Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Novel

The Deathly Hallows title was released to the public on December 21, 2006, via a special Christmas-themed hangman puzzle on Rowling's website. Rowling mentioned Harry Potter and The Elder Wand and Harry Potter and the Peverell Quest as the two other titles she was considering.

Rowling completed the final chapters of Deathly Hallows in room 652 of the Balmoral Hotel. She signed the marble-bust of Hermes in her room so that it said: "J.K. Rowling finished writing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in this room (652) on 11 January 2007." In a statement on her website she said, "I've never felt such a mixture of extreme emotions in my life, never dreamed I could feel simultaneously heartbroken and euphoric." She ended her message by saying "Deathly Hallows is my favorite, and that is the most wonderful way to finish the series."

Rowling said that the epilogue was written "in something like 1990," as part of her earliest work on the series. She originally claimed the final word in the book would be "scar." She revealed that the original final sentence was something like "Only those who he loved could see his lightning scar." She changed this because it was a bit too ambiguous, and she didn't want people to think Voldemort would rise again. She changed it to "All was well," to make it clear that Harry's mission was over.

On the night of the launch, Rowling participated in an all-night book signing and reading at the Natural History Museum in London with 1,700 guests. Rowling toured the US in October 2007, including her famous event at Carnegie Hall in New York City where she outed Dumbledore as being gay.

Bloomsbury invested £10 million in an attempt to keep the book's contents secure until the release date. Arthur Levine, US editor of the Harry Potter series, denied distributing any copies of Deathly Hallows in advance for press review, but two US papers published early reviews anyway. 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 deterrent.

In the week before its release, a number of texts purporting to be genuine leaks appeared in various forms. On July 16, a set of photographs representing all 759 pages of the US edition was leaked and was fully transcribed prior to the official release date. The photographs later appeared on websites and peer-to-peer networks, leading Scholastic to seek a subpoena in order to identify one source.

Scholastic announced that approximately one-ten-thousandth (0.0001) of the US supply had been shipped early — interpreted to mean about 1,200 copies. One reader in Maryland received a copy of the book in the mail from DeepDiscount.com four days before it was launched. Scholastic announced that it would be launching legal action against DeepDiscount.com and its distributor, Levy Home Entertainment. Scholastic filed for damages in Chicago's Circuit Court of Cook County, claiming 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.

UK supermarkets, having already taken pre-orders for the book at a heavily discounted price, sparked a price war two days before the book's launch by announcing they would sell it for just £5 a copy. Other retail chains then also offered the book at discounted prices. This caused uproar from traditional UK booksellers who argued they had no hope of competing in those conditions. Independent shops protested loudest, but even Waterstones, the UK's largest dedicated chain bookstore, could not compete with the supermarket price. Some small bookstores hit back by buying their stock from the supermarkets rather than their wholesalers.

Despite all controversies, sales for Deathly Hallows were record setting. The initial US print run for Deathly Hallows was 12 million copies, and more than a million were pre-ordered through Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble, 500 percent higher than pre-sales had been for Half-Blood Prince. On opening day, a record 8.3 million copies were sold in the United States (over 96 per second), and 2.65 million copies in the United Kingdom. It holds the Guinness World record for fastest selling book of fiction in 24 hours for US sales. At W.H. Smith, sales reportedly reached a rate of 15 books sold per second. By June 2008, nearly a year after it was published, worldwide sales were reportedly around 44 million.

Voldemort plots with his Death Eaters at Malfoy Manor to destroy Harry Potter once and for all. His plan is to use another’s wand, which he takes from Lucius Malfoy, to circumvent the connection of the twin cores. To demonstrate the power of the coming regime change, Voldemort murders Charity Burbage, the Muggle Studies professor from Hogwarts, for writing a defense of muggle-borns.

Harry Potter is preparing to leave Privet Drive once and for all. While he is packing, he comes across an obituary for Dumbledore written by a colleague that makes him think he barely knew Dumbledore at all. He comes across a fragment of broken mirror from the one Sirius once gave him, and he occasionally looks in it convinced that he is seeing the piercing blue eye of Albus Dumbledore. He also sees that Rita Skeeter is publishing a biography of Dumbledore that is likely to defame him, but he tries to disregard this. The Dursley’s are reluctant to leave their home and go into hiding, but after much arguing Harry persuades them they have no choice. Just before they are escorted away, Dudley apologizes to Harry and thanks him for saving his life.

Once the Dursleys are gone, the Order of the Phoenix shows up to take Harry to the Burrow. Mad-Eye Moody explains that they must use decoys to confuse the Death Eaters, so six of his friends are given polyjuice potion to take on his appearance. The real Harry travels by motorbike with Hagrid. The moment they leave, they are ambushed by the Death Eaters. In the ensuing struggle, Hedwig is killed. They eventually figure out which is the real Harry, and Voldemort comes after him. In spite of the lack of twin cores, Harry’s wand acts of its own accord and saves him from Voldemort.

Harry and Hagrid arrive at the home of Tonk’s parents, Ted and Andromeda. They heal Harry and Hagrid before sending them to the Burrow by portkey. Slowly, the others start to arrive safely. Bill informs everyone that Mad-Eye was killed by Voldemort during the chase. Harry sees inside Voldemort’s head and knows that Voldemort is torturing Ollivander, whom he has been keeping as a prisoner, to learn why the borrowed wand was unable to conquer Harry’s. Hermione warns Harry against allowing this connection to continue.

The trio start planning their hunt for the horcruxes while everyone is also preparing for Bill and Fleur’s wedding. Hermione has modified her parent’s memories and sent them into hiding while Ron and some of the Weasley’s have transfigured the ghoul in the attic to look like him so the Ministry will think he is ill. During a birthday party for Harry, the Minister of Magic arrives to discuss the will of Albus Dumbledore with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Ron receives Dumbledore’s deluminator, Hermione receives a copy of “The Tales of Beedle the Bard,” and Harry receives the snitch from his first quidditch match. The Minister informs them that Dumbledore intended to leave Harry the sword of Godric Gryffindor, but he refuses to give it to Harry.

Bill and Fleur’s wedding is attended by several people, so Harry must be disguised with polyjuice potion. After the ceremony, Harry witnesses Viktor Krum having an altercation with Xenophilius Lovegood over wearing a symbol that supposedly belongs to Gellert Grindelwald. Elphias Doge, the writer of Dumbledore’s obituary, has an argument with the Weasley’s Auntie Muriel over the complicated past of the Dumbledore family. Specifically, the true reasons behind the death of Dumbledore’s mother, Kendra, and his sister, Ariana. The party is broken up by the arrival of Kingsley Shacklebolt’s patronus, which informs them that “the Ministry has fallen, Scrimgeour is dead,” and “they are coming.”

As Death Eaters and Ministry workers arrive to break up the party, Harry, Ron, and Hermione escape to a cafe in Muggle London to plan their next move. They are attacked by two Death Eaters, Dolohov and Rowle, but manage to get away. With nowhere else to go, they arrive at Grimmauld Place to figure things out. They notice the house appears to have been searched, and in searching it themselves they find a letter from Harry’s mother to Bathilda Bagshot with a missing page. They also realize that the R.A.B. who took the real horcrux locket was Sirius’s brother Regulus and that they had seen the locket in the house before. They summon Kreacher and he tells them the truth under orders from Harry. Regulus joined the Death Eaters and provided Kreacher to test the defenses of the locket horcrux. At some point, Regulus found out what they had done and ordered Kreacher to take him there. Regulus ordered Kreacher to take the locket and destroy it no matter what, drank the potion that protected the locket, and was dragged into the dark lake by infiri. Kreachers also tells them that Mundungus Fletcher took the locket when he raided the house, so Harry sends Kreacher to go and find him. For good measure, Harry gives the fake locket to Kreacher as a gift, which changes Kreacher’s attitude towards him instantly.

Several days pass with no sign of Kreacher. Lupin arrives to update them on changes in the wizarding world. He tells them that Harry has been made “Undesirable Number One” by the Ministry and that they are now rounding up muggle-born witches and wizards to be registered. It is also stated in the Daily Prophet that Severus Snape has been named Headmaster of Hogwarts. Lupin offers to go with the trio on their mission, which confuses Harry. Lupin, who has recently married Tonks, says that she is pregnant. Far from being excited, Lupin admits he should never have married her. After Harry fights with him for being a coward, Lupin leaves in a huff. Kreacher returns with Mundungus and they interrogate him about the locket. Mundungus admits he gave the locket to Dolores Umbirdge as a bribe when she caught him selling it without a license.

The trio decide to infiltrate the ministry under polyjuice potion to retrieve the horcrux locket. Once they are in disguise, they enter the Ministry and are separated by unfortunate circumstances. Harry is the only one to make it to Umbirdge’s office, but he does not find the locket. Harry sneaks down to the courtroom where Hermione is being forced to assist with the trials of muggle-borns being persecuted by Umbirdge and the Muggle-Born Registration Commission. Harry and Hermione manage to subdue Umbridge and retrieve the locket from around her neck, but in the chaos of escaping the ministry with Ron they encounter Yaxley, a Death Eater now in charge of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Since Yaxley has hold of Hermione when they disapparate, they are unable to return to Grimmauld Place.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione take cover in the woods to heal from their encounter at the Ministry and make a new plan. Ron becomes very irascible as they have no apparent hope of finding the other horcruxes or even destroying the one they do have. Harry sees through Voldemort’s mind that he has hunted down a wandmaker named Gregorovitch, though it is not clear what he’s after. One night, they overhear a conversation between some other campers who are on the run: Ted Tonks, a ministry employee named Dirk Creswell, Dean Thomas, and two goblins. They learn that the sword of Gryffindor was sent to a vault at Gringotts for safekeeping by Snape, but it is a fake and nobody knows where the real sword is. They make inquiries of Phineas Nigelus’s portrait, which Hermione took from Grimmauld Place, and he tells them that Neville, Ginny, and Luna were given detention for attempting to steal it. Harry and Hermione remember that the sword is impregnated with basilisk venom, which can destroy horcuxes. They begin to feel hopeful, until Ron becomes angry at them for appearing to ignore him and take his sister’s punishment lightly. Harry and Ron have an explosive argument and Harry tells Ron to go home, prompting Ron to storm out of the tent and disparate.

Harry and Hermione begin to feel great despair without Ron, but they continue with their mission. Harry suggests they go to Godric Hollow because he wants to visit his parent’s graves, and Hermione agrees. They go in disguise and under the invisibility cloak for extra protection. They find a statue in the middle of town square memorializing his parents. In the graveyard, they encounter several familiar names before finding Harry’s parents. Once they have paid their respects, they encounter the ruins of the house where the Potters lived. While they are looking at it, they are surprised by the arrival of Bathilda Bagshot. She behaves oddly, but beckons them to come back to her house. While at her house, they find themselves in a trap. Bathilda has been possessed by Nagini, who attempts to hold Harry while Voldemort arrives to kill him. They get away just in time, but Harry’s wand is destroyed.

Hermione shares with Harry that she took a copy of Rita Skeeters’ biography of Dumbledore from Bathilda’s sitting room. They read through it and learn that Bathilda was Gellert Grindelwald’s aunt. Apparently, Gindelwald went to stay with her after being expelled from Durmstrang, where he struck up a close relationship with Dumbledore. Based on written evidence, it appears they even began plotting a rise to power together which involved dominating the muggles. Harry is disguised and furious with Dumbledore for his past and for not telling him all the things he needed to know to complete the mission that was left when Dumbledore died.

One night, Harry is on guard duty outside the tent when he sees a patronus in the form of a silver doe. He follows it to a frozen lake where he sees the sword of Gryffindor lying at the bottom. He attempts to retrieve the sword, but is almost strangled by the horcrux locket he is keeping safe around his neck. At the last moment, he is saved by Ron. Amazed at Ron’s return, Harry suggests that Ron should be the one to destroy the locket with the sword. The locket attempts to torture Ron with visions of his own insecurities, but Ron overcomes the visions and destroys the locket. Harry takes Ron back to the tent where Hermione is both shocked and angry at his return. Ron explains he tried to come back at once but he was held up by snatchers who were trying to capture muggle-borns. While hiding out at Bill and Fleur’s new home, the power of the deluminator reveals itself when a tiny ball of light helps guide Ron to the place where Harry and Hermione are camping. Hermione is still reluctant to trust Ron again, but Harry is overjoyed at his return.

Hermione continues to be vexed by a strange triangular eye symbol in the book Dumbledore left her. Harry recognizes it as the symbol that Xenophilius Lovegood was wearing at the wedding. The trio decide to go and visit Lovegood to find out what it is. He is reluctant to help them at first, but agrees. They find out that the symbol is the sign of the Deathly Hallows: three magical objects which, if united, will make one master of death. They share the origin story through “The Tale of the Three Brothers” from “The Tales of Beedle the Bard.” The Hallows include an elder wand of unbeatable power, a resurrection stone, and a cloak of true invisibility. While Hermione and Ron debate the existence of the Hallows with Lovegood, Harry notices strange signs that Luna has not been at home for some time, which is odd because it is the Christmas holiday from Hogwarts. When they confront Lovegood, he admits that the Death Eaters took her because of his support of Harry in the Quibbler, but they might give her back if he turns Harry over to them. He summons Ministry officials to collect Harry, but the trio manages to escape.

Harry begins to obsess over the existence of the Deathly Hallows, convinced that they are the actual key to stopping Voldemort. Hermione and Ron try to steer Harry back towards finding the horcruxes, which proves difficult. One night, they find a broadcast of a radio show hosted by some of the Order of the Phoenix members called Potterwatch and they get some updates on the wizarding world. Sadly, Ted Tonks and Dirk Kreswell, as well as one of the goblins, were found dead, though it appears Dean Thomas and the other goblin escaped. Harry deduces that Voldemort is abroad because he is searching for the Elder Wand, which is why he was confronting Gregorovitch. Harry forgets that Ron had warned him upon return about a taboo on using Voldemort’s name that breaks protective enchantments. Harry uses Voldemort’s name, revealing their location and surrounding them with Death Eaters. The Death Eaters also appear to have captured Dean Thomas and Griphook, the other goblin he was on the run with.

Though Hermione attempts to disguise Harry with a stinging hex, the Death Eaters gather enough evidence to convince themselves that they have captured Harry and his friends. They take everyone to Malfoy Manor to be sure before summoning Voldemort. The Malfoys seem certain it is Harry and his friends, but Draco refuses to confirm. Bellatix Lestrange recognizes the sword of Gryffindor and has the others locked in the basement while they torture information out of Hermione. In the basement, Harry and the others find Luna and Ollivander being held prisoner. Harry looks in the mirror fragment, begging for help, and Dobby the House-Elf arrives to save them. Ron tells Dobby they can go to Bill and Fleur’s cottage, so Dobby takes Luna, Dean, Ollivander, and Griphook first. When Wormtail is sent down to investigate the noise, Harry and Ron overpower him. When Harry reminds Wormtail that he owes him his life, Wormtail’s silver hand acts of its own accord and strangles him to death. Harry and Ron manage to rescue Hermione with Dobby’s help, and they narrowly escape.

When they arrive at Shell Cottage, they realize that Dobby was stabbed by Bellatrix Lestrage just as they were leaving and he dies in Harry’s arms. Harry buries the elf in the garden before checking on the others. Harry, Ron, and Hermione decide they need to speak to Griphook and Ollivander before proceeding with their mission. Based on Bellatrix’s horror at thinking they were inside her vault at Gringotts, they believe another horcrux may be hidden there and ask Griphook for help breaking in. He is reluctant, but agrees if they promise him the sword of Gryffindor. They are reluctant, but agree. When speaking to Ollivander, they receive confirmation that the Elder Wand is definitely real, though he knows nothing of the other Deathly Hallows. Bill cautions Harry against making a deal with a goblin, especially involving treasure, but Harry insists they have no other options. Harry sees through Voldemort’s mind that he has found the location of the Elder wand before murdering Grindelwald, and then stolen it from the grave of Albus Dumbledore. One night, Lupin arrives to inform everyone that Tonks gave birth to their son, Teddy, and he asks Harry to be the godfather as they reconcile.

The day they decide to infiltrate Gringotts, Hermione is disguised as Bellatrix Lestrange with polyjuice potion. They make their way through Diagon Alley, where they are confronted by another Death Eater named Travers, who insists on accompanying them. Through use of the imperius curse, they manage to get past security into the bank. On their way to the vault, they encounter defenses which prove that the bank was warned of possible intruders. Acting fast, they get past a security dragon and into the vault. Inside the vault, they face countercurses designed to multiply the treasure and make it burning hot. Just before they are buried by burning treasure, they find and retrieve Hufflepuff’s cup, though they lose the sword to Griphook, who betrays them. The trio manage to escape once again on the back of the security dragon. After flying away, they land in a field to recover and regroup. Harry sees through Voldemort’s mind that he knows they are after horcruxes now. Harry is convinced the only thing to do is infiltrate Hogwarts and find the horcrux connected to Ravenclaw house.

The trio apparate to Hogsmeade Village where they are revealed by a caterwauling charm. Before the Death Eaters can catch them, the barman of the Hogs’ Head offers them shelter. After he chases the Death Eaters away, they learn that their host is none other than Albus Dumbledore’s brother, Aberforth. It was his eye Harry was seeing in the mirror, so it was he who sent Dobby to rescue them. He encourages them to abandon the mission and run away, but they refuse. He tells them the truth about what happened to his sister, that she was bullied into hiding her powers which affected her mind. His father was imprisoned for attacking the bullies and his mother was accidentally killed because Ariana couldn’t control her power. After meeting Grindelwald, Albus forgot his duties to his family and Aberforth attempted to confront him. There was a three-way duel between them and Grindelwald, and Ariana was killed in the struggle. Harry is horrified but insists that he must continue with the mission, so Aberforth summons some help from inside the castle. The help turns out to be a very bruised and ragged-looking Neville Longbottom.

Neville brings the trio up to speed on goings-on at Hogwarts. The Carrows, Electo and Amacus, have taken over all discipline in addition to teaching the students about the supposed dangers of muggles and teaching the dark arts. Neville and several other students who have been resisting have taken refuge in the Room of Requirement. Once they arrive there, the trio ask about artifacts belonging to Ravenclaw and find out about her legendary lost diadem. Luna offers to take Harry to the Ravenclaw common room to show it to him, where they are confronted by the Carrows. They subdue them just as they inform Voldemort of Harry’s arrival and tie them up with assistance from Professor McGonagall, who agrees to rally the teachers and hold off Voldemort. As the other teachers arrive, they all work together to chase Snape out of the building. They agree to gather the students in the Great Hall to prepare for battle, after evacuating the ones who are underage. Harry returns to the Room of Requirement to find that most of Dumbledore’s Army and the Order of the Phoenix have been told what is happening and have gathered to help fight off the Death Eaters. Everyone gathers in the Great Hall and the battle plan is laid out. Voldemort issues a warning that if Harry is given over, he will call off the attack. The others refuse to give him up and make final preparations for a battle.

While looking for Ron and Hermione, who have disappeared, Harry encounters the Gray Lady, once Helena Ravenclaw, and learns that she told Tom Riddle about the location of Ravenclaw’s diadem long ago. When Harry finds Ron and Hermione, he learns they went to retrieve Basilisk fangs from the Chamber of Secrets and used one to destroy Hufflepuff’s cup. They re-enter the Room of Requirement after Harry remembers seeing the diadem hidden in there the previous year, and are confronted by Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle as they find it. Malfoy is reluctant, but his now-former henchmen are eager to either capture or kill Harry and his friends to prove their worth to Voldemort. They use Fiendfyre, which they cannot control, and the contents of the room are destroyed, including the diadem of Ravenclaw. As they escape the room, they find that Crabbe has also died.

In the castle, the trio finds that the battle has commenced. They witness Hagrid being carried off by an acromantula swarm. They encounter Fred and Percy Weasley dueling with Death Eaters, in which they are caught by an explosion and Fred is killed. Harry sees through Voldemort’s mind that he is in the Shrieking Shack while the others fight. They make their way across the grounds through the battle and into the Whomping Willow to where Voldemort is hiding with Nagini in a protective spell. Snape is attempting to persuade Voldemort to allow him to find Harry, but Voldemort refuses. Voldemort insists that the Elder Wand is not truly his because he did not truly win it from its previous master, but Snape did. Though he claims to regret it, Voldemort kills Snape in order to master the wand. Harry rushes to Snape’s side, where Snape provides him with a stream of what looks like memories. With no time to explain, Snape asks Harry to look at him as he dies.

Voldemort issues a warning to the grounds that he will wait for one hour in the Forbidden Forest, but will recommence the battle if Harry does not give himself up. The trio return to the castle where the dead and injured are being gathered. Harry learns that many others he knows have died, including Lupin and Tonks. Harry masters his grief long enough to go to the pensive in the headmaster’s office to view Snape’s memories. Through the memories, Harry learns that Snape and his mother, Lily, were close friends as children. Their friendship was eventually ruined by Lily’s growing closeness with Snape’s rivals and Snape’s growing desire to join the Death Eaters. Snape attempted to save her and the Potters through Dumbledore when he learned they were marked for death, but he failed. From that moment on, Snape was Dumbeldore’s double agent. When Dumbledore was cursed by the ring horcrux, he shared with Snape the truth of Harry’s destiny: Harry has a part of Voldemort’s soul attached to him, and the only way to destroy it is for Harry to be killed by Voldemort. Snape also turned out to be behind such things as the idea to use decoy Harry’s the night of his departure from Privet Drive, and the silver doe patronus, an homage to Lily Potter, that led Harry to the sword of Gryffindor.

Harry now understands that he must give himself over to Voldemort in order to fulfill the plan to destroy him. On his way to the forest, he encounters Neville and asks him to kill the snake if he gets the chance. Harry remembers the snitch Dumbledore left him, and opens it to reveal the Resurrection Stone. Using the stone, he summons his parents, Sirius, and Remus to comfort him as he continues to where Voldemort is gathered with his Death Eaters. Harry confronts Voldemort just as his hour is up and Voldemort hits him with a killing curse.

Harry awakens in a dreamlike state. The place he is in resembles King’s Cross Station. He sees the fragment of Voldemort’s destroyed soul, neglected and alone, as he is greeted by Albus Dumbledore. Harry attempts to understand what has happened with Dumbledore’s help. They agree that he is not dead, which according to Dumbledore is because Harry was willing to give himself up with the intention of dying. Harry also confronts Dumbledore about all that Dumbledore never told him. Dumbledore is ashamed and admits that Harry is the better man, though Harry does not remain angry with Dumbledore. Harry tells Dumbledore that he feels he must return in order to have a chance at saving the others.

When Harry awakens again in the real world, Voldemort is celebrating with the Death Eaters at his apparent demise. They take Harry’s body back to the castle so they can establish dominance over the others, and the others stand up to him. He attempts to torture Neville, at which point the fight breaks out again. This time, the defenders of Hogwarts Castle appear to have the advantage, being protected by Harry’s sacrifice and thanks to the arrival of reinforcements. Bellatrix Lestrange attempts to murder several students and gets drawn into a duel with Molly Weasley, who kills her. Harry reveals himself while rescuing her and confronts Voldemort for the last time. After revealing that Draco Malfoy was the true master of the Elder wand, having disarmed Dumbledore before his death, Harry is able to hold off Voldemort with Malfoy’s wand and Voldemort’s killing curse is rebounded upon himself. The inhabitants of the castle celebrate the once-and-for-all destruction of Voldemort as Harry sneaks off to the headmaster’s office to explain what happened to Ron and Hermione. After using the Elder Wand to repair his own, he insists on returning the Elder Wand to Dumbledore’s grave so that its power will eventually fade.

Nineteen years later, Harry and Ginny are married and escorting their children to the Hogwarts Express. Ron and Hermione, also married, meet them there. The group encounters Draco Malfoy and his wife dropping off their own son. Before boarding the train, Harry’s son Albus admits to Harry he is afraid of being sorted into Slytherin. Harry assures him that he will have a say in the matter and that, even if he is sorted into Slytherin, everything will be okay.

The dedication of this book is split 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 "seven-way split" refers to some of those with whom Jo has shared her life while writing Harry: Dr. Neil Murray is Jo's husband; Jessica, David, and Mackenzie are her children; Di is Jo's younger sister, Dianne; Anne is Jo's mother, who died at 45 of multiple sclerosis (although Jo's mother did not know of the books since she died early on, Jo has said her death had a profound influence on how the series was written); and the final dedication is to all the fans who have made Harry's journey their own. The seven-way split is both a reference to the number of books in the series and the number of Voldemort's Horcruxes.

Awards Won

• ALA Best Book for Young Adults, 2008
• ALA Notable Children's Book, 2008
• Booklist Editors' Choice, 2007
• CCBC Choices, 2008
• Colorado Blue Spruce Book Award, 2008
• The Columbus Dispatch, A Best Book of 2007
• The Kansas City Star, Top 100 Books of 2007
• Los Angeles Times, Favorite Children's Book of 2007
• New York Times, 100 Notable Books of 2007
• New York Times, Notable Children's Book of 2007
• Publishers Weekly, Best Book of 2007
• Washington Post, Best Book for Young People for 2007

Nominations/Shortlists

• Booksellers Association Independent Booksellers’ Book Prize, Shortlist, 2008
• Carnegie Medal, Longlist, 2008