The Complete Idiot's Guide to the World of Harry Potter (45 page)

Horcruxes are central to Rowling’s sixth and seventh novels, and you can find the basics on these evil containers in Chapter 13. But new information tells us that each Horcrux is strikingly similar to the Ring of Power in Tolkien’s
The Lord of the Rings.
Like the One Ring, a Horcrux worn around one’s neck gradually weighs down the wearer, making him or her more and more fatigued. But as with the Ring, the fatigue is far more than physical, because both the One Ring and a Horcrux can make those people around the object think the worst of others. These evil magical objects play on internal fears, causing anyone close to them to begin to doubt others—and themselves.

Rowling tells us that people can get emotionally attached to Horcruxes; in fact, a portion of a soul stored inside the Horcrux can get
into
someone so attached. This has echoes of Tolkien’s Gollum, who became so emotionally attached to the Ring that he thought of it as a person, his Precious. Perhaps the Ring contained a portion of the soul of Sauron (who is otherwise bodyless). The similarities are eerie.

We also find out that Horcruxes cannot be summoned through a Summoning Spell, nor can they be destroyed by any but the most magical of objects (just as the Ring cannot be destroyed by anything but the fires of Mount Doom). And we discover the identity of the final two Horcruxes: the diadem (which is like a small crown) of Rowena Ravenclaw (a Hogwarts founder), and Nagini, Voldemort’s snake.

But perhaps the most important new information about Horcruxes comes in the form of Rowling’s spiritual admonition: that to undo a Horcrux (to unsplit your soul), you must feel great remorse, and in doing so, the pain of that remorse can kill you. Anyone who has ever done anything hurtful or regretful can tap into that idea!

The Deathly Hallows aren’t so much advanced wizardry as they are components of a wizarding fairy tale that turn out to be true! Wizard children are raised on fairy tales just as Muggle children are, although the titles and the content differ. But a cornerstone of wizarding fairy tales is the story of the three Peverell brothers who possessed the Deathly Hallows.

The word
hallow
is drawn from Old English and German terms that all mean something holy or sacred. Thus, the Deathly Hallows refer to sacred items that are related to death in some way. There are three Hallows:

The Deathly Hallows are a little like the Rock, Paper, Scissors children’s game, in that each can both beat and be beaten by the others. The Hallows, however, moved beyond children’s stories or games and into a true quest for the three objects for many wizards, who believed that any person who bore all three Hallows would be unbeatable. Likewise, those seeking the Stone in
The Avengers
and those seeking the Ring (which, like the cloak, made the wearer invisible) in
The Lord of the Rings
also believed that owning such objects would make them all-powerful for eternity. Such was the case for the wizard called Grindelwald (see Chapter 1), who believed the Hallows actually existed and sought them, hoping to do good with them, but growing increasingly evil until he was the epitome of wizard Darkness. Dumbledore defeated Grindelwald in 1945.

Rowling also makes a commentary on children’s literature in her explanation of the Hallows, telling her readers that children’s fairy tales might just have more power in them than we think. Lord Voldemort, it turns out, has no respect for children’s stories (the fiend!), so he does not believe the stories of the Hallows and thus misses his chance to be unbeatable.

Fiendfyre is cursed fire—that is, a powerful brand of Dark Magic that creates fire-breathing monsters that can consume buildings, people, and even Horcruxes. The word
fiend
is derived from a couple of Old English terms that mean hate, which points to the Dark nature of fiendfyre. “The Fiend” is also a term that means Satan, so we see again that the term
fiend
refers to deep evil. Fyre, on the other hand, is the Middle English spelling of “fire” that we see in
Beowulf
, for example. Originally from the German
pyre,
meaning golden embers, the word gradually changed to
fyre,
and finally,
fire.

And so the journey of Harry Potter, Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore, Snape, Voldemort, and all the others in Rowling’s cast of characters comes to a close. For more than 4,000 pages that were more than 10 years in the making, Rowling has kept readers delighted, intrigued, and even at times frightened (case in point: the first chapter of
Goblet of Fire
).

Rowling excels as a writer of scenes, which means that for over 90 percent of those pages, Harry and company are walking, eating, talking—this is, moving and acting in some way. Rowling also creates characters that are impossible not to love (or hate, as the case may be), such that readers celebrate each victory and grieve each setback—and there were so many of those. But mostly, Rowling’s gift for detail is what sets her apart; she never misses an opportunity to describe the magical world with such specificity that … well, that we believe it actually exists. What Harry Potter fan hasn’t wanted to yell
Accio keys!
when running late, hasn’t wanted to Apparate or use a Portkey (or bewitch a car to fly) to avoid rush hour traffic, or hasn’t wished a love potion or truth serum actually exists. It’s a world we all fantasize about living in—sans an evil Dark Lord and corrupt government, of course. But even that intrigues us, because we hope we would all be as brave, noble, and humble as Harry and his friends, should such evil overtake the world.

Great Britain and the United States are as much alike as two countries on different continents could be. But in spite of the similarities, some British terminology may have you scratching your head. This appendix helps you understand British terms that appear in the
Harry Potter
novels.

balaclava
Ski mask.

ball
A dance similar to an American prom.

bang on course
On target.

bang out of order
Out of line.

bangers
Large sausages served as part of an afternoon or evening meal, usually with mashed potatoes.

bangers and mash
Sausages and mashed potatoes.

bin
Trash can.

biscuit
A cookie, usually bought and served in a tin (a round metal box with a lid); also a cracker that’s something like an American saltine, but more dense and often served with cheese.

blancmange
A type of pudding.

blimey
Golly; geez.

bloke
Fellow; guy.

boater
Flat straw hat.

bogey
Booger; snot.

bonbons
Round treats that usually have a slightly crusty outside and a