Mugglenet.com's Harry Potter Should Have Died - Emerson Spartz [34]
Deathly Hallows
J. K. Rowling saved her best for last. Fans waited for so many years to read DH, and it turned out to be everything they hoped for. It answers all the mysteries. Who will die in the war with Voldemort? Is Severus Snape good or bad? Can the Order of the Phoenix go on without Dumbledore? Readers had been sitting in the dark, waiting in anticipation, and then DH came through and blew away all their expectations.
Harry is both at his most adult and most vulnerable in this book, more alone than ever and unsure of his own ability to vanquish the Dark Lord. It’s so satisfying to see him grow older and more mature with each book, and the themes he is grappling with become more and more complex, never more so than in DH when Harry must finally face the biggest theme of them all: death. Death is ever present in this book and, in fact, Harry himself briefly “dies” when his soul floats off to King’s Cross during his battle with Voldemort.
But the book isn’t all heavy-handed seriousness. A ton of awesome new material is revealed, coming out of nowhere. Harry’s quest is to search out and destroy the evil Horcruxes, but what about the mysterious Deathly Hallows and Dumbledore’s own troubled past? What did the racist Grindelwald have to do with anything? Voldemort reaches his goal of a pureblood dictatorship, while kicking around his own followers. Will they mutiny or follow him to the bitter end? Surprising allies help Harry at crucial moments and teach him that, in the end, everyone can love and be human, despite the house affiliations and resentments. The battle scenes are spectacular, with giants and enormous spiders, centaurs and hippogriffs, flashy duels and agonizing deaths. But Deathly Hallows is the best book in the series at defining heroism and bravery, not just in terms of reckless deeds, but by redemptive acts and the power of remorse. Reading this book is like escaping on a flying dragon and landing in a sunlit meadow, knowing everything has turned out just as it should.
Prisoner of Azkaban
Forget Deathly Hallows—the best book in the series is Prisoner of Azkaban. Why? Because there is not a wasted word or unnecessary scene. It is a tightly wound mystery that has a beginning, middle, and end, and unlike some of the longer books, it is enjoyable as a novel all by itself. The plotline elegantly solves several problems at once and introduces two of the most important characters in Harry’s life: Remus Lupin and Sirius Black. Clues are cleverly scattered around the hallways of Hogwarts and the streets of Hogsmeade. What is Lupin’s mysterious ailment? Does Sirius Black really want to kill Harry? How is Hermione taking double classes? And why is Scabbers losing all his fur?
PoA has the best magical object of all time—the Marauder’s Map—which is not only extremely useful, but amusing (after all, it entertained Fred and George for years, and they were always up to no good). Harry probably learns more in PoA than any other book, both in and out of class—how to destroy a Boggart, how to cope with Dementors, the difference between a Patronus and an Animagus, and several dark secrets from the past. We get backstory in spades, all about Harry’s father, James, and his gang of mischievous teenage Marauders running through the moonlit forest of the past. Many old friends and foes meet again in the dramatic Shrieking Shack showdown. Throw in a hippogriff execution, shocking plot twists, a werewolf, and one of the best time-travel stories of all time, and no one could ask for more.
Verdict
Goblet of Fire is a great rambling tale that has loads of action, from flying brooms to dangerous dragon-fighting, and the ending turns the key to solve several mysteries. Deathly Hallows is the book of revelations for the entire series, answering all questions and ending with an epic battle on the parapets of Hogwarts. Prisoner of Azkaban is an old-fashioned