Choices Quotes in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #10

"One of us?" jeered Voldemort, and his whole body was taut and his red eyes stared, a snake that was about to strike. You think it will be you, do you, the boy who has survived by accident, and because Dumbledore was pulling the strings?"

"Accident, was it, when my mother died to save me?" asked Harry. […] "Accident, when I decided to fight in that graveyard? Accident, that I didn't defend myself tonight, and still survived, and returned to fight again?"

"Accidents!" screamed Voldemort, but still he did not strike. […] "Accident and chance and the fact that you crouched and sniveled behind the skirts of greater men and women, and permitted me to kill them for you!" (36.95-97)

Yet again, Voldemort makes the fatal error of underestimating the choices and deliberate actions of others, assuming that only his choices matter.

Quote #11

"Albus Severus," Harry said quietly… "you were named for two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew."

"But just say –."

"– then Slytherin House will have gained an excellent student, won't it? It doesn't matter to us, Al. But if it matters to you, you'll be able to choose Gryffindor over Slytherin. The Sorting Hat takes your choice into account."

"Really?"

"It did for me," said Harry. (Epilogue.38)

Harry assures young Albus that his choice does matter – and that he can make his own fate, a lesson that we should all take away from Harry's story!