It’s getting nearer and nearer to the time when we will finally learn the fate of Harry Potter and his entire wizarding world. Ten years ago the world was introduced to “The Boy Who Lived”, and in ten years over 325 million copies of the books have sold making J. K. Rowling the first (and probably only) author to ever reach billionaire (with a B) status.
Now comes a time when children and adults of all ages will finally learn what happens to dear Harry Potter in his prophesied battle against Lord Voldemort. Fans of the book have been battling online for years on forums and chat rooms over what will happen in the end. And basically, it comes down to 2 outcomes, Harry will live, or Harry will die.
The number of ways either of the above can happen is numerous though. Here is what I think would be a perfect way to end it:
Harry dies, Lord Voldemort wins, the world is plunged into darkness.
Kinda sad, really dark, and definitely not a “fairy tale ending.” Now, why do I think this is the perfect way to end it?
For starters, it’s completely unexpected. Essepically for a book that at first was considered a “children’s book.” In every children’s book, (and nearly every story in general) the good guys win, and the bad guys loose (I know there are some where this is not true, but for the most part, it holds true). Think of every great story, great book, great movie, The Lord of The Rings, Star Wars, tales of King Author, in each and every one of those, the good guys win, and the bad guys loose.
If Rowling ends the series with the death of Lord Voldemort, and the survival of Harry Potter, she does nothing but the obvious. That ending is the one 90% of the world would expect, and, have no problems seeing. But by going that route, she leaves open the door for more Harry Potter adventures. For if Harry survives, he will by no means spend the rest of his life sitting in a chair, reaping the rewards for killing the greatest dark wizard the world had ever seen. This will cause the fans to literally beg for more books, and Rowling herself said that she is very unlikely to write an 8th book, and that the whole story will be taken care of at the end of book 7.
Now, let’s modify that ending a little: Lord Voldemort is defeated, but Harry sacrifices himself to do it. This is probably more of a cliché then the ending above it. The only way evil can be destroyed is if the hero must sacrifice him/herself to do it, The Matrix Revolutions comes to mind. While it’s a bit more dark then the perfect fairy tale ending, it’s still a fairy tale ending where the good guys win, and the bad guys loose, and (most) everyone lives happily ever after.
If this is the ending of choice, then the main floodgate is closed off, no more Harry Potter adventures can happen, after all, he’s dead. But it still reeks of cliché, and if there’s one thing Rowling shouldn’t do is have a cliché ending. They are the tired and true ways to end stories, after all, that’s how it becomes a cliché.
Lets take a different approach to this now. Forget everything you know about good and evil, love and hate, war and peace. Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort are two people who must fight each other, that’s it. If you look at it from that angle, Harry is a teenager, and Voldemort a fully grown adult. Harry would by all means be considered the underdog. He’s a young child who seemingly has no chance against the greatest wizard of all time. If Harry defeats Voldemort, no matter what way, this again goes down the cliché path.
The underdog always wins in stories. It’s a sign of faith that David can beat Goliath, and everything can be good again. It’s probably the oldest cliché around. In real life, the little guy rarely wins, however much people cheer them on, and support them. Even though like I said above, most of the world expects Harry to win, this is still an unacceptable ending to the story.
All the books so far have been amazing, and been praised for endless reasons. One of the best things about the books though is how it portrays life: it’s not perfect, there is pain, there is love, and most of all, there is death. So far two important, and very loved characters have died. Their deaths weren’t of natural causes, but the results of a war, a war with fanatics and traitors, just like real life. This alone is probably the best part of Harry Potter, Rowling’s ability to include death in the books.
This brings me to my ending: Lord Voldemort defeats Harry Potter, and having no one to stop him, takes over the world, both muggles and wizards alike.
Again, it’s very dark and completely unexpected, but those two things are what makes it the perfect ending. By killing Harry and leaving Lord Voldemort alive, Rowling shows that the world is not always perfect, and that good doesn’t always win in the end. She shows that Harry is indeed human, and makes mistakes like everyone.
And she could even make it end in a way that would still preach love to the world. By having Harry say that it doesn’t matter what happens to him anymore, he has friends who love him, and that’s all that matters, she could very well have Lord Voldemort kill Harry. If he just got those words out, that’s all that would matter in the end. Hell, she could even go as far as say that a few years (months, even weeks) after their battle, Lord Voldemort commits suicide due to depression and lack of love and then the world goes back to the way it was before Voldemort came to power. As long as she kills Harry, and has Voldemort win, even if it’s for a year, she has created the greatest ending to any book ever.
No matter what she does, Rowling will be remembered for the rest of time as one of the greatest and most loved author’s of the 21st century. But, here is the greatest reason why she should do everything I’ve said. By killing Harry, at the hands of Lord Voldemort, she took the dark, lonely road in the end. She could create a new cliché, just like Lucas did with Star Wars. Even though the world doesn’t need more clichés, this one will be a happy addition in my book.
That’s what I think anyway, what about you?
Do you know who those people are? I do, but what does that tell you about me, that i’m a sad, crazy, geek, who likes British comedy?
