Harry Potter, #7

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

by J.K. Rowling

Genre

Fantasy, Young Adult, Children's

Pages

701

Contents

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Previous: CHAPTER TEN Next: CHAPTER TWELVE

Overview

Kreacher’s absence strains the trio as Death Eaters watch Grimmauld Place. Remus Lupin arrives with grave news: Voldemort controls the Ministry, targets Muggle-borns, and makes Hogwarts compulsory.

Lupin offers to join them but, after revealing Tonks’s pregnancy, clashes with Harry and leaves. Kreacher returns with Mundungus, who admits surrendering the locket to a toadlike Ministry official, redirecting the hunt.

Summary

Days pass without Kreacher, leaving Harry, Ron, and Hermione anxious and short-tempered as two cloaked watchers stake out Grimmauld Place. Their tension peaks with bickering over Dumbledore’s bequests until a booby-trapped entrance challenges a late-night visitor, who proves to be Remus Lupin.

In the kitchen, Lupin reports that Death Eaters and an Imperiused Pius Thicknesse now control the Ministry, the Daily Prophet brands Harry wanted for Dumbledore’s death, Muggle-borns face a Registration Commission, and Hogwarts is compulsory with blood-status checks. He worries how the Death Eaters tracked the trio in London.

Lupin asks to join their mission without details. Hermione questions Tonks, and Lupin coldly reveals Tonks is pregnant. Harry challenges Lupin’s plan to leave his family, accusing him of cowardice; Lupin blasts Harry back and storms out. Shaken, the trio argue briefly, and Harry wrestles with remorse.

Harry then reads a Rita Skeeter excerpt alleging Kendra Dumbledore hid a possibly nonmagical Ariana at Godric’s Hollow, stoking Harry’s urge to visit the village. A crack announces Kreacher’s return: he brings in Mundungus Fletcher, whom Ron tackles and Hermione disarms.

Under pressure—and a saucepan-wielding Kreacher—Mundungus admits he took a heavy locket from Grimmauld Place but “gave it away” when a small, bow-wearing, toadlike Ministry woman threatened to fine him for illicit trading. The confession reveals who last had the locket and sets the trio’s next lead.

Who Appears

Harry Potter

Anxious leader; clashes fiercely with Lupin over responsibility, then interrogates Mundungus about the stolen locket.
Remus Lupin

Brings news of Voldemort’s Ministry takeover; offers to join, reveals Tonks’s pregnancy, quarrels with Harry, and leaves.
Hermione Granger

Studies Beedle’s Tales; queries the Trace theory; challenges Lupin about Tonks; disarms Mundungus and douses his flaming eyebrows.
Ron Weasley

Spots Death Eaters outside; suggests covering Hermione’s lineage; tackles Mundungus and supports keeping him conscious.
Kreacher

Returns loyally with Mundungus after a long hunt; restrains him and assists the interrogation with gusto.
Mundungus Fletcher

Caught and questioned; confesses he surrendered the locket to a small, toadlike Ministry woman to avoid a fine.
Mrs. Black (portrait)

Triggered by commotion, screams invective before being silenced, heightening tension on Lupin’s arrival.
Unnamed Ministry woman (toadlike, bow)

Identified by Mundungus as the official who seized the locket in Diagon Alley, providing the trio’s next lead.
Pius Thicknesse

Named as the Imperiused Minister enabling Voldemort’s control of the Ministry.
Rita Skeeter

Her book extract alleges Dumbledore’s sister Ariana was hidden, unsettling Harry and prompting thoughts of Godric’s Hollow.