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# Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling. It is the seventh and final novel in the Harry Potter series. It was released on 21 July 2007 in the United Kingdom by Bloomsbury Publishing, 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 (2005) and the final confrontation between the wizards Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort.
Deathly Hallows shattered sales records upon release, surpassing marks set by previous titles of the Harry Potter series. It holds the Guinness World Record 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 in November 2010 and Part 2 in July 2011.

## Plot
The young wizard Harry Potter 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 Eaters.  Hedwig and "Mad-Eye" Moody are killed and George Weasley loses an ear. Lord Voldemort attempts to kill Harry but fails.
Harry and his friends Ron Weasley 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. 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, Mr Ollivander and Griphook the goblin, while the Death Eater Bellatrix Lestrange 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 and retrieve another Horcrux from the vault of Bellatrix Lestrange. Harry has visions which inform him that another Horcrux is hidden at Hogwarts. 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 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'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 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, 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 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 uses the Elder Wand to fix his original wand and returns 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 and a son named Hugo.

## Background

### Series
The first novel in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, was published by Bloomsbury 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 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 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, "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 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 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. 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 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 confirmed that there were genuine online leaks. Reviews 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 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, in one case being sold to Publishers Weekly for US$250 from an initial price of US$18.

### Price wars and other controversies
Asda, 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. 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, 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 and Carrefour hypermarkets. The retail price of the book in Malaysia was MYR 109.90, while the hypermarkets Tesco and Carrefour sold the book at MYR 69.90. 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 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. Trade and Industry Minister Eli Yishai 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 translation Harry Potter aur Maut ke Tohfe (हैरी पॉटर और मौत के तोहफे), 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
The Baltimore Sun's 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 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 writer Michiko Kakutani 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, 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 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 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, that the mid-book camping chapters are "abysmally long", and Voldemort "becomes more tiresome than an Ian Fleming 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 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.

### 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 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 (over 96 per second), and 2.65 million copies in the United Kingdom. It holds the Guinness World record 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.

### 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's critic Malcolm Jones. Publishers Weekly 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 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" 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 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 and the occult. 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". 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.
Deathly Hallows begins with a pair of epigraphs, one by Quaker leader William Penn and one from Aeschylus' 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 [that] 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 ... [but] I 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 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, C. S. Lewis's Perelandra and Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities) and vision symbolism. In this model, authors weave allegorical tales along the alchemical magnum opus. 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 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was directed by David Yates, written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman, David Barron, and J. K. Rowling. 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, 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 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 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 (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 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. Previews of the play began at the Palace Theatre, London, 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.

title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

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{{short description|2007 fantasy novel by J. K. Rowling}}
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{{for|the films based on the novel|Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1{{!}}''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1''|Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2{{!}}''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2''}}
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{{Use British English|date=May 2025}}<!--Read before editing! This article uses British English, which has its own spelling conventions. Please ensure you are using the British spelling of words.-->
{{Infobox book
| name              = Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
| image             = Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.jpg
| caption           = Cover art of the original UK edition
| author            = [[J. K. Rowling]]
| country           = United Kingdom
| language          = English
| illustrator       = Jason Cockcroft (first edition)
| series            = ''[[Harry Potter]]''
| release_number    = {{ordinal|7}} in series
| genre             = [[Fantasy]]
| publisher         = [[Bloomsbury Publishing|Bloomsbury]] (UK)
| pub_date          = {{start date and age|2007|7|21|df=y}}
| pages             = 607 (first edition)
| isbn              = 0-7475-9105-9
| preceded_by       = [[Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince]]
| followed_by       = <!-- Do not add "Cursed Child" as followed_by. Rowling said it is a script, not a book. See [[Talk:Harry Potter]]. -->
}}
'''''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows''''' is a [[fantasy novel]] written by British author [[J. K. Rowling]]. It is the seventh and final novel in the ''[[Harry Potter]]'' series. It was released on 21 July 2007 in the United Kingdom by [[Bloomsbury Publishing]], in the United States by [[Scholastic Corporation|Scholastic]], and in Canada by [[Raincoast Books]]. The novel chronicles the events directly following ''[[Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince]]'' (2005) and the final confrontation between the wizards [[Harry Potter (character)|Harry Potter]] and [[Lord Voldemort]].

''Deathly Hallows'' shattered sales records upon release, surpassing marks set by previous titles of the ''Harry Potter'' series. It holds the [[Guinness World Record]] for most novels sold within 24 hours of release, with 8.3 million sold in the US and 2.65 million in the UK.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rich |first=Motoko |date=22 July 2007 |title=Record First-Day Sales for Last 'Harry Potter' Book |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/22/books/22cnd-potter.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171216034954/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/22/books/22cnd-potter.html |archive-date=16 December 2017 |access-date=15 December 2017 |website=The New York Times}}</ref><ref name="Guinness Book of World Records">{{cite web|url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/Search/Details/Fastestsellingbook-of-fiction-in-24-hours/53237.htm|title=Fastest selling book of fiction in 24 hours|work=Guinness Book of World Records|date=21 July 2007|access-date=5 February 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110919082714/http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/Search/Details/Fastestsellingbook-of-fiction-in-24-hours/53237.htm|archive-date=19 September 2011}}</ref> 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]]'' in November 2010 and ''[[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2|Part 2]]'' in July 2011.

==Plot==
The young wizard [[Harry Potter (character)|Harry Potter]] is about to turn seventeen and therefore lose the protective magic shield [[Lily Potter|his mother]]'s sacrifice gave him. He is being escorted to [[Places in Harry Potter#The Burrow|The Burrow]] by members of the [[Order of the Phoenix (fictional organisation)|Order of the Phoenix]] when the group is attacked by [[Death Eater]]s.  [[List of Harry Potter characters#Hedwig|Hedwig]] and [[Alastor Moody|"Mad-Eye" Moody]] are killed and [[George Weasley]] loses an ear. [[Lord Voldemort]] attempts to kill Harry but fails.

Harry and his friends [[Ron Weasley]] and [[Hermione Granger]] begin searching for Voldemort's four remaining [[Horcrux]]es. They learn that the [[Salazar Slytherin's locket|locket Horcrux]] is in the possession of [[Dolores Umbridge]] at the [[Ministry of Magic]]. 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 (Harry Potter)|Nagini]], but manage to escape. One night, a [[Patronus Charm|Patronus]] guides Harry to a pond containing the [[Sword of Godric Gryffindor|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 [[Magical objects in Harry Potter#Deathly Hallows|Deathly Hallows]]: the [[Elder Wand]], the [[Magical objects in Harry Potter#Resurrection Stone|Resurrection Stone]] and the [[Invisibility cloak (Harry Potter)|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 (Harry Potter)|Dean Thomas]], [[Luna Lovegood]], [[Mr Ollivander]] and [[Griphook]] the goblin, while the Death Eater [[Bellatrix Lestrange]] tortures Hermione for information. The house-elf [[Dobby (Harry Potter)|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]] and retrieve another Horcrux from the vault of [[Bellatrix Lestrange]]. Harry has visions which inform him that another Horcrux is hidden at [[Hogwarts]]. After the trio enters the school with the help of [[Aberforth|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]] and his friends [[Vincent Crabbe|Crabbe]] and [[Gregory Goyle|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]]'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]] 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]], and [[Remus Lupin]], one last time.

Voldemort casts the [[Magic in Harry Potter#Unforgivable curses|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]] 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 uses the Elder Wand to fix his original wand and returns 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 Weasley|Ginny]], now married, have three children: [[List of supporting Harry Potter characters#James Sirius Potter|James Sirius]], [[Albus Potter|Albus Severus]], and [[Lily Luna Potter|Lily Luna]]. Ron and Hermione have a daughter named [[Rose Granger-Weasley|Rose]] and a son named [[Hugo Granger-Weasley|Hugo]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rowling |first1=J. K. |title=Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7) (Hardcover) |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-7475-9105-4 |editor=Bloomsbury |place=London}}</ref>

==Background==
===Series===
The first novel in the ''Harry Potter'' series, ''[[Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone]]'', was published by [[Bloomsbury Publishing|Bloomsbury]] in 1997.<ref>{{cite news |date=18 February 2003 |title=The Potter phenomenon |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/820885.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081123221520/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/820885.stm |archive-date=23 November 2008 |access-date=27 September 2008 |publisher=BBC News}}</ref> It was followed by ''[[Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets|Chamber of Secrets]]'' (1998), ''[[Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban|Prisoner of Azkaban]]'' (1999), ''[[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire|Goblet of Fire]]'' (2000), ''[[Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix|Order of the Phoenix]]'' (2003) and ''[[Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince|Half-Blood Prince]]'' (2005).{{efn|Attributed to multiple references:<br><ref>{{cite news |last=Cassy |first=John |date=16 January 2003 |title=Harry Potter and the hottest day of summer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/jan/16/harrypotter.books |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131231091101/http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/jan/16/harrypotter.books |archive-date=31 December 2013 |access-date=27 September 2008 |work=The Guardian |location=UK}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=19 July 2000 |title=Speed-reading after lights out |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2000/jul/19/jkjoannekathleenrowling |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131231101931/http://www.theguardian.com/books/2000/jul/19/jkjoannekathleenrowling |archive-date=31 December 2013 |access-date=27 September 2008 |work=The Guardian |location=UK}}</ref><ref name="Harry Potter UK Release Dates2">{{cite news |date=14 July 2007 |title=A Potter timeline for muggles |url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/235354 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081220001353/http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/235354 |archive-date=20 December 2008 |access-date=27 September 2008 |work=Toronto Star}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=21 December 2004 |title=July date for Harry Potter book |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4113663.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090705094109/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4113663.stm |archive-date=5 July 2009 |access-date=27 September 2008 |work=BBC News |publisher=}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=23 July 2007 |title=Harry Potter finale sales hit 11m |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6912529.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081128201059/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6912529.stm |archive-date=28 November 2008 |access-date=21 August 2008 |work=BBC News |publisher=}}</ref>}}

=== Title ===
The title of the novel refers to three mythical objects featured in the story, which are collectively known as the "[[Magical objects in Harry Potter#Deathly Hallows|Deathly Hallows]]". Rowling announced the title in December 2006 through a Christmas-themed [[hangman (game)|hangman]] puzzle on her website.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bloomsbury.com/harrypotter/cont_text.asp?sec=4&unart=yes&artTitle=Harry+Potter+and+the+Deathly+Hallows |title=Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing]] |date=21 December 2006 |access-date=21 December 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070203070649/http://www.bloomsbury.com/harrypotter/cont_text.asp?sec=4&unart=yes&artTitle=Harry%20Potter%20and%20the%20Deathly%20Hallows |archive-date=3 February 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Other titles that Rowling considered were ''Harry Potter and the Elder Wand'' and ''Harry Potter and the Peverell Quest''.<ref name="webchat">{{cite news |date=30 July 2007 |title=Webchat with J.K. Rowling |url=http://www.bloomsbury.com/harrypotter/content.asp?sec=3&sec2=1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080106145256/http://www.bloomsbury.com/harrypotter/content.asp?sec=3&sec2=1 |archive-date=6 January 2008 |access-date=31 July 2007 |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Rowling |first=J. K. |title=Book 7 Update |url=http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/news_view.cfm?id=93 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070415224736/http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/news_view.cfm?id=93 <!--Added by H3llBot--> |archive-date=15 April 2007 |access-date=23 April 2007 |website=J. K. Rowling Official Site |publisher=}}</ref>

===Writing===
[[File:Wellington Statue.jpg|thumb|right|Rowling completed the final chapters of ''Deathly Hallows'' in Room 552 of the Balmoral Hotel.]]
Rowling completed the novel in January 2007 while staying at the [[Balmoral Hotel]] in Edinburgh.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/2437835/Harry-Potter-fans-pay-1000-a-night-to-stay-in-hotel-room-where-JK-Rowling-finished-series.html |title=Harry Potter fans pay £1,000 a night to stay in hotel room where JK Rowling finished series |location=UK |date=20 July 2008 |access-date=10 February 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160220112720/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/2437835/Harry-Potter-fans-pay-1000-a-night-to-stay-in-hotel-room-where-JK-Rowling-finished-series.html |archive-date=20 February 2016 }}</ref> 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 (novel)|David Copperfield]]'', "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".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2007-02-06-rowling_x.htm |title=Rowling reacts to Potter's end |agency=[[Associated Press]] |work=USA Today |date=6 February 2007 |access-date=21 July 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070823033059/http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2007-02-06-rowling_x.htm |archive-date=23 August 2007 }}</ref>

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".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/2005/0705-edinburgh-jones-official.html |access-date=16 June 2007 |title=Jones, Owen. One-on-one interview with J.K. Rowling, ITV Network July 17, 2005 |date=17 July 2005 |publisher=[[ITV Network|ITV]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070629084714/http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/2005/0705-edinburgh-jones-official.html |archive-date=29 June 2007 }}</ref> 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".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/news_view.cfm?id=62 |date=15 March 2004 |access-date=23 December 2006 |title=Progress on Book Six |publisher=J. K. Rowling Official Site |last=Rowling |first=J. K. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061216095329/http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/news_view.cfm?id=62 <!--Added by H3llBot--> |archive-date=16 December 2006}}</ref> She said the last chapter of ''Deathly Hallows'' was written around 1990 as part of her earliest work on the series.<ref name="two">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/5119836.stm |title=Rowling to kill two in final book |publisher=BBC News |date=27 June 2006 |access-date=25 July 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090803133633/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/5119836.stm |archive-date=3 August 2009 }}</ref> 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.<ref name="personal"/><ref name="Symon, Evan V">{{cite web|website=listverse.com|url=http://listverse.com/2013/01/14/deleted-book-chapters/|date=14 January 2013|title=10 Deleted Chapters that Transformed Famous Books|author=Symon, Evan V.|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905233130/http://listverse.com/2013/01/14/deleted-book-chapters/|archive-date=5 September 2015}}</ref>

==Release==
{{See also|Harry Potter fandom}}

===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, London|Natural History Museum]] in London. The 1,700 guests in attendance were chosen by ballot.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.bloomsbury.com/jkrevent/ |title=Harry Potter |publisher=Scholastic |access-date=25 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070525033940/http://www.bloomsbury.com/jkrevent/|archive-date=25 May 2007}}</ref> Rowling toured the United States in October 2007, where another event was held at [[Carnegie Hall]] in New York City with tickets allocated by sweepstake.<ref>{{cite web |last=Rowling |first=J. K. |date=14 July 2007 |title=The Open Book Tour, October 2007 |url=http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/news_view.cfm?id=99 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070707140702/http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/news_view.cfm?id=99 <!--Added by H3llBot--> |archive-date=7 July 2007 |access-date=14 July 2007 |website=J. K. Rowling Official Site |publisher=}}</ref>

[[Scholastic Corporation|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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scholastic.com/aboutscholastic/news/press_03142007_BA.htm |date=14 March 2007 |access-date=9 July 2007 |title=Scholastic announces record breaking 12 million first printing in United States of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows |publisher=Scholastic |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070623091107/http://www.scholastic.com/aboutscholastic/news/press_03142007_BA.htm |archive-date=23 June 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.scholastic.com/harrypotter/activities/shriekingshack/ |title=Harry Potter: Shrieking Shack Poll|publisher=Scholastic|access-date =18 August 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070714162403/http://www.scholastic.com/harrypotter/activities/shriekingshack/ |archive-date = 14 July 2007}}</ref>

Rowling arranged with her publishers for a poster bearing the face of the missing British child [[Disappearance of Madeleine McCann|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.<ref>{{cite news |title=Rowling in Madeleine poster plea |publisher=BBC News |date=16 July 2007 |access-date=17 July 2007 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6901845.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070907130955/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6901845.stm |archive-date=7 September 2007 }}</ref>

After it was announced that the novel would be released on 21 July 2007, [[Warner Bros.]] stated that the film adaptation of ''[[Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)|Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix]]'' would be released on 13 July.<ref>Shapiro, p. 258</ref> In response, fans proclaimed July 2007 as the month of ''Harry Potter''.<ref>Shapiro, p. 270</ref>

===Spoiler embargo===
Bloomsbury invested [[Pound sterling|£]]10 million in an attempt to keep the book's contents secure until 21 July, the release date.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://inhome.rediff.com/movies/2007/jul/16harry.htm |title=10 million pounds to guard 7th Harry Potter book |publisher=Rediff News |access-date=16 July 2007 |date=16 July 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071101004843/http://inhome.rediff.com/movies/2007/jul/16harry.htm |archive-date=1 November 2007 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?vid=163195 |title=Editor Says ''Deathly Hallows'' Is Unleakable |publisher=MTV Overdrive (video) |access-date=19 July 2007 |date=17 July 2007 |archive-date=10 August 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070810054922/http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?vid=163195 |url-status=dead }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6292128.stm |title=Potter embargo "could be broken" |publisher=BBC News |access-date=17 July 2007 |date=12 July 2007 |first=Mark |last=Savage |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070808233430/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6292128.stm |archive-date=8 August 2007 }}</ref>

===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 [[Transcription (linguistics)|transcribed]] prior to the official release date.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://torrentfreak.com/harry-potter-fans-transcribe-book-from-photos/ |title=Harry Potter Fans Transcribe Book from Photos |publisher=TorrentFreak |access-date=19 July 2007 |date=18 July 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070719062843/http://torrentfreak.com/harry-potter-fans-transcribe-book-from-photos/ |archive-date=19 July 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.smh.com.au/news/web/new-potter-book-leaked/2007/07/18/1184559825094.html |title=New Potter book leaked online |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |access-date=18 July 2007 |date=18 July 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070829114525/http://www.smh.com.au/news/web/new-potter-book-leaked/2007/07/18/1184559825094.html |archive-date=29 August 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://torrentfreak.com/harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows-leaked-to-bittorrent/ |title=Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows leaked to BitTorrent |publisher=TorrentFreak |access-date=19 July 2007 |date=17 July 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070719001058/http://torrentfreak.com/harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows-leaked-to-bittorrent/ |archive-date=19 July 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://opinion.latimes.com/bitplayer/2007/07/harry-potter-sp.html |title=Harry Potter Spoiler Count |work=Los Angeles Times |access-date=20 July 2007 |date=20 July 2007 |last=Healey |first=Jon |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070912032732/http://opinion.latimes.com/bitplayer/2007/07/harry-potter-sp.html |archive-date=12 September 2007 }}</ref> The photographs later appeared on websites and [[peer-to-peer]] networks, leading [[Scholastic Corporation|Scholastic]] to seek a [[subpoena]] in order to identify one source.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://publiceditor.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/07/19/did-the-times-betray-harry-potter-fans/ |title=Did the Times Betray Harry Potter Fans? |work=The New York Times |access-date=30 July 2007 |date=30 July 2007 |last=Hoyt |first=Clark |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070808080049/http://publiceditor.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/07/19/did-the-times-betray-harry-potter-fans/ |archive-date=8 August 2007 }}</ref> This represented the most serious security breach in the Harry Potter series' history.<ref name="ref1">{{cite news |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0fe8abcc-34aa-11dc-8c78-0000779fd2ac.html |title=Web abuzz over Potter leak claims |first=Ben |last=Fenton |newspaper=Financial Times |date=17 July 2007 |access-date=20 July 2007 |archive-date=1 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070901075406/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0fe8abcc-34aa-11dc-8c78-0000779fd2ac,Authorised=false.html?_i_location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0fe8abcc-34aa-11dc-8c78-0000779fd2ac.html&_i_referer= |url-status=live }}</ref> Rowling and her lawyer confirmed that there were genuine online leaks.<ref name="Symon, Evan V"/><ref>{{cite news |url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article2100186.ece |title=Harry Potter and the great web leak |first=Jack |last=Malvern |date=19 July 2007 |access-date=19 July 2007 |location=London |work=The Times |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080706142250/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article2100186.ece |archive-date=6 July 2008 }}</ref> Reviews 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.<ref name="ref1"/>

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;<ref>{{cite web |first=Stephen |last=Kiehl |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/2007/07/18/the-spell-is-broken/ |title=The spell is broken |access-date=18 July 2007 |date=18 July 2007 |work=[[The Baltimore Sun]] |url-status=live |archive-url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20070720185731/http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2007-07-18/news/0707180115_1_potter-harry-early-delivery |archive-date=20 July 2007 }}</ref> however, the following day Scholastic announced that it would be launching legal action against DeepDiscount.com and its distributor, Levy Home Entertainment.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/07-18-2007/0004628143&EDATE= |title=Press release from Scholastic |publisher=PR Newswire (from Scholastic) |access-date=18 July 2007 |date=18 July 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929131601/http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=%2Fwww%2Fstory%2F07-18-2007%2F0004628143&EDATE= |archive-date=29 September 2007 }}</ref> 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."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.today.com/popculture/distributor-mails-final-potter-book-early-wbna19816389 |title=Distributor mails final Potter book early |publisher=Today.com |access-date=18 July 2007 |date=18 July 2007 |archive-date=12 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190112141933/https://www.today.com/popculture/distributor-mails-final-potter-book-early-wbna19816389 |url-status=live }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web |first=Will |last=Collier |url=http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/221638/i-was-ebay-voldemort/will-collier |title=I Was an eBay Voldemort |access-date=20 July 2007 |date=20 July 2007 |work=[[National Review]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100824052333/http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/221638/i-was-ebay-voldemort/will-collier |archive-date=24 August 2010 }}</ref>

===Price wars and other controversies===
[[Asda]],<ref>{{cite news |url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article2089458.ece |title=Potter book firm clashes with supermarket over price |work=The Times |location=UK |date=17 July 2007 |access-date=17 July 2009 |first1=Jenny |last1=Booth |first2=Dalya |last2=Alberge |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080706141331/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article2089458.ece |archive-date=6 July 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2007/jul/18/retail.harrypotter|title=Harry Potter and the supermarket giant, a very modern publishing tale|last=Addley|first=Esther|date=18 July 2007|work=The Guardian|location=UK|access-date=18 July 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140427222344/http://www.theguardian.com/business/2007/jul/18/retail.harrypotter|archive-date=27 April 2014}}</ref> 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]]. 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."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/07/20/arts/0721potter-asda.php|title=British retailer sells final Potter book for $10, setting dangerous precedent for U.S. market|work=[[International Herald Tribune]] |date=20 July 2007|access-date=17 July 2009 | archive-date= 2007-08-22| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070822145746/http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/07/20/arts/0721potter-asda.php}}</ref>

In [[Malaysia]], a similar price war caused controversy regarding sales of the book.<ref>{{cite web|first1=M.|last1=Krishnamoorthy|first2=Manjit|last2=Kaur|url=http://www.thestar.com.my/story.aspx?file=%2f2007%2f7%2f21%2fnation%2f18369076&sec=nation|title=Harry Potter and the ugly price war|access-date=21 July 2007|date=21 July 2007|work=[[The Star (Malaysia)|The Star]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140429161101/http://www.thestar.com.my/story.aspx/?file=%2f2007%2f7%2f21%2fnation%2f18369076&sec=nation|archive-date=29 April 2014}}</ref> Four of the biggest bookstore chains in Malaysia, [[MPH Bookstores]], [[Popular Bookstore]]s, Times and Harris, decided to pull ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'' off their shelves as a protest against [[Tesco]] and [[Carrefour]] [[hypermarket]]s. The retail price of the book in Malaysia was [[Malaysian ringgit|MYR]] 109.90, while the hypermarkets [[Tesco]] and [[Carrefour]] sold the book at MYR 69.90. 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 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.<ref>{{cite web|first1=Elizabeth|last1=Looi|first2=Michelle|last2=Goh|url=http://www.thestar.com.my/story.aspx?file=%2f2007%2f7%2f24%2fnation%2f18386712&sec=nation|title=Bookstores end ''Harry Potter'' boycott|access-date=24 July 2007|date=24 July 2007|work=[[The Star (Malaysia)|The Star]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140429165737/http://www.thestar.com.my/story.aspx/?file=%2f2007%2f7%2f24%2fnation%2f18386712&sec=nation|archive-date=29 April 2014}}</ref>

The book's early Saturday morning release in Israel was criticised for violating [[Shabbat]]. Trade and Industry Minister [[Eli Yishai]] 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."<ref>{{Cite web |date=17 July 2007 |title=Plans for Sabbath sales of Harry Potter draw threats of legal action in Israel |url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/07/18/arts/0719potter-israel.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070919145737/http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/07/18/arts/0719potter-israel.php |archive-date=19 September 2007 |access-date=18 July 2007 |website=International Herald Tribune|via=Reuters}}</ref> Yishai indicated that he would issue indictments and fines based on the Hours of Work and Rest Law.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.haaretz.com/news/yishai-warns-stores-over-harry-potter-book-launch-on-shabbat-1.225679 |agency=Associated Press |author=Shiri Lev-Ari |title=Yishai warns stores over Harry Potter book launch on Shabbat |work=[[Haaretz]] |access-date=18 July 2007 |date=17 July 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100711055421/http://www.haaretz.com/news/yishai-warns-stores-over-harry-potter-book-launch-on-shabbat-1.225679 |archive-date=11 July 2010 }}</ref>

===Editions===
''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'' was released in hardcover on 21 July 2007<ref>{{cite book|title=Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7) (Hardcover)|isbn=978-0-7475-9105-4|last1=Rowling|first1=J. K.|year=2007|place=London|editor=Bloomsbury}}</ref> and in paperback in the United Kingdom on 10 July 2008<ref>{{cite book|title=Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7) (Children's Edition) (Paperback)|isbn=978-0747595830|last1=Rowling|first1=J. K.|year=2008|publisher=Bloomsbury }}</ref> and the United States on 7 July 2009.<ref>{{cite book|title=Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Children's Paperback Edition (Paperback)|isbn=978-0545139700|last1=Rowling|first1=J. K.|year=2008|publisher=Scholastic Incorporated }}</ref> In [[SoHo|SoHo, New York]], there was a release party for the American paperback edition, with many games and activities.<ref>{{cite news|first=Laurel|last=Graeber|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/03/arts/03kids.html|title=Spare Times – For Children|work=The New York Times|date=2 July 2009|access-date=12 February 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170823192901/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/03/arts/03kids.html|archive-date=23 August 2017}}</ref> An "Adult Edition" with a different cover illustration was released by Bloomsbury on 21 July 2007.<ref>{{cite book|title=Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7) (Adult Edition) (Hardcover)|isbn=978-1551929781|last1=Rowling|first1=J. K.|year=2007|publisher=Bloomsbury }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://allday.today.com/_news/2007/06/08/4379551-clues-revealed-in-special-edition-harry-potter-cover |title=Clues revealed in special edition Harry Potter cover |publisher=MSN allDay |date=8 July 2007 |access-date=3 March 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717070447/http://allday.today.com/_news/2007/06/08/4379551-clues-revealed-in-special-edition-harry-potter-cover |archive-date=17 July 2011 }}</ref> In October 2010, Bloomsbury released a "Celebratory" paperback edition, which featured a foiled and starred cover.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bloomsbury.com/childrens/Books/details.aspx?isbn=9781408810293|title=Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Celebratory Edition|publisher=Bloomsbury|access-date=12 February 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101017063730/http://bloomsbury.com/childrens/Books/details.aspx?isbn=9781408810293|archive-date=17 October 2010}}</ref> Lastly, on 1 November 2010, a "Signature" edition of the novel was released in paperback by Bloomsbury.<ref>{{cite web|first=Katie|last=Allen|url=http://www.thebookseller.com/news/bloomsbury-repackages-harry-potter.html|title=Bloomsbury repackages Harry Potter|publisher=TheBookseller.com|date=30 March 2010|access-date=25 March 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120918144047/http://www.thebookseller.com/news/bloomsbury-repackages-harry-potter.html|archive-date=18 September 2012}}</ref>

===Translations===
{{Main|Harry Potter in translation}}
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 language|Ukrainian]] translation, on 25 September 2007 (as ''Гаррі Поттер і смертельні реліквії'' – ''Harry Potter i smertel'ni relikviji'').<ref name="Ukrainian">{{cite news |first=Alexandra |last=Matoshko |url=http://www.kyivpost.com/guide/about-kyiv/ukrainian-potter-comes-first-27427.html |title=Ukrainian Potter comes first |access-date=29 July 2007 |newspaper=Kyiv Post |date=27 July 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402142316/http://www.kyivpost.com/guide/about-kyiv/ukrainian-potter-comes-first-27427.html |archive-date=2 April 2015 }}</ref> 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.<ref name="tiden">{{cite web|url=http://www.panorstedt.se/templates/Tiden/News.aspx?id=46232 |title=Släppdatum för sjunde Harry Potter-boken klar! |publisher=Tiden |access-date=24 July 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070704152102/http://www.panorstedt.se/templates/Tiden/News.aspx?id=46232 |archive-date =4 July 2007|language=sv}}</ref> 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'').<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/ilustrada/ult90u300284.shtml |work=[[Folha de S. Paulo]] |title=Último "Harry Potter" tem título definido no Brasil |access-date=15 December 2010 |date=28 May 2007 |language=pt |archive-date=17 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017052833/http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/ilustrada/ult90u300284.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> The first Polish translation was released with a new title: ''Harry Potter i Insygnia Śmierci'' – ''Harry Potter and the Insignia of Death''.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://pl.librarything.com/work/3577382 |publisher=LibraryThing |title=Harry Potter i insygnia śmierci |access-date=24 December 2007 |date=24 December 2007 |isbn=978-0-545-01022-1 |archive-date=8 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160108034344/http://pl.librarything.com/work/3577382 |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Hindi]] translation ''Harry Potter aur Maut ke Tohfe'' ({{lang|hi|हैरी पॉटर और मौत के तोहफे}}), which means "Harry Potter and the Gifts of Death", was released by Manjul Publication in India on 27 June 2008.<ref name="Hindi">{{cite web|url=http://www.indiaclub.com/shop/SearchResults.asp?ProdStock=24387 |title=Harry Potter aur Maut Ke Tohfe – Hindi Version of the Deathly Hallows |publisher=India Club |access-date=4 August 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090703074850/http://www.indiaclub.com/shop/SearchResults.asp?ProdStock=24387 |archive-date=3 July 2009 }}</ref> The Romanian version was released on 1 December 2007 using the title (''Harry Potter și Talismanele Morții'').

==Reception==
===Critical response===
''[[The Baltimore Sun]]''{{'s}} critic, Mary Carole McCauley, noted that the book was more serious than the previous novels in the series and had more straightforward prose.<ref name="sun">{{cite web |url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/books/2003795766_harry19.html |title=An inevitable ending to Harry Potter series |last=McCauley |first=Mary Carole |work=[[The Baltimore Sun]] |access-date=21 July 2007 |date=19 July 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070819100124/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/books/2003795766_harry19.html |archive-date=19 August 2007 }}</ref> Furthermore, reviewer Alice Fordham from ''[[The Times]]'' 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".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/book_reviews/article2113614.ece |title=Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows |last=Fordham |first=Alice |work=The Times |location=UK |access-date=25 July 2007 |date=21 July 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110517043702/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/book_reviews/article2113614.ece |archive-date=17 May 2011 }}</ref> ''[[The New York Times]]'' writer [[Michiko Kakutani]] agreed, praising Rowling's ability to make Harry both a hero and a character that can be related to.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/19/books/19potter.html|title=An Epic Showdown as Harry Potter Is Initiated into Adulthood|last=Kakutani|first=Michiko|author-link=Michiko Kakutani|date=19 July 2007|work=The New York Times|access-date=20 July 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090411102034/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/19/books/19potter.html|archive-date=11 April 2009}}</ref>

''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.<ref name="Time" /> 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."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/21/AR2007072101025.html|title=Harry's Final Fantasy: Last Time's the Charm|last=Hand|first=Elizabeth|author-link=Elizabeth Hand|date=22 July 2007|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=20 July 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100530055211/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/21/AR2007072101025.html|archive-date=30 May 2010}}</ref> In a starred review from ''[[Kirkus Reviews]]'', 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".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/childrens-books/jk-rowling/harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows/|title=Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows—Editor's Review|work=[[Kirkus Reviews]]|access-date=6 February 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110111143010/http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/childrens-books/jk-rowling/harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows/|archive-date=11 January 2011}}</ref> 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".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/children/article2153453.ece|title=Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows|work=The Sunday Times|location=UK|last=Craig|first=Amanda|date=28 July 2007|access-date=6 February 2011|archive-date=16 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316150842/https://www.the-tls.co.uk/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In contrast, Jenny Sawyer of ''[[The Christian Science Monitor]]'' 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".<ref name="hollow">{{cite web |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0725/p09s02-coop.html |title=Missing from 'Harry Potter" – a real moral struggle |last=Sawyer |first=Jenny |work=[[The Christian Science Monitor]] |access-date=25 July 2007 |date=25 July 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927193238/http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0725/p09s02-coop.html |archive-date=27 September 2007 }}</ref> In ''The 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 stated that he disliked Rowling's use of [[deus ex machina]], that the mid-book camping chapters are "abysmally long", and Voldemort "becomes more tiresome than an [[Ian Fleming]] villain".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/12/books/review/Hitchens-t.html |title=The Boy Who Lived |last=Hitchens |first=Christopher |author-link=Christopher Hitchens |access-date=1 April 2008 |work=The New York Times |date=12 August 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090416024446/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/12/books/review/Hitchens-t.html |archive-date=16 April 2009 }}</ref> 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 [[Fictional universe of Harry Potter#Magical sweets|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".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/jul/28/booksforchildrenandteenagers.jkjoannekathleenrowling|title=A send-off fit for a wizard|date=28 July 2007|access-date=12 February 2011|work=The Guardian|location=UK|last=Bennett|first=Catherine|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141005092955/http://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/jul/28/booksforchildrenandteenagers.jkjoannekathleenrowling|archive-date=5 October 2014}}</ref>

[[Stephen King]] criticised the reactions of some reviewers to the books, including McCauley, for jumping too quickly to surface conclusions of the work.<ref name="king">{{cite magazine |url=https://ew.com/ew/article/0,,20044270_20044274_20050689,00.html |title=J K Rowling's Ministry of Magic |first=Stephen |last=King |author-link=Stephen King |date=17 August 2007 |access-date=21 August 2007 |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |issue=948 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070816225423/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20044270_20044274_20050689,00.html |archive-date=16 August 2007 }}</ref> 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 ''[[Adventures of Huckleberry Finn|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.<ref name="king"/>

===Sales===
[[File:Potter queue.jpg|thumb|Lines at a Californian [[Borders (retailer)|Borders]], five minutes until midnight to buy the book|350px|alt=There are many people in close proximity in a bookstore buying "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows".]]
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,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6452987.stm|title=Record print run for final Potter|date=15 March 2007|publisher=BBC News|access-date=22 May 2007|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070325235915/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6452987.stm|archive-date=25 March 2007}}</ref> 500 per cent higher than pre-sales had been for ''Half-Blood Prince''.<ref>Shapiro, p. 259-260</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rte.ie/arts/2007/0413/potterh.html|title=New Harry Potter breaks pre-order record|date=13 April 2007|publisher=RTÉ.ie Entertainment|access-date=23 April 2007|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070418090204/http://www.rte.ie/arts/2007/0413/potterh.html|archive-date=18 April 2007}}</ref> On opening day, a record 8.3 million copies were sold in the United States (over 96 per second),<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2007-07-24-potter-sales_N.htm|title='Deathly Hallows' records lively sales|last=Blais|first=Jacqueline|author2=Anthony DeBarros|date=25 July 2007|work=USA Today|access-date=13 July 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090803130037/http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2007-07-24-potter-sales_N.htm|archive-date=3 August 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/22/books/22cnd-potter.html|title=Record First-Day Sales for Last 'Harry Potter' Book|last=Rich|first=Motoko|date=22 July 2007|work=The New York Times|access-date=13 July 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130530141655/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/22/books/22cnd-potter.html|archive-date=30 May 2013}}</ref> and 2.65 million copies in the United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows-breaks-records|title='Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' Breaks Records|date=24 July 2007|agency=Associated Press|publisher=Fox News|access-date=13 July 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090507173511/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,290346,00.html|archive-date=7 May 2009}}</ref> It holds the [[Guinness World Records|Guinness World record]] for fastest selling book of fiction in 24 hours for US sales.<ref name="Guinness Book of World Records"/> At WH Smith, sales reportedly reached a rate of 15 books sold per second.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3666735/Harry-Potter-and-the-hallowed-sales-figures.html|title=Harry Potter and the hallowed sales figures|last=Phelvin|first=Patrick|date=23 July 2007|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London|access-date=13 July 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090724173603/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3666735/Harry-Potter-and-the-hallowed-sales-figures.html|archive-date=24 July 2009}}</ref> By June 2008, nearly a year after it was published, worldwide sales were reportedly around 44 million.<ref name="44mil">[https://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/53/celebrities08_JK-Rowling_CRTT.html #9: J. K. Rowling] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180217024300/https://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/53/celebrities08_JK-Rowling_CRTT.html |date=17 February 2018 }}. 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</ref>

===Awards and honours===
''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'' has won several awards.<ref name="levine">{{cite web|url=http://www.arthuralevinebooks.com/book.asp?bookid=130|title=Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows|date=2001–2005|publisher=Arthur A. Levine Books|access-date=17 July 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071022103656/http://arthuralevinebooks.com/book.asp?bookid=130|archive-date=22 October 2007}}</ref> In 2007, the book was named one of ''The New York Times'' 100 Notable Books,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/books/review/notable-books-2007.html|title=100 Notable Books of 2007|date=2 December 2007|work=The New York Times|access-date=17 July 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090411144025/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/books/review/notable-books-2007.html|archive-date=11 April 2009}}</ref> and one of its Notable Children's Books.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/books/review/Kids-Notables-t.html|title=Notable Children's Books of 2007|last=Fleischman|first=Paul|date=2 December 2007|work=The New York Times|access-date=17 July 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090411144022/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/books/review/Kids-Notables-t.html|archive-date=11 April 2009}}</ref> The novel was named the best book of 2007, by ''[[Newsweek]]''{{'s}} critic Malcolm Jones.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newsweek.com/2007/12/12/wizards-warmongers-and-the-west-coast.html|title=Wizards, Warmongers and the West Coast|date=13 December 2007|access-date=5 February 2011|last=Jones|first=Malcolm|website=[[Newsweek]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101201165940/http://www.newsweek.com/2007/12/12/wizards-warmongers-and-the-west-coast.html|archive-date=1 December 2010}}</ref> ''[[Publishers Weekly]]'' also listed ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'' among their Best Books of 2007.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/print/20071105/14780-pw-s-best-books-of-the-year.html|title=PW's Best Books of the Year|last=Staff|date=5 November 2007|journal=[[Publishers Weekly]]|volume=254|issue=44|access-date=17 July 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140424130559/http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/print/20071105/14780-pw-s-best-books-of-the-year.html|archive-date=24 April 2014}}</ref> 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]] named the novel one of its Best Books for Young Adults,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/booklistsawards/bestbooksya/08bbya.cfm|title=Best Books for Young Adults 2008|year=2008|publisher=American Library Association|access-date=17 July 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090501041138/http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/booklistsawards/bestbooksya/08bbya.cfm <!--Added by H3llBot-->|archive-date=1 May 2009}}</ref> and also listed it as a Notable Children's Book.<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://www.ala.org/ala/newspresscenter/news/pressreleases2008/january2008/ncb2008.cfm|title=2008 Notable Children's Books|year=2008|publisher=American Library Association|access-date=17 July 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100219233306/http://www.ala.org/ala/newspresscenter/news/pressreleases2008/january2008/ncb2008.cfm|archive-date=19 February 2010}}</ref> Furthermore, ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'' received the 2008 Colorado Blue Spruce Book Award.<ref name="levine"/>

==Themes==
===Death===
In a 2006 interview, Rowling said that the main theme of the series is Harry dealing with death,<ref name="tellher">{{cite news |author=Geordie Greig |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1507438/There-would-be-so-much-to-tell-her....html |title=There would be so much to tell her... |work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London |access-date=4 April 2007 |date=10 January 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090424124744/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1507438/There-would-be-so-much-to-tell-her....html |archive-date=24 April 2009 }}</ref> which was influenced by her mother's death in 1990.{{efn|Attributed to multiple references:<br><ref name="personal">{{cite web|first=Meredith|last=Vieira|author-link=Meredith Vieira|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna20001720|title=Harry Potter: The final chapter|publisher=NBC News|date=30 July 2007|access-date=6 February 2011|archive-date=26 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190726025227/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/20001720/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="tellher"/><ref>Shapiro, p. 45</ref><ref>Shapiro, p. 51</ref>}} [[Lev Grossman]] of ''Time'' asserted that the main theme of the series is the importance of continuing to love in the face of death.<ref name="Time">{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/top10/article/0,30583,1686204_1686244_1691862,00.html |last=Grossman |first=Lev |author-link=Lev Grossman |magazine=Time |title=Top 10 Fiction Books: #8. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows |access-date=24 December 2007 |date=9 December 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071222075454/http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/top10/article/0,30583,1686204_1686244_1691862,00.html |archive-date=22 December 2007 }}</ref>

===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 [[politics of Harry Potter|political subtexts]]. Themes such as [[Normality (behavior)|normality]], oppression, survival, and overcoming imposing odds have all been considered as prevalent throughout the series.<ref name="Greenwald2005">{{cite journal | last1 = Czubek | first1 = TA | last2 = Greenwald | first2 = J | title = Understanding Harry Potter: Parallels to the Deaf World | journal = Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education | volume = 10 | issue = 4 | pages = 442–50 | date = Fall 2005 | pmid = 16000691 | doi = 10.1093/deafed/eni041 | doi-access = free  | issn = 1081-4159}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Duffy2002">{{cite journal|last=Duffy|first=Edward|title=Sentences in Harry Potter, Students in Future Writing Classes|journal=Rhetoric Review|volume=21|issue=2|year=2002| pages = 170–87 |doi=10.1207/S15327981RR2102_03|s2cid=144654506}}</ref> Rowling has stated that the books comprise "a prolonged argument for tolerance, a prolonged plea for an end to [[bigotry]]" 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".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7053982.stm|title=JK Rowling outs Dumbledore as gay|access-date=21 October 2007|date=20 October 2007|publisher=BBC News|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071022052757/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7053982.stm|archive-date=22 October 2007}}</ref> [[Timothy Snyder]] in his 2017 book ''[[On Tyranny]]'' mentioned the novel as a recent example illustrating resistance to totalitarianism.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Heer |first=Jeet |date=March 13, 2017 |title=Horrible Histories |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/140952/horrible-histories-perils-comparing-trump-stalin-hitler-dictators |access-date=2024-05-10 |magazine=The New Republic |issn=0028-6583}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Snyder |first=Timothy |title=On Tyranny: twenty lessons from the twentieth century |date=2017 |publisher=Crown |isbn=978-0-8041-9011-4 |edition=37th printing |location=New York |pages=62–63 |chapter=9 |quote=What to read?...One novel known by millions of young Americans that offers an account of tyranny and resistance is J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. If you or your friends or your children did not read it that way the first time, then it bears reading again.}}</ref>

===Christian allegories===
{{See also|Religious debates over the Harry Potter series#Christian allegories in Deathly Hallows}}

The ''Harry Potter'' series has been criticised for supposedly supporting [[witchcraft]] and the [[occult]]. 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".<ref name="Granger86">Granger, p. 86</ref> However, many have commented on [[Christian mythology|Christian allegories]] that appear in ''Deathly Hallows''.<ref name="Granger86" /> For example, Harry dies and then comes back to life to save mankind, like Christ. The location where this occurs is King's Cross.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Miller|first=Lisa|title=Christ-like|journal=Newsweek|date=6 August 2007|volume=150|issue=6|page=12|issn=0028-9604|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2007/08/05/beliefwatch-christ-like.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110816120619/http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2007/08/05/beliefwatch-christ-like.html|archive-date=16 August 2011|access-date=7 August 2011}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Granger88">Granger, p. 88</ref>

[[File:Michael Maier Atalanta Fugiens Emblem 21.jpeg|thumb|The [[Philosopher's Stone]] as pictured in [[Michael Maier]]'s 1617 alchemical work ''Atalanta Fugiens'', similar to the presentation of the ''Deathly Hallows'' and ''Resurrection Stone''.]]

''Deathly Hallows'' begins with a pair of epigraphs, one by [[Religious Society of Friends|Quaker]] leader [[William Penn]] and one from [[Aeschylus]]' ''[[Oresteia#The Libation Bearers|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 ''[[Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets|Chamber]]'' was published. I always knew [that] 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".<ref name="conference">{{cite web|title='Harry Potter' Author J.K. Rowling Opens Up About Books' Christian Imagery|author=Shawn Adler|publisher=MTV|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1572107/20071017/index.jhtml|year=2007|access-date=26 February 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071018082559/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1572107/20071017/index.jhtml|archive-date=18 October 2007}}</ref>

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.<ref name="Christian">{{cite web|first=Elena|last=Garcia|url=http://www.christiantoday.com/article/harry.potter.author.reveals.books.christian.allegory.her.struggling.faith/14052.htm|title=Harry Potter author reveals books' Christian allegory, her struggling faith|work=[[Christian Today]]|date=19 October 2007|access-date=6 February 2011|archive-date=25 November 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101125053219/http://www.christiantoday.com/article/harry.potter.author.reveals.books.christian.allegory.her.struggling.faith/14052.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> 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]].<ref name="Christian" /> Rowling states, "They're very British books, so on a very practical note Harry was going to find biblical quotations on tombstones ... [but] I think those two particular quotations he finds on the tombstones at Godric's Hollow, they sum up – they almost epitomise the whole series".<ref name="Christian" />

''Harry Potter'' [[Pundit (expert)|pundit]] [[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]]'', [[C. S. Lewis]]'s ''[[Perelandra]]'' and [[Charles Dickens]]'s ''[[A Tale of Two Cities]]'') and vision symbolism.<ref>{{cite book|last=Granger|first=John|author-link=John Granger|title=Harry Potter's Bookshelf: The Great Books Behind The Hogwarts Adventures|publisher=Penguin Group Inc.|year=2009|isbn=978-1-101-13313-2}}</ref> In this model, authors weave allegorical tales along the [[alchemy|alchemical]] [[magnum opus (alchemy)|magnum opus]]. Since the medieval period, alchemical allegory has mirrored the passion, death and resurrection of Christ.<ref>Hereward Tilton. ''The Quest for the Phoenix: Spiritual alchemy and Rosicrucianism in the work of Count Michael Maier (1569–1622).'' 2003. p.67</ref> 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===
{{main|Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1|Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2}}

The two-part [[film adaptation]] of ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'' was directed by [[David Yates]], written by [[Steve Kloves]] and produced by [[David Heyman]], [[David Barron (film producer)|David Barron]], and [[J. K. Rowling]]. Part 1 was released on 19 November 2010, and Part 2 on 15 July 2011.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=53203 |publisher=ComingSoon.net |title=Official: Two Parts for Deathly Hallows Movie |access-date=2 March 2009 |date=25 February 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101212112620/http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=53203 |archive-date=12 December 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=44442 |publisher=ComingSoon.net |title=Release Date Set for Harry Potter 7: Part I |access-date=25 May 2008 |date=25 April 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080518110305/http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=44442 |archive-date=18 May 2008 }}</ref> Filming began in February 2009, and ended on 12 June 2010.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20393867,00.html|title=Daniel Radcliffe Calls Wrapping Up ''Harry Potter'' Devastating|date=14 June 2010|access-date=22 January 2011|work=[[People (magazine)|People]]|last=Schwartz|first=Alison|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110208021622/http://www.people.com/people/article/0%2C%2C20393867%2C00.html|archive-date=8 February 2011}}</ref> However, the cast confirmed they would reshoot the epilogue scene as they only had two days to shoot the original.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}<ref>{{cite web |author=Liam |url=http://filmonic.com/deathly-hallows-epilogue-scenes-to-be-reshot-over-christmas |title=Deathly Hallows epilogue scenes to be reshot over Christmas |publisher=Filmonic.com |date=13 November 2010 |access-date=17 August 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110816092959/http://filmonic.com/deathly-hallows-epilogue-scenes-to-be-reshot-over-christmas |archive-date=16 August 2011 }}</ref> ''Part 1'' ended at Chapter 24 of the book, when Voldemort regained the Elder Wand.<ref>{{cite news|first=Brian|last=Gallagher|url=http://www.movieweb.com/news/harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows-movie-split-revealed|title=Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Movie Split Revealed|work=MovieWeb|date=13 August 2010|access-date=12 February 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120928200752/http://www.movieweb.com/news/harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows-movie-split-revealed|archive-date=28 September 2012}}</ref> However, there were a few omissions, such as the appearances of [[Dean Thomas (Harry Potter)|Dean Thomas]] and [[Viktor Krum]], and [[Death Eater#Peter Pettigrew|Peter Pettigrew]]'s death.<ref>{{cite magazine |author1=Staskiewicz, Keith |author2=Franich, Darren |author3=Vary, Adam B |url=https://ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20431232_20444360_20879995,00.html |title='Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows—Part 1': What's Changed? |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |access-date=12 February 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706131024/http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20431232_20444360_20879995,00.html |archive-date=6 July 2011 }}</ref> James Bernadelli of ''Reelviews'' said that the script stuck closest to the text since ''[[Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)|Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets]]'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reelviews.net/php_review_template.php?identifier=2213|title=Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows I|publisher=Reelviews.net|date=17 November 2010|last=Bernadelli|first=James|access-date=13 February 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724031457/http://www.reelviews.net/php_review_template.php?identifier=2213|archive-date=24 July 2011}}</ref> yet this was met with negativity from some audiences as the film inherited "the book's own problems".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/movies/news/a266277/deathly-hallows-screens-to-rave-reviews.html|title='Deathly Hallows' screens to rave reviews|last=Reynolds|first=Simon|work=[[Digital Spy]]|date=23 August 2010|access-date=2 March 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101227084227/http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/movies/news/a266277/deathly-hallows-screens-to-rave-reviews.html|archive-date=27 December 2010}}</ref>

===Audiobooks===
''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'' was released simultaneously on 21 July 2007, in both the UK and the United States.<ref name="UKaudio">{{cite book|title=Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7) (Children's Edition) (Harry Potter Audio Book) (Audiobook) (Audio CD)|publisher=AbeBooks|isbn=0747591091|url=https://www.abebooks.com/9780747591092/Harry-Potter-Deathly-Hallows-Book-0747591091/plp|access-date=20 January 2020|archive-date=18 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200918111309/https://www.abebooks.com/9780747591092/Harry-Potter-Deathly-Hallows-Book-0747591091/plp|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="USaudio">{{cite book|title=Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Audiobook, Unabridged) (Audio CD)|isbn=978-0739360385 |last1=Rowling |first1=J. K. |last2=Dale |first2=Jim |date=21 July 2007 |publisher=Penguin Random House Audio Publishing }}</ref> The UK edition features the voice of [[Stephen Fry]] and runs about 24 hours<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bloomsbury.com/harrypotter/default.asp?sec=8&sec2=1|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070629123826/http://www.bloomsbury.com/harrypotter/default.asp?sec=8&sec2=1|title=Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows published by Bloomsbury and HNP as an unabridged audiobook to be published simultaneously with the book for the first time on July 21st 2007|archive-date=29 June 2007|publisher=Bloomsbury|access-date=17 February 2011}}</ref> while the US edition features the voice of [[Jim Dale]] and runs about 21 hours.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.simplyaudiobooks.com/audio-books/Harry+Potter+and+the+Deathly+Hallows/44959/|title=Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows|publisher=Simply Audiobooks|access-date=17 February 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716072337/http://www.simplyaudiobooks.com/audio-books/Harry+Potter+and+the+Deathly+Hallows/44959/|archive-date=16 July 2011}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book|editor=Glenday, Craig|title=Guinness World Records 2009|year=2008|publisher=Guinness World Records|isbn=978-1-904994-37-4|url=https://archive.org/details/guinnessworldrec00crai_0}}</ref>

For his work on ''Deathly Hallows'', Dale won the 2008 [[Grammy Award]] for the [[Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for Children|Best Spoken Word Album for Children]].<ref>{{cite web|first1=Andrew |last1=Gans |first2=Andrew |last2=Ku |url=http://www.playbill.com/news/article/114950-Spring-Awakening-Wins-2008-Best-Musical-Show-Album-Grammy-Krieger-and-Dale-Also-Win |title=Spring Awakening Wins 2008 Best Musical Show Album Grammy; Krieger and Dale Also Win |work=[[Playbill]] |date=10 February 2008 |access-date=17 February 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629151642/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/114950-Spring-Awakening-Wins-2008-Best-Musical-Show-Album-Grammy-Krieger-and-Dale-Also-Win |archive-date=29 June 2011 }}</ref> He also was awarded an Earphone Award by ''[[AudioFile (magazine)|AudioFile]]'', who claimed, "Dale has raised the bar on audiobook interpretation so high it's hard to imagine any narrator vaulting over it."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.audiofilemagazine.com/dbsearch/showreview.cfm?Num=31492|title=AudioFile review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows|work=[[AudioFile (magazine)|AudioFile]]|date=October–November 2007|access-date=17 February 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101228211326/http://www.audiofilemagazine.com/dbsearch/showreview.cfm?Num=31492|archive-date=28 December 2010}}</ref>

===Video games===
Two action-adventure video games were produced by [[Electronic Arts]] (EA) to coincide with the release of the film adaptations, as with each of the previous ''Harry Potter'' films. [[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (video game)|Part 1]] was released on 16 November 2010, and [[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (video game)|Part 2]] on 12 July 2011. Both games received a mixed to negative reaction from critics.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.metacritic.com/game/harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows-part-1/critic-reviews/?platform=pc |title=Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 for PC Reviews |publisher=Metacritic |access-date=2018-10-17 |archive-date=3 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120703043725/http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows-part-1 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/game/harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows-part-2/critic-reviews/?platform=pc|title=Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 Critic Reviews for PC|publisher=Metacritic|access-date=2018-10-17|archive-date=26 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140426215912/http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows-part-2/critic-reviews|url-status=live}}</ref>

==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.<ref>UK and US Reference:
*{{Cite book|isbn=0545128285|title=The Tales of Beedle the Bard, Standard Edition (Harry Potter)}}
*{{Cite book|isbn=978-0747599876|title=The Tales of Beedle the Bard (U.K. 1st printing)|year=2008|last1=Rowling|first1=J. K.|publisher=Children's High Level }}</ref> ''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 [[Magical objects in Harry Potter#Deathly Hallows|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.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Tales of Beedle the Bard, Collector's Edition (Offered Exclusively by Amazon) (9780956010902): J.K. Rowling: Books|isbn=978-0956010902|last1=Rowling|first1=J. K.|year=2008|publisher=Children's High Level }}</ref>
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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/?ie=UTF8&docId=1000179911|title=The Fairy Tales of J.K. Rowling|publisher=Amazon|access-date=23 April 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120614233811/http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000179911|archive-date=14 June 2012}}</ref>

===''Harry Potter and the Cursed Child''===
In 2016, ''[[Harry Potter and the Cursed Child]]'' was released, a two-part play written by [[Jack Thorne]] based on an original story by Rowling, Thorne, and [[John Tiffany]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.pottermore.com/news/cursed-child-eighth-harry-potter-story|title=Cursed Child is the 'eighth Potter story'|last=|first=|date=|newspaper=Pottermore|access-date=2016-12-22|via=|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20161223053048/https://www.pottermore.com/news/cursed-child-eighth-harry-potter-story|archivedate=23 December 2016|df=dmy-all}}</ref> 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]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Evans |first=Greg |date=2 January 2019 |title=Broadway's 'Harry Potter' & 'To Kill A Mockingbird' Break Box Office Records; Musicals Set House. Records |url=https://deadline.com/2019/01/broadway-harry-potter-to-kill-a-mockingbird-box-office-records-musicals-frozen-aladdin-1202527930/ |access-date=12 January 2019 |website=Deadline Hollywood |archive-date=19 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191019090111/https://deadline.com/2019/01/broadway-harry-potter-to-kill-a-mockingbird-box-office-records-musicals-frozen-aladdin-1202527930/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Previews of the play began at the [[Palace Theatre, London]], on 7 June 2016,<ref name="nyt07june2016">{{Cite news |last=Lyall, Sarah |date=7 June 2016 |title='Harry Potter and the Cursed Child' Begins Previews in London, as Magic Continues |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/08/theater/harry-potter-and-the-cursed-child-preview.html |access-date=29 June 2016 |archive-date=10 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170410234000/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/08/theater/harry-potter-and-the-cursed-child-preview.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and it premiered on 30 July 2016. The play opened on Broadway on 21 April 2018 at the [[Lyric Theatre (New York City, 1998)|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".{{citation needed|date=February 2022}} According to CNN, this was the most preordered book of 2016.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fashingbauer Cooper |first=Gael |date=21 July 2016 |title=Harry Potter script the most preordered book of 2016 |url=https://www.cnet.com/news/harry-potter-script-is-most-preordered-book-of-2016/ |access-date=22 July 2016 |publisher=CNN |archive-date=22 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160722122405/http://www.cnet.com/news/harry-potter-script-is-most-preordered-book-of-2016/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
* Granger, John. ''The Deathly Hallows Lectures: The Hogwarts Professor Explains the Final Harry Potter Adventure''. Zossima Press: 2008. {{ISBN|0-9723221-7-5}}.
* Hall, Susan. ''Reading Harry Potter: critical essays''. Greenwood Publishing: 2003. {{ISBN|0-313-32067-5}}.
* Rowling, JK. ''[[Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince]]''. London: [[Bloomsbury Publishing|Bloomsbury]]/New York City: [[Scholastic Corporation|Scholastic]]: 2005. UK {{ISBN|0-747-58108-8}}/US {{ISBN|0-439-78454-9}}.
* Rowling, JK. ''[[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire]]''. London: [[Bloomsbury Publishing|Bloomsbury]]/New York City: [[Scholastic Corporation|Scholastic]]: 2000. UK {{ISBN|0-747-54624-X}}/US {{ISBN|0-439-13959-7}}.
* Shapiro, Marc. ''J. K. Rowling: The Wizard Behind Harry Potter''. St. Martin's Press: 2007. {{ISBN|0-312-37697-9}}.
* Heckl, Raik. [https://www.academia.edu/7855316/Essay_2008_The_Tale_of_the_Three_Brothers_and_the_Idea_of_the_Speaking_Dead_in_the_Harry_Potter_Novels "The Tale of the Three Brothers" and the Idea of the Speaking Dead in the Harry Potter Novels] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160108034344/http://www.academia.edu/7855316/Essay_2008_The_Tale_of_the_Three_Brothers_and_the_Idea_of_the_Speaking_Dead_in_the_Harry_Potter_Novels |date=8 January 2016 }}. Leipzig: 2008.
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last=Winters |first=Sarah Fiona |chapter=Camping out on the quest: the landscape of boredom in ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'' |title=[[Children's Literature and Imaginative Geography]] |editor-last=Hudson |editor-first=Aïda |pages=215–228 |publisher=[[Wilfrid Laurier University Press]] |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-7711-2325-9}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{wikibooks|Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter|Books/Deathly Hallows|Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows}}
{{commons category}}
* [http://harrypotter.bloomsbury.com/ Harry Potter at Bloomsbury.com web site] UK publisher book information
* [http://harrypotter.scholastic.com/ Harry Potter at Scholastic.com web site] US publisher book information
* {{ISFDB title|id=231461|title=Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows}}

{{Harry Potter}}
{{J. K. Rowling}}
{{Andre Norton Award}}
{{Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for Children}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:2007 British novels]]
[[Category:2007 children's books]]
[[Category:2007 fantasy novels]]
[[Category:Bloomsbury Publishing books]]
[[Category:British novels adapted into films]]
[[Category:Children's books about shapeshifting]]
[[Category:Harry Potter novels|07]]
[[Category:Novels about shapeshifting]]
[[Category:Fiction about rebellions]]
[[Category:Novels about mass murder]]
[[Category:Novels about totalitarianism]]
[[Category:Novels about propaganda]]
[[Category:Battle royale (genre)]]
[[Category:Fiction set in 1997]]
[[Category:Fiction set in 1998]]
[[Category:Fiction set in 2017]]
[[Category:Scholastic Corporation books]]
[[Category:Sequel novels]]
[[Category:Children's fantasy novels]]
[[Category:Andre Norton Award–winning novels]]
[[Category:Fiction about poisonings]]

title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Author: J. K. Rowling

Illustrator: Jason Cockcroft (first edition)

Series: Harry Potter

Release number: 7th in series

Genre: Fantasy

Publisher: Bloomsbury (UK)

Publication place: United Kingdom

Pages: 607 (first edition)

Preceded by: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince