cover story
Harry Potter:
The magic it is!

  By Kanza Tariq

As the clock ticks to the 21st of July, the anticipation of Harry Potter fans all over the globe reaches its peak. Wizarding hats, long robes and wands are the 'it' dressing for midnight parties arranged in various parts of the world to welcome the release of this book. Such is the magic of this boy wizard who is equally popular among the young and old.

JKR didn't get a publisher!

When J.K Rowling finally got a publisher for the first time after a gruelling search, she was told not to expect much from the book in terms of sales. But seemingly the publisher would have to eat his words. The idea of a magical world conceived during a train journey has made the author of Harry Potter the only billion dollar author in the history of the world. And with 1.6 million pre-ordered copies, the latest installment has surpassed its predecessor's 1.5 million mark!

Harry's charm

This seventh and the last book deals with Harry facing the Dark Lord for the last time and this aspect makes the book all the more exciting. But what exactly is it that makes the wizard boy so enchanting? Mehr Batool, 17, an avid Potter fan says, 'We have lost count of the number of times he has endangered his life to save the magical community from the evil Voldemort. From an ordinary, mistreated orphan to 'the chosen one', Harry has grown with and on us. With his ultimate skills (excuse the potions and history of magic :P) his boyish charms and his true and tried friends, Harry Potter is the perfect example of a 'teenage hero'. And now when the series is to be finished, we do not wish Harry to die.'

Stephen King, the renowned mystery/horror fiction writer says, 'When it comes to Harry, part of me - a fairly large part, actually - can hardly bear to say goodbye. I'd guess that J.K. Rowling feels the same, although I'd also guess those feelings are mingled with the relief of knowing that the work is finally done, for better or worse.'

According to Rowling, 'finishing it was very, very emotional.' 'It was a combination of relief and sadness really,' she says. In another recent interview she said, 'Finishing the book is a relief. I can't think of anyone who could know how I felt. Actually finishing it was the most remarkable feeling I've ever had... [I felt] euphoria, devastated, when I finished one chapter near the end I absolutely howled, it had been planned for so long.'

What will be there?

The announcement of the name of this book set frenzy among the global community of Potterheads. Speculations are rife about the origin of the word 'Hallow' which, by dictionary, means 'to make holy or to regard as holy, make or declare sacred and to dedicate formally to religious or divine purposes'. Theory mills are generating plot theories and Harry Potter worshippers are religiously contemplating about what would be the context of the book. The details of plot are kept classified even from Rowling's family members; however, a few things about the plot have been confirmed by J. K Rowling's official sources.

Deathly Hollows will deal with the final duel of Harry with he-who-must-not-be-named. Since wizards come of age at 17, so on his 17th birthday, Dumbledore's magical protection will cease to work and Harry will be on his own, unprotected.

In Deathly Hallows we will find something 'incredibly important' about Lily, like Harry having 'his mother's eyes' will prove to be an important plot point. Furthermore, there will be more references of Lily Potter in the books, than of James. Another dark aspect of the story, as confirmed, is that at least one important character will die. Fans are dreading this death, since it could be of any of Harry's closest allies or worse, himself. Another confirmed piece of information is that something will be revealed about Petunia Dursley, although we already know that she is not a Squib. Viktor Krum will return and we will see a reappearance of Dolores Umbridge.

The troubling questions...

In Half Blood Prince, Harry was given the task of finding and destroying all the Horcruxes. The question arises, where are the remaining Horcruxes? And was Dumbledore really right about what the remaining Horcruxes are? If he wasn't, what are they? Did Lord Voldemort accidentally convert Harry into a Horcrux on the night when he killed his parents? And why did he offer Lily to escape, though he killed James without any second thoughts? Did he go alone to kill him, if yes, then how do people know the events of that night? Why did Voldemort choose to kill Harry instead of killing Neville when the prophecy applied to both of them? Both the families had 'defied Voldemort thrice' and both Harry and Neville were born at the end of July.

Moreover, who helped R.A.B retrieve the locket since Dumbledore made it clear that two people are needed to get past Voldemort's enchantments. We will discover more about Dumbledore's past and his family. He had never been clear about what caused his hand injury, will the details of the incident leading to this injury be revealed?

We still don't know for sure about Sirius, about whom there is a hope that he might turn up from the 'veil'. In Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry indirectly let Peter Pettigrew escape by preventing Sirius and Lupin from killing him and rather suggested to take him to the Ministry. Although Harry was quite upset about it later, Dumbledore comforted him by saying that a time would come when he would be grateful about his decision. So how will Pettigrew pay his life debt to Harry? On her website, JKR stated that 'there IS a significant - even crucial - answer' to the following question: How and why did Dumbledore have James' invisibility cloak? What is the significance of this?

These are only a few of the questions that demand answers and Deathly Hallows will unravel all the mysteries and answer all the queries. With less than a day to go now, we are likely to get the answers of all these questions soon when our pre-ordered copies of Deathly Hallows will be at our doorsteps tomorrow. Like the previous six books, Rowling will hopefully come up to the expectations of her fans once again with the last book. And undoubtedly, the boy 'who lived' will live in our hearts. Forever...