Okay I finally got around to reading the final installment in the life of Harry Potter. I had to wait for the kids to get through it before I could even lay my hands on it. I could have been selfish and read it first, but any reason to get someone else reading is good for me. First of all it is sad to see that Rowling has decided to end the series, but really where else could she have gone? I guess there could have been some college time for Harry, but that whole Voldemort trying to take over the world thing needed and end, and you could only drag it out for so long. 7 books was plenty for that. I think all the spoilers have been out long enough that I won't be giving too much away when I say the following: You can tell it is the last of the Potter series because the last chapter of the book jumps to 19 years later. Anytime this happens it is the end.
Okay let's give a synopsis. Well some really cool characters die, an evil villian turns out to be a good guy, Harry dies and we finally learn what Dumbledore was doing all those years. Oh and we get to meet Harry's parents.
Now for those of you that have read the book you can see I didn't lie, but some of the above is not quite as it seems.
Harry is about to come of age in which he can do magic anytime, but until then he has many protection charms that keep him safe from Voldemort. Once he comes of age then Voldemort begins his attack. In the time between the last book and this one Voldemort has pretty much taken control of everything, many Death Eaters are members of the Ministry of Magic and Severus Snape is now Headmaster at Hogwarts.
Harry is not returning to Hogwarts because of the task Dumbledore passed on to Harry before he dumbledore was killed by Snape. Harry, Ron & Hermione must hunt down and destroy all the Horcruxes. These are magical items in which Voldemort has placed a piece of his soul so he can never be fully destroyed. Destroy all the Horcruxes and then Voldemort can truly die. However Dumbledore never told Harry what or where these were or even How to destroy them. One was a locket that Harry has been carrying. Dumbledore destroyed one. So it seems there are more for Harry & friends to destroy after they track them down.
At the same time Voldemort has found out that his wand is powerless against Harry's wand. He thinks this is because they are the twin of each other. So Voldemort is seeking out one of the three deathly hallows, the Elder Wand. This wand is passed on from wizard to wizard but only when one wizard beats the other. There are many myths and children's stories about this wand and Voldemort thinks it will give him ultimate power.
In looking for the Horcruxes, Harry discovers the myth of the 3 deathly hallows, one of which he already holds, the cloak of invisibility. These are magical items passed on through history that give the holder the power to cheat death. The other deathly hallow which hasn't been mentioned is the resurrection stone. Apparantly Voldemort doesn't know of the 3 hallows because he turned the stone to a Horcrux.
After Harry has tracked down all the Horcruxes he finally has to battle Voldemort. A huge battle at Hogwarts ensues in which many more interesting characters die and Harry eventually dies. Okay he doesn't really but it looks as though he does. I will not give away too much because this book deserves your attention, as do all of the Harry Potter books.
J. K. Rowling created a stir with the Harry Potter books but I think most of all she also made reading cool for youth. So no matter what happens in the books it looks as though not only creating a great story and some really awesome characters (good and bad) she has brought reading back to today's youth. Oh and even some of us adults that love to read a good story. I see these books living forever.
In closing I would just like to say, "Thank you, J. K. Rowling, for some great reading for all ages."
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