Harry Potter And A Little Bit Of Magic

'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'. I must confess that when I first heard the title, my reaction was more along the lines of 'huh?' rather than the 'Wow!' that should be expected of a proud Potter fan. I didn't even know what 'hallows' meant, for crying out loud. For the kind information of those of you who have been living in some kind of woeful netherland and have no idea what I am talking about, J K Rowling has just declared the title of the seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series, which is, you guessed it right (I'm trying very hard not to roll my eyes right now) - 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'. So 'deathly' and 'hallows', right? It's an odd pair of words to put together in a phrase, if you ask me. And 'hallow', as I found out after a thorough attack on the dictionary, is used most often as a verb and not as a noun; I presume the 'hallows' in the title is a noun. Moreover, the word 'hallow' is almost never used in its plural form. I was left quite a bit confused by all of these mysterious nuances, and I desperately needed to clear the air around the whole thing, so I turned to the best source for Harry Potter explanations on the planet - the Potter fansites.

The best theory about the title that I could find (and I must confess that I didn't go through all of the theories that were on show - past experience has told me that once you decide to check out all the theories in the discussion forum of even a single site, you remain glued to your computer for a minimum of twenty-three hours and eventually emerge thoroughly confused about every little harmless detail in the books) is that the hallows refer to the places where Voldemort has hidden his Horcruxes. They're hallowed, at least to Voldemort, because they hold his very life within them, and they're obviously deathly, as was the case with the cave and the Gaunt house. Plausible? You bet. Likely? I don't quite think so, because Rowling has made it rather a habit of surprising her readers with the unexpected and the unpredictable. So all we can really do until the release of the book (and when oh when is that going to be?) is passionately comb through the discussion threads of every fansite and hope to stumble upon the right theory somewhere.

I've always been very amused and also a little impressed with the imaginative flair of the fans who give posts in the discussion forums. Some of the theories that are put up are so amazingly ingenious that I sometimes wonder whether Rowling doesn't orchestrate the forums herself. One of my all-time favourite theories was the one about the possiblity of Ron really being Dumbledore, who presumably turns back time somewhere in the future to come and protect Harry as a friend. It was well-explained, mind you; it didn't sound nearly as batty as it does now when I read it for the first time. The debate about Lily Potter being a Seer has raged on for ages, at least on the site www.hpana.com, which I personally feel is the best among the hordes of fansites if you want to dig up some really interesting theories. Kreacher, Trelawney and even Stubby Boardman have all been given very creative destinies by the inspired fans, much to my delighted interest.

Of course, most threads deal with the more basic points. Snape's loyalty or otherwise has often dominated forums, and this is one debate in which there are always very convincing points in favour of both the sides. Dumbledore's death was another hotly debated topic. Heck, there was an entire site started, 'www.dumbledoreisnotdead.com' in dedication of the solemn subject. Rowling, of course, had the good sense to put the matter to an end by announcing some time back that Dumbledore really IS dead and that she actually is cruel enough to kill off the most beloved character of the series. Sirius's death in book 5 was also very fervently talked about. For three years people insisted that Sirius isn't really dead and that he'd make a heroic comeback to help Harry in his Herculean quest to defeat Voldemort, because, after all, a very elaborate death scene involving a mysterious veil and a hundred little suspicious things had to be fake. Thankfully, Half Blood Prince shot down that bit of silliness, and emphatically at that.

I suppose I could go on and on about the magical world of Harry Potter and painstakingly describe every pointless aspect of every little insignigicant detail of the books. And yet, I don't think I'd be able to cover half of how much I really want to say about Potterverse. In the process, of course, I'd also be ignoring my dear sister's stern advice to keep my posts 'SHORT!' So no, I won't go on discussing forever, in my opinion, the best set of books ever written. Instead, I'll end with a refrain that I think is an appropriate tribute to the astounding genius of the creator of the world that has brought so much joy to our unimaginative little lives - 'Long live J K Rowling!'