Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows characters

Appears from the start

The young wizard at the centre of the story, now seventeen and marked from infancy by the dark wizard Voldemort, who killed his parents and has hunted him ever since. Rather than return to Hogwarts, Harry has taken up the task his late mentor Dumbledore left him: to find and destroy the hidden objects in which Voldemort has concealed pieces of his soul, making himself hard to kill. Brave, stubborn, and burdened by grief and responsibility, he begins the book a wanted fugitive as Voldemort's forces close in.

First appears in chapter 4

Harry's closest friend, from a large and loving wizarding family that has sheltered and stood by him for years. Loyal and brave but prone to self-doubt and jealousy, he chooses to abandon his own schooling and safety to help Harry hunt down Voldemort's hidden soul-fragments. He faces the danger alongside Harry and Hermione, his family now a target because of their known loyalties.

First appears in chapter 4

Harry's brilliant, resourceful friend, born to non-magical parents, who has protected her family by wiping their memories of her and sending them away. The most learned and prepared of the three, she has packed everything they might need into an enchanted bag and repeatedly keeps the group alive with careful planning and quick spellwork. She joins Harry and Ron on the hunt for Voldemort's soul-fragments, giving up her final year of school.

Also known as You-Know-Who, The Dark Lord

Appears from the start

The dark wizard who has now effectively seized power over the wizarding world, controlling the government and Hogwarts through terror and his followers. Obsessed with killing Harry and with his own immortality, he opens the book gathering his Death Eaters to plan Harry's death, and grows fixated on obtaining a legendary unbeatable wand. Cruel and fearless of death, he does not know that his hold on life depends on hidden objects Harry is seeking to destroy.

Appears from the start

The Potions master turned headmaster, who killed Dumbledore at the end of the previous year and now appears to be one of Voldemort's most trusted servants, installed in command of Hogwarts. Cold and unreadable, he sits among the Death Eaters as the book opens, and to Harry and nearly everyone else he is a murderer and a traitor. His true loyalties are a mystery that hangs over the story.

First appears in chapter 2

The late headmaster of Hogwarts, killed the year before, who set Harry the task of destroying Voldemort's hidden soul-fragments but died leaving much unexplained. In this book he appears only through memory, letters, and a newly published, unflattering biography that dredges up secrets from his youth. Harry, grieving and increasingly uncertain, is forced to question how well he ever really knew the man whose plans he is trying to carry out.

Also known as Hagrid

First appears in chapter 4

The huge, warm-hearted gamekeeper of Hogwarts and one of Harry's oldest friends, unfailingly devoted to him and to Dumbledore's memory. Loyal to the point of recklessness, he takes part in the dangerous operation to move Harry to safety as the forces of Voldemort hunt him, insisting on protecting the boy he first brought into the wizarding world.

Appears from the start

A fanatically devoted follower of Voldemort, cruel and unstable, who revels in her master's power and in causing pain. Present when the Death Eaters gather at the opening, she is among the most dangerous of Voldemort's servants and takes fierce pride in her closeness to him. She holds old grudges against those who have opposed her side.

First appears in chapter 5

Ron's younger sister, a spirited and capable witch and the youngest of the Weasley children, who has grown close to Harry. Still of school age and so unable to join the hunt, she remains behind with her family, whose open loyalty to Harry and to the resistance puts them all in danger. Brave and strong-willed, she chafes at being kept out of the fight.

First appears in chapter 10

An aged, muttering house-elf bound in servitude to the old wizarding house Harry has inherited, long embittered and disloyal. When the three fugitives take refuge in that house, Kreacher's grudging cooperation and the story he tells about a past master turn out to hold a vital clue to one of the objects Harry is hunting.

First appears in chapter 23

A free house-elf who has adored Harry ever since Harry secured his freedom years earlier, and who has quietly watched over him. Fearless in Harry's defence and unbound by any master, he answers a desperate call for help when the friends are captured and held prisoner, arriving to attempt a rescue against impossible odds.

First appears in chapter 28

Harry's brave but once-timid classmate, who has stayed at Hogwarts through the year of Death Eater rule and grown into a leader of the student resistance against it. Battered and defiant, he keeps the spirit of opposition alive within the school and rallies to Harry the moment he returns, ready to fight.