Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

How it opens

In the drawing room of the Malfoys' manor house, Severus Snape tells Voldemort and a table of his followers that the Order of the Phoenix intends to move Harry Potter on Saturday next, at nightfall. Voldemort says he must be the one to kill Harry Potter and takes Lucius Malfoy's wand, and Charity Burbage, a captive who until recently taught at Hogwarts, is killed in front of them. At number four, Privet Drive, with four days left before he can do magic, Harry empties his school trunk and finds a fragment of the mirror his dead godfather, Sirius, gave him. He rereads Elphias Doge's obituary of Albus Dumbledore, then reads a Daily Prophet interview with Rita Skeeter about her new biography, The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore.

Who you meet early

• Harry PotterHarry Potter is spending the summer at number four, Privet Drive, with four days left before he is allowed to do magic. He has packed an old rucksack, with the locket that held a note signed R.A.B. in a front pocket, and he has been thinking of his dead headmaster, Albus Dumbledore.
• Severus SnapeSeverus Snape killed Albus Dumbledore with the Avada Kedavra curse on the Astronomy Tower at Hogwarts. At the manor, Voldemort gives him the seat on his immediate right, and Snape passes on what he says his source told him about the Order's plans for moving Harry.
• Lucius MalfoyLucius Malfoy was in Azkaban after the Death Eaters failed to retrieve the prophecy at the Ministry. Voldemort tells him he has given him his liberty, but says the Malfoys seem less than happy with his presence in their home, and takes Lucius's wand.
• Draco MalfoyDraco Malfoy, the son of Lucius and Narcissa, sits beside his father at the table, terrified to make eye contact with Voldemort. When Voldemort asks whether he recognizes the captive, Draco shakes his head.
• Bellatrix LestrangeBellatrix Lestrange, Narcissa's sister, tells Voldemort it is an honor to have him in her family's house. When he mocks the news that her niece has married the werewolf Remus Lupin, she cries, “She is no niece of ours, my Lord.”