Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
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"The final chapter is hidden away, although it's now changed very slightly. One character got a reprieve. But I have to say two die that I didn't intend to die, a price has to be paid. We are dealing with pure evil here. They don't target extras do they?" -- JK Rowling, June 2006
Contents |
The title
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is the title of the long awaited 7th and final book in the series. In the months leading up Christmas 2006, JK Rowling had teased her fans by revealing she had three working titles. Finally, on the 21st of December, it was revealed on her official web site via the "locked door" where news is often revealed after completing a puzzle. This puzzle was, interestingly enough, hangman.
Incidentally, December 21st is the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere, and the date around which the Winter Solstice, also known as Yule, is celebrated. And there was also speculation that two of the other broken prophecies from the fifth installment of the series were referring to the last book. "At solstice there come a new... and none will come thereafter."
Release
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was published and released on Saturday, July 21st, 2007, according to J.K. Rowling's website.
Cover art
The UK and US covers for Deathly Hallows was released on 28th March 2007 by Bloomsbury in the UK and Scholastic in the US.
"The cover illustration for the children's edition is by Jason Cockcroft, who drew the cover illustrations for the previous two Harry Potter books: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. The cover design for the adult edition is from a photograph by Michael Wildsmith, who has photographed all the adult edition jackets. Clearly it is a picture of Slytherin's Locket, which plays a key role in the final installment of Harry Potter."
The U.K. Children's edition is showing of course the scene where the "Three Musketeers" are falling out of the vault in which they searched for the sword.
The U.S. edition which has stumbled readers for months now is finally clear for those of you whose minds are still stumbling upon what the picture is showing.
As told in the final scene, as I'm sure you read in Chapter 36....The picture on the U.S. cover is the climax scene of the series in the Great Hall of Hogwarts...
"A red-glow burst suddenly across the enchanted sky above them as an edge of dazzling sun appeared...light hit both of the faces at the same time, so that Voldemort's was suddenly a flaming blur....Harry heard the high voice shriek as he too yelled his best hope to the heavens, pointing Draco's wand: "Avada Kedavra!" "Expelliarmus!" The bang was like a cannon blast, and the golden flames that erupted between them at the centre of the circle they had been treading, marked the point where the spells collided. Harry saw...the Elder Wand fly high, dark against the sunrise, spinning across the enchanted ceiling... And Harry, with the unerring skill of the Seeker, caught the wand in his free hand as Voldemort fell backward, the slit pupils of the scarlet eyes rolling upward. Tom Riddle hit the floor with a mundane finality..."
The book cover clearly shows Harry reaching for the wand while Voldemort, who has already been hit with the killing curse, begins to fall back with his arms open. So that the illustration did not give too much away, no green light is present, nor can we tell Voldemort is actually dying, though it is true that he is." The absence of Harry's wand in the scene is to not allow readers to make assumptions of the final battle without reading the book. If they see Harry with a wand and Voldemort without one, the end would be "ruined" though that isn't how Voldemort's death occurs. The pouch around Harry's neck is the one given to him by Hagrid for his seventeenth birthday - the one only the owner can open.
The shadows in the background are the spectators in the great hall as they look and watch as Harry and Voldemort have their last confrontation. The illustrator couldn't show their actual faces of Ron, Hermione, etc. because that would also possibly ruin part of the plot.
The wood of course along with the stones are to show that Hogwarts was under much destruction during the last few chapters. The Wood shows either tables from the Great hall or possibly wooden rafters.
And last but not least, the curtains, as were present in the first book, show that the story of Harry is over as in a play and this book is the same as "the final act" of the harry potter series.
Length
The page lengths for the various releases are as follows:
- US Hardback edition: Although said to be 784 pages (announced by Scholastic, 20th March 2007), it turned out to be only 759.
- British hardback edition: 607 pages (reported 28th March 2007).
This makes Deathly Hallows exactly the same length as Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (although it looks shorter due to thinner paper) and they are joint second largest book after Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. While essentially both in English, the US editions are longer than the UK versions as they use a larger text size, and contain illustrations.
Chapters
- Chapter 1: The Dark Lord Ascending
- Chapter 2: In Memoriam
- Chapter 3: The Dursleys Departing
- Chapter 4: The Seven Potters
- Chapter 5: Fallen Warrior
- Chapter 6: The Ghoul in Pyjamas
- Chapter 7: The Will of Albus Dumbledore
- Chapter 8: The Wedding
- Chapter 9: A Place to Hide
- Chapter 10: Kreacher's Tale
- Chapter 11: The Bribe
- Chapter 12: Magic is Might
- Chapter 13: The Muggle-born Registration Commission
- Chapter 14: The Thief
- Chapter 15: The Goblin's Revenge
- Chapter 16: Godric's Hollow
- Chapter 17: Bathilda's Secret
- Chapter 18: The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore
- Chapter 19: The Silver Doe
- Chapter 20: Xenophilius Lovegood
- Chapter 21: The Tale of Three Brothers
- Chapter 22: The Deathly Hallows
- Chapter 23: Malfoy Manor
- Chapter 24: The Wandmaker
- Chapter 25: Shell Cottage
- Chapter 26: Gringotts.
- Chapter 27: The Final Hiding Place
- Chapter 28: The Missing Mirror
- Chapter 29: The Lost Diadem
- Chapter 30: The Sacking of Severus Snape
- Chapter 31: The Battle of Hogwarts
- Chapter 32: The Elder Wand
- Chapter 33: The Prince's Tale
- Chapter 34: The Forest Again
- Chapter 35: King's Cross
- Chapter 36: The Flaw in the Plan
- Epilogue: Nineteen Years Later
External links
- JK Rowling's official web site.
- Verified Information for Book Seven - Both True and False.
- HPL: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
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| Philosopher's Stone · Chamber of Secrets · Prisoner of Azkaban · Goblet of Fire · Order of the Phoenix · Half-Blood Prince · Deathly Hallows | |
