The Pendragon's Hall

OK, here it is. The Pendragon's review of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" and the series as a whole. If you are a reader who likes HP and has not read/finished the seventh book yet, be warned that this will contain spoilers. If you are a reader who thinks HP and all its attachments are the work of the devil, you may want to read this closely.

Book 7 was the most explicitly Christian work of fantasy penned since the Chronicles of Narnia. We learn in this book that Harry's parents are buried in a churchyard with a Bible verse engraved on their tombstone. As for Harry's own fate, he learns that evil Lord Voldemort accidentally planted a piece of his soul within Harry and without dying himself, Harry can never hope to defeat the evil one. Armed with this knowledge, but shaking with fear, Harry goes alone to face Voldemort and this time does not defend himself. The killing curse strikes him down. In a classic C.S. Lewis moment, Harry is suspended in limbo while his mentor, Dumbledore returns to explain to him that Voldemort destroyed the bit of soul in Harry with his killing curse and Harry is now free to go on to wherever dead wizards go, or to return to fight Voldemort and end his reign of terror. Harry chooses to return and in the climactic battle scene, Voldemort's killing curse bounces back, having no more power to kill Harry or any of his friends, and he himself is killed. With this sacrifice and resurrection to victory, Harry reserves for himelf a place in the pantheon of fantastical Christ-figures along with Frodo Baggins, Gandalf the Gray, El-ahrairah, and Aslan the Lion. And J.K. Rowling, who declined to discuss her Christian faith for fear readers would guess the ending, deserves an apology for the demonization of her work by the Christian community at large. Even the need for Harry to die in order to destroy the last bit of Voldemort's soul seems to reflect Christ's dying to cancel out the sins of the world.

It is not a blood bath. As the astute Pendragon suspected, the four main characters (Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny) do not die, although a good many people do. The most heart-wrenching was probably the death of the house-elf Dobby who defies his former masters to save Harry's life. One of the amusing Weasley twins meets his death as well while fighting Voldemort in the last battle.

The theme of the book is the price of loyalty and the power of redemption and it shines through. Professor Snape proves to be on Harry's side after all, and even Kreacher, the miserable house-elf who betrayed Harry's godfather in book 5, joins Harry in the end when faced with the realization that Harry, not Voldemort, represents the true unity of the magical world--not wizards lording it over elves, but everyone together. And he joins the final battle, crying, "Fight for my master, defender of house-elves!"

Rowling is a Christian. This, in and of itself, makes Harry Potter a Christian series. It does not make everything in the books a straight-up parallel to the Christian story. Rowling is a storyteller who draws from many fantasy strands, as well as her own imagination, to produce a compelling tale that people will be reading for many years to come. But the Christian element is there, as in Narnia and Middle Earth, bubbling just below the surface. Be careful--or it just might surprise you!

Book 7 rating: 10/10. Series as a whole rating: 9.5/10.