Harry Potter and the perfect wrap-up
By: Joan Ruddiman
Harry arrived as long anticipated but I was not home to receive him. Though "Harry Potter And the Deathly Hallows" (Scholastic, 2007) was ordered months in advance, a trip to see son Jake and daughter-in-love Kate in New England preempted the planned day-to-read-it-all.
With the hype over Harry inescapably everywhere, the only thing to do was to buy another copy to read before any details of the last adventures leaked out.
It was an experience being on the road the day the last Harry Potter arrived. Copies of the book were spotted at roadside picnic tables, restaurants and through many windows of passing cars with young and old passengers alike glued to the big book.
As has been well accounted already, the last in the Harry Potter series was worthy of the hype.
J.K. Rowling is to be commended for creating a legend. Throughout the series, she has been true to the classic archetypes and conventions of epic adventures. Carl Jung would be pleased.
Harry is the classic hero humble, loyal, worthy of admiration for his unselfish as well as brave deeds.
He is also the quintessential orphan child in the tradition of Moses and King Arthur, Frodo and Luke Skywalker. Loyal friends support him the often-bumbling sidekick and the brainy and beautiful female counterpart who is loved "like a sister … I thought you knew." (Great line, Ms. Rowling.)
The innocents wander in the Wilderness, a culmination of years journeying to find truth. Ms. Rowling in Book One very purposely established the pattern of traveling from Number 4 Privet Drive to Hogwarts as Harry with Ron and Hermione in each book seek to uncover secrets and right terrible wrongs.
As in all epics, the battle between good versus evil is writ large. Some readers see biblical parallels with the forces of Heaven and Hell doing battle as embodied by Dumbledore and Harry versus the devil incarnate Voldemort.
Some readers see parallels to the real life epic played out in the 20th century with the battle of Pure Bloods against all others as Hitler’s master race that sought to conquer the world.
Thus, for those appreciative of Ms. Rowling’s epic plan, Book Seven though riveting was not shocking.
War is waged. Good people and many people die. Curses (the old fashioned kind) are muttered or yelled by even the mildest personalities. The big question posed by pundits for weeks prior to the release of the book was does Harry die?
I won’t be the spoiler for those who have yet to read the book. But I will say that if Ms. Rowling remains true to the parameters of an epic tale as she has through the first six books in the series, how can Harry die when he embodies all that is good?
"The Boy-Who-Lived remains a symbol of everything for which we are fighting: the triumph of good, the power of innocence, the need to keep resisting," Lupin says "firmly" on page 441.
From the very first, Harry only uses his great magical power to protect those he loves and those who are exploited.
Recall that Harry’s first inkling that he is really, really different is early in Book One, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone" (Scholastic, 1998) when Harry finds he is talking to a great snake on that unfortunate trip to the zoo for Dudley’s birthday. The encased snake notes the sympathetic tone and strikes up a conversation, which leads to Harry subconsciously providing a means for the snake’s escape.
Because Ms. Rowling writes in third person limited narrative style from Harry’s point of view, the reader only really "gets it" when Harry does. Therefore, as in so many other instances, it takes Harry a while (until Book Six, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" Scholastic, 2005) to understand that his capacity to love is his greatest power. Thank you Professor Dumbledore for making this clear to Harry and to us.
Therefore back to the question of how the series ends. It ends of course in true epic form good/love has to triumph over evil/hate.
How Ms. Rowling gets to this anticipated conclusion is what keeps readers turning pages into the wee hours of the night. We don’t just want to know who wins, we want to know what happens to all these characters that have become so real to us.
Do Ron and Hermione stick around to help? And what of Ginny Weasley? Are she and Harry an item? Is she Harry’s equal?
Epics are romances as well as swashbuckling adventures after all, so these are story lines that must be noted.
From the first, Ms. Rowling let it be known that all seven books in the series were outlined. For those who have read the series, the grand plan is wonderfully apparent in Book Seven. The stories of all the characters are nicely wrapped up as Ms. Rowling pulls together details given in past books that link past and even future wizard histories.
It has been quite a journey for Harry and for his readers. The middle school students who first shared their passion for Harry with me ten years ago are now rising college juniors. Some who I still know well have not lost their enthusiasm for this magical world and these marvelous characters.
Nor have many of their counterparts. As reported in the Wall Street Journal last year, Dartmouth, among other colleges, has a Quidditch team complete with a "snitch" dressed in spandex yellow who is pursued by students in Hogwarts robes.
Interestingly, Book Seven is most appropriate for these readers who are now adults. From the first page, "Deathly Hallows" is dark, grim, and unrelentingly gripping. We expected this, however, as Book Six ended with Dumbledore’s death and the wizard world poised for war.
War has come and it dominates Book Seven in all its ugliness.
For those who may think that Book Seven is too harsh for children, consider that Ms. Rowling did not write Book Seven for children. Book Seven is written and dedicated to all those who have followed the extensive epic over six books. At 700 plus pages each, any child who reads Book One through Seven as the series must be read, is capable of handling the tough realities when they reach the climatic ending.
These dedicated readers are also able to appreciate the beauty of the arc of the story that resolves so satisfactorily just as a classic epic should.
But what do we do now that the series has ended? For those who yearn to explore more of this modern day classic, Kate who finished the book in the wee Sunday morning hours found a Web site that bills itself quite accurately as "Thoughts for the serious reader of Harry Potter."
John Granger (no relation to but just as clever as Hermione) is the Hogwarts Professor of http://www.hogwartsprofessor.com. A graduate of the University of Chicago where he studied classical languages and literature, Mr. Granger is the author of "Unlocking Harry Potter: Five Keys for the Serious Reader" (Zossima Press, 2007), and other Potter related titles. He is a popular keynoter as Potter symposiums such as Prophecy 2007 that is in Toronto this week.
Mr. Granger sees the "Hog Pro" Web site as a means to teach English literature in the cyber world. In the real world, he teaches ninth grade English at Valley Forge Military Academy.
Ms. Rowling in a 1998 interview said that in order to invent this wizard world, she had to learn about alchemy "in order to set the parameters and establish the stories’ internal logic."
Mr. Granger does serious readers of the Harry Potter series a great service by sharing his extensive analysis of the alchemical patterns Ms. Rowling employs in the books. Who knew that even to the color of the covers were purposefully chosen to convey the seven steps in changing lead (gray) to gold (golden red).
Mr. Granger provides commentary on biblical and epic allusions, poses questions and posts readers comments in his pithy and witty Web site that generously links to other worthy Web sites for Potterphiles.
For those who are just not ready to let go of Harry and all his esoteric wonders, there are kindred spirits out there in cyberspace and beyond to keep the story alive.
That’s the epic spirit.
Joan Ruddiman, Ed.D., is a teacher and friend of the Allentown Public Library.

