Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
J. K. Rowling
 Following Dumbledore's death, Voldemort continues to gain support and increase his power. When Harry turns seventeen, the protection he has at his aunt and uncle's house will be broken. Before that can happen, at Mad Eye Moody's suggestion, Harry flees to the Burrow with his friends, many of whom use Polyjuice Potion to impersonate him so as to confuse any Death Eaters that may attack. They are indeed attacked shortly after leaving Privet Drive; Mad Eye is killed, and George Weasley wounded, but the rest arrive safely at the Burrow. Ron and Hermione decide to accompany Harry, instead of returning to Hogwarts School for their seventh year, to finish the quest Dumbledore started: to hunt and destroy Voldemort's four remaining Horcruxes. They have little knowledge about the remaining Horcruxes except that one is a locket once owned by Hogwarts' co-founder Salazar Slytherin, one is possibly a cup once owned by co-founder Helga Hufflepuff, a third may be connected with co-founder Rowena Ravenclaw, and the fourth may be Nagini, Voldemort's snake familiar. The whereabouts of the founders' objects is unknown, and Nagini is presumed to be with Voldemort. Before leaving, they attend Ron's brother's Bill's wedding to Fleur Delacour, with Harry disguised by Polyjuice Potion, but the Ministry of Magic is taken over by Death Eaters during the wedding and they barely escape with their lives. Harry, Ron, and Hermione flee to 12 Grimmauld Place in London, which is Sirius Black's family's house, where they learn from the house-elf Kreacher the whereabouts of Salazar Slytherin's locket, which Sirius' brother Regulus stole from Voldemort at the cost of his own life. They successfully recover this Horcrux by infiltrating the Ministry of Magic and stealing it from Dolores Umbridge. Under the object's evil influence and the stress of being on the run, Ron leaves the others. As Harry and Hermione search for the Horcruxes, they learn more about Dumbledore's past, including the insanity and death of Dumbledore's younger sister and his connection to the evil wizard Grindewald. Harry and Hermione ultimately travel to Godric's Hollow, Harry's birthplace and the place where his parents died. They meet the eldery magical historian Bathilda Bagshot, who turns out to be Nagini in disguise and attacks them. They escape into the Forest of Dean, where a mysterious silver doe that appears to be a Patronus leads Harry to the Sword of Hogwarts co-founder Godric Gryffindor, one of the few objects able to destroy Horcruxes, lying at the bottom of an icy lake. When Harry attempts to recover the sword from the pool, the Horcrux attempts to kill him. Ron reappears, saving Harry and then using the sword to destroy the locket. Resuming their search, the trio repeatedly encounter a strange symbol that an eccentric wizard named Xenophilius Lovegood tells them represents the mythical Deathly Hallows. The Hallows are three sacred objects: the Elder Wand, an unbeatable wand; the Resurrection Stone, with the power to summon the dead to the living world; and an infallible Invisibility Cloak. Harry learns that Voldemort is seeking the Elder Wand, recognizes the Resurrection Stone from the second Horcrux, which Dumbledore had destroyed, and realizes that his own Invisibility Cloak is the one mentioned in the story, but he is unaware of the Hallows' significance. The trio are captured and taken to Malfoy Manor, where Bellatrix Lestrange tortures Hermione. Harry and Ron are thrown in the cellar, where they find Luna Lovegood, Ollivander, Dean Thomas, and Griphook. They escape to Shell Cottage (Bill and Fleur's house) with Dobby's help, but at the cost of the house-elf's life. Harry now realizes that the Hallows may have the power to defeat Death and knows that Voldemort robbed Dumbledore's tomb to procure the Elder Wand, but he decides to focus on finding the Horcruxes instead of the Hallows. With Griphook's help, they learn that Helga Hufflepuff's cup - a Horcrux - is hidden in Bellatrix's vault at Gringotts, break into her vault, retrieve the cup, and escape on a dragon, with Griphook swiping the sword and escaping on his own. From his connection to Voldemort's thoughts, Harry learns that another Horcrux is hidden in Hogwarts, which is under the control of Severus Snape. Harry, Ron, and Hermione enter the school through Hogsmeade (being saved by Aberforth Dumbledore, who explains more about Albus's backstory) and - with the help of the teachers - Snape is ousted from the school. Ron and Hermione go to the Chamber of Secrets and destroy the cup using a basilisk fang. The trio then finds Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem (another Horcrux) in the Room of Requirement. Vincent Crabbe casts a Fiendfyre curse in an attempt to kill Harry, Ron, and Hermione, but he instead destroys the diadem, the Room of Requirement, and himself. At this point, a total of five Horcruxes have been destroyed. The Death Eaters and Voldemort besiege Hogwarts, while Harry, Ron, Hermione, their allies, and various magical creatures defend the school. Several major characters are killed in the first wave of the battle, including Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, and Fred Weasley. Voldemort kills Severus Snape because he believes doing so will make him the Elder Wand's true master, since Snape killed Dumbledore. Harry discovers while viewing Snape's memories that Voldemort inadvertently made Harry into a seventh Horcrux when he attacked him as a baby, which is the true significance of Harry's scar, and that Harry must die in order to destroy Voldemort. These memories also confirm Snape's unwavering loyalty to Dumbledore and that his role as a double-agent against Voldemort never wavered after Voldemort killed Lily Evans, Harry's mother and Snape's one true love. Harry also learns that Dumbledore had less than a year to live when he died, that his death by Snape's hand had been per Dumbledore's request, and that Dumbledore had known that Harry must die. After using the Resurrection Stone to bring back his deceased loved ones for a short while, Harry surrenders himself to death at Voldemort's hand. Voldemort casts the Killing Curse at him, but it only sends Harry into a limbo-like state between life and death. While in this state, Dumbledore's spirit explains to Harry that when Voldemort used Harry's blood to regain his full strength, it protected Harry from Voldemort killing him; however, the Horcrux inside Harry has been destroyed, and Harry can return to his body despite being hit by the Killing Curse. Dumbledore also explains that Harry became the true master of the Deathly Hallows by facing Death, not by seeking to avoid it or conquer it. Harry returns to his body, feigning death, and Voldemort marches victoriously into the castle with his body. However, per Harry's prior instructions, Neville Longbottom kills Nagini, the last Horcrux, with the Sword of Gryffindor. Harry then reveals that he is still alive, and the battle resumes, with Bellatrix Lestrange being killed by Molly Weasley. Harry and Voldemort engage in a final climactic duel. Harry reveals that because he willingly sacrificed himself to death by Voldemort's hand, his act of love would protect the Wizarding community from Voldemort in the same way the sacrifice Harry's mother made protected Harry. Harry also reveals that Snape was not loyal to Voldemort, did not murder Dumbledore, and was never the master of the Elder Wand. Instead, Draco was the master of the Elder Wand after disarming Dumbledore, but, because Harry had disarmed Draco at Malfoy Manor, Harry is the true master of the Elder Wand. Harry claims that the wand will refuse to kill the one to whom it owes allegiance, further protecting Harry. During the duel, Harry refuses to use the killing curse and even encourages Voldemort to feel remorse, one known way to restore Voldemort's shattered soul. Voldemort dies when his own killing curse backfires against Harry's disarming curse, killing himself; the Death Eaters are finally defeated. The wizarding world is able to live in peace once more.