Many fans of JK Rowling and her Harry Potter books are disappointed today. The final book,
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows did NOT continue her previous dazzling ability to write both cleverly and logically. In past books, everything made sense - at least in hindsight. There were no giant leaps of logic, no major inconsistencies in the plot. That ended in Book 7. Harry Potter carrying around a piece of Voldemort's soul for 16 years unaware? Let's face it - that is completely inconsistent with a Professor Quirrel who could not even touch Harry without enduring intense pain in book 1 because he was possessed by Voldemort's soul OR Voldemort possessing Harry in Book 5 and having to flee because of the Mortal agony it caused for Voldemort's soul to be in contact with Harry's. IF a piece of Voldemort had been embedded in Harry, that piece should have been constant pain for Harry -- if the plot was to be consistent. In fact, it should not have been able to survive the contact. IF the magical protection given to Harry by Lily's scaricfice was sufficient to block the Avada Kedavra curse AND prevent Voldemort from touching Harry, then no piece of Voldemort should have been able to enter Harry either and certainly not survive without pain. That was the biggest inconsistency and biggest disappointment for me personally. But there were others.
JKR does a complete reversal in book 7 on the fidelus charm and how it works. This is NOT an inconsistency within the books as much as an inconsistency with her explanation on her website which her many fans relied on for information between books. On her websites she says:
Result of F.A.Q. Poll
(SPOILER WARNING)
What happens to a secret when the Secret-Keeper dies?
I was surprised that this question won, because it is not the one that I'd have voted for… but hey, if this is what you want to know, this is what you want to know!
When a Secret-Keeper dies, their secret dies with them, or, to put it another way, the status of their secret will remain as it was at the moment of their death. Everybody in whom they confided will continue to know the hidden information, but nobody else.
Just in case you have forgotten exactly how the Fidelius Charm works, it is
"an immensely complex spell involving the magical concealment of a secret inside a single, living soul. The information is hidden inside the chosen person, or Secret-Keeper, and is henceforth impossible to find -- unless, of course, the Secret-Keeper chooses to divulge it" (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban)
In other words, a secret (eg, the location of a family in hiding, like the Potters) is enchanted so that it is protected by a single Keeper (in our example, Peter Pettigrew, a.k.a. Wormtail). Thenceforth nobody else – not even the subjects of the secret themselves – can divulge the secret. Even if one of the Potters had been captured, force fed Veritaserum or placed under the Imperius Curse, they would not have been able to give away the whereabouts of the other two. The only people who ever knew their precise location were those whom Wormtail had told directly, but none of them would have been able to pass on the information.
from JK Rowling FAQIS this how the fidelus Charm is depicted as working in book 7? No. Suddenly with the death of the secret keeper, Dumbledore, every person who previously knew the secret became able to reveal the secret. There suddenly became multiple secret keepers any of which could reveal the secret. Why the reversal?
And why did Fred have to die near the end during a lull of the battle? How did his death further the plot? Especially in such a manner? Having kept all of the Weasleys alive until then, was it really necessary to have one of the twins die? Was that required to have Ron go beserk or for Molly to duel Bellatrix? It's the only death I really question other than I wish Harry's owl Hedwig hadn't died. Dobby's death at least served a purpose.
But once again, the deaths were largely one sided until the end. How is it that death eaters never died during the battles with Order of the Phoenix members? Was it because the Order was not seeking to kill, just disarm? Even during the final battle at Hogwarts? And once disarmed and disabled, why were they constantly able to escape and resume fighting?
Having started the article negative, let me say JK Rowling has achieved a lot. Writing a 7 book series with hundreds of characters and not having a lot of inconsistencies is remarkable. This is especially true since book 1 was indeed her first book. I just got the impression in reading book 7 that she finally realized that she had too many loose ends that should be closed but did not know how to close them and stay consistent. How to explain the connection between Voldemort and Harry without it conflicting with the "Voldemort can not touch Harry" protection established in Book 1 and Book 5?
Other loose ends and inconsistencies:How did Voldemort get his wand back after being Vanquished in book 1? (She never explains this). There were a lot of questions by fans before the book about HOW Hagrid was able to get Harry in the first book. If the location was protected by a fidelus charm, then how was Hagrid able to go to Godric's Hollow and retrieve the baby? Obviously Pettigrew the Secret Keeper did not reveal the secret since no one but James, Lily and Sirius knew James had switched to him as the secret keeper. So how did Hagrid find Harry in book 1? And how did Dumbledore and all of the others suddenly know Voldemort had Vanquished or that Harry had survived? Why did it take so long for Hagrid to get Harry from Godric's Hollow to Privet Drive? What did James and Lily do for a living? Why did Snape who supposedly loved Lily treat her son like trash? Just because he resembled his father James? Is that how you would treat the child of someone you truly cared about? So many questions remain.
Thank you JK Rowling for giving us the World of Harry Potter. Because of you, many children today enjoy reading who otherwise probably would have gone through life not reading books for enjoyment. Maybe we as fans came to expect too much from you. Maybe it is our higher expectations that have left us feeling disappointed rather than your ending. Did we expect too much? Sort of like Harry being disappointed with Dumbledore because he had not lived up to how Harry viewed him. There were flaws in his past. Maybe after the dust has settled, the disappointed will likewise settle.
it shows the heroic threesome, Harry, Hermione and Ron riding a dragon!
