My Author's Blog

"The bravest man I ever met"

         Well, I was going to just post a book review for this weekend, but I have decided to, instead, do a little review/comment about an entire series of books. I have just finished reading(ok, I am a touch behind everyone else maybe) the last two books of the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling. My first thought when I read the last sentence on the last page late last night(about 2am realy), I felt, for a moment like I had just lost a best friend, several actually.
 
 
         If you have not yet read/finished reading these books, be warned that the rest of this post will probably contain spoilers.
 
         A few years ago a very close friend of mine called me one evening, because he just could not wait to tell me about how wonderful he had found the first three books in this new 'Harry Potter' series, and that I had to read them. At that time the Harry Potter craze was just starting to swing into full blast, what with the first book about to come out as a movie and all. So the next day, on the advice of my friend Ric, I picked up a copy of 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone'. Little did I know at that time, when I read the first few pages of what seemed to be a well written, and very intriguing, childrens tale, what was realy in store for me(and I was probably not alone in that). Then I read Chamber of Secrets, and we learned more about little Harry, and without knowing it was saw just the tip of Voldemort's grand scheme. Then came Harry's third year at Hogwarts, and we learned more of Harry, his parents, their friends, and how they had been betrayed. We met Sirius Black, and we faced Dementor's with Harry and watched his circle of friends grow tighter, as we grew to love the little boy with the lightening scar. Yet still we had only peices of the whole puzzle before us.
 
         Then came The Goblet of Fire, and Harry was thrown into the Triwizard Tournament. We watched as Harry faced Dragons and creatures of the deep, and himself. As we watched Harry and his friends began to grow up, and the hints of deeper feelings began to show. Behind this though, as Harry and his friends argued and made up, and strived to make it through another year, something much more sinister was moving. We sat with our eyes glued to everyword, unable to walk away, as Harry watched the return of Voldemort in the grave yard. Our hearts quickened as Harry stood up to face the killer of his parents, and then that amazing thing happened, that thing that we, just like Harry, did not at first understand. Harry was saved by the connection between himself and Voldemort, that deep rooted connection that we didn't complete understand, even after Dumbledore's explanation. But it was enough to keep us satisfied, and we plowed into the next book, thirsting for more. It was at this point that the series of interconnected stories began to grow into something more, as a deeper threme and story became evident to us. Then we suffered with Harry while he ridiculed and humiliated at the hands of the Ministry of Magic and Delores Umbridge, all for telling the truth. The connection between Harry and Voldemort became more apparent as we read, we understood now that there was some mental link, yet still we did not know all. Along with Harry we got a new glimpse into Severus Snape, and his connections with Harry's parents. We saw how Harry's father had bullied Snape, and we thought we understood Snape better at last, though still he left a greasy feeling in our stomachs.
 
         Then came Half Blood Prince, and we discovered Voldemort's past. We saw his beginnings, and we learned now why he had been able to survive even after his killing curse, intended for the baby Harry had turned back on him. We learned more of what he was, of how his soul was torn and shredded at his own doing. Our disgust and fear of Voldemort grew deeper, for he was more than just some evil genius who sought simple power. There were clues, signs of deeper things, yet still we did not see the whole picture. We watched as Malfoy tried to go from schoo yard bully to murderer, and again fears about Snape were wakened in us, wondering again who's side he was on. Yet Dumbledore insisted that he trusted Snape, and our fears rested uneasily along with Harry's. Then, the moment came, upon the highest tower of Hogwarts the whole world seemed to crash down. We read as Malfoy disarmed a weakened Dumbledore, yet he could not bring himself to finish what he had started. As Harry stood, frozen and invisible the Death Eaters arrived ontop of the tower, and then came Snape, and for a disquieting moment, fear and hope seemed to become one. We feared what might happen, yet there was that little part deep inside that said 'but Dumbledore trusts Snape, he must be good, there has to be a reason, he won't just stand there and do nothing, he CAN'T!'. And he did not merely stand and watch, he acted...and in that moment, as Dumbledore's body flew through the air, we thought that Snape had discarded his mask, and the hatred and revulsion of this traitor was such that we wanted to scream. At last we knew who's side Snape was on, he had somehow tricked Dumbledore all this time. Our hearts raced as Harry chased Snape through the castle and through the grounds, urging him on, wanting so desperately for him to overtake Snape and make him pay for what he had done.
 
         Then the last volume, the Deathly Hallows. Dumbledore was gone, and there was so much that he had not told Harry, so many little things that remaind unanswered. Yet Harry had his purpose in mind, and together with Ron and Hermione, he planned to set out on the mission that Dumbledore had left him. Yet his fears grew as he wondered about the things that Dumbledore had not told him. We watched the preperations, Harry and his friends making their plans one side to destroy the Horcruxes, and Voldemort and his Death Eaters on the other side, preparing to take over. Behind this was the happy wedding, that night which would plunge from the edge of fear and uncertainty into terror. Our hearts raced as we read the message from Kingsley 'The Ministry has fallen, Scrimgeour is dead, they are coming'. Then it seemed that all Hell broke loose, and again Hermoine showed her usual clear thinking and planning and so the three friends were on the run alone. Together they hid, trying to piece together the little clues they had to discover where the next horcrux was. Then unexpected aid came, in the form of the elf Kreature, who we had grown to despise, and yet now we felt sorry for him as we learned his full tale, and saw him transform himself because of a little kindness. The dangers deepened, and yet they had the victory of obtaining one of the four remaining Horcruxes, and still they strove for answers, and we felt that the world was breaking apart around them. The next turn of the emotional rollercoaster that is this tale was the dreadful night at Malfoy Manor, the torture of Hermoine, the death of the traitor Wormtail in such a fitting if sad way. Then it seemed that everything was going to be ok, Dobby came to the rescue, facing his fears, and using the freedom that Harry had obtained for him to do what he wanted to most. Yet it would be his last deeds. Even as Harry watched the little elf fall to the ground my tears began to flow, for he was gone, and Harry felt again that someone had died trying to protect him, and in his mind that made it his fault. As the story went on we learned, or more than thought we wanted to, about Dumbledore and his past, the truth behind his younger years, and we learned of the Deathly Hallows. Then came the battle, and the quest for the last two Horcruxes....or so we thouht. The blood in viens pumped fast, and my palms were sweaty as we watched the teachers prepare Hogwarts for a siege. A voice in my mind cried out for McGonagall to kill Snape for what he had done. Watched as he parried her spells and then escaped, fleeing from the castle, yet I did not fully grasp until later the fact that it was not Severus Snape who had struck first in that duel. Then the battle, and destruction of two Horcruxes, and Malfoy was saved, not once but twice, by Harry and his friends.
 
         Then those moments in the shake, as we watched Severus Snape die, yet it did not feel as triumphant and satisfying as it should have. We went with Harry into Snape's memories, and all became so clear suddenly, so painfully, tearfully clear, and at last, everything made sense, and I cried for the man that I had grown to hate in reading these books. Tears for the man that had seemed a base traitor, for the man that had been so easy to hate, for the man that we had watched kill Dumbledore, for at last I understood him. Then Harry's walk into the forest, his final understanding of what he had to do, and his selfless sacrifice. Yet it was not over, and more was made clear, so painfully and joyfully clear at last. Then the last battle came, and it was the little boy that had at one time not been able to do anything right, that destroyed that last Horcrux, making Voldemort mortal again. Again Voldemort was undone by himself, he that had destroyed the Horcrux he had never intended to make, he that had destroyed that little peice of his soul that had formed that connection between him and Harry, and again his killing curse rebounded on him, for he still did not understand fully. Then Voldemort was gone, and it was over. The painful quest of seven books and many years, was over.
 
         I thought I could not cry another tear, thought that my emotions had run the gambit, as I read those last few pages, and watched as Harry and Ginny saw their sons off to Hogwarts along with Ron and Hermoine's children. I felt a stir of happiness that these four were together, that life had gone on for them and they were at last happy. Then that line came, when I least expected it, Harry telling his son Albus Severus that he was named for two of Hogwarts previous Headmasters, and that one had been in Slitherine house, and then those words...'the bravest man I ever met'... and my tears fell again, for a man that had been so easy to hate, had been so despicable, for he had done all he had done in memory of the woman he had loved...