Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is the seventh and final book of Harry Potter novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The book was released on July 21, 2007, ending the series that began in 1997 with the publication of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. This book chronicles the events directly following Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2005), and leads to the long-awaited final confrontation between Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort.

Deathly Hallows is published in the UK by Bloomsbury Publishing, in the USA by Scholastic Press, in Canada by Raincoast Books and in Australia and New Zealand by Allen & Unwin. Released globally in ninety-three countries, Deathly Hallows broke sales records as the fastest-selling book ever, selling more than eleven million copies in the first twenty-four hours following its release. The previous record, nine million in its first day, had been held by Half-Blood Prince.[1]

Author J. K. Rowling
Illustrators Jason Cockcroft,
Mary GrandPré
Genre Fantasy
Publishers Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, Scholastic Press, Raincoast Books
Released July 21, 2007
Book no. Seven
Sales 11+ million (in first 24 hours after release)[1]
Story timeline July 1997 – May 1998 and 1 September 2017
Chapters 36 chapters and an epilogue
Pages 607
759
Preceded by Harry Potter and the Half-
Epigraph
All the books in the Harry Potter series have dedications, but Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is the only one to include an epigraph. It contains two quotes relating to death and friendship. The first quotation is an English translation from Ancient Greek of a passage from The Libation Bearers, by the 5th century BC playwright Aeschylus.[2] The second quotation is from More Fruits of Solitude (1682) by William Penn, the Quaker author and founder of the American Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.[3]


Plot

The final summerLord Voldemort and his followers plot to ambush Harry Potter when he leaves the protected Dursley home for the last time. Voldemort also seeks a new wand to defeat Harry's. As members of the Order escort Harry to a safe house, they are attacked en route by Death Eaters. Harry narrowly escapes, but Hedwig and Mad-Eye Moody are killed.

A few days later, Minister of Magic Rufus Scrimgeour arrives at The Burrow to give Harry, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger bequests from Albus Dumbledore's will. Ron receives a Deluminator, and Hermione is left a children's book, The Tales of Beedle the Bard. Harry inherits Godric Gryffindor's Sword and the Snitch he caught in his first-ever Quidditch match, although Scrimgeour withholds the sword. Although it's unclear why Dumbledore bequethed these particular objects, it appears they are meant to aid the trio's search for Voldemort's Horcruxes.


The search begins
During Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour's wedding reception, Kingsley Shacklebolt's Patronus arrives, warning that Scrimgeour is dead and the Ministry is now under Voldemort's control. As Death Eaters approach, Harry, Ron and Hermione Disapparate, ultimately taking refuge in 12 Grimmauld Place. There, Harry deduces that Sirius Black's brother Regulus was the "R.A.B" who removed the locket Horcrux from the sea cave.[HP6] Hermione recalls seeing a locket amongst house-elf Kreacher's possessions.[HP5] Kreacher reveals that he placed the locket Horcrux in the cave for Voldemort, and Regulus died retrieving it. The Horcrux has since fallen into Dolores Umbridge's possession via Mundungus Fletcher. The trio successfully infiltrate the Ministry of Magic and recover the locket, but Grimmauld Place is compromised during their escape, forcing them to flee.

The trio learn that the Gryffindor Sword confiscated by the Ministry is a fake. Harry wants to find the real one because it can destroy Horcruxes, but a frustrated Ron leaves the group. Harry and Hermione seek the sword in Godric's Hollow, but they are ambushed by Nagini and Voldemort. During their escape, Hermione accidentally breaks Harry's wand.

In the Forest of Dean, a doe-shaped Patronus leads Harry to an icy pond containing the real Sword. As Harry attempts to retrieve it, the locket Horcrux tightens around his neck, strangling him. He is saved by Ron, who has returned using Dumbledore'e Deluminator and destroys the locket with the sword. Reunited with his friends, Ron warns them that Voldemort's name is now a Taboo: uttering it reveals the speaker's location to bounty hunters, known as Snatchers.


The Deathly Hallows
The trio learn from Xenophilius Lovegood, Luna's father, that a cryptic symbol they have repeatedly encountered represents the three Deathly Hallows: the Elder Wand, Resurrection Stone, and Invisibility Cloak. When pressed about Luna's absence, Lovegood admits that Death Eaters abducted her in retaliation for supporting Harry in his paper, The Quibbler. Fearing for Luna's safety, he has alerted the Death Eaters that the trio is there, but they escape.

Harry is convinced Voldemort is seeking the Elder Wand, but when he accidentally speaks Voldemort's tabooed name, they are immediately captured by Snatchers and imprisoned at Malfoy Manor, along with Luna, Dean, Ollivander, and Griphook. Finding Gryffindor's Sword among the trio's possessions, Bellatrix Lestrange suspects they have broken into her Gringotts vault, and tortures Hermione for information. Dobby Apparates into the cellar and rescues Luna, Dean, and Ollivander, prompting Peter Pettigrew to investigate the noise. He throttles Harry, but reminded that he owes a life debt,[HP3] Pettigrew loosens his grip, causing his own silver hand to choke him to death in retribution. Harry and Ron rush upstairs, where Ron disarms Bellatrix and Harry takes Draco's wand. Dobby reappears, and they Disapparate to Bill and Fleur Weasley's cottage. Dobby is killed by Bellatrix's knife during the escape.

At the cottage, Ollivander confirms the Elder Wand's existence and says that a wand can transfer allegiance if its owner is defeated or disarmed. Bellatrix's behaviour convinces the trio that another Horcrux is hidden in the Lestrange vault. Aided by Griphook, they pentrate Gringotts' defences and retrieve Hufflepuff's Cup Horcrux.

Meanwhile, Voldemort steals the Elder Wand from Dumbledore's tomb, believing it is the only wand powerful enough to defeat Harry. Dumbledore captured it after defeating the dark wizard Grindelwald in a duel. Voldemort also realises that his Horcruxes are being destroyed; his mind link with Harry unintentionally reveals that another Horcrux is hidden in Hogwarts.


The Battle of Hogwarts
The trio travel to Hogsmeade, where Aberforth Dumbledore smuggles them into Hogwarts. Harry alerts the staff to Voldemort's impending invasion; Hogwarts allies arrive to help. Harry learns that Ravenclaw's Diadem is a Horcrux, while Hermione destroys the Cup Horcrux with a basilisk fang from the Chamber of Secrets.[HP2] Harry recalls seeing the diadem in the Room of Requirement.[HP6] The trio are attacked there by Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle. Crabbe mishandles the powerful Fiendfyre spell, killing himself and destroying the diadem, but the others escape.

Harry sees into Voldemort's mind again, leading the trio to the Shrieking Shack. There they witness Voldemort kill Snape with Nagini, believing it will make him the Elder Wand's master. As Snape dies, he gives Harry memories that prove his loyalty to Dumbledore, motivated by his lifelong love for Harry's mother Lily. After being cursed by Gaunt's Ring Horcrux, a doomed Dumbledore ordered Snape to kill him, if necessary, at a strategic time. It was Snape who sent the doe Patronus. The memories also show that Harry himself is a Horcrux.

Resigned to death, Harry approaches Voldemort's camp in the Forbidden Forest. Along the way, he finds the Resurrection Stone inside the Snitch and summons the spirits of his parents, Sirius Black and the recently killed Remus Lupin, who comfort him. Voldemort strikes him with Avada Kedavra.

Awakening in an ethereal place, Harry is unsure whether he is alive or dead. Dumbledore appears and explains that Voldemort's Horcrux within Harry has been destroyed. He says that just as Voldemort cannot die while his soul fragments remain, Voldemort cannot kill Harry because he used Harry's blood in his resurrection.

Harry revives, but feigns death. Voldemort forces Hagrid to carry Harry's body to Hogwarts as a trophy. When Neville Longbottom defies Voldemort, the Sorting Hat is placed aflame atop his head; pulling it off, Neville withdraws Gryffindor's sword from it and beheads Nagini, destroying the final Horcrux. As the battle resumes, many magical folk join the combat against the Death Eaters. Knowing that he is the Elder Wand's true master, Harry challenges Voldemort. When Draco Malfoy disarmed Dumbledore on the Astronomy Tower,[HP6] he unknowingly became the Elder Wand's master; Harry gained its allegiance when he captured Draco's own wand. Voldemort casts a Killing Curse as Harry conjures a Disarming Spell, but the Elder Wand rebounds Voldemort's curse, killing him.

Among the battle's casualties are Fred Weasley, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, Colin Creevey, and Bellatrix Lestrange. Harry tells Dumbledore's portrait he is keeping the Invisibility Cloak, but the Resurrection Stone will remain lost in the forest, and the Elder Wand is to be returned to Dumbledore's tomb, where its power will be extinguished if Harry dies undefeated. Dumbledore approves. Before returning the Elder Wand to the tomb, Harry uses it to repair his own wand.


Epilogue
Nineteen years later, Harry and Ginny Weasley are married and have three children: James, Albus Severus, and Lily. Ron and Hermione are also married and have two children, Rose and Hugo. The families meet at King's Cross station, where a nervous Albus is departing for his first year at Hogwarts. Harry's nineteen-year-old godson, Teddy Lupin, is found kissing Victoire Weasley in a train compartment. Teddy is a frequent visitor to the Potters, coming to dinner about four times a week. Harry sees Draco Malfoy and his unnamed wife with their son, Scorpius; Malfoy acknowledges Harry with a curt nod, then turns away. Harry comforts Albus, who is worried he will be sorted into Slytherin, by telling him that his namesake, Severus Snape, was a Slytherin and the bravest man he ever met. He adds that the Sorting Hat takes one's own choice into account. Neville Longbottom is now the Hogwarts Herbology professor and is close friends with Harry. The book concludes: "The scar had not pained Harry for nineteen years. All was well."


Rowling's commentary and supplement
In an interview[4], online chat,[5][6][7], and Wizard of the Month section of her website, Rowling gave additional information on the futures of the main characters that she chose not to include in the epilogue of the book. She stated that:

Harry becomes an Auror for the Ministry of Magic, and is later appointed head of the department. He keeps Sirius's motorcycle, which Arthur Weasley repaired for him, but he can no longer speak Parseltongue after Voldemort's soul fragment inside him was destroyed.
Ginny Weasley plays for the Holyhead Harpies Quidditch team for a time, leaves to establish a family with Harry and later becomes the lead Quidditch correspondent for the Daily Prophet.
Ron Weasley works at George's store for a time, Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, then joins Harry as an Auror.
Hermione finds her parents in Australia and removes the memory modification charm she put on them. She initially works for the Ministry of Magic in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, greatly improving life for house elves and their ilk. She later moves to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and assists in eradicating oppressive, pro-pureblood laws.
Rowling also explained the fates of several secondary characters:

George Weasley continues his successful joke shop and names his first child Fred, in memory of his late twin brother.
Luna Lovegood searches the world for odd and unique creatures. She eventually marries Rolf, a grandson of the famed naturalist, Newt Scamander.[7] Her father's publication, The Quibbler, has returned to its usual condition of "advanced lunacy" and is appreciated for its unintentional humour.
Firenze is welcomed back into his herd, who finally acknowledge the virtue of his pro-human leanings.
Dolores Umbridge is arrested, interrogated, and imprisoned for crimes against Muggle-borns.
There have been transformations in the wider wizarding world:

Kingsley Shacklebolt is the permanent Minister for Magic, with Percy Weasley working under him as a high official. Among the reforms introduced by Shacklebolt, Azkaban no longer uses Dementors. Consequently, the world is now a "much sunnier place". Harry, Ron, and Hermione have also been instrumental in reforming the Ministry.
At Hogwarts, Slytherin House has become more diluted and is no longer the pureblood bastion it once was, although its dark reputation lingers.
Voldemort's jinx on the Defence Against the Dark Arts (DADA) position is broken with his death. There is now a permanent DADA teacher.
A portrait of Snape, who briefly served as Hogwarts Headmaster, does not appear in the headmaster's office as he abandoned his post. Harry intends to lobby for the addition of Snape's portrait, and publicly reveals Snape's steadfastness.

Pre-release history

Choice of title
Shortly before releasing the title, J. K. Rowling announced that she had considered three different titles for the book.[5][8] 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.[9] 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.[5]


Marketing campaigns
Scholastic's Seven Questions
In the build-up to the book's release, American publisher Scholastic released seven questions that fans would find answered in the final book:[10]

Who Will Live? Who Will Die?
Is Snape Good or Evil?
Will Hogwarts Reopen?
Who Winds Up With Whom?
Where are the Horcruxes?
Will Voldemort Be Defeated?
What are the Deathly Hallows?

The launch was celebrated by an all-night book signing and reading at the Natural History Museum in London, which Rowling attended along with 1700 guests chosen by ballot.[11] Rowling intends to tour the USA in October 2007, where another event will be held at Carnegie Hall in New York with tickets allocated by sweepstake.[12]

Scholastic Inc., the American publisher of the Harry Potter series, launched a multi-million dollar "THERE WILL SOON BE 7" marketing campaign with a 'Knight Bus' travelling to forty libraries across the United States, online fan discussions and competitions, collectible bookmarks, tattoos, and the staged release of seven Deathly Hallows questions most debated by fans.[13]

Scholastic also hosted "Harry Potter Place" — a magical and interactive street celebration at Scholastic headquarters in New York City, where the first U.S. signed edition of Deathly Hallows were unveiled on July 20, 2007.[14] The festivities included a 20 foot (6 metre)-high Whomping Willow, face-painting, wand-making, fire-eaters, magicians, jugglers and stilt-walkers.

Several bookstores set up small kiosks displaying free-to-take bookmarks. The bookmarks show reasons why Severus Snape should be considered a friend or a foe on opposite sides along with the Deathly Hallows logo at the bottom.[15]

J. K. Rowling arranged with her publishers for a poster bearing the face of the missing Madeleine McCann to be made available to book sellers when Deathly Hallows was launched on 21 July and said that she hoped that the posters would be displayed prominently in shops all over the world.[16]


Rowling on finishing the book
Rowling completed the book while staying at the Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh in January 2007, and left a signed statement on a marble bust of Hermes in her room which read: "JK Rowling finished writing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in this room (652) on 11 January 2007".[17] 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."[18]

When asked before publication about the forthcoming book, Rowling stated that she could not change the ending even if she wanted to. "These books have been plotted for such a long time, and for six books now, that they're all leading a certain direction. So, I really can't."[19] She also commented that the final volume related closely to the previous book in the series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, "almost as though they are two halves of the same novel."[20] She has said that the last chapter of the book was written "in something like 1990", as part of her earliest work on the series.[21]


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.[22] To this end, Bloomsbury invested GB£10 million in an attempt to keep the book's contents secure until the July 21 release date.[23] Arthur Levine, U.S. editor of the Harry Potter series, denied distributing any copies of Deathly Hallows in advance for press review, but two U.S. papers published early reviews anyway.[24][25]


Online leaks and early delivery

The title page of the leaked book.In the week prior to its release, a number of texts purporting to be genuine leaks appeared in various 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.[26][27][28][29] The photographs later appeared on websites and peer-to-peer networks, leading Scholastic to seek a subpoena in order to identify one source.[30] This represented the most serious security breach in the Harry Potter series' history.[31] Rowling and her lawyer admitted that there were genuine online leaks.[32] 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 confirmed that the main circulating leak was real.[33]

Scholastic announced that approximately one ten-thousandth (0.01%) of the U.S. supply had been shipped early — interpreted to mean about 1,200 copies.[34] 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 possible penalties.[35] However, the following day Scholastic announced that it would be launching legal action against DeepDiscount.com and its distributor, Levy Home Entertainment.[36] Scholastic has filed for damages in Chicago's Circuit Court of Cook County, claiming[37] 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 US$250 from an initial price of US$18.[38]


Price wars and other controversies
ASDA,[39] plus several other UK supermarkets, had already taken pre-orders for the book at a heavily discounted price. ASDA then sparked a further price war two days before the book's launch by announcing they would sell it for just GB£5.00 a copy (about US$10). Other retail chains also offered the book at discounted prices.[40] In Malaysia, a similar price war brought about controversy regarding sales of the book.[41] The book's early Saturday morning release in Israel was criticised for violating the Sabbath.[42]


Sales

Queue in London at Waterstone's near Picadilly Circus; some people camped outside the bookseller for over two days to be among the first to receive the book.On 21 July 2007, all English language editions, except for the American and Canadian editions, were released at one minute past midnight (00:01) BST; the American and Canadian editions were released at one minute past midnight (00:01), local time.[43][44] It was released globally in 93 countries.[45] The book reached the top spot on both the Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble best-seller lists just a few hours after the date of publication was announced on 1 February 2007.[46] In July 2007 the U.K. newspaper the Daily Telegraph reported that it had been bought by more than 10% of the British population in the 5 days since its release.[47]


The countdown to the book's release outside of Toys R Us, Times Square, New York City.Retailers such as Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and Borders reported that more orders had been placed for this book than for any other in history,[48] with Amazon.com stating that advance orders of the book reached 2.2 million worldwide,[49] breaking the record set by the sixth book of 1.5 million.[50] Scholastic announced an unprecedented initial print run of 12 million copies.[13]


A bookstore in the United States just before the midnight release.On the book's first day of sales, it sold 11 million copies in the UK and U.S., breaking the record of 9 million held by the sixth book.[51] In the U.S., 8.3 million hardcovers were sold during the first 24 hours, breaking the record of 6.9 million set by the sixth book.[52] In addition 400,000 copies were sold in Germany in the first 24 hours,[47] all 250,000 copies made available in Holland and Belgium,[47] 170,000 in India,[53] and just over 573,000 copies in Australia;[54] while in Canada over 800,000 copies were sold in the first two days.[55] Barnes & Noble, the largest U.S. book chain, reported all-time record sales of 1.8 million copies in the first two days including 560,000 in the first hour - a rate of more than 150 copies per second. The audiobook broke records as well, with 225,000 copies sold in the first two days, according to Random House Audio's Listening Library.[56] Borders reported record sales of 1.2 million copies on the first day, breaking the record of 850,000 set by the sixth book.[57]

During the run-up to the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Bloomsbury's stock lost more than £151M in value. Investors were reacting to the end of the publisher's key product.[58] In the last financial year in which no Harry Potter book was released, Bloomsbury's profits dropped by 75%.


Critical reception
The Baltimore Sun's critic, Mary Carole McCauley's, 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?"[59]

Reviewer Alice Fordham from The Times 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."[60]

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 his final victory over Voldemort feels, not just inevitable, but hollow."[61]

Stephen King criticised the reactions of some reviewers to the books, including McCauley, for jumping too quickly to surface conclusions of the work.[62] He felt this was inevitable, because of the extreme secrecy before launch which did not allow reviewers time to read and consider the book, but meant that many early reviews lacked depth. Rather than finding the writing style disappointing he felt it had matured and improved. He acknowledged that the subject matter of the books had become more adult, and that Rowling had clearly been writing with the adult audience firmly in mind since the middle of the series. He compared the works in this respect to Huckleberry Finn and Alice in Wonderland which also achieved success and have become established classics, in part by appealing to the adult audience as well as children.


Translations
Main article: Harry Potter in translation
Following a pre-release question from the Swedish publisher about the difficulty of translating the two words "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.[63]

The first translation to be released was the Ukrainian translation, on September 25, 2007. [64] Translation of the book is still underway in a range of languages. Expected publication dates for various translations:

Turkish (as Harry Potter ve Ölüm Yadigarları) version expected to be released on October 9, 2007 Harry Potter'ın yeni kitabi 9 Ekim'de Türkiye'de
Russian, on October 13, 2007 [1]
Vietnamese (tentatively titled Harry Potter và tử thần tích expected to be released in mid-October, 2007 (Vietnamese) Thông tin từ NXB Trẻ về Harry Potter 7. Trẻ Publishing House (July 24, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-07-26.
Traditional Chinese (as 哈利波特－死神的聖物, Pinyin: Hālìpōtè - Sǐshéndeshèngwù) version will be released on October 20, 2007
French (as Harry Potter et les reliques de la mort, expected release date of October 26, 2007 Annonce officielle de la version française du tome 7
German (Harry Potter und die Heiligtümer des Todes, expected release date October 27, 2007 www.carlsen-harrypotter.de)
Portuguese, expected release in Portugal on November 16, 2007 [2]
Hebrew translation expected in Israel in December 2007. (Chicago Jewish Star, July 27, 2007).
Finnish (name yet undisclosed) expected March 7, 2008www.tammi.net/harrypotter (Finnish)

Editions

Stack of the Scholastic version displayed at Comic Con 2007.Bloomsbury (United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, etc.)
ISBN 0-7475-9105-9 Hardcover
ISBN 0-7475-9106-7 Hardcover (adult edition)
ISBN 0-7475-9107-5 Hardcover (special edition)
Scholastic (United States, etc.)
ISBN 0-545-01022-5 Hardcover
ISBN 0-545-02937-6 Deluxe Hardcover; Raincoast (Canada, etc. - Same as Bloomsbury editions)
ISBN 1551929767 Hardcover
ISBN 1551929783 Hardcover (adult edition)