Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Books/Deathly Hallows/Chapter 36
From Wikibooks, the open-content textbooks collection
Chapter 36 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: The Flaw in the Plan
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
Returning to the living world, Harry lies limp, pretending to be dead. Hearing the Death Eaters surrounding Voldemort, he deduces that Voldemort also was knocked unconscious. Voldemort revives and orders Narcissa Malfoy to confirm that Harry is dead. Feeling a heartbeat, she softly asks if Draco is alive. Harry whispers, "Yes"; Narcissa, knowing she can only enter the castle with the conquering Death Eaters, lies and pronounces Harry dead. To "prove" that Harry is indeed a corpse, Voldemort uses the Cruciatus curse to toss his body around in the air, although Harry feels no pain. Voldemort forces the weeping Hagrid to carry Harry as the entire group leaves the dark Forest. Hagrid accuses the nearby Centaurs of sitting idly by and letting evil win.
Voldemort calls out the fighters from Hogwarts to see their fallen hero. The Dark Lord announces that Hogwarts will be united under a single house, Slytherin. He entices Neville, a pureblood, to join him. Neville refuses and charges, only to be caught in a Full-body bind. Voldemort summons the Sorting Hat from the Headmaster's office and places it on Neville's head, setting it afire.
Several things happen simultaneously. The families of students sent home have arrived, howling war cries as they climb the outer walls. The Centaurs, ending their neutrality, charge the Death Eaters. Grawp reappears around the corner, headed for Hagrid. Neville frees himself from the body-bind curse, and drawing the Sword of Gryffindor from the Sorting Hat, hacks off Nagini's head, destroying the final Horcrux. Harry leaps up and places his Invisibility Cloak over himself, then casts a Shield Charm between Voldemort and Neville.
As the battle erupts again, the Death Eaters, retreating from the new threat from behind that now includes Thestrals and Buckbeak, enter the castle. Harry, under the Cloak, heads for the Entrance Hall, searching for Voldemort. Inside, House elves, led by Kreacher, are hacking the Death Eaters' ankles with kitchen knives. Voldemort is simultaneously dueling McGonagall, Slughorn, and Kingsley. Bellatrix is likewise fighting Hermione, Ginny, and Luna. When Bellatrix barely misses Ginny with a curse, an enraged Molly Weasley pushes the three girls aside and challenges Bellatrix directly. As they fiercely duel, Molly proclaims that another Weasley will never be harmed and casts a powerful curse directly to Bellatrix's chest, killing her. Voldemort's fury over losing his most devoted follower blasts McGonagall, Kingsley, and Slughorn backwards. As Voldemort turns to Molly, Harry casts a shield charm between them. When Voldemort looks around to see who conjured it, Harry pulls off his Invisibility Cloak, revealing himself to the audibly stunned crowd.
Harry warns everyone to stay back - the battle is between him and Voldemort now. They circle each other warily. Voldemort claims that Harry continually survives by hiding behind better wizards who sacrifice themselves for him. Harry urges Voldemort, who he boldly addresses as Tom Riddle, to feel remorse for his evil deeds. He then tells him that Dumbledore outsmarted him, planning his own death, and that Snape was never the Elder Wand's rightful owner. The true master was Draco Malfoy, who unknowingly won the wand's allegiance when he disarmed Dumbledore, just before Snape killed him on the Astronomy Tower. When Harry overpowered Draco at Malfoy Manor and took his wand, the Elder Wand gave its allegiance to him; Harry reminds Voldemort that "The wand chooses the wizard". Also, Harry tells him, because he willingly sacrificed himself to Voldemort, the same magic that Lily Potter's death protected him with, now protects the fighters.
Voldemort casts Avada Kedavra as Harry simultaneously conjures Expelliarmus. But Voldemort's killing curse backfires, reflected by Harry's blood protection and the Elder Wand's allegiance to him, while Harry's disarming charm wrenches the Elder Wand from Voldemort's hand to his. With all his Horcruxes destroyed, Voldemort dies instantly.
A joyous victory celebration erupts in the Great Hall, but there is also tremendous sorrow for those killed in battle, including Lupin, Tonks, Fred Weasley, and Colin Creevey. Craving solitude, Harry slips away with Ron and Hermione and tells them everything that transpired after he left them. They go to the Headmaster's chamber where they are met with roaring applause from the portraits. Harry tells Dumbledore's portrait that he will never search for the dropped Resurrection Stone in the Forbidden Forest. He will keep the Invisibility Cloak as a family heirloom, and the Elder Wand will be secretly returned to Dumbledore's tomb in hopes that the wand's power will eventually die with Harry. Dumbledore nods his approval. Before returning the Elder Wand to the tomb, Harry uses it to repair his own broken wand.
Although Ron is disappointed that the Elder Wand is being returned to Dumbledore's tomb, Harry prefers his old wand's familiarity. He concludes that the Elder Wand would be more trouble than it is worth, and that he has "had enough trouble for a lifetime."
[edit] Analysis
The long, intricate story concludes with each puzzle piece set in place and Harry's questions answered; Voldemort has been defeated and Harry now knows that Dumbledore truly loved him. And although Dumbledore had tasked Harry with locating and dispatching the remaining Horcruxes, he knew Harry needed help. Ultimately, each soul shard was slain by a different person: Dumbledore destroyed Gaunt's Ring; Slytherin's Locket was impaled by Ron; Hermione shattered Hufflepuff's Cup; and Neville beheaded Nagini. Even Harry's enemies unintentionally helped him. Voldemort (unknowingly) slayed the Scar Horcrux with his deadly curse and Ravenclaw's Diadem was scorched by the Fiendfyre conjured by Crabbe. In the end, Harry dispensed only one, Riddle's Diary. However, he was instrumental in identifying and locating the Cup and the Diadem, although it was Luna Lovegood who suggested the latter. Although Harry intended to destroy the remaining Horcruxes alone, an act that could have taken years and in which he probably would have failed, he instead learns to rely on and trust in others. By having each Horcrux destroyed by a different person, Rowling shows that Harry is the sum of all his parts, with those parts being his friends' support, loyalty, love, and companionship, especially Ron and Hermione's. Draco Malfoy also played a crucial role—his refusal to positively identify Harry and the others at Malfoy Manor aided their escape. And though Malfoy is not fully redeemed, his soul remains intact.
Harry has also learned that death, grief, and loss are essential and inevitable parts of living; escaping them is impossible, and confronting them only makes one stronger. When Harry promises Dumbledore that the Resurrection Stone will be left in the Forbidden Forest, it shows that he has not only accepted death's finality, but embraced it, making him its true master; he resolves to never again summon his parents' spirits, understanding that it was never a true resurrection and that the dead must be left in peace. Having seen that James, Lily, Sirius, and Lupin are in a happy, serene place, Harry is content and knows that one day they will all be reunited. Meanwhile, Harry is now able to move forward and will live his own satisfying and productive life. And while Harry accepts that the things he has loved and lost can never truly be retrieved with or without magic, there is one exception: his wand.
Lupin and Tonks' deaths are not only a tragic loss of two beloved characters, but it leaves their only child an orphan. It is, therefore, no coincidence that Harry, their son's godfather, is also an orphan. Both Lupin and Tonks knew there was a high probability that they could both be killed, leaving their son, Teddy, to be raised without parents. While both loved and admired Harry and believed he would be a caring and responsible godfather, they also knew that his own experience growing up without his mother and father would enable him to guide and mentor young Teddy in a way few others could. It is quite likely that this understanding of Harry's nature was sparked or confirmed by Harry's outburst at Lupin earlier. That Lupin and James Potter were once close friends will probably also create an especially close bond between godfather and godson, much like Harry shared with Sirius Black.
Hagrid's shouting at the Centaurs, who refused to engage in battle because they disdained interfering in human affairs, shamed them enough that they finally joined forces against the Death Eaters. Also, Hogwarts' House-elves, whom Ron wanted to warn so that they would not be killed, show that Wizards' underestimation of them is incorrect: rather than cowering with fear, as most Wizards would probably expect, the elves strike at the Death Eaters. In this, they are led by Kreacher, a character who started the series as a spiteful and hateful House-elf opposing the Order of the Phoenix and despising Harry, but was eventually won over by Harry's respect and kindness, which Kreacher returned to him as loyalty.
If any reader still believes after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows that Neville Longbottom should have been sorted into Hufflepuff House, they need only to remember Dumbledore's words to Harry in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets that "only a true Gryffindor could pull that (the Sword of Gryffindor) out of the Hat". Neville is a favorite among fans, and many will be pleased that he, in the end, receives his fair share of victory.
Voldemort tossing Harry about with the Cruciatus curse without it inflicting any pain is a subtle clue to readers that the Elder Wand's allegiance actually belongs to Harry; it will not harm its true master. Also, Harry has been continually criticized by his mentors for acting too predictably to his enemies, particularly in using the Expelliarmus defensive charm. During his final confrontation with Voldemort, Harry knows that he (Harry) is the Elder Wand's true master. He again casts Expelliarmus, ejecting the wand from Voldemort's hand into his own as the Killing Curse rebounds off his body, fatally striking Voldemort. By doing the predictable, Harry acted unpredictably.
It is also interesting to note that Harry defeats Voldemort not by killing him, but allowing the Dark Lord's evil nature to be his undoing, causing his own death. Harry is victorious through his cunning, patience, persistence, and by building alliances, rather than slaying enemies. Throughout the entire series, Harry never kills anyone.
[edit] Questions
[edit] Review
- Why was Draco (briefly and unknowingly) the Elder Wand's master?
- How did Harry become the Elder Wand's new master?
- Why does Narcissa Malfoy inform Voldemort that Harry is dead, knowing he is alive?
- Why does Harry feel justified keeping the Invisibility Cloak, but not the other Hallows?
- Why doesn't Harry feel any pain when Voldemort uses the Cruciatus Curse on him?
- Why did Voldemort's Avada Kedavra curse rebound and kill him instead of Harry?
- Why did Harry's sacrifice protect those who were fighting the Death Eaters, but not Lupin, Tonks, and Fred?
[edit] Further Study
- Why do the Centaurs end their neutrality and join the battle against Voldemort?
- Why would Voldemort trust Narcissa Malfoy to confirm whether or not Harry was dead?
- How is Molly Weasley able to defeat Bellatrix Lestrange, an extremely powerful and evil witch? Are Molly's actions an act of war or personal revenge?
- Why does Harry choose his signature Expelliarmus disarming spell rather than another curse to attack Voldemort in their final duel?
- What might the final outcome have been if Harry, the Elder Wand's true master, had been wielding it rather than Voldemort?
- Why was Dumbledore, the Elder Wand's former master, unable to defeat Voldemort with it during the battle at the Ministry of Magic (in Order of the Phoenix)?
- Why does Harry, now the Elder Wand's true master, choose to secretly return it to Dumbledore's tomb? What does Harry say about it, and what does he mean by that?
- What could prompt Harry to retrieve the Elder Wand in the future?
- What will prevent the wand from being stolen from Dumbledore's tomb?
- What circumstances might compel Harry to find and use the Resurrection Stone?
[edit] Greater Picture
Just as Lily sacrificed her own life to protect Harry against Voldemort, so again does Harry's accepting death to save those fighting at Hogwarts protect them from Voldemort and his Death Eaters. This becomes evident as all the charms, hexes, and curses that Voldemort and his followers are hurling in the final battle seem remarkably ineffective.
Harry's decision to secretly return the Elder Wand to Dumbledore's tomb poses an interesting problem; it is never specified just how the tomb will be protected from some other Dark Wizard. According to Mr. Ollivander, despite the Elder Wand's power, its master is always vulnerable to attack. Voldemort was able to trace the wand's history and follow it to Hogwarts where he easily breached the tomb. Without adequate protections, the wand could be once again retrieved from Dumbledore's tomb, even though Voldemort does seem to have closed off the trail by killing all those who knew of it. And though Harry is now the wand's master and it will perform poorly for others, if Harry is ever disarmed during an unguarded moment, even while wielding his own wand, just as Harry did with Draco, and as Draco did to Dumbledore, the Elder Wand's allegiance could be transferred to an attacker who conceivably could also steal it. Harry will need to be especially vigilant in protecting himself, a difficult task considering his future profession.
