The Harry Potter series has two enduring interests: the battle between good and evil, and the education of young Harry. What is going to happen, and what sort of person will Harry be at the end of it all?

In the second-last book of the series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, matters develop satisfyingly in both areas, and leave us ready and anxious for the final volume in which, it is assumed and had better be the case, All Will Be Revealed.

This is the end-times novel, the one where the stage has been set for the final battle, the fulfilment of hope, and the doing of justice. Unlike the revelation of the future in Scripture, we'll just have to wait until J.K.Rowling writes it to see whether she really does bring about a New Hogwarts and a New Earth.

For those who haven't been with the series, there's a seamless summary woven into the early parts of this novel that brings you up to speed. It's not too late to get into it (but you would have more fun heading back to book one!)

For those who have read the previous five books, this sixth volume resolves some important questions about Voldemort. Why did he turn out so evil? How did he return from the dead? What has to be done to finally destroy him?

By using the pensieve (a kind of magical communal hard disk on which memories can be stored and retrieved by others), the great Headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore, recovers some ancient memories of Tom Riddle (now Lord Voldemort). Harry and Dumbledore start to put together a picture of who Voldemort is, and the holes in the history of his move to "the dark side" are filled in.

We learn that Voldemort managed to split his soul"”something only made possible by committing murder. He has hidden his splintered soul in seven Horcruxes, magical objects you can use to hide your life. Parts of Voldemort's soul are scattered throughout the world. This has set Harry up for an "amazing race' in the final instalment, as he will try to gather the four remaining fragments of Voldemort's essence and, well, destroy them, we hope!

The scene is now set for the ultimate battle between good and evil. Bring on book seven!

But let's consider our second interest: what kind of boy is Harry becoming? A really nice one, actually. He's a typical adolescent, and he's noticing girls, and he's really doing quite well for someone who spent a good deal of his early life living in a closet!

Harry is a boy with a burden, but he always has been. If he doesn't lose the burden in the next book, we'll be horrified and march on J.K. Rowling's office. His burden is his destiny: he knows by a prophecy that he must kill Voldemort, or be killed by him. A great theme of the series has been this choice that Harry has to make. Or does he?

Without getting too heavy, we see the Harry Potter series as offering therapy to those who have suffered at the hands of others and felt helpless about it. Harry is in the same situation as many abused kids: he finds it hard to believe that he can do anything to escape his fate. Time and time again, Dumbledore impresses upon Harry that he has choices, that he doesn't have to follow the path that has been prophesied for him. Harry has special powers, extraordinary ones"”he is The Chosen One. That is where the therapy kicks in. The thought that one has the capacity really to escape from a terrible situation is very liberating, even if you are only living it out vicariously in your imagination as you read.

The message of the series thus far is a stock-standard one: love will conquer all. Harry's mother demonstrated selfless love in dying to protect her son, and the message is that her act has a protective power which lives on in Harry"”greater love has no-one than to lay down their life for another.

But there is something else going on. In many ways, Voldemort's experience of childhood (as Tom Riddle) was very similar to Harry's. He lost his parents, too"”his mother died giving birth to him, but for some reason her sacrifice didn't empower her son. There is some message here that we are due to discover"”why did Harry turn out so well, and Voldemort so badly?

What might a Christian response to this novel look like? First, we point out the great moral themes that the books are exploring: what we will do with our free will? Are our lives predestined and our responsibility for them diminished?  And what does true love looks like? These are wonderful questions to be occupying the minds of children and adults alike across the world.

Second, we might compare what the novel offers with what the gospel offers. The Harry Potter series, unlike C.S.Lewis's Narnia, is not attempting Christian allegory. Nor is it deliberately anti-Christian, as is the Phillip Pulman series (at the author's admission). Instead, it seems to be developing a Pelagian understanding of life"”that we raise ourselves up over adversity by our will power and determination. Pelagius was a 5th Century theologian who taught that humanity was not trapped by original sin, but free to choose good. It is more like ancient Stoicism than Christianity. Christianity, in contrast, is all about grace"”grace shown to us by God, to rescue us from our plight, because we cannot rescue ourselves.

However, we'll have to wait to see how significant this criticism is. There is also plenty of grace on display in Harry Potter, too. And we couldn't ask for a more loving and gracious character than Dumbledore. Will grace and mercy win in the end, or will the stoic Harry leave us with a message that we just need to look inside our hearts, believe in ourselves, and face our fears?

The end of HP and the Half-Blood Prince is heart-wrenching and despite the fact that many people have now read the book, we won't divulge it here. Suffice to say that it makes Harry's losses complete. Harry keeps losing his supports"”first his parents, then his godfather Sirius Black in the fifth book (HP and the Order of the Phoenix), now Ron and Hormone"”sorry, Hermione"”who, despite pledging allegiance to Harry, are distracted by puberty's onset. And there are other losses too awful to mention here.
Harry is on his own. Who can he trust? Who will he turn to? Or will he have to rely entirely on himself?

In our review of the fourth book, we suggested Snape was the key to the series. We are very chuffed to report that our punt is looking good! Is he true, or is he a louse? Should Harry believe Dumbledore's word that Snape is entirely trustworthy, or his own suspicions? Is Snape Judas or Peter?

You will have to wait quite a few years to find out!