Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

(Warning : A lot of things in the book are said. I haven't given away important points but still, don't blame me if you lose the thrill because of this. Chances are, you won't.)

End of the Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince kept a lot of questions unanswered. Quetions like, what are the remaining Horcruxes and where could they be found? With Dumbledor dead, can Harry continue the chase of the Horcruxes? Even if they Horcruxes are found, can they be destroyed? Is Sanpe with the Order of Phoenix or is he also on the dark side? How is he going to convince that to anyone? And many more. So, when I started reading book seven, I thought I will be moving towards getting answers to these questions and these answers will come to me one by one as the story progresses. I was in for a surprise and big time!

The book opens up with Harry at the number four, Private Drive. The members of the order have a plan to move Harry from there to the Burrow before his seventeenth birthday as the protection at that place goes away at the time Harry comes of age. The part of the plan is leaked by Snape to the Dark Lord and the Death Eaters are waiting for Harry as soon as Harry plunges into the air. But Death Eaters couldn't be successful as the details of the plan are not known to Voldemort. Nonetheless, one order member dies and Gorge Weasley loses his ear in the battle.

Then comes the scene of Bill and Fleur's wedding. The description of the wedding preparation is rather boring. On the seventeenth birthday, the minister of magic gives the three things - Dumbledor's last wishes to Ron, Harmoine and Harry. The very next day, during late wedding party, ministry of magic falls, Voldemort takes the control of the law. Wedding ends in utter chaos and parting of "Harry, Ron, Harmoine" team and the other order members. The former team goes into hiding immediately in search of the remaining Horcruxes.

The story drags on at this stage with not much drama. Meanwhile, Harry comes to know about the dark things that Dumbledor had attempted in the past and his trust on the "greatest wizard of his generation" decreases. He becomes more and more apprehensive. The frustration of not finding any of the Horcruxes and not being able to destroy the one at hand causes Ron to give up the group and wander back to the family. Sudden turn of events occur when Harry visits his birthplace, the Godric's Hollow. This is when story again becomes interesting.

Hermoine's research tells that Horcruxes can be destroyed using the sword of Gryffindor. In search of this important tool, Harry and Harmoine reach the Godric's Hollow. However, Voldemort had already created the trap there anticipating that Harry may reach there at some point or the other. Again, Harry escapes; this time, however, with a big setback. His sword is cut into two pieces by one of the Hermoine's spells. While going away from the Godric's Hollow, Harry obtains the sword with the surprising help from Ron who admits his mistakes and joins the team. From here on, book gets really interesting and eventful.

Ron, Harry and Hermoine reach Xenophilius Lovegood, father of Luna "loony" Lovegood, for the information of the Deathly Hallows. Xenophilius tells them the important stories about it; however, he also calls Death Eaters. Harry escapes again this time only to be caught by Death Eaters soon after. This time Harry is captured and sent to Malfoy's home. He escapes right under Bellatrix's nose and frees Ollivander and Luna Lovegood during the escape. Voldemort knows that Harry is finding and destroying Horcruxes as Harry brakes in Gringotts to retrieve yet another Horcrux from Bellatrix's vault. Hence, Voldemort starts his journey to find out which of the Horcruxes are destroyed.

While reaching Hogwarts for the fifth Horcrux, Harry is saved by Aberfoth Dumbledore who clears almost all the doubts that Harry had gathered during the journey. With his help, Harry enters the Hogwarts to find Neville Longbottom waiting for him. Voldemort gets the news that Harry has reached Hogwarts. He reaches at Hogwarts but not before Harry has destroys Horcrux. The Hogwarts war between the Death Eaters and Dumbledor's Army alongwith the Order of Phoenix begins. The war description here is not as good as the war at the ministry where Sirius Black dies. There are many deaths again but the sense of chill is absent even if the loss is quite considerable. Voldemort is, however, not in the war as he rightly suspects that Harry will come to him rather than he reaching to Harry.

Harry finds Voldemort and sees him killing Snape only to gain some more power. Snape gives some important memories to Harry just before dying which reveal a great deal of things about the relationship between Dumbledor and Snape. Harry then is given an hours time by Voldemort to meet him otherwise he himself would take part in the war and kill many. And the final drama begins.

I am not going to give away the thrill of final drama as there are many important details that I haven't mentioned throughout. But I though the end of Harry Potter series could have been better. The reasons for Voldemort's downfall (ain't it obvious?) are more emotional than logical. The plot was nicely set and the battleground was ready. I expected a facet, a pin which will fit everything into the place. This however, never happens. There are few things to learn though, like how to handle power or rather, who should handle the power. The book ends with the chapter describing what happens nineteen years later. End of a legendary series of stories is rather tame.