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In her 6th book, the school of Hogwarts and past friendships begin to disappear as so much background noise as Harry starts to come to terms of what must be done to defeat Voldemort. Professor Dumbledore himself guides Harry in this new education. Voldemort's artificial immortality was created by putting parts of his soul into powerful artifacts called horcruxes. As long as one remains, Voldemort can not truly die. Harry destroyed one, Tom Riddle's diary, in the 2nd book. Sharp readers will quickly guess that Dumbledore destroyed another one before the story begins. The suspense builds up nicely as Harry is invited to go with Dumbledore to find and destroy a 3rd, but someone beat them to it and a fake has been left in its place. Greatly weakened by the ordeal, Dumbledore is rendered helpless by Draco Malfoy, who has been charged by Voldemort to kill the headmaster. Draco can't bring himself to do it, but Professor Snape does. While it is not normal for me to tell how the book ends in my reviews, I am making an exception here because the ending is the most fascinating part of the series as a whole. The greatest appeal is how it leads into the 7th book. The biggest question of all was the motives of Professor Snape. Dumbledore was obviously dying as the result of destroying the 2nd horcrux. Was it a mercy killing? Looking back in past books does not seem to help. We constantly find Snape in questionable circumstances but he always has an excuse for his motives. Ironically, the death eaters in the first chapter must likewise decide for themselves just how much circumstantial evidence and excuses are proof of his evilness. The other great mystery to come from the book were the horcruxes, of which there are 7. 1 was the journal and the Riddle family ring was another. It seems obvious that artifacts from each house (except Griffendor) are being used (3 more) and that Naja, Voldemort's serpent, is the 6th. So what is the 7th? Since Voldemort has a similar connection with Harry as he does Naja, could it be that he might be the 7th? If he is, then does he have to die to destroy Voldemort? Despite having so many important questions left unanswered at the end, this book does not suffer from the "middle book funk". The mega story has built to a major turning point but the mini-story has a definite end with successes for the protagonists. The most obvious is that Harry now knows what must be done and how big the task is. Less obvious is Harry's rite of manhood. I've mentioned in other reviews that Harry has matured past his age. Despite being capable (and indeed, usually operating) on his own, Harry still used adults as a safety net. At the end of this book he cuts this final tie of childhood and declares he will hunt down and face Voldemort alone. In conclusion, JK Rowling has done more than just wrote a great novel. She has brought all the mysteries together and leaves us satisfied that Harry can finish the job he is given. The loss of Dumbledore and the apparent betrayal of Snape were high prices to pay, but they were necessary for Harry to grow into the man he was prophesized to become. John Holland-author of Necklace of TerrersylvanousRead full review
I have always enjoyed the Harry Potter movies and now that I have began reading the books I enjoy that even more - especially this book - it is very good!
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