Harry if he considers him to be better than Voldemort, the immediate response from Harry is that Dumbledore never killed if he could avoid it. And Dumbledore was the wizard who had spent a mazimum of his lifetime in wars. He never killed anybody knowingly. He had the same rules for peace and war and that is what makes him great.
Meenaks you are forgetting that occlumency is the skill to block someone from entering your mind..its legilimency which involves entering someone else’s mind..so was said in the book about Voldemort finding it a painful experience, he would be using legilimency to enter Harry’s mind…but why isn’t he blocking someone else entering his mind? after all in the 5th book it was said that it was only a matter of time before Voldermort realises Harry can tap his thoughts
i again agree with your parseltongue theory:))..all he said in the chamber was open up which wouldn’t involve a complicated sentence.Not that difficult to reproduce…
Yes Kavitha, Thanks. May be it is the famous ego of Voldemort which makes him feel such a small kid has no chance of invading his mind. Voldemort never even considered that other wizards could have skills.
Meenaks – Even in the muggle world the rules are different in war time and peace times. We are not normally allowed to shoot people down but it is considered a brave thing to do in war.
Having said that, I still don’t like the idea of Harry using unforgivable curses. Thought out the series, Harry’s character (goodness, love, honesty) is seen as the only response to Voldermots evil. By using these curses he has stooped to their level, isn’t it. It does not feel like the triumph of good over evil.
Snape/Lilly romance at the jucture did not fit well. We are in the middle of a nail biting war and here we have a long drawn out narration of Snape and lilly’s childhood and it looked pretty lame. There was no chemistry between them. I hated that section.
Meenaks,that could be the only answer to this..Same as him not thinking any one else could look at the Horcrux in the Room of requirement..or for that matter any one even assuming he would have made the horcrux..
He did have too much confidence that none but he could even think of this. Though he acknowledges Dumbledore is more powerful(actually he doesn’t but he is scared of him) and wiser he doesn’t even think for a second dumbledore could know everything he has thought of
Archana, inspite of the fact that Harry is portrayed as good,honest,etc he does have his flaws.He is impulsive.Most of all he is extremely faithful.He uses the curse when McGonagall was insulted. He is the kind of person who goes to any extent to help others.
Snape and Lily need not have had any chemistry.after all if there had been i guess Lily would have gone to James. You might be right to say it wasn’t the right place to fit in but i don’t think it would have fitted any place better.
By teh way.im not saying being faithful is a flaw.Just that its coz of it that he tends to not think before he acts
Archana, The statement that rules are different for different times is only an excuse given by people who couldn’t live by the same rules for both times. I will be digressing unnecessarily if I brought out Krishna’s advice to Arjuna before the war, but it is all the same. Even Dumbledore initially had similar ideas such as “For the Greater Good.”
But his later life is the inpsiration which proves otherwise and make us realise what is possible even during war time.
Harry used Cruciatus curse couple of times when anger overpowered him. Considering it against Voldemort’s casual usages, it looks much better.
I feel that if you compare Voldemort against Dumbledore, you can see that Dumbledore was almost righteous all the time.
The apparent lack of chemistry between Snape and Lily is in the readers’ minds because they have already experienced Snape’s ways as the potions master in Hogwarts and have begun to dislike him slightly. If seen independently, it should be and it is alright.
Meenaks – How can you possibly appreciate a book idependant of the reader
Do you have any theories about why Vodermot thought the room of requirements is a good place to hide the Horcrux.
Archana how about this theory? maybe all the stuff in the room actually belonged to Voldemort..maybe he was the one who worked from there..hiding from others.and hence cld have thought no one else knew abt it
Rather far fetched Kavitha, don’t you think. Even Dobby know about Room of requirements. It was he who showed it to Harry in the first place.
Hey i was just giving out theories[:)].But you are forgeting that even Dumbledore doesn’t know what that room is(he might have acted ignorant) Everyone at one point or the other would have come across this.Fred,George,Dobby,Dumbledore.But the point is they do not know how they come across it.Besides dobby is after Voldermort’s time.
Another thing is i didn’t say none of the others found it out.All am saying is that Voldemort thinks he is the only one to have found it out and that could be coz he was the only one who came across this room(a room where he could hide stuff) and later it was Harry.Even dobyy comes across a room with antidote for Butterbeer
OK Ma’am really appreciate it. Thank you for visiting and commenting. I am loving this discussion.
All I was saying is that voldermot thinking that does not ring logical to me. You remember Harry’s first entry into the room when he was trying to hide the portion book
“he found 100s of things hidden by generations of Hogwarts students for centuries”, this is the first thing that strikes him when he enters the room, how come it does not strike Voldy. Are you saying all these 100s of things were hidden by voldy?
Meenaks: Come on! If there’s a war & another country attacks us, you would be preaching peace to our armed forces???
What’s your point – that we should just disarm people that are killing hordes of innocent people rather successfully?
Dumbledore was sage-like & he was probably more powerful than Voldemort. Most others have < 10% of Dumbledore’s skill.
I’m all for peaceful means whenever possible. Not when someone is threatening your life or the lives of those around you.
Which is why most nations punish murder – but don’t punish “justifiable homicide”. Clearly, to any rule, there are exceptions. Very few perhaps – but they are there nevertheless.
Interesting Discussion .I would like to add couple of things with respect to Nevile drawing out the Gryffindor Sword.
1.In book 2 Dumbledore clearly states that only true gryfindor can call the sword and sword or any form help comes in Hogwarts if its truely called .An ideal gryfindor is the one who is brave and loyal( sorting hat first book).
2.If we remember correct the sorting hat provided the Sword only when Harry badly needed .Same rules applies to Nevile
3.In final book Bill explains the concept of ownership understood by goblins .According to him they own what ever make immaterial of current ownership.Its like Hyundai or Maruti claiming to own a Car but have sold it to some one….
4.So the true owner of sword for Gryfindor or any one mentioned in his will can over.I assume here that it goes to Hogwarts head master ….So i assume here Dumbledore had the right to give to Harry ,This makes Harry the owner.Even if Dumby did not have the authority i guess it should belong to Howarts and Harry has no right to give it to the goblin.So Goblin never owned the sword ….By taking the sword ..he has gone against there own rule..do not greed for somthing that does not belong to you..(book 1 gringotts).
5.Nevile proved that he is true Gryfindor by being daring and loyal to Hogwarts and Harry (” when hell freezes over).He was only one who stood against Voldy when every one assumed HP was dead (Ron,Ginny,Hermione included).He needed it badly to kill snake.
So i find it perfectly logical for Neville to handle the sword.
Interesting Discussion .I would like to add couple of things with respect to Nevile drawing out the Gryffindor Sword.
1.In book 2 Dumbledore clearly states that only true gryfindor can call the sword and sword or any form help comes in Hogwarts if its truely called for .
2An ideal gryfindor is the one who is brave and loyal( sorting hat first book).
3.If we remember correct the sorting hat provided the Sword only when Harry badly needed .Same rules applies to Nevile
4.In final book Bill explains the concept of ownership understood by goblins .According to him they own what ever make immaterial of current ownership.Its like Hyundai or Maruti claiming to own a Car but have sold it to some one….
.So the true owner of sword for Gryfindor or any one mentioned in his will can over.I assume here that it goes to Hogwarts head master ….So i assume here Dumbledore had the right to give to Harry ,This makes Harry the owner.Even if Dumby did not have the authority i guess it should belong to Howarts and Harry has no right to give it to the goblin.So Goblin never owned the sword ….By taking the sword ..he has gone against there own rule..do not greed for somthing that does not belong to you..(book 1 gringotts).
5.Nevile proved that he is true Gryfindor daring to face Voldy and being loyal to Hogwarts and Harry (” when hell freezes over).He was only one who stood against Voldy when every one assumed HP was dead (Ron,Ginny,Hermione included).
So i find it perfectly logical for Neville to handle the sword.
Another possible explainition is that the Sword becomes active when a Gryfindor wants to kill a snake(book 2 and Book 7).but i feel its far fetched
As far the room of requirments is concerned .I guess it never remains constant ,it could be loo the first time you ( dumby book 4) or it could be broom cupboard (Fred and George book 5).So no one would realised that it was Room of Requiment .I guess each makes the same assumption which Dumby makes that this room was seasonal or something.I guess Voldy felt that he must have first person to have identifyed its true purpose ..that could be his mistake..Similar to lake incident in book 6 where he wrongly assumes that and underage wizard cannot come there…
Thank you, Karthik for those insight. While your Gryfindor explanation makes sense, I am not sure I agree about the room of requirement.
Room of Requirment was my guess
..i presume it was that..only JKR can explain it 
Archana, Karthik’s explanation seems to make sense..to us it kind of seems obvious..but it could have been over looked by someone like Voldemort who does think he know secrets which others know nothing of….as u said there were stuff from centuries ago…no one says it cldnt have been found at all..he feels currently he is the only one to find it
By the way here is an exclusive from JKR..an extended epilogue
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19959323/
Wow, Thanks for the link, Kavitha.
Introducing Archana Raghuram
Recently a new commenter dropped by my blog. As is my habit, I jumped over to have a look at her blog and loved it. Archana Raghuram is a project manager in an India based software company. Her blog is
[...] review do Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows received 67 comments. Even today it is one of the most viewed posts on this [...]
Hi Archana!! That was a wonderful review.. After 7 i din pick up any HP book for re-reading..But reading this review took me back to JKR’s magical world and am soon going to go back to the series
..Thanks to u!!
My favourite part in book seven was Snape’s memories..It was really toucing..
I also felt realy bad for Petuna..I was able to fully empathise with how she feels about not being able to enter into the magical world into which her sister who has been with her all her life is going into..The fact that she wrote to Dumbledore begging him to take her too was heart rending..
I’ve always liked Snape..Mainly out of respect for the great wizard that he is..And he did live up to it till the end..
On the whole the entire series proved to be a great read..
Thanks Aarthy,
Its been a really long time since I got a comment on this post.
Snape’s memory was no doubt good, but I felt it appeared in the wrong place in the book. It did not make sense to place in the midst of a nail biting climax.
I loved the series and I really feel bad it has ended. I am not sure if we will another book like this in our lifetime.
i loved the book! but i agree with you it is boring a lot of the time.
overall, HP is an awesome series, my favorite, in fact. The seventh book was disappointing to me, because there were many unexplained things that suddenly pop up… like the elder wand. we had no idea this even existed until halfway through book 7. same goes for the resurrection stone. we knew about harry’s cloak, but it became one of the most powerful objects in the world before our eyes. also, there are no clues of its power, for example, mad-eye moody can see through it, though its supposed to be “impenetrable.” then, we have the question of the diadem. harry suddenly knows to ask the gray lady how she died(which happens to be because she was killed by the bloody baron). these ghosts are hardly mentioned throughout the series. then we have ron getting into the chamber of secrets, when (+only+) the heir of slytherin is supposed to be able to get in(remeber, harry is related to salazar slytherin [and therefore lord voldemort through the peverell family]which is why he can enter.), but ron says “he imitated the noises harry made.” if anyone could just imitate parseltongue, the chamber wouldve been found YEARS ago. plus, this is irrelevant to the story, because the diadem gets burned, not stabbed with a fang. another problem is the elder wand in draco malfoy’s hand. what if he and his friends were fooling around over the summer and they disarmed him. harry wouldve never gained control of the wand, and therefore, may never have beat voldemort. harry got VERY lucky on this instance.
there is then the exapmle of snape’s loyalty. many saw coming that he was the good guy (myself included) for one reason only; dumbledore believed him innocent, so that was that, snape must be good no matter what. he is my favorite character, however, and if there was one person i’d like to see live was him. it wouldve been great to see snape and potter unite as friends, even for a moment.
as for the weasley twins, you cant have one without the other, so weasleys seemed slightly diminished without him. however, it was fitting that he die in his last laugh.
hagrid was presumed deaed, then found by death eaters. how did they get him, he was in the midst of dozens of acromantulas!
and you have to admit, wormtail’s death was pretty lame. the way dumbledore talked about life debts, you’d expect him to die heroically for the cause of good(he’s a gryffindor, where’s his bravery?!), but no, he gets strangled by a magic hand, and doesnt help harry whatsoever.
also, there were way to many hair’s breadth escapades in which they just escape with there lives. the malfoy manor was an irrelevant chapter (unless you count the fact that harry gains control of the elder wand, [which lets face it, couldve happened to anyone if they were practice dueling draco]), and on top of that, everyone’s favorite elf dobby is killed because of harry’s stupidity in saying voldemort’s name.
in godric’s hollow, i was again disappointed, hoping dumbledore would’ve left the sword there, maybe putting a play on the words godric’s hollow(if there were a statue of goric gryffindor, maybe “gordic is hollow”),but the sword didn’t turn up. i also was 99% positive harry was going to go into his old house and have a look around, maybe see where his parent’s died. but he didn’t, and instead escaped voldemort and his supporters for about the millionth time. there was only one thing i was absolutely sure of in godric’s hollow, and that was that voldemort would come.
yet another hole in the plot is again about the three objects no one knew existed, the deathly hallows. surely, harry might’ve picked up on these objects over his 6 years in the wizarding world, possibly from dumbledore, or luna, who’s father surely would’ve told her about them. but we don’t get a single hint of these objects and then it turns out that the whole series relies on hallows vs. horcruxes. usually, Rowling is good at dropping hints that go unnoticed (most prominantly in the case of professor snape), but we have no hints of these hallows, unnoticede or not. even with these “plotholes” of the seventh book, harry potter remains my favorite series, and i hope to see more of her books soon.
I have a question that has been bothering me since this book came out!
During the Battle of Hogwarts J.K. Rowling writes something along the lines of:
Harry saw Bill overtaking Slughorn.
Does that mean Bill was fighting Slughorn?
I’m so confused!
That specific quote is:
“And now there were more, even more people storming up the front steps, and Harry saw Charlie Weasley overtaking Horace Slughorn…” So that just means that Charlie Weasley was overtaking him in speed up te front steps.
Has anyone got any theories on the thing in King’s Cross – ” It had the form of a small, naked child, curled on the ground, its skin raw and rough, flayed – looking, and it lay shuddering under a seat where it had been left, unwanted, stuffed out of sight, struggling for breath” (page 566)?
To answer the Neville getting the sword question: Only a true Gryffindor can get the sword. The sword is enchanted to appear out of the sorting hat when the person has displayed true bravery and loyalty. This happened to Harry in the Chamber of Secrets. Now it happens to Neville when he stands up to Voldemort and remains loyal to the resistance. This is why he gets the sword out of the hat.
i think this was a good review but there were some questions that i may not have the answer to but just some food for thought.
the author questions why voldemort thinks that he is the only one that could enter the room of requirement. i think that due to the fact that the room changes to what the person needs and that there was so much hidden in the room of requirement, he would have thought that the crown/veil thing would be safe and no one would suspect it.
i dont believe voldemort thought he would be the only one who could get into the room, just that no one would suspect it and if they did, it would be nearly impossible to find it.
dude!! all ur point fails epicly… I dont even think u got a big enough mind to read this… for example the part u say that ron couldnt open the champer… OMG!!! If u tell a random dude from africa to say “hello” he can still say it just as good as you…. and u guesses about how harry had the elder wand.. u fail there aswell. And what u say about using unforgiven curses… they learn it in 4th book.
Mundungus was the one that got the Idea doing it! + he is in the order… i get sweaty by all the noobs who think they know the HP history…. when it dont even look like they’ve read it!
and yes as JGM points about neville too… i thing this was a sucky review wich didnt take any points or anything… al allround bad review
Good review, but there were some faults. First, Voldemort obviously knew others could get into the Room of Requirement. “I, alone, had penetrated the school’s deepest secrets…” is the quote from the book when he is remembering where he put his Horcruxes. This meant the Chamber of Secrets and the Room of Requirement is a secret too because not everyone knew abou it. Another thing, Neville pulled the sword out of the Sorting Hat just like Harry did in book 2 when he is fighting the basilisk.
The Snape/Lily relationship needed to be talked about in great detail because it explains how Snape helped Harry even if he hated him for reminding him so much of James Potter. I quite don’t think the Battle for Hogwars was written to be “Cinematic” because the book is written in the 3rd person point of view that focuses on Harry’s thoughts. During the battle, Harry as more focused on finding the Diadem than he was with the battle.
Great book that was great. If J.K. writes more, I cast a vote for Dumbledore’s life as to how he planned on overcoming the Muggles with Grindlewald up to the original fight with Voldemort (the original Order of the Phoenix.)
Hey! I’m gonna try to answer all of those questions you asked:
1) How does Neville come to possess the Gryffindor Sword. It was taken by the Goblin during the Gringotts break-in and it mysteriously finds its way into Neville’s hands when he kills Nagini.
It doesn’t matter that Griphook took the sword. As biased as the goblins may be, the sword is, and has always been rightfully Gordric Gryffindor’s. Since Neville proved to be a true Gryffindor, he was able to pull it out of the hat. Remember in the 2nd book when Harry pulls it out? It was in Dumbledore’s office the entire time and Fawkes only brought the Sorting Hat. The hat and sword are definitely connected.
2) We read in Order of Phoenix that Voldemot knew that Harry could read his thoughts. How come Harry is able to make so many excursions into Voldermots brain without him sensing it?
Dumbledore answers this in the part at King’s Cross. Voldemort was very weak as the battle at the Ministry had shaken him up. So, he was unable to apply Oclumency against Harry.
3) Both Harry and McGonagall use unforgivable curses (Imperius) which they never did regardless of the provocation in the previous books.
Ummm…. How is this a question?
4) Ron being able to open the door to the Chamber of Secrets by merely behaving like a Psletongue, is quite un-realistic.
Actually, this entire series is unrealistic, so there isn’t any way for someone to say a part in it is unrealistic… But, Harry isn’t the heir of Slytherin, and he was able to open the Chamber just by speaking Parsletongue. Pretty much the same thing, even though Ron doesn’t have a piece of Voldemort’s soul attached to him…
5) Why was Mundungus chosen to impersonate Harry during their move from Dursley’s house? He was a well known crook and an unwilling participant.
Well, its not like Mundungus is a bad person, he is trustworthy and part of the Order. Also, keep in mind that it was “his idea” to have 7 Harry’s.
p.s- i agree with Bobby
hi, just read the last HP book and was a bit disappointed for almost exactly the same reasons as Anonymous wrote on 17 Jan 2009. Why did she kill off Snape so abruptly just for a rather involved and unlikely plotline involving the true owner of the Alder Wand (which only appears in the tale very late in the day.) ? He was a great magician and could have remained the Director of Hogwarts into the dim and distant future, like Dumbledore, having overcome an early and disasterous flirtation with dark magic. Likewise I really don’t know why she killed Remus and Tonks, especially considering that Harry, Herminone, Ron etc. seemed to survive an infinite number of battles with ineffectual death eaters. She seems to have been determined to knock off virtually the entire of the new Order of the Pheonix except for the Weasleys. Mrs Weasley tackling Bellatrix was rather silly at the end. The middle of the book seemed to involve an infinite amount of camping in rather boring wilderness. I am mystified how they will split the book into 2 films. Maybe they’ll move Snape’s revelations forward towards the first film. Since a HP film without his brooding presence is hardly worth going to. It will be an interested case study for us all in making-a-film-from-a-well-known-book anyway.
Good review thread this!