After more than 7 years and 7 books, FINALLY, the Harry Potter series comes to a close.
Wow! Grabe! I first read the first 4 books of the HP series when I was in the seminary. And I read it for 2 straight weeks reading and hiding it under my scriptorium while pretending to be listening to the discussion of our philosophy professors. And I almost was disciplined (meaning, detained…and no pass for our usual sunday outing) because of that.
Harry Potter 7 (Deathly Hallows), I should say, is probably the most dark and thrilling of the 7 books because Voldemort has already taken over most of the magical word and Harry and the gang spends most of their time running and hiding. I like how JK Rowling was able to weave and connect all the seemingly fragmented events mentioned in the first 6 books: Harry as the 7th horcrux, the cloak as the 3rd of the Deathly Hallows, Snape as always with the DA all along, Snape as Lily’s (Harry’s mom) mean-time guy, Voldemort’s soul in Harry’s and Harry’s soul in Voldemort. Dang, just brilliant. As you read towards the end, you get to look back at the other Potter books and relish its memories like a catharsis after an inner-child session with your spiritual formator. Bwehehehe.
But I was a bit disappointed at how Harry Potter defeated Voldemort. It seemed like it’s so easy. I was hoping that Harry would have used pure magic, fought bravely, and end up in St. Mungo’s with a comma after a near-death experience dueling with the elder wand used by Voldemort. Feeling ko tuloy, napagod na ata si JK Rowling sa kakasulat kaya gusto na niyang patayin kaagad si Voldemort. hehehe.
And the ending is so Pinoyish…it’s like Lito Lapid finishing off 1 batallion of NPA with a huge machine gun while covering his stomach with a helmet to avoid his innards from coming out. I am not saying that Harry finished all the Death Eaters just like Lito Lapid but why is it that all surviving members of the Order of the Phoenix has to be encircling Voldemort and Harry while they duel to the death? It’s so grandiose and predictable, in other words. Sana man lang may konting twist on how Harry defeated Voldemort. But I guess if it just happens, Dumbledore wouldn’t be there to explain everything afterwards. That’s probably the reason why Harry has to be the one explaining why he’s the master of the elder wand. Nagmukha tuloy na bobo si Voldemort because he didn’t figure it out.
And the wandlore explained by Ollivander seemed a bit vague and needs more explaining. I actually read that part thrice while they were discussing it at Bill & Fleur’s house. I think the author was able to veer away with explaining much about wandlore by putting words in Ollivander’s mouth that wandlore is very difficult to understand.
Although I had a few disappointments with how the 7 books ended, the HP experience was one of the best. But, mas maganda pa rin ang Lord of the Rings Trilogy + The Hobbit ni Tolkien. I’m now waiting for the Harry Potter 7-book set to be sold in Powerbooks. I would love very much to share this with my son, Argee, when he grows. Even Homer Simpson turned his spider pig into Harry Potter. hehehe.
Lastly, if there’s anyone who should be properly credited for all the 7 books, it’s Voldemort. Harry’s just an ordinary kid. If Voldemort didn’t kill Harry and made him into a living horcrux, then Harry wouldn’t be that powerful. But the reality is, the good always win in children’s stories. hehehe.
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Since I was so taken by this HP 7, I searched wikipedia and found out that due to HP’s immense popularity, the Chinese even made their own version of the Harry Potter book. The title is…drum roll…HARRY POTTER AND LEOPARD-WALK-UP-TO-DRAGON. I couldn’t help but laugh at the article I found in Wikipedia. Look at the cover image, it’s a chopsuey of famous characters in the cartoon world: the dragon is Malfecient of Sleeping Beauty; and Harry appears to be riding a Centaur. The drawing is not even nicely drawn. Hehehe.
According to the article, this is a 198-page book written and published in 2002 and a verbatim translation of Tolkien’s The HOBBIT, with most names changed to the Harry Potter characters (except Gandalf who still appeared in this book). The only part which is original, according to the article, is the first and last chapters when magical rains turned Harry Potter into a hobbit. Towards the end after all the adventure, he returned to the original Harry Potter. Syempre, daming intsik ang naloko nito. hehehe.
And syempre, the publisher was sued by Rowling’s publishers and they paid around US$3,400 (that’s roughly Php170k). To date, the identity of the anonymous author has not been discovered.
