Further Thoughts on 'The Deathly Hallows'

I have reread all the seven 'Harry Potter' books this summer, thirteen years after I first did that. What memories, relived experiences, and huge missed details that I've discovered this time round! 

Because I couldn't write most of my final thoughts in my original reviews due to the stupid Goodreads word count limit, I'll express them here, where there are no limits. I won't include what I have already in my reviews. 

My opinions, mainly on the final book, 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' - you can see my review of that here - are as follows:

• So, I'm still not sympathetic to Snape. His whole motivation is simply: He isn't wholly loyal to Voldemort and never tried to kill Harry because he wanted to link his wand's Patronus into Harry's mother's, if you know what I mean. Frankly, he hasn't changed much since he was ten years old. He is selfish, mean, cruel, nasty, abusive, vindictive, spiteful, biased, hypocritical, and bigoted; loving one person doesn't change that. He treated Lily like a possession when she was alive - he expressed "greed" upon stalking her long before he talked to her, and in "not letting her" do things he didn't want her to; among other factors attributing to an abusive relationship. He likely deliberately helped to drive Lily away from her jealous sister Petunia as well, so he could have her to himself. Lily was right to chew him out when he deserved it, when he acted entitled. She was right in not getting together with him. He's a Dark Arts fanatic with fascist views. Severus Snape was the one who told Voldemort about the prophecy in the first place - everything that happens in 'Harry Potter', and why Harry is an orphan who grew up abused and unloved, is entirely Snape's fault. Yeah, it could be argued that Wormtail would have betrayed his friends to the Dark Lord anyway, and they would have died even if Snape hadn't found out about the prophecy, but that's a big reach, don't you think? A desperate shifting of blame from Snape? That Snape would happily have let James and baby Harry die if not for Lily also being in danger from his Dark master is disturbing and disgusting enough (even Dumbledore had pointed this out). He ransacked Sirius's private things and ripped out a picture of Lily and a page of a letter from her, tossing anything to do with James and Harry to the ground; never caring, nary a pinch of remorse. Disgusting and creepy. Loneliness and a bad childhood are no excuses: that can account for nearly every character in 'Harry Potter', and they didn't try to make other people suffer because of it. Well, at least the Potions Master and Half-Blood Prince never tried to force Lily to love him using a love potion (as far as we know). And I know I'm not the first person to point this out, but if Snape really loved Lily, then why didn't he attempt to protect her via a love charm, like she did with Harry? Is it because he didn't know that love is a more powerful magic than the Dark Arts? Again I say: selfish, stubborn and narrow-minded. Love didn't change him. I'm baffled also that Harry would name one of his kids after Snape - whom he hated for years and for good reason - out of all the names of people, alive or dead, who actually loved and cared for him. Hey, Harry, remember when Severus tried to get Sirius's soul sucked out by a Dementor in 'The Prisoner of Azkaban'? The man loathed you from the start as an innocent, orphaned eleven year old who did nothing to him, just because you were James Potter's kid. Snape never grew up and got over his schooldays. 'Probably the bravest man I ever knew.', my arse. Yeah, I'm not much of a fan of that subplot.

• In mentioning Lily and Severus's relationship, how did none of the Marauders know that they were friends at Hogwarts? They saw the two talking to each other on their very first Hogwarts Express ride - with all of them in the same compartment. Did the duo keep it a sort of secret later on? Why? Why hide their friendship for all those years exactly?

• I love that each book in the 'Harry Potter' series can't easily be called too similar to any of the others. They each have a different feel, mood, setting, and theme, depending on the stakes, and they mature and progress greatly as the series goes on.

• Poor Tonks. She deserved so much better. She deserved better than a man who tells three teenagers that he regrets marrying her; who would abandon his pregnant wife to go on adventures with said teenagers, because of his werewolf angst. It's sexist, demeaning and a disservice that her strong and spunky female character status is lost once she falls in love, is married and has a baby. She is a depressed wreck in 'The Half-Blood Prince', until she is finally together with Remus and her hair is pink again. A man is what she needs to be happy and fulfilled! I'd hoped that at least she'd be given a fair amount of page time in 'The Deathly Hallows', but she doesn't. She spends the majority as an off-page baby-maker. Even her death is treated like an afterthought.

• Speaking of the Marauders nostalgic for the careless, risk-taking days of their youth, I like that in 'The Order of the Phoenix' (which I now view as a very underrated instalment), poor, bored innocent-in-hiding Sirius wishes that Harry was more like James. But Harry grew up unloved and unspoiled and so takes nothing for granted, and he also takes more after Lily than James. For all of Sirius's charms and good points (such as going against his racist, pure-blood supremacy Slytherin family, except when it comes to Kreacher), his male power fantasy and longing for the "good old days" ends up being his downfall. Toxic masculinity and nostalgia are given the bad light they deserve. One of the most tragic aspects to Sirius's character is that he never got the chance to grow up. He spent most of his adult life in Azkaban, and was never truly free in his lifetime. Of course he'd be stifled, restless, frustrated and impulsive, like a caged animal; a caged dog. It's understandable that he'd project his dead, childhood best friend onto his godson, the only family worth caring for he has left.

• On the subject of Kreacher, I am surprised by how much I cared for him in 'The Deathly Hallows'. He truly is a tragic and tortured creature, and overtime his personality gets better, once he is treated better by Harry and Ron. Sirius never gave him a chance, and this is acknowledged as a bad thing. Hermione set a good example, and never gave up on Kreacher, no matter how many times she was called a Mudblood by him. She was right all along about house-elves needing rights.

• Back to 'The Order of the Phoenix', it's a thoughtful, misty and sad little touch of worldbuilding detail to note that bereaved Hogwarts students would want to seek comfort and assurance from ghosts, particularly Nearly-Headless Nick, who is himself grieved whenever students come to him for answers concerning their dearly departed, unable to console and ease their pain much. Death isn't as cheap as one would think in 'Harry Potter'. Grief and loss are real, and are felt.

• In 'The Half-Blood Prince', when Dumbledore dies, Fawkes the phoenix sings a mournful song, and then flies off and disappears, never to be seen again. That is so sad.

• Did anyone from the Slytherin House fight against the Death Eaters in the Battle of Hogwarts? I assume Slughorn did. He seems to be the only decent Slytherin character in the whole series (on this issue, I'd argue that even Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy are more sympathetic than Snape, in their love and protection of their son Draco, bravely and right in Voldemort's presence).

• In one chapter where Harry thinks about how Albus's sister Ariana might have been abused and how Albus did nothing about it, he compares the situation to how Dudley had always simultaneously bullied Harry and ignored the abuse inflicted on him by Vernon and Petunia, so long as it didn't affect Dudley too. Finally, the word "abuse" is used to describe how Harry was treated by the Dursleys.

• Percy Weasley is the Arnold Rimmer of 'Harry Potter', only slightly more competent.

• It's a shame that, with nearly everyone receiving their own crowning moment of awesome in the final adventure, Myrtle and Winky are not in 'The Deathly Hallows'. Like, is Winky no longer depressed? Did Dobby end up being a positive influence on her? Oh well, can't have it all, I suppose. There are hundreds of characters to keep track of already.

• With Harry's children named mainly after people who had died for him, I wonder whether Ginny ever had a say in naming their kids? Most likely not.

• Did I miss something? Bellatrix used the Cruciatus Curse on Hermione in Malfoy Manor, for quite a long period of time. So why, when Hermione uses Polyjuice potion to turn into Bellatrix, and picks up Bellatrix's wand, this is never mentioned? Hermione is reluctant to hold the wand, saying that it is evil and was used to kill and torture people. And to torture you too, remember?! Why doesn't she experience PTSD from that?! The fate of Neville's parents is pointed out but not something that was done a few chapters ago?! Or did Bellatrix use someone else's wand to torture Hermione? I don't know.

• Another thing I missed out: how did the Gryffindor sword end up inside the Sorting Hat in the climactic battle, when Neville pulled it out to kill Nagini? Is this just something that the Sorting Hat can do? Can other Chekhov's Guns be pulled from it? Griphook must be pissed.

• Harry's Invisibility Cloak, inherited from his father, is a Hallow, and is now the best damn magical item for invisibility ever. It's so perfect and completely impenetrable by any magic and any thing...didn't Moody's eye use to see through it in 'The Goblet of Fire', though? 

• Another brill worldbuilding detail concerns goblin and wizard relations and their history (economic, political and cultural), and this is a plot point in the final book.

• I love that it is implied that in Hogwarts this year, Ginny, Neville and Luna are the new trio, fighting against the Death Eaters' tyranny and dictatorship. I hope to read about their adventures someday. I have a whole new respect for Ginny now. They, along with the other DA members and the Order of the Phoenix, are so brave, especially Neville. (Although, in going back to the subject of Snape and his "bravery" and "trustworthiness", he didn't seem to have done anything to prevent students getting tortured and injured severely while he was the headmaster of Hogwarts, when he had promised Dumbledore he would try to protect them and keep them safe.)

• Hermione kisses Ron passionately when he expresses concern for the house-elves at Hogwarts in the Battle of Hogwarts. She finally got through to his thick skull about elf rights, and he has earned her love. Men's growth, maturity and unselfishness are attractive to women - take note, Snape.

• Among the many fantastic callbacks to the previous books, Hermione yelling at Ron, "Are you a wizard, or what?" - mirroring him yelling at her, "ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?" way back in their very first adventure - is a triumph. How they've grown!

• Great significance is placed on Harry's wand, plus the Elder Wand, in this. The bond is written spectacularly. And yet, what about Harry's Firebolt broomstick? I seem to remember that being destroyed at some stage, but Harry gives no thought to it whatsoever, when throughout all the books he loved flying and Quidditch. Strange.

• Harry, Ron and Hermione riding a dragon out of Gringotts is awesome.

• 'The Forest Again' remains my favourite chapter in the book.

• Harry visiting Godric's Hollow, and his introspection and thoughts there concerning "What if?" - what if he had grown up with living, loving parents, for example - is also beautifully done.

• Harry decides not to own the Elder Wand after the Battle of Hogwarts and defeating Voldemort, preferring to fix his old wand from when he was eleven. Another flip-side contrast between Harry and Voldemort: Harry does not care for power, nor fame and riches. Only love.

• When Dumbledore's backstory is explained, it is easy to see that he was indeed in love with Grindelwald. That it took his sister's death for him to finally come to his senses and see Grindelwald as a monster (until the very end, that is, when, in perishing in prison, Gellert refused to give the location of the Elder Wand to Voldemort) is a tragedy for the ages. Albus changed his views, and tried to be a better person in the aftermath of a personal tragedy, which is more than I can say for Snape. I only wish that Ms Rowling could have made more characters queer in the 'Harry Potter' universe. She didn't even hint at it in 'The Cursed Child', where it would have fitted brilliantly.

• And now, for the elephant in the room, the one issue that I have somewhat been avoiding on the quest to reread and re-review these books. That of J.K. Rowling being revealed as a vicious TERF who would make Germaine Greer proud. This is devastating enough, but it goes against the strong anti-bigotry and anti-fascism message of 'Harry Potter' (In 'The Deathly Hallows', Kingsley Shacklebolt, a powerful, high-ranking and respected Black wizard, declares that we are all human and equal; so basically, fuck the tyrant Voldemort and his Death Eaters and their pure-blood, pure "perfect" wizard supremacy). Remember: Respect existence, or expect resistance. So what happened to Rowling? Do people just become stupider as they get older? More right-wing? I am saddened, yet it has not lessened my enjoyment of the books. They are still wonderfully told stories filled with timeless themes, limitless creativity and unforgettable and colourful characters. Problematic authors are a staple in lit circles and communities (how many authors of classic works were openly racist and misogynistic, hmm? And what about Orson Scott Card?), but we still read and love their books. And I know for a fact that there are people who never gave a shit about trans rights before who now suddenly want Rowling's head. Any excuse to hate women in positions of power and influence, and to justify their misogyny, I guess. I'm not making excuses for Rowling's behaviour, however, and I am absolutely not taking her side. With trans hate suddenly and inexplicably on the rise in this cultural climate, there is no excuse. All I can do is never give my money to Rowling again, and support the LBGTQ community in any way I can.

Well, that's all.