Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Mood:  incredulous
Topic: Critic

The final summer

Taken from Wikipedia.org

Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters plan to ambush Harry Potter when he leaves the Dursley home with the Order of the Phoenix for the final time. The Dursleys, who have always disdained and mocked the magical world, finally agree to allow the Order to place them in hiding to protect them from Voldemort once Harry's magical protection expires on his 17th birthday. Voldemort also seeks a new wand to defeat Harry's. Members of the Order arrive to escort Harry to a safe house (before his 17th birthday), making use of Polyjuice potion to produce six Potter decoys. Nonetheless, they are attacked en route by Death Eaters. Harry narrowly escapes, but George Weasley loses an ear, while Hedwig, Harry's owl, and Mad-Eye Moody are killed.

At the Burrow, Minister of Magic Rufus Scrimgeour arrives to give Harry, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger bequests from Albus Dumbledore's will. Ron receives the Deluminator, and Hermione is left a children's book, The Tales of Beedle the Bard. Harry inherits Godric Gryffindor's Sword and the Snitch he caught in his first-ever Quidditch match. The sword, however, was kept by the Ministry, who claimed it to be 'an important historical artifact'. The trio, while puzzled, presume the items will help them in their Horcrux hunt.

The search begins

At Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour's wedding reception, Kingsley Shacklebolt's Patronus arrives, announcing that Scrimgeour is dead and the Ministry of Magic has fallen under Voldemort's control. As Death Eaters approach, Harry, Ron and Hermione Disapparate, eventually taking refuge in 12 Grimmauld Place.

While at Grimmauld Place, Harry deduces from a door sign that Sirius Black's brother Regulus was the "R.A.B" who removed the Locket Horcrux from the sea cave.^[HP6] Hermione recalls seeing a locket whilst cleaning the house during the events of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. They discover that the house-elf Kreacher had stolen the locket from the items to be thrown out. Kreacher admits that he had placed the Locket Horcrux in the cave as ordered by Voldemort, and Regulus later died retrieving it. The Horcrux has since fallen into Dolores Umbridge's possession. The trio successfully infiltrate the Ministry of Magic and recover the locket, but Grimmauld Place is compromised during their escape, forcing them to flee to the countryside.

Overhearing a discussion between Griphook the Goblin and several others, the trio learn that the Sword of Gryffindor confiscated by the Ministry is a fake. Harry decides to find the real one that can destroy Horcruxes, but a frustrated Ron leaves the group. Harry and Hermione search for the sword in Godric's Hollow, but they are ambushed by Voldemort's snake, Nagini, and Voldemort himself. Hermione casts a Blasting Curse which ricochets around the room, facilitating their escape, but also irreperably damaging Harry's wand.

In the Forest of Dean, a doe-shaped Patronus leads Harry to an icy pond containing the real Sword of Gryffindor. As Harry dives into the freezing water to retrieve it, the Locket Horcrux tightens around his neck, strangling him. He is saved by Ron, who recovers the sword and destroys the Locket with it. He warns that Voldemort's name is now Tabooed: speaking it reveals the speaker's location to Voldemort and the Death Eaters.

The Deathly Hallows

The trio learn from Xenophilius Lovegood that the cryptic symbol they have repeatedly encountered represents the three Deathly Hallows: the Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone and the Invisibility Cloak. When pressed about Luna's absence, Lovegood admits that Death Eaters abducted her in retaliation for supporting Harry in his paper, The Quibbler. Hoping for Luna's return, he has alerted Death Eaters of the trio's whereabouts, but they escape.

Soon after, the trio are captured and taken to Malfoy Manor, where they join the imprisoned Luna, Dean, Ollivander and Griphook. Finding Gryffindor's Sword among the trio's possessions, Bellatrix Lestrange fears they have broken into her Gringotts vault, and tortures Hermione for information. Help arrives in the form of Dobby, who Apparates into the cellar and rescues Luna, Dean and Ollivander. Harry and Ron rush upstairs to rescue Hermione; Ron disarms Bellatrix and Harry takes Draco's wand. Dobby reappears, and they Disapparate to Bill and Fleur Weasley's cottage; Dobby is struck by a knife during the escape, and dies immediatley afterwards.

At the cottage, Ollivander confirms the Elder Wand's existence and says that a wand can transfer allegiance if its owner is defeated or disarmed. Ollivander adds a caveat: although the Elder Wand is unbeatable, its master is not, and must always guard against a surprise attack. Bellatrix's behaviour convinces the trio that another Horcrux is hidden in the Lestrange vault. Aided by Griphook, they penetrate Gringotts' defences and retrieve Hufflepuff's Cup, although they lose the sword to Griphook in the process. The trio escape Gringotts on the back of a dragon.

Meanwhile, Voldemort steals the Elder Wand from Dumbledore's tomb, believing that its possession will allow him to defeat Harry. Dumbledore had captured the wand after defeating the Dark wizard Grindelwald in a duel. Informed of the theft of the cup, Voldemort realises that his Horcruxes are being destroyed; through his mental connection to Harry he unintentionally reveals that another Horcrux is hidden at Hogwarts.

 The Battle of Hogwarts

In Hogsmeade, Aberforth Dumbledore smuggles the trio into Hogwarts. Harry alerts the Hogwarts staff to Voldemort's impending invasion, as allies continue to arrive. Luna Lovegood suggests that the fifth Horcrux could be Ravenclaw's lost diadem; Harry and Luna go to Ravenclaw's common room, but are confronted by Alecto Carrow, who calls Voldemort. They are saved by Professor McGonagall; she subsequently engages Snape in a duel, along with Professor Flitwick and Professor Sprout, and forces him to flee the castle. Harry recalls seeing the diadem in the Room of Requirement when he hid his Potions book there the previous year. Meanwhile, Hermione destroys the Cup Horcrux with a basilisk fang that she and Ron retrieve from the Chamber of Secrets. In the Room of Requirement, Ron mentions that the house elves are still in the kitchens and in danger, whereupon Hermione runs over to Ron and kisses him. The trio reenter the Room of Requirement and are attacked by Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle. Crabbe mishandles the powerful Fiendfyre spell, killing himself and destroying the diadem, but the others escape unharmed.

Harry glimpses Voldemort's mind again and leads the trio to the Shrieking Shack. They witness Voldemort kill Snape, believing it will make him the Elder Wand's master. As Snape dies, he gives Harry his memories that prove Snape's loyalty to Dumbledore, motivated by his lifelong love for Harry's mother Lily. After being cursed by Gaunt's Ring Horcrux, a doomed Dumbledore had ordered Snape to kill him at a strategic time, sparing Draco from carrying out Voldemort's order to murder him. It was Snape who sent the doe Patronus to the forest. The memories also reveal that Harry himself is a Horcrux; he must die in order to destroy Voldemort.

Resigned to death, Harry approaches Voldemort's camp in the Forbidden Forest, informing no one other than Neville. Along the way, he finds the Resurrection Stone inside the Snitch and summons the spirits of his parents, Sirius Black and the recently killed Remus Lupin, who accompany him to Voldemort's camp. Voldemort kills Harry with the Avada Kedavra curse.

Awakening in an ethereal place, Harry is unsure whether he is alive or dead. Dumbledore appears and explains that Voldemort's Horcrux within Harry has been destroyed. He says that just as Voldemort cannot die while his soul fragments remain, Voldemort cannot kill Harry because he used Harry's blood (which carries the ancient magical protection his mother gave to him through her sacrifice years before) in his resurrection.^[HP4] Voldemort's killing curse instead destroyed the only thing within Harry that did not carry Lily Potter's protection — the fragment of the Dark Lord's own soul he unknowingly passed to Harry the night his mother and father sacrificed themselves to save him. Harry glimpses a possible outcome for Voldemort: a weeping, deformed child that Dumbledore describes as 'beyond any of our help'. Harry is also given an explanation as to why his wand acted on its own accord against Voldemort: the wand's twin cores echoed their master's connection the night of Voldemort's resurrection (something that was unprecedented); Harry's own wand imbibed certain qualities from Voldemort's wand (a reverse of Harry's situation after his parents were killed by Voldemort but he survived his curse). Hence, Harry's wand was able to recognize its twin-cores counterpart that was both brother and foe, and conjured a powerful spell (of equal strength to something Voldemort would cast) against its attacker.

Harry revives, but feigns death. Voldemort orders Narcissa Malfoy to check Harry. Although she realizes that Harry is alive, she asks him if her son Draco is unharmed instead of revealing that he is alive. Harry mutters that Draco is fine, prompting her to declare him dead, as she and her husband Lucius no longer care about anything other than their son's safety. Harry is carried to Hogwarts as Voldemort's trophy by the captured Hagrid and displayed to agonized supporters gathered in the school hall. When Neville Longbottom defies Voldemort, the Sorting Hat is thrust onto his head and set aflame.

A sudden disturbance is brought about by Grawp, the centaurs and the giants. Neville pulls off the Sorting Hat, draws Gryffindor's sword from it and decapitates Nagini with a single stroke, destroying the final Horcrux. Harry moves around under his cloak and lends aid throughout the ensuing battle, as his supporters rally to defy Voldemort and the Death Eaters one last time. Molly defeats Bellatrix in a deadly duel. Knowing that he is the Elder Wand's true master, Harry finally confronts Voldemort, informing him that when Draco Malfoy disarmed Dumbledore on the Astronomy Tower,^[HP6] he unknowingly became the Elder Wand's master; this allegiance was then transferred to Harry when he captured Draco's wand at Malfoy Manor. Voldemort casts another Killing Curse at Harry, but the spell rebounds off Harry's disarming spell, killing him, and leaving Harry victorious.

Among the casualties are Fred Weasley, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, Colin Creevey and Bellatrix Lestrange. After the battle, Harry tells Dumbledore's portrait that he is keeping the Invisibility Cloak, but the Resurrection Stone will remain lost in the forest. The Elder Wand shall be returned to Dumbledore's tomb, where its power will be extinguished if Harry dies undefeated. Dumbledore approves. Before returning the Elder Wand to the tomb, Harry uses it to repair his own wand.

Epilogue

Nineteen years later, Harry and Ginny Weasley are married and have three children: James Sirius, Albus Severus, and Lily Luna. Ron has married Hermione and they have two children, Rose and Hugo. The families meet at King's Cross station, where a nervous Albus is departing for his first year at Hogwarts. Harry's nineteen-year-old godson, Teddy Lupin (Remus and Tonks's orphaned son), is found kissing Victoire Weasley (Bill and Fleur's daughter) in a train compartment. Teddy is a frequent visitor to the Potters, coming to dinner several times a week. Harry sees Draco Malfoy and his wife, Astoria Greengrass (revealed on Rowling's website behind the door) with their son, Scorpius; Malfoy acknowledges Harry with a curt nod, then turns away. Neville Longbottom is now the Hogwarts Herbology professor and remains close friends with Harry. Harry comforts Albus, who is worried he will be sorted into Slytherin. He tells his son that one of his two namesakes, Severus Snape, was a Slytherin and the bravest man he had ever met. He adds that the Sorting Hat takes one's own choice into account. The book concludes: "The scar had not pained Harry for nineteen years. All was well."