How does deathly hallows book end

Xeno Lovegood had said earlier that the three "Hallows, if united, will make the possessor the Master of Death". We believe that he is quoting the legend when he says this because his speech cadence seems to be written differently than his usual speech. Harry has, at this point, effectively united the three Hallows: the Elder Wand has transferred its allegiance to Harry, the holder of the wand which disarmed Dumbledore; the Invisibility Cloak is under his shirt; and he has been using the Resurrection Stone to navigate through the Forbidden Forest.

It is possible that, having become the Master of Death by having united and possessed all three Hallows, Harry will now be the Master of Death until he decides to pass on. It is unknown whether loss of any of the Hallows to another would end his mastery; but it is certain at this point that Harry has become, perhaps unknowingly, the Master of Death, and so may have been able to make the choice himself whether to go on, or return to the land of the living.

This also might explain why Dumbledore was in the Waystation waiting for Harry; we know that he had the Elder Wand and the Resurrection Stone in his possession in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince , and Harry's bringing the Cloak into Dumbledore's office might well have been enough to give Dumbledore also the necessary power over Death to allow him to await Harry's arrival.

Yet there must be something that keeps them together. At the beginning of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix , Vernon Dursley , discovering that Harry is becoming a magnet for trouble that can hurt his family as well as Harry, orders Harry out of his house.

Petunia seems to agree with Vernon's decision, until the Howler reminds her of Dumbledore's earlier letter, which we must presume was the one left on the Dursley doorstep with Harry at the beginning of the series.

At that point, Petunia abruptly rationalizes Harry remaining with them, forcing Vernon to back down. Obviously there is a blood relationship between them, as Lily Potter was Petunia's sister.

Petunia, however, throughout the series, acts as though Harry has been thrust upon them; she has not accepted this burden willingly. What is compelling her to keep Harry? And why is Harry required to return to Privet Drive every summer? Granted, it does not have to be for the whole summer — at the beginning of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince , for instance, Dumbledore, who obviously is privy to the details of the spells involved, collects Harry from Privet Drive after only a fortnight.

What exactly is the nature of the bond that requires Harry to stay with Petunia? It is stated over and over that Harry's protection came from Lily's sacrifice, and that until he reaches 17 that protection will come from her blood — and Petunia being Lily's sister, a blood relative, means that Lily's blood is in Petunia as well.

That protection, which is only protection from Voldemort's direct action, as it was Voldemort's direct action that Lily died trying to prevent, ends when Harry reaches the age of majority and is unable under Wizarding tradition to claim Petunia's home as his own. In the first chapter of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone , Dumbledore says he has reinforced that ancient magic, but it seems that it is that tie of blood relation which counts.

The word "blood" is used in particular so that we can see the transfer of the source of immunity from Petunia to Voldemort himself in the cemetery in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. As it was Lily's sacrifice that saved Harry's life, it is the shelter under Lily's blood by way of Petunia that keeps Harry protected for the first seventeen years of his life. However, this does not provide any protection to Petunia, as Lily certainly did not die to save Petunia's life.

While there is no way that this can be anything except speculation, it is possible that what Dumbledore was achieving with his "reinforcements" was extending Harry's protection so that it protected his home as well as himself. This would explain why the Order were taking the Dursleys away at the beginning of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. After being separated, Harry discovers Alastor's magical eye has been taken by Umbridge.

Thinking it a disgrace to Alastor's memory to keep it stuck in Umbridge's door, he steals the eye, so as to give it a proper burial and the respect it deserves. Once Harry reunites with Hermione, he witnesses the Muggle-Born Registration Commission , set up to convict Muggle-borns of "stealing" magic, at work.

Hermione takes the Horcrux, which Umbridge had falsely used to bolster her Pure-blood credentials, from Umbridge. By the time Harry and Hermione begin freeing the Muggle-borns, the Ministry knows that there are intruders in the building, having discovered Alastor's eye missing.

Once they reunite with Ron, they encourage the Muggle-borns to flee the country. They make for the exit, and as they escape, their hiding place is discovered, Ron is splinched, and they are forced to flee to the countryside, where they move from place to place, never staying anywhere for more than a night or two.

One night, Harry has a vision of Voldemort interrogating Gregorovitch and realises that Voldemort is searching for something Gregorovitch once had but which was stolen by a young man long ago. After several weeks of travelling in which they accomplish nothing, they overhear a conversation between Ted , Dirk Cresswell , Dean Thomas , and Goblins Griphook and Gornuk , wherein it is revealed that Godric Gryffindor's sword, which had been in Dumbledore's possession and was then sent to the Lestrange Vault for protection, is actually a copy.

They also mention that the whereabouts of the real sword are unknown. Harry, Hermione, and Ron also overhear that some students attempted to steal the sword from Snape, prior to its removal. Upon hearing that the perpetrators were their friends, the trio worry about the punishment but are relieved to hear that their friends only served detention with Rubeus Hagrid.

Harry and Hermione hear all this and are heartened, and after questioning the portrait of Phineas Nigellus Black , they discover that the sword had last been used by Dumbledore on another Horcrux, Marvolo Gaunt 's ring. Hermione realises that it must be impregnated with basilisk venom and therefore can destroy Horcruxes. Ron is discouraged, feeling that with the sword now necessary as well and out of reach, their quest is becoming hopeless.

He argues with Harry and it becomes apparent that the locket Horcrux has messed with Ron's mind, making him behave the way he is, and angrily departs claiming that Hermione had chosen Harry over himself when she decides to stay, leaving Harry and Hermione together.

Hermione is distraught upon Ron's departure, and Harry is angry, but the two of them realise they will have to continue without him. After many more listless weeks, they make their way to Godric's Hollow on the off-chance Dumbledore left the sword there for them, with Bathilda Bagshot , author of A History of Magic.

Arriving in Godric's Hollow on Christmas Eve, the two first visit the graveyard where both Harry and Dumbledore's families are buried. Harry and Hermione follow her to her old, disgusting home, where they find a picture frame of Gellert, who is Bathilda's great-nephew and, long ago, was Dumbledore's childhood friend. However, Harry and Hermione don't realise that the real Bathilda has been killed and her body has been taken over by Voldemort's pet and Horcrux Nagini.

Only Harry can understand the very little that Bathilda speaks as he can speak Parseltongue , and Nagini is a snake. Bathilda coaxes Harry up the stairs, ordering Hermione to stay behind, in order to ambush Harry. Hermione seems reluctant, but Harry thinks that by following her perhaps she may present him with the Gryffindor sword.

Once Harry is upstairs, Bathilda's body crumbles and Nagini flops out, and begins attacking Harry. Upon leaving, Hermione runs upstairs to help Harry, unfortunately her Blasting Curse rebounds in the chaos and cracks Harry's wand in two.

As they Apparate, the very second that Voldemort appears, Harry's mind begins to flash back to the night in which his lightning scar on his forehead became so , and it reveals exactly how Voldemort had killed Harry's parents.

Harry was briefly incapacitated following the incident in Godric's Hollow, and he and Hermione spend Harry's few days convalescing in the Forest of Dean where Harry sits down to vindictively read Rita's book The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore.

He discovers that the boy he saw in Voldemort's mind is none other than Gellert and that Dumbledore and he had been good friends as teenagers and had shared the idea that wizards should rule over the Muggles.

Making this discovery, Harry reaches a new level of disillusionment with his former mentor. While Hermione sleeps, Harry resumes the position of keeping watch outside the tent. Not long after a silver doe appears. It is obviously a Patronus , due to the silvery texture and appearance. The doe leads Harry away from the camp site and to a small, frozen lake, where, at the bottom, lies Godric Gryffindor's Sword. Harry breaks the ice using Hermione's wand, strips to his underpants, and attempts to retrieve the sword.

Only when he attempts does Salazar Slytherin's locket sense that the sword is near, it wraps itself so tightly around Harry's neck that it cuts his flesh, keeps him from getting to the surface for air, and begins to both strangle and drown him. Harry tries to make it back to the surface, but he only kicks himself into the rocky and icy part of the pool. Harry attempts to loosen the locket but his fingers are too frozen.

Harry begins to suffocate, and he feels a pair of arms Harry thinks they belong to Death wrap around his chest before passing out. When Harry comes to, he thinks Hermione has come and saved him again, but she hasn't -- it's Ron! Ron was also able to retrieve the sword and cut the locket off of Harry's neck. Ron asks Harry why he didn't take the Horcrux off first, then explains that he'd been looking for him and Hermione all day.

Ron also reveals that while running to the pool, he saw something move behind the trees. Harry quickly dresses himself and tells Ron that since he was the one who got the sword out of the pool, he has to be the one to destroy the Horcrux.

Harry speaks Parseltongue in order for the locket to open and be able to be destroyed. Tom Riddle 's eye appears when it opens and a voice begins speaking to Ron, teasing him. From the locket appears two figures that are meant to belittle any person attempting to destroy it in order to stop them: Riddle-Harry, and Riddle-Hermione, who was more beautiful and at the same time more terrible than the real Hermione.

They tease Ron, all the time Harry is telling Ron to stab it; Riddle-Harry saying that Ron's mother would rather have had him for a son than Ron. Riddle-Hermione saying that nobody would ever look to him when Harry was around.

She then proceeds to wrap her arms around Riddle-Harry. They kiss romantically, and it is at that moment that Ron almost fails in both spirit and mind.

He overcomes his weakness and smashes it with the sword, and the Horcrux is destroyed. Harry tells Ron that he has no deep romantic love feelings for Hermione, he loves her like a sister, and that she cried for weeks once he left. They hug and reconcile, and Ron is there to stay. When they head back to the camp, they awake Hermione to tell her of the good news: The Horcrux was destroyed and Ron has returned.

She, however, doesn't seem too happy with Ron leaving them. She begins to beat him up. Hermione is furious at Ron for leaving for weeks and then suddenly showing back up. Ron explains that he wanted to come back as soon as he left but he ran into some Snatchers, whom he tricked into thinking he was Stan Shunpike and escaped with an extra wand. He then tells them that early Christmas morning, he heard Harry and Hermione talking through the Deluminator discussing Harry's broken wand. Next, he explains that the Deluminator showed him the way back to them.

He tells Harry and Hermione how he saw the silver doe while waiting for someone to show themselves and Harry following it, then explains how he watched Harry jump into the pool and then after a while realised something was wrong and rescued Harry, then grabbed the sword.

He and Harry tell her about vanquishing the Horcrux though they're careful about skipping the part where Riddle-Harry and Riddle-Hermione show up.

In the end, Hermione lets him go and goes to bed without another word, while Harry and Ron talk about how she could have been worse. Ron reveals that he was able to find Harry with the aid of Dumbledore's gift, the Deluminator , which has many more useful abilities than they originally thought.

Hermione, who has recently been poring over The Tales of Beedle the Bard realises their next necessary step. She tells them that they need to speak to Xenophilius Lovegood and ask him about Grindelwald's mark , a symbol which has shown up time and again during their journey. Only days after escaping from Voldemort in Godric's Hollow, the trio begin searching the hills surrounding Ottery St Catchpole for the Lovegood residence.

Mr Lovegood then introduces them to The Tale of the Three Brothers , a fairy tale about three men who bested Death and who received a magical item for it: An unbeatable wand called the Elder Wand , a stone which could bring back the dead the Resurrection Stone , and an Invisibility Cloak that can hide the wearer from Death itself and never failed with age, unlike most cloaks of that nature.

Lovegood tells them that the three items are collectively represented by the symbol, and whoever masters all three artefacts will be the "Master of Death. They soon discover that Lovegood has betrayed them to the Ministry; Luna , his daughter, was taken captive earlier in the year because he was encouraging support for Harry, and he believes that giving them Harry will win her freedom.

The trio barely escape from the Death Eaters sent to fetch them. In an ingenious plan to ensure escape, but also protect Ron's alibi, Hermione throws Harry's cloak over Ron and blasts away the floor. After hearing the story of the Deathly Hallows , Harry becomes obsessed with finding them, and he begins to neglect his duties as the group's leader as he sits in reverie.

With Harry not performing, Ron steps up to lead them as they venture up and down the island checking any place with links to the wizarding world for signs of another Horcrux. After listless weeks, Ron finally manages to tune into a rogue wizard radio broadcast called " Potterwatch ," run by Lee Jordan , which reports the news as it actually happened unlike the Daily Prophet. The broadcast is quite entertaining, and Harry laughs for the first time in months.

However, after the programme, Harry accidentally says Voldemort's name, breaking the Taboo, and a group of Snatchers find Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Hermione's quick thinking comes in handy when she uses a jinx to disfigure Harry's face so he is not immediately recognisable.

They all give false aliases, but the Snatchers soon find out their true identities, albeit a little uncertainty.

Because of their uncertainty, the Snatchers take the trio to Malfoy Manor. There, they are taken into the drawing room to have their identities confirmed. The Malfoys' son Draco is home for the Easter holidays. He is reluctant to identify the trio, but when Lucius Malfoy is satisfied that the prisoners are indeed Harry Potter and his accomplices, he reaches for his Dark Mark.

At that instant Bellatrix Lestrange , who was with the Malfoys, stops Lucius, because she saw a sword being carried by one of the Snatchers and believes it to be Godric Gryffindor's Sword which was supposed to be in her vault at Gringotts. She singles out Hermione for torture and interrogation, although Ron tries and fails to take her place, to find how the trio acquired the sword, while Ron and Harry are locked in a cellar with Dean , Griphook , Garrick Ollivander , and Luna.

Hearing Hermione's cries, Harry locates his broken shard of mirror, sees a flash of blue in it resembling Dumbledore's eye and in desperation begs for help. Upstairs, Hermione lies to Bellatrix, saying that the sword is a copy. Bellatrix sends Draco to fetch Griphook who Harry convinces to corroborate Hermione's story. As Draco slams the door, Dobby Apparates into the cellar. Harry orders him to take Dean, Luna and Ollivander first and then return for everyone else.

When Dobby Disapparates, the noise is heard upstairs, and Wormtail is sent to investigate. When he reaches the cellar, Harry and Ron attack him, but Wormtail resists, losing his wand to Ron, but grabbing Harry's neck with his artificial hand. Harry calls upon the life debt that Wormtail owes him, and Pettigrew momentarily hesitates, and his artificial hand , made for him by Voldemort three years previous, immediately strangles Wormtail to death for the mercy he has shown.

At that moment, Hermione lets out a horrible scream of pain. Harry and Ron leave Wormtail's body on the floor and rush upstairs to find Bellatrix questioning Griphook and an unconscious Hermione at her feet. Griphook tells Bellatrix that the sword is, in fact, a copy.

Bellatrix kicks him aside and presses her Dark Mark. When they crash through the door, Ron disarms Bellatrix, and he and Harry begin a fierce exchange of spells with the others in the room. They are forced to stop when Bellatrix threatens to cut Hermione's throat. As Voldemort approaches, Dobby returns and drops a chandelier onto Bellatrix, who drops Hermione and runs away.

The chandelier falls onto the goblin and Hermione and shards of glass fly all over the place. Ron sprints to pull Hermione from the wreckage as Harry wrests three wands from Draco ; his wand and the wands Ron and Harry had taken during the earlier skirmish.

They escape as Voldemort is close to arriving, but Dobby is struck by Bellatrix's knife as they flee. As Ron takes Hermione inside, Harry sees that Dobby has been struck with Bellatrix's sharp knife and that he is dying. Dobby dies in Harry's arms with the final words, "Harry As Harry stares at dead Dobby curled up on the grass, he can't help but remember staring at Dumbledore's corpse the same way.

Bill suggests that he bury him. Harry believes that for Dobby's bravery, he deserves a funeral just as grand, and he refuses to use magic. He digs Dobby's grave by hand as Hermione and Griphook's injuries are tended to in the house. While digging the grave, Harry does some thinking. He realises that Dumbledore had been right about Dobby, Ron and Pettigrew.

He comes to a reaffirmation of faith in his old mentor and loses his burning obsession with the Deathly Hallows. Dean takes the injured Griphook inside as Bill tells Harry that Ron has taken Hermione inside and that she'll be alright.

Dean and Ron come outside. Ron says to Harry that Hermione is doing better and Fleur is looking after her. Then Dean and Ron join Harry with digging the grave. The group holds a funeral for Dobby. They provide clothes for him; Harry wraps him in his jacket, Ron gives him shoes and socks, and Dean gives him a hat.

Luna says a few words for him, as Harry is too grief-stricken to speak. Ron and Dean give thanks to Dobby, and Harry manages to choke out a goodbye as he forces himself not to break down. Once inside, Harry washes his hands, then tells Bill he needs to talk to Ollivander and Griphook.

He meets up with Ron and Hermione and then questions Griphook about how to break into Gringotts Wizarding Bank , believing that a Horcrux is hidden in Bellatrix's vault.

This feeling was based on her reaction when she saw that the trio had Gryffindor's Sword. Harry then questions Ollivander about the Elder Wand , revealing his deep insight into Lord Voldemort 's way of thinking. Ollivander also gives him a lesson on wand mechanics; when a wizard disarms, kills, or otherwise defeats another wizard, they can use that wizard's wand as well as their own.

While telling them this, he receives confirmation as he has a vision in which Voldemort successfully steals the Elder Wand from the tomb of Dumbledore. Griphook eventually agrees to help the trio, in return for Gryffindor's sword. Harry reluctantly concedes that he will have to give up the sword but plans to hand over the sword after all the Horcruxes have been destroyed. He tells Griphook he can have the sword after they have broken into the Bank, but he is very careful not to mention when, as Goblins are notoriously known for going back on their word.

The trio spends nearly a month planning in one of the Cottages cramped bedrooms, only seeing daylight or the other occupants of the house at mealtimes. Harry, as well as the other two, comes to strongly dislike Griphook because the Goblin seems to relish causing pain.

During their stay, Remus Lupin visits them again. Chastened by Harry, he had returned to Tonks by Christmas, and he came to Shell Cottage to tell everyone that she has given birth to a son who does not have his werewolf tendencies but instead possesses Tonks's Metamorphmagus abilities.

Lupin also gives Harry the honour of being Teddy Lupin 's godfather. After many rounds of wine, he departs, and as they are cleaning up, Bill corners Harry and tells him to be wary of Griphook. After extensive planning, on 1 May the group sets out for Gringotts to obtain the Horcrux. Hermione poses by way of Polyjuice Potion as Bellatrix using a lone hair that had been left on her during the Skirmish at Malfoy Manor.

Ron is disguised as a fictional foreign wizard, and Griphook and Harry go under the Invisibility cloak. Through their use of disguises and Harry's repeated use of the Imperius Curse , they manage to gain access to the bank.

As they are travelling down the tunnel to the Lestrange Vault , their cover is blown by Thief's Downfall , and the Gringotts' defences are set against them. Harry grabs it, but Griphook betrays their presence and flees with the sword. Many guards begin to pour into the vicinity as Harry, Ron, and Hermione exit the vault. Fighting off the guards, they narrowly escape on the back of a captive half-blind dragon which is released into the wild following their escape. Gryffindor's sword is kept by Griphook.

Sitting on the edge of the lake where they dismounted from the dragon, Harry has a vision shortly after their escape in which Lord Voldemort discovers that his secret has been discovered. In his rage, he kills dozens of Gringott employers and lists off all the locations of the Horcruxes, now that he realises they are being sought after and destroyed.

Voldemort inadvertently reveals that the unknown Horcrux, which Harry suspects to be a relic of Rowena Ravenclaw , founder of Ravenclaw house, is safe within Hogwarts Castle , confirming a belief Harry had shared with the others to much derision. Harry realises that if they want to get the Horcrux within Hogwarts, they need to do so immediately, before Voldemort finds his other Horcruxes are missing.

They immediately Apparate to Hogsmeade to find a way to sneak into the school. When they arrive in Hogsmeade, they immediately trigger the Caterwauling Charm placed on the village alerting the Death Eaters to their presence. Harry and friends are cornered by the Death Eaters, but are saved by Aberforth Dumbledore , Albus Dumbledore's younger brother.

Harry also discovers that Aberforth was the one he saw in the mirror at Malfoy Manor. During the ensuing argument, Aberforth urges the trio to flee, but they refuse to give up.

Aberforth then tells them the truth about Ariana; She had been a witch, but an attack on her by Muggle boys had left her unable to control her natural magical abilities.

Percival attacked the Muggles in retaliation. The family kept Ariana and her incurable condition secret to protect her, with Kendra and Aberforth caring for her the most. However, one of Ariana 's magical outbursts killed Kendra. With Aberforth about to return to school, Dumbledore took over care of Ariana. At this time he was introduced to Gellert Grindelwald.

He began to neglect his duties as he was planning his uprising with Grindelwald, for which he was confronted by Aberforth. Grindelwald, Albus, and Aberforth got into a duel, in which Ariana was accidentally killed in the struggle.

After sharing this sad story and being told by Harry that his brother regretted that moment to his death, Aberforth opens a secret passageway to Hogwarts, where Neville Longbottom greets them. The trio learn that Neville, Ginny , and Luna had restarted Dumbledore's Army to resist the regime of Severus Snape , who was made headmaster following Voldemort's takeover of the Ministry and that the members of the reconstituted Dumbledore's Army have taken shelter in the Room of Requirement to hide from Snape's forces.

Believing that Harry's return meant revolution, Neville summons members of the D. Harry asks them what they know about any artefact that belonged to Ravenclaw, which Dumbledore believed to be a Horcrux. However, the only known relic is Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem , which has been lost for centuries. Wishing to see what the diadem looks like, Harry and Luna venture under Harry's Invisibility cloak to Ravenclaw Tower.

He reveals himself to get a closer look at the diadem but is seen by Alecto Carrow who had been stationed to watch the room. She immediately summons Voldemort, but she is immediately stunned by Luna. When Carrow suggests that they push the blame off onto the students, McGonagall protests, and he spits in her face. In a rage, Harry uses the Cruciatus Curse on him until he passes out. Telling her that he is on a mission for Dumbledore, Harry asks McGonagall for time to search the castle, but before plans can be made, they come across Severus Snape in the corridor, and in a fierce duel, Snape is run out of the building.

Shortly after Harry's arrival, Voldemort discovers that two more of his Horcruxes have disappeared and gathers an army of Death Eaters, Dementors , and his other supporters, in order to assault the school and kill Harry once and for all. After forcing Snape to flee, McGonagall and Kingsley Shacklebolt , who only recently arrived, raise their own army consisting of teachers, students, the D.

A, the Order of the Phoenix , and enchanted statues and suits of armour. At midnight, the Battle of Hogwarts begins. She eventually marries Rolf, the grandson of the noted naturalist, Newt Scamander. Curiously, although Draco has married and has a child, Rowling does not identify his wife in the book. In the "J. A Year In The Life" documentary created by ITV in the UK, the author does draw out family trees for the Weasley family, and a small tree for Draco, showing that he is married to one Astoria Greengrass, who did not appear in the books, and his son is named Scorpius Hyperion.

The same tree indicates that George married one Angelina quite probably Angelina Johnson , and has children named Fred and Roxanne. It is from this family tree that we learn Harry's eldest son's full name; in the book, he is only ever called James. Study questions are meant to be left for each student to answer; please don't answer them here. Harry's second eldest son's name was Albus Severus Potter.

Many fans have expressed annoyance at this epilogue, and at the post-publication interviews giving extra, and perhaps extraneous, details regarding the characters careers after the series' end.

It is not this work's place to criticize the epilogue in this manner. It is part of the published work, and we should not debate the merits of its inclusion. However, it does seem to show the characters' ongoing development in the series. Neville, for example, has played to his strength, becoming a Herbology professor, his best subject at school. We see that, rather than remaining sworn enemies, as presumably their parents had been, Harry and Draco apparently maintained a truce that has grown into at least a nodding acquaintance, signifying that Draco has mellowed over the years.

We see that Ron still retains his immaturity in small ways, though in others he has grown significantly. While he appears to still lag behind Harry and Hermione somewhat, he has grown beyond his previous "second fiddle" role, comfortable within his own independent niche in life. Hermione, meanwhile, has fulfilled, if not surpassed, all expectations that she would become an influential force within the Wizarding realm.

And we also see that Harry has gained what he had always craved, what he saw in the Mirror of Erised in the very first book : a loving, stable, and supportive family.

Harry's character development confirms what we surmised he would become, and we are reassured that, while our long attachment to these characters perforce has ended, they have prospered during the intervening years, and so our pain in parting with them is eased.

Details given by the author in post-publication interviews, however, seem less pertinent. In particular, the small facts given concerning various characters' futures, while true to the characters themselves, often feel contrived merely to appease the fans, rather than organically reflect the characters we know.