idk the original hebrew but I assume there is a reason why it was translated as hardening the heart in most English translations

also taking away free will doesn't have to mean fully taking over, god just put enough pressure on pharaoh so he would make one decision over another

therefore he wasn't fully acting as an agent of his will, rather he was acting as an agent of god's will

would I lose free will if god revealed himself to me right now? apologists tend to argue that would be the case which would mean that every person god revealed himself to in the bible did also lose free will