Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Plot

Leaving the Dursleys

Acting on information received from Severus Snape, Lord Voldemort and his followers plot to ambush Harry Potter when he leaves the Dursleys' home for the last time. Voldemort also seeks a new wand that can defeat Harry's. Shortly before Harry's protection expires on his seventeenth birthday, the Dursleys are sent to an undisclosed location, and Order of the Phoenix members arrive to escort Harry to a safe house. Six Harry-lookalike decoys are used, but the real Harry is identified en route and attacked by Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Harry narrowly escapes to The Burrow, but Hedwig and Mad-Eye Moody are killed.

A few days later, Minister of Magic Rufus Scrimgeour arrives to give Harry, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger their bequests from Albus Dumbledore's will. Ron receives Dumbledore's Deluminator, and Hermione has been left a book of fairy tales. Harry inherits Godric Gryffindor's sword and the Snitch he caught in his first-ever Quidditch match, although Scrimgeour withholds the sword, claiming it never belonged to Dumbledore. Later, the Snitch reveals a cryptic inscription in Dumbledore's handwriting: "I open at the close." Although the trio are unable to determine why Dumbledore left them these particular items, they believe they are intended to somehow help them find Voldemort's horcruxes.

Search for the Horcruxes

During Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour's wedding reception, Kingsley Shacklebolt's Patronus appears with a warning that the Ministry has fallen and the Death Eaters are coming. Harry, Ron and Hermione escape by Disapparating, eventually taking refuge in the deserted Order of the Phoenix headquarters at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, the house Harry inherited from Sirius Black. While there, Harry discovers that Sirius's late brother, Regulus Black, shares the same initials with "R.A.B", the person who removed the locket Horcrux from the hidden sea cave.[HP6] Hermione recalls seeing a locket amongst house elf Kreacher's possessions. Kreacher fetches Mundungus Fletcher, who admits he stole the locket from the house elf and used it to bribe Dolores Umbridge. Convinced it is the Horcrux, the trio infiltrate the Ministry of Magic disguised by Polyjuice Potion. They find the locket, but their hiding place at Grimmauld Place is uncovered.

The trio are forced to go on the run. Unable to open or destroy the locket, they take turns wearing it to keep it safe. They learned that the sword confiscated by the Ministry is actually a replica; the real Gryffindor sword can destroy Horcruxes. Harry wants to search for it, but Ron, fearing for his family's safety and frustrated that Harry has no real plan, leaves the group. Harry and Hermione go to Godric's Hollow to look for the sword. They are ambushed by Nagini and Voldemort. As they escape, Hermione accidentally breaks Harry's wand.

In the Forest of Dean, Harry sees a doe-shaped Patronus near their camp. It leads him to an icy pond containing Gryffindor's sword. As Harry attempts to retrieve it, the locket Horcrux tightens around his neck, strangling him. Meanwhile, Ron uses the Deluminator to locate Harry and Hermione. He returns in time to rescue Harry, then destroys the locket with the sword. Ron says that Voldemort's name is now Tabooed - anyone uttering it reveals their location.

The Deathly Hallows

The trio go to Xenophilius Lovegood, Luna's father, to ask about a symbol they saw him wearing that matches the hand drawn one in Hermione's book of fairy tales. Lovegood says it represents the Deathly Hallows, three legendary objects that conquer death: the Elder Wand, Resurrection Stone, and Invisibility Cloak. When pressed about Luna's absence, Lovegood admits that Death Eaters abducted her; he tells them he has alerted the Death Eater-controlled Ministry that they are there, and they escape.

Bounty hunters capture the trio at their camp after Harry inadvertently speaks Voldemort's name. They are imprisoned at Malfoy Manor, along with Luna Lovegood, Dean Thomas, Ollivander the wandmaker, and Griphook the goblin. Finding Gryffindor's sword among the trio's possessions, Bellatrix Lestrange suspects they have broken into her vault at Gringotts Bank and tortures Hermione for information. Dobby apparates into the cellar to rescue the prisoners. Peter Pettigrew enters to investigate the noise. He chokes Harry, who tells him he is owed a life debt.[HP3] Pettrigrew loosens his grip, and his own silver hand strangles him to death in retribution. Harry and Ron rush upstairs to rescue Hermione. Ron disarms Bellatrix and Harry takes Draco's wand. Dobby reappears and they apparate to Bill and Fleur Weasley's home. During their escape, Bellatrix throws a knife and fatally wounds Dobby.

While at the cottage, Ollivander confirms the Elder Wand's existence and says that a wand can change its allegiance if the previous owner is defeated or disarmed. Bellatrix's behaviour convinces the trio that another Horcrux is hidden in the Lestrange vault. Aided by Griphook, they infiltrate Gringotts, gain entry into the vault and retrieve Helga Hufflepuff's Cup Horcrux; Griphook takes the sword, claiming it rightfully belongs to the Goblins, and the trio escape with the Horcrux. Meanwhile, Voldemort, who has stolen the Elder Wand from Dumbledore's tomb, now realises that his Horcruxes are being destroyed. His mind link with Harry unintentionally reveals that one is hidden at Hogwarts, which Harry soon learns is Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem.
The Battle of Hogwarts

In Hogsmeade, Aberforth Dumbledore helps the trio to sneak into Hogwarts. Harry alerts the staff to Voldemort's impending invasion. The Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore's Army, and former and current Hogwarts students arrive as Voldemort's allies attack; among the many casualties are: Fred Weasley, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks Lupin, and Colin Creevey. As Harry searches for the diadem, Ron and Hermione enter the Chamber of Secrets to retrieve basilisk fangs. Hermione uses one to destroy the Cup Horcrux. Harry remembers seeing the Diadem in the Room of Requirement. While there, the trio are attacked by Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle; Crabbe mishandles the powerful Fiendfyre spell, killing himself and destroying the diadem.

Harry glimpses Voldemort's mind again, and the trio go to the Shrieking Shack. They overhear Voldemort telling Snape that he believes the Elder Wand fails to work properly for him because Snape became its master when Snape killed the wand's former owner, Dumbledore.[HP6] Convinced that Snape's death will transfer the wand's allegiance to him, Voldemort orders Nagini to kill him, then leaves. As Snape lies dying, he gives Harry his memories; they reveal that Snape, although not entirely good, was loyal to Dumbledore, motivated by his lifelong love for Lily Potter, Harry's mother. Dumbledore, who was doomed to die after being cursed by Gaunt's ring Horcrux, had ordered Snape to kill him, if necessary, to protect Snape's role in the Order of the Phoenix and also to spare Draco Malfoy from fulfilling Voldemort's task to murder the headmaster. It was Snape who sent the doe Patronus that led Harry to Gryffindor's sword. The memories also reveal that Harry himself is a Horcrux; Voldemort cannot die while Harry lives.

Resigned to his fate, Harry goes alone to the Forbidden Forest where Voldemort awaits. Along the way, he deciphers the Snitch's clue, and it opens to reveal the Resurrection Stone. Harry summons the spirits of his parents, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin, who provide comfort and accompany him to Voldemort's camp. He then willingly allows Voldemort to strike him with the Avada Kedavra curse. Awakening in an otherworldly place, Harry is uncertain whether he is alive or dead. Albus Dumbledore appears and explains that Voldemort's Horcrux was within Harry and has been destroyed by the killing curse. He says that just as Voldemort cannot die while his soul fragments remain, Harry cannot be killed while his blood resides in Voldemort's body. Harry, having "mastered death" by uniting the Deathly Hallows, is given the choice to "go on" or return to the living world.

Harry revives, although he pretends to be dead. Voldemort has him carried to Hogwarts as a trophy. Neville pulls Gryffindor's sword from the Sorting Hat and beheads Nagini, destroying the final Horcrux, and the fighting resumes. Harry covers himself with the Invisibility Cloak. The Hogsmeade villagers, Centaurs, and Hogwarts' house elves join the battle against the Death Eaters who eventually fold under superior numbers. Inside the castle, McGonagall, Kingsley, and Slughorn duel Voldemort as Ginny, Hermione, and Luna are simultaneously fighting Bellatrix Lestrange. When a killing curse nearly hits Ginny, Molly Weasley pushes the girls aside and fiercely battles Bellatrix, fatally cursing her. Harry reveals himself and challenges Voldemort, knowing that Voldemort was never the Elder Wand's true master. When Draco Malfoy disarmed Dumbledore on the Astronomy Tower, Draco unknowingly won the Elder Wand's allegiance; when Harry later captured Draco's own wand, he became the Elder Wand's new master. Voldemort casts a Killing Curse at Harry as Harry conjures a Disarming Spell, but the Elder Wand protects its master by rebounding Voldemort's curse, killing him.

Following the battle, Harry visits Dumbledore's portrait. He tells the late headmaster that he will keep the Invisibility Cloak, but to prevent the Deathly Hallows from being reunited again, the Resurrection Stone will be left where it was dropped in the Forbidden Forest, and the Elder Wand is to be returned to Dumbledore's tomb. If Harry dies undefeated, the Elder Wand's power will be extinguished with his death. Dumbledore nods his approval. Before placing the Elder Wand into the tomb, Harry uses it to repair his own broken wand.

Epilogue

Nineteen years later, Harry is married to Ginny Weasley, and they have three children: James, Albus Severus, and Lily. Ron and Hermione are also married and 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. James, the eldest, is already familiar with school while Lily will start in two years' time. Harry's nineteen-year-old godson, Teddy Lupin, is found kissing Victoire Weasley (Bill and Fleur's daughter) in a train compartment. Teddy is apparently very close to the Potters, with Harry remarking, "He already comes round for dinner about four times a week." Harry spots Draco Malfoy and his unnamed wife with their son, Scorpius; Malfoy acknowledges Harry with a curt nod, then turns away. Harry comforts Albus, who is worried he will be sorted into Slytherin, by telling him that his namesake, Severus Snape, was a Slytherin and the bravest man he ever met. He adds that the Sorting Hat takes one's own choice into account. Neville Longbottom is now the Hogwarts Herbology professor and is close friends with Harry. The book concludes with the words: "The scar had not pained Harry for nineteen years. All was well."