I don't think the dragon is an animagus. I don't think animagi can turn into magical creatures... can they? I mean, people can have a patronus that's a magical creature, but we haven't seen an animagus that transforms into a magical creature. I mean, that's not a very good disguise if you want to hide in the Muggle world.

but wait... i dont get it. which one of the two peices of art are going to be on the actual book? both are absolutely amazing. yummy! i cant wait. and yes, only 42 more days!!!!! Did anyone think that it might be an opal eye dragon? or it could be norbert, or a dragon put under the imperius curse??? hummmm...

The Muggle from Anywhere: Based on your theory, that the dragon is from New Zealand and sometimes migrate to Australia, and that the scenery and architecture of the houses match those countries, then you are saying that the trio is led to New Zealand or Australia?????? WHY would Voldy send a horcrux to either of those countries? Hasn't JKRowling kept the story in Britian throughout the whole series? No other ties at all, not even any hint to New Zealand or Australia...what I can remember are references to the same continent (Europe), no where farther. Do Antipodean Opaleye's migrate to Europe? Would Charlie have one in Romania? I don't know...doesn't seem absolute saying it is an Opaleye...

so amazing.I really want the deluxe edition! this dragon better be norbert .I'm so excited!!

Maybe there is time limit on the horocrux thing so dusk is important? Or a time limit on Harry's life so dusk is imortant? That village has to be where Riddle Manor is and Norber!! I'd love for that to be Norbert!!

Whether it is Norbert or not, it is definitely a Dragon. All those of you who are harboring ideas that is is a thestral, should have read the article before posting a comment. The same goes for those who are arguing over who the trio is on that dragon. The article has a description who tells you who they are. I know you were probablly soo excited to look at the picture and tear it apart inch by inch to analyze the hidden clues to the story, I know I was. But I read the article after I looked to see if there were any clues there as well, and guess what, there were answers! LOL. Read the article, then analyze the picture and post.

Ahh! This is so exciting! I'm not going to mention Norbert, because everyone has thought about that. But look at the clothes they're wearing. Hermione and Ron are in their school robes, but Harry is wearing regular clothes (no cloak). Maybe this means that Hermione and Ron have been at school, but Harry hasn't and he went to Hogwarts to pick them up and now they're off to somewhere. Harry's clothes don't look as tattered as Hermione and Ron's, though...

MAJOR DISCOVERY! MAJOR DISCOVERY! MAJOR DISCOVERY! As we all know, that there is a triangle seal in the spine of the UK Book. And it is on a Harry Potter web page! It means something important! But anyways, look at the river! LOOK AT IT! It starts at one place and divides into two. going separate directions! And it shapes a triangle! Even the mountains seem like exact triangles! This is amazing! But it all makes sense! MAJOR DISCOVERY!

I completly LOOOOOOVVVVVVVVEEEEEEE dragons.this cover is so tight, and so excited and i also think its Norbert because like sum 1 mentioned dragons grow fast, man im so got-d*** excited...........(yells)

I love this! That settles it...I definitley gonna get the deluxe edition. I think it's worth it in the end. =]

@ HermioneForever, "Even the mountains seem like exact triangles! This is amazing!"... *sigh* Isn't that a bit much? lol

You can speculate about all the dragon species of H's world, but Rowling said something that no new characters would be introduced in book 7. Therefor logic demands that it is Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback introduced in book 1 and neatly kept in reserve to become a obvious very important character in book 7, Important in the range of Buckbeak. It also puts some bones in the rather silly ch 14 of book 1, that was till now an rather excessive excuse to get Harry cum sui in detention without adding much to the story as it then went. Also fun that the seventh card of the Tarot is The Chariot, how close that comes to a dragonride.

THAT IS AMAZING did u notice that it mighnt not be godrics hollow or hogsmead it could be little hangleton or somwer thatw e dont now yet and that dragon could be fleurs dragon and charlie brings it to fleurs wedding then the others find it handy how many of u agree with me???

Soooo like, what the hell? Why are there more pages in this book than the other?

did any one else jus think that the dragon could just b flyin over some random town (i hope this is nt after the final battle i wnt harry to die dunno why hes my fave charcter then its lord voldemort)

Yeah, this looks AMAZING! I still think the original Deathly Hallows cover is the best, but i like this too! It reminds me of the earlier works Granpre drew of kiddie Harry flying on his broomstick, or some creature, like in books 1-3, now she brought it again! lol. It also reminds me of Eragon...when has any character in HP ride a DRAGON?!? well, that must be one heck of a tame and kind dragon to let 3 teens ride on its back, hehe. The dragon kinda looks like an oriental dragon to me, and the village reminds me of those villages in Italy or something like that. Can't wait for this book!

This is awesome! I can't wait for the book. The Dragon is probably Norbert. or it might be a horcrux

I'll bet the dragon really represents an airplane and at the last chapter, Harry wakes up when his plane is landing and realizes the past 7 books have just been a dream.... But really - great cover, great website, the best book series; can't wait to get the last book.

WOOOOOOOOOO! This has gotten me sooooo excited! i have no clue where the trio is going or anything, but i'm sooooooooo excited! great art work once again by Mary!!!!!!!! :)

i say this could be one of four places (seeing as its a village.); Hogsmeade(though unlikely), Little Hangleton, Great Hangleton, or Godric's Hollow. and the dragon... is yet to be identified. i think this says they're NOT going back to hogwarts... =)

I think this picture depicts what is happening before the US Cover Art. I also think the dragon (which could be Norbert) is blind (look at the white in it's eyes). I read a comment about what might be in the extra 32 pages. I believe that since all of the delux editions include large chapter art at the end, that this might be what those pages are. Which means 784 pages and 32 chapters to read! The village has to be Godric's Hollow, maybe Hogsmeade. I am really interested in why Ron and Herminone are wearing cloaks (which are tattered) and Harry isn't. All will be revealed in 42 days!

Cool! I wonder if we've met the dragon before in the books. I wonder if it's Norbert. But that would mean there in Romania.

OMGGG!!!!!! I love it!!! That's such a cool picture!!! I wonder why they are flying a dragon, but I sort of had a feeling they would at some point. Maybe it's Norbert!!! I gues we'll have to wait until July.

i like the idea that it could be draco's animagus. the dragon on the cover of the 4th book looked more like a dinosaur (kinda like a raptor) but this one looks like the chinese dragons, more elongated, more like a snake (this ties in with the fact that draco is a slytherin). n i dunno abt other ppl out there, but to me, draco did show a bit of courage in the 6th book. it might not be obvious n showy courage of some gryffindors, but it's there. so a dragon is a great balance between gryffindor n slytherin, it breathes fire (gryffindor's element) and it's releated to a snake. n of course there's the fact that draco actually means dragon. n jkr is all abt redemption, so if that character is not snape, it could be draco, cus that's a really important she'll be putting out there for the readers. it would be nice to see draco come to the good side (he could even end up like snape, some ppl will trust him, others won't). p.s. the white hair made me think of aberforth too, but there's just more reasons for it being draco.

Someone said the dragon has "white eyes". I thought this meant that it could be a Thestral but they aren't that big...

OH MY GOSH!! harry, ron and herminoe ride on a DRAGON?! oh my gosh the suspense is literally killing me. i want july 21st to come!! but at the same time, i dont. this is the last potter book. we will never know what happens after this. no more completely weird rumors about aunt petunia and mr. filch getting together (i had actually heard that one!). its so sad!! [but happy at the same time...]

This is the best cover art i've ever seen!. I hope it's Norbert. The mist is around them so I think there must be dementors around.

oh well. i guess there are always movies 6&7 =]

I've noticed something that no one has mentioned as of yet (as far as I know at least) Ron, Hermione and the dragon are all looking up towards something...Harry isn't. GrandPre says that her drawings all mean something, why isn't Harry looking up? Also, the idea that the dragon could be Draco is just kind of far-fetched for me. Something huge would have had to of happened in order for Draco to allow the three students he hates the most to ride on his back..unless he's taking them to Voldemort. See, that opens a whole other can of theories....

It's not the Chinese Fireball. They are red. Their whole bodies are red, and they have "golden spikes around the face". I definately think its the Opaleye. Perfect description. But if you look close up on Scholastic.com, well.... you can kind of see a pupil looking backward (I don't know what you guys are talking about with the red pupil looking forward...), so I don't know. GOSH I can't wait until the Mugglecast episode comes out talking about this!!!! YAY! Oh, and I like the idea that it's somewhere in Albania. I mean, Voldie had to have been there for a reason, right???

The mist around them means dementors.

Woa- is that whet I see? Are my eyes tricking me? Harry's riding a dragon...* *It could be a thestral, but I'd prefer the dragon.

i've just bought it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!can't wait to have it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i like the draco's animagus thing!!!

everyone has failed to notice that hermione and ron are wearing black, hogwarsts like robes, and harry is wearing muggle clothing. thats probably important... both hermione's and ron's robes look sort of ratty and worn... but harry looks clean. harry rescuing ron and hermione from somewhere on a dragon? Hannah_at_Hogwarts: hermione and ron are looking at something... good point! dementors? or maybe, oh! maybe they are looking at thestrals, because its the first time they could see them! maybe hermione and ron had seen someone die!

you're right Patronus_Potter ron and hermione are both wearing hogwarts robes!!!!!!!good point!!!

I bet my life that there r dementors around. see the mist????????????????????? ????????????????????????? ????????????????????????? ????????????????????????? ????????????????????????? ????????????????I bet im right

Looks to me like that dragon is a Norwegian Ridgeback...just look at the ridges. Norbert, for sure!!!

while we're on the subject of it being an animagus...i just wanna put this out there, could the dragon be mad eye moody? which eye was the fake eye? right or left? what color were his eyes anyway? i looked but couldn't find it. i mention this bcos the dragon looks pretty beat up n old n u can only see one eye n 3 limbs (2 "arms" n a "leg") from this viewpoint.

Maybe it's Norbert.. You know.. Hagrid's dragon.. In the first Harry Potter book..

It's not a thestral!!! Thestrals are HORSES with WINGS. Sheeesh. Anyways... Harry looks like he's wearing a Dragon Skin jacket. Kind of like the ones Fred and George wear, but brown. Maybe it was a gift from someone? Maybe they all went back to school and Harry just said, "Screw this. I'm out." and they were like, "No Harry! We'll come with you!" and ... and... that's about as far as I've gotten...

THATS NOT RON ITS MALFOY!!!!!!!!!!!!! RON MUST HAVE GOTTEN HIMSELF KILLED

That is ron. My question is: WHy is Hermione's leg green? Could she have been poisened while trying tog et a horcrux??

it would be sweet if norbert came back, and recognized the trio. he could help them on their quest. also, charlie could help them by getting norbert back.

a. it's ron b. it's a dragon!! c. sm1 mentioned this b4, but ppl don't seem to have noticed. go look closely at the box cover at the dragon's eyes. set ur monitor's brightness n contrast to max. the eye is blue on the left n u can see a black dot that's definitely the pupil and there are red veins towards the right as are present in any eyes. d. another reason why the dragon could be an animagus: it doesn't fit any one description of the different species. so either a hybrid or animagus.

RON DIED PERIOD. THAT IS MALFOY RUNNING AWAY FROM THE DEATH EATERS. RON MUST HAVE GOT KILLED IN A BIG BATTLE AGAINST VOLDEMORT. BUT I HOPE RON IS STILL ALIVE. HE WAS ONE OF MY FAVORITE CHARACTERS.

The dragon thing is interesting. Maybe it's Norbert, as a bazillion people have probably already suggested. But maybe the question isn't where are they going, but WHY are they on a dragon and how did they get on one in the first place? Maybe dragons will be used in some sort of battle, who knows. Anything is possible now, isn't it? I can't wait to find out! I can't believe it's little over a month away! I'm sad and excited at the same time! Agh!

Ron and Hermione are looking at something(s). What could this be? I like the point that they could be threstrals because the Ron and Herm have seen someone die! I think it is probably Rons parents. Proof? Of course they will stop at Rons house on this book and Voldemort likes to kill or attack people close to Harry. Like part of his family. Ron and Herm would be there because ron and herm are going out(YES!) and harry might have been there to. If it is true that they are looking at threstrals(above) is a VERY likely solution. AND WHY IS HERMIONES LEG GREEN???????????????????? ???

I THINK THE DRAGON IS DUMBLEDRE.

Maybe Hermione's leg is green because that is the color of her pants she is wearing?

OMG!!!!! that has to be norbert!!!!