Yo folksies! I'm done with Harry Potter! Four years of waiting (yes, I'm a late fan) and it all ended within 3 sleep-deprived nights. The seventh and final installment of the series - The Deathly Hallows - was up to standard and answered all the questions I needed answers to.



[Warning: Spoilers ahead!!!]




I love this book as much as I love the 6th (Half-Blood Prince). In the Deathly Hallows, JKR no longer take us through the Hogwarts Express and life in the castle. This time, the trio set out on an adventure to seek Voldemort's 4 remaining Horcrux (bits of Voldemort's soul stored in various magical objects that had helped him attained "immortality") Once again, JKR managed to piece things together using clues she dropped along the way in the earlier parts of the book as well as from the previous installments. That is also why, one may find the beginning rather draggy but which when you have completed the book, those previously irrelevant things mentioned seem to fit into the plot perfectly.

For instance, as deduced, RAB - the mysterious guy who stole the horcrux stored in the Slytherin locket, was indeed Regulus Black. He was introduced briefly by Sirius Black as the younger brother when Sirius went through his Family Tree with Harry. Obviously JKR tried to throw us off track by making Regulus seem like a cowardly death eater in the eyes of Sirius. However, avid fans like myself were not to be fooled. We spotted in the 5th installment that JKR mentioned a "heavy locket that no one could open" amidst various magical objects that Harry and friends found while cleaning up Sirius' house. Also, I found it so suspicious that JKR mentioned Mundugus stealing things from Sirius' house after his death (in the 6th book) that I knew something must be up. Why would JKR mentioned it if it was something so insignificant? Of course, it turns out I was proven right. Mundungus did stole the locket among other things and for the trio to find the locket, they had to seek the person whom Mundungus sold the locket to.

My second educated guess was that Snape is a good guy. I know there have been many speculations and various school of thoughts even among the best of fans. But I was certain that Snape is good because at the start of the 6th book, Snape explained to Voldemort that he only placed himself under the shelter of Dumbledore after Voldemort's downfall so that when Voldemort finally come to power, Snape would be in the best position to spy for him. But I noticed a time discrepancies in his explanation. Dumbledore mentioned once in the 4th book that Snape turned spy for Dumbledore a year before the downfall of Voldemort. It seems to me that Dumbledore would not have gotten his time wrong and hence Snape must have not been honest with Voldemort. Furthermore, in the 6th book, Hagrid overheard that Snape was quarrelling with Dumbledore and he had said, "maybe you're asking too much of me. Maybe I've changed my mind!" This was not accounted for at the end of the 6th book and that had fueled my suspicion that Dumbledore had planned for Snape to kill him. Of course, my deduction came true.

Even though I was spot-on in some of the major plots, the story still surprised and intrigued me at every turn. I must warn you, however, that if you had expected something as glamorously adventurous as the Slytherin locket quest taken by Harry and Dumbledore in the 6th book, you would be as disappointed as I was with the book at first. It seemed as though Voldemort had not taken as much precaution with his other horcruxes as he had with the locket. But as I followed the trio down to the final horcrux (except Nagini the snake) to be destroyed, I realised that JKR had executed her signature move once again. The horcrux - Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem was actually mentioned in the 6th book in the Room of Requirement - A place to hide things. The way it was mentioned was so obscured that I'll bet most people would have missed it. "Seizing the chipped bust of an ugly warlock from on top of a nearby crate, he stood it on the the cupboard where the book was not hidden, perched a dusty old wig and a tarnished tiara on the statue's head to make it more distinctive..." Come on, who would have realised then that the tiara mentioned was actually Ravenclaw's Diadem, aka Voldemort's horcrux? That is why I am so impressed with JKR and also why she is the richest woman in England.

Aside the brilliantly hidden hints to supplement her ending, JKR also managed to capture the spirit of love and death. Death is only a transition and we should all face it bravely when the time has come. And love will take us through the hardest time. JKR mentioned many times in interviews and in the books through the voice of Dumbledore that Love is Harry's greatest weapon against Voldemort. As it turns out, Love (or the lack thereof) was Voldemort's greatest flaw. Because he belittle love, he could not have guessed why Snape would betray him and also that when he killed Harry, a protective spell was cast on the people Harry loves. Voldemort could not touch them because Harry died to protect them, just like how Harry's mother died to protect him.

Finally, the ending was nothing spectacular, but brilliantly so. If you had expected a star wars battle like the one you had seen in the 5th movie (between Voldemort and Dumbledore), you'll be disappointed again. But then, why would you expect something like that? Harry is not as magically skillful as Voldemort so if they were to go out on a pure wizard duel, Harry would not stand a chance. The only way to defeat the darkest wizard since Grindelwald was through JKR's pure wits. The ending was unexpected, yet to be expected. It could not have been better, any other way.