Surprised!

When I first read the books, I didn’t foresee the ending at all. I was totally thrown by every twist and turn in the series. For someone, like me, who reads but doesn’t overanalyze books, I think J.K. Rowling did an excellent job of keeping the suspense. The part about Harry being a horcrux was a shock to me. I knew there was a connection between Harry and Voldemort, but I didn’t realize it was as deep as that. Once I found out he was, it definitely made sense though and I could see all the connections from book one all the way to the end. I had to keep rereading the part about the Elder wand. I couldn’t understand how Voldemort couldn’t be the master of the wand and how his spell backfired on himself. I am happy that Harry essentially out witted Voldemort, instead of having to kill him.

I think Snape surprised me the most. I really didn’t like him at all throughout the series, but at the end, I could really appreciate all the sacrifices he made just to save the son of the love of his life. I feel like he was almost the true hero of the entire story. I don’t mean to dismiss what Harry does. Harry’s acceptance of death at the end is somewhat similar to Snape’s. Snape has to know he is going to die at the end, so he has accepted death. By the end of the series, I ended up liking Snape, though it is really hard for me to admit it!

Towards the end, however, I started to dislike Dumbledore. Seeing all the webs he weaved and all the people he put into danger made me not like him. I know that without him, Voldemort probably wouldn’t have been defeated, but I feel like there had to be a better way for him to coach Harry or he should have at least offered more information. This is all being said considering he was one of my favorite characters in the beginning. I felt like as long as he was there, nothing could happen, exactly the way Harry probably felt. I was sad when he died, but after reading book 7, I realized how much information he left out.

I guess I just see the entire series as a big war, which is what it describes itself as. It is a war where a dictator rises up and somebody else in the world has to step up and take them down. That is the best I can do to relate it to the “real world” because, for me, the world of Harry Potter is so special and magical that I don’t want to relate it to our world’s problems or issues. (I know that really doesn’t answer that question, but I just can’t bring myself to think about it too much because it will ruin the books for me!)