Harry Potter

“The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches....Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies...and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not...and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives....The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies...”
- Sybil Trelawney in Order of the Phoenix, .

There is a lot to be told about Harry Potter. Obviously, he is the main protagonist of the series in which seven years of his life are completely covered. He's also an orphan whose parents were killed by Voldemort himself; Voldemort further attempted to kill baby Harry because of the above Prophecy, but failed when his own curse rebounded on him; this left Harry with the famous lightning bolt scar on his forehead. From then on, the two would always be connected. Harry was blessed enough to always have protection around him. He was born with the protection from his loving mother, and he grew up to be protected by Dumbledore, his loving headmaster, his friends Hermione and Ron, and his Godfather, Sirius Black. It is not until Goblet of Fire when all his protection begins to wear off while Voldemort is resurrected. In the next book, Sirius dies, and in the book following that, Dumbledore dies. To many, it would seem that Harry would give up after losing his closest friends; but that is not the case.

I believe Harry Potter is a great character, which not everyone can say for some reason! Sure he can be annoying, and make a lot of obvious mistakes, but to me, he is a classic example of growing up. Harry is the hero who is becoming himself by constantly being tested and he must overcome his doubts about himself and others, and confront his nightmares and worst fears. He is also fascinating because he is surrounded by mentors who always have to leave at some point. In this process, while often sad and tragic for Harry, he must outlive his mentors, like Dumbledore, in order to fully understand himself and his gifts. I also love that Harry has his close band of friends, Ron and Hermione. They are like a motley crew or team that help him take on the challenges ahead. While Harry must battle many things alone and the demons inside, Rowling makes it clear, like many novelists, that you can't always be alone; there is a need for one another.

“There are strange likenesses between us, after all. Even you must have noticed. Both half-bloods, orphans, raised by Muggles. Probably the only two Parselmouths to come to Hogwarts since the Great Slytherin himself. We even look something alike ... but after all, it was merely a lucky chance that saved you from me. That's all I wanted to know.”
- Tom Riddle to Harry

Harry and Voldemort have a lot in common. Both were Orphans, half-bloods, both had incredible magical abilities, and both were Parseltongues (due to Harry being Voldemort's own Horcrux). Yet, they were also separated by many, many differences. Harry was surrounded by love, he was selfless and always appreciated everyone in his life. He was humble and never thought he was anything more than just a boy who lived in a broom cupboard. According to Rowling, Harry Potter is "strongly guided by his own conscience", and has a "keen feeling of what is right and what is wrong". Having "very limited access to truly caring adults", Rowling said, Harry "is forced to make his own decisions from early age on." He "does make mistakes", she conceded, but in the end, he does what his conscience tells him to do. According to Rowling, one of Harry's pivotal scenes came in the fourth book when he protects Cedric Diggory's body from Lord Voldemort, because it shows he is brave and unselfish.

Rowling has also said that Harry's two worst character flaws are "anger and occasional arrogance", but that Harry is also innately honorable. "He's not a cruel boy. He's competitive, and he's a fighter. He doesn't just lie down and take abuse. But he does have native integrity, which makes him a hero to me . He's a normal boy but with those qualities most of us really admire." After the seventh book, Rowling commented that Harry has the ultimate character strength, being able to do what even Voldemort could not: he accepted the inevitability of death.

“Voldemort tried to kill you when you were a child because of a prophecy made shortly before your birth. He knew the prophecy had been made, though he did not know its full contents. He set out to kill you when you were still a baby, believing he was fulfilling the terms of the prophecy. He discovered, to his cost, that he was mistaken, when the curse intended to  kill you backfired. And so since his return to his body, and particularly since your extraordinary escape from him last year, he has  been determined to hear that prophecy in its entirety. This is the weapon he has been seeking so assiduously since his return: the knowledge of how to destroy you.”
-Dumbledore to Harry

Therefore, both Harry and Voldemort are great wizards, but what they do with their greatness tells the most about who they are. Harry Potter is always saving someone from harm; Voldemort manipulates the masses to commit murder. Dumbledore's words always constitute the greatest truths in all these books, and make Harry the appropriate hero. Harry takes what he is given and uses it to the best of his ability.

In Harry's fifth year, Voldemort attempted to retrieve a copy of the Lost Prophecy located in the Ministry of Magic. This is because he originally only heard the first part of it, so he was never aware of any danger that may arise when attacking Harry as a baby. Due to their ongoing connection, Harry would have visions of the door to the room where the Prophecy was located. Seeing through Nagini's eyes, Harry would make his way into the room to retrieve it for the Dark Lord, but would awake every time covered in a cold sweat. This Prophecy happened to be predicted by the crazy seer, Sybil Trelawney, before Harry was born. Fearing for his life once again, Voldemort had to get his hands on the Prophecy, and hear it in full. In the process, he took control of the Dementors at Azkaban which released many of his Death Eaters to help him. Again, his attempts were unsuccessful, due to the Order. Voldemort did however manage to take away someone important to Harry, Sirius Black.The Ministry of Magic then announced that Voldemort was alive with full power and back in their Wizarding World.

What is most interesting about the Prophecy, is that Harry did not have to be the one marked as Voldemort's equal; Neville Longbottom was born the day before Harry (July 30th). However, Voldemort CHOSE Harry, simultaneously marking his own downfall. He marked the boy he believed to be the biggest threat. However in doing so, he did not chose the pure-blood Neville, but instead Harry, the half-blood like himself; he saw himself in Harry before he had ever even actually seen him. As Dumbledore says in Order of the Phoenix:

“In marking you with that scar, he did not kill you, as he intended, but gave you powers, and a future, which have fitted you to escape him not once, but four times so far - something neither your parents, nor Neville's parents, ever achieved” .

The "Power the Dark Lord knows not" means the power of love. It sounds lame, but truly it is a basic human need that Voldemort just doesn't understand. Voldemort tried to Possess Harry but found that he couldn't because he detested that force inside of him. Voldemort has never felt affection or love for anyone, ever. Since he does not value love, he takes no trouble to comprehend it, either.

“In the end, it mattered not that you could not close your mind. It was your heart that saved you.”
-Dumbledore to Harry

Another crucial part of the Prophecy is the part, "for neither can live while the other survives". This basically means that one would end up killing the other; it's ultimately common sense. Voldemort took Harry's blood to regenerate himself; literally the boy's blood was in his veins. Harry was also his seventh Horcrux and one he never intended to make. He left part of himself latched to Harry, the little boy who survived his killing curse. Voldemort took Harry's blood believing that it would bring him back in full strength, but he didn't understand that what he took was full of Lily Potter's enchantment and protection when she died for her son. Voldemort's body kept her sacrifice alive and while that enchantment survived, so did Harry and so did Voldemort. This is what that Prophecy implied. To paraphrase what Dumbledore once said to Harry in Deathly Hallows, if Voldemort had been able to understand all of this, then he could not be Lord Voldemort, and therefore would have never murdered at all.

Instead, the Dark Lord initiated a war in which he could not have been the victor. He basically killed himself due to his lack of understanding. Obviously the ending would have the death of either Voldemort or Harry, or possibly even both. This of course was nerve-wrecking for fans, as no one wanted Harry to die. Even though Voldemort did in fact die in the end (by once again basically killing himself), I think the series would have had a more influential and meaningful finale if Harry died as well. Sometimes making uncomfortable risks like that in literature, regardless of what the majority of fans want, is what truly leaves behind an incredible story.

“Revenge, at first though sweet, Bitter ere long back on itself recoils.”
- John Milton, Paradise Lost