Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Chapter Twenty-five:
Shell Cottage

"It would be less dangerous to break into Gringotts than to renege on a promise to a goblin."

Notes by Michele L. Worley
Page editor Belinda Hobbs

U.S. hardcover edition: pages 502 - 518
U.K. hardcover edition: pages 406 - 418
Timeframe: ? March 1998 - ?, 1998

In which Griphook agrees to help break into Gringotts in exchange for the sword, which he considers to be rightfully goblin property, and Harry and Ron agree in bad faith, planning to retain it until the Horcrux hunt is over. Lupin arrives to announce the birth of his son and to ask Harry to be godfather, and Bill takes Harry aside in the confusion to warn Harry against breaking faith with goblins.

Interesting facts and notes about the text of this chapter:

Still to come...

Characters introduced in this chapter:

• none

Characters returning in this chapter:

• Delacour, Fleur
  
• Granger, Hermione
  
• Griphook
  
• Lovegood, Luna
  
• Lupin, Remus John
  
• Ollivander
  
• Potter, Harry
  
• Thomas, Dean
  
• Weasley, Bill
  
• Weasley, Ron
  

Characters mentioned in this chapter:

• Black, Sirius
  
• Delacour, Gabrielle
  
• Dobby
  
• Dumbledore, Aberforth (in the mirror)
  
• Dumbledore, Albus
  
• Gryffindor, Godric
  
• Lestrange, Bellatrix Black (as one of the Lestranges)
  
• Lestrange, Rodolphus (as one of the Lestranges)
  
• Lovegood, Xenophilius
  
• Lupin, Teddy Remus
  
• Ragnuk the First
  
• Ravenclaw, Rowena
  
• Riddle, Tom (as Voldemort, You-Know-Who)
  
• Slytherin, Salazar
  
• Tonks, Andromeda
  
• Tonks, Nymphadora ("Dora")
  
• Tonks, Ted
  
• Weasley, Arthur
  
• Weasley, Fred
  
• Weasley, George
  
• Weasley, Ginny
  
• Weasley, Molly
  
• (surname unknown), Muriel

Settings and locations introduced or returning in this chapter:

• Shell Cottage

Settings and locations mentioned in this chapter:

• Gringotts
  
• Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
  
  • grounds
    
• Ministry of Magic
  
• Muriel's place
  
• number twelve, Grimmauld Place
  
• Nurmengard
  

Exceptional character moments:

• Bill's conversation with Harry about goblins.
  

Spells:

• Expecto Patronum (Patronus)

Links and Resources:

• Bestiary
  
  • Erumpent
    
  • goblins
    
  • house-elves
    
  • Snorkack, Crumple-Horned
    
• blood status
  
• Death Eaters
  
• ghosts
  
• History of Magic
  
• Hogwarts Express
  
• items and devices
  
  • armour, goblin-made
    
  • Hallows, Deathly
    
  • Horcruxes
    
  • sword of Gryffindor
    
  • tiara, Muriel's
    
  • two-way mirror
    
  • wands
    
• Polyjuice Potion

Memorable lines:

• "If you have struck any kind of bargain with Griphook, and most particularly if that bargain involves treasure, you must be exceptionally careful. Goblin notions of ownership, payment, and repayment are not the same as human ones."
  
• "...there is a belief among some goblins, and those at Gringotts are perhaps most prone to it, that wizards cannot be trusted in matters of gold and treasure, that they have no respect for goblin ownership."
  
• "To a goblin, the rightful and true master of any object is the maker, not the purchaser. All goblin-made objects are, in goblin eyes, rightfully theirs."
  "But if it was bought -"
  "- then they would consider it rented by the one who had paid the money. They have, however, great difficulty with the idea of goblin-made objects passing from wizard to wizard."
  
• "They consider our habit of keeping goblin-made objects, passing them from wizard to wizard without further payment, little more than theft."

Strictly British:

• blimey
  
• cupboardlike
  
• scarper

Timelines/Calendar:

Continues after the previous chapter, so it begins during Hogwarts' Easter holidays of March 1998.