Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Yes!!! The moment we've all been waiting for... the title for Harry Potter 7. While there's no known release date yet, speculation over at Mugglenet is that a 2007 release date is likely.

Well, after 17 months of speculation (since HBP came out in July 2005) over Book 7, we finally have a title to further fuel the theories.

An interesting note, googling "The Deathly Hallows" at around 9 p.m. PST tonight still yields no Harry Potter related hits at all! (Only exception is the lone google news link at the top to a news article about the book's impact on the market which is not really a true search hit.) Check out the top five hits below, all regarding All Hallow's Eve or Halloween.

Wonder how long that will last before the page fills up with nothing but Harry-Potter related sites?

But still it echoes what I first thought about when I heard the title - Halloween. After all, it's such a crucial date in the HP books, the most memorable being Halloween 1981 when Lily and James Potter were murdered by Lord Voldemort, the day before the story picks up in Sorcerer's Stone.

First, though we must determine if Deathly Hallows is referring to a place, a time or date - what exactly? I'm inclined toward thinking that its a place - perhaps the location of the final confrontation between Harry and Voldemort. I'd also think that if it is a place, it has some special historical significance for Harry. Could the story possibly end where it began, at Godric's Hollow? After all Hollow, Hallow - sounds similar.

And why "Deathly" rather than "Deadly"? I'm not sure if that's more common in Britain, but it seems to me "deadly" is the more commonly used term. This further leads me to think that it's a proper noun as in the name of a place.

Also since hallow means to consecrate or make holy, there's probably something sacred about this place. Perhaps even a deeper significance for all of magic, maybe the source of all magical power in the world or something crazy like that.

Ok, let me just end by making a list of a few questions that I would like resolved by the end of the series: (I tried to restrict myself to just the main burning questions. Of course, there are lot's of other interesting questions as well, but I have to wonder how much J.K.R. will leave open at the end.)

• Peter Pettigrew: How did he turn to the Dark Side? Life debt to Harry?
  
• Severus Snape: The most complex character in the series - What's his game? Which side?
• Generally more Marauders Era backstory - maybe it will help in the horcrux hunt...
  
• The Veil: I've got to believe that we're going to see it play a role again. SiriusBlackIsNotDead.com anyone? (actually surprised that no one has taken that domain name) :)
• Harry: Horcrux or Not? Will he survive?
• Shipping: Harry/Ginny, Ron/Hermione ?- had to add that in just for completeness' sake ;P

Can't wait!!

-- Arkajit

P.S. Oh, I just thought about what the old title may have been. Some time back, J.K. Rowling had said that she had come up with a new title that was a vowel and two consonants ahead of her current title. Well what if the original title was "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hall"? Then adding a vowel, 'o', and two consonants 'w', 's' gives "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows"! If this is true, then the theory that this is a place seems even more plausible.