Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Chapter 36 Quotes
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Chapter 36 Quotes
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Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote 1
"One of us?" jeered Voldemort, and his whole body was taut and his red eyes stared, a snake that was about to strike. You think it will be you, do you, the boy who has survived by accident, and because Dumbledore was pulling the strings?"
"Accident, was it, when my mother died to save me?" asked Harry. […] "Accident, when I decided to fight in that graveyard? Accident, that I didn't defend myself tonight, and still survived, and returned to fight again?"
"Accidents!" screamed Voldemort, but still he did not strike. […] "Accident and chance and the fact that you crouched and sniveled behind the skirts of greater men and women, and permitted me to kill them for you!" (36.95-97)
Yet again, Voldemort makes the fatal error of underestimating the choices and deliberate actions of others, assuming that only his choices matter.
Quote 2
"You show spirit and bravery, and you come of noble stock. You will make a very valuable Death Eater. We need your kind, Neville Longbottom."
"I'll join you when hell freezes over," said Neville. "Dumbledore's Army!" he shouted, and there was an answering cheer from the crowd… (36.54)
Neville's good-evil compass never wavers, even when Voldemort tries to tempt him over to the dark side. It would never work – he's a true Gryffindor through and through, and is loyal and courageous to the bone. He's certainly not the second coming of Peter Pettigrew, as we once feared.
Quote 3
"NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU B****!" (36.78)
Language alert! We've see Mrs. Weasley upset before, but never really enraged – yet, here, after Bellatrix Lestrange threatened Ginny's life, this angry mama bear rushes out to savagely defend her cub. Her maternal love is the fuel to her fire, and she will do anything to save her family – like another mother we've just seen, Narcissa Malfoy.
Quote 4
"Is it love again?" said Voldemort, his snake's face jeering. "Dumbledore's favorite solution, love, which he claimed conquered death, though love did not stop him falling from the tower and breaking like an old waxwork? Love, which did not prevent me from stamping out your Mudblood mother like a cockroach, Potter – and nobody seems to love you enough to run forward this time and take my curse. So what will stop you from dying now when I strike?" (36.102)
After all these years, Voldemort still hasn't learned his lesson – love does matter, and it is a kind of power he'll never be able to master. Love as a motivation is what has undone him; we've seen it in everyone who's betrayed the Dark Lord, like Snape and Narcissa; people can't help but love, and it's the most powerful force in the world.
Quote 5
"So it all comes down to this, doesn't it?" whispered Harry. "Does the wand in your hand know its last master was Disarmed? Because if it does… I am the true master of the Elder Wand."
A red-gold glow burst suddenly across the enchanted sky above them as an edge of dazzling sun appeared over the sill of the nearest window. The light hit both of their faces at the same time, so that Voldemort's was suddenly a flaming blur. Harry heard the high voice shriek as he too yelled his best hope to the heavens, pointing Draco's wand:
"Avada Kedavra!" "Expelliarmus!" (36.118-121)
Harry stays true to himself all the way to the end – he recognizes his own identity as the master of the Hallows, and pulls out his signature spell to prove it. Voldemort's own actions are classic Voldy; he thinks he can just blast Harry away and solve all his problems, but this single-minded attitude fails him here. (Hasn't he yet learned he can't use that spell on Harry, by the way? Sheesh.)
Quote 6
"I'm putting the Elder Wand," he told Dumbledore, who was watching him with enormous affection and admiration, "back where it came from. It can stay there. If I die a natural death like Ignotus, its power will be broken, won't it? The previous master will never have to be defeated. That'll be the end of it.
Dumbledore nodded. They smiled at each other.
"Are you sure?" said Ron. There was the faintest trace of longing in his voice as he looked at the Elder Wand.
"I think Harry's right," said Hermione quietly.
"That wand's more trouble than it's worth," said Harry. "And quite honestly… I've had enough trouble for a lifetime." (36.147-150)
Harry shows true power of a sort here – the ability to say "no" to having too much power, if that makes sense. His decision to break the pattern of the Elder Wand and to lay it to rest again in Dumbledore's tomb proves his worthiness in ever possessing the Hallows; he knew when to use them, and when to stop.
Quote 7
Hands, softer than he had been expecting, touched Harry's face, pulled back an eyelid, crept beneath his shirt, down to his chest, and felt his heart. He could feel the woman's fast breathing, her long hair tickled his face. He knew that she could feel the steady pounding of life against his ribs.
"Is Draco alive? Is he in the castle?"
The whisper was barely audible; her lips were an inch from his ear, her head bent so low that her long hair shielded his face from the onlookers.
"Yes," he breathed back.
He felt the hand on his chest contract; her nails pierced him. Then it was withdrawn. She had sat up.
"He is dead!" Narcissa Malfoy called to the watchers. (36.13-17)
This final betrayal of Voldemort is what undoes everything – Narcissa Malfoy chooses her love for her son over her loyalty to her former Lord. It's an echo of Snape's betrayal of Voldemort, and Regulus Black's. Where the Dark Lord goes wrong every time is in failing to recognize the real importance of love.