Harry Potter: The Deathly Hallows (Pt 2) provoked more reflection than I would have ever expected. After viewing it (Alamo Draft
House) last night, my wife and I discussed the ending all the way home. So, [spoiler alert] for those that haven’t seen it and hope to.
The Ending Is Not What You Want
The Harry Potter series concludes in a way that is counter-intuitive. There is no grand vanquishing of evil, no triumph that, without a doubt, secures peace, no enthronement of the hero, no visual restoration of all that has been undone. While the Potter series in no way nods at capitulation to evil, or even a balancing of evil and good (see Matrix Triology), it did leave me longing for more.
The great showdown between Voldemort and Potter is anticlimactic. Voldemort blows Harry into an intermediate state, where he walks with Professor Dumbledore, only to return, resuscitate, and fight for what? Their wands fuse in a stream of green and red power, Voldemort is weakened by the destruction of his last Horcrux, and Potter gains the upper hand. As the red stream of wand power retracts, the elder wand (most powerful in the world) catapults through the air into Harry’s hands. As Voldemort visibly weakens, gazing with disappointment at his failing wand, he disintegrates, his body flaking into ash which is blown away by the wind.
Harry rejoins Ron and Hermoine and walks to the edge of the bridge, where he takes the most powerful wand in the world, and snaps it in two, tossing it over the edge. He denies himself the greatest power in the world. Then, there is no erupting applause, no shoulder-carrying of the reluctant hero, no enthronement of a new Headmaster or Great Magician. Instead, Potter walks the halls of a derelict Hogwarts, as we hear the wounded students and teachers bemoan their suffering.
The Future Harry Potter
Then, we are suddenly taken into the future, 19 years later, where we find Potter and his family escorting his son to the magic train to take him to Hogwarts. Potter is unimpressive, surrounded by wife and children. He is tender, kind, and fatherly. He is not powerful, immense, and regal. The Potter family is joined by the Weasly family (Ron & Hermoine) as, they too, send off children to Hogwarts. This concludes this film.
Disappointingly, we see no vision of a restored Hogwarts (though it is implied). We see no great display of power. Potter does not represent cosmic security, peace, and power. He is, in a word, normal. All we see are simple families ushering their children into the next stage of life. Magic, it seems, does not have the last word…or does it?