The Deathly Hallows Final Discussion: Chapters 31-Epilogue

Chapter 31

All staff, students and members of the Order have gathered in the Great Hall to prepare for the battle. McGonagall was explaining that younger students will be evacuated with the help of prefects and some staff members. Older students may stay if they want to fight. Suddenly, the cold loud voice of Voldemort interrupts McGonagall. Voldemort wanted Harry; if Harry was given to him before midnight he will not fight. With only half an hour till midnight, evacuating students started through the Room of Requirement.

Harry left the Hall as the staff, members of the Order and students started to form a battle plan. He was still thinking about the Horcrux. It was in Hogwarts, that, he was sure of. But what and where it is, he didn’t know. The only thing that is connected to Ravenclaw was the Lost Diadem. No one had ever seen it “in living memory”. This gave Harry an idea, with the help of Nearly Headless Nick, Harry found The Gray Lady, the Ravenclaw Tower ghost. After questioning her, Harry found out that she is Ravenclaw’s daughter and she stole her mother’s diadem and hid it in a forest in Albania. It took Harry a minute to make the connection, Voldemort must have went there and retrieved the diadem and hid it in the room of Hidden Things. Exactly in the same place where Harry have hidden the Half-Blood Prince’s Potions book.

Harry started to run towards the Room of Requirement, and from the sounds he heard it was obvious that the battle has started. He found Ron and Hermione on the way. They had curved, yellowish and dirty objects in their arms. They explained that they have gone to the Chamber of Secrets to get the Basilisk fangs, which they will use to finish off the Horcruxes. Hermione had destroyed the cup using it.

Harry explains to the other two what he just found out and they all went to the Room of Requirement. They walk inside of the Room of Hidden Things and start searching for the diadem. Each of them goes to separate ways to search faster. Crabbe, Goyle and Malfoy stop Harry when he locates the diadem. A fight starts between them and Goyle sets the room on fire. Harry manages to get the tiara before it gets buried in that pile of junk. Harry, Ron and Hermione leave the room on broomsticks assisting Malfoy and Goyle. The fire killed Crabbe. Once they are out of the room Harry realizes that the Horcrux was destroyed by the magical fire.

As they leave the place, Fred and Percy come into view. Both are dueling hooded figures. One of the figures appears to be the Minister, Percy declares to him that he quits. Fred laughed at this, taking what Percy had said as a joke. In a second, the wall seemed to have fallen on them all. Harry heard somone saying "No! Fred! No!". As Harry struggled to stand up, he saw Ron and Percy kneeling beside Fred. His body motionless, his eyes were blank with the ghost of his last joke.

Chapter 32

Curses flew through the gap in the wall. Harry, Hermione, Ron and Percy dragged Fred’s body from where it lay to a safer place. Percy leaves them to help in the battle while Harry and Hermione drag Ron behind a tapestry. Hermione and Ron argue about what to do next. Ron wants to fight while Hermione wants them to stay focused and find the snake and end it all. Hermione instructs Harry to look inside Voldemort. Harry sees him in the Shrieking Shack with Lucius Malfoy. He sent Lucius to find Snape. Harry informs the other two of what he saw.

They all leave the castle beneath the Invisibility Cloak heading towards the Whomping Willow, keeping their heads down to avoid curses that flew all over the place. They go inside the tunnel that leads into the Shrieking Shack, stopping at the very end of the tunnel. From where he sat, Harry could clearly see Nagini in an enchanted sphere. Snape was inside with Voldemort. Voldemort was telling him how the Elder Wand, the greatest wand of all, wasn’t working as it was supposed to work, as it had promised. All the magic he could do with it was rather ordinary, nothing extraordinary. He thinks it's Snape’s fault. He thinks that Snape was the true owner of the wand because he was the one who killed its last owner, Dumbledore. That is why Voldemort must kill Snape for the wand to work properly. Voldemort orders Nagini to kill Snape. Voldemort left the Shrieking Shack leaving Snape to die.

Harry, Ron and Hermione stepped inside. As Harry kneeled down beside Snape, something bluish was gushing out of Snape’s wounds, it was neither gas nor liquid. Harry recognized it as a memory. Harry gathered the memory into a flask that Hermione had just conjured. “Look… at…. Me..” Snape whispered to Harry as his hold on Harry loosened. Their eyes met for a moment, then Snape’s hand fell on the floor, his body moved no more.

Chapter 33

Harry was still kneeling beside Snape’s limp body when he hears Voldemort’s magically magnified voice spoke in his cold voice. He calls his Death Eaters to come to him in the Forbidden Forest. He gives Harry an hour to surrender, if he doesn’t, he will join the battle himself and kill everyone and anyone willing to save Harry.

The trio head back to the castle. The place is unnaturally silent. They go up to the Great Hall where everyone has gathered. The hurt were being taken care of by Madam Pomfrey and some helpers. The dead bodies were in the middle of the hall with family and friends surrounding them. The Weasleys stood around Fred and next to Fred lay Lupin and Tonks.

Ron and Hermione joined the Weasleys, but Harry couldn’t stand seeing all the people who died for him. He left the Great Hal and ran with all his might till he found himself in front of the stone gargoyle that guards the headmaster’s office. He enters the office and empties Snape’s memories in the pensive to look at them.

What Harry sees in the pensive shocked him. Snape loved Harry’s mother, Lily, since he was a boy. He was the first one to tell her that she was a witch. They were best friends for a long time, till their fifth year at Hogwarts. Lily never talked to Snape after he insulted her and called her a Mudblood. Even though Snape tried to apologise, Lily didn't accept it.

The next memory was after both left Hogwarts. Snape was waiting for Dumbledore. He told Dumbledore that Voldemort knew about the prophecy and he thinks it refers to Lily Potter’s son, Harry. Voldemort will kill them all and Dumbledore must hide her and her family, and he, Snape, will do anything in return. Another memory unfolds with Snape in Dumbledore’s office. Dumbledore tells Snape that Lily is dead and her son survived. He asks Snape to keep Harry safe. Snape consented only after Dumbledore swore that he would never tell Harry that he loved Lily.

Everything starts to get clearer with every memory Harry sees; another one shows Dumbledore after getting hurt in his hand. The curse that hurt his hand was very old and incurable. Snape helped slow down the effect of the curse, but it will spread eventually and kill Dumbledore. After this Dumbledore makes Snape swear to kill him, and not let Draco Malfoy do it. Which was a job Voldemort assigned for Malfoy.

Another memory unfolds where Dumbledore tells Snape that Harry should surrender himself to Voldemort and let him kill him when Voldemort starts keeping his snake safe with him. Because when Voldemort tried killing Harry, the curse rebounded on him because of the protection Lily gave Harry. A part of Voldemort’s soul was blasted and lives in Harry’s body. This shocked and angered Snape, thinking that what he did to save and protect Harry was useless.

More memories revealed themselves to Harry. One was with Dumbledore’s portrait giving instructions to Snape on what to do on Harry’s departure from the Dursley's house. Another one was in Sirius’s bedroom in Grimauld Place. A crying Snape had taken the remaining of Lily’s letter, the page that was signed with Lily’s love. He also tore half of the picture; he took the part that shows Lily laughing. The last one was when Snape discovered the trio’s hiding place and he took Gryffindor’s sword to them.

Chapter 34

Harry sat in Dumbledore’s office after all of those memories he had seen. Everything was now clear. He finally knew the truth. He had to die. He hid beneath the Invisibility Cloak and made his way from the office to the forest. He decided not to say goodbye, this way it’d be easier for him to leave. He paused by the entrance and saw Neville and Oliver Wood carrying the dead bodies from the grounds to the Great Hall. Harry followed Neville as he went out to the grounds again. Harry took off the cloak and told him if anything happens to him, he must kill Voldemort’s snake.

With every step Harry took towards the Forest, he realized how precious life was. Suddenly, he remembered the Snitch, he kissed it and whispered “I am about to die”. The Snitch opened, the Resurrection Stone fell into Harry’s hand. When he turned it in his hand, the figures of his parents, Sirius and Lupin appear by his side. The all walk together till Harry reaches the clearing where Voldemort and his Death Eaters all sat in silence. Harry walks into the clearing without even taking out his wand. It takes Voldemort a minute to send the green flash towards Harry.

Chapter 35

As Harry wakes up, he realizes that he is no longer in the Forest. He’s in a large domed white. The place was misty, when he looked around he found Dumbledore. Dumbledore explained everything to Harry. He explained how Voldemort did make seven Horcruxes, and Harry was the seventh. He explained that Voldemort himself killed the part of his soul that lived in Harry.

Dumbledore explains about the Hallows. He told Harry that the Cloak he inherited from his father was the same one the old legend referred to. He explains about his past, his family, his brief friendship with Grindelwald, and his duel with him so many years ago. He is ashamed of what had happened and the fact he didn’t stop it before things get out of his hands.

At the end Harry wonders if he must go back. Dumbledore tells it’s his choice to stay or go. Harry decides to go back.

Chapter 36

Harry was lying facedown in the Forest; he heard voices and footsteps around him. All seemed to be heading towards Voldemort. The voices seemed concerned, something must have happened to Voldemort when he sent the Killing Curse. Dismissing everyone who came to his aid, Voldemort stood up and ordered someone to check if Harry was dead. It was a woman, as she knelt beside Harry and felt his pulse she asked in a whisper whether or not Draco was inside the castle, alive. When said yes, Narcissa Malfoy stood up and declared Harry dead. All Death Eaters yelled in triumph. Voldemort decides to go up to the castle, and show them all that Harry was dead. He made Hagrid, who had seen all that happened earlier, take Harry’s body. They all march up to the castle.

Once they reach the entrance to the castle, the Hogwarts fighters come out and are shocked to see Harry dead. Harry, still pretending to be dead, is hurt as he hears their grief for him. Neville breaks free from the group fighter, his wand pointed to Voldemort, but Voldemort disarms him and tortures him. Suddenly many things happen at once. The centaurs shoot arrows at the Death Eaters, someone threw the Sorting Hat from a window above, and Grawp bursts from the Forest. The sorting hat fell in front of Neville, who pulled the Sword of Gryffindor from it and cut Nagini’s head off.

Harry slips beneath the cloak, and follows everyone as they go into the castle again. Voldemort and his Death Eaters battle fiercely. Harry follows Voldemort all the time to finish him off. Mrs. Weasley kills Bellatrix in a fierce duel. Voldemort turns to kill Mrs. Weasley but Harry manages to place a shield charm in front her and reveals himself to Voldemort.

The room grows quite as Harry and Voldemort circle each other. Harry explains to him the true character of Severus Snape, saying that his death didn’t make Voldemort the true master of the Elder Wand. Voldemort does not believe anything Harry tells him. When Voldemort cast the Killing Curse, Harry sent a disarming charm that made the killing curse rebound on its caster, Voldemort dies.

Everyone is happy and they all keep asking Harry for more details on what had happened. After a long time, Harry wants nothing more than to be alone and to sleep. With the help of Luna, he, Ron and Hermione leave the Great Hall. Harry explains everything to them. Then they go up to the Headmaster’s office, and talks to Dumbledore’s portrait. Harry tells him that he left the Resurrection Stone in the Forest, and that he decided not to keep the Elder Wand. Dumbledore agrees with Harry’s choice. Before leaving the Elder Wand, Harry uses it to repair his old wand, the one he bought on his eleventh birthday.

Epilogue

Nineteen Years Later

The Potter family arrived at the barrier that leads to platform 9 ¾. Harry’s oldest son, James Sirius Potter, went through first. Harry, Ginny and their two kids, Albus Severus Potter and Lily Luna Potter go through the barrier together. James and Albus are leaving for Hogearts, but Lily was not old enough. Albus was starting his first year; he was worried that he might not be sorted into Gryffindor like his parents. They run into Ron and Hermione, who’s daughter, Rose was going to Hogwarts. Their other son, Hugo was also not old enough to go.

Harry has a word with his son, Albus, before he leaves, assuring him that it’s not so bad to be in Slytherin, and that if he was sure he wants to be in Gryffindor, he could tell the Sorting Hat. It all ends well.

1. When Harry, Ron and Hermione were trying to escape from the burning Room of Requirements, they saved Malfoy and Goyle. Over their years at Hogwarts, the trio always received bad treatment from Malfoy and Goyle. Do you think saving thing them was the right thing to do? Or they should have left them behind?

2. Severus Snape loved Lily all her life and after her death. How would Harry's attitude change towards Snape if he knew it all along?

3. If Ron and Hermione were with Harry when he saw Snape's memories do you think they would have let him accept the fact that he must die and everything would happen the way it did?

4. What was the ending you expected for the trio? (The Epilogue)

Review and questions by Ateka.