Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Choices, Redemption, and Morality
Grief and Coming of Age
Knowledge and Power
Mortality and Sacrifice
Friendship, Community, and Resistance
Summary
Analysis
Harry drags himself out of the pond, bleeding, and calls for Hagrid. He comes to inside, his injuries healed, and Ted Tonks introduces himself. Ted explains that his wife is seeing to Hagrid. Ted is concerned that Death Eaters knew about the plan, but says that Death Eaters can't get within 100 yards of his house. Harry starts to get up just as Hagrid squeezes through the door. Noticing the woman behind Hagrid, Harry shouts at her, but Ted says she's his wife, Mrs. Tonks. Mrs. Tonks looks shockingly like her sister, Bellatrix Lestrange.
The fact that the Order's plan was clearly leaked to the Death Eaters creates a sense of confusion and distrust among everyone. This shows how Voldemort seizes even more power by making it so that people fear trusting their friends and neighbors, thereby hobbling any resistance activities.
Themes
Harry says they need to take the Portkey to the Burrow. Ted assures Mrs. Tonks that Tonks is fine and leads Harry and Hagrid into a bedroom, where a hairbrush is waiting for them. Hagrid asks where Hedwig is and Harry gulps that she died. Harry and Hagrid spin away from the Tonks' house and land hard in the yard of the Burrow. Mrs. Weasley and Ginny run toward them. Nobody else is back.
Having to tell Hagrid about Hedwig's death puts it in perspective for Harry that many people (and animals) are going to die for him over the course of this fight. Harry's guilt and emotion shows that this isn't easy for him, and it continues to develop his self-sacrificing nature.
Themes
Lupin and George arrive. George is unconscious and bleeding: his ear is missing. Harry helps Lupin carry him inside. Lupin grabs Harry, verifies his identity, and explains that someone betrayed them. Harry can't believe that someone in the Order betrayed them and, to support this, says that it took Voldemort a while to figure out which one was the real Harry—he couldn't have known the entire plan. He tells Lupin of his journey and says that he Disarmed Stan Shunpike, which shocks Lupin. Lupin tells Harry to Stun people if he's not going to kill them. He says that Death Eaters likely think that Expelliarmus is Harry's signature spell, but Harry says he won't be like Voldemort and kill people for no reason.
Harry's refusal to be like Voldemort and kill people for no reason reveals one of the many things that sets Harry apart from Voldemort: he values lives for their own sake, not just because a living person is useful to him. Harry, in other words, is willing to lean on and trust his wider community, rather than blast it apart to protect himself, even when doing so is dangerous and could possibly result in his own death or injury.
Themes
Harry asks if George will be okay. Lupin crumples and says he should be, just as Kingsley and Hermione land in the yard. Kingsley and Lupin suspiciously test each other and Kingsley spits that someone betrayed them. They discuss Voldemort’s ability to fly and Harry's behavior toward Stan Shunpike, whom Kingsley explains broke out of Azkaban with many others. Lupin says that Snape is the one who cursed George's ear off as Hagrid calls Harry inside. George is stable and Harry meets Ginny's eyes, wanting to hold her. They hear a crash and Mr. Weasley roars that he needs to see his son. He and Fred enter and Fred seems lost for words. George stirs and says he feels "saintlike." He meets Fred's eyes and says that he's "holey." Mrs. Weasley sobs.
That George stirs and makes jokes once he's reunited with Fred speaks to the power of close relationships and to community—his relationship with his twin is strong and important enough to return him to who he is, despite the pain. This should be an instructive moment for Harry, who will try to dissuade Ron and Hermione from coming with him on his quest. Being with his friends, however, will help Harry remember who he is, what he's fighting for, and ultimately, maintain a sense of humor about the whole thing.
Themes
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Ginny and Harry head back outside and Ginny takes Harry's hand. They watch Kingsley pace and suddenly, Tonks and Ron barrel to the ground on brooms. Tonks falls into Lupin's arms as Hermione embraces Ron. Tonks explains that Bellatrix was trying to kill her. Kingsley leaves for the Prime Minister as Bill and Fleur fly into sight. Mrs. Weasley flies at Bill, who says that Moody is dead: Mundungus panicked and Disapparated, and Voldemort got Moody. Harry can't believe it. They head inside and Bill pours firewhiskey for everyone. They drink to Moody and decide that Mundungus didn't betray them; he just panicked.
Though Moody certainly didn't want to die, it's important to keep in mind that Moody died for a cause he believed in wholeheartedly and that, if asked, he'd probably say he was willing to die for. This introduces to Harry the idea that, while death may be scary on a variety of levels, it's important to try to think of it as being something that will happen on one's own terms. For Moody, this means dying for a cause.
Themes
Fleur spits that someone betrayed them. Harry says that if someone let something slip and made a mistake, he knows they didn't do it on purpose. Harry thinks that Moody was always derisive about Dumbledore's desire to trust people, but Fred and George cheer Harry. Lupin says that Harry is just like James, who would've been disgusted at the idea of not trusting his friends. Lupin and Bill leave to retrieve Moody's body and Harry announces that he needs to leave. Mrs. Weasley explains that Harry is safe and needs to stay. Mr. Weasley joins in and Harry feels blackmailed into staying.
Though Harry's guilt is understandable, wanting to leave after all of these people sacrificed and died for him tells them that Harry doesn't truly respect their sacrifice—instead, he's willing to go back out and make it so that their sacrifices and hard work didn't mean much. Staying, on the other hand, would allow Harry to show them that he respects their sacrifice and is willing to honor what they did for him by keeping himself safe.
Themes
Hagrid tells Harry that people will love to hear that he fought Voldemort off again, but Harry says that his wand acted by itself. Both Hermione and Mr. Weasley point out that this isn't possible. Harry's scar burns. He knows what happened, but he's also never heard of a wand doing magic on its own. Harry excuses himself and steps outside, thinking that Dumbledore would've believed him. The pain reaches a peak and Harry hears and sees Voldemort yelling at Ollivander that using another person's wand was supposed to work. Harry returns to his own mind in the garden when Hermione and Ron ask him to come inside. He tells them what he saw, and Hermione sternly says to not let Voldemort into his mind.
In the case of Harry's wand's strange behavior, he begins to get practice with holding two opposing truths in his mind at once: that his wand did this odd thing, and that wands shouldn't be able to do this in the first place. This will give Harry practice as he struggles to reconcile the Dumbledore he knew with the Dumbledore he learns about from others, who dabbled in questionable things in his youth. Voldemort torturing Ollivander suggests that he's becoming disenchanted with the idea of hunting for knowledge and will use physical might when information fails him.
Themes
