Harry Potter Seven
The Deathly Hallows

Memorable Harry Potter Quotes
The Deathly Hallows - Harry Potter Seven

I don't think you're a waste of space. (Dudley to Harry as they say their final goodbyes, p. 40)

The owner of the Elder Wand must always fear attack, but the idea of the Dark Lord in possession of the Deathstick is, I must admit... formidable. (Ollivander to Harry, p. 497)

Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living, and, above all, those who live without love. By returning, you may ensure that fewer souls are maimed, fewer families are torn apart. If that seems to you a worthy goal, then we say good-bye for the present. (Dumbledore to Harry, p. 722)

The Deathly Hallows Summary
Harry Potter Seven

The Deathly Hallows get off to a disturbing start with the murder of Professor Burbage, teacher of muggle studies at Hogwarts. Voldemort kills her to make a point about the importance of pure blood.

Harry's back at the Dursely's for his final summer at the start of Harry Potter Seven. He is only 4 days away from turning 17, old enough to do magic on his own with no repercussions. Harry is reflecting upon his relationship with Dumbledore after reading a eulogy written by Elphias Doge in The Daily Prophet. He realizes that he knew very little of him at all. That same day Harry reads an article written by Rita Skeeter which attempts to discredit and demoralize Dumbledore's life and work. Harry is, of course, furious.

Next in Harry Potter seven, Harry must say his final goodbyes to the Dursley family. They are going into hiding so that Voldemort will not kill them to get to Harry. Although Harry is not the least sad to see them go, he is surprised by Dudley's sudden concern and seemingly, love, for him. A group has come to collect Harry including Ron, Hermione, Mr. Weasley, Bill, Fred and George, Tonks, Lupin, and Mad-Eye Moody. Their plan is to make a polyjuice potion and all turn into Harry so if they are attacked en route, Death Eaters won't know which Harry is the real one. They are attacked during the flight and after several tense hours it is found out that Mad-Eye has been killed. During this confusion we also get our first glimpse of Voldemort back inside Harry's head. Harry can see some of the murderous things he's doing to other wizards as he tries to get information. The first he tortures that Harry lives in his mind is Ollivander the wandmaker.

While at the Burrow Harry, Ron, and Hermione are trying to plan their journey to find and destroy Voldemort's horcruxes. But Mrs. Weasley doesn't want them to drop out of Hogwarts to do this so she is continually finding reasons to split them up. On his birthday Harry shares an intimate moment with Ginny, much to Ron's dismay, but realizes he can't do it again because he has to let her go. He promises Ron he'll leave her alone. The Minister of Magic, Rufus Scrimegour, comes to the Burrow with news for the trio. Turns out Dumbledore has left each of them something in his will. They are surprised but pleased. Ron is left the Deluminator. To Hermione, his copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard. And to Harry, the Snitch he caught in his first Quidditch match. These items are confusing and seem to have no meaning but they know that Dumbledore had an ulterior motive for each. They just don't know what it is yet.

Finally Bill and Fleur's wedding day arrives. During the festivities Harry meets Elphias Doge, Dumbledore's great friend. He gives Harry the idea to look for Bathilda Bagshot in Godric's Hollow. During this conversation, a patronus from Kingsley Shacklebolt comes with a message - "The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming" (159). Panic ensues. Harry, Ron, and Hermione quickly disapparate to London and then decide to go to Grimmauld Place to hide. While there Mr. Weasley's patronus delivers a message that the family is safe but being watched so not to reply. They are truly on their own now. During everything Harry continues to see Voldemort's search for something and his torture of innocent victims.

They decide to search Grimmauld Place and in doing so learn that R.A.B. from the locket that Harry and Dumbledore found in the cave by the sea was Regulus Arcturus Black, Sirius's brother. From Kreacher they learn that Voldemort used him to plant the locket in the magical basin and then Regulus went back to find and destroy it. Regulus died however and Kreacher could not destroy the locket no matter how hard he tried. It was recently stolen by Mundungus Fletcher. Harry orders Kreacher to find Mundungus and bring him back to the house.

While they wait for Kreacher's return, Lupin shows up offering to join their search. He says he made a mistake by marrying Tonks and having a baby because she will be cast out of the wizarding world since he’s half-werewolf. Harry gets furious and tells him he is a coward and should go home and raise his child like a man. Lupin leaves angry. Kreacher returns with Mundungus who tells them, reluctantly, that he had to give the locket away in order not to get in trouble for selling dark artifacts. Turns out, it was Delores Umbridge who removed it from him.

So their first plan of Harry Potter Seven is to sneak into the Ministry of Magic and steal the locket back from Umbridge. This takes quite a while but they finally do it. They can't return to Grimmauld Place however so they end up in the woods where the Quidditch World Cup was held 3 years ago. Now they are on the run. They have the locket but don't know how to destroy it and still need the following:

• Hufflepuff's Cup from old lady Hepzibah
  
• Something of Ravenclaw's (unknown)
  
• Something of Gryffindor (unknown)
  
• Possibly Nagini, the Snake

They are a little lost at how to proceed and starting to fight with each other. Harry is still having Voldemort visions and it seems as if Voldemort is looking for a wand. They find out that Dumbledore used Gryffindor's sword to destroy the ring horcrux so they know they must find the sword to destroy the rest of the horcruxes. Ron ends up leaving them in a fit of fury because he feels like Harry has no plan and they are wandering around the woods aimlessly. Hermione stays.

Harry and Hermione go to Godric's Hollow to talk to Bathilda Bagshot but it turns out she's dead and Voldemort has set a trap to catch them. They narrowly escape but not before Harry relieves the murder of his parents, breaks his wand, and is bit by Nagini. Things start to look even bleaker when Harry begins believing Rita's information that Dumbledore was actually a Dark Wizard when he was young. Hermione tirelessly tries to dissuade him of this but she's sad about Ron leaving and worried about Harry's stability. Things are not going well at this point in Harry Potter Seven.

Then a turn of events. Ron returns with the help of Dumbledore's Deluminator. They find Gryffindor's Sword and destroy the locket. Hermione figures out a symbol that keeps popping up is from Beedle the Bard and that Luna Lovegood's father knows what it stands for. They set off to see him. Mr. Lovegood tells them the tale of the three brothers and that the symbol stands for the Deathly Hallows. The Deathly Hallows are a trio of objects owned by the brothers - the Cloak of Invisibility, the Resurrection Stone, and the Elder Wand. Followers of the tale believe that the Peverell brothers are the three brothers in the story. As they work through it, they realize that Harry owns the Cloak of Invisibility and that the Elder Wand is a wand that has been around for generations under different names but nobody knows where it is currently. They decide the stone doesn't exist. The Ministry of Magic is under Voldemort's control so Harry has been labeled "Undesirable Number One." Anybody who sides with Harry is under attack. Mr. Lovegood was supportive but ends up turning Harry, Ron, and Hermione in because they have taken Luna from him.

Harry becomes obsessed with finding the Deathly Hallows during the next part of Harry Potter Seven as he figures this is the way to defeat Voldemort. He knows now that Voldemort is searching for the Elder Wand but doesn't really understand the power behind it. Hermione desperately tries to convince Harry that they should be focusing on horcruxes instead. After a lively Potterwatch, the radio show run by Lee Jordan which provides cautionary and inspirational info from the "good" side of the wizarding world, Harry accidentally says Voldemort's name and the trio is caught.

They are taken to the Malfoy Manner where Voldemort is keeping headquarters. Harry and Ron are put in the dungeon while Hermione is tortured by Bellatrix LeStrange. Luna Lovegood, Mr. Ollivander, Griphook the Goblin, and Dean Thomas are also in the dungeon. Harry finds Hermione's mirror and in it he sees a blue eye which he believes belongs to Dumbledore. He asks for help and Dobby appears. A battle follows during which Peter Pettigrew kills himself with his magical hand and the Malfoy's, including Bellatrix, lose ownership of their wands. They disapparate to Fleur and Bill's cottage but not before Bellatrix manages to stab and kill Dobby. Harry is devastated.

At the cottage Harry begins to understand (through the help of his Voldemort visions) what the Dark Lord is up to. He questions Griphook about breaking into Gringotts because he thinks the LeStrang vault holds a horcrux. He then questions Ollivander about Voldemort's quest for the Elder Wand. Harry knows now that Dumbledore was in possession of the wand at the time of his death, having gotten the wand from his friend Grindelwald, and it is now buried with his body at Hogwarts. Voldemort has found this out and at that moment is approaching the gates to Hogwarts. Harry, however, finally agrees with Hermione that he needs to destroy the horcruxes as Dumbledore wishes.

Harry makes a deal with Griphook that he can have Gryffindor's sword if Griphook helps him break into the LeStrange vault. Harry intends to give Griphook the sword but only after he has found and destroyed all the horcruxes. They create a plan in which Hermione will transform into Bellatrix and go to her vault. It works with the help of the Imperious Curse from a hidden Harry, and they find the Hufflepuff cup. The make a spectacular escape on the back of a dragon but Griphook disappears with the Gryffindor Sword.

Because they took the Hufflepuff cup from the vault, Voldemort realizes that Harry is hunting his horcruxes. He gets worried and decides to go and check on all of them. Harry sees this in his mind as well as uncovers that Nagini is definitely a horcrux, and the last one is hidden in Hogwarts. As Voldemort sets off to check on his others, the trio set off for Hogwarts. They are unable to destroy the cup at this point.

When they arrive in Hogsmeade they are almost captured but saved in the nick of time by the barkeep at the Hogs Head. Turns out it's Aberforth, Dumbledore's brother. He helps them get into the castle where they meet up with all their old friends. Neville Longbottom has been running quite an anti-Voldemort campaign at Hogwarts. Harry figures out that they are looking for the lost Diadem of Ravenclaw and he also knows that Voldemort is getting closer. As Professor McGonagall along with the other teachers prepare the castle for battle, Harry sets out in search of the Diadem.

Harry learns the story of the lost Diadem from the gray ghost of Ravenclaw. He remembers seeing the Diadem in the room that hides things in his 6th year. He, Ron, and Hermione go to the room and are about to get the Diadem when they are thwarted by Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle. They battle and Harry ends up saving Goyle and Malfoy's life but Crabbe dies. The Diadem is destroyed. The group returns to the battle in the castle to find that Fred Weasley has been killed.

Although they wish to fight alongside the others, Harry and Ron know that they have to find and destroy Nagini. Harry learns that Voldemort is in the Shrieking Shack with Snape. Voldemort has asked that Hogwarts turn over Harry Potter and he will spare the lives of all if his wish is granted by midnight. Voldemort also knows Harry will come to him. Harry goes under the Invisibility Cloak and watches as Voldemort kills Snape. He kills Snape because he realizes that the Elder Wand is not working for him because he did not take it by force. Snape is the rightful owner of the wand because he was the one to kill Dumbledore. Right as Snape dies he gives Harry a wisp of his memories. Through these memories Harry learns the story of Snape's love for his mother Lily from the time they were children. He follows Snape through his years at Hogwarts, his service to Voldemort the first time, and his duplicity as he works with Dumbledore to keep Harry safe. The plan all along was for Snape to kill Dumbledore and to help Harry with destroying horcruxes although he does not know that's what he was doing. Finally, Harry learns that Dumbledore means for Harry to offer himself up to Voldemort for death as he is truly the last horcrux and must be killed in order for Voldemort to be defeated.

Armed with this knowledge Harry enters the Dark Forest on the walk to his certain death. He remembers Dumbledore's message that came along with the Snitch - “"I open at the close." Harry whisper "I am about to die" to the Snitch and out of it come the ghosts of his parents, Sirius, and Lupin. They can only be seen by Harry and they accompany him as he goes to meet Voldemort. Harry presents himself and Voldemort throws the Killing Curse at him. Presumably, Harry Potter Seven has come to an end.

Wrong.

Harry "wakes up" at King's Cross, the train station, and Dumbledore is there waiting for him. Dumbledore tells him he is not really dead, not yet. When Voldemort rebuilt his body with a drop of Harry's blood, he made Harry the last horcrux and tied their souls together. When Harry willingly gave himself to death at Voldemort's hand, the thing that died was the piece of Voldemort's soul that lived in Harry. That left Harry's soul in tact and able to return to life if he so chooses. Dumbledore also revealed his life long search for the Deathly Hallows and that he could never be the rightful owner because he desired power too much. Harry was the rightful owner of the Hallows because he wouldn't use them for personal gain. Dumbledore tells Harry that if he returns one last time, he thinks Voldemort can finally be defeated.

So he returns and Harry Potter Seven continues. After a tricky reemergence into the battle, he fights and finally kills Voldemort. He decides he will leave the Resurrection Stone where it fell in the Forbidden Forest, keep the Invisibility Cloak, and return the Elder Wand to Dumbledore's tomb. Dumbledore, via his portrait in the headmaster's office, approves. It is finally over.

The epilogue of Harry Potter Seven takes place nineteen years later. The story is completely wrapped up as we find out that Harry married Ginny and has three children. Ron and Hermione are also married with children. Draco grew up and turned out okay. Neville is a professor at Hogwarts. Harry has raised Lupin and Tonks son as he is Teddy's Godfather. There is peace in the wizarding world at last.

The Deathly Hallows Review
Harry Potter Seven

I don't even know where to begin relaying my thoughts about Harry Potter Seven to you. As any fan of a series always is, I started Harry Potter Seven with trepidation. I figured there was absolutely, positively no way it could hold up to the standards I had set in my mind. How could anyone, even a great writer like Rowling, bring one of the greatest stories ever told to a close? How could she possibly tie up every loose ending, remember every character we ever cared about, and truly decide if Harry or Voldemort, or both, would live or die? Really - how could I even like Harry Potter Seven since it would mean the end of a beloved story?

But she did it. At first as Harry Potter Seven begins, it's a little tough to let go of the normal flow of summer at the Dursley's and then the Hogwarts school year but I had to. As Harry, Ron, and Hermione go about their quest and we learned about the Deathly Hallows, I was constantly on the edge of my seat. Nothing was predictable and everything that I might have imagined happening did.

I'd have to say some of the best minor storylines and details of Harry Potter Seven(and there were many) are:

• Potterwatch
  
• Dumbledore leaving something to each Harry, Ron, and Hermione in his will that he knew they would need or use a certain way
  
• Dobby saving them from the Malfoy Manner
  
• "Wandlore" and wands changing allegiances
  
• Ron and Hermione finally finding each other
  
• Kreacher's role in planting and then stealing the locket horcrux

The most astute part of the entire Harry Potter Series that we learn about in Harry Potter Seven? Well, it's a tie for me. The first is Snape's childhood love for Lily and how it played the most major role in Harry's final defeat of Voldemort. Second, Voldemort's inability to notice things without power like house-elves, goblins, and children's stories all of which helped bring about his downfall in the end.

Some people's faith in Dumbledore may have been shaken as Rowling revealed parts of his past that were more sordid than we would have liked for our hero. But not mine. I was a believer till the end and found it fitting that in Harry's final moment of decision, Dumbledore was there to guide him. It was as it should be.

I also felt like Harry finally stepped up and became the wizard he was meant to be in Harry Potter Seven. The outline was there, Harry just finally embodied it in this book. He was clever, brave, compassionate, skilled with a wand, resigned to his fate, and above all - willing to forge ahead no matter what until Voldemort was finally defeated. The pair of them, Harry and Dumbledore, leave future fantasy authors a huge feat in creating heroes more astounding.

Finally, and here is the biggest debate of Harry Potter Seven, I was glad for the epilogue. Like any Harry Potter fan, I didn't want it to end. Like any true Harry Potter fan, I wanted to know what happened to all of them. I think authors that leave endings "open to interpretation" are really just scared to write a definitive ending because they're afraid it won't be well received. Rowling took that challenge head on and I'm glad she did! I thought the epilogue was just perfect. I'm THRILLED that Harry and Ginny get married. I shed some tears when Harry tells Albus Severus, his middle child, that he is named after two of the best men he ever knew. I loved how Ron and Hermione's marriage is the exact replica of Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. And when Harry touches his scar and knows that his sons will be okay, my heart broke with joy.

I felt dazed for days after finishing Harry Potter Seven and have to say that if the rumors are true and Rowling really plans to resurrect the Potter series for an eighth book, I'll be first in line at the midnight release party.

...a Horcrux (or all seven of them)

Why? Seems the obvious choice for Harry Potter Seven but really, without the horcruxes, Voldemort never would have survived this long and without Harry finding and destroying them all, the wizarding world would have been at his mercy again. Although evil and inhumane, a horcrux is an ingenious way to achieve immortality. Voldemort was quite clever to use the objects he did and hide them away in hard to find places. A lesser wizard would not have thought to split his soul seven times or hide the pieces so cautiously. And of course, a lesser wizard than Harry would not have been able to find and destroy them all no matter what the odds!

Harry Potter Trivia
The Deathly Hallows - Harry Potter Seven

1. What does Dumbledore leave to each Harry, Ron, and Hermione?
   Harry-the Snitch from his first match, Ron-Deluminator, Hermione-Tales of Beedle the Bard

2. Who wrote The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore?
   Rita Skeeter

3. What is the final Horcrux?
   Harry

Harry Potter Spells
The Deathly Hallows - Harry Potter Seven

By Harry Potter Seven, all the important spells have been used. However, I'm going to bring up to previously showcased spells because, in the end, they are the two spells that changed the wizarding world. They are:

Expelliarmus

and

Avada Kedavra.

The two spells that Harry and Voldemort always use against each other in battle.

Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher
The Deathly Hallows - Harry Potter Seven

Amycus Carrow. He is a Death Eater placed there at Voldemort's instruction. Instead of a regular D.A.D.A class in Harry Potter Seven, the time is used for the students to use the unforgivable curses against other students who have detention.

And What About Lord Voldemort?
The Deathly Hallows - Harry Potter Seven

This is the story of Voldemort's attempt to return to power. He is everywhere. The wizarding world is in utter chaos as things begin to revert to the way they were when Voldemort first took power. From slithering around as Nagini to holding court in the Forbidden Forest where he [not really] kills Harry, the Dark Lord dominates this book. But, Harry does it better. In the end it is Harry, just like the prophecy foretold, that kills Voldemort and sets the world to rights again.

Harry Potter Information Tidbit
The Deathly Hallows - Harry Potter Seven

Rowling consider two other titles along with Deathly Hallows for her final book. They were the Elder Wand and the Peverell Quest.

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