Plot
Leaving the Dursleys
As Harry Potter's protection at the Dursleys' home will expire when he turns 17, the Order of the Phoenix decides to separately escort Harry and the Dursleys to safety. Despite using Harry impostors as decoys, the real Harry is identified and attacked by Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Harry and the others narrowly escape to The Burrow, but Hedwig and Mad-Eye Moody are killed.
A few days later, the Minister for Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour, arrives to give Harry, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger bequests from Albus Dumbledore's will: Ron is given Dumbledore's Deluminator, with the power to capture lights and locate a person's whereabouts; Hermione receives a book of children's stories written in Ancient Runes; Harry inherits Godric Gryffindor's sword and the Snitch he caught in his first ever Quidditch match. The Ministry withholds the sword, claiming it was never Dumbledore's.
Search for the Horcruxes
During Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour's wedding reception, Kingsley Shacklebolt's Patronus arrives announcing, "The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming." Death Eaters soon arrive. Harry, Ron, and Hermione escape and are attacked by Death Eaters-Thorfinn Rowle and Antonin Dolohov but they escape and take refuge at the deserted Black family home. While there, they discover that Sirius Black's brother, Regulus is the "R.A.B." who removed the locket Horcrux from the lake in the cave.[HP6] Learning that Dolores Umbridge now possesses it, they infiltrate the Ministry of Magic using Polyjuice Potion. They escape with the locket but are unable to destroy it.
After several months on the run, the trio overhears a conversation revealing that the Ministry secured the confiscated Gryffindor sword in Bellatrix Lestrange's Gringotts' vault. But the Ministry is unaware that this sword is only a replica; the real sword's location is unknown. When Harry learns that Dumbledore eliminated a Horcrux with the real sword, he wants to search for it to destroy the remaining Horcruxes. Ron, fearing for his family's safety and frustrated that Harry has no real plan for finding either the sword or the Horcruxes, decides to leave. Harry and Hermione go to Godric's Hollow, hoping that Dumbledore hid the sword there. However, they are ambushed by Voldemort and his snake Nagini. During their escape, Hermione accidentally breaks Harry's wand.
One night, an unknown doe Patronus appears near their camp and leads Harry to Gryffindor's real sword. As Harry tries to retrieve the sword from an icy pond, the locket Horcrux tightens around his neck, strangling him. Ron, who suddenly returns, rescues Harry and destroys the Horcrux with the sword. Although Hermione is angry at Ron for leaving, he provides useful information and tells them that Voldemort's name is jinxed: anyone uttering it immediately alerts and summons Death Eaters to their location.
The Deathly Hallows
The trio go to Xenophilius Lovegood, Luna's father, and ask him about a symbol they have encountered several times. He tells them it represents the Deathly Hallows, three legendary objects that conquer death: the Elder Wand, Resurrection Stone, and Invisibility Cloak. Harry is convinced that his Invisibility Cloak is one of the Hallows. Xenophilius betrays them to the Ministry, however, hoping to free Luna, who is being held captive by Death Eaters, but the trio escapes.
"Snatchers" capture the trio at their camp after Harry accidentally speaks Voldemort's name. They are imprisoned at Malfoy Manor, the new Death Eater headquarters. Finding the sword among the trio's possessions, Bellatrix Lestrange fears they have broken into her vault at Gringrotts and tortures Hermione for information. In the cellar, Dobby arrives to free the prisoners, but they are discovered by Peter Pettigrew. Pettigrew repays his life debt to Harry, but he is murdered by his own silver hand in retribution. Harry and Ron run upstairs to rescue Hermione. Harry captures both Bellatrix's and Draco Malfoy's wands, and the group escapes by apparating with Dobby to Shell Cottage, Bill and Fleur Weasly's home. Unfortunately, Dobby has been killed by Bellatrix's silver knife. They bury the House Elf at the cottage and plot with Griphook the goblin to infiltrate Gringotts, convinced another Horcrux is hidden in the Lestrange vault.
The trio break into Gringotts with Griphook's help. They retrieve the Cup Horcrux, but lose the sword. They release a guard dragon and jump on its back as it takes flight, barely escaping. Voldemort now realises that his Horcruxes are being destroyed, and Harry's mental link to the Dark Lord reveals that one is hidden at Hogwarts.
The Battle of Hogwarts
Dumbledore's brother, Aberforth, helps the trio to enter Hogwarts. They alert the staff to Voldemort's impending arrival. Order of the Phoenix members arrive as Voldemort's forces attack Hogwarts; Fred Weasley is an early casualty, and many others die defending Hogwarts, including Remus Lupin, Tonks, and Colin Creevey. Harry learns that Ravenclaw's Diadem is a Horcrux and realises it is in the Room of Requirement. Meanwhile, Ron and Hermione enter the Chamber of Secrets and retrieve basilisk fangs, with which Hermione destroys Hufflepuff's Cup. In the Room of Requirement, the three are assaulted by Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle. Crabbe mishandles the powerful Fiendfyre spell, killing himself and inadvertently destroying the Diadem.
Harry has another vision and goes to the Shrieking Shack. He witnesses Voldemort ordering Nagini to kill Snape. Voldemort believes that Snape became the Elder Wand's master when he killed its former owner, Dumbledore, and that with Snape's death, the wand's allegiance becomes his. Before dying, Snape gives to Harry his memories; they show that Snape was always loyal to Dumbledore, motivated by his lifelong love for Harry's mother Lily. Dumbledore, doomed to die after being cursed by Gaunt's ring, had instructed Snape to kill him, if necessary, to spare Draco from fulfilling Voldemort's task. It was Snape who sent the doe Patronus to lead Harry to Gryffindor's sword. Harry also discovers that he himself is a Horcrux; Voldemort cannot be killed while Harry lives.
Resigned to his fate, Harry goes alone to the Forbidden Forest where Voldemort awaits. Harry opens the Snitch he received from Dumbledore and finds the Resurrection Stone within. He summons the spirits of James and Lily Potter, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin, who comfort him. He willingly allows Voldemort to strike him with the Avada Kedavra curse. Harry awakens in a place resembling King's Cross Station. Albus Dumbledore appears and explains that, just as Voldemort cannot die while his soul fragment remains in Harry, Harry cannot be killed while his blood lives in Voldemort's body. Dumbledore also explains that Voldemort's soul fragment within Harry was destroyed by the killing curse. Although Harry is not actually dead, he has the choice to move on to the next world or return to the living.
Harry revives. While pretending to be dead, he is carried to Hogwarts as a trophy. As reinforcements charge in, Harry covers himself with the Invisibility Cloak while Neville pulls Gryffindor's sword from the Sorting Hat and beheads Nagini, destroying the final Horcrux. Molly Weasley fatally curses Bellatrix Lestrange. Harry confronts Voldemort, realising that when Draco Malfoy disarmed Dumbledore, Draco unknowingly became the Elder Wand's master. When Harry later took Draco's own wand, the Elder Wand's allegiance passed to Harry. Voldemort casts Avada Kedavra, but the Elder Wand protects its master and the spell rebounds, killing Voldemort.
Shortly after the battle, Harry visits Dumbledore's portrait. He tells the professor that he will keep the Invisibility Cloak, but to prevent anyone from reuniting the Deathly Hallows, the Resurrection Stone will be left where it was dropped in the Forbidden Forest and the Elder Wand is to be returned to Dumbledore's tomb. As long as Harry remains undefeated, the Elder Wand's power will die with him. Dumbledore nods his approval. Before placing the Elder Wand into Dumbledore's tomb, Harry uses it to repair his old wand.
