The fact that Snape's patronus is a doe puzzles me. It clearly has a relation to Lily, but that connection to Lily only works if you know James is Prongs, which would not make it plausible for Snape to adopt it. I therefore assume that Lily's patronus was a doe, and that Snape has seen this without realising the significance of it, and that he in turn therefore connects her with it.


Why does the locket have to be opened? Couldn't they just stab it with the sword while it was closed? Dumbledore seems to have managed that with the ring.


The Deluminator. I wonder whether the finding someone you want deal is something that was built into it from the start, or whether it was something Dumbledore added when he decided to give it to Ron. It seems strange that it should be based around the need to use the name, although it does not surprise me terribly that names have power in Rowling's universe.


And another horcrux dead. That is ... three down? Ring, Diary and Locket. And four to go? Rowena Ravenclaw's tiara is introduced in Mr Lovegood's attempt at recreating it.


The taboo is revealed, explaining a few apparently cheap plot turns, thereby making them non-cheap, which I like.


And the problem of using a wand you haven't won is shown in Harry's attempts to use the blackwood wand. I am a little surprised that was not remarked on before, as he has used Hermione's wand for a while. At any rate, it ties in with Voldemort's search for a wand, and then brings all this to the revelation of the Elder Wand. And explains that it must be captured from the previous owner, which serves to explain why Harry is having trouble with his new wand.

Hmm. Did he in some way capture Hermione's wand when he took it from her? I think it requires a bit of a stretch, but...


I am not sure what to think of the strange "it's a rook" exchange. Is it just there to pick up again Ron's chess ability from book 1?

Anyway: Deathly Hallows revealed indeed. I like the Hallows plot quite a lot, particularly since it is so well integrated. I never saw it as plot cupons in quite the same way as the horcruxes. In part because it draws on the invisibility cloak from book 1 and makes it more than just a plot device.