Blog Post 3

After rereading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows this quarter I have determined this is my favorite book. The first time I read it I avoided rereading it because it was the end. I had grown up with Harry Potter and this was it. There would be no more midnight trips to Kroger(Barnes and Nobles was too far away) to purchase the books, no more adventures of Harry, Ron, and Hermione. I didn't like the finality that the books had. Yes this was the final book of Rowling's series, but she didn't leave any hanging business. I knew that this was the case going in, as she had said so in numerous interviews, but I hoped that it would not truly be the end. Rereading them this quarter gave me some acceptance of this end, and reading them all at once really built up the anticipation for the final battle of Harry and Voldemort.

One thing that I was convinced of was that Snape was bad. Dumbledore always talked about an old man's follies and he talked about how he saw the good in people, but I wanted him to be wrong. I wanted Snape to be bad. I thought that trusting Snape was Dumbledore's fatal flaw. I wanted Dumbledore to be wrong about something. No one can be that right all the time. It was frustrating to me. Looking back I see all of the evidence that Snape was good. I have immense respect for Snape and I probably have a mild book crush on Snape, but I vehemently argued that he was bad prior to this last book. I really wanted Dumbledore to be wrong. I was frustrated with Dumbledore. I'm still a little frustrated with Dumbledore; I felt he knew too much and did not tell Harry enough. This probably makes me a very dense reader that I did not pick up on Snape being good and that I was frustrated with Dumbledore, but I don't care. If I had never taken this class there are lots of things that I never would have picked up on in the books. I never would have fully comprehended what happened to Ariana Dumbledore. I never would have considered what the Dursley's did to Harry as straight up abuse. I knew it wasn't normal, but I never would have understood exactly how bad it was. This class really helped me to see more than what was on the page.

My feelings towards Harry, Hermione, or Ron did not change. I always liked them. It didn't bother me that Ron left. I think it was human of him, and he came back. Which in some ways is harder than leaving. I'm glad Hermione is as she is. I think she has a lot of strength, especially sending her parents off to Australia. Without her help Harry would not have been able to accomplish all that he did. Even without Ron Harry would have struggled.

The character I was most surprised with in the entire series though was Neville. It made me cry at the end when his Grandmother was finally proud of him. He overcame so much, and came to be so brave at the end. Neville from book one would never have been able to kill Nagini like Neville in book seven was. Neville was super rebellious in a completely cool sort of way. He grew up the most throughout the series. I thought he was the most inspiring character throughout the series. Voldemort was hesitant to kill him because he was a pureblood, a weaker wizard would not have been as defiant to Voldemort as Neville was. He showed no fear when all else seemed to be lost. I am so happy that he did not die at the end. I was upset by those that did, but of those that survived I was most happy that he did.