Blog Post 1 - Death

Every night, my mom would read a chapter of Harry Potter to my brothers and I before we went to bed – a tradition that continued throughout the first four books of this enchanted series. Thinking back, it seems a little concerning that I was reading something so dark and heavy at such a young age, but then again, with a story full of magical beings, why wouldn’t it be of extreme interest to young preteens?

The idea, the results, and the action of death swallow this novel as well as the rest of the Harry Potter series. It is a huge aspect of the story that does not, and cannot, go unnoticed to any of its readers. It makes it one of the most prominent genres that exist continuously throughout the story. Rowling incorporates this theme into almost every aspect of the story, ranging from Harry’s story of his broken family and rough upbringing, all the way to Voldemort and his nonstop attempt to cheat death and find some way towards immortality. It is because of death that Harry is alive. Dumbledore states, “Your mother died to save you,” (pg. 299). This act of dying is what keeps Harry safe from Voldemort, and what continues to bewilder the entire wizarding world. In the end of the novel, when Quirrell and Voldemort are attached and attempting to take the stone from Harry, his hand is able to burn Quirrell because of the power that his mother’s love through death has put in him.

Voldemort attempts to escape death by drinking the blood of a unicorn, but considering his soul lives within Quirrell, Quirrell may also have been preserving his own life in the process. “The blood of a unicorn will keep you alive, even if you are an inch from death…” (pg. 258). This is just one example of how aspects of the magical world can intercept the natural causes of death, ultimately making Voldemort an invincible being, and death remains a pivotal genre within this story.