Mortality Quotes in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

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

Quote #1

Nameless forebodings crept upon him as he sat there in the dark: He tried to resist them, push them away, yet they came at him relentlessly. Neither can live while the other survives. (14.55)

From the beginning of the quest, Harry knows that his own death is a possibility – but now it seems almost like a likelihood. Here, we see his first thoughts on his fear of death and the unknown.

Quote #2

"'The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death'…" A horrible thought came to him, and with it a kind of panic. "Isn't that a Death Eater idea? Why is that there?"

"It doesn't mean defeating death in the way the Death Eaters mean it, Harry," said Hermione, her voice gentle. "It means… you know… living beyond death. Living after death."

But they were not living, thought Harry: they were gone. The empty words could not disguise the fact that his parents' moldering remains lay beneath snow and stone, indifferent, unknowing. (16.92)

Harry's fear of death is apparent here – it's the great unknown, after all, and there's no evidence given that there is life after death. To him, his parents' grave just bespeaks the silence, loneliness, and indifference of the great divide.

Quote #3

"When you say 'master of Death' –," said Ron.

"Master," said Xenophilius, waving an airy hand. "Conqueror. Vanquisher. Whatever term you prefer." (21.37)

This idea of the "master of Death" follows upon the notion we saw alluded to on Lily and James's gravestone – the idea that one might somehow trump Death or have supremacy over it. And it's fitting that Harry, the heir of the Peverell brothers, should assume that rightful title in the end.