A Change in ourselves through the Changing Story

When Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows came out, I, like everyone else I knew, stayed up all night to read the book and finish it before everyone else. With this information hungry read through, I was very shocked by many poignant things. Ron abandoning Harry and Hermione. Harry saving Draco’s life. Hermione and Ron’s dramatic kiss. Dumbledore’s history. Snape, Dobby, Lupin, Tonks, Fred, Collin, countless other deaths. Neville’s badassery. Narcissa saving Harry. Just to name a few.

But one of the most shocking things that I think everyone can agree on is finally learning the truth about Severus Snape. After spending six consecutive books learning to hate Snape beyond ourselves, it was incredibly shocking, and almost problematic, to learn the Snape was good all along. The chapter “The Prince’s Tale” reveals the Snape we never got to meet. We readers learn through Harry and Snape’s memories that Snape was on “our side” the entire time. He was acting as Voldemort’s right hand man under the orders of Dumbledore himself. The complexity of Snape’s character is thrown in our face with such force that we feel guilty for hating him, especially when you reread the series with this knowledge. This knowledge, however, becomes problematic because it is difficult to hate the bad guy when you know how complex he is.

Learning about Dumbledore is also problematic. All the time we spent hating Snape, we have been trusting Albus Dumbledore with everything we have. Finding out how much vital information he kept from Harry is truly unsettling and dramatically changes our view of Dumbledore.

I also think that Neville and Ron’s character development is worth mentioning. Although not as ground shaking, they both transform into quite, not as vital characters to integral, plot determining characters. Ron, playing the role of ‘sidekick,’ was always a quite supporter of Harry and his actions. When Harry gets into the Triwizard Tournament, tensions begin to rise, but nothing breaks until Deathly Hallows when Ron calls Harry out on not knowing what he’s doing. When Ron finally returns, he picks up a leadership role that puts him more in the spotlight. Similarly, Neville was another quite supporter who began to shine slightly in Order of the Phoenix. In Deathly Hallows, Neville kills Nagini, the last Horcurx, making Lord Voldemort mortal once more.

I also want to share a quick tidbit on the emotional pulls of the final chapter of Rowling’s epic. I was touched at every major death, but what really got me was the third to last chapter, “The Forest Again.” When Harry began walking to his death, encouraged by those who loved him- his parents, Sirius, Remus- I remember crying my eyes out. It was 3am, I was sitting up on my bed, crying so hard I had to physically put the book down. This chapter was so poignant for me because it is such an emotional and touching chapter. It is this sort of relatable, empathetic emotion that brings the series to multiple generations.

This groundbreaking series defines our generation. It has integrated itself into our lives through not only through books, but in our cinema. We were raised with the story of the every-day boy turned hero that inspired us all to believe in magic again.