Forest Again Analysis

Forest Again is a rather short chapter, but to me, it is one of the most powerful. I find this chapter incredibly beautiful. This chapter is composed of Harry’s walk to death. Here he must come to terms with his quickly approaching demise, yet while he is contemplating his own life and death, the readers are able to glean from his experience.

The first part of the chapter is Harry walking through his home, the Hogwarts Grounds, and is passing by his loved ones for the last time. The school is empty, dead. It appears abandoned not only by the living, but also by the portraits and ghosts. As he passes the Great Hall he looks back, but he doesn’t see any of the people he loves. He is determined to do what he knows that he has to do, but a part of him wants to be stopped by one of his loved ones. He forces himself to go on. He encounters Neville and asks him to kill the snake. Neville, as the possible boy who lived, seems a fitting replacement for Harry. As he moves on towards the forest he sees Ginny, again he has the desire to be stopped and dragged away, but he continues into the forest.

Throughout this chapter, Harry shows a courage that we normally don’t see from him. He shows the slow courage. This isn’t what you need to charge into battle or jump in front of a wand to save a friend. This is the courage to continue, to put one foot in front of the other. There is no excitement of battle or audience to give you strength. Harry has to do what he knows is right: a true sacrifice. He doesn’t get any reward for this, unless you count the hope that his friends will be safer because of it. This is true altruism, doing something without any reward. This courage takes more than any other, yet Harry bears it well.

At the edge of the forest, Harry remembers the Snitch, which he finally opens (at the close). I would argue that this moment is when he becomes the Master of Death. He uses the Stone, as it should be used, to give you comfort in the time of your death. He also uses the Cloak to evade death from the Death Eaters, until he is able to present himself to Voldemort. This is the point where Harry completes his journey; he has now reached the point where he is able to do what needs to be done.

This chapter teaches us a lot about death and the strength needed to face it. Harry spends time in wonder of the miracle, and brevity, of life. How incredible his own body is. JKR chose to punctuate this chapter about death, with Harry’s heartbeat. Once again proving that she is an incredibly skilled author. Harry also expresses a fear of death when he asks Sirius if it will hurt, from who he learns that it will not. Harry comes to terms with death, so much so that he feels more a part of that world than the world of the living. He is straddling both of them, he embraces both of them. This is what gives him the power to go to King’s Cross, and then to go back (I believe anyway).

Finally in this chapter, we see his death. How he dies is very important. He didn’t fight back, he chose to die. This is what provides protection to all of his friends. This is an echo of his mother’s death. Voldemort himself was also the one who had to kill him. By doing so he killed his own soul fragment attached to Harry, but becuase Harry’s blood runs through his veins, he couldn’t kill Harry outright.