oh my goodness!! http://pere zhilton.com/topics/media_ minute/for_all_you_harry_ potter_diehards_20061221. php#comments

Seven7, I love your theory sooooo much. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you,

AWWWW I missed it! I was hoping to be 1000th. DARN!

Wow, over a thousand comments!! Haven't seen that before...

YYYYYYYYAYYYYYYY Over 10000 comments!

A THOUSAND comments!!! We'll never reach this number again!!!(except maybe when DH actually comes out, or on the release of OotF movie...)

when i told my dad, he told me he had alredy known about the title. so i told my mom. but she said the same thing. but this is still an AWESOME CHRISTMAS PRESENT! THANKS J.K.ROWLING!

Oh my lord..... that is amazing! The solstice thing. Brilliant!!!!! Oh what a year this is going to be!!!!!! EEk!!!!

Whatever the "Deathly Hallows" has to do with, here are some of my theories for the 7th book(yes, some are extremely mad): hermione is part goblin(her parents are rich, she is extremely clever, and she seemed to be sticking up for goblins when Ron made a joke about goblins in GOF pg. 449. "They're quite clever. They're not like house-elves who never stick up for themselves."-Hermione's quote. Doesn't this sound like Hermione is sticking up for herself? Just read the whole page(page 449)and really study it carefully. Fang the Boarhound is an animagus Remus Lupin is really James Potter Frank Bryce was tortured by Voldemort in the cave The mirror of erised is Ravenclaw's horcrux Harry is Gryffindor's horcrux If Harry is a horcrux, the Dementors will keep hunting Harry down and try to suck out Voldemort's soul(they suck out souls).It is possible that this is a reason why they come to him all the time. Based off a Greek myth, someone will come out from under-cover, team up with the Order of the Phoenix and wormtail joins them(i think he will turn good), while Voldemort teams up with the Giants and have a war. Based off Hercules, a Gryffindor will a Gryffindor(Hercules killed a Lion) Based off Hercules, the person that Hercules represents will ride with a stagg(James?) or did it already happen in the 3rd book? ________________ _________________________ _________________ Profes sor Snape is good. He is only trying to protect Harry. I think he made an unbreakable vow with Dumbledore that he will always protect Harry, and this is why Dumbledore trusts him. For example: first book-saving Harry while he was on his broom. Second book-i really don't know. Third book-didn't want him near Lupin when he was a werewolf and that is why he followed him outside-to make sure he's safe. You see, if Harry died or got hurt from a werewolf, Snape would feel like he's not protecting Harry and he himself could die from breaking the vow....

Yes! This is one of the best Christmas presents! Thank you Jo (and Happy Holidays)! At first I was surprised (like anyone else) but I like it! It sounds so mysterious! Can't wait for the book!

Lets' see Deathly means :Like death or extreme, high in degree and Hallow means: make holy or respect greatly. From what we know about JKR I think she would use the lesser known meanings of words, so maybe the title refers to a type of great respect or a deadly respect. To me that seems to refer to wormtails life debt to Harry.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yaayyyy!!!! Very excited. I saw it on Jo's site and then later heard it on the radio...with the wrong pronunciation. 'Hallows', my good man, not 'Hollows'.

The book is 'Deathly Hallows', no arguments. People are going to random, non-harry potter related news sites and thinking they're more reliable than actual Harry Potter sites. @_@ Well, I'm afraid, when it comes to the subject of Harry Potter, it appears non-harry potter related news sites are truly and utterly incapable of getting the title right. ^_^;; I heard some guy on the radio just say 'hollows' so that's why I felt the need to reiterate that. If you don't believe it, then either 1. Got to JKRowling.com and spell it out in the hangman thing or 2. Watch the video that mugglenet has below the instructions on how to get through JK's Do Not Disturb door. Oh, also, seven7, excellent theory. It was REALLY well thought out and it's a good theory. I could easily see that being right. :)

AWESOME ;P

When I found out I started screaming and dancing, but when I told my dad he was like: "Oh yeah, that was on the news today, what was the title again?" HOW CAN ANYONE FORGET IT??!!! *blows out breath*

i wander whether this is the first title jo thought about, the "shower" one or the Halloween one... well, i hope that when the door will close again, jo will update the news and explain something for us...

Ok, solstice, cool

Jane_Eyre, I went to Perez too! At least the commenters here have some respect for other people. And no slash pics of Aaron Carter spooning Harry. Hee hee, yes I know it's Draco.

Does british Amazon know something we don't? If you pre-order the book today, they give you an estimated shipping and delivery date at the end of february... (checked on priority shipping to PL) Do they know something we don't? Or is it just a random date. If it is, why so early? I know they can change it at will, but you can pre-order items due to be released as late as september 2007 (or maybe even later) via Amazon, so why did they choose such an early estimate? Anyone knows how it look at other bookstores or American Amazon?

we should have known. it was sooooo obvious!

wow

seven7, I had to read back a few pages to see what the heck everyone was talking about, but I found it! I love your theory! Now, if you could just write an editorial on the subject, that would be great. It will give me something to do at work...

That quote from OOTP is when they are in the Hall of Prophesies! "At the soltice will come a new"~ said by a figure of an old bearded man "and non will come after"~said by a figure of a young women.

Jo Rowling is the best! Even though she is extremely busy with writing the last book, she still finds the time to reveal the HP book to us during the best time of the year! LOVE YOU JO !!!!!!!! AND LOVE THE BOOK TITLE!!!

LOVE THE TITLE! I looked up on google the word ''hallows'' and it ment holy. Over 1000 cant believe it. Dear Jo GET WRITING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!! HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS! SOUNDS TERIFFIC

about that quote from OOTP...it mite make sense if the book actually came out on the solstice. The solstice is on the 22nd this year, not the 21st

We all live somewhere different so solstices will be on different dates.

do we know maybe if jo will show us what the cover looks like? i'm totally guessing that she won't have it out until the book comes out...but i can hope.

I think that 'Deathly Hallows' refering to the horcruxes is too obvious. JKR always uses double meanings and its just cool that the title can be used in reference to them, but ultimately that's not what it will mean. Also, if you look back, no one could ever have guessed what the title meant with the information we had at receiving it. Everyone has great theories having to do with Halloween, spirits, and horcruxes, but in the end we'll all be surprised regardless of all our theorizing.

Omg about the whole "winter solistice" thing!!!!!!!! that's so awesome cuz on MuggleCast they were talking about how that would be important somehow.... lol and it really was!!!!! that's awesome! I love how Jo does that, I mean how she gives us little clues that we never figure out... lol

the only thing... I WISH IT WAS HARRY POTTER AND THE DEADLY HALLOWS the word deathly is ocward to say.

I still can't say it... It doesn't sound normal yet! Deathly Hallows. Deathly Hallows. Deathly Hallows. Deathly Hallows. Deathly Hallows. Deathly Hallows. Deathly Hallows. Deathly Hallows. Deathly Hallows. Deathly Hallows. Deathly Hallows. Deathly Hallows. Hmmmmmmmm...

Definition of HALLOWS: ("holy" or "holy night") the Oct. 31 Greater Sabbat, also called November Eve, the Celtic Samhain ("sow-en"); the beginning of the Celtic winter, and of the Celtic year; the beginning of the Witches' Year, when the Veil Between the Worlds grows thin and the spirits of the dead may return to Earth; the Descent of the Goddess to the Underworld; the final Harvest festival. I thought this was awesome.

yeah, trying to say deathly is weird. I recomend replacing the word deathly with deadly to Jo

no, solstices are the same date everyday in the world; the only difference is between the northern and southern hemispheres being opposite (december solstice = sun is far in north, and sun is close in south)

Flippin morrons! Maybe there's a huge difference between deadly and deathly. Maybe it has a REASON...

actually the definition is the same moron

@ hpnerdsunited: although i like your theories, they are highly unlikely. Hermione was just sticking up for house elves: she's very touchy on the subject! The mirror of erised was used only for the sorcer's stone (and it got destroyed). Plus, i think dumbledore would have known if the mirror of erised was a horcrux. We saw AND heard (in the 6th book) that Frank Bryce DIED... I don't think Remus Lupin is James Potter as James Potter died and, while "hearing" the dementors, Harry could literally hear his father dying. Also, JO said herself that James need not have DIED if he didn't want to, but he did. Harry can't be a horcrux, since he is Voldermorts enemy, as stated in the prophecy. You can't be both at the same time... However, i like your idea that Snape is good. In the 6th book, when Dumbledore was pleading "please", i think he was refering to Harry, not himself. I'm sorry if I squashed your ideas or anything, but I think they are highly unlikely.

Yeah Slorf3! That's what I'm screamin! Noone should really have ANYTHING to suggest to Jo about her writing and the words she chooses. I think so far she's done a pretty good job. Billionaire, movie franchise, 1000 comments in one day on Mugglenet; Yeah I think she knows what she's doing.

haha i agree with you Slorf3 and prisoner_of_harry. JKR is doing great, there MUST be a reason... Her books are great and im sure that the 7th will be great too, no matter what the title is

hpbrownlove1.. is that you??

OK, little linguistics lesson here: "Hallow" can be either a verb or a noun (never an adjective - that would be "hallowed"). "To hallow" can mean either "to make holy" or "to venerate." More pertinent here are the noun meanings: 1) A saint. "Hallowe'en" means "All Hallows' Eve" - the eve of All Saints' Day. 2) A holy place, shrine or burial ground. From the moment I read it, I have been convinced that the title refers to the latter definition. It immediately reminded me of the scene in the "Pyre of Denethor" chapter in Return of the King, in which the demented king has Faramir's not-yet-dead body hauled off to the royal mausoleum - Rath Dinen, the "Silent Street" - to be burned. Gandalf says to Denethor: "The houses of the dead are no place for the living. And why do men fight here in the hallows when there is war enough before the Gate?" Surely JKR knows that scene, considering how much the HP mythos is informed by LOTR. (Witness the parallels between Gandalf's "'Twas pity that stayed his hand" speech to Frodo about Bilbo having spared Gollum, and Dumbledore's to Harry about his having spared Pettigrew - a life-debt to be paid back before the end of DH. I'm betting on Wormtail being as essential to the fall of Voldemort as Gollum was to Sauron's - but I digress.) So it seems likely that Hogwarts has its own "Silent Street" where the mortal remains of the Founders (at least 3 of them) lie, as some have suggested, & that part of the action of Book 7 will take place in those Deathly Hallows. The correlation that's been made between the horcruxes and the 4 Hallows from Arthurian legend also seems exciting. We ought to be thinking about what staff/wand (that we've probably already encountered in some earlier book) might be the Ravenclaw horcrux. It should also be noted that the Arthurian 4 Hallows correspond to the 4 suits of the Tarot deck - whose symbology JKR used to great effect with the Tower card in HBP.

saying deathly, is lyspish.................. ......................... .........many of you must agree it is kinda weird to say?

deathly hollows....at first look, well i didnt like it much, but then it probably refers to something about the graveyard in Godric's Hollow, and it sortof goes back to he beginning so its fitting.---------------bt w snape kills voldy, harry kills snape, or snape will at least be the dark lord that the prophecy was refering (ha, i said it first...)---------------- --- anywayzz, HAPPY FESTIVUS JO!!

It's 'deaTHly hAllows'!!! :'(

@ prisoner_of_harry: you make me laugh... I like your sarcasm.. lol.. Teaching Jo how to write her own title of her own book.. LOL!

When i found out i couldn't breath...lol then i threw up...well besides that i actually like the title...it has a nice ring to it!!...i am soo excited!!!!

seven7, I'm going to have to refute your theory. Okay, yes, many of us--myself included-- were under the impression that 'hallow' meant simply 'spirit' before we consulted the dictionary on this occasion. When used as a noun, 'hallow' more accurately means 'holy person, or saint' (see my analysis of the word's definition, deal with verb vs. noun, etc on comments 301-350). Yes, a holy person or a saint can be a spirit, but Jo has given us a more specific title than that. She's given us a word that very clearly points to a definition involving 'holy.' I do not believe that any fragment-- soul/spirit or otherwise-- of Voldemort could be considered holy. His pieces of his soul inside the horcrux are spirits (as spirit means 'the nonphysical part of a person that is the seat of emotions and character; the soul), but they are not holy. I do not feel that needs explaining, but okay: Voldemort is evil, not holy, and we all should know that by now, so I think I'll leave it at that. Also, all the titles of the books thus far have introduced a new element to the story. Before the release of CoS, we didn't know what the Chamber of Secrets was; before the release of PoA, we didn't know about Sirius Black; before the release of GoF, we didn't know about the Goblet or the Tri-Wizard Tournament, etc. Jo has, with the title, introduced us to something new in each book. Even with HBP, we didn't know about that side of Snape's life story. I doubt that the answer to the title will be something so obvious as Voldy's horcruxes. We already know that the search for them is going to be a key part of book 7. But we also can trust Jo to bring us surprises in book 7, and I bet that the answer to book 7's title won't be any easier than that of past books. I'm personally leaning toward the idea of Harry going into the wizarding underworld, or something along those lines (again, see my comments on 301-350). So, seven7, good thinking, but I'll have to disagree with you.