Pre-Release History
Choice of Title
Shortly before releasing the title, J. K. Rowling announced that she had considered three titles for the book. final title, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released to the public on 21 December 2006 via a special Christmas-themed hangman puzzle on Rowling's website, confirmed shortly afterwards by the book's publishers. during a live chat as to the other titles she had been considering, Rowling mentioned Harry Potter and the Elder Wand and Harry Potter and the Peverell Quest.
Marketing Campaigns
The launch was celebrated by an all-night book signing and reading at the Natural History Museum in London, which Rowling attended along with 1700 guests chosen by ballot. toured the USA in October 2007, where another event was held at Carnegie Hall in New York with tickets allocated by sweepstakes.
Inc., the American publisher of the Harry Potter series, launched a multi-million dollar "THERE WILL SOON BE 7" marketing campaign with a 'Knight Bus' travelling to forty 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.
Scholastic also hosted "Harry Potter Place"—a magical and interactive street celebration at Scholastic headquarters in New York City, where the first U.S. signed edition of Deathly Hallows was unveiled on 20 July 2007. The festivities included a twenty foot (six metre) high Whomping Willow, face-painting, wand-making, fire-eaters, magicians, jugglers and stilt-walkers.
J. K. 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.
J.K. Rowling on Finishing the Book
Rowling completed the book while staying at the Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh in January 2007, and left a signed statement on a marble bust of Hermes in her room which read: "J. K. Rowling finished writing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in this room (652) on 11 January 2007". In a statement on her website, she said, "I've never felt such a mixture of extreme emotions in my life, never dreamed I could feel simultaneously heartbroken and euphoric." She compared her mixed feelings to those expressed by Charles Dickens in the preface of the 1850 edition of David Copperfield, "a two-years' imaginative task." "To which," she added, "I can only sigh, try seventeen years, Charles..." She ended her message, "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, "almost as though they are two halves of the same novel. She has said that the last chapter of the book was written "in something like 1990", as part of her earliest work on the series.
Spoiler Embargo
Rowling made a public request that anyone with information about the content of the last book should keep it to themselves, in order to avoid spoiling the experience for other readers. To this end, Bloomsbury invested GB£10 million in an attempt to keep the book's contents secure until the 21 July release date. Arthur Levine, U.S. editor of the Harry Potter series, denied distributing any copies of Deathly Hallows in advance for press review, but two U.S. papers published early reviews anyway. There was speculation that some shops would break the embargo and distribute copies of the book early, as the penalty imposed for previous installments—that the distributor would not be supplied with any further copies of the series—would no longer be a deterrent.
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 U.S. edition was leaked and was fully transcribed prior to the official release date. The photographs later appeared on websites and peer-to-peer networks, leading Scholastic to seek a subpoena in order to identify one source. This represented the most serious security breach in the Harry Potter series' history. Rowling and her lawyer admitted that there were genuine online leaks. published in both The Baltimore Sun 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 U.S. 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 on the part of 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 has filed for damages in Chicago's Circuit Court of Cook County, claiming that DeepDiscount engaged in a "complete and flagrant violation of the agreements that they knew were part of the carefully constructed release of this eagerly awaited book." Some of the early release books soon appeared on eBay, in one case being sold to Publishers Weekly for US$250 from an initial price of US$18.
Price Wars and other Controversies
Asda, plus several other UK supermarkets, had already taken pre-orders for the book at a heavily discounted price. ASDA then sparked a further price war two days before the book's launch by announcing they would sell it for just GB£5 a copy (about US$10). Other retail chains also offered the book at discounted prices. At these prices the book is a loss leader, but attracting large numbers of customers to their stores. 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 tried to counter this by imposing a limit of two copies per customer to prevent bulk buying. 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, a similar price war brought about 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 and Carrefour hypermarkets. The retail price of the book in Malaysia is MYR 109.90 (about GB£16), while the hypermarkets Tesco and Carrefour sold the book at MYR 69.90 (about GB£10). The move by the bookstores was seen as an attempt to pressure the distributor Penguin Books to remove the books from the hypermarkets. However, as of 24 July 2007, the price war has ended, with the four bookstores involved resuming selling the books in their stores with discount. Penguin Books has also confirmed that Tesco and Carrefour are selling the book at a loss, urging them to practice good business sense and fair trade.
Publication and Reception
Critical Response
The Baltimore Sun's critic, Mary Carole McCauley, praised the series as "a classic bildungsroman, or coming-of-age tale." She noted that "book seven... lacks much of the charm and humor that distinguished the earlier novels. Even the writing is more prosaic", but then observed that given the book's darker subject matter, "how could it be otherwise?"
Alice Fordham from The Times writes 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 concludes, "We have been a long way together, and neither Rowling nor Harry let us down in the end.
" By contrast, Jenny Sawyer of the Christian Science Monitor says that while "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.
"Stephen King 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 and Alice in Wonderland which achieved success and have become established classics, in part by appealing to the adult audience as well as children.
In the 12 August 2007 New York Times, Christopher Hitchens 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 opined that her "repeated tactic of deus ex machina has a deplorable effect on both the plot and the dialogue", that the mid-book camping chapters are "abysmally long" and that Voldemort "becomes more tiresome than an Ian Fleming villain.
" Speed-reading world champion Anne Jones read the book's 199,900 words in 47 minutes and 1 second. She said, "Without being too critical, the plot does seem to be a bit complicated, but I would not change a word. Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows is a real page-turner, I'd say about 16 pages/minute.
" Time magazine's Lev Grossman named it one of the Top 10 Fiction Books of 2007, ranking it at #8, and praising Rowling for proving that books can still be a global mass medium. Opining that the book is "dense with Rowling's ruling themes: love and death", Grossman compared the novel to the earlier books in the series thus: "This isn't the most elegant of the Potter volumes, but it feels like an ending, the final iteration of Rowling's abiding thematic concern: the overwhelming importance of continuing to love in the face of death."
Sales
Sales for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows were record setting. The initial U.S. print run for Deathly Hallows was 12 million copies, and more than a million were pre-ordered through Amazon and Barnes & Noble. On 12 April 2007, Barnes & Noble declared that Deathly Hallows had broken its pre-order 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, and 2.65 million copies in the United Kingdom. At WH Smith, sales reportedly reached a rate of 15 books sold per second.
J.K. Rowling's Commentary and Supplement
In an interview, online chat, the Wizard of the Month section of her website, and during her 2007 U.S. Open Book Tour, Rowling revealed additional character information that she chose not to include in the book. The first bits of information were about the trio and their families, starting with Harry.
She said that Harry became an Auror for the Ministry of Magic, and was later appointed head of the department. He also kept Sirius's motorcycle, which Arthur Weasley repaired for him, but he can no longer speak Parseltongue after the destruction of Voldemort's soul fragment within him. She also said that Ginny Weasley played for the Holyhead Harpies Quidditch team for a time, then left to establish a family with Harry, and later became the lead Quidditch correspondent for the Daily Prophet. Ron Weasley worked at George's store for a time, Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, and then joined Harry as an Auror. Hermione found her parents in Australia, and removed the memory modification charm she had put on them for safety. Initially, she worked for the Ministry of Magic in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, greatly improving life for house elves. She later moved to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and assisted in eradicating oppressive, pro-pureblood laws. She was also the only member of the trio to go back and complete her seventh year at Hogwarts. Rowling then went on to explain that Dumbledore's relationship with Gellert Grindelwald extended beyond mere friendship; indeed, Rowling has revealed that "Dumbledore is gay, actually", and harboured romantic feelings for Grindelwald. Next, Rowling revealed the fate of Voldemort. After his death, he was forced to exist in the stunted form Harry witnessed in the King's Cross limbo, as his crimes were too severe for him to become a ghost.
Rowling also explained the fates of several secondary characters, starting with the Weasleys. George Weasley continued his successful joke shop. George married fellow Quidditch player Angelina Johnson and had two children: a son named Fred, in memory of his late twin brother, and a daughter, Roxanne. Next, Rowling proceeded to explain Luna Lovegood's future, saying that she searched the world for odd and unique creatures. She eventually married Rolf, a grandson of the famed naturalist Newt Scamander, writer of Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them. They have twins called Lorcan and Lysander. Her father's publication, The Quibbler, has returned to its usual condition of "advanced lunacy" and is appreciated for its unintentional humour.
Rowling then gave briefer histories on some more of the minor characters, as follows. Draco Malfoy's wife, Astoria (or Asteria), was the younger sister of his Slytherin classmate Daphne Greengrass. Percy Weasley married a woman named Audrey and had two daughters, named Molly and Lucy. Firenze was welcomed back into his herd, who finally acknowledged the virtue of his pro-human leanings. Dolores Umbridge was arrested, interrogated, and imprisoned for crimes against Muggle-borns. Cho Chang went on to marry a Muggle. Viktor Krum found love in his native Bulgaria. Neville Longbottom became professor of Herbology at Hogwarts and married Hannah Abbott, who became the landlady of the Leaky Cauldron. Bill and Fleur Weasley had a total of three children, a younger son named Louis, and two daughters, named Dominique and Victoire.
Rowling also revealed further transformations in the wider wizarding world as follows. Kingsley Shacklebolt became the permanent Minister of Magic, with Percy Weasley working under him as a high official. Among the reforms introduced by Shacklebolt, Azkaban no longer used Dementors. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were also instrumental in reforming the Ministry. At Hogwarts, Slytherin House became more diluted and no longer held the title as the pure-blood bastion it once was, although its dark reputation lingered. Voldemort's jinx on the Defence Against the Dark Arts position was broken with his death, and there was a permanent Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher stated. Harry also is said to come to the Defence Against the Dark Arts class to lecture several times a year. Lastly, Rowling says that a portrait of Snape, who briefly served as Hogwarts Headmaster, had not appeared in the headmaster's office, as he had abandoned his post. Harry then ensures the addition of Snape's portrait, and publicly revealed Snape's true allegiance.
Plot
The Order of the Phoenix attempt to take Harry Potter to The Burrow just prior to his seventeenth birthday but are ambushed by Death Eaters. Harry's wand, seemingly of its own accord, countercurses Voldemort, and Harry escapes. Minister of Magic Rufus Scrimgeour gives Harry, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger bequests from Albus Dumbledore's will: the Deluminator for Ron, a first edition of a children's book, The Tales of Beedle the Bard, for Hermione, and a Snitch, bearing the mysterious phrase "I open at the close", for Harry. The Ministry refuses to give Harry Godric Gryffindor's Sword, which Dumbledore also left to him.
At Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour's wedding reception, a Patronus arrives, announcing that Scrimgeour is dead, that the Ministry of Magic has fallen under Voldemort's control, and that Death Eaters are on their way to the reception. Harry, Ron, and Hermione take refuge in 12 Grimmauld Place, which Sirius Black had left to Harry. Harry realizes that Sirius's brother Regulus was the "R.A.B" who took the Locket Horcrux. Hermione recalls seeing such a locket in the house. The house-elf Kreacher had kept the locket, but Mundungus Fletcher had stolen it from Kreacher and given it to Dolores Umbridge. Using Polyjuice Potion, the trio infiltrate the Ministry of Magic and steal the locket, but they are forced to flee to the countryside with no means to destroy it. Harry and Hermione deduce that Gryffindor's sword can destroy Horcruxes, which is why Dumbledore attempted to leave it to Harry, and learn that the one kept by the Ministry is a fake. Ron, however, abandons the mission and goes home.
Harry and Hermione look for the sword in Godric's Hollow, Harry's birthplace as well as Godric Gryffindor and Dumbledore's hometown. While there, they find a grave for Ignotus Peverell with a mysterious symbol on it. They are then ambushed by Nagini and Voldemort but escape due to Hermione's quick Blasting Curse, which also damages Harry's wand and knocks him unconscious. When he awakens, he and Hermione are in woodland in the Forest of Dean. At night, Harry follows a silver doe-shaped Patronus to a pond containing the real Sword of Gryffindor. As Harry tries to retrieve it, the Locket Horcrux (which he is wearing) strangles him. Just then, Ron returns (using a secret power of the Deluminator) and rescues him and the sword. Harry directs Ron to destroy the Horcrux with it, and he does. Ron informs him that Voldemort's name is now Tabooed: speaking it summons the Death Eaters. Additionally, Ron supplies Harry with a blackthorn wand that he managed to procure from a group of Snatchers. Harry, Ron and Hermione visit Xenophilius Lovegood, whom they had seen wearing the mysterious symbol briefly discussed at the wedding earlier, in order to learn its meaning. Lovegood explains that it represents the three legendary Deathly Hallows -- the Elder Wand (the most powerful wand in the world), the Resurrection Stone (which can bring back the dead), and the Invisibility Cloak (a true invisibility cloak that never wears out) -- discussed in a story in The Tales of Beedle the Bard that uses the symbol. According to the story, three brothers took these as "gifts" from Death. Lovegood tells them that "believers" in the Hallows think that the three brothers were the three Peverell brothers. Harry realizes that Luna is suspiciously absent, and Lovegood admits that Death Eaters abducted his daughter and are coming for Harry and his friends now, desperately hoping against hope that by doing so, Luna will be returned to him unscathed. The trio barely escapes.
Despite Ron and Hermione's skepticism, Harry believes that Dumbledore's gifts indicate that the Deathly Hallows are real and that Dumbledore had all three (although, amazingly, by his own knowing actions, not at the same time- therefore he is not considered to be a Master of Death). They include Harry's Invisibility Cloak and the ring Dumbledore was wearing (the Resurrection Stone), which is probably inside the Snitch. He concludes Voldemort is pursuing the Elder Wand, which was buried with Dumbledore at Hogwarts. Harry then accidentally speaks Voldemort's name, and the trio are captured and taken to the cellar of Malfoy Manor, with Harry disguised. Finding Gryffindor's Sword, Bellatrix Lestrange fears the trio has broken into her Gringotts vault, and Harry deduces that something else of Voldemort's is in the Lestrange vault. She tortures Hermione for information. Harry calls for help using a two-way mirror piece, in which he sees an eye. Dobby then apparates into the cellar and rescues the other prisoners, which include Luna, the goblin Griphook and wand-maker Ollivander. Lucius Malfoy sends Wormtail to the cellar to check on the noise. Harry reminds Wormtail of his life debt. Wormtail hesitates and is then fatally strangled by his own silver hand (which forced Wormtail's allegiance to Lord Voldemort or else kill him at the slightest sign of betrayal). Harry and Ron rescue Hermione; Ron disarms Bellatrix and Harry disarms Draco Malfoy, procuring Draco's hawthorn wand. Dobby reappears and disapparates with them, but he is struck by Bellatrix's knife during the escape and dies.Harry now has to decide whether to chase Horcruxes (battle Voldemort and follow Dumbledore's instructions) or Hallows (battle Death as he learns more about Dumbledore's past). He chooses to seek the Horcruxes and discusses breaking into Gringotts with Griphook. Ollivander confirms that the Elder Wand exists and that a wand will transfer its allegiance if its owner is defeated or disarmed. Aided by Griphook, Harry, Ron and Hermione penetrate Gringotts and retrieve Hufflepuff's Cup from the Lestrange vault, although they lose Gryffindor's sword to Griphook in the process and are thus unable to destroy the Horcrux. Voldemort takes the Elder Wand from Dumbledore's tomb. Through his mental connection to Harry, he inadvertently reveals that a Horcrux is hidden at Hogwarts. Harry, Ron and Hermione head to Hogsmeade to find a way in. After Death Eaters are alerted to the trio's presence, they seek refuge in the Hog's Head Inn. The bartender at the Hog's Head Inn turns out to be Aberforth Dumbledore. He tells Harry the story of his family, including his brother and Gellert Grindelwald's role in his sister Ariana's accidental death. Harry realizes that Albus Dumbledore had been begging to die in his sister's place during his delirium while attempting to retrieve the Locket Horcrux. Aberforth smuggles the trio into Hogwarts with the help of Neville Longbottom, who has assumed the leadership of Dumbledore's Army at Hogwarts, and other members of the Order and Dumbledore's Army begin showing up. Luna suggests that the fifth Horcrux could be Ravenclaw's lost diadem. Hermione destroys the Cup Horcrux with basilisk venom (procuring a fang from the Chamber of Secrets - Ron duplicating the sounds he heard Harry make in order to open it). Harry recalls seeing the diadem in the Room of Requirement when he hid his Potions book the previous year. Harry, Ron and Hermione enter, but Draco Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle ambush them there. Crabbe mishandles the powerful Fiendfyre spell, killing himself and destroying the Diadem Horcrux. Harry saves Draco's life in their escape.
The Battle of Hogwarts commences between the Order of the Phoenix and most of the Hogwarts faculty and student body on one side and the Death Eaters, the Ministry of Magic, the Slytherins and two giants on the other. Fred Weasley, Remus Lupin and Tonks are among the dead. Harry follows Voldemort to the Shrieking Shack, where Voldemort deliberately kills Snape, thinking it will make him the Elder Wand's master. Harry captures the dying Snape's last memories and takes them to Dumbledore's Pensieve. He learns that Snape had loved Harry's mother Lily since they were children, and the silver doe was Snape's Patronus as a result. Snape had turned double agent for Dumbledore to save Lily's life and had remained loyal even after her death. When he acquired the Resurrection Stone, Dumbledore was cursed by the Ring Horcrux, causing his dead hand, but Snape had saved his life by containing the curse. Dumbledore then ordered Snape to kill him if needed, in order to spare Draco. Snape's last memory is Dumbledore's conclusion that Harry himself is a Horcrux, which had created the connection between Harry and Voldemort. Harry realizes he must die to finally render Voldemort mortal.
Harry asks Neville Longbottom to kill Nagini if he gets the chance and then heads for Voldemort's camp in the Forbidden Forest. On the way, Harry realizes the meaning of the clue on the Snitch, says, "I am about to die", and retrieves the Resurrection Stone, which he uses to summon the spirits of his parents, Sirius, and Lupin to accompany him. Voldemort casts the "Avada Kedavra" curse at Harry, killing him and destroying the Horcrux. He awakens in an ethereal place that looks like (to him) King's Cross station, unsure whether he is alive or dead. Dumbledore appears and congratulates Harry on choosing to destroy Horcruxes instead of chasing the Hallows, as Dumbledore had done in his quest to revive Ariana. He explains that, just as Voldemort cannot die while his soul fragments remain alive, Voldemort cannot kill Harry because he used Harry's blood in his resurrection. Harry then is presented with the choice of easily succumbing to Death (passing on) or to return to the world of the living in order to continue to struggle against Voldemort.
Harry revives but feigns death. Voldemort orders Narcissa Malfoy to check Harry. She realises that Harry is alive, asks him very quietly about Draco's welfare, caring only for her son and not either side's victory. Harry (barely whispering back) informs her that Draco is alive. Narcissa tells Voldemort that Harry is dead. Harry's still body is carried to Hogwarts by the weeping Hagrid as Voldemort's trophy. Voldemort resumes his assault on Hogwarts. When Neville defies Voldemort by refusing to join the Death Eaters and rallying the defenders, the Sorting Hat is summoned by Voldemort. He puts it on Neville's head and sets it on fire. Neville breaks free of the Body-Bind Curse placed on him, draws Gryffindor's Sword out of the Sorting Hat, and decapitates Nagini, destroying the final Horcrux. Harry quickly hides under his Invisibility Cloak as pandemonium breaks loose at the arrival of reinforcements for the defenders of Hogwarts. Help comes in the form of centaurs, Hogsmeade residents, Slughorn, and various family members of the fighters. The battle moves into the Castle, where the house-elves join the fray, led by Kreacher.
In the Great Hall, the battles pare down to Bellatrix fighting Ginny, Luna, and Hermione, and Voldemort dueling Slughorn, McGonagall and Shacklebolt. Bellatrix is eventually killed by Molly Weasley, who steps in after Bellatrix almost kills Ginny. Voldemort then uses the Elder Wand to blast his opponents off their feet. Harry then casts a Shield Charm to protect Mrs. Weasley, and takes off the Invisibility Cloak to confront Voldemort, informing him that Draco (not Snape) had become the Elder Wand's master by disarming Dumbledore. This allegiance was transferred to Harry when he won Draco's wand, and so Harry (not Voldemort) is the true master of the Elder Wand. The two circle each other and Harry offers, despite all the strife and sorrow he has caused, Voldemort a final chance at redemption. Voldemort, playing to character, vehemently declines and they both become (further) prepared to act at a split moment's notice. As in their first duel, Harry then casts Expelliarmus, while Voldemort casts the killing curse Avada Kedavra. The Elder Wand's allegiance prevents the spell from harming Harry, and the Killing Curse rebounds off Harry's disarming spell, thereby killing Voldemort. After the climatic battle, Harry decides that the Elder Wand will be returned to Dumbledore's tomb, that the Resurrection Stone will be left in the Forbidden Forest, and that the Invisibility Cloak will continue to be a family heirloom, as Harry is the last descendant of Ignotus Peverell. Before returning the Elder Wand, Harry uses its power to repair his own wand, which was previously thought to have been irreparably damaged. By giving up the Hallows, Harry, the first person to have possessed all three (and therefore the first, and only, Master of Death), shows that he has come to terms with the notion of life ending for everyone, is not afraid of death, and demonstrates a strength beyond that of any other character in the series (including Dumbledore, Voldemort, and Snape).
Nineteen years later, Harry and Ginny Weasley are married and have three children; Ron and Hermione are married and have two children; Draco Malfoy is married with one child. The families meet to send their children on the Hogwarts Express for the school year. The Lupins' son, Teddy, also is mentioned to be for all intents and purposes part of the family and seems to be having a romantic relationship with Bill and Fleur's daughter. It is shown that Harry has come to the realization that both Dumbledore and Snape are heroes (having named one of his sons Albus Severus after the two). Neville Longbottom becomes the new Herbology teacher of Hogwarts. The book ends with these final words: "The scar had not pained Harry for nineteen years. All was well."
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