For some strange reason, this past summer, I realized I had to read the Harry Potter series (for the first time ever). I had kicked around the idea a few times in my life. As a small child, my mom read up to “Prison of Azkaban”, and then as an older teen, I read up to “Chamber of Secrets”. But all of a sudden, I had an unquenchable desire to finally sit down and read the entire series.
My aunt and uncle gave me the entire book box series for my birthday this year, and I got started almost instantaneously. It took me about a week and half to read the first three book. I actually accidentally read “Prison of Azkaban” in one day. I devoured it, and I felt very warm and fuzzy after finishing it.
The next three took me a little bit longer, until I got to Deathly Hallows, and then I devoured that book in about three days. Once a book introduces a mystery to me, I legally have to find out what’s going on as soon as I possibly can. I think the fact that the Deathly Hallows movies are SO different from the book also accounted for my curiosity. I was learning so much that was left out of the movies.
Anyway, I finally finished, and feeling empty and alone, here are my thoughts of the series as a whole, now that I actually know what’s going on:
(Spoiler alert if you’ve never read the books or watched the movies!)
- Snape still kind of sucked for me by the end.
- Like yes, I empathized with his situation, and it was heart-wrenching for him to ask to look at Harry’s eyes before he died, but he was still kind of a loser. First of all, he lashed out at Lily just because she didn’t love him the way he wanted her to love him. Second of all, he bullied children due to his vendettas against their parents who were either dead or tortured to insanity. Plus, he never actually changed his ideology. He hated Neville because his parents were vehement against Death Eaters. He was just being vindictive about Voldemort killing Lily (which he had a partial blame in, mind you. He was fine with other peoples’ loved ones dying, until he experienced it himself.) Again, I was sad because it was a very beautifully orchestrated tragic-hero story, but I still would not include him on any list of characters I like.
- All the characters are super flawed, which I wish the movies incorporated more
- My favorite thing about JK Rowling’s writings is how perfectly she executes dynamic and complex characters. Almost all of her characters have a level of human duality that not a lot of author’s could pull off. Even Harry, who is pure and good and powerful, is temperamental, impetuous, and not very good at schoolwork. But all the characters had their share of flaws and faults, and I wish the movies incorporated that more. Hermoine and Luna are Mary-Sues in the movies, and Dumbledore’s entire humanizing backstory is overlooked. Even Snape’s story doesn’t do the complexity of his character justice.
- The love of a mother is one of the most prevalent themes in the entire story.
- I would argue one of the biggest themes in the entire story is the love of a mother. I know love is a huge theme, but the love of a mother specifically is such a big theme. First of all, the juxtaposition of Harry’s mom loving him so much, she died for him, and Voldemort’s mom not even being able to live for him is such a wonderful foil between the two characters. Plus, Draco’s mother was the biggest catalyst for ultimately defeating Voldemort because she loved Draco so much, all she cared about was his safety.
- Dobby is the best character (after reading the book)
- I mean, I always loved Dobby, but after reading the books, I loved Dobby. The way he wore all the hats Hermoine made so she wouldn’t feel offended, and then cleaned the entire Hogwarts common room so she wouldn’t know the other house elves were offended. And the fact that Harry told Dobby to “never try to save my life again” at the end of the Chamber of Secrets, and Dobby dies saving Harry, and from Malfoy Manor, his original place of torment. UGH. It’s all too much for me. I cried so hard, I was so distraught. Between Dobby and Dumbledore, I was beyond unwell the last two books.
I obviously have a lot more observations, but there are my four biggest take aways. My favorite book was Prisoner of Azkaban followed very closely by the Half Blood Prince, and my least favorite was Order of the Phoenix. I think it’s the only book that’s not as good as the movie, and the only book I’ll skip when I do re-reads. Also my favorite characters of Dobby, Harry, McGonagall, and Dumbledore. And my favorite of the mythical creatures is definitely thestrals. They’re such a beautiful personification of grief.
Elder millennials, I’m so sorry for all of the times I teased you for being “Harry Potter adults”. I’m a full blown HP adult and I’m so late to the game. Hold on one sec while I plan a trip to universal and put a Deathly Hallows decal on my car…