HPMFC

• J.K. Rowling announced the title of the book on her website on December 21, 2006. In a way, this was foretold in Order of the Phoenix, in the Hall of Prophecy, when several of the prophecies shatter:

"Two figures, pearly white as ghosts, fluid as smoke, unfurled themselves from
the fragments of broken glass upon the floor and each began to speak. Their
voices vied with each other, so that only fragments of what they were saying
could be heard over Malfoy and Bellatrix's shouts.
'...at the Solstice will
come a new...' said the figure of an old, bearded man....
'...and none will
come after...' said the figure of a young woman.
The two figures that had
burst from the shattered spheres had melted into thin air."

• December 21 is the Winter Solstice, and since this is the final book in the series, "none will come after."
• In the middle ages, the word 'hallows' was used to describe relics of saints; if someone was to "seek hallows" it meant they were visiting the shrines or relics of saints. It was believed that the saints themselves were present within these objects, and that the objects served as a sort of vessel through which the saint was present on earth.
• In Arthurian legends, the hallows were four sacred objects - a sword, a platter, a cup (the Grail), and a spear - which were held at the castle sought by those on a quest for the Grail.
• 'Deathly' can be a synonym for 'deadly,' but more often it is a description not of something that causes death, but of something that is subject to death, or mortal. It can also be used to describe something that resembles death - Voldemort's fingers are described as being "deathly white"
  

What we do know about the seventh book (rumor):

• The last word of the seventh book, according to JK Rowling, is "scar." She says that she has written the very last chapter already and that the last chapter contains details of what happens to each surviving character.
• Harry will be in his seventh and final year in book seven. The events of book seven will take place between July 31, 1997 and the end of the school year, which presumably will be June, 1998.
• Harry will go back to the Dursleys one last time before his 17th birthday. He plans to visit Godric's Hollow and also to attend Bill and Fleur's wedding in July.
• Harry will turn seventeen on 31 July 1997, and therefore will be of age in the wizarding world and old enough to obtain a license to Apparate. Neville Longbottom will likewise be of age at the end of July 1997. Ron and Hermione are already 17.
• It is not clear whether Harry will even return to Hogwarts for his seventh year. He plans to spend that year finding and destroying Voldemort's Horcruxes.
• It is also unclear whether Hogwarts will be re-open.
• Two students in Harry's year will be made Head Boy and Head Girl. They will not necessarily be Gryffindors.
• Harry and his classmates will be taking their most difficult set of tests, the NEWTs, and making preparations for their careers in the wizarding world.
• The last chapter is written. It tells what happens to everyone after the tale is finished.
• There is no university after Hogwarts and no further Harry Potter books.
  Q: Do you think that you will write about Harry after he graduates from Hogwarts? Isn't there a University of Wizardry?
  A: There's no University for Wizards. At the moment I'm only planning to write seven
• Harry Potter books. I won't say "never," but I have no plans to write an eighth book.

Posted by Bel at 7:35 PM,