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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

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Template:Current fiction Template:HPBooks Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is the seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series of novels by J. K. Rowling. Released globally in 93[1] countries at a minute past midnight (00:01), local time, on 21 July 2007. 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.[2] In the United States[3] and Canada,[4] 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.

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,[5] and American publisher Scholastic announced an unprecedented initial print run of 12 million copies.[6]

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. [7] 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.[8]

Plot summary

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 plans to kill Harry while he is being moved to a new safe place, which must happen before he turns seventeen and his safety with the Dursleys expires. Voldemort borrows Lucius' wand, as his own is ineffective against Harry's (the wands share twin cores). On the night he is to leave the Dursleys' home, Harry reads the obituary of Albus Dumbledore, discovering details of Dumbledore's convoluted early life. He regrets not having asked Dumbledore more about his past.

After the Dursleys have been escorted to safety by a pair of wizards (and Dudley has expressed his surprising respect for Harry), the Order of the Phoenix arrives to sneak Harry out of his house. Despite an attempted decoy involving six younger members of the Order of the Phoenix taking Polyjuice Potion to make themselves look like Harry, the real Harry is correctly identified by his "trademark" disarming spell and attacked by Voldemort and his Death Eaters. 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 to Snape, and Alastor Moody had been killed by Voldemort himself.

A few days later, during Harry's 17th birthday party, the Minister of Magic arrives at The Burrow to give Harry, Ron, and Hermione bequests from Dumbledore's will: Ron is given Dumbledore's Deluminator, with the power to capture lights; Hermione receives a book of children's stories written in Ancient Runes; 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, claiming that the sword was not Dumbledore's in the first place. 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."

Near the end of Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour's wedding reception, news comes that Voldemort has taken over the Ministry of Magic and killed the minister. The Death Eaters attack again. Harry, Ron and Hermione flee the wedding, first to a Muggle café, but after being attacked by Death Eaters yet again, to 12 Grimmauld Place, the former home of the Black family. The trio realise, after going through Regulus Black's room, that Regulus Arcturus Black was the R.A.B. who removed the locket from the lake, dying in the attempt. However, the house elf Kreacher informs 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. Harry, Ron and Hermione were visited by Lupin, a member of the Order of the Phoenix, who wanted to offer his help in their quest. But when further questioned, they found out that he had left his wife and unborn child. Harry calls him a coward and drives him out of the house in a storm of rage.

The search for the Horcruxes

After a month of spying on the Ministry of Magic, the trio attempt to infiltrate it using Polyjuice Potion, in order to retrieve the Horcrux from Dolores Umbridge. They eventually locate Umbridge as she is interrogating Muggle-borns. The trio take the Horcrux, and knock 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 and they are forced to flee to the countryside, moving from place to place, never staying anywhere too long.

After several months of this, they overhear a conversation between a number of outlaws revealing that the Ministry only has a replica of Gryffindor's sword; the real sword's ___location is unknown. Harry questions the portrait of Phineas Nigellas, and discovers that Dumbledore used the sword to destroy a Horcrux, the Gaunts' ring. Having been unable to destroy the locket, Harry suggests attempting to locate the real sword. Ron feels that this is yet another 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 visit the graveyard where both Harry and Dumbledore's families are buried. They encounter the old woman Bathilda Bagshot, an old family friend of Dumbledore 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 actually Nagini, Voldemort's snake familiar, and Harry and Hermione only narrowly escape from Voldemort. Hermione accidentally breaks Harry's wand by shooting a spell at Nagini that reflects and hits Harry's wand; an attempt to mend it using Hermione's wand does not work.

On the run for a few more days, eventually a doe Patronus appears on the edge of their camp and leads Harry to the real Godric Gryffindor's sword, hidden in a frozen forest pool. Harry dives after the sword, but the locket Horcrux which Harry is carrying responds and tries to strangle Harry. Ron returns and saves Harry from drowning, also retrieving the sword from the pool. Ron destroys the Horcrux with the sword despite the locket playing on his worst fears. Back at camp, Ron informs Harry and Hermione that the Deluminator given to him by Dumbledore showed him the way back to them. Hermione is less than pleased with Ron on his return, but has discovered their next step: to speak to Xenophilius Lovegood, the father of their friend Luna, and ask him about Grindelwald's mark, a symbol which has shown up in the book Dumbledore bequeathed to her, and several other times during their journey, including on a chain around his neck.

The Deathly Hallows

The trio reach Lovegood's house, and are told that the symbol is that of the Deathly Hallows, a trio of magical artifacts created long ago by three brothers. The Elder Wand is a wand more powerful than any other and has passed through the years when its owner is defeated. The Resurrection Stone is a gem with the power to bring the dead back as being not unlike ghosts, and the Invisibility Cloak is a cloak, which unlike common invisibility cloaks, never loses its charm and whose magic is immune to spells. It is obvious that Harry's cloak is the one mentioned in the legend, and that Voldemort is searching for the wand. Unfortunately, before any more can be told, Xenophilius betrays them to the ministry in the hopes that Luna, who has been held captive, is released.

Upon their escape, they are captured by death eaters and taken to the Malfoy's house, where they are thrown in the basement with Dean Thomas, Mr. Ollivander, and Griphook the Goblin. They all escape to Bill and Fleur's home with the help of Dobby and a somewhat reluctant Peter Pettigrew, who are both killed in the flight.

At the cottage, they make a plan to break into Gringott's with the help of Griphook, on the assumption that there is a horcrux in the vault of the Lestrange's. During the theft, they find the Hufflepuff's cup, known to be a horcrux, but are betrayed by Griphook, who steals Gryffindor's sword. They escape on a blind and old dragon guarding the vaults. In the aftermath, Voldemort realizes they are destroying his horcruxes and after checking the hiding spot of the two others destroyed, accidentaly reveals through his telepathic link with Harry where they need to go to find the last horcrux: Hogwarts.

Xenophilius allows them in, telling them of the 3 Deathly Hallows: The Elder Wand, an unbeatable wand. The Ressurection Stone, a stone that can bring back the dead. And the Invisibility Cloak, Which Harry already possesses. However, Xenophilius turns them over to the Ministry for the reward-Luna. Luckily, one of the Death Eaters touches an Erumpent Horn, which causes a massive explosion. Hermione creates a hole in the floor, so they can land and apparate away.

Later, when they are camping, Harry accidentally says "Voldemort"-which has been tabooed-and a group of Snatcher's(Bounty Hunters) suddenly appear all around their camp, and catch Harry, Ron, and Hermione. However, Hermione hits Harry with a spell that makes his face swell, obscuring his features to the point that the Snatcher's can't identify him. However, they do manage to identify Ron and Hermione. After seeing Harry's scar, they do believe he is Harry Potter and that the wand he had been carrying was his wand-a bounty of 200,000 galleons. So, the Snatcher's take them to the Malfoy's Mansion-the new HQ of Voldemort and his Death Eater's.

Harry and Ron are imprisoned, due to Draco almost identifying them, but Hermione is taken and tortured by Bellatrix. Just as Ron can't stand Hermione's screams anymore, Dobby appears and frees Dean, Griphook, Ollivander, and Luna, who had been imprisoned there as well. But the sound of Dobby's apparating alerted the Death Eaters above and they send Peter Pettigrew to check out what's going on. Amazingly, Peter's own hand turns on him and strangles him to death. So, Harry takes Peter's wand and rushes upstairs, where he fights the Death Eater's until Dobby drops a chandelier right next to where Bellatrix was standing. In the ensuing chaos, Harry grabs Bellatrix and Draco's wands and they free Hermione and escape with Dobby.

They apparate out of the Malfoy's and to Bill and Fleur's new house, Shell Cottage, but Bellatrix threw her knife and it hit Dobby in the chest at the last second, killing him. Harry digs Dobby's grave alone without magic and they have a small funeral, in which Harry etches the words: "Here Lies Dobby, a Free Elf" in a small stone where Dobby's head now lay. Over the next few weeks, Harry plots with Griphook to break into the Lestrange's vault at Gringott's. Griphook agrees on the condition that they give him the sword in exchange. Harry agrees, but does not say exactly when he will give him the sword. So, they break in past a blind, sleeping dragon by using the Imperius Curse on a goblin, past a sleeping blind dragon. Once inside, they find that everything is burning hot to the touch, and multiplies if you touch it. Harry manages to grab the cup of Hufflepuff(the next horcrux) on the tip of the sword of Gryffindor. However, Griphook then betrays them and grabs the sword, letting the cup fall to the ground. Harry jumps and grabs the cup, and they get out by sailing out on a mountain of multiplying gold. Harry lets the dragon free, and they fly out of Gringott's on it's back. They land in a secluded mountain area where Harry sees a horrible vision of Voldemort personally torturing Griphook with the Elder Wand, which he stole from Dumbledore's grave.

The Battle of Hogwarts

At Hogsmeade, the trio are rescued from Death Eaters by the Hog's Head bartender, Aberforth Dumbledore. Aberforth explains that he has the other half of Harry's two-way mirror and that he sent Dobby to rescue them. He then opens a secret passageway to Hogwarts through a portrait of his sister Ariana. After Harry alerts the Heads of Houses at Hogwarts to Voldemort's imminent arrival, the younger students are evacuated and the Order of the Phoenix are called to help defend the school.

Harry learns about Ravenclaw's Diadem and realises he had seen it the previous year in the Room of Requirement. The young Tom Riddle had discovered the room and hidden it there when he came to Hogwarts to ask Dumbledore for a job. Ron and Hermione return from the Chamber of Secrets, where they have retrieved Basilisk fangs in order to destroy the remaining Horcruxes. Hermione has already stabbed Hufflepuff's Cup. The trio go to the Room of Requirement, but are confronted by Draco Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle. Crabbe mishandles a powerful spell and sets fire to the contents of the Room. Harry and his friends manage to escape on two broomsticks, retrieving the Diadem and rescuing Draco and Goyle. Crabbe does not escape and is presumed dead. Harry holds up the Diadem only to see it fall to pieces, destroyed by the magical fire.

After having another vision of Voldemort, Harry leads his friends to the Shrieking Shack. There, they see Voldemort kill Snape. Voldemort believes that Snape, having killed Dumbledore, is the master of the Elder Wand and that the wand's power will now transfer to him. As he dies, Snape gives up his memories to Harry, who uses the Pensieve to find out that Snape was on Dumbledore's side all along, motivated by his lifelong love for Lily Evans (Harry's mother). Dumbledore, knowing that he will die within a year from the curse on the Gaunts' Ring, asks Snape to kill him to prevent Draco Malfoy from doing it. Snape has been acting to protect Harry all the while, and it was he who sent the doe Patronus (the same form as Lily Evans's Patronus) to lead Harry to Gryffindor's Sword. However, Harry also discovers that he himself is a Horcrux, and that Voldemort cannot be killed while Harry remains alive.

Resigned to his fate, Harry makes his way towards the Forbidden Forest, where Voldemort is waiting for him. On his way out of the castle, he encounters Neville, and informs him that the snake Nagini must be destroyed. Harry also sees the bodies of Fred Weasley, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks and Colin Creevey. Realizing that his final meeting with Voldemort is "the close" referred to in the riddle on the Snitch, Harry puts it to his mouth saying, "I am about to die". The Snitch opens up to reveal the Resurrection Stone. Harry uses the Stone to summon the spirits of James Potter,Lily Evans, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin, who glide along by his side while under the invisibility cloak, giving him support and protecting him from the army of dementors roaming the forest.

Having reached Voldemort, Harry drops the Stone and reveals himself. Prepared for death, he allows Voldemort to hit him with the Avada Kedavra curse. However, Harry awakens in what appears to be King's Cross railway station. A wounded and dying creature lies on the floor, representing the part of Voldemort's soul which resided within Harry but has now been removed. He meets the deceased Albus Dumbledore, who explains that Harry cannot die while Voldemort lives, since he used Harry's blood to recreate his body. He discovers that Dumbledore sought the Hallows with Grindelwald for less than noble reasons, resulting in the death of his sister Ariana during a fight between himself, Aberforth and Grindelwald. Only Harry is worthy of possessing the Hallows, because only Harry wants to possess them for noble reasons. Harry is given the choice of "going on", or continuing with life and stopping Voldemort; he chooses the latter. It is unclear whether Harry actually dies, or is merely being visited by Dumbledore in a dream.

Back in the forest, on Voldemort's orders, Hagrid carries Harry (seemingly dead) back to Hogwarts as a trophy. Neville Longbottom bravely faces down Voldemort, and refuses to join him. As punishment, Voldemort puts the Sorting Hat upon his head, and sets it ablaze. At that moment, reinforcements charge in and the battle resumes. Amidst the confusion, Harry covers himself with the Invisibility Cloak and Neville pulls Godric Gryffindor's sword from the Sorting Hat and beheads Nagini, destroying the final Horcrux. After Bellatrix Lestrange is killed by Molly Weasley, Harry confronts Voldemort. He is faced with seemingly impossible odds, as Voldemort possesses the Elder Wand. However, Harry guesses correctly that Draco Malfoy is the true master of the Elder Wand, not Snape, for it was Draco who had disarmed Dumbledore and thus beaten him in battle, while Snape was acting according to Dumbledore's wishes. Because Harry had himself disarmed Malfoy earlier in the book, mastery of the wand has passed to him. When Voldemort strikes Harry with the killing curse from the Elder Wand, Harry responds by casting his "trademark" Expelliarmus spell. The Elder Wand refuses to kill its master, and the curse rebounds to kill Voldemort.

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 is never beaten in battle, 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.

Epilogue

In the story's epilogue, set nineteen years later, Harry and Ginny Weasley are married and have three children named James, Albus Severus, and Lily. Ron and Hermione are also married. They have two children named Rose and Hugo. The two families meet at King's Cross Station when they are taking their children to Platform Nine and Three Quarters for their departure to Hogwarts. Lily is too young to attend Hogwarts just yet, Albus is entering his first year at the school, and James is already an experienced Gryffindor. James finds Teddy Lupin (named after Ted Tonks, Nymphadora's father), the son of Lupin and Tonks, kissing a girl named Victoire, who we can assume is the daughter of Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour. Neville Longbottom is now the Herbology professor at the school. At the station, Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione spot Draco Malfoy across the platform with his unnamed wife and their son Scorpius Malfoy; Malfoy gives Harry a curt nod. Harry notes that his scar has not hurt in nineteen years. The book ends with the words "all was well."

Pre-release events

Anticipation

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.[9] To this end, Bloomsbury invested £10m in an attempt to keep the book's contents secure until the July 21 release date.[10] 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.[11]

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.[12][13][14] The photographs later appeared on websites and peer-to-peer networks, leading Scholastic to seek a subpoena in order to identify the source.[15] 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.[16] This represents the most serious security breach in the Harry Potter series' history.[17] 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.[18] 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 confirmed that the main circulating leak was real.

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.[19] 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,[20] and that it would be launching legal action against DeepDiscount.com and its distributor, Levy Home Entertainment.[21] Scholastic has filed for damages in Chicago's Circuit Court of Cook County, claiming[22] 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.[23]

In Hong Kong, a Commercial Press store opened 8 minutes before the official start of sales globally (00:01 BST, 21 July 2007, which is 07:01 in HK local time) for the sale of Deathly Hallows.[citation needed]

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.[24] Four of the biggest bookstore chains in Malaysia, MPH Bookstores, Popular Bookstores, Times and Harris, 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 MYR 109.90 (about GBP 16.05), while the hypermarkets Tesco and Carrefour sell the book at MYR 69.90 (about GBP 10). This is seen as a move to pressure the distributor Penguin Books to remove the books from the hypermarkets.[24]

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 retail price in the UK, although Costco cash and carry are offering the book for £4.98.

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."[25] Yishai indicated that he would issue indictments and fines based on the Hours of Work and Rest Law.[26]

Madeleine McCann appeal

A plan to include bookmarks bearing the face of the missing Madeleine McCann in copies of the book was shelved after the publishers decided it would not be responsible to expose younger readers to the story of Madeleine's disappearance.[27]

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.[28]

Early critical reception

Arthur Levine, U.S. editor of the Harry Potter series, denied distributing any copies of Deathly Hallows in advance for press review.[29]

 
Waiting for Harry Potter at midnight in Borders - Sunnyvale, California

On July 18, The Baltimore Sun published online the first review of the book. Writer Mary Carole McCauley, who received early access to the book, praised Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows as a "classic bildungsroman, a coming-of-age tale about the maturation of the title character". She notes that "...book seven lacks much of the charm and humor that distinguished Rowling's earliest books. Even the writing is more prosaic", but then observes that given the book's darker subject matter, "how could it be otherwise"? An editor's note appended to the review claims that the paper acquired a hardcopy of the book "through legal and ordinary means".[30]

Several hours later on July 18, The New York Times also posted online 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."[31]

Ms. Kakutani's review provoked negative response from some Harry Potter fans who felt the review revealed details of the book's plot. At least one fan website called for a letter-writing campaign to The New York Times.[32]

A representative of Bloomsbury, the UK publisher of the Harry Potter series, responded to the reviews:

As the originating publisher, we're really disappointed with what happened in the US. We're relying on the support of retailers and the media in the rest of the world to allow readers to find out for themselves. We are asking people to wait.

There's only 40 hours to go.[33]

According to the The Washington Post, a Bloomsbury spokeswoman also "likened the events in the United States to the Boston Tea Party, a 1773 protest by American colonists against Britain."[34]

J.K. Rowling said:

I am staggered that some American newspapers have decided to publish purported spoilers in the form of reviews in complete disregard of the wishes of literally millions of readers, particularly children, who wanted to reach Harry's final destination by themselves, in their own time.

I am incredibly grateful to all those newspapers, booksellers and others who have chosen not to attempt to spoil Harry's last adventure for fans.[35]

In response to complaints, The New York Times books, culture and theatre editor Rick Lyman defended the decision to publish the review. He stated:

Our feeling is that once a book is offered up for sale at any public retail outlet, and we purchase a copy legally and openly, we are free to review it.

As for charges that we gave away the ending, that is simply not true. We took great care not to do so, nor to give away significant details about who lives and who dies.[36]

On July 20, the The New York Times also stated that the main circulating leak available on the internet was indeed authentic, after comparing the book Ms. Kakutani had purchased and based her review upon with the leak's photographs.

The third and last pre-release American book review of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was published on July 20 by the online newsmagazine Salon.com. There was no detail given on how reviewer Laura Miller obtained her copy.[37]

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, arranged so that only the words "The" and "end" are centred.

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.

After Deathly Hallows

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."[38] However, she states in her website that she might write an eighth book for charity.

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.[39]

In February 2007 Rowling issued a statement on her website about finishing the final book, in which she compared her mixed feelings of "mourning" and "incredible sense of achievement" 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 continued "I've never felt such a mixture of extreme emotions in my life, never dreamed I could feel simultaneously heartbroken and euphoric." Recognising that her readers might experience similar feelings, she consoled them with the thought that "there will be plenty to continue arguing and speculating about, even after Deathly Hallows comes out." She ended her message: "'Deathly Hallows' is my favourite, and that is the most wonderful way to finish the series."[40]

The release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows wiped more than £151m from the stock value of Bloomsbury, Rowling's publisher, as investors believed the publisher had lost their most significant product. [5]

Editions

Bloomsbury (United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, etc.)
  • ISBN 0747591059 Hardcover
  • ISBN 0747591075 Hardcover (special edition)
Raincoast (Canada, etc.)
  • ISBN 1551929767 Hardcover
  • ISBN 1551929783 Hardcover (adult edition)
Scholastic (United States, etc.)
  • ISBN 0545010225 Hardcover
  • ISBN 0545029376 Deluxe Hardcover

The titles of non-English editions will be translated from Harry Potter and the Relics of Death.[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ "Rowling 'nerves' at Potter launch". BBC. 2007-07-20. Retrieved 2007-03-29.
  2. ^ "'HPDH' reaches no. 1 on U.S. Amazon & BN lists". HPANA. 2007-02-01. Retrieved 2007-03-29.
  3. ^ Rowling, J. K. (2007-02-01). "Publication Date for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows". J. K. Rowling Official Site. Retrieved 2007-03-29.
  4. ^ "Official Raincoast Harry Potter page". Raincoast Books. Retrieved 2007-07-20.
  5. ^ Blais, Jacqueline (2007-05-03). "After final 'Harry Potter' book, can anyone fill the void?". USA Today. Retrieved 2007-05-03. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ "Scholastic Announces Record-Breaking 12.1 Million First Printing In United States Of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows". Scholastic. 2007-03-14. Retrieved 2007-03-29.
  7. ^ Record First-Day Sales for Last ‘Harry Potter’ Book, New York Times, July 22, 2007.
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  28. ^ "Rowling in Madeleine poster plea". BBC News. 2007-07-16. Retrieved 2007-07-17. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  29. ^ "Editor Says 'Deathly Hallows' Is Unleakable". MTV Overdrive (video). July 17, 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-19.
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  32. ^ Annelli, Melissa (19 July), New York Times Posts Spoilers: Call For Letters {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
  33. ^ "Harry Potter Publisher Bloomsbury `Disappointed' at Early Leak". Bloomberg News. July 19, 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-21.
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  40. ^ "Rowling reacts to Potter's end". USA Today. Associated Press. 2007-02-06. Retrieved 2007-07-21. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
 
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