User:Codingmasters/My HP7

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For the future film, see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (film).

Harry Potter books Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Cover Art Goes Here ‎
Author	J. K. Rowling
Illustrators	Jason Cockcroft, Mary GrandPré
Genre	Fantasy
Publishers	Bloomsbury (UK) Scholastic (US) Raincoast (Canada)
Released	July 21, 2007
Book no.	Seven
Sales	11 million+ first 24 hours ^[1]
Story timeline	Mid 1997 - mid 1998 and September 1st, 2017 in the epilogue
Chapters	36 chapters and an epilogue
Pages	608 759
Preceded by	Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is the seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series of novels by English author J. K. Rowling. Released globally in 93^[2] countries at a minute past midnight (00:01), British Summer Time, on 21 July 2007 (2007-07-20 23:01 UTC), the book reached the top spot on both the Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble bestseller lists just a few hours after the date of publication was announced on 1 February 2007.^[3] In the United States^[4] and Canada,^[5] the book was released for sale within each separate time zone at 00:01 local time, a few hours after other English-speaking countries.

The book chronicles the events directly following Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, leading to the long awaited final struggle between Harry Potter and his allies, and the ever-more-powerful and influential Voldemort and his allies, the Death Eaters.

Scholastic reported that 8.3 million copies were sold in the U.S. on the book's first day of sales, breaking the record of 6.9 million held by the sixth book. ^[6] Borders reported that its 1,200 stores worldwide sold 1.2 million copies on the book's first day of sales, the highest single-day sales of any title in Borders history. In comparison, Borders sold 850,000 copies of the sixth book on its first day.^[7]

Before settling on "Deathly Hallows" as the title, Rowling also considered the titles "Harry Potter and the Elder Wand" and "Harry Potter and the Peverell Quest".

[edit] Plot

[edit] At the beginning

The book begins at a Death Eater meeting at the home of Lucius Malfoy, with Snape and a Ministry official, Yaxley, informing Lord Voldemort of the date Harry Potter will permanently leave the Dursleys' house. Voldemort borrows Lucius' wand, because his own is ineffective against Harry's wand (due to the wands sharing twin cores). Voldemort plans to kill Harry when he is being moved to a new safe place, which must happen when he turns seventeen and his safety with the Dursleys expires. Yaxley claims that Harry will be moved on the 30th, the eve of his 17th birthday; however, Snape disagrees, saying that he will be moved a week earlier. The latter is true; Harry is leaving before he turns 17. On the night he is to leave the Dursleys' home, he reads an obituary of Albus Dumbledore, written by Dumbledore's friend Elphias "Dogbreath" Doge, whom Harry has met. Harry learns about Dumbledore's family including his brother Aberforth and sister Ariana through a stinging article by Rita Skeeter examining the family's convoluted history, and he regrets not having asked Dumbledore more about his past.

With the Dursleys escorted to safety by a pair of wizards, the Order of the Phoenix arrives to sneak Harry out of his house. Six younger members of the Order of the Phoenix (Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger, Mundungus Fletcher, Fred & George Weasley, and Fleur Delacour) take Polyjuice Potion to make themselves look like him for use as decoys. Despite the use of decoys, Harry, accompanied by Hagrid, is correctly identified during the chase by his "trademark" disarming spell (as he dislikes hurting people) and attacked by Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Harry's wand, surprisingly, still reacts with Voldemort's new, borrowed wand, destroying it. Hedwig, Harry's owl, is killed by a stray Killing Curse. After narrowly escaping, Harry and the Order eventually reach the Weasley residence, The Burrow. George Weasley has lost an ear due to the Sectumsempra curse cast by Snape, and Alastor Moody had been killed by Voldemort himself. Reacting to Voldemort's anger at his escape, Harry has a vision, now common to him again, of the Dark Lord interrogating Ollivander the wand maker over why his borrowed wand still reacted with Harry's.

A few days later, the Minister of Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour, arrives at The Burrow to give Harry, Ron, and Hermione bequests from Dumbledore's will. Ron is given Dumbledore's Deluminator (or "Put-Outer"), with the power to capture lights, Hermione receives a book of children's stories written in Ancient Runes titled "The Tales of Beedle the Bard", and Harry inherits Godric Gryffindor's sword and the Snitch that Harry caught in his first ever Quidditch match. The Ministry withholds the sword after investigating all the items, because the sword was not Dumbledore's. The three try to discover the purpose of the bequests without success; Harry only manages to find an inscription on the Snitch: "I open at the close."

The next day, towards the end of Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour's wedding reception, news comes that Voldemort has taken over the Ministry of Magic, and that Rufus Scrimgeour is dead, replaced by Pius Thicknesse, who is Imperiused. The Death Eaters attack again, trying to capture the now disguised Harry. The trio flee the wedding, first to a Muggle café in Tottenham Court Road, but after being attacked by Death Eaters again, escape to the Black family home to seek refuge.

[edit] The search for the Horcruxes

At Grimmauld place the three discover that Sirius' brother, Regulus was the R.A.B. who removed the locket from the lake, dying in the attempt. However, the house elf Kreacher, after some persuasion, tells them that Mundungus Fletcher has stolen the locket from the house. Fletcher is caught by Kreacher and unwillingly reveals that he has passed it on to Dolores Umbridge as a bribe to keep him from being arrested. Remus Lupin visits the trio, offering his help in their quest. When further questioned, he reveals that he has left his wife and unborn child. Harry drives him out of the house in rage.

After a month of spying on the Ministry of Magic, the trio attempt to infiltrate it to retrieve the Horcrux from Dolores Umbridge using Polyjuice Potion and ambushing three workers at the Ministry of Magic. They discover the Ministry of Magic has changed considerably; Muggle-born wizards and witches are being rounded up openly for questioning, and the Fountain of Magical Brethren has disappeared, replaced by a statue of a witch and wizard sitting upon moulds of Muggle-borns. The trio are separated by other Ministry workers, but eventually locate Umbridge as she is interrogating Muggle-borns and take the Horcrux, knocking her out in the process. They free a number of Muggle-born wizards and witches, and encourage them to leave the country. However, the trio's hiding place at 12 Grimmauld Place is discovered by Yaxley and they are forced to flee to the countryside, moving from place to place, never staying anywhere too long.

After several months on the run, the trio overhear a conversation by Ted Tonks, Griphook and Dean Thomas (the latter being a Muggle-born, and may not attend Hogwarts) revealing that the Ministry only possesses a replica of Gryffindor's sword; the original's location is unknown. Harry questions the portrait of Phineas Black, and discovers that Dumbledore used the sword to destroy a Horcrux, the Gaunts' ring. Harry suggests attempting to locate the real sword, but Ron objects, feeling that this is a pointless quest. After an argument with Harry, he leaves the group. Harry and Hermione are greatly saddened, but decide to go to Godric's Hollow on the off-chance that Dumbledore left the sword for them there.

Arriving in Godric's Hollow, the two first visit the memorial to Harry's family, then the graveyard, where both Harry and Dumbledore's families are buried. There they encounter the old woman Bathilda Bagshot, an old family friend of Dumbledore's who wrote A History of Magic. Thinking she may have been entrusted with the sword, they follow her to her house. But this is a trap; the apparent Bagshot is Nagini. Harry and Hermione only narrowly escape from her, and in the process Hermione accidentally breaks Harry's wand.

On the run for a few more days, eventually a doe Patronus appears on the edge of their camp and leads Harry to Godric Gryffindor's sword, hidden in a frozen forest pool. Harry strips down and dives after the sword, but the locket Horcrux which Harry is carrying responds poorly and tries to strangle Harry. Ron returns and saves Harry from drowning, and also retrieves the sword from the pool. The two then destroy the Horcrux with the sword and return to camp. Hermione is less than pleased with Ron and his return, but had discovered their next step: to speak to Xenophilius Lovegood and ask him about Grindelwald's mark, a symbol which has shown up several times during their journey.

[edit] The Deathly Hallows

At Lovegood's home, Harry, Ron, and Hermione are told an old wizard story about three brothers who bested Death, and each had received a magical item for it, the three Deathly Hallows – an unbeatable wand (called the Elder Wand), a stone which could bring back the dead (the Resurrection Stone), and an Invisibility Cloak that never failed with age. Harry believes that his own cloak is that Invisibility Cloak, and is very excited, but soon discovers that Lovegood has betrayed them to the Ministry; Luna, his daughter, has been taken captive and he believes that giving them Harry Potter would cause them to free her. The trio barely escape from the Death Eaters sent to fetch them, but Harry is emboldened and believes that they need to collect all the Deathly Hallows, these artifacts given by Death, to defeat Voldemort.

A few weeks later, the three are still no closer to finding the Deathly Hallows or more Horcruxes. They finally manage to tune into a rogue wizard radio broadcast, run by people they know which gives news on what is really happening. However, Harry accidentally says Voldemort's name and Voldemort's followers, having made the name Taboo so anyone saying it can be immediately traced, find Harry, Ron, and Hermione and capture them, taking them to Malfoy Manor. There, Hermione is tortured and interrogated by Bellatrix Lestrange to find how she acquired Godric Griffindor's sword, believing it to have been stolen from her vault (Bellatrix's one is a fake), while Harry and Ron are imprisoned in the basement with Dean Thomas, Griphook the goblin, Ollivander the wand maker (who had disappeared since the sixth book), and Luna Lovegood. Harry asks the broken fragment of mirror he has for help and Dobby appears to help him, freeing them. Dobby saves Luna, Dean and Ollivander, but they have made too much noise and Wormtail is sent to check on the prisoners. Harry and Ron subdue him, and Wormtail refuses to strangle Harry. Ron takes away Wormtail's wand and Wormtail's artificial hand, made by Voldemort, strangles its owner to death for the mercy he has shown. Ron and Harry, helpless to aid him, rush upstairs to save Hermione with the help of Dobby. They escape as Voldemort is close to arriving, but Dobby is slain by Bellatrix Lestrange as they flee to Shell Cottage, Bill & Fleur Weasley's home.

Harry buries Dobby, and the trio begin planning anew. Harry questions Ollivander about the Elder Wand, and chooses not to try and prevent Voldemort from acquiring it from the tomb of its last owner, Dumbledore. Instead, he questions Griphook about how to break into Gringotts, and in exchange offers him the goblin made sword of Godric Gryffindor. After extensive planning, the group goes to Gringotts to see if they can find one of the Horcruxes in the Lestrange vault; Hermione poses as Bellatrix Lestrange, Ron is disguised, and Griphook and Harry go in under the Invisibility Cloak. They manage to penetrate the traps and find the Horcrux, Hufflepuff's cup, but are detected while doing so. Griphook seizes this opportunity to flee with the sword. Harry, Ron, and Hermione narrowly escape on the back of a captive dragon, but Voldemort discovers at last that they are seeking out his Horcruxes.

Harry has a vision shortly after the escape: Voldemort lists all the locations of the Horcruxes, realizing now that they are being sought after and destroyed. Voldemort inadvertently reveals that the final Horcrux, which Harry suspects to be a relic of the founder of Ravenclaw, is safe within Hogwarts. Harry realizes that if they want to get the Horcrux within Hogwarts, they need to do so immediately, before Voldemort finds his other Horcruxes missing and puts more protection on the remaining ones. The trio instantly apparate to Hogsmeade.

[edit] The Battle of Hogwarts

At Hogsmeade, Harry, Hermione, and Ron are cornered by Death Eaters in the street, but they are saved by the quick thinking of Aberforth Dumbledore. Aberforth opens a secret passageway to Hogwarts through a portrait of Ariana, where Neville Longbottom greets them. When Harry arrives at Hogwarts, he alerts the Heads of Houses at Hogwarts to Voldemort's imminent arrival, and the younger students are evacuated to safety and the older students encouraged to stay and fight. Dumbledore's Army and subsequently members of the Order of the Phoenix are called to help.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron go into the Room of Requirement to look for Ravenclaw's lost diadem. Draco Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle are also in there after the diadem. Crabbe mishandles a spell and sets on fire the centuries' accumulation of junk and items hidden there by students, and the fire destroys the diadem, plus the fragment of soul. Harry and his friends get away on two broomsticks which they find in there, and manage to rescue Draco and Goyle, but Crabbe cannot be found in time and dies in the fire. Ron and Hermione go to the Chamber of Secrets to retrieve Basilisk fangs to be able to destroy the Hufflepuff cup Horcrux; Ron gets in by imitating Harry's Parseltongue.

Hagrid is captured by Acromantulas and later ends up a captive in the hands of the Death Eaters. Ron's estranged brother Percy Weasley arrives and reunites with his family. Just after, a Death eater kills Fred Weasley; in the same battle, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, and Colin Creevey are also killed, with unknown causes. Harry, Ron and Hermione manage to escape to go to the Shrieking Shack, where they see Voldemort order his snake Nagini to kill Snape, believing this will transfer the Elder Wand's power to him. As he lies dying from the snake bite, Snape gives up his memories to Harry, who uses the Pensieve to find out that Snape was on Dumbledore's side, motivated by his lifelong love of Lily Evans (Harry's mother). Snape was asked by Dumbledore to kill him if the situation demands it; the curse placed on the Horcrux ring (which is also the Resurrection Stone) limited Dumbledore's life, regardless. Harry also discovers that he himself is a Horcrux, and that Voldemort cannot be killed while Harry remains alive. Resigned to his fate, Harry tells Neville to kill Nagini, the snake, and goes to the Forbidden Forest where Voldemort is. At this point Harry realises the meaning of the message on the Golden Snitch given to him by Dumbledore ("I open at the close"). He opens it and uses the Resurrection Stone inside it to see his parents, Lupin, and Sirius one last time before he sacrifices himself to Voldemort and is seemingly killed by the Avada Kedavra curse.

However, Harry awakens and meets the deceased Albus Dumbledore in an enormous deserted hall, which is explained to be a sort of equivalent to King's Cross railway station, where the Hogwarts Express departs from. Here, it is explained he cannot die while Voldemort lives since he used Harry's blood to recreate his body, and Lily's protection binds the two. It is unclear if he actually dies, or it is merely a dream. He finds that the spell destroyed the part of Voldemort's soul he had inside himself, represented by a wounded dying creature. He also discovers that Dumbledore sought the Hallows, with Grindelwald, for less than noble reasons, resulting in the death of his sister Ariana during a duel between Albus Dumbledore, Aberforth Dumbledore and Grindelwald. Only Harry is worthy of possessing the Hallows. It is also revealed that Harry's wand reacted against Voldemort's borrowed wand because Voldemort's wand had once had the Priori Incantatem spell used on it by Harry's wand; it would have a similar reaction against Voldemort next time, even if the wand he was using was not his. Harry is given the choice of "going on", or continuing with life and stopping Voldemort; he chooses the latter.

Back in the forest, Voldemort and Harry awake. On Voldemort's orders, Hagrid carries Harry (feigning death) back to Hogwarts to much dismay and shock to those there. Bravely, Voldemort is faced down by Neville, who rejects his offer to join him and become a Death Eater. Voldemort then tortures Neville; in the confusion, Harry covers himself with the Invisibility Cloak, and Neville kills Nagini, the last Horcrux, using Gryffindor's sword pulled from the Sorting Hat. In the ensuing battle Antonin Dolohov is killed by Filius Flitwick and Bellatrix Lestrange by Molly Weasley after Bellatrix nearly kills Ginny. Harry reveals himself to prevent Voldemort from killing Molly in retaliation. Coming face to face with Voldemort in the Great Hall, Harry is seemingly faced with impossible odds—with Voldemort possessing the Elder Wand, he cannot be beaten in a duel. However, Harry deduces that Draco Malfoy was the true master of the Elder Wand, not Snape—it was Draco who had disarmed Dumbledore and thus had beaten him in a duel, while Snape was acting according to Dumbledore's wishes in killing him. Because he had since disarmed Malfoy, the mastery of the wand has passed to Harry. When Voldemort strikes Harry with the Killing Curse from the Elder Wand it rebounds and kills Voldemort intead.

A massive celebration erupts, during which Harry seeks solitude with Ron and Hermione in Dumbledore's office, where he receives a standing ovation from the portraits of the old Headmasters. Harry uses the immense power of the Elder Wand to repair his own, choosing to return the former to Dumbledore's grave instead of keeping it for himself. If he dies a natural death, the ownership of the Elder Wand will die with him. He also confirms to the Dumbledore portrait that, despite proving himself the only worthy possessor of all the Deathly Hallows, he will not seek out the Stone in the forest. He decides, though, to keep the Invisibility Cloak; in the children's story, the cloak was the wisest choice.

[edit] Epilogue

The story's epilogue takes place 19 years after the Battle of Hogwarts. Harry and Ginny have three children: James, Albus Severus and Lily Potter. Ron and Hermione have two children named Rose and Hugo. The families are at King's Cross station, where a nervous Albus Severus and Rose are departing for their first year at Hogwarts. James Potter is the eldest and already familiar with school. Teddy Lupin (the son of the late Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks) is found kissing a girl named Victoire in a train compartment. The children cry in delight that they hope he will marry their cousin and will "really be part of the family!" They see Draco Malfoy and his unnamed wife with their son Scorpius at the station; Malfoy acknowledges Harry with a curt nod, then turns away. Harry tells Albus Severus, who does not want to be sorted into Slytherin, that Severus Snape, one of the two Hogwarts Headmasters he was named after, was "probably the bravest man I ever met." Neville is now the Hogwarts Herbology professor and is close friends with Harry. The book ends with "The scar had not pained Harry for nineteen years. All was well."

[edit] Rowling's commentary on the epilogue

In an interview^[8] and online chat^[9]^[10] shortly after the release of the book, author J. K. Rowling gave additional information about the characters that is not mentioned in the book.

Harry became an Auror and later head of the Aurors' department, under Kingsley's recommendation. He owns Sirius's bike, which Arthur Weasley fixed up for him. He is married to Ginny. Due to the destruction of the piece of Voldemort's soul that resided in him, Harry can no longer speak Parseltongue.
Ron worked for a time with George at their store, Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and eventually became an Auror. He is married to Hermione.
Hermione began a career at the Ministry of Magic at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, and greatly improved life for house-elves and their ilk, but later moved to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; she helped ensure the eradication of oppressive, pro-pureblood laws. She is married to Ron. She also found her parents and undid the memory modification she put upon them.
Ginny Weasley played for the Holyhead Harpies Quidditch team for a while and then left behind her athletic career for marriage and family with Harry. She eventually became the lead Quidditch correspondent for the Daily Prophet.
Luna Lovegood has become a naturalist of sorts, searching the world for odd and unique creatures. She eventually marries Rolf, the grandson of Newt Scamander.
At Hogwarts there is a new, permanent Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher (the jinx Voldemort had placed on this job was broken after his death). There is also an new unknown Headmaster, as Professor McGonagall, who was the interim Headmistress, was getting too old to assume the position permanently. Rowling did not identify either the Headmaster or the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.
Slytherin has become more diluted, and is no longer the pure-blood bastion it once was. Nevertheless, its dark reputation lingers.
Teddy Lupin (the son of Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks, both killed) is raised by his grandmother, Andromeda Tonks. He did not inherit his father's lycanthropy. He did however inherit is mother's Metamorphagus powers.
Victoire (seen kissing Teddy Lupin in the epilogue) is indeed Bill and Fleur Weasley's daughter.
Kingsley Shacklebolt permanently became Minister of Magic, with Percy working under him as a high official. Kingsley helped to de-corrupt the Ministry.
Firenze was welcomed back into the herd, as the rest of the herd was forced to acknowledge that Firenze’s "pro-human leanings were not shameful, but honourable".
Before becoming an Auror, Ron joins his brother George in the joke shop started by George and their late brother Fred.
George names his first child Fred, after his late twin.
Dolores Umbridge was arrested, interrogated and imprisoned for crimes against Muggle-borns.
Azkaban no longer uses Dementors, as part of the changes introduced by Kingsley. As a result, England is now a "much sunnier place."
The Quibbler has returned to its usual condition of "advanced lunacy", and is appreciated for its unintentional humour.
The Malfoys, for colluding with Harry at the Battle of Hogwarts, were let off and escaped Azkaban.
Winky has kicked her drunkenness and is still working at Hogwarts.
Gilderoy Lockhart never recovered from his backfired Memory Charm and remains in the Permanent Spell Damage ward at St. Mungos.
Rita Skeeter is still reporting as a journalist.
Aberforth Dumbledore still owns and operates the Hog's Head.
The main trio all got their names put on Chocolate Frog Cards.
The Dark Marks on the arms of every Death Eater faded to scars after Voldemort's death.

[edit] List of characters killed

This book has the longest list of named casualties of any book in the series.

Character	Killed By	Cause of Death	Point of Death
Charity Burbage	Lord Voldemort	Avada Kedavra	Gathering of Death Eaters at Malfoy Manor
Hedwig	Unknown	Avada Kedavra	The flight from Little Whinging
Alastor Moody	Lord Voldemort	Avada Kedavra	The flight from Little Whinging
Rufus Scrimgeour	Unknown	Unknown	During the Death Eaters' takeover of the ministry
Ted Tonks	Snatchers	Unknown	The search for Muggles and Blood Traitors
Dirk Cresswell		Unknown
Gornuk		Unknown
Gregorovitch	Lord Voldemort	Unknown	Unknown
Gellert Grindelwald	Lord Voldemort	Avada Kedavra	Nurmenberg Prison. Coincides with the trio's escape from Malfoy Manor
Bathilda Bagshot	Lord Voldemort	Unknown	Unknown
Wormtail	His own magic silver hand	Strangulation	The escape from Malfoy Manor
Dobby	Bellatrix Lestrange	Stabbed by Bellatrix's knife	The escape from Malfoy Manor
Remus Lupin	Unknown	Unknown	The Battle of Hogwarts
Nymphadora Tonks	Unknown	Unknown
Vincent Crabbe	Himself	Fiendfyre
Severus Snape	Nagini	Snakebite
Fred Weasley	Unknown	Unknown
Colin Creevey	Unknown	Unknown
Nagini	Neville Longbottom	Beheaded with Godric Gryffindor's sword
Antonin Dolohov	Professor Flitwick	Unknown spell
Bellatrix Lestrange	Molly Weasley	Unknown spell
Lord Voldemort	Himself	Avada Kedavra (Spell backfire caused by Elder Wand Allegiance)

About 50 people were killed in the Battle of Hogwarts, but most of their names are not given.

[edit] List of Horcruxes found

Main article: Horcrux

Horcrux	Location found	Destroyed by	How	Location destroyed
Tom Riddle's diary	Malfoy Manor (planted by Lucius Malfoy in Ginny's cauldron at Flourish and Blotts)	Harry Potter	Basilisk fang	Chamber of Secrets at Hogwarts (Book 2)
Marvolo Gaunt's ring (Resurrection Stone)	The House of Gaunt	Albus Dumbledore	Godric Gryffindor's sword	Headmaster's Office at Hogwarts (Book 6)
Salazar Slytherin's locket	A cave (retrieved by Regulus, kept by Kreacher, stolen by Mundungus, confiscated by Umbridge and finally switched for a fake by Hermione)	Ron Weasley	Godric Gryffindor's sword	Forest of Dean
Helga Hufflepuff's cup	Lestrange Vault at Gringotts	Hermione Granger	Basilisk fang	Chamber of Secrets at Hogwarts
Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem	Room of Requirement at Hogwarts	Vincent Crabbe	Fiendfyre	Room of Requirement at Hogwarts
Harry Potter	Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts	Lord Voldemort	Avada Kedavra (which Harry survived, while the Horcrux within was destroyed)	Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts
Nagini	Voldemort's shoulders	Neville Longbottom	Godric Gryffindor's sword	Entrance Hall at Hogwarts

The final (eighth) piece of Tom Riddle's soul remained inside Voldemort, and was destroyed by himself when a Killing Curse that he aimed at Harry reflected back at him.

[edit] Dedications and epigraphs

The Dedication of this book is split in seven ways: To Neil, to Jessica, to David, to Kenzie, to Di, to Anne, and to you, if you have stuck with Harry until the very end.

The dedication is written on several lines, and the words form the shape of Harry's scar.

Unlike the other Harry Potter books, the book is prefaced by two epigraphs, both on the themes of death and friendship. The first is from Aeschylus' The Libation Bearers, and the second is from from William Penn's More Fruits of Solitude.

[edit] Pre-release history

[edit] Choice of title

Shortly before the release of the title, J. K. Rowling announced that she had considered three different titles for the book.^[11]^[12] The final title "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" was released to the public on December 21, 2006 via a special Christmas-themed hangman puzzle on Rowling's website, confirmed shortly afterwards by the book's publishers.^[13] The particular date has given rise to some interest, due to two prophecies included in Order of the Phoenix, that state "...at the solstice will come a new... and none will come after..."^[14]

When asked "What does 'Deathly Hallows' mean?" J.K. Rowling responded, "Any clarification of the meaning of 'Hallows' would give away too much of the story – well, it would, wouldn't it? Being the title and all. So I'm afraid I'm not answering." She also declined to say what her other shortlisted title had been, at least until after publication. The phrase "Deathly Hallows" was trademarked under the name "Stone Connect (UK) Limited" on December 5, 2006, along with 5 other phrases.^[15] It was later denied that any of the others had ever been contenders for the actual title.^[16] The word "hallows" had already appeared in phrases registered by representatives of Warner Brothers before publication of Half-Blood Prince. "Hallows of Hogwarts" and "Hogwarts Hallows" were registered as trademarks by Seabottom Productions Ltd in 2003-2004, amongst a number of fake titles.^[17]^[18] Asked during a live chat as to the other titles she had been considering, Rowling mentioned Harry Potter and the Elder Wand and Harry Potter and the Peverell Quest.^[19]

[edit] Rowling on finishing the book

Rowling is quoted as saying that she had written the last chapter of the book "in something like 1990".^[20] She finished the book in January 2007, and in a statement on her website, she said, "I've never felt such a mixture of extreme emotions in my life, never dreamed I could feel simultaneously heartbroken and euphoric." She compared her mixed feelings to those expressed by Charles Dickens in the preface of the 1850 edition of David Copperfield, "a two-years' imaginative task." "To which," she added, "I can only sigh, try seventeen years, Charles..." She ended her message, "Deathly Hallows is my favourite, and that is the most wonderful way to finish the series."^[21]

Rowling spent seventeen years writing the seven Harry Potter books. In a 2000 interview through Scholastic, her American publisher, Rowling stated that there is not a university after Hogwarts and "I won't say "never," but I have no plans to write an eighth book."^[22]

When asked about writing other books similar to Quidditch Through the Ages and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, she has said that she might consider doing this with proceeds donated to charity, as was the case with those two books. Another suggestion is an encyclopedia-style tome containing information that never made it into the series, also for charity.^[23]

[edit] Spoiler Embargo

Rowling made a public request that anyone with advance information about the content of the last book should keep it to themselves, in order to avoid spoiling the experience for other readers.^[24] To this end, Bloomsbury invested £10m in an attempt to keep the book's contents secure until the July 21 release date.^[25] However, there was speculation that some shops would break the embargo and distribute copies of the book early, as the penalty imposed for previous installments — that the distributor would not be supplied with any further copies of the series — would no longer be a disincentive.^[26]

[edit] Online leaks

In the week prior to its release, a number of texts purporting to be genuine leaks appeared in a number of forms. On July 16, a set of photographs representing all 759 pages of the U.S. edition was leaked to the Internet and was fully transcribed prior to the official release date.^[27]^[28]^[29] One source reported that this leak came from the GameFAQs message boards,^[30] specifically "Poll of the Day",^{[citation needed]} and later appeared on websites and peer-to-peer networks, leading Scholastic to seek a subpoena in order to identify the source.^[31] Scholastic described the content of the texts as "convincing" but refused to comment on their authenticity, noting only that several texts had conflicting content, with a similar reaction from the publishers.^[32] This represents the most serious security breach in the Harry Potter series' history.^[33] Rowling and her lawyer admitted that there were genuine online leaks, but they did not specify which ones they were or if the whole book was available. She requested on her site that fans ignore the online leaks and that readers do not spoil the plot for those waiting on the release on Friday night.^[34] Reviews published in both The Baltimore Sun and The New York Times on July 18, 2007 corroborated many of the plot elements from this leak, and about one day prior to release, The New York Times subsequently, correctly, confirmed that the main circulating leak was real.

[edit] Early delivery

One reader in Maryland received a copy of the book in the mail from DeepDiscount.com four days before it was launched, which evoked incredulous responses on the part of both Scholastic and DeepDiscount. Scholastic initially reported that they were satisfied it had been a "human error" and would not discuss whether they would be penalized.^[35] However, later the following day, Scholastic announced that approximately 1 ten-thousandth (0.01%) of the U.S. supply had been shipped early, constituting around 1200 copies,^[36] and that it would be launching legal action against DeepDiscount.com and its distributor, Levy Home Entertainment.^[37] Scholastic has filed for damages in Chicago's Circuit Court of Cook County, claiming^[38] that DeepDiscount engaged in a “complete and flagrant violation of the agreements that they knew were part of the carefully constructed release of this eagerly awaited book.”

Some of the early release books soon appeared on eBay, in one case being sold to Publishers Weekly for $250 from an initial price of $18.^[39]

[edit] Price Wars

In Malaysia, as Harry Potter fans awaited the July 21, 2007 release of the book, a price war brought about controversy regarding sales of the book.^[40] Four of the biggest bookstore chains in Malaysia, MPH Bookstores, Popular Bookstores, Times and Harris, have decided to pull Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows off their shelves as a protest against Tesco and Carrefour hypermarkets. The retail price of the book in Malaysia is MYR109.90 (about USD32.12), while the hypermarkets Tesco and Carrefour sell the book at MYR69.90 (about USD20.43). This is seen as a move to pressure the distributor Penguin Books to remove the books from the hypermarkets.^[40]

In the UK, supermarket Asda claimed that the retail price of the book (UKP17.99: equivalent to US$37 at the time of release) was "holding children to ransom". The publisher responded by threatening to withdraw Asda's supply of the book, claiming a previously unpaid debt [1]. Asda issued an apology and settled the debt, and its supply of the book was restored. [2]

Asda, plus several other UK supermarkets, took pre-orders for the book at a discounted price and then announced a further discount on the day before release; they finally sold the book at £5.00 (equivalent to US$10.28 at the time of release), less than the wholesale price. The book was sold as a loss leader, with the supermarkets taking a loss of just over £3 with every copy sold, but attracting large numbers of customers to their stores. Some supermarkets offered this low price only if a minimum value of other products were bought at the same time; Asda did not impose even this restriction. This attracted uproar from UK booksellers who argued they had no hope of competing in those conditions [3]; independent bookstores protested loudest, but even Waterstone’s, the UK's largest dedicated chain bookstore, could not compete with the supermarket price. Some small bookstores bought their stock from the supermarkets rather than their wholesalers. [4] Philip Wicks, a spokesman for the UK Booksellers Association, said: 'It is a war we can't even participate in. We think it's a crying shame that the supermarkets have decided to treat it as a loss-leader, like a can of baked beans." Michael Norris, an analyst at Simba Information, said: "You are not only lowering the price of the book. At this point, you are lowering the value of reading."

Tesco also lowered its price to £5, but only if customers spent another £50 in store. Morrisons later lowered its price to £4.99 - the cheapest in the UK.

[edit] Sabbath controversy in Israel

The book's early Saturday morning release in Israel was criticized for violating the Sabbath; Trade and Industry Minister Eli Yishai commented that "It is forbidden, according to Jewish values and Jewish culture, that a thing like this should take place at 2 a.m. on Saturday. Let them do it on another day."^[41] Yishai indicated that he would issue indictments and fines based on the Hours of Work and Rest Law.^[42]

[edit] Madeleine McCann appeal

There was a plan to include with each copy of Deathly Hallows a bookmark bearing the face of Madeleine McCann, a British toddler who disappeared in Portugal in May 2007 and whose case has been highly publicised in the months since. The plan was shelved because the publishers decided it would not be responsible to expose younger readers to the story of Madeleine's disappearance.^[43]

However, J. K. Rowling arranged with her publishers for a poster bearing Madeleine's face to be made available to book sellers at the launch of Deathly Hallows and said that she hoped that the posters would be displayed prominently in shops all over the world.^[44]

[edit] Critical reception

Reception of the book has been generally positive. On July 21, 2007, Los Angeles Times reviewer Mary McNamara wrote that the series ends with a "grand and glorious bang." McNamara notes that, in contrast to the religious-themed novels of C.S. Lewis, Rowling is sharing a "populist message: The real quest in life is ... personal tranformation." McNamara sets out high praise for Rowling: "what Rowling has achieved ... [is] astonishing" and "the language and tone of the books have grown in sophistication and lyricism." The review concludes that Deathly Hallows is "an articulate, emotionally wrenching conclusion - that is a truly epic quest."^[45]

Reviewer Alice Fordham from the Times of London writes that "Rowling’s genius is not just her total realisation of a fantasy world, but the quieter skill of creating characters that bounce off the page, real and flawed and brave and lovable." Fordham concludes, "We have been a long way together, and neither [Rowling] nor Harry let us down in the end."^[46]

Chicago Tribune reviewer Julia Keller reflects that "The 10-year arc of the Potter series encompasses a momentous time in world history," and suggests that the book addresses "entertaining profound questions: Why is the world unjust? Why do our friends disappoint us? Why must the good die and the evil sometimes prosper?" She goes on to describe a central conversation towards the end of the book as "so majestic in the sweep of its wisdom, so achingly sad but acutely true, that it nearly levitates from prose into poetry."^[47]

By contrast, Jenny Sawyer of the Christian Science Monitor says that while "There is much to love about the Harry Potter series, from its brilliantly realized magical world to its multilayered narrative," however, "A story is about someone who changes. And, puberty aside, Harry doesn't change much. As envisioned by Rowling, he walks the path of good so unwaveringly that [the ending] feels, not just inevitable, but hollow."^[48]

[edit] Pre-release reviews and controversy

Arthur Levine, U.S. editor of the Harry Potter series, denied distributing any copies of Deathly Hallows in advance for press review.^[49]

On July 18, The Baltimore Sun published online the first review of the book. Mary Carole McCauley's review praised the entire Harry Potter series as "a classic bildungsroman, or coming-of-age tale." She noted that "[b]ook seven... lacks much of the charm and humor that distinguished the earlier novels. Even the writing is more prosaic", but then observed that given the book's darker subject matter, "[h]ow could it be otherwise?" An editor's note appended to the review said that the paper acquired a hardcopy of the book from "a relative of a Sun reporter", and that, "The Sun did not pay for the book."^[50]

Several hours later on July 18, The New York Times also posted a positive review of the book. Critic Michiko Kakutani, who purchased the book from a retail outlet in New York City, wrote "The world of Harry Potter is a place where the mundane and the marvelous, the ordinary and the surreal coexist...and people's lives are defined by love and loss and hope — the same way they are in our own mortal world."^[51]

[edit] Translations

Following a pre-release question from the Swedish publisher about the difficulty of translating Deathly Hallows without having read the book, Rowling revealed an alternative title from which non-English editions could be translated: Harry Potter and the Relics of Death.^[52]

Translation of the book is underway in a range of languages, such as French (as Harry Potter et les reliques de la mort with an expected release date of October 26, 2007^[53]) and German (Harry Potter und die Heiligtümer des Todes, October 27, 2007^[54]).