All ideas have been written by Bob Alberti and have been developed as speculation and are not intended as any authoritative statement of the actual contents of Book 7. Authorized materials set in the world of J. K. Rowling's 'Harry Potter' are covered by numerous copyrights and trademarks held by a number of parties, including J. K. Rowling and Warner Brothers. The following fan fiction is not authorized or covered by copyright or trademark. Anyone copying or reusing this information must retain the following link: http://albatross.org/book7.html.
The book begins at the Dursley's, on the day before Harry's Birthday. Making his final departure, Harry will discuss with Aunt Petunia the things about his parents and about Petunia and Lily that he should have asked her years ago. Ron and Hermione will arrive with the Order to take Harry to the Burrow, but as they leave the house the group will be attacked by Death Eaters outsidethe house. Things will be going badly until Dudley appears and overcomes two of the Death Eaters, who will then flee. In so doing, Dudley may end up displaying magical ability. Harry and Dudley will speak and reconcile before Harry leaves, feeling for the first time like he has a brother.
The three friends arrive at the Burrow and spend a period of time helping with preparations. The ceremony will be heavily guarded but go off without a hitch. Immediately afterwards the household will be attacked by Death Eaters. The DEs will be driven off, but Molly Weasley will be killed. Hermione and Ron will remain behind but will tell Harry to depart for Godric's Hollow.
At Godric's Hollow, Harry will learn some information that later leads him to the sixth Horcrux, but he won't put it together right away. Meanwhile he will leave to dispose of Grimmauld Place, which is now his, only to find it recently ransacked or destroyed by Death Eaters. From the wreckage of the house Sirius' mother will remind Harry that Mundungus has nicked some of the household items, and Harry will be off in search of the locket stolen from Voldemort by Regulus Black, and then from Grimmault Place by Mundungus. Aberforth, Albus Dumbledore's brother and owner of the Hog's Head, will have sold it, and will direct Harry to find it.
Various adventures ensue as horcruxes are found and destroyed, until only two bits of Voldemort's soul remain: RAB's locket, and Voldemort himself. Along the way Harry will return to Hogwarts, and in the Headmistress's office he will have a painful discussion with Dumbledore's portrait. Also, obviously, the three of them (Harry, Ron and Hermione) will at some point fly on an Antipodean Opaleye dragon (see cover).
I am at a loss to explain the encounter between Harry and Voldemort depicted on the US book cover: they seem to be in an arena, watched by observers; neither has a wand; Harry seems to be summoning or about to catch something, Voldemort seems to be warding it off; the ground is broken. It seems likely that these are the Deathly Hallows, but whether this is part of the final confrontation, or as I suspect an encounter between the two that takes earlier in the book, I am not certain.
In the final scene, Harry is captured by Voldemort who has Wormtail restrain Harry with a spell and relieve him of the locket and wand. Voldemort will attempt to kill Harry once and for all. Snape will disarm Voldemort and stun him, and prepare to kill him.
Snape will reveal that he was in love with Harry's mother, but that she chose James Potter. Rejected, Snape became a faithful Death Eater, and overheard half the prophecy. He revealed this prophecy to Voldemort in exchange for the assurance (NOT an Unbreakable Vow) that Voldemort would not kill Lily Potter, whose son Snape knew to be one of the possible subjects of the prophecy. Snape's idea was that with Harry and James gone, he could comfort Lily and win her over.
But when Voldemort tried to kill Harry, Lily refused his repeated and uncharacteristic offers to step aside. While Voldemort would rather not have risked alienating his valuable Hogwarts spy, he believed that prophecy meant that he had to kill Harry. Lily chose to die: she both wished to protect her son, and also did not wish to live without Harry and James. Furious, Voldemort killed Lily and attempted to kill Harry.
When Snape learned that Voldemort had killed Lily he confessed all to Dumbledore, who knew that Snape was now perfectly trustworthy. Because Snape now had a new, single goal - vengeance against Voldemort. Every time Snape looked at Harry, he was reminded of all that he had lost, and exactly to whom. Harry was the very image of James Potter, carried the scar given to him from Voldemort... and looked at Snape through Lily's eyes. No wonder he hated the boy. No wonder he worked to save Lily's legacy.
Snape's single goal was to get close enough to Voldemort to kill him... and here is his chance at last. But Snape doesn't know about the remaining horcrux.
Alas, nobody had told Draco Malfoy of the horcruxes either. Coming upon the scene and believing his master to be in danger, Draco Malfoy kills his beloved, turncoat potions teacher.
Upon recovering, Voldemort is, to Draco's surprise, quite furious. Snape could not have killed him, and could have been tortured and broken to reveal all about the Order of the Phoenix. In his anger, Voldemort points his wand and Malfoy and intones 'Avada Kedavra.'
But Dumbledore, like Lily Potter, chose to die to defend Draco Malfoy. And just as the first time, Voldemort's spell will backfire upon him as a result, blasting him out of his body once again, leaving Malfoy only stunned.
Now only Wormtail and Harry remain... and as Harry watches Wormtail is possessed by Voldemort's disembodied spirit. Holding Harry's wand in Wormtail's silver hand, and the locket in his flesh hand, Voldemort will taunt Harry and raise his wand to kill him... when Wormtail's spell restraining Harry fails. Wormtail drops the locket in order to deflect his silver hand with his flesh one. The spell goes awry.
Harry, freed, seizes the locket and Snape's wand and destroys the final horcrux, granting Snape his vengeance and destroying Snape's wand. Wormtail spasms as Voldemort, now reduced to 1/7th of a soul and unsupported by any horcruxes, finally dies. The silver hand dissolves, and Wormtail has time to utter a final word of regret before he too dies.
Harry collects his wand and helps the stunned Draco Malfoy escape. They are now both scarred survivors of Avada Kedavra.
And Harry does die in this book. In the final chapter Rowling describes Harry’s life, his marriage to Ginny and their many children, and how Harry Potter dies at a ripe old age, surrounded by children and grandchildren.
The last words of the book: "...and Harry Potter was never again troubled by his scar."