The Home Quotes in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
It felt most strange to stand here in the silence and know that he was about to leave the house for the last time. Long ago, when he had been left alone while the Dursleys went out to enjoy themselves, the hours of solitude had been a rare treat: Pausing only to sneak something tasty from the fridge, he had rushed upstairs to play on Dudley's computer, or put on the television and flicked through the channels to his heart's content. It gave him an odd, empty feeling to remember those times; it was like remembering a younger brother whom he had lost. (4.2)
Harry's thoughts on leaving Number four, Privet Drive, his longtime home-that's-not-a-home, are bittersweet; clearly, with this departure, an epoch of his life is over, and can never be reclaimed.
He had a strong, though inexplicable, feeling that [Godric's Hollow] held answers for him. Perhaps it was simply because it was there that he had survived Voldemort's Killing Curse; now that he was facing the challenge of repeating the feat, Harry was drawn to the place where it had happened, wanting to understand. (6.60)
Godric's Hollow is an intriguing idea to Harry – it's both a symbol of home and of danger, and Harry's not sure what he'll find there.
Harry's extremities seemed to have gone numb. He stood quite still, holding the miraculous paper in his nerveless fingers while inside him a kind of quiet eruption sent joy and grief thundering in equal measure through his veins. Lurching to the bed, he sat down.
He read the letter again, but could not take in any more meaning than he had done the first time, and was reduced to staring at the handwriting itself. She had made her "g's" the same way he did: he searched the letter for every one of them, and each felt like a friendly little wave glimpsed from behind a veil. The letter was an incredible treasure, proof that Lily Potter had lived, really lived, that her warm hand had once moved across this parchment, tracing into these letters, words about him, Harry, her son. (10.16)
Finding this letter from Lily is like discovering traces of a home Harry's never had – this is a tangible piece of evidence, like an extension of his mother herself.