Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Theories Abound
With the release of the title for Book 7, theories are starting to get thrown around about the meaning of the title…and how it may explain what’s going to happen.
Now, before I begin I must say there’s no way anyone is going to figure out what’s going to happen in Book 7…let alone figure out with any amount of accuracy just what “Deathly Hallows” means. Whether it was the “Sorcerer’s Stone,” “Chamber of Secrets,” “Prisoner of Azkaban,” “Goblet of Fire,” “Order of the Phoenix,” or the “Half-Blood Prince” no one’s been able to crack the code yet. It’s always something we never expect…and even if you’re able to guess the general “ballpark” of what the title means (with “Order of the Phoenix” you could kind of get a sense of how that was going to manifest itself, generally speaking) there are always many curveballs to surprise and delight you. J.K. Rowling is just too good at inventing characters and narrative to expect anything less. With that said…
It’s still a lot of fun to theorize, and there have been some really interesting theories thrown about. Here are some of the best Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows theories I’ve come across to excite your Muggle souls:
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In no particular order:
1. First, it seems a good guess to say that the Deathly Hallows has something to do with Horcruxes. Horcruxes will no doubt be a huge part of the final book.
2. But don’t count out “Behind the Veil.” The Deathly Hallows could easily be about something that lies behind the veil.
3. Veil and Horcrux. Will Harry have to travel behind the veil to retrieve a Horcrux (perhaps the last Horcrux)?
4. Deathly Hallows could refer to a group of magical creatures of some sort who are tasked to guard Horcruxes. Perhaps a group of Death Eaters set to guard the Horcruxes on Voldemort’s orders.
5. Looking at the word “Hallow” it means (according to Webster’s): To make or set apart as holy: consecrate. Or it could mean (again according to Webster’s): To honor or respect: revere. Others have noted that it could mean “Saintly.”
The odd thing about the Webster definition is that it’s a verb (and “Saintly” an adverb). Yet “Hallows” in Deathly Hallows is used seemingly as a noun. So there’s something at play here that we’re not privy to.
6. Taking these definitions into account, “Hallows” could possibly mean a plot of land that has been set apart as holy. Or it could be an object. Or even a group of people that are in some way respected or revered. Or…(last “or” for this one, I swear)…it could be a group of people generally thought to be respected, revered or holy, but turn out to be otherwise…thus “Deathly.”
7. If “Hallows” means “Saintly” or “Saint” it could translate to Harry Potter and the Deathly Saints more or less. It’s not totally out of the question…J.K. Rowling had the Half-Blood Prince so even if the books aren’t overtly religious she could certainly borrow a religous word to use much like she borrowed a royal word with the last book.
8. According to Wikipedia “All Hallows” may refer to “All Saints.”
9. According to those who are familiar with such things (I am not one of those people) “Hallows” could represent Royal Regalia carried by a King. This could refer back to the Horcruxes…or it could be something Voldemort, as the Dark Lord, or the Dark King, may be in possession of.
10. Although “Hollow” and “Hallow” are two different words, the title Deathly Hallows definitely brings to mind “Godric’s Hollow”—which as we know was the final hiding place of James and Lily Potter. It certainly makes sense that Godric’s Hollow will find it’s way into Book 7, even though there’s likely no connection between them and the Deathly Hallows.
11. Going back to grammar, Hallows could indeed be used as a verb in the title…the Deathly Hallows could be an act of consecrating or purifying something…such as Horcruxes. This seems a bit too religious or “ritual” for the Harry Potter books, but it’s interesting to think about, nonetheless.
12. Going “behind the veil” the Deathly Hallows could be something of an “Underworld.” Harry could have to journey to the “Underworld” and the Deathly Hallows could be a reference to a physical place “behind the veil.”
13. Building on the “behind the veil” thread, the Deathly Hallows could be an “in between” world, somewhere between the living and the dead. Perhaps this is where Sirius can be found. We don’t know for certain (unless I missed something) that “behind the veil” means death.
…Whew. That’s a lot to chew on at once. Though I’m sure J.K. Rowling will take us through many twists and turns before dropping us off in many unexpected places. That’s the beauty of the books, isn’t it?
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December 22nd, 2006 at 5:08 pm
[...] Somebody else with theories. [...]
December 24th, 2006 at 8:02 am
You may also see hallow as way of speeking, as saying hello to someone… deathly hallows… the voices behind the veil…
January 4th, 2007 at 4:23 pm
Im pretty sure that Deathly Hallows refers to Gordric Hallows where Harry’s aprents were killed
January 11th, 2007 at 3:19 am
marc your on the right track Ive got more
well hallows mean saint. in the 5th or 6th book draco says saint potter I think and also its got to do with gordric hallows. Do you know what saint day is it is halloween night the night where lily and james got killed on that night when harry goes back to the house he might have a vision of what happened
January 12th, 2007 at 9:59 am
[...] The post this quote came from can be found here. In that post I wrote down many of the best theories I was able to find about the title Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows…ideas from others posted on various forums or ideas that popped into my mind. [...]
February 1st, 2007 at 4:11 am
Marc, Deathly Hallows could possibly refer to Godric Hollows, but keep in mind, they are two different words. Hallows - Hollows
February 10th, 2007 at 2:58 pm
I’m fairly certain Harry himself is the last horcrux and Neville will realise it and kill him at the end of the book. That’s my theory anyway
February 17th, 2007 at 11:09 pm
It is impossible for Harry to be the final horcrux. According to the prophecy, one must live while the other dies. So, if Harry is the final horcrux and kills himself, Voldemort would be dead as well, therefore, making the prophecy incorrect.
February 21st, 2007 at 10:34 am
No Z, you are completely wrong. The prophecy states that “Neither can live while the other survives”. I think Harry will realise if he dies, so does Voldemort and either kill himself, or more likely, Neville will have to kill him.
March 18th, 2007 at 9:59 am
harry’s parents were killed in godric hallow…. perhaps this has something to do with the book…i also believe snape is innocent as he had to kill dumbledore because of the un breakable vow..and that harry and dumbledore are some how related
March 18th, 2007 at 10:54 am
i do not think harry is the last horcrux that is compleately wrong. that would be against the prophasy……
PS
this has nothig to do with godrics hollow, but i found out that crockshanks is half kneazle.
March 20th, 2007 at 4:47 am
i agree with niamh because i think that the book is about the hollow because the book has something to do with the hollow
March 23rd, 2007 at 11:44 am
What if Harry is not the horcrux, but his scar is.
Think about it, it was always the scar that hurt in the other books when LV was experiencing peaks of emotion. Harry is also able to speak parceltongue and has a link to LV.
LV always saved murders that were vitally important to him to use in his horcrux creation. Who could be more important to LV than the boy of the prophesy.
We suspect that JKR wants to put an end to the HP series, what if Once the Horcrux (Scar) is removed Harry loses all of his magical abilities. That would enable Harry to live on, fulfilling the prophecy abou tone living whilst the other dies.
March 30th, 2007 at 7:45 pm
Harry’s scar can’t be a horcrux because Voldemort made all the horcrux on purpose, not by accident. He was surprised by Harry surviving his first attack and it nearly killed him.
April 4th, 2007 at 8:51 am
No. think about it idiots. why wud voldemort make harry his horcrux- isnt every single book basically about voldemort wanting to kill harry- thus that wud involve killing a piece of his own soul. idiots.
April 12th, 2007 at 8:38 pm
Was just reading some theory’s n i do think harry and nevil are something to do with the horcrux and that nevil is probbably more impartant than people think. Anyway my thought was that harrys mums spirit or something is in harry and thats how she protected him or something, just because i read that shes important in the last book.Il have to re read the books n come up with a better theory i guess!
April 14th, 2007 at 7:11 am
My theorem is that Hallows mean hello, and that voldemort has to say hello to everyone he kills ( deathly ) because of a curse which Hermione (her-eye-on-me) put on him.
April 26th, 2007 at 4:07 pm
not to be rude or anything but i think that is a complete load of crap. seriously i think this chazzyo person should take a lesson in making theories. i mean its complete and utter nonsense that hermione would put a curse on LV making him say hello to the ppl he kills, and come on ppl the word is hallow not hollow so i dont understand why everyone keeps repeating it. i mean yes there is a possibility that harry will revisit godric HOLLOW but to obsess that is what is being said in the title is getting a little irritating.
May 4th, 2007 at 8:10 am
hear, hear
June 15th, 2007 at 2:22 pm
This has probably been said and I just don’t know where it is
“Deathly Hallows” perhaps refers to those beyond the veil.
It would explain the shadows in the bacrkound of the cover.
Perhaps they are the people who couldn’t complete life because (in this case) Voldemort cut their lives short.
June 26th, 2007 at 11:28 am
Haha, some people need to learn to take life a little less seriously. Or Harry Potter at least…
July 1st, 2007 at 3:59 pm
We now for a fact that 2 characters will die, i think that one will be the Wesleys (anyone of the family) and of course Hagrid. Voldermort has always killed anyway that was like family to Harry, so they are the two most likely to die.
R.A.B. is the only clue to who killed the horcrux!I think that the person is Regulus Black. Sirius brother. It is said that He worked for Voldermort…so maybe he found out some stuff and relized that Voldermort should not survive, so he kills the horucrux. Voldermort prrobaly found out and killed him, or sent one of his followers to do it. Also, Serius didnt know his brother very sell..so we dont know to much about Regulous.
Draco we know joined Voldermort, but he didnt kill Dumbledore, perhaps he doesnt want to be evil once he saw it, but he should know that once there, he cant go back alive.
Harry and Ginny of course know that they have feelings for each other. But he says that he has to go alone to ffight, and soent want to bring ehr in. But there is still the wedding….when they go will the feelings spark?
We know that at Sirius’s house there is a misterious locket that cant be opened…could it be the locket thatholds a horocrux????
Is Harry a horucrux? we know there is six, but do u think he had the time to make a horucrux before killing the Potters( or trying to)
July 1st, 2007 at 4:00 pm
emily….i ment emily not emil!
July 1st, 2007 at 4:03 pm
also, i think that either Hrry will die, with Voldermort.
Harry loses his magic.
Or Harry , Ron, and Herminoe go to fight Voldermort, Harry and Voldermort do a showdown….Voldermort kills Harry. Ron and Hermione are than angrey and kill Voldermort.
July 9th, 2007 at 11:39 pm
Here’s my opinion on Harry/Neville relationship with LV and the horcruxes.
The way the prophesy is worded, everyone is pretty sure that either Harry will have to kill LV, or he’ll kill Harry. Dumbledore said that in order to kill Voldemort, all of his horcruxes would have to be killed first. If Harry was a Horcrux, than he would have to die before Voldemort could. Since Voldemort is pretty much the most powerful wizard around since Dumbledore is gone, if Harry, the only one with a chance to kill him now, dies, Voldemort would be free to go about killing. He can’t be a horcrux.
As for Neville, as much as he has been associated with Harry b/c he was born at the same time, parents…. etc., he wasn’t the one chosen. Voldemort heard the prophesy and picked Harry, not Neville. As cool as it would be to have Neville just kick down the door and punch Voldemort in the face, it won’t happen. He’s a side character, a friend of Harry’s, and nothing else.
July 13th, 2007 at 9:13 am
I think Emily and Jace both make good points. Harry cannot be a Horcrux, we know that it requires a spell to turn a something into a Horcrux but when LV’s AK curse backfired it left him virtually powerless and weak. He would not have been able to turn Harry into a Horcrux before he fled.
Jk has also just added a twist saying the end of the book is going to be a ‘blood bath’ (lovely) with two more characters dying than previously thought.
LV made the prophecy true by trying to kill Harry that night. Dumbledore says he creates his own worst enemy in Harry by trying to kill him, meaning it has to be Harry, and not Neville that has to kill LV.
R.A.B.. who knows? The only character that could fit at the moment is Regelus Black, but we know very little about him so it’s a hard road to go down! Also, a personal opinion, the letter found inside the locket felt to me like it was writted by a woman.
I believe Harry will go back to Godrics Hollow, as it is where the whole story started and is where Harry would probably need to start from if he is to go on a search to find the remaining Horcruxs.
I’m confused about Dumbledore, as to whether he is dead or not. He pleads with Snape at the end.. we know Dumbledore was not a coward, and it’s out of character for him to plead with anybody as he did. Was he pleading for Snape to ‘kill’ him? It would leave Snape free to work from the inside and continue in his work - which we know Dumbledore was extremely insistant with him about. We know Dumbledore is not a murderer and therefore cannot have a Horcrux, but maybe he knows of a different way to stay immortal.
There are so many questions and theories that it’s hard to come up with an answer. I think it would be very hard to end the series with Harry dead, and we know that LV cannot possibly still be alive at the end. We do know then that Harry must search for the Horcruxs and end up battling LV to the death.
July 13th, 2007 at 10:59 pm
Dumbledore was pleading with Snape because he wanted him to kill him in order to fulfill his unbreakable vow. snape is going to have a vital part in the 7th book most likely and dumbledore probably knew that snape will play a part in the killing of voldemort or else he wouldn’t have asked snape to kill him. and both Snape and Malfoy will not be evil by the end of book 7 anyway. I think Snape will die defending Harry or helping to destroy a horcrux or to defeat Voldemort just to give you a sign that he wasn’t truly on Voldemort’s side. i agree with emily about one of the weasleys or hagrid dying but I had also thought Lupin might bite the dust. However I do not think that these were the characters that JK was speaking of when she said at least two die. the locket at grimmlaud place is indeed the horcrux, i am positive otherwise it wouldn’t have been worth mentioning. however it may not be at grimmlaud place any longer. it could be in mundungus’ possesion since he was stealing so many things from grimmlaud place. and btw the locket is still a horcrux I am sure it will still need to be destroyed. Although RAB said they intended to destroy it soon I don’t think they ever got to it. Assuming RAB is Regulus, I believe that he eventually realized he didn’t want to be a death eater anymore whether he’d been under the imperius curse or just realized the error of his ways he will have been killed by voldemort or a death eater before he could destroy the locket. I don’t believe Harry is a horcrux. Neville will avenge his parents and kill Bellatrix Lestrange. I don’t believe there is a way around death for Harry in this book. Although good will triumph over evil, JK doesn’t want anyone else writing about Harry when she’s done so death is one of the only ways to do that. There are some things he could do to defeat Voldemort and not die (the veil perhaps) but I do not believe this will be the case. Just some of my thoughts.
July 15th, 2007 at 12:09 pm
I also believe that Snape is on the good side, and Dumbledore had planned his death with Snape. Hence why he asked for Severus rather then Madam Pomfrey. Malfoy is a little bitch really, and theres no way he’ll stay evil, i don’t think he could handle it. I think theres definately got to be an attack at Bill & Fleurs wedding. And someone may well die, possibly Percy weasley? who knows. JK said that a muggle may use magic, and i’ve read alot of theories about Petunias nicer side about Lily coming out in the final book, and perhaps harry & petunia find peace finally. And maybe the muggle using magic will be Dudley, and this is why Vernon & Petunia were so determined to hate magic. You’ll have to read the theories to understand this. Also rumours of Sirius’s bike & two way mirror making repeat appearences. It IS possible that Harry’s scar is a horcrux. No idea if Dumbledore is actually dead or not. But he had a brother Aberforth, who might make an appearence. Theres alot of things ive sat and thought about while and after reading. Mainly concerning Snape. I think he was in love with Lily, which explains his hatred for James, whoevers side he’s on, he will never be able to kill Harry because ‘He has his mothers eyes’ well thats a couple of things to think about, ive got loads more though. Good to actually talk to some HP fans :).
July 16th, 2007 at 2:32 pm
[...] Kyle - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Theories Abound [...]
July 16th, 2007 at 2:33 pm
[...] by Maddy We’ve been getting a lot of responses on a topic that was posted back in December. click here to read the original post - and below is the text of the last few [...]
July 17th, 2007 at 8:31 am
JKR said that COS was goign to be very important to the last book, if you re-read it Tom riddle explains to harry that he put part of his soul in GINNY when she was cursed, meaning she might be a HORCRUXE. Meaning harry will have to decide to kill ginny or not!!!!!!!
July 18th, 2007 at 12:11 am
has anybody ever thought about the picture of dumbledor in his office? maybe Harry will use that to speak with the late dumbledor and he will help harry that way. just a thought.
July 18th, 2007 at 2:39 pm
I think that Ginny will die, but not because she is a horcrux. you have to realize that Harry destroyed the book that contained one of his horcuxes. that book put part of himself in her and then it was destroyed. I don’t think she is a horcrux.
July 19th, 2007 at 5:46 pm
As for the question of which Wesley will most likly die… Here you go.
Let me apologize for my spelling right now, i know it sucks.
Ginny… Many people have thought that Ginny will die, and she very well may, however, I don’t compleatly believe that JK.Rowling is willing to kill her… i dunno…
Ron… Ron is an incredably important charictor, and i would believe it if he made it through he whole book, unfortunitly, it doesn’t look too good. Out of the three main charictors, it will most likly be him. It will probably not be Harry because the book is told through his eyes, so technally, he would have to die in the last sentince, and as for Hermione, I hardly believe that she is going to kill of the girl.
Fred and George… no way, there is no important reason whatsoever kill them other than to make the book unnessicarily dark… and please, if we wanted to be depressed we have our own lifes, thats not what we read for.
Percy… I doubt it, he has become so unimportant ever since he fought with his dad and took off, i don’t think he if deserving of one of the grand deaths.
Charlie… Ha, that would be a waist, we will probably only see or hear from him during the wedding.
Bill.. Nah.. He alrady got his, and he’s getting married, I really doubt she’ll kill him.
Molly… Oh, I really hope not, I love her but she is in the order which puts her in some danger, it does seem really unlikly though.
Arthur… Oh Ya… Dad’ll get it. If a wesley dies, it will be him or Ron.