Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

My 19 year old daughter Emily is a great fan of the Harry Potter books, she has grown up with them and I have vivid memories of taking her into town at midnight so that she could pick up her copy of the latest book as soon as it was released. When Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was published last summer, Emily was in Poland with the Northamptonshire County Youth Concert Band, so there was no need for the midnight pilgrimage to the bookshop. Instead I spent days worrying about the fate of Ron, Emily's favourite character. She intended to buy a copy of the latest book as soon as she was close enough to home to find an English version of the book. I was terrified that Ron would die in the book and Emily would arrive home in tears. It seems my fears for Ron were unfounded but as there were plenty of deaths in the book so there was a strong possibility that Emily would emerge from the coach in floods of tears - she is a real softie. Come to think of it Hogwarts with soon rival Emmerdale for the most dangerous fictional location, I bet they have big problems getting life insurance! We didn't see much of Emily when she got home, she withdrew to her bedroom with the book and she didn't emerge until she was absolutely sure that Ron had survived unharmed.
When Emily finished reading I asked her to provide a brief outline of the book for the blog. Maybe I should have put more emphasis on 'brief', but it was a very long book so it is not easy to sum it up in a few words. Thanks Emily.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Okay, well before I spill beans on the final book in the Harry Potter series, I seriously suggest that you read it because it is a brilliant read! The protective charm that keeps Harry safe from Voldemort in the Dursley’s home is broken the moment that Harry turns 17, so the Order arrange for Harry to be escorted back to the Burrow (new Order headquarters) by Mad-eye Moody, Mundungus Fletcher, Tonks, Mr. Weasley, Bill, Lupin, Fleur, Fred, George, Ron, Hermione and Ginny. Snape tips Voldemort off about this, and although Harry manages to arrive at the burrow, Mad-eye and Hedwig are killed, whilst George gets one of his ears charmed off!Whilst at the Burrow, Fleur and Bill get married. Also, the minister for magic (Rufus Scrimgeour) visits the trio, and gives them items that were left to him in Dumbledore’s will: Ron gets the Deluminator (the thing that Dumbledore used to click all of the lights out in the first book), Hermione gets an old book written in Runes called The Tales of The Beedle of Bard (a wizard's version of Easopp’s Fables), and Harry is left the first Snitch that he ever caught, and also the sword of Godric Gryffindor. The wedding reception is interrupted when a message is sent from Kingsley Shacklebolt, saying that the Ministry has fallen, and Death Eaters begin to arrive. Harry, Ron and Hermione flee and go on their quest to find the remaining Horcruxes (items that contain parts of Voldemort’s soul) so that they can destroy them like Dumbledore told them to. They are not allowed to tell anyone else where they are going or what they are doing. After the wedding, the entire Weasley family are being watched by the ministry.Harry, Ron and Hermione go back to Grimmauld Place, where they discover that the signature in the fake locket from the lake (R.A.B.) stood for Regulus Arcturus Black- Sirius’ brother and ex-death eater. The real locket was the one that was spotted in Grimmauld in the previous book, but after speaking to Kreacher, it was discovered that Mundungus Fletcher had stolen the locket and sold it...to professor Umbridge who still works for the ministry! They use polyjuice potion to break into the ministry, where they steal the locket from Umbridge. However, they still don't have the means to break the horcrux.