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''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'' is a
fantasy novel Fantasy literature is literature set in an imaginary universe, often but not always without any locations, events, or people from the real world. magic (paranormal), Magic, the supernatural and Legendary creature, magical creatures are common i ...
written by British author
J. K. Rowling Joanne Rowling ( ; born 31 July 1965), known by her pen name , is a British author and philanthropist. She is the author of ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume fantasy novel series published from 1997 to 2007. The series has List of best-sell ...
. It is the seventh and final novel in the ''
Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven Fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...
'' series. It was released on 21 July 2007 in the United Kingdom by
Bloomsbury Publishing Bloomsbury Publishing plc is a British worldwide publishing house of fiction and non-fiction. Bloomsbury's head office is located on Bedford Square in Bloomsbury, an area of the London Borough of Camden. It has a US publishing office located in ...
, in the United States by Scholastic, and in Canada by Raincoast Books. The novel chronicles the events directly following ''
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'' is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling. It is the sixth and penultimate novel in the ''Harry Potter'' series, and takes place during Harry Potter's sixth year at the wizard scho ...
'' (2005) and the final confrontation between the wizards
Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven Fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...
and
Lord Voldemort Lord Voldemort ( , in the films) is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the ''Harry Potter'' series of novels by J. K. Rowling. He first appears in ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' (1997) and returns either in pers ...
. ''Deathly Hallows'' shattered sales records upon release, surpassing marks set by previous titles of the ''Harry Potter'' series. It holds the
Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...
for most novels sold within 24 hours of release, with 8.3 million sold in the US and 2.65 million in the UK. Reception to the book was generally positive, and the American Library Association named it a "Best Book for Young Adults". A film adaptation of the novel was released in two parts: ''
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1'' is a 2010 fantasy film directed by David Yates from a screenplay by Steve Kloves. The film is the first of two cinematic parts based on the 2007 novel ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallo ...
'' in November 2010 and '' Part 2'' in July 2011.


Plot

The young wizard
Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven Fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...
is about to turn seventeen and therefore lose the protective magic shield his mother's sacrifice gave him. He is being escorted to The Burrow by members of the Order of the Phoenix when the group is attacked by
Death Eater The Death Eaters are an extremist group from the ''Harry Potter'' series, led by the dark wizard Lord Voldemort. They follow a strict belief in blood purity, thinking that only pure-blood wizards should have power over the wizarding world. Bec ...
s. Hedwig and "Mad-Eye" Moody are killed and George Weasley loses an ear.
Lord Voldemort Lord Voldemort ( , in the films) is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the ''Harry Potter'' series of novels by J. K. Rowling. He first appears in ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' (1997) and returns either in pers ...
attempts to kill Harry but fails. Harry and his friends
Ron Weasley Ronald Bilius Weasley is a fictional character in the ''Harry Potter'' series of novels by J. K. Rowling. He is introduced in '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' as a first-year student on his way to the wizarding school Hogwarts. ...
and Hermione Granger begin searching for Voldemort's four remaining Horcruxes. They learn that the locket Horcrux is in the possession of Dolores Umbridge at the
Ministry of Magic The Ministry of Magic is the government of the British wizarding community in the fictional universe of ''Fictional universe of Harry Potter, Harry Potter'' for Britain and Ireland. It is led by an official called the Minister for Magic, and is ...
. Harry and his friends infiltrate the Ministry and steal the locket from Umbridge, but are unable to destroy it. The locket's Dark magic affects Ron, who abandons Harry and Hermione. In Godric's Hollow, Harry and Hermione are attacked by Voldemort's snake Nagini, but manage to escape. One night, a Patronus guides Harry to a pond containing the Sword of Gryffindor. When he tries to recover it, the locket tightens around his neck, nearly drowning him. Ron returns and saves Harry, then destroys the Horcrux with the sword. The three friends visit Xenophilius Lovegood, who tells them of the mythical objects known as the Deathly Hallows: the Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone and the Cloak of Invisibility. Xenophilius then alerts the Ministry of Magic to the presence of the trio in his home, but Harry and his friends escape. Soon after, they are captured by Snatchers, bounty hunters hired by Voldemort, and imprisoned in Malfoy Manor. Harry and Ron are thrown into the cellar with Dean Thomas,
Luna Lovegood Luna Lovegood is a fictional character in the ''Harry Potter'' series of novels by J. K. Rowling. She first appears in '' Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'' (2003). She is portrayed by Evanna Lynch in the ''Harry Potter'' films. Ch ...
, Mr Ollivander and Griphook the goblin, while the Death Eater
Bellatrix Lestrange Bellatrix Lestrange () is a fictional character in the ''Harry Potter'' book series written by J. K. Rowling. She evolved from an unnamed peripheral character in ''Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'' into a major antagonist in subsequent novel ...
tortures Hermione for information. The house-elf Dobby helps all seven prisoners escape, but is killed in the process. After a brief stay at Bill and Fleur's cottage, Harry, Ron and Hermione break into
Gringotts Bank The '' Wizarding World'' contains numerous settings for the events in the novels, films and other media of the ''Harry Potter'' and the ''Fantastic Beasts'' series. These locations are divided into four main categories: residences, education, ...
and retrieve another Horcrux from the vault of
Bellatrix Lestrange Bellatrix Lestrange () is a fictional character in the ''Harry Potter'' book series written by J. K. Rowling. She evolved from an unnamed peripheral character in ''Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'' into a major antagonist in subsequent novel ...
. Harry has visions which inform him that another Horcrux is hidden at
Hogwarts Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry () is a fictional boarding school of magic for young wizards. It is the primary setting for the first six novels in the '' Harry Potter'' series by J. K. Rowling, and also serves as a major setti ...
. After the trio enters the school with the help of Aberforth Dumbledore, Voldemort prepares to assault the castle. As the Death Eaters enter the school and fight the professors and students, Ron and Hermione destroy the Horcrux from Gringotts. They then accompany Harry to the Room of Requirement, where they discover the next Horcrux which is the Diadem of Ravenclaw.
Draco Malfoy Draco Lucius Malfoy is a fictional character and a major antagonist in J. K. Rowling's ''Harry Potter'' series. He is a student in Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter's year belonging in the Slytherin house. He is frequently accompanied by ...
and his friends Crabbe and Goyle ambush them, and Crabbe casts a powerful fire spell which grows out of his control and kills both him and the Horcrux. After stealing the Elder Wand from
Albus Dumbledore Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore is a fictional character in the ''Harry Potter'' series of novels by J. K. Rowling. For most of the series, he is the headmaster of the wizarding school Hogwarts. He is also the founder and ...
's tomb, Voldemort is unable to make it obey him. Believing that Severus Snape is the master of the wand, Voldemort uses Nagini to mortally wound him, seemingly transferring ownership of the wand to Voldemort. Before dying, Snape passes his memories to Harry, who views them in the Pensieve. The memories reveal that Snape and Harry’s mother were childhood friends. Snape was in love with her, and acted as a
double agent In the field of counterintelligence, a double agent is an employee of a secret intelligence service for one country, whose primary purpose is to spy on a target organization of another country, but who is now spying on their own country's organi ...
against Voldemort in an attempt to protect her. Dumbledore had learned he was dying, and decided to plan his own death at the hands of Snape so that Snape could gain Voldemort's trust. The memories also reveal that Harry himself accidentally became a Horcrux when Voldemort first tried to kill him. Now, Harry must die to render Voldemort mortal. On his way to surrender himself to Voldemort, Harry instructs Neville Longbottom to destroy Voldemort's final Horcrux, Nagini. He also uses the Resurrection Stone to communicate with four deceased loved ones: his parents,
Sirius Black Sirius Black is a fictional character in the ''Harry Potter'' series of novels by J. K. Rowling. Sirius was first mentioned briefly in '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' as a wizard who lent Rubeus Hagrid a flying motorbike shortly a ...
, and Remus Lupin, one last time. Voldemort casts the Killing Curse on Harry, who then awakens in a dreamlike version of King's Cross Station. He is greeted by Dumbledore, who explains that the curse destroyed the fragment of Voldemort's soul inside Harry, and that Harry can now return to life. Harry subsequently regains consciousness and pretends to be dead. Voldemort orders Hagrid to carry Harry's body back to Hogwarts, and demands that the professors and students surrender. Neville, however, pulls the Sword of Gryffindor from the Sorting Hat and kills Nagini, Voldemort's last Horcrux, rendering him mortal. The battle resumes, during which
Molly Weasley The Order of the Phoenix is a fictional organisation in the ''Harry Potter'' series of novels by J. K. Rowling. Founded by Albus Dumbledore to fight Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters, the Order lends its name to the fifth book of the series, ' ...
kills Bellatrix. Harry reveals himself to be alive and duels with Voldemort, who casts another Killing Curse. However, the Elder Wand refuses to kill Harry, because Harry is its true master: Draco disarmed Dumbledore, the original owner, and Harry later disarmed Draco, transferring ownership to himself. This causes Voldemort's spell to rebound and kill him. Harry then used the Elder Wand to fix his original wand and returned it to Dumbledore's tomb. In the novel's epilogue, set nineteen years later, Harry and his friends see their children off to Hogwarts. Harry and Ginny, now married, have three children: James Sirius, Albus Severus, and Lily Luna. Ron and Hermione have a daughter named
Rose A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...
and a son named Hugo.


Background


Series

The first novel in the ''Harry Potter'' series, ''
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling. It is the first novel in the ''Harry Potter'' series and was Rowling's debut novel. It follows Harry Potter, a young wizard who disco ...
'', was published by
Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London, part of the London Borough of Camden in England. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural institution, cultural, intellectual, and educational ...
in 1997. It was followed by '' Chamber of Secrets'' (1998), '' Prisoner of Azkaban'' (1999), '' Goblet of Fire'' (2000), '' Order of the Phoenix'' (2003) and '' Half-Blood Prince'' (2005).


Title

The title of the novel refers to three mythical objects featured in the story, which are collectively known as the " Deathly Hallows". Rowling announced the title in December 2006 through a Christmas-themed hangman puzzle on her website. Other titles that Rowling considered were ''Harry Potter and the Elder Wand'' and ''Harry Potter and the Peverell Quest''.


Writing

Rowling completed the novel in January 2007 while staying at the Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh. 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 compared her mixed feelings to those expressed by
Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...
in the preface of the 1850 edition of ''
David Copperfield ''David Copperfield''Dickens invented over 14 variations of the title for this work; see is a novel by English author Charles Dickens, narrated by the eponymous David Copperfield, detailing his adventures in his journey from infancy to matur ...
'', "a two-years' imaginative task". "To which," she added, "I can only sigh, try seventeen years, Charles". She ended her message by saying "''Deathly Hallows'' is my favourite, and that is the most wonderful way to finish the series". When asked before publication about the forthcoming book, Rowling stated that she could not change the ending even if she wanted. "These books have been plotted for such a long time, and for six books now, that they're all leading a certain direction. So, I really can't". She also commented that the final volume related closely to the previous book in the series, ''
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'' is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling. It is the sixth and penultimate novel in the ''Harry Potter'' series, and takes place during Harry Potter's sixth year at the wizard scho ...
'', "almost as though they are two-halves of the same novel". She said the last chapter of ''Deathly Hallows'' was written around 1990 as part of her earliest work on the series. She also revealed that the last sentence was originally something akin to "Only those who he loved could see his lightning scar". She changed the sentence to "All was well" because she wanted it to be clear that Harry had triumphed over Voldemort and that he would not have to face him again.


Release


Marketing and promotion

The launch of ''Deathly Hallows'' was celebrated by an all-night book signing and reading by Rowling at the
Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history scientific collection, collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, Fungus, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleo ...
in London. The 1,700 guests in attendance were chosen by ballot. Rowling toured the United States in October 2007, where another event was held at
Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...
in New York City with tickets allocated by sweepstake. Scholastic, the American publisher of the ''Harry Potter'' series, launched a multimillion-dollar "There will soon be 7" marketing campaign with a Knight Bus travelling to 40 libraries across the United States, online fan discussions and competitions, collectible bookmarks, tattoos, and the staged release of seven ''Deathly Hallows'' questions most debated by fans. Rowling arranged with her publishers for a poster bearing the face of the missing British child Madeleine McCann to be made available to book sellers when ''Deathly Hallows'' was launched on 21 July 2007, and said that she hoped that the posters would be displayed prominently in shops all over the world. After it was announced that the novel would be released on 21 July 2007,
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...
stated that the film adaptation of '' Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'' would be released on 13 July. In response, fans proclaimed July 2007 as the month of ''Harry Potter''.


Spoiler embargo

Bloomsbury invested £10 million in an attempt to keep the book's contents secure until 21 July, 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 instalments—that the distributor would not be supplied with any further copies of the series—would no longer be a deterrent.


Online leaks and early delivery

In the week before its release, a number of texts purporting to be genuine leaks appeared in various forms. On 16 July, 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 Peer-to-peer (P2P) computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads between peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the network, forming a peer-to-peer network of Node ...
networks, leading Scholastic to seek a
subpoena A subpoena (; also subpœna, supenna or subpena) or witness summons is a writ issued by a government agency, most often a court, to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of ...
in order to identify one source. This represented the most serious security breach in the Harry Potter series' history. Rowling and her lawyer confirmed that there were genuine online leaks. Reviews published in both ''
The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local, regional, national, and international news. Founded in 1837, the newspaper was owned by Tribune Publi ...
'' and ''The New York Times'' on 18 July 2007, corroborated many of the plot elements from this leak, and about one day prior to release, ''The New York Times'' confirmed that the main circulating leak was real. 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, which evoked incredulous responses from both Scholastic and DeepDiscount. Scholastic initially reported that they were satisfied it had been a "human error" and would not discuss possible penalties; however, the following day 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 eBay Inc. ( , often stylized as ebay) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that allows users to buy or view items via retail sales through online marketplaces and websites in 190 markets worldwide. ...
, in one case being sold to ''
Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...
'' for US$250 from an initial price of US$18.


Price wars and other controversies

Asda Asda Stores Limited (), trading as Asda and often styled as ASDA, is a British supermarket and petrol station chain. Its headquarters is in Leeds, England. The company was incorporated as Associated Dairies and Farm Stores in 1949. It expanded ...
, along with several other 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. At these prices the book became a
loss leader A loss leader (also leader) is a pricing strategy where a product is sold at a price below its market cost to stimulate other sales of more profitable goods or services. With this sales promotion/marketing strategy, a "leader" is any popular artic ...
. This caused uproar from traditional UK booksellers who argued they had no hope of competing in those conditions. Independent shops protested loudest, but even Waterstone's, 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. Asda attempted to counter this by imposing a limit of two copies per customer to prevent bulk purchases. Philip Wicks, a spokesman for the UK Booksellers Association, said, "It is a war we can't even participate in. We think it's a crying shame that the supermarkets have decided to treat it as a loss-leader, like a can of baked beans." Michael Norris, an analyst at Simba Information, said: "You are not only lowering the price of the book. At this point, you are lowering the value of reading." In
Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...
, a similar price war caused controversy regarding sales of the book. Four of the biggest bookstore chains in Malaysia, MPH Bookstores, Popular Bookstores, Times and Harris, decided to pull ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'' off their shelves as a protest against
Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...
and
Carrefour Carrefour Group, S.A. (, ), is a French multinational retail and wholesaling corporation headquartered in Massy, Essonne, Massy, France. It operates a chain of hypermarkets, grocery stores and convenience stores. By 2024, the group had 14,000 ...
hypermarket A hypermarket or superstore is a big-box store combining a supermarket and a department store. The result is an expansive retail facility carrying a wide range of products under one roof, including full grocery lines and general merchandise. In ...
s. The retail price of the book in Malaysia was MYR 109.90, while the hypermarkets
Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...
and
Carrefour Carrefour Group, S.A. (, ), is a French multinational retail and wholesaling corporation headquartered in Massy, Essonne, Massy, France. It operates a chain of hypermarkets, grocery stores and convenience stores. By 2024, the group had 14,000 ...
sold the book at MYR 69.90. The move by the bookstores was seen as an attempt to pressure the distributor
Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...
to remove the books from the hypermarkets. However, as of 24 July 2007, the price war had ended, with the four bookstores involved resuming selling the books in their stores with discount. Penguin Books has also confirmed that Tesco and Carrefour were selling the book at a loss, urging them to practise good business sense and fair trade. The book's early Saturday morning release in Israel was criticised for violating
Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; , , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the seven-day week, week—i.e., Friday prayer, Friday–Saturday. On this day, religious Jews ...
. Trade and Industry Minister
Eli Yishai Eliyahu "Eli" Yishai (; born 26 December 1962) is an Israeli politician. A former leader of Shas, he represented the party in the Knesset from 1996 until 2015, also holding several ministerial posts, including being Deputy Prime Minister, Minist ...
commented "It is forbidden, according to Jewish values and Jewish culture, that a thing like this should take place at 2 am on Saturday. Let them do it on another day." Yishai indicated that he would issue indictments and fines based on the Hours of Work and Rest Law.


Editions

''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'' was released in hardcover on 21 July 2007 and in paperback in the United Kingdom on 10 July 2008 and the United States on 7 July 2009. In SoHo, New York, there was a release party for the American paperback edition, with many games and activities. An "Adult Edition" with a different cover illustration was released by Bloomsbury on 21 July 2007. To be released simultaneously with the original US hardcover on 21 July with only 100,000 copies was a Scholastic deluxe edition, highlighting a new cover illustration by Mary GrandPré. In October 2010, Bloomsbury released a "Celebratory" paperback edition, which featured a foiled and starred cover. Lastly, on 1 November 2010, a "Signature" edition of the novel was released in paperback by Bloomsbury.


Translations

As with previous books in the series, ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'' has been translated into many languages. The first translation to be released was the Ukrainian translation, on 25 September 2007 (as ''Гаррі Поттер і смертельні реліквії'' – ''Harry Potter i smertel'ni relikviji''). The Swedish title of the book was revealed by Rowling as ''Harry Potter and the Relics of Death'' (''Harry Potter och Dödsrelikerna''), following a pre-release question from the Swedish publisher about the difficulty of translating the two words "''Deathly Hallows''" without having read the book. This is also the title used for the French translation (''Harry Potter et les reliques de la mort''), the Spanish translation (''Harry Potter y las Reliquias de la Muerte''), the Dutch translation (''Harry Potter en de Relieken van de Dood''), the Serbian translation (''Хари Потер и реликвије смрти'' – '' Hari Poter i relikvije smrti'') and the Brazilian Portuguese translation (''Harry Potter e as Relíquias da Morte''). The first Polish translation was released with a new title: ''Harry Potter i Insygnia Śmierci'' – ''Harry Potter and the Insignia of Death''. The
Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
translation ''Harry Potter aur Maut ke Tohfe'' (), which means "Harry Potter and the Gifts of Death", was released by Manjul Publication in India on 27 June 2008. The Romanian version was released on 1 December 2007 using the title (''Harry Potter și Talismanele Morții'').


Reception


Critical response

Upon release, ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'' was generally well received. On
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, the book received a 83 out of 100 based on 16 critic reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". ''
The Bookseller ''The Bookseller'' is a British magazine reporting news on the publishing industry. Philip Jones is editor-in-chief of the weekly print edition of the magazine and the website. The magazine is home to the ''Bookseller''/Diagram Prize for Oddes ...
'' reported on reviews from several publications with a rating scale for the novel out of "Top form", "Flawed but worth a read", and "Disappointing": ''
Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...
'', '' Guardian'', ''
Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
'', '' Sunday Telegraph'', and ''
Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...
'' reviews under "Top form". ''
The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local, regional, national, and international news. Founded in 1837, the newspaper was owned by Tribune Publi ...
'' critic, Mary Carole McCauley, noted that the book was more serious than the previous novels in the series and had more straightforward prose. Furthermore, reviewer Alice Fordham from ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' wrote that "Rowling's genius is not just her total realisation of a fantasy world, but the quieter skill of creating characters that bounce off the page, real and flawed and brave and lovable". Fordham concluded, "We have been a long way together, and neither Rowling nor Harry let us down in the end". ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' writer
Michiko Kakutani is an American writer and retired literary critic, best known for reviewing books for ''The New York Times'' from 1983 to 2017. In that role, she won the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1998. Early life and family Kakutani, a Japanese Americ ...
agreed, praising Rowling's ability to make Harry both a hero and a character that can be related to. ''Time'' magazine's Lev Grossman named it one of the Top 10 Fiction Books of 2007, ranking it at No. 8, and praised Rowling for proving that books can still be a global mass medium. Novelist Elizabeth Hand criticised that "... the spectacularly complex interplay of narrative and character often reads as though an entire trilogy's worth of summing-up has been crammed into one volume." In a starred review from ''
Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...
'', the reviewer said, "Rowling has shown uncommon skill in playing them with and against each other, and also woven them into a darn good bildungsroman, populated by memorable characters and infused with a saving, irrepressible sense of fun". They also praised the second half of the novel, but criticised the epilogue, calling it "provocatively sketchy". In another review from ''The Times'', reviewer Amanda Craig said that while Rowling was "not an original, high-concept author", she was "right up there with other greats of children's fiction". Craig went on to say that the novel was "beautifully judged, and a triumphant return to form", and that Rowling's imagination changed the perception of an entire generation, which "is more than all but a handful of living authors, in any genre, have achieved in the past half-century". In contrast, Jenny Sawyer of ''
The Christian Science Monitor ''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles both in Electronic publishing, electronic format and a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 ...
'' said that, "There is much to love about the Harry Potter series, from its brilliantly realised magical world to its multilayered narrative", however, "A story is about someone who changes. And, puberty aside, Harry doesn't change much. As envisioned by Rowling, he walks the path of good so unwaveringly that his final victory over Voldemort feels, not just inevitable, but hollow". In ''The New York Times'',
Christopher Hitchens Christopher Eric Hitchens (13 April 1949 – 15 December 2011) was a British and American author and journalist. He was the author of Christopher Hitchens bibliography, 18 books on faith, religion, culture, politics, and literature. He was born ...
compared the series to World War Two-era English boarding school stories, and while he wrote that "Rowling has won imperishable renown" for the series as a whole, he also stated that he disliked Rowling's use of
deus ex machina ''Deus ex machina'' ( ; ; plural: ''dei ex machina''; 'God from the machine') is a plot device whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem in a story is suddenly or abruptly resolved by an unexpected and unlikely occurrence. Its function is general ...
, that the mid-book camping chapters are "abysmally long", and Voldemort "becomes more tiresome than an
Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer, best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., and his ...
villain". Catherine Bennett of ''The Guardian'' praised Rowling for putting small details from the previous books and making them large in ''Deathly Hallows'', such as Grindelwald being mentioned on a Chocolate Frog Card in the first book. While she points out "as her critics say, Rowling is no Dickens", she says that Rowling "has willed into a fictional being, in every book, legions of new characters, places, spells, rules and scores of unimagined twists and subplots".
Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...
criticised the reactions of some reviewers to the books, including McCauley, for jumping too quickly to surface conclusions of the work. He felt this was inevitable, because of the extreme secrecy before launch which did not allow reviewers time to read and consider the book, but meant that many early reviews lacked depth. Rather than finding the writing style disappointing, he felt it had matured and improved. He acknowledged that the subject matter of the books had become more adult, and that Rowling had clearly been writing with the adult audience firmly in mind since the middle of the series. He compared the works in this respect to ''
Huckleberry Finn Huckleberry "Huck" Finn is a fictional character created by Mark Twain who first appeared in the book ''The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'' (1876) and is the protagonist and narrator of its sequel, '' Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' (1884). He is 12 ...
'' and ''
Alice in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (also known as ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English Children's literature, children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics university don, don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of a ...
'' which achieved success and have become established classics, in part by appealing to the adult audience as well as children.


Sales

Sales for ''Harry Potter and the 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 and Barnes & Noble, 500 per cent higher than pre-sales had been for ''Half-Blood Prince''. On 12 April 2007,
Barnes & Noble Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. The company operates approximately 600 retail stores across the United States. Barnes & Noble operates mainly through its B ...
declared that ''Deathly Hallows'' had broken its
pre-order A pre-order is an order placed for an item that has not yet been released. The idea for pre-orders came because people found it hard to get popular items in stores because of their popularity. Companies then had the idea to allow customers to r ...
record, with more than 500,000 copies pre-ordered through its site. 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 ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...
for fastest selling book of fiction in 24 hours for US sales. At WH 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.#9: J. K. Rowling
. The Celebrity 100. ''Forbes''. 11 June 2008. "The final one, ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'', has sold 44 million since it was published last July, including 15 million in the first 24 hours." Retrieved 17 July 2009


Awards and honours

''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'' has won several awards. In 2007, the book was named one of ''The New York Times'' 100 Notable Books, and one of its Notable Children's Books. The novel was named the best book of 2007, by ''
Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...
'' critic Malcolm Jones. ''
Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...
'' also listed ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'' among their Best Books of 2007. Also in 2007 the book received the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy at the Nebula Awards. In 2008, the
American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...
named the novel one of its Best Books for Young Adults, and also listed it as a Notable Children's Book. Furthermore, ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'' received the 2008 Colorado Blue Spruce Book Award.


Themes


Death

In a 2006 interview, Rowling said that the main theme of the series is Harry dealing with death, which was influenced by her mother's death in 1990. Lev Grossman of ''Time'' asserted that the main theme of the series is the importance of continuing to love in the face of death.


Living in a corrupted society

Academics and journalists have developed many other interpretations of themes in the books, some more complex than others, and some including political subtexts. Themes such as normality, oppression, survival, and overcoming imposing odds have all been considered as prevalent throughout the series. Similarly, the theme of making one's way through adolescence and "going over one's most harrowing ordeals—and thus coming to terms with them" has also been considered. Rowling has stated that the books comprise "a prolonged argument for tolerance, a prolonged plea for an end to
bigotry Prejudice can be an affective feeling towards a person based on their perceived social group membership. The word is often used to refer to a preconceived (usually unfavourable) evaluation or classification of another person based on that pers ...
" and that also pass on a message to "question authority and ... not assume that the establishment or the press tells you all of the truth".
Timothy Snyder Timothy David Snyder (born August 18, 1969) is an American historian specializing in the history of Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union, and the Holocaust. He is on leave from his position as the Richard C. Levin, Richar ...
in his 2017 book '' On Tyranny'' mentioned the novel as a recent example illustrating resistance to totalitarianism.


Christian allegories

The ''Harry Potter'' series has been criticised for supposedly supporting
witchcraft Witchcraft is the use of Magic (supernatural), magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meanin ...
and the
occult The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mysti ...
. Before publication of ''Deathly Hallows'', Rowling refused to speak out about her religion, stating, "If I talk too freely, every reader, whether 10 or 60, will be able to guess what's coming in the books".Granger, p. 86 However, many have commented on Christian allegories that appear in ''Deathly Hallows''. For example, Harry dies and then comes back to life to save mankind, like Christ. The location where this occurs is King's Cross. Rowling also stated that "my belief and my struggling with religious belief ... I think is quite apparent in this book", which is shown as Harry struggles with his faith in Dumbledore.Granger, p. 88 ''Deathly Hallows'' begins with a pair of epigraphs, one by
Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...
leader
William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer, religious thinker, and influential Quakers, Quaker who founded the Province of Pennsylvania during the British colonization of the Americas, British colonial era. An advocate of democracy and religi ...
and one from
Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; ; /524 – /455 BC) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek Greek tragedy, tragedian often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek tragedy is large ...
' '' The Libation Bearers''. Of this, Rowling said "I really enjoyed choosing those two quotations because one is pagan, of course, and one is from a Christian tradition. I'd known it was going to be those two passages since '' Chamber'' was published. I always knew
hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...
if I could use them at the beginning of book seven then I'd cued up the ending perfectly. If they were relevant, then I went where I needed to go. They just say it all to me, they really do". When Harry visits his parents' grave, the biblical reference "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death" ( 1 Corinthians 15:26) is inscribed on the grave. The Dumbledores' family tomb also holds a biblical quote: "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also", which is from Matthew 6:21. Rowling states, "They're very British books, so on a very practical note Harry was going to find biblical quotations on tombstones ... utI think those two particular quotations he finds on the tombstones at Godric's Hollow, they sum up – they almost epitomise the whole series". ''Harry Potter''
pundit A pundit is a person who offers opinion in an authoritative manner on a particular subject area (typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport), usually through the mass media. The term pundit describes both women and men, altho ...
John Granger additionally noted that one of the reasons the ''Harry Potter'' books were so popular is their use of literary alchemy (similar to ''
Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...
'',
C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer, literary scholar and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Magdalen College, Oxford (1925–1954), and Magdalen ...
's '' Perelandra'' and
Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...
's ''
A Tale of Two Cities ''A Tale of Two Cities'' is a historical novel published in 1859 by English author Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. The novel tells the story of the French Doctor Manette, his 18-year-long impr ...
'') and vision symbolism. In this model, authors weave allegorical tales along the alchemical
magnum opus A masterpiece, , or ; ; ) is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, skill, profundity, or workmanship. Historically, ...
. Since the medieval period, alchemical allegory has mirrored the passion, death and resurrection of Christ. While the entire series utilises symbols common in alchemy, the ''Deathly Hallows'' completes this cycle, tying themes of death, rebirth, and the Resurrection Stone to the principal motif of alchemical allegory, and topics presented in the first book of the series.


Adaptations


Films

The two-part
film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...
of ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'' was directed by
David Yates David Yates (born 8 October 1963) is an English filmmaker, who has directed feature films, short films, and television productions. He is best known for directing the final four films in the Harry Potter (film series), ''Harry Potter'' series ...
, written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman, David Barron and
J. K. Rowling Joanne Rowling ( ; born 31 July 1965), known by her pen name , is a British author and philanthropist. She is the author of ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume fantasy novel series published from 1997 to 2007. The series has List of best-sell ...
. Part 1 was released on 19 November 2010, and Part 2 on 15 July 2011. Filming began in February 2009, and ended on 12 June 2010. However, the cast confirmed they would reshoot the epilogue scene as they only had two days to shoot the original. ''Part 1'' ended at Chapter 24 of the book, when Voldemort regained the Elder Wand. However, there were a few omissions, such as the appearances of Dean Thomas and Viktor Krum, and Peter Pettigrew's death. James Bernadelli of ''Reelviews'' said that the script stuck closest to the text since ''
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets ''Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'' is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling. It is the second novel in the ''Harry Potter'' series. The plot follows Harry's second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry ...
'', yet this was met with negativity from some audiences as the film inherited "the book's own problems".


Audiobooks

''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'' was released simultaneously on 21 July 2007, in both the UK and the United States. The UK edition features the voice of
Stephen Fry Sir Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director, narrator and writer. He came to prominence as a member of the comic act Fry and Laurie alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring in ''A Bit of ...
and runs about 24 hours while the US edition features the voice of Jim Dale and runs about 21 hours. Both Fry and Dale recorded 146 different and distinguishable character voices, and was the most recorded by an individual on an audiobook at the time. For his work on ''Deathly Hallows'', Dale won the 2008
Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...
for the Best Spoken Word Album for Children. He also was awarded an Earphone Award by '' AudioFile'', who claimed, "Dale has raised the bar on audiobook interpretation so high it's hard to imagine any narrator vaulting over it."


Video games

Two action-adventure video games were produced by
Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by former Apple Inc., Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry ...
(EA) to coincide with the release of the film adaptations, as with each of the previous ''Harry Potter'' films. Part 1 was released on 16 November 2010, and Part 2 on 12 July 2011. Both games received a mixed to negative reaction from critics.


Subsequent works


''The Tales of Beedle the Bard''

On 4 December 2008, Rowling released '' The Tales of Beedle the Bard'' both in the UK and US. ''The Tales of Beedle the Bard'' is a spin-off of ''Deathly Hallows'' and contains fairy tales that are told to children in the "Wizarding World". The book includes five short stories, including "The Tale of the Three Brothers" which is the story of the Deathly Hallows. Amazon released an exclusive collector's edition of the book which is a replica of the book that Amazon purchased at auction in December 2007. Seven copies were auctioned off in London by Sotheby's. Each was illustrated and handwritten by Rowling and is 157 pages. It was bound in brown Moroccan leather and embellished with five hand-chased hallmarked sterling silver ornaments and mounted moonstones.


''Harry Potter and the Cursed Child''

In 2016, '' Harry Potter and the Cursed Child'' was released, a two-part play written by
Jack Thorne Jack Thorne FRSL (born 6 December 1978) is a British playwright, television writer, screenwriter, and producer. A massive fan of hard science fiction, he is best known for writing the stage play '' Harry Potter and the Cursed Child'', the fil ...
based on an original story by Rowling, Thorne, and John Tiffany. Billed as the eighth story in the ''Harry Potter'' series, it picks up where the epilogue of ''Deathly Hallows'' left off, following an adult Harry Potter and his son,
Albus Severus Potter The following is a list of characters from the ''Harry Potter'' series. Each character appears in at least one ''Harry Potter''–related book or story by J. K. Rowling. These books and stories include the seven original ''Harry Potter'' nov ...
. Previews of the play began at the
Palace Theatre, London The Palace Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster in London. Its red-brick facade dominates the west side of Cambridge Circus, London, Cambridge Circus behind a small plaza near the intersection of Shaftesbury Avenue and Chari ...
, on 7 June 2016, and it premiered on 30 July 2016. The play opened on Broadway on 21 April 2018 at the Lyric Theatre, with previews starting on 16 March 2018. Both parts of the stage play's script have been released in print and digital formats as ''Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts I & II''. The first edition, the Special Rehearsal Edition, corresponded to the script used in the preview shows and was published on 31 July 2016, the date of Harry's birthday in the series and Rowling's birthday, as well. Since revisions to the script continued after the book was printed, an edited version was released on 25 July 2017, as the "Definitive Collector's Edition". According to CNN, this was the most preordered book of 2016.


Notes


References


Bibliography

* Granger, John. ''The Deathly Hallows Lectures: The Hogwarts Professor Explains the Final Harry Potter Adventure''. Zossima Press: 2008. . * Hall, Susan. ''Reading Harry Potter: critical essays''. Greenwood Publishing: 2003. . * Rowling, JK. ''
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'' is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling. It is the sixth and penultimate novel in the ''Harry Potter'' series, and takes place during Harry Potter's sixth year at the wizard scho ...
''. London:
Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London, part of the London Borough of Camden in England. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural institution, cultural, intellectual, and educational ...
/New York City: Scholastic: 2005. UK /US . * Rowling, JK. ''
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ''Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'' is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling. It is the fourth novel in the ''Harry Potter'' series. It follows Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, a wizard in his fourth year at Hogwar ...
''. London:
Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London, part of the London Borough of Camden in England. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural institution, cultural, intellectual, and educational ...
/New York City: Scholastic: 2000. UK /US . * Shapiro, Marc. ''J. K. Rowling: The Wizard Behind Harry Potter''. St. Martin's Press: 2007. . * Heckl, Raik
"The Tale of the Three Brothers" and the Idea of the Speaking Dead in the Harry Potter Novels
. Leipzig: 2008.


Further reading

*


External links


Harry Potter at Bloomsbury.com web site
UK publisher book information
Harry Potter at Scholastic.com web site
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