Is Harry Potter Who He Is Because of Nature or Nurture - Essay Example

Is Harry Pottery Who He Is Because of Nature or Nurture? Abstract The old concept of personality development – according to theorists – is that developmental changes are controlled by biological factors, i.e. nature. Our behavior “unfolds” over time, like a plant growing from seed to flower. (Lahey, 2007:316) Other theorists also advocate the “nurture” concept, i.e. that the psychological environment is the master of our development. This means that our behavior is “molded” by experiences, like clay in the hands of a sculptor. As we grow, we are being formed by the environment around us - our parents and relatives, our home, the school and institutions and the neighborhood we live and come in contact with. The present concept of psychology states that nature and nurture combine to influence our actions, thoughts, and feelings (p.316). In other words, if someone has the blood or the genes for such a personality to develop, he must be brought up or nurtured for that kind of personality, so there can be a combination of nature and nurture for the personality to effectively come out. Is this happening in Harry Potter? According to the book, Harry Potter has roots in the Wizarding world that is composed of wizards and witches, both good and evil. This world also thinks that Harry will be a wizard someday. Or, to put it clearly, because of this blood that he inherited from his parents and from generations before, he is already a wizard (nature). But when the time comes, or when he’s ripe of age, he has to be trained how to handle the traits to be a wizard (nurture), just like an ordinary human being, where one has to be trained and nurtured into what he or she wants to be. He has to be accustomed to the different techniques in the art of wizardry, learn magic and brew potions, etc. There have been mixed reviews on the Harry Potter fantasy series with respect to the main character of the boy Harry who has grown to be a young lad with a great following. He is a victim of circumstances, but in this situation he becomes a part of a whole plot to destroy evil. He inherited from his parents power – in the form of magic and wizardry – and prestige. How he is built up and how he uses this, are the subject for this paper. Introduction What forces cause Harry Potter to change as he passes through life? What factors determine whether he grows up to be a wizard: nature or nurture? The personality of Harry is clear in the minds of his millions of fans. But to a few skeptics and reviewers, Harry’s personality is quite hidden and questionable. Harry Potter may be hiding behind a closet, as what is shown in the early part of the story – he was kept by his uncle in a closet under the stairs. Could this be the thing the author JK Rowling have in mind regarding the boy’s sexuality? Is Harry Potter a hero or heroine? A sexual deviant or a bisexual? Or is he just a normal boy who fought through the hard times and here becomes a hero seeking revenge against the evil that killed his parents? These things have to be asked in the light of how Harry is being brought up in such a difficult and sacrificing environment. The situations that Harry is in are not ordinary situations. Day in and day out, he is in constant danger. The family that pretends to be a family is not supportive, and continues to push him to the limit. This essay will give an analysis on the many aspects surrounding the Harry Potter character, on how he became to be who he is in the story. Since this is a fictional character, we’ll try to picture him as real or living – and not imaginary – as what the millions of Harry Potter fans regard of him. “The Harry Potter books are one of the only things I have not grown out of because they have grown with me, they have seen me through my different stages, my ups and downs and it is with a heavy heart that I am now forced to leave them behind,” says Mimi Newman, 17, an avid Harry Potter fan (Telegraph.co.uk). Since he is supposed to be real in this essay, we’ll try to delve on the question, is he on the right track? Let’s start with the story from the very beginning. Since the start of the story, death is talked about. Murder is committed. A plot is in the offing to annihilate the Potter family by the evil wizard, Lord Voldermort. James and Lily Potter are killed but when the infant, Harry, is about to be finished by the killing curse, the Avada Kedavra, the cast rebounds on Voldermort. Accordingly, when a curse rebounds, it may kill the one inflicting it. A revelation comes from the author J. K. Rowling herself when she said: “My books are largely about death. They open with the death of Harry's parents. There is Voldemort's obsession with conquering death and his quest for immortality at any price, the goal of anyone with magic. I so understand why Voldemort wants to conquer death. We're all frightened of it.” Harry was left with a lightning bolt-shaped scar on his forehead, the physical sign of Voldermort’s curse. Because of this incident, Harry is known as “The Boy Who Lived” by the wizarding world. Will this affect his childhood years? Prematurely, we can say, yes. For from the time he entered the school, he’s been playing with death, leading his friends to conquer evil or bad witches with their magic and wizard power. To grow normal in such a situation may be hard for Harry. He relates later that sometimes a flash of memory tickles his young mind and allows him to remember that flash of lightning that nearly killed him but which left a lasting mark on his forehead. Does this explain why in his growing years he has always been involved in situations where he seems to be playing with death? Let’s have some supposition here, as an aside. Suppose the magical world of Harry Potter and the Hogwarts castle and community around it, on one hand, and the world of humans or the Muggle world where people with no ability to make magic at all, on the other hand, are one, meaning there is no distinction or separation on the two worlds. Now, could Harry have lived normally in a situation where he is an oppressed “Cinderella” waiting for a fairy godmother to save him from the clutches of a cruel aunt and stepsisters? The point is it is not at all normal. Harry’s situation could force the boy to be producing an abnormal personality. But Harry survived the times, and in the concluding portion of the fantasy series, he is well settled as a family man, having children who have gone to school at (where else?) Hogwarts. What could be the reason or reasons? Again, we will delve on the nature-nurture concept of personality. The Blending of Nature and Nurture Harry’s parents are members of a wizarding family which makes Harry a part of a generational witchcraft in his background, and accordingly, very likely he will be a wizard when he grows up. (It is revealed in the final book that Lord Voldemort and Harry Potter are distantly related through the Peverell family, the creators of the Deathly Hallows.) After the attack, Voldermort disappeared only to appear some years later (in somewhat another form) to pursue his goal of killing Harry. The Headmaster and Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry stepped on to decide Harry’s fate. They decide to take the child out of the spotlight and allow him to live a normal life with his only remaining relations, the Dursley’s. The Dursley’s are a Muggle family, meaning humans who don’t have any magic or witch power. Thus began the life of Harry Potter under the constant scorn and hatred from his Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia and their obnoxious son, Dudley. For ten years in his childhood, Harry didn’t know that he had a wizard’s blood, and for ten years, he suffered the cruelty of his uncle’s family. But he grew up to be level-headed, someone who cared for his friends and even excelled in school. Harry resembles his father, James Potter – at least that’s what those who knew his parents before they were killed – told him. They had similar perpetually untidy jet-black hair, which was brown in the movies. Harry also inherited his mother's green eyes. He also has the personality of his father which is a knack for mischief and, sometimes, a certain disregard for the rules, bouts of bad temper, a penchant for risk taking, courage, and loyalty. He had all the traits of his parents and the care and support of his friends. In other words, in the story itself, he had his own following or fans. But the strong blood of a wizard is on Harry. It’s nature working on him. The traits of his father, the genes are working on him because of the fact that he is able to survive the worst of his experiences. There are traits however that seem to be negative working on Harry’s behavior. Sometimes, he loses his temper. His growing personality, the problems of a growing adolescence may not be too clear as yet. In the latest of the series – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry shows this uncontrolled temper when he read an article from the Daily Prophet about Elias Dumbledore. The article was written by Betty Braithwaite about an explosive new autobiography, The Life and Lies of Elias Dumbledore by Rita Skeeter. The book was still to be released but Skeeter gave some revelations about the circumstances surrounding, or before, the death of Dumbledore who was Harry’s mentor. She says that the boy has a few friends and a troubled adolescence. The article further states that eyewitnesses inside Hogwarts castle saw Potter running away from the scene moments after Dumbledore fell, jumped, or was pushed (p.28). Upon reading the article, Harry was totally mad. Revulsion and fury rose in him like vomit. Harry showed his uncontrolled temper. Skeeter may have revealed something on the sexuality of Harry, and Harry’s lose of temper shows denial. This can be the result of environment. Sudden bursts or uncontrollable temper can be the result of nurture factors when Harry is out reach of a parent or guardian or a guidance counselor. His father, nevertheless, also showed some an uncontrollable temper. Harry is described as being small and skinny for his age in the first few novels, but by the fifth he is described as tall as he falls into the adolescent confusions characteristic of the battles between the sexes. He also has a thin face and a rather quiet voice, except when he is angry. His appearance is rounded off by characteristic round glasses. When Harry is 11 years old, a letter arrives from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry telling Harry that he has been accepted as a student, and informing him as to when classes begin.  Uncle Vernon intercepts and destroys the letter.  On the next day, two letters arrive, and Vernon destroys them.  Then again, many more letters arrive, this time coming in through windows, doors, and cracks.  Uncle Vernon tries everything to keep Harry away from the impending education as a wizard. Until, Hagrid, a half-giant came to tell him that he is a wizard. Harry is freed from the clutches of his cruel uncle and soon finds his way through the dimensional portal at the train station, and on board the Hogwarts train, on his way to discovering new friends, and an entirely new, exciting life in the Fantasy Reality of Witchcraft and Wizardry.  This is the new world of Harry Potter, where he’ll be nurtured to be a wizard along with his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. He joins and leads in the exciting race to discover the Sorcerer's Stone, the occult symbol of reaching the final stage in the quest for eternal life. He studies Herbology, the History of Magic, Charms, Potions, the Dark Arts, and other arcane subjects, all the while getting closer to his destiny and the many secrets of Hogwarts castle. From this beginning up to many years, Harry spends his life training on magic, witchcraft and the occult under witches and wizards. Their world – in and around the Hogwarts castle – is a world that seems to be connected with the “real” world, that of the Muggles, or humans who have no magical or wizard power. When they enter or go to the Hogwarts School, they just have to pass through a portal in the train station, which is located in the heart of London. Each book chronicles one year in Harry's life, which is mostly spent at Hogwarts. He learns to overcome many magical, social, and emotional obstacles as he struggles through his adolescence, Voldemort's second rise to power, and the Ministry of Magic's constantly denying Voldemort's return. Harry faces obstacles, also making countless friends, and losing loved ones. He is introduced into a harsh environment in his uncle’s custody but when he enters the world of magic, his life starts to change. He is popular, he excels in school, especially in the Quiddich games, and, as many knows, he has a role to play in the battle against Voldermort and his Death Eathers. In this world, witches and wizards are regarded as superior than humans, who are known as the Muggles. The Muggles, or human beings without a touch of magic in their bodies, are depicted as “dumber than a box of rocks,” of being physically obscene, and of living the most boring, unimaginative lives possible. Witches and wizards are depicted as being very smart, very “with it”, of being physically normal, and of living wonderfully exciting lives. The world of wizardry and witchcraft is a part of the real world of Harry Potter (or the other way around – the world of humans is a part, maybe an extra part, of the world of wizards and witches), and the boy is molded in this kind of environment. In school, Harry has to overcome the ordinary challenges of a boy studying and hurdling school issues such as difficult essays, awkward crushes, and unsympathetic teachers. He learns much from Elias Dumbledore, his mentor to whom some kind of affinity was beginning to develop, if not for the latter’s untimely demise. Harry is able to confront Voldermort and his Death Eaters. This confrontation is well expounded in the final book, The Deathly Hallows. In the final story, Harry and his friends spend most of their time away from Hogwarts, and return only to face the evil Lord Voldemort. A final battle ensues between Harry against Voldermort in the last book. Harry’s school experiences are colored by encounters with genial ghosts and antagonistic teachers, by the rivalry between good-guy Gryffindor House and slimy Slytherin House, and by an ominous mystery to be solved involving Harry’s archenemy, the dark sorcerer Lord Voldemort. The attraction of Rowling’s traditional British school story is magnified tenfold by the fantasy elements superimposed upon it. Harry is an unassuming and completely sympathetic hero. His friends love and support him all the way, even sacrificing their lives for him when, in the last book, members of the Order of Phoenix disguised themselves to be Harry look-alike, six of them, to act as decoys and divert attention from the pursuing Voldermort and his Death Eaters. Member Mad Eater was killed including Harry’s owl-confidant, Hedwig. Some Negative Reviews In a review of the novel series, The Cutting Edge, notes are given on the environment where Harry Potter and the rest of the children are introduced into a world of fantasy and the supernatural. It says that in the story both worlds are real: reality and fantasy existing side by side in parallel. Fantasy is the world to which a Satanist seeks constant access, a world filled with exciting adventures with magic awaiting them at every step. In the story, fantasy, i.e. magic and witchcraft are used by Harry and the guys (the good guys) to do battle against evil lord Voldemort. The critique that the Potter series advocates Satanist concept is a broad subject that requires more debate. The Cutting Edge website says that J. K. Rowling is into the occult or a member of the Rosicrucian, or into Luciferianism. This has something to do with this paper because this describes the way the character Harry Potter is brought up as a boy, or as a wizard. It says: Rowling consistently depicts people who do not practice Witchcraft in most obnoxious terms.  They are depicted as being really, really dumb, boring, and living a life not worth living.  Uncle Vernon was also the only Muggle quoted in the book as being really opposed to Witchcraft; therefore, when readers see how stupid, ugly, and boring Vernon is, they get the idea that all people who are opposed to Witchcraft must be as stupid, ugly, and boring as Vernon is. There’s a big point in this review against the Harry Potter Fantasy series. The review here is something that should be given concern because Harry and his friends and the children in Hogwarts community are growing children. There is a comparison between the world of witchcraft and wizardry and the world of the Muggles that says that the fantasy world is superior. That is the environment that Harry and the children are being brought up. Their lives all revolve around this kind of environment. There’s also this question of Harry Potter’s sexuality. The boy’s being a victim of circumstances may have formed him to be somewhat of a deviant. Here’s an intriguing review by Betty Bowers (2007). With Harry’s background and the circumstances in his childhood, Bowers says Harry is a homosexual, or at least the circumstances made him a homo. The story is that Harry lived with his dreadful Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, and “he sleeps in a closet”. Then, as Harry becomes more attuned to his satanic powers, “he comes out of the closet and befriends Hagrid, an old ‘biker’ of lascivious intentions.” Bowers states the situations in the book or film that demonstrates Harry’s sexual preference: 1. Harry flees the home of his Muggle foster family, the Dursleys, and goes shopping; 2. The boy is fascinated with 11-inch cylindrical objects he can hold in his hand and spends much time flying around with a pole wedged between the cheeks of his bottom; 3. In the film, when Daniel Radcliffe’s voice broke, the producers dubbed it with the most effeminate voice since Shirley Temple (at least, this is Bowers’ interpretation); 4. Harry, Bowers says, “is busy disobeying adults as he prowls around the forbidden hallways of Hogwarts at night hoping to catch adults in compromising situations.” 5. As played by Maggie Smith, prim Miss Jean Brodie is now Professor McGonagall, who can turn herself into a cat at will, but is apparently powerless against a face that droops like a clump of wet Bounty towels. Bowers further goes to say: Once Harry arrives at Hogwarts, he is free to begin an unbroken daisy chain of homosexual liaisons. Fortunately for Christian viewers, the frantic buggery that is endemic at all British schools with stone floors is mercifully left off-camera. But this doesn’t devote shocking attention to finding other homosexuals to pair off with. Then Bowers quotes page 171 of the Sorcerer’s Stone: “Professor Flitwick [Harry’s ‘charms’ (wink, wink) teacher] put the class into pairs to practice. Harry’s partner was Seamus Finnigan, which was a relief, because Neville had been trying to catch his eye.” Bowers further says that: Satan has clearly thrown down the gauntlet with Harry Potter. He has put True Believers on notice that he will not give up until he has enticed all of our impressionable children to read books that don't start with naked people lying and killing each other (the Bible). In the epilogue of The Deathly Hallows, Harry married Ginny. They have children whom they now send to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Could this be not J.K. Rowling’s own way of putting to rest the question of Harry’s sexuality? The Prisoner of Azkaban In The Prisoner of Azkaban, there are other characters significant in the turn of events. Harry becomes a stronger person and a more complex hero; probably he has faced reality that his parents had faced violent deaths. Sirius Black is a feared escaped prisoner who is believed to have betrayed Harry’s parents and is now said to be after Harry. The Quidditch action is the best and the Hogwarts class touch on Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, and Potions. These subjects are inventive and entertaining. The Cutting Edge gives this negative review on Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Attitudes, Values, and Emotions -- Gloom and Doom are the predominate emotions of the Harry Potter books.  Consider these examples:             a. "Voice to chill the bone marrow, a voice of breathtaking, ice-cold venom. 'Come to me, Let me rip you … Let me tear you, let me kill you " [p. 120]             b. Students could be put into detention for "looking happy" [p. 146]              c. "It was the gloomiest, most depressing bathroom Harry had ever set foot in." [p. 155]  This description is of the girl's bathroom that no one has been able to use for years because it is possessed by Moaning Myrtle, the spirit of a girl student murdered in that bathroom some 50 years prior.  Moaning Myrtle is one of the several Familiar Spirits inhabiting Hogwarts School.             d. "My life was nothing but misery at this place, and now people come along ruining my death." [Moaning Myrtle, p. 156]  Many students at Hogwarts School seem to share Myrtle's assessment of what it was like to attend classes there.              e. Harry and his friends broke over 50 school rules, because the goal for which they were seeking was so valuable and important [p. 159]. This is Illuminist and Communist philosophy: "The ends justify the means". In the same vein, Hermione deliberately stole several of the ingredients to make the Polyjuice Potion.             This comment about school rules violation is important. Harry and his friends are being brought up in an environment where they can steal and violate other rules and get away with it all for the sake of magic or witchcraft. From the New York Times on the Order of Phoenix: He (Harry) does, at least, experience a first kiss with Cho Chang (Katie Leung), but that turns out to be a brief and equivocal moment of bliss. Whereas “Goblet of Fire” plunged Harry and his pals into the murky waters of awakening adolescent sexuality (or at least got their toes wet), “Order of the Phoenix” tackles the emotional storms that can buffet young people on their way to adulthood. The review goes to say that Radcliffe has matured as an actor in perfect time with his character, but also emphasizes Harry’s anger and self-pity. Mr. Yates frequently places him alone on one side of the frame, with Ron and Hermione (Rupert Grint and Emma Watson), his loyal but increasingly estranged friends, together on the other. This is to say that Harry’s personality has become complex because of the environment that he has been brought up. In the Goblet of Fire, Parravano (2007) reviews: Rowling explores her major theme of good vs. evil and her minor themes of the value of loyalty and moral courage and the evils of yellow journalism, oppression, and bigotry. We find out, for instance, that Hagrid is not just oversized but part-giant, which is considered a shameful heritage; we see Hermione being taunted as a “mudblood” for her mixed Muggle-wizard parentage. The scenes in the story and emphasis is much less on school life (not a single inter-house Quidditch match!) and much more on the wider wizard world and, simultaneously, on Harry’s more narrow, personal world, as he has his first fight with Ron and asks a girl to his first dance. But on the whole the emotional impact is disappointingly slight. The death of the Hogwarts student causes nary a lift of the reader’s eyebrow; the complicated explanation for Voldemort’s infiltration of Hogwarts is fairly preposterous and impossible to work out from the clues given. Harry’s interpersonal relationships with the people around him, his friends, and social life are touched in the scenes and the sub-plots of the story. The Order of Phoenix Harry’s personality is being tested. The adult wizards in the Order of the Phoenix prepare for the return of Voldemort without him; at Hogwarts, he is ignored by Dumbledore, banned from Quidditch, and generally regarded as a liar and a “weirdo.” A new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, backed by a Ministry of Magic in Voldemort-denial, begins taking over Hogwarts one repressive educational decree at a time. The aggressiveness of people are portrayed in the environment around Harry. Adults snarl at one another; Slytherins and Gryffindors seem perpetually to be insulting each other, and even come to blows. The climax shows a confrontation between “Dumbledore’s Army” (a group of Hogwarts students led by Harry) and a horde of Death Eaters. The concluding wrap-up shows Dumbledore explains it all to Harry. The Goblet of Fire In the Goblet of Fire, people over seventeen who are interested must insert their name, and those chosen will be the Champions of their respective school. Three champions’ names come out: Cedric Diggory from Hogwarts, Viktor Krum from Durmstrang and Fleur Delacour from Beauxbatons. But Harry’s name come out unexpectedly even if he is underage. Although Harry insists that he did not enter his name, his selection prompts a certain amount of jealousy and suspicion on the part of his fellow students - including Ron, who believes that Harry is attempting to make himself the centre of attention again. This causes a brief period of resentment and estrangement between the two friends. Dumbledore tells Alastor to keep an eye on Harry, without him knowing it. This aspect of the book is important because it tells of the delicate relationships of friends, and on how Harry is able to cope with his friends and enemies. The Half-blood Prince Burkam (2007) says in The Half-blood Prince: Harry has grown himself more independent, decisive, and “fanciable,” and has come of age, committing himself by his own choice to defeating Voldemort and accepting that former protectors like his parents and Dumbledore (and even the Dursleys) no longer stand between him and danger. Old animosities against Snape, now the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher (whose twisted loyalties become even more opaque), and Draco Malfoy, the newest Death Eater recruit, continue unabated and crescendo into an epochal betrayal at the close. Some important facets of the fantasy series, important to the personality of Harry Potter: In The Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry is an initiate, learning witchcraft and learning to conquer fear. Harry learns how to cast spell. (Book 1, p. 51) He is informed about how much work goes into becoming a wizard and about how much there is to study. (Book 1, p. 66) The “will in action” is a strong theme that runs throughout the story line. Voldermort wants the sorcerer’s stone so he can “create” a new body for himself. Harry was told that his parents died in a car crash. (Book 1, p. 53) Harry returns to his dormitory room through a “portrait hole.” The portrait which seems to be alive asks for a password. (Book 1, pp. 130-133) A quirrel has a face at the back of the head. Harry broke the decree for the restriction of underage wizardry because he had just done serious magic. He gets a reprimand. (Book 2, p. 20-21). Harry knows the truth of his parents’ murder. Her mother - in trying to protect a psychic attack on Harry by Voldemort - took the attack on herself and died. She absorbed most of the energy and she died. (Book 2) Harry places a swelling spell on his aunt Marge for her disparaging comments about him and his family. (Book 3, pp. 28 – 30) Harry’s class practices on a bogart to remove whatever fear they have. A bogart is an entity which morphs into whatever anyone is afraid of. It is a shape shifter and will change itself into “whatever it thinks will frighten us most.” (Book 3, p. 133) CONCLUSION/OBSERVATION The personality being molded on Harry can really be questioned because of the complex situations and sub-plots in the story. First, he had to survive the harsh indifferent environment in the home of his adoptive family, added with the danger that he faces from the hands of a powerful and cruel lord who is out to kill him anytime. However, the way the author manipulated and inter-connected all those sub-plots and conflicts made Harry a strong character. This strength of character of the protagonist made the story powerful and captivating. And this is how real-life psychology works on Harry Potter. He can be made weak and yet strong. His blood or genes make him the hero sought for in a community full of magic, excitement and danger. And this kind of background added with a strong training makes a fascinating character that can match an equally powerful, or even much powerful, lord Voldemort. There is a blending of nature and nurture in the personality of Harry Potter. He comes from a generation of wizards, and he was brought up in an environment of wizards and witches. His school and friends all are from the Wizarding world. Predominant in his character is the strength of a hero, to overcome the odds, to fight evil and defend himself even while still young and weak. In the final part of the series, he was triumphant and reached the point of success – being a family man with children to take care and send to school. The feat is extraordinary because from the very beginning, he was alone. He had no family, a family that is supportive of his toils and travails as a young man wanting to become a successful wizard. The people – classmates and friends and mentors in and around Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry – became his adoptive family. Naturally, his time and efforts were devoted to that kind of environment. It was also in this environment that he had to trace his roots, remember the past and mold his future – of what he wanted to be when he was a little boy. He encountered difficulties, suffered defeat and humiliation, but in the end he was triumphant. It is enticing to quote the last two sentences of The Death Hallows: The scar did not pain Harry for nineteen years. All was well. References Betty Bowers Reviews: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Retrieved August 8, 2007, from: http://www.bettybowers.com/harrypotter.html Burkam, A. (2007). Harry Potter Reviews: The Hornbook. Retrieved August 8, 2007, from: http://www.hbook.com/magazine/reviews/group/harrypotter_revs.asp Cutting Edge Homepage. http://www.cuttingedge.org/index.html Cutting Edge. Title: Harry Potter and Chamber of Secrets, Book Review. Retrieved August 4, 2007, from: http://www.cuttingedge.org/news/n1391.cfm Parravano, M. (1999). Harry Potter Reviews: The Hornbook. Retrieved August 8, 2007, from: http://www.hbook.com/magazine/reviews/group/harrypotter_revs.asp Rowling, J. K. (2007). Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. New York: Scholastic, Inc. JK Rowling official site. Retrieved August 3, 2007, from: http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/faq_view.cfm?id=49 Telegraph reader reviews: Harry Potter and the deathly hallows. Retrieved August 8, 2007 from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/exclusions/potter/nosplit/bo-harry-potter-review.xml Scott, A. O. (2007). Hogwarts under siege, The New York Times. Retrieved August 9, 2007, from: http://movies2.nytimes.com/2007/07/10/movies/10harr.html Read More