Cues No. 52-57

Back in the forest, the strings enter quietly and low. As Narcissa goes to see if Harry is dead, the texture is slow, bare, and static. The low strings cut out, leaving the violins on a high note when the camera cuts to Narcissa’s face. She desperately asks if Draco is alive to the sound of his theme. Harry just barely nods. High strings begin again as the Death Eaters wait for an answer. Narcissa turns around, aided by anxious tremolo strings. She looks at Voldemort and announces that Harry is dead. 

Back at Hogwarts, solo violins play a soft low A. Harp comes in, and the camera pans up the rubble of the courtyard, revealing Neville. His theme slowly and delicately plays in the strings. He looks inside the Sorting Hat and sees something. A bell tree sparkles, then the moment is almost forgotten as he looks up at the incoming procession. 

Dissonances and lack of melody play in the strings, choir, and brass as the army of Death Eaters crosses the bridge towards Hogwarts. Voldemort 1 is the first identifiable theme to appear on a shot of a seemingly victorious Dark Lord. Timpani tolls on every beat, like a funeral march. Neville walks to meet them, followed by the rest of the surviving students, faculty, and Order of the Phoenix. A declamatory 3-note motif plays at the reveal of Nagini, slithering alongside her master. All of the brass join in, then the strings take over as Voldemort proclaims Harry Potter is dead. Ginny screams and runs towards them, only to be stopped by Arthur. 

Cellos and basses rumble quietly as Voldemort begins to monologue. Voldemort 2 is played by the horns, answered by very high icy violins. Muted horns sting the end of this moment, and the dissonance gives way to solid minor chords. Low trumpet plays a slow Death Eater theme as Lucius asks Draco to come over to their side. Draco’s theme is given a battle-torn flute solo, followed by descending tremolo strings and harp. Open intervals hold as he walks out to greet Voldemort. One more Draco theme plays as he is welcomed back by his parents. 

Neville steps forward. Strings enter one section at a time, playing fragments of his theme, heroic and quiet. Bellatrix flutes are folded in over this moment as she laughs at him. The music nearly stops. The harp then plays a few notes in the same register as the held string notes. Voldemort begrudgingly allows Neville to speak. A quote from the centaur speech from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001) begins quietly, slowly gaining volume and modulating as Neville gains steam. It spreads up the octave, and the horns join with a countermelody, quoting the Deathly Hallows Prologue music once again. At the top of the large crescendo, Neville pulls the sword of Gryffindor out of the Sorting Hat, and prepares for battle. Harry anticipates that the time is now, and jumps from Hagrid’s arms. 

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The horns burst out in a nod to Neville as his theme gets a quick battle statement. The 3-note motif exclaims, then is interrupted by Harry revealing himself to be alive, shooting a spell at Nagini in an attempt to kill her. The Family theme blasts out in celebration of the impossible. The battle for Hogwarts is not over; in fact, it has just begun. 

Frenetic music flies around as Voldemort is in shock and disbelief. His Death Eaters are fleeing the scene, and he desperately throws a spell towards Harry and the crowd of his allies. Hogwarts Forever rides majestically through the orchestra as this new sense of hope overcomes the castles’ defenders. A big statement of the Hallows Prologue motif sees the end of the courtyard battle for now. Neville goes for the snake with the sword of Gryffindor, but Voldemort blasts him away in anger, throwing him into the Great Hall. 

The Malfoys leave with little fanfare, abandoning a potentially doomed Voldemort. Draco’s theme sees them out. 

Inside the castle, Harry is alone, nervously looking around and waiting for Voldemort to appear. The music slows in pace, but not in intensity. Gestures and flurries jut in and out as Harry turns and looks at every little sound he hears. The pulse crescendos as he runs to another hallway. 

In the grand staircase, Voldemort appears to great fanfare from the orchestra. An angry Voldemort 2, complete with choir, begins to emphasize his anger and desperation he has at this point; a wild villain. The statement is cut short by a close-up of Harry’s eye, waiting for the precise moment to reveal his location. Aleatoric auxiliary instruments add to the uncertainty, and then the moment arrives. 

Harry runs out to meet Voldemort. The strings pick up, and a battle-mode 3-note motif takes over as they throw spells back and forth. The music is purely choreographic at this point, accenting when spells fly from each wand. When the two wands finally connect, Wand of the Phoenix clears the complex texture in favor of one big declamatory statement. The staircase above them collapses, interrupting the moment, and starting up the battle music once again. 

A pulse under the march-like 3-note motif comes in under the shot of Nagini, the last Horcrux. Another thwarted attempt to kill her forces Harry to leap over the banister and try to escape. Voldemort goes after him, and another military 3-note returns on the next shot of Nagini, now alone in the staircase. The camera pans up to Hermione, and, though the texture softens a bit, her theme gets its heroic moment. The 3-note returns when she throws a rock at the snake. 

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Back in the Great Hall, Neville wakes up from being blasted backwards by Voldemort. Trills in the winds, harp, and celesta give the listener a sense of his delirium. The brass play his theme though, showing that he’s not so easily taken out of the battle. He turns slowly to see the sword of Gryffindor next to him, and the end of Fawkes’ theme plays as he prepares to do the impossible. 

A snappy snare drum takes us back to the rafters above the castle, where Harry and Voldemort continue their fight. This music turns choreographic once again until Harry gets caught by Voldemort’s attack. A giant triumphant and angry Voldemort 2 enjoys a full statement, accompanied by choir and strings trilling wildly up the entire range of their instruments. 

The military 3-note motif returns, Hermione’s theme closely behind. What Nagini doesn’t know is that Ron is sneaking up behind her, his theme barely heard before the snake turns around and snaps at him. The fang is thrown from Ron’s hand. Another attempt, gone. 


Elsewhere, Bellatrix’ theme accompanies a spell she throws at Ginny, who just barely blocks it. Molly comes to her daughter’s defense quickly, and the Weasley vs. Lestrange battle comes to a head. Their duel is mainly choreographed with no themes until Molly gains the upper hand. Bellatrix, realizing that she’s lost, has one last theme statement before Molly throws the final blow and kills her. A big major chord sounds out at the end of Bellatrix’s theme as Molly enjoys a breathless victory, and decorative Lydian mode sparkles wind down the scene.

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The strings aggressively pulse again, and the brass and percussion become as violent as Voldemort’s assaults. Harry taunts Voldemort and begins revealing that the true master of the Elder Wand may not be him. The Deathly Hallows theme begins, replacing battle music in favor of a quasi-revelatory moment. Everything holds by the time they get to a ledge at the top of the tower. Harry then grabs Voldemort, and leaps off the castle. 

The music erupts, then quotes take over from Sorcerer's Stone's "The Face of Voldemort". Choir is added to intensify the moment, but the musical callback to their first fight at the end of Harry’s first year echos through the series, as this is their final confrontation. After the flight around Hogwarts, the two of them land in the courtyard. The Deathly Hallows theme builds as they both go for their wands. Wand of the Phoenix then bursts out at their spells connecting. 

Inside, Nagini is chasing Ron and Hermione. A cataclysmic 3-note motif, complete with timpani, sounds out, not knowing it will be the last one in the series. The horcrux danger motif starts playing as well, signaling the near death of a Horcrux and calling back to Chamber of Secrets. This time though, Ron and Hermione collapse in the rubble, and Nagini launches towards them. At the very moment all seems lost once again, Neville comes out from behind, and slashes the final Horcrux with the sword of Gryffindor. 

The top of the crescendo cuts out, leaving just a cappella choir, moving from minor chord to minor chord. Voldemort feels the loss of his final defense against death. Harry knows this is his chance. After a Hallows Prologue motif crescendos in the horns, the Boy Who Lived and the Dark Lord throw their final spells at one another. This causes the largest Deathly Hallows theme yet to come blasting out of the orchestra. The moment is drawn out, and a countermelody is played in the horns. The Elder Wand finally flies out of Voldemort’s hand, across the courtyard, and is caught by Harry. The battle is won. 

The only remaining instruments playing after the orchestra stops are the trumpet and the violins, both on high notes. They begin to decrescendo into nothing as Voldemort realizes he is beaten. Male chorus sings a weak and final Voldemort 1, and the Dark Lord begins to fade into memory. A cappella choir takes over as the camera pans up, then harp and celesta quietly sing the falling dies irae material from the Deathly Hallows theme. Death has finally come for Tom Riddle. 

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Luna sits next to Neville in the Great Hall. The harp wistfully plays the beginning of her theme, with Neville’s theme answering quickly. The two of them have a quiet moment.

The unused version of "Lonely First Night" from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001) begins as Harry walks through the Great Hall, looking at all of the survivors who fought so valiantly. The family theme from "Lonely First Night" transitions into the family theme from "Love, Harry", also from Sorcerer’s Stone, as Harry comes out of his hug from Hagrid. The music continues playfully as Filch begins to sweep up the entrance hall. 

Ron and Hermione come in and see Harry. No words are exchanged, but they are holding hands, and their theme delicately plays as Harry realizes that their life together has officially begun. 

Outside on the bridge, the trio stand looking out towards the mountains. Emotional strings begin to aid in the processing of the last seven years of their lives, now behind them. Harry then begins to explain that the Elder Wand never really belonged to Voldemort. The Hallows theme is hinted at quietly by the solo harp, then the horn answers and takes it in a new direction. The wand belonged to Malfoy who disarmed Dumbledore the night he died. Harry disarmed Draco at Malfoy Manor, so now the wand is his. After all of this, Harry sees some levity in the situation and jokingly says, “It’s mine”. This moment is given a playful yet solemn nod from the woodwinds (quoting a small moment Williams wrote for a Harry Potter themed Coca-Cola commercial to promote the first film). The cellos answer this moment, before fading out to let the choir take over. 

Choir sings a cappella for quite some time, reflecting on the series, and the emotions the trio must be feeling at this conclusion to their time as children. The order of the phoenix theme is given a nod, and the three protagonists hold hands, looking out on their future together. The trio theme begins in the woodwinds and settles in the strings over a long fade out. The chord holds. 

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Over the held chord from the previous cue, a very slow Hedwig’s Theme plays over the words “19 Years Later”. A semi-Order of the Phoenix theme is played by a solo horn as the camera pans down on King’s Cross station. Inside, three children are pushing their carts towards the entrance to platform 9 3/4. A solo flute plays an optimistic new theme, answered by the clarinet. As the camera pans down on the kids, the music cadences, and then the English Horn begins the family theme, revealing Harry and Ginny as the parents to these children. 

Once through the barrier, the magical wonder of the Wizarding World is on full nostalgic display, and Harry’s Wondrous World glows underneath the crowds excitedly saying their goodbyes. 

Hermione is revealed on the other end of the platform, and her theme is given a small nod. She and Ron see Harry and Ginny coming towards them. Albus, Harry’s son, stops to tie his shoe, hoping his parents wouldn’t notice his anxiety about being sorted into a less than preferable house. Harry stays back to comfort him. The family theme from "Leaving Hogwarts" starts playing. Harry mentions that Albus Severus was named after two Hogwarts headmasters, and that one of them was Slytherin. He adds that Severus was the bravest man he ever knew. Albus is comforted by this, and by the added fact that he could ask for Gryffindor if he needed, too.


The music continues almost note-for-note as it appears in the first two films. The ending is extended, and choir is added, to give a finality to the story. The final shot lingers on the trio. 

Harry’s scar hadn’t pained him for nineteen years. All was well…