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Writer's pictureJulio Ramirez

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2010-11) Review



THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM(S). READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.



An end of an era is very special because it’s all about putting the past behind us. JK Rowling was aware of this when concluding the Wizarding World franchise originally with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The problem was that the book laid out so much to go out on a high note that two films were needed to do it justice. Was it worth it? Hell yes it was.

PLOT

Part One takes place only months after the tragic murder of Albus Dumbledore committed by Severus Snape acting as a double agent for Tom Riddle/Lord Voldemort. At Malfoy Manor, he informs the Dark Lord that Harry Potter will be moved soon by the Order of the Phoenix due to his protection spell about to expire on his 17th birthday. Knowing he cannot use his own wand, due to his and the boy’s sharing the same core that’ll prevent him from killing him, he borrows one from Lucius before he and his Death Eaters intercept him at Privet Drive.There, Harry’s last relatives, the Dursleys, have relocated for their own safety before he plans an escape with Dumbledore’s Army that make up the Order. Alistair ‘Mad Eye’ Moody (Brendan Gleeson) arranges everyone to be in pairs and disguise themselves as Potter via Polyjuice Potion so that no Death Eater could figure out where Harry will go. Harry gets paired up with Rubeus Hagrid whereas the rest are as followed: Fellow member yet petty Mundungus Fletcher (Andy Linden) is paired with Mad Eye, Hermione Granger will be paired with Kingsley Shacklebolt (George Harris), Ron Weasley will go with Nymphadora Tonks (Natalia Tena), Fred Weasley (James Phelps)  will go with his father Arthur (Mark Williams), his twin brother George (Oliver Phelps) will go with Remus Lupin (David Thewlis) and Fleur Delacour (Clémence Poésy) will go with her fiance Bill Weasley (Domhall Gleeson), the eldest of Arthur’s sons. The escape is not smooth as expected because although Harry reaches the Burrow unscathed where the matriarch Molly Weasley (Julie Walters) waits for everyone, his pet owl Hedwig dies protecting him, as well as Mad Eye. Fletcher also fled out of fear whereas George loses an ear during the chase. With everyone’s lives being put at stake, Harry considers leaving to find the remaining Horcuxes of the Dark Lord on his own, but Ron convinces him to stay for the wedding of Bill & Fleur, knowing he'll be vulnerable enough. The day of, the two and Hermione are given gifts from the Minister of Magic Rufus Scrimgeour as part of Albus’ will: Ron gets his custom made deluminator, Harry is given the golden snitch he caught in his first Quidditch game and Hermione is given a copy of ‘The Tales of Beedle the Bard’. The night of the wedding though, chaos only continues because Scrimgeour would be murdered and the Ministry would be taken down by Voldemort’s army. Kingsley alerts everyone at the wedding before more Death Eaters attack. Harry, Ron & Hermione are able to escape and take shelter in Grimmauld Place which was once the home of Sirius Black’s family. Only after one day does the trio deduce his brother Regulus was RAB in the letter who stole the real locket of Salazar Slytherin, Voldemort’s horcrux. They then find the house elf Kreacher (Simon McBurney) who reveals it was taken by Fletcher who he finds with the help of the free elf Dobby (Toby Jones). Once brought back to Grimmauld Place, Fletcher reveals he sold it to Dolores Umbridge, who is part of the new Ministry with the position of Head of the Muggle Born Registration Commission. She is alongside the new Minister Pius Thicknesse (Guy Henry) and Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement Corban Yaxley (Peter Mullan). Harry & his friends are able to get the locket only after infiltrating the Ministry in the disguise of other Death Eaters. Once they get made, Yaxley chases them until they Apparate. The trio is able to escape from him into a forest, but Ron gets injured as a result of not focusing properly. As he recuperates at a forest, they agree to search for the sword of Godric Gryffindor to destroy the locket. Despite being bequeathed by Albus in his will for Harry to have it, it’s been missing for some time. As they search, Harry looks into Voldemort’s mind, seeing that he is looking for a more powerful wand to kill him. He finds irritation that Garrick Ollivander (John Hurt) told him using someone else’s wand to defeat him, only for it to not work. So the Dark Lord goes to another wand maker named Mykew Gregorovitch (Rade Šerbedžija) for a far more powerful wand, only to kill him when revealing such a weapon was stolen from him. Things take another turn when long exposure to the locket unleashes Ron’s insecurities and angrily walks out on his friends. After this, Harry opens the snitch with his lips to open a code saying “I open at the close”. Harry & Hermione go to Godric’s Hollow hoping to find the sword, while also visiting the grave of his parents Lily & James. They do meet who appears to be Bathilda Bagshot (Hazel Douglas), someone who was a friend of Albus before he died. At her cottage, it turns out to be Tom’s pet snake Nagini in disguise who tries to kill them both until they retreat. As a result, Harry gets his wand broken and temporarily has to borrow Hermione’s. Harry did find an answer though as the person in a portrait he saw from the cottage is the same one he saw in a vision, which Hermione confirms to be Dumbledore’s eldest rival, Gellert Grindelwald (Jamie Campbell Bower/Michael Byrne). By another night, a doe Patronus guides Harry to a frozen pond and beneath is supposedly the sword he’s been looking for. When diving in, the locket strangles him in order to drown him, but Potter is saved by a returning Ron who also overcomes his insecurities when destroying said horcrux. After apologizing to Hermione for walking out on them, he gives Harry a spare wand and explains he found his way back to them thanks to the deluminator. The trio then agrees to talk to Luna Lovegood’s father Xenophilius because his necklace has a symbol they’ve been seeing ever since such as the Godric Hollow and a page from her book. When meeting up with him, he confirms the symbol to represent the Deathly Hallows; Long ago, three brothers received prizes to evade Death Itself: One got the Invisibility Cloak that Harry now has, another got Resurrection Stone meant to allow users to see and speak with their deceased loved ones and the third brother got the most powerful wand, the Elder Wand. Harry has another link with Voldemort to confirm that wand is what he’s looking for to beat the Boy Who Lived. He goes to Azkaban and asks an imprisoned Grindelwald where it is, who confirms it to be buried with Albus in his grave. Harry and his friends then get betrayed by Xenophilius who alerts Death Eaters, hoping to get his daughter back in exchange. Once captured, Potter disguises his face to be swollen and puffy so that he’s not recognized. At Malfoy Manor, he and his friends are confronted by Bellatrix Lestrange and the Malfoy family (Lucius, Narcissa & Draco). Draco does recognize Potter through his disguise, but says nothing out of fear & hesitation. Lestrange would then be surprised to see the sword in their possession as she remembers locking it up in her Gringotts vault. As she tortures Hermione for information, Harry & Ron would be sent to a cellar where Ollivander and Luna are, as well as a goblin named Griphook (Warwick Davis) who is solely there for breaking the taboo of speaking the Dark Lord’s name. With the use of a magical mirror shard he took from Grimmauld Place he believes to be Albus on the other side, he calls for help and as a result, he gets the assist of Dobby who takes turns in apparating everyone to the seaside cottage of Bill & Fleur. Only after getting Luna & Ollivander does he incapacitate Peter Pettigrew/Wormtail (Timothy Spall) so that Harry & Ron can save Hermione. The free elf does help them do so but just as they retreat with the goblin via apparition, Bellatrix throws a knife in time to kill him. Heartbroken of another loss, Harry pays respect to Dobby by burying him without magic. 

Part Two shows Voldemort take the Elder Wand from Albus’ grave whereas Snape has taken over Hogwarts as headmaster, a reward for killing the predecessor. After burying Dobby, Harry confronts Griphook about the Sword of Gryffindor supposably being in Lestrange’s vault. The goblin explains that Snape swapped the real one with a decoy at Gringotts, meaning they got the real deal. Suspecting a horcrux to be there, they agree to give him the sword in exchange for him helping break into Bellatrix’s vault. Before departing, Ollivander notes that despite Draco and Bellatrix’s wand drawing allegiance to him, he doesn’t stand a chance with Voldemort now wielding the Elder Wand. At Gringotts, Harry & Griphook sneak in with the Invisibility Cloak while Ron & Hermione dawn disguises. At the vault, they deduce the horcrux to be the cup that once belonged to Helga Hufflepuff. Griphook chooses to ditch them once he gets the sword, resulting in the trio to escape with a dragon. Once outside the bank, Harry has another link into Voldemort’s mind and after killing Griphook for the robbery, confirms another horcrux to be connected to Rowena Ravenclaw hidden at Hogwarts. Knowing this, the trio choose to sneak in through Hogsmeade and are able to hide thanks to Aberforth Dumbledore, Albus’ brother who sent Dobby to Malfoy Manor, which is proven due to having the rest of the mirror that Harry has a shard of, which belonged to Sirius but he bought from Fletcher. He then leads them to a secret passageway into Hogwarts where he reunites with Ginny, Luna, Neville Longbottom and other Hogwarts students that are not fond of Snape’s reign. Just when Potter shares that he is looking for a horcrux, Snape discovers his presence and threatens the whole school that there will be punishment for those who help the Boy Who Lived. Potter doesn’t hesitate revealing himself as well as Dumbledore’s Army, mixed with everyone he hasn’t seen since the wedding. Just as he confronts the headmaster of what he’s done, Snape considers dueling with him until Minerva McGonagall intervenes and causes him to retreat. As she rouses the community to defend the school by casting a shield spell before Voldemort rallies an attack with his army, Harry contacts the ghost of Ravenclaw to direct him where her diadem would be, since Luna recalls it as an artifact being missing for so long. Once she clarifies Riddle casted dark magic on it, she tells him it will be found in the Room of Requirement. Just as Argus Filch (David Bradley) imprisons the Slytherin students, Draco breaks out Gregory Goyle (Josh Herdman) & Blaise Zabini (Louis Cordice) to help him corner Potter. Just after Ron & Hermione destroy the cup with a basilisk fang from the chamber of secrets, they would aid Harry in an even duel. Goyle would summon a Fiendfyre curse that only results in getting himself killed when failing to control it. However, Potters saves Zabini and his bully since he didn’t expose him to Lestrange. Within the commotion, they’re still able to destroy the diadem on the way out of the magical room. Sensing Voldemort in pain, Harry looks into his mind and confirms Nagini to be a horcrux as well. He kills Pius out of anger and orders Lucius to bring Snape to him to meet at a nearby boathouse. The protagonist trio pass through the ongoing battle and are able to evade the wrath of trolls and giant spiders. They almost get overwhelmed by dementors until Aberforth joins the fight and intervenes with his patronus charm. At the boathouse, the trio would be in shock seeing Voldemort kill Snape to have full control of the Elder Wand, since he had killed Dumbledore. Once the Dark Lord leaves his dying body, Harry retrieves a tear full of his memories that Severus instructs to take to the Pensieve before drawing his last breath. Voldemort then gives his rival one hour to surrender at the Forbidden Forest and within that same hour, he will pause fighting those that defend Hogwarts. Within this hour, Harry witnesses all the lives that have been lost to protect him: Fred, Lupin, Tonks and even Ron’s ex-girlfriend Lavender Brown (Jessie Cave). He then goes to the headmaster’s office to look through Snape’s memories at the Pensieve and discover something he never thought to have been possible: Ever since childhood, Severus was in love with Lily but it never came to be due to her love for James who he never got along with. By the time they were all adults, he worked with Dumbledore to protect Harry from afar in his mother’s honor. Not only was he the one who sent the doe patronus to help him find the sword, but was instructed by Albus to kill him to fully gain Voldemort’s trust. Also, he was told that Harry is a horcrux due to how Voldemort’s soul latched himself onto him when he tried killing him as a baby, thus being connected all along. Knowing this, this means he has to die in Voldemort’s hands in order for the Dark Lord to be defeated for good. This devastated Snape when he discovered this because he grew to care for him as time went on. In shock of this bombshell, Harry says goodbye to his friends before departing. At the Forbidden Forest, he uses the Resurrection Stone that was hidden in the snitch to speak to his parents for the first time, as well as his godfather Sirius (Gary Oldman) and Lupin who had just died in battle, giving him all the comfort he needs before committing his sacrifice. When meeting the Dark Lord once again, he finds Hagrid pinned down by Death Eaters before being struck by the Killing Curse. Harry doesn’t immediately die though, as he instead finds himself in limbo. There, he meets Albus’ spirit who explains that now his soul is free of Voldemort, he has the choice to return to his body or move on. Harry ends up remaining the Boy Who Lived when deciding the former. When Narcissa checks his body, she lies to Voldemort that he died due to the boy confirming Draco is still alive. Everyone including Hagrid would be in shock believing Potter has died and Voldemort demands Hogwarts to surrender. Draco hesitantly returns to him for the sake of protecting his parents. But for Neville, he chooses defiance when drawing the sword of Gryffindor from the Sorting Hat, before Harry reveals himself to still be alive. Potter duels with Voldemort throughout the castle whereas everyone else fights off the Dark Lord’s army. During the resumed battle, Molly is able to kill Bellatrix for trying to kill her daughter Ginny (Bonnie Wright) and the Malfoys retreat rather than continue fighting. The battle finally ends though when Neville uses the sword to kill Nagini, saving Ron & Hermione from the snake’s wrath. In the last duel, Harry gets the Elder Wand from Riddle before he disintegrates. With the Death Eaters quickly disbanding upon defeat, the wizarding world finally regains peace. After Hagrid gives a hug of relief, Harry tells Ron & Hermione that Voldemort was never going to be the master of the Elder Wand because it was Draco who disarmed Albus before he died, not Severus. And because he disarmed Draco at Malfoy Manor, the wand is now his to control. But rather than risk that power being in the wrong hands, he destroys it. 

The story ends in an epilogue taking place 19 years after the defeat of Voldemort. Harry & Ginny are now happily married with three children: James Sirius, Abus Severus and Lily Luna. Hermione & Ron are also happily married and would have two children of their own, Rose & Hugo, whereas Draco would marry Astoria Greengrass and have a son named Scorpius. Albus Severus expresses worry that he won’t like the house he’ll end up with in his first year alongside Malfoy and the Weasleys, but his father comforts him in sharing he can address his feelings to the Sorting Hat because it can take your choice into account as it did for him. The story concludes with the children departing to Hogwarts and their parents giving their goodbyes at King’s Cross, knowing their lives will change the way it did for them as the train departs.

THOUGHTS

When the book came out in 2007, it was set in ink that this arc would come to an end and fans like myself knew all the passion was needed to adapt it just right. David Yates knew that just as much as Rowling did and after adapting the previous two, you can say it felt like there was less pressure in directing both halves of this finale. I stand by this because from the very beginning to the official end, the pacing was very fluent and it never felt like a rush to share what was important to explore. As you’d expect, the production design and visual effects are still top notch to hook us into what is indeed an epic finale, bringing life to this fictional universe for what felt like the last time until the Fantastic Beasts movies became a reality. Each moment was grandly intense yet special because the stakes have reached the highest and there was no going back, which was indeed worth exploring. Each chase and each battle you witness was so immersive and has you feel like you’re part of it like we’ve always felt all along. Whether it was the Battle for Hogwarts, the chase to the Burrow  or escape from Gringotts, I wouldn’t know how to feel such chills. Even Alexandre Desplat’s compelling score is beneficial in providing such a rush of feelings you need up going through. With such distinguishable aspects that catch my eye in positive delight, I find myself satisfied in how things come full circle because it is able to provide the final and most important lesson to give closure that everything we care about is finite like the time we have to be alive, so it is important make it all count before our time is up and with all the love you have, use it as a greater power than death or you won’t be pleased when things come to an end. This is the most essential theme of the franchise and you don’t pick up on it without all the characters you go through the journey with. For the last time, Daniel Radcliffe gives his all as Harry Potter and we’re still rooting for him when the odds are against him. He’s so worn out from all the conflict he’s been putting up with since he was a child and is determined to put it up behind him and can’t stand he’s part of the reason so many good people are dying. He doesn’t want any material to be powerful enough to avoid his troubles, he just wants to be left with all the loved ones but knows it ain’t that simple to move on, thus making him all the more motivated to do the absolute in his last macguffin hunt. The hardest part for him was dealing with more loss before achieving victory. Mad Eye being killed was a surprise because he never had an appropriate chance to bond with him the way he had with others. Lupin & Tonks dying simultaneously was tragic because they just had a son who will have to life his without them the way Harry grew up without his own parents. Losing Fred was sad because he never wanted the Weasleys to go through the grief he’s been feeling, especially since Percy (Chris Rankin) was loyal to the Ministry until it fell. The toughest losses for me to witness were Hedwig & Dobby because they felt the most selfless. Even when Filch got injured during the Battle of Hogwarts, it was saddening because being grumpy didn’t mean you deserved pain. With all this loss though, Harry only felt all the more motivated to do the absolute. And despite the odds being against him, he overcame them even when it felt like he wouldn’t make it to the end. Again, him preferring love over power by destroying the Elder Wand is valid because the latter is never what he wanted. The former came his way when the wizarding world accepted him so genuinely. And it all started with Hagrid who protected him from the Dursleys. Now, he protected him from a bigger threat and almost died doing so. Those actions proved what a heart of gold Robbie Coltrane brought to the role and their last hug solidified how immortal his parental love would be for him. The love for Harry may have started with Hagrid, but it peaked with the best friends that defined the term ‘ride or die’. Emma Watson brought a whole other form of dedication as Hermione for the last time because of her character’s preparation in the journey they had to go through. Her bravery was at full force because she chose to wipe out memories of herself from her parents’ minds in order to keep them safe before anyone could’ve ever told her to. And from then on, she was on top of herself in terms of aiding Harry to success. The biggest change Rupert Grint expressed of Ron for the first time was that he was insecure deep down and chose keeping it to himself in order to avoid destroying a great friendship. The locket pushed it out of him and although he never wanted to let out his feelings like that, it was for the best because he needed to have a clear conscience in order to be a proper helping hand. And had he not done that, he probably would’ve not been able to destroy the horcrux and move forward in being with Hermione, thus making it an unusual blessing. As the latter two of the iconic trio were able to help Potter in doing the absolute, there was an unsung hero that ended the battle for good. When we first met Neville, he was shown to be most shy but as a young adult, Matthew Lewis embraces the bravery he gained thanks to looking up to Harry and that drove him to be part of the fight long enough to end it. And on the other hand, Evanna Lynch was still a delight as Luna because she remains sweet yet understanding towards Harry even in the most intense of times. If she wasn’t as such, there’s no certainty if she’d be as helpful as she was to help Potter gain the upper hand. I also got to give a shoutout to Rhys Ifans as Luna’s father Xenophilius because even though he came off eccentric, he was still a devoted parent and did what anyone would do desperately, and not personal nor spite were his actions. It was also a pleasant surprise to see Bill Nighy briefly appear as Scrimgeour because he nailed the aspect that he was a decisive man of action who told it like it was when it came to how bad the war was getting. I honestly felt like had he not been murdered so soon, Potter likely would’ve had a better advantage in his path to success. Nevertheless, the biggest helping hand was beyond the grave. Even though Albus was gone, Michael Gambon was able to keep him around in spirit whether it was in limbo or in a flashback. It was a shocking twist to know he let Harry live only to know he had to die at some point to defeat Voldemort because delaying inevitably is so uncomfortable of a decision. It seemed to me that he chose to do so because not only did he think it was the only way to beat the Dark Lord, but also wanted the boy to live a life and have a chance to fight for it rather than not have it. And once the horcrux was separated from his soul, Harry had the choice to continue living freely which he rightfully got to as would everyone else that made it to the end with him. It was even interesting to see how different he was from his brother Aberforth because while he was known to be so wise, Ciarán Hinds expressed the latter to be cynical yet still compassionate to the cause Harry would represent. Before Fantastic Beasts, it’s quite implied Albus never talked about him to Harry or anyone apart from Newt Scamander because their history is complicated and can’t bare reminiscing memories that brought him pain. Nevertheless, his death was not in vain because the final piece of the puzzle went as planned. Apart from Dumbledore, it pleases me that McGonagall still had Harry’s back long after the previous headmaster died because it reminded us of the sincerity she’s always expressed to him and to the students that deserved it. The way that was played out by Maggie Smith was always beautiful and I wouldn’t have it any other way. The one fact that’s been clear from the beginning and is reminded here is that allies will come from unexpected places. For years, we were so confused on how to feel towards Snape since Alan Rickman always depicted him as a vindictive man who was just doing his job as a teacher. Little did the world expect it was more than that and was indeed looking out for the son of a woman he loved but never had. Before the sympathetic truth was out, his death was a surprise as well because you thought his ‘loyalty’ would keep him alive. Now that it’s out there for us to know, it’s a bummer because now you wish he had a better relationship with the boy he was protecting all along. All the signs were out there and we didn’t believe it until it was all over. However, his death wasn’t in vain either since Harry would live on appreciating all that he did and became a better man than his father. Last but not least, what must also be remembered is that the villain Voldemort was always the polar opposite to Harry because Ralph Fiennes showed him to excel on being power hungry as the things keeping him alive were being destroyed, thus making him desperate to linger on to whatever power he can try to claim. And since both Helena Bonham Carter & Imelda Staunton respectively gave their own takes on making Bellatrix & Umbridge so cunning until they too were overpowered, it was another reminder that things don’t last forever and the lack of accepting that truth only makes the downfall so grand. But for the Malfoys, they were at their last breath getting by through fear. Jason Isaacs, Helen McCrory & Tom Felton were all so soft spoken in their roles here that they could barely say a thing because that’s how afraid they became of what they were a part of. They gave up their ways because they saw it wasn’t worth it anymore and saw the perfect opportunity to walk away from a fight that was never theirs. Because of that, it gladdened me that Draco and Harry found respect for one another when the war was over. It was also fitting that Voldemort disintegrate rather than collapse like any man would, because it proves how much he lost his humanity compared to his rival. And off of that, it proved who deserved the power more to live as long as pleased. This conclusion is overall satisfying, but there are a bucket of things that don’t make much sense. For instance, the opening chase is thrilling as we can’t predict who would sacrifice themselves for Harry, but why not use a portly since it’s faster? They don’t even scatter rather than go the same direction before the Death Eaters ambush them, so this plan was doomed from the start. And howcome the Burrow is the first place for Potter to hide? Bellatrix went there last time and burned it down, so what’s make them think she wouldn’t do it again? I mean the death eaters crashed the wedding, so they should’ve went to the cottage first. And those who attacked Harry at the diner totally missed their opportunity when choosing to wait it out rather than whip out the wands as soon as they entered. Also, why would Reginald Cattermole, the wizard Ron impersonated, go to the Ministry while still in undergarments? Forget it being funny, he totally could’ve casted a spell to get himself new clothes before heading there. Moving on, why the fuck would Hermione wear perfume when on the run? She’s supposed to be the smartest of the trio and makes a rookie move. That is asking to get caught and she knows it. In all honesty, why would Hermione have a copy of the Tale of Three Brothers? She had no idea that would have the origin of the deathly hallows and there is not enough time to read when on the run, so luck was on the horizon. Hell, I also think the trio could’ve apparatted again when the snatchers found them. Harry made quite a gamble with the use of the imperious spell on the goblins at Gringotts, but they still could’ve let Hermione present Bellatrix’s wand since they had it. And did anyone ever see the dragon fly out of Gringotts? I mean somebody had to notice because not everything can be contained like a spider remaining in the forest. And I can’t be the only one wondering why exactly did Ravenclaw’s ghost give Riddle the diadem in the first place? What motive does she have to destroy it before he claimed he would? The fact this ain’t explained unlike every thing else is insane. Also, why doesn’t Voldemort give Harry fake visions like he did over the prophecy? If he can trick him into thinking Sirius was in danger at the time, he could’ve tricked him on what the other horcrux was. Other than that, this story still works in what it’s going for.

In conclusion, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is a satsifying conclusion of a fantastic franchise for succeeding in bringing about everything we’ve experienced full circle. If you’re a fan that has waited for how this ends, look no further here.

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