Since we had them at home, the Harry Potter books were the first ones I got to in my series of re-reads this year. I wasn’t entirely sure how it would work to read things for a second time, whether I would be bored or find it interesting. I definitely enjoyed this second tour of the Potter world, though, so I am looking forward to some of the other books I have planned.

I was surprised at what I remembered of the books. I actually recalled the first five books pretty well – there were a few small surprises and places where I saw hints of things to come that I wouldn’t have noticed before, but overall I knew the details of the stories. Book 6 was fairly murky in my mind, and then I couldn’t remember a single thing about book 7. I’m thinking seeing the movies helped with the first five books. I haven’t seen the two most recent movies yet. While my memory (mostly) served me well, it was helpful to read it all together and pick up on the more subtle trends, both bad and good. I’ll start with some of the mis-steps:

  • I don’t like Book 5. At all. I mentioned this to Donia several times when I was reading it until she finally told me I was being a broken record. I can’t understand the reasons why she drew the characters the way she did, and the whole plotline seemed to serve no purpose. I had originally thought Book 2 was kind of throwaway, but finishing the series reminded me of its importance to the overall story. Book 5, though, is kind of a mystery. It follows the trend of wordiness started in Book 4, and it’s much more painful given that the plot is less compelling and the characters are frustrating. There are also some other places where the pacing is less than ideal – the first half of Book 7 comes to mind – but it’s easily forgiven everywhere except Book 5.
  • Some explanations, most notably Dumbledore’s trusting of Snape, are held back a little too long to be believable. This is common practice; in Lost, one of the larger criticisms was why characters didn’t ask obvious questions. Here, the questions get asked, but not answered, usually with some reasoning that is little more than “ask me again in the next book.”
  • There aren’t too many places where Rowling paints herself into a corner, but when she does, her ways of getting out are a little cheap. They’re fairly well done, but having Dobby pop in at the right moment or explaining a bit of magic at the right time still is a little too easy.

Those gripes aside, I think that the series is a masterpiece. It starts as a fairly simple tale, but it grows into something much larger and more complex without breaking under its own weight. That growth is reflected in the characters, as they move from 11 years old to wizarding adults, and also in the writing style, which starts off crisp and engaging and becomes remarkably fine prose. Time has faded the sense of wonder a little, but I can remember the hype and anticipation when new books were coming out. A second pass confirms that the hype was justified. Here are some of the highlights I noticed:

  • The layering in the stories is incredible. Most of the revelations (with a few exceptions, as noted above) make perfect sense given that Harry grew up in the Muggle world and that he and his friends are going through school, where new ideas are going to be introduced. These ideas are then used to build things one level at a time, with each book containing a perfectly whole story and yet also fitting into the larger picture. I did not notice any gaping plot holes – for all the complexity and imagination of the mythology, it fits together extremely well.
  • For my money, Albus Dumbledore is one of the finest creations in literature.I was surprised in the first book at how little he actually appears yet how strong his character is. Perhaps some of that was from knowing more about him from the rest of the books, but I still think he is well-established in Book 1 with great efficiency. Dumbledore’s absence in Book 5 (with a fairly weak explanation) is one of the more annoying things about that book, and his death is felt more strongly than all the other deaths combined.
  • The series ends well. For all the buildup and all the anticipation surrounding the end of a truly epic adventure, the ending is full of emotion, makes sense, and provides closure. The main expository chapter in the final book almost gets too tangled up, but just manages to sort things out. The one thing I remembered about Book 7 was a sense of satisfaction, and I felt that again the second time through. Weak endings can mar otherwise stellar performances, and the fact that the final pages end so well is probably the main thing that makes this series a classic.

If Rowling returned to Hogwarts in the future, it would be totally understandable. But I hope she doesn’t. Seven books sit on my shelf that tell a complete tale, and they are magical enough just the way they are.

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