The book jacket of this novel, like that of the first novel in the series, has curtains on the ends. This showcases the fight between Harry Potter and Voldemort as a classical one, characterized by Voldemort's hubris and Potter's observation of love, both the love he feels and the love he witnesses others having for him. The stage features many characters, each with their own way of living, just as Professor McGonagall's chess set provided a complicated network of actors in the first novel. Ron orchestrated the motion of that game, but this game is set in motion by the prophecy which entrances Voldemort so fully.
J.K. Rowling uses spectacles to guide this novel, but these include a wedding instead of the fourth book's Quidditch World Cup, camping with friends instead of with families, and a gathering to give out items bequeathed in a will instead of a conventional gift-giving. The drive of the book has already been established in the prior two books, so Harry and his friends take their mission and follow it. The reader watches them take their adult assignment, having seen how they treated their education. The first novel in the series depicts the trio in the library looking for a clue, and the fourth shows Harry trying to decipher the challenge up until the last moment. This time, the friends must decide their own path.
The reader sees interpersonal relationships play out - Harry and his friends have matured enough for serious relationships, and these feature the cast of characters we have seen grow up - and watches the crushing experience of loss more fully than throughout the series thus far. The loss of Harry's parents becomes sharper as we experience the severance of new families.
The pacing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows encourages the reader to follow along because it mimics the form of a mystery; this mystery was bestowed upon Harry earlier in the series, and it guides his moves and takes back his attention from the interpersonal elements of the story. As readers, we witness the novel as a show and see how emotions are central to any righteous fight. Through Harry's choice, Rowling solidifies the ethos of the series and establishes the saga of Harry Potter as a complete and fulfilling narrative.
