Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Chapter Twenty-seven:
The Final Hiding Place

"He knows."

Notes by Michele L. Worley
Page editor Belinda Hobbs

U.S. hardcover edition: pages 544 - 553
U.K. hardcover edition: pages 439 - 446
Timeframe: ? May 1998

In which HRH spend most of the day riding the dragon, only to get away from it near sunset. Harry has a vision of the theft being reported to Voldemort, and realizes that they are running out of time - Voldemort now knows that they are after Horcruxes, and they have to get to the Hogwarts Horcrux before he does.

Interesting facts and notes about the text of this chapter:

as they flew further and further north

That's not much of a clue to their final destination, given that they started in London - much of the rest of Britain is north and/or west of London.

deep-green mountains and lakes, coppery in the sunset

Since they started out for Gringotts first thing in the morning, this gives us a small clue - the lake is located among mountains in mainland Britain, some distance north of London. However, we don't know how long they were in Gringotts, so we don't have more than a very approximate travel time.

No one had ever known him to be related to the Gaunts, he had hidden the connection

Considering how far they had fallen, claiming descent from them, however pure their blood, would have been awkward, even had Tom Riddle not had to work to trace them.

the killings had never been traced to him

The killings of his father's family, for which he had framed one of his Gaunt relations.

Their abandoned home was, perhaps, the least secure of his hiding places

True, as it turns out, but Voldemort is of course far too late in realizing this - almost two years too late.

Didn't their stupidity and carelessness prove how unwise it was ever to trust?

This reminds me a little of the Eddings' Malloreon, wherein one of the major differences between the two sides was just this: that the Child of Dark always acted alone, while the Child of Light had companions and shared responsibility, so to speak.

While Voldemort doesn't trust his subordinates (and to be fair, neither did Dumbledore, entirely, though with a different attitude), Harry depends on help from his friends.

Characters introduced in this chapter:

• (unnamed) spokesgoblin

Characters returning in this chapter:

• Granger, Hermione

• Lestrange, Bellatrix Black (in Harry's vision)

• Malfoy, Lucius (in Harry's vision)

• Potter, Harry

• Riddle, Tom (as Voldemort, You-Know-Who) (in Harry's vision)

• Weasley, Ron

• (unnamed) dragon

Characters mentioned in this chapter:

• Dumbledore, Albus

• Gaunt family

• Hagrid, Rubeus

• Lestrange, Rodolphus

• Nagini

• Snape, Severus

• (unnamed) goblins of Gringotts

Settings and locations introduced or returning in this chapter:

• lake (not Hogwarts' lake)

• London

Settings and locations mentioned in this chapter:

• Gaunt house

• Gringotts

• Hogsmeade

• Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

• Horcrux cave

• Muggle orphanage

• Shell Cottage

Exceptional character moments:

• Bellatrix and Lucius throwing others behind them in their race to escape from Voldemort before he killed everyone present who had heard the news about the cup.

Spells:

• Apparition

• Avada Kedavra

Links and Resources:

• Bestiary

  • dragons

  • goblins

• food

• items and devices

  • bag, Hermione's

  • Cloak, Invisibility

  • Elder Wand

  • Horcruxes

  • sword of Gryffindor

• Parseltongue

• potions

  • essence of dittany

Memorable lines:

• 'Well, I don't know how to break this to you,' said Ron, 'but I think they might have noticed we broke into Gringotts.'

Strictly British:

• scab

Timelines/Calendar:

Begins immediately after the preceding chapter, on a day in May, and extends into the early evening.