Matthew's Journal

Today, Scholastic and Bloomsbury released the covers for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. These new covers continue in the recent tradition of yielding a very small amount of information for fans to ponder while they await the release of the seventh and final book of the Harry Potter series. Nevertheless, the covers do give us a glimpse of what will happen in Deathly Hallows and we are able to make a few inferences.

I'll start my analysis with the US cover. The cover shows Harry and Voldemort facing each other in some sort of arena. The cover is framed by curtains which is typical of the style for the American covers. I do not believe the curtains relate to a plot point in the upcoming book. I think that they are there to literally frame the cover image. There are human-shaped outlines in the background which suggests an audience. They may be spectators or they may be Death Eaters. We can't tell. Harry appears to be wearing a necklace which I believe is Slytherin's Locket which doubles as one of Voldemort's Horcruxes. I base this guess mainly on the fact that Slytherin's Locket is the subject of the cover of the UK adult version of Deathly Hallows and that it has already been mentioned heavily in the series thus far. I have not included a picture of that cover in this post. On the cover, Harry is looking upwards with his arms outstretched. It looks as if he's reaching for something or that he's waiting for a summoned object to arrive. Voldemort also has an outstretched arm, but it is unclear to me if he is acting in competition or opposition to Harry's gesture. He could be reaching for the same thing as Harry or he could be trying to prevent Harry from obtaining whatever he's reaching or waiting for. Voldemort's eyes seem to be split between Harry and whatever Harry has his attention on. I think Voldemort's face shows worry and/or fear. In the foreground, there is some sort of debris which suggests there there was either a battle or that the scene is taking place on a ruin. Given the audience and the arena or aqueduct like structure in the background, I think it would be reasonable to suggest that the scene depicts the final battle between Harry and Voldemort on the Hogwarts grounds. This battle could also occur and the Ministry for Magic or at another location that we can't recognize and that he's been seen yet in the series.

Now let us turn our attention to the UK cover. In the past, the UK artist has need be able to personally read the book before release. Instead, they are merely given a scene description from which to base there are. For that reason, the details of the cover art are normally not as significant as the US art. The UK cover depicts our favorite trio and a big pile of gold, jewels, and artifacts. To me, the portal in the background suggest something like a vault at Gringotts Wizarding Bank. There is obviously signs of conflict. Ron's face shows fear and surprise as does Hermione's. Harry appears more determined than the other and looks as if he's struggling towards a goal and reaching for something. I think that they are trying to obtain something from a Gringotts's vault. I don't know if they are in a fight or if they have run afoul of some Gringotts's security measures. If they are in a fight, the could be fighting anyone. All three members of the trio look a little battered sporting torn clothes and some light injuries. An interesting thing to me in this cover is that it appears that a house elf standing behiond Harry is wielding the Sword of Griffindor. The house-elf has his hand on Harry's sholder and appears to be either hiding behind harry or holding on to keep up. The house-elf could either be Dobby or Kreacher, but I'm betting on Dobby. I have no idea what the significance of the presence of the elf or the sword. As for the elf, I'm willing to bet that Dobby is present because Harry has gathered everyone he trusts most to aid him in his quest. As for the sword, its purpose is unknown, but many fans have suspected that it would be seen again before the series concluded.

I wish we could infer more about the upcoming plot from these covers, but without more information and the ability to place the images in their proper context, we'll just have to wait to read the books. I, for one, can't wait.

US Cover for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (front and back)

UK Cover for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

To see all the covers in their full sized glory, please check out the following link: http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/gallery/dh

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