I thought I would clear something up here: everyone is saying that the dragon is Imperiused because of it's misty eye; the eye changing color or turning misty is only in the movie, and not once mentioned in the books...

Oh my God, so many comments, where have I been? I don´t know what to say except that I can´t believe it´s just 40 days left. The time seems to fly away and the book and all will be over to soon but on the other hand sometimes ie now lol, 40 days seems like a lifetime and I want the book NOW! :)

Well, I like many theorys while it'd be cool if Norbert, the dragon is far too old to be him We are told that among other things, there are dragons guarding gringotts. I'm a believer in that the UK cover depics the trio at gringotts, which would make it possible for the dragon to have to do with that. But still, we are told that a dragon cannot be taimed. Which leaves only 2 more possibilities. As already suggested by many, the dragon is an animaguis (forgive the spelling) of aberforth, or moody, or draco (draco means dragon in latin). This is possible, but not likely. "Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus." These latin words, literally meaning, never tickle a sleeping dragon, really meaning never wake a sleeping dragon, are found at the beginning of every book on the howgwarts seal. I am a believer in JK having everything she puts in the book have a purpose. Up till now, no sleeping dragon has been awoken. There's one possibliltiy, that this refers to Draco "awakening" by not killing Dumbldore, and being good, and helping harry, but i dont believe this to be true. Could this dragon be a litteral dragon? A special dragon, fitting no perfect description of the dragons mentioned? One that would not immediatly slay harry, ron, and hermionie? let me know what you think . . .

Does "draco dormiens nunquam titillandus" actually appear in the books, though, or has it just turned up on merchandise and whatnot. While I daresay it's still valid if that's the case, I don't think it would hold the same significance. Also, my first thought when I saw the dragon's eyes was that it was an antipodean opaleye, although I don't think the body would be right for that. At any rate, I don't know where they would get one of those in the UK (unless they're not? They probaly are, though, judging by the picture, although you can never really tell, I suppose). Or the whole eye thing could just be artistic license. After all, all those things on the GoF cover weren't all in the maze in the book, so it wouldn't be the first time. But then again, I'm just not a big Grandpre fan (although I do like the DH and HBP artwork better than, say, GoF or OotP-- Harry's nose is no longer red and bulbous, for one thing). OK, slight tangent over now.

iora 2007....WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? about 10000 years ago we discussed a)actually someone else is holding the sword if you look closely enough, and b)Yes, chances are it is Godric Gryffindors, I mean who else has a sword

Antipodean Opaleye native to: New Zealand (and Australia) habitat: valleys appearance: iridescent, pearly scales size: medium eyes: glittering, multicolored, with no pupils flame: vivid red food: sheep eggs: pale grey

You know, this is something that I am sure will happen...Harry won't be affected by the curse of the Horcrux because Voldemort has transferred some of his powers to him. OR, Voldemort CAN be affected by the Horcruxes because Harry's blood is in him. Love is flowing dangerously in Voldemort, waiting to pounce at him and prove that it's the most important force in the world. And, I have a feeling that Voldemort will feel very strange when Nagini dies. After all, he has love in him now. And don't forget to research about the Seal of Solomon like I stated before. And I felt a VERY strange sense of Deja Vu, we are moving into a new house. Same country, just a different neighborhood, but whatever, I went into one of the rooms, and guess what I saw in one of the big paintings? Rome. A colosseum....(there is a colosseum in the picture, and it's broken or something). And the sky was what caught my attention, it had gold in it...(the painting had a bit of blue but still GOLD was in it). I think something in Rome that is undiscovered....

wow! this gives so many new clues!!! ah!!!! some points....ron and hermione look pretty frightened and harry looks determined....also: the dragon has a tiny grayish beard....good this have something to do with dumbledore?

THAT"S AMAZING!!!! The cover art is so cool! Wonder what the dragon is all about?!

Aber in Scottish placenames means "confluence" or "river mouth", so it could mean the location of Edinburgh-- at the mouth of the river Forth. Is the river in the backround also a clue to the identity of the dragon? The dragon has grey hair, which might be markings of a beard and hair similar to Aberforth Dumbledore. The wings are tattered almost identical to Hermione's tattered robe. Could this also indicate that in human form the wings would coincide w/ tattered robes? The orange sky is similare to orange backgrounds in U. S./U.K. Children's regular editions.

They could be flying over Godric's Hollow because a hollow is defined as a valley.

"Godric of Finchale is perhaps best remembered for his kindness toward animals, and many stories recall his protection of the creatures who lived near his forest home. According to one of these, he hid a stag from pursuing hunters; according to another, he even allowed snakes to warm themselves by his fire. (Godric of Finchale) convinced Ranulf Flambard, the Bishop of Durham to grant him a place to live as a hermit at Finchale, BY THE RIVER WEAR." This request to live as a hermit the remainder of his life along the river was made to the Bishop of Durham. Durham is a city along the River Wear in Northern England. It is one of the oldest cities in the country. The River Wear flows north through the city, enclosing the centre on three sides to create Durham's "peninsula". " The picture on the deluxe book cover seems to show a small town or village on a peninsula much similar to the habitation of the historic figure Godric of Finchale. His place in history seems to fall within the timeline of Godric Griffindor. I believe this might be Godric's Hollow.

Well ...I believe this is an old, blind dragon (notice the lack of visible pupils); but one that can find his way anyway. They are not over any village we've heard about before because there is the confluence of two rivers, one of which looks to be dammed upstream. They are probably coming from the scene on the UK children's edition in which they were all scratched up. But if so where is the house elf? Maybe they are flying to that scene. This begs the question: Where did their clothes become so tattered? Is the draqgon one of the guardians of Gringotts?

What are the twelve uses of dragon blood anyway and how did Dumbledore come to know them. So much we haven't been told....

So beautiful ! sigh...the dragon would be a chinese fireball either given by charlie or taken a gringott's (after a little trip to gryffindor 's vault ?) the village would either hogsmead beacause of the mountains( at least if they're in great britain ;scottland is one of the few places that got mountains) or of course that couls also be godric's hollow .That lead me to ask this question did J.K.Rowling mention the place where Lyli and James remains buried ? And would that be Godric's Hollow? If it is the book's title makes at last some sense: the deathly hollows Duble dor tolmd harry "the power he knows not" is love and we certainely know harry's parents died to protect him and VOILAaaa could james ans lyli's grave be a part of it ? There are also some waterfalls what about it? And as by asleep_at_the_moment saidit coul be little hangleton which is likely for it is said Voldemort's mother Merope Riddle, uncle Morfin Gaunt and grandfather Marvolo Gaunt lived in a run-down old house close to the village at hill's slope

Wow! This looks really good! All I can keep thinking is that Harry is wearing the same clothes that are on the box. It also looks like his clothes are more tattered. This leads me to believe that the trio are returning from the scene on the box. Could it be that the scene on the box is the final battle and the trio survive!?! Just an optimistic thought.

SUMMARIZED OBSERVATIONS: 1. It appears to be sunset rather than sunrise due to the lighting. 2. The dragon's nose, eyes, hair, and front paws/hands appear to be clues OR strange/identifying features for the dragon. 3. Harry appears to be wearing something resembling the scales on the dragon. 4. Harry appears to be determined, Hermione appears to be frightened and POSSIBLY looking up at something in the sky (she could just be looking at a wing), and Ron looks awed or nonemotional. 5. The size of the village is impossible to tell, but it appears to be small and agriculturally based. 6. The mountains are cone shaped and very tall, which I'm pretty sure is unusual for Britain.

norbort's one flaming biatch

THIS IS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT!!! PLEASE READ THIS AND SAY WHAT DO YOU THINK! At the start of every book you can see the emblem of Hogwarts. We can see the lion, snake, raven and badger... but what can we see under... DRACO DORMIENS NUNQUAM TITILLANDUS! ''Never tickle a sleeping dragon''. Sounds kinda stupid but on the other hand what if there is an ancient dragon sleeping beneath Hogwarts and the message is for all of those who cross the ancient school. I mean Dumbledore rocks but don't you think that Hogwarts has something other to protect it? Jo wouldn't put it on the emblem if it wasn't important and we haven't seen anything so far so this will almost certainly refer to the cover dragon... Hope this helps...

More major discoveries!!!!!! Okay, I was observing the UK Cover Edition cover page, and found out that at the side Hogwarts is starting to freeze up. Yes, FREEZE. And the moon's flooding the castle with rich moonlight. The abnormal thing is that the grass on the grounds is very green, but the tree is dead....And this was one HELL of a major discovery and I was about to hit myself for not noticing it before, being the very observant person. As you could see, the castle is illuminating golden light. Bright golden light and every window is shining...but no....a tower has big windows where no light is being shown despite that EVERY single window has the golden light. Significant? Without a doubt. And the main door of the castle is opened and the light is pouring into the grass. And there is a strange marking on the wall next to the stone steps. I hope you guys like my theories. HermioneForever, out!

THE EMBLEM PART 2!!! READ THIS AND WRITE WHAT DO YOU THINK! And to fill my theory above I think that Voldemort will make a big push against the school and without Snape and Dumbledore the school will lose the battle. And that is when the ''never tickle'' part kicks in. The dragon shows up and starts to kill off the DE and than is when Voldy flees because even he can't contend with the might of the ancient dragon. It wouldn't be the first time something like that happens. Just remember Treebeard and the destruction of Isengard in the LOTR. The EVIL WIZARD Saruman ''tickled'' the Ents by burning the forest and in return he goes down. The dragon could also be the thing that Harry is ''calling'' and Voldy is afraid of in the front of the cover.

renald128 took the words right out of my mouth in comment 1!!! OMGGG how do you get a dragon tame enough to ride? Unless it knows them i.e. Norbert. But the oriental dragon theory is interesting as in the 'Dragonology' pseudo-textbook it draws on east asian mythology where dragons in that region are a lot more communactive with people and less monster like. ooooh can't wait, I wonder if the door will open on June 21st as it will be a magical day - the summer solstice - and exactly a month till the book comes out????

I think the dragon might be the same as the one on the UK book cover it looks the same, except the one in the UK book is made of glass. Maybe Harry, Ron and Hermione enchant it to make it come to life and carry them. I'm pretty sure that ordinary dragons don't let you ride them. ~Steph

The dragon is Aberforth Dumbledore! And I am 100% sure. Why? Because we see a river in the drawing. Still don't get my point? Well, Aberforth means "from the river". No need to say more.

Maybe Harry is able to ride the dragon because of the shirt he has on???

I am pretty sure the dragon is Aberforth. It just fits...

cenzonico, thank you for posting about the 12 uses of dragons blood, I'm sure that it will come into play. Also, I like part of Zyzyx's idea about voldemort raiding the school, for a few reasons. I'm sure its something that voldemort would love to get his hands on. But again for the "Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titilliandus," I think it has to have a meaning. JK wouldn't have it there for no reason. Lets say we combined a few ideas for a moment. Voldemort wants hogwats, and its a fairly easy target, seeing as dumbledore is gone, snape is on his side (well, i think pretending to be, but can't leave his post until the right moment), and the order probably wont be able to protect it well enough. If a castle can hide one huge beast (the basilisk) why not another? Voldemort goes after the castle, and "tickle's" the dragon, how, i'm not sure. But the dragon rains chaos down on the death eaters, and they are forced to retreat. This must be a fairly imporant part of the book, because the words being so related to hogwarts makes it important. Harry, Ron, and Hermionie ride this sleepy old dragon to wherever the need to go next, and to their final battle. While these events probably will not happen, it is very possible. The castle has proven it can hide a beast. We have seen twice that a dragon can be used for protection, at gringotts, and at the first task of the gof.The story has proven that it is impossible to demesticate a dragon. But what about a dragon that protects the hogwarts? could this dragon even have to do with the founders, and be under their command somehow? the basilisk was under tom riddles command, when he was nothing more than a memory . . . tell me what you think . . .

I like the ideas about the "tickling dragon" but I doubt it will actually come into play...

And if you guys haven't noticed, look at the reflection on Harry's glasses. I see a river! Look at my other posts, this page, they are far more interesting and please tell me what you think about them.

What if the dragon is Aunt Petunia? She wouldn't be a registered Animagus. Maybe this is her redemption for all of the torture she put Harry through all those years. Just an idea . . .

And if Gringotts did have dragons guarding the vaults, wouldn't it make sense if they used more controllable ones like the Opaleye?

Ok, I am really liking the thought that the Dragon IS Aberforth Dumbledore...Ok now with every other Animagi they have something to remember them by. For instance, Rita Skeeter as a beetle, she has the glasses on. Also, when Sirius turns into a dog he has his black fur, like his black hair when he's human. Mcgonnagal as a cat, has the imprint around her eyes like her glasses when shes human. So my point is that an Animagi leaves behind something noteworthy from their human form. So why is this all important??? In this picture, IF Aberforth is truly the dragon, then he would leave behind his beard. Thus, because he is really old, then that would explain why the dragons eyes are white, because Aberforth's eyes must be going bad. I think this is very noteworthy, but it IS just an opinion and a bunch of other peoples as well. Sorry for my spelling : )

It seems that the dragon is an opaleye, also, it's probably the same day as the original cover since Harry is wearing the same clothes. This is so interesting, and so awsome, I had always imagined them flying on a dragon, I even drew a picture of them doing just that before the cover art came out. I am soooooo exited now!

HARRY POTTTER IS SUPER GAY!!!

Ginnypotter, I've been thinking for a while...... are you on something? Cuz i've been reading your posts for a while now, sometimes you write good comments about HP, and others you write bad comments saying he's gay and nasty and a perv and all that nonsense, what's wrong with you cuz i'd like to know, and please change your username, cuz ginny would never treat harry this way!

Maybe harry rescued ron and hermoine after another battle at hogwarts

im liking the aberforth idea about the dragon , cause i mean it would have been a good clue or a steer away by rowling to make the joke about another animagus on her sight. but i think the one thing that everyone has missed the real big thing that im shocked about is the fact that on the US cover only one of harry's eyes is green at the final battle meaning the thing about having his moms eye must have been literal. but his eye does infact look burned out or brown. take a look it will blow your mind.

Although I have suggested that Aberforth might be the dragon in animagus form, Here's another possiblility--Ollivander. Note the description from SS/PS: "An old man was standing before them, his wide, pale eyes shining like moons through the gloom of the shop." ... "HARRY wished he would blink. Those silvery eyes were a bit creepy." [Book 1, Chapter 5]. He also has grey hair. I am convinced against the imperius curse due to the chapter "The First Task" in the GOF where Harry and Hermione are attempting to decide upon spells for him to use. The books they find detail the nearly impossible task of affecting a dragon w/ a spell, since they are very resistant to magic. At this point, I am convinced either Aberforth or Ollivander. Norbert would of course be nostalgic, but most facts, except that it is a dragon, seem to dispute this.

What an exciting and mesmerizing image. I was really worried and anxious that the final book might be a unepic and lame or something, but this whole "trio riding a fierce dragon above a haunted and soon to be devoured by mist village" brings back that sense of awesome granduer and epic finale that is neccesary for this last book. REALLY excited now and cannot wait any longer....is it just me, or does anybody else get shivers down their spine at the thought that in under a single month, Harry Potter speculations and excitement will all be over? How have we already finished the series? I would LOVE to go back in Time and read all the books for the first time....see if any future ideas were ending up to be true....Cannot wait....

that is totally AWESOME!!!! OMG OMG OMG!! the dragon stuff.................... it cant possibly be norbert.. i doubt it.

is that harry, ron and hermonie flyin norbit? WOW! am excited

who ever said dragons can not be tamed? if we can tame tigers and lions to perform in circus acts, i dont see why a dragon cant be tamed. sure there are plenty of ferocious ones out there, and im not about to jump into a enclosure with one, but there are a few out there that will balance themselves on a ball for a treat. when i saw this on the Today show the guy said that this takes place during an important part...i wish it gave more clues, but its pretty much just 3 kids riding on a dragon. if anything its nice to see harrys friends stickin it out with him.

Does this remind anyone of the finale scene from 'The Neverending Story' (movie)? It looks very; Sebastian & Falcor to me. Also, has anyone noticed that the dragon appears to have a pig/hog-like nose?

Dragon breeding is outlawed and even for bringing dragons in GOF, the ministry has to seek permission. So whatever Harry and Co doing sounds like rule breaking, and I guess from the looks on them they are very desperate.

defiantly norbet. hands down

i think that the dragon is Norbert, and they are flying above Albania...because Albania is known as "THE LAND OF EAGLES"!!... the eagle is a symbol of Ravenclaw, and this might well be the place where they find the ravenclaw horcrux... let me know what you think...

Legilimens I think that that is ridiculous.

May be the Dragon is what Harry is reaching for on the cover of the regular edition, since the sky is similar in color.

I'm sorry I_am_Lord_Mouldyshorts... . I like the theory that a dragon is hidden in Hogwarts... but.. hmm why it still slept when the Death Eaters were there in HBP??... and how on earth did he stayd alive?? .. and a dragon it's bigger than the Basilisk... much more bigger....but still a nice theory

right. they are not flying over albania. that is codswallop in my opinion. the uk is very mountainous, its not just scotland thats lumpy. so they could be anywhere (in the uk). the horcrux hunt would become immensely tricky and time consuming if it was a global search. i dont think that the dragon is an animagus. at least of people that we know already. (most plausible theory is aberforth). i believe it is the pet that jk referred to in the interview that harry "might get at some point". it would be a bit rude to consider a person that can transform, to be your pet. and id also like to add that if the dragon is the animagus of aunt petunia ill eat my agapanthuses...