ABSTRACT
Many people (myself included) were more anxious about the final installment in the Harry Potter series than any of its predecessors. Could Rowling pull it off? How could she not only write the last book in the series, but also achieve a satisfactory ending, one that would answer questions and fulfill expectations raised by the previous six books? In the end, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows does cap the series, answer questions, and offer satisfying closure to the reader. Rowling works this magic through transformation-a significant element in the narrative structure across the novel series and a repeated theme at the heart of the story. Narrative transforms familiar elements of our culture like language, class, authority, genre, so that the ordinary becomes extraordinary (Natov, Lacoss). Transformation occurs not just at the level of plot and character, but also in Rowling’s presentation of overlapping cultures that are similar yet different. We find transformation in the details of the wizarding world, its language, and customs; we find transformation at a deeper level through the narrator’s focus on Harry Potter’s character as he moves through adolescence to adulthood, making more and more difficult choices; and we find transformation at the heart of the series itself as Rowling recapitulates the first book in the last, emphasizing some motifs but changing or transforming the myths.1
