One month ago, on March 28, fans finally got to see the artwork for the covers of the final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and intense debate about the meaning of the imagery on the covers immediately ensued.
There is one small, obscure bit of the new images of the cover art we haven’t yet discussed. However, this little bit of the cover image has now become less obscure, as it is now featured without explanation in a large, animated form on the Harry Potter home page at British publisher Bloomsbury.
We first saw a very small version of this symbol featured on the top of the spine of the UK Children’s edition of the upcoming book 7. In the past, this small image on the spine of the books has sometimes been occupied with an important object or character from the book. On Prisoner of Azkaban there is an image of Sirius as a dog. On Half-Blood Prince, there is a picture of Gaunt’s ring, one of Voldemort’s horcruxes that Dumbledore destroyed.
But, what does this new image signify?
My first thought when I saw the symbol was an image that is on the back of the United States one dollar bill. On the reverse of the bill, opposite the Great Seal of the United States, is a combination of imagery designed by the original founders of the country.
There is an unfinished pyramid to symbolize that America is always evolving, but it’s the image on top of that which our symbol reminded me of. It’s an “all-seeing” eye inside a triangle, the symbol for divinity. Looks a lot like our Septology Symbol, doesn’t it? Especially the “glowing” version on the Bloomsbury site.
Is the “all-seeing” eye a reference to a “seer”, like Trelawney, who predicted this whole thing, and may have one more important prophecy left in her to divulge? Or does this refer to Harry, who is “seeing” through the eyes of Voldemort? Remember in Order of the Phoenix when Tonks asks Harry if he has any “seer” blood in him?
In addition, there is a slogan in Latin below these images on the dollar bill, “NOVUS ORDO SECLORUM”, which means, “a new order has begun.” We know how JK loves to use Latin in the books. In the context of the ultimate battle to come between Harry Potter and Voldemort, “a new order has begun” is an ominous phrase, isn’t it? At the end of Book 7, will there be a new order of Peace? Or perhaps a new order of Evil?
If the Septology Symbol is not meant to signify a seer, my next thought was, what if it’s a rune? Hermione has been studying Ancient Runes since the third book. Ancient Runes class has actually been mentioned many times, but interestingly, Hermione only mentions specific runes once, in Order of the Phoenix:
“I mistranslated ‘ehwaz,'” said Hermione furiously. “It means ‘partnership,’ not ‘defense,’ I mixed it up with ‘eihwaz.'”
OotP pg. 715/631
Hermione, as if to highlight this is an important clue, again worries about getting this one question wrong when talking about it at the beginning of the next book.
Interesting clue, isn’t this, partnership and defense? As we move into the events of the seventh book, can the Wizarding World coexist in peace and partnership, or must it defend itself against evil?
Also in Order of the Phoenix, there is one more interesting runes clue, which is highlighted more in the American version than the British version. In big bold capitol letters on pg. 190 it says:
SECRETS OF THE ANCIENT RUNES REVEALED
Will the secrets of the runes, and this one in particular, be finally revealed in Book 7?
However, while there are many different kinds of runes, being as Hogwarts is in Britain, it would be logical to assume they’d be studying the ancient Anglo-Saxon runes, and as you can see from the chart on the left, they don’t look like our Septology Symbol.
One more quick thing about runes: Every time Dumbledore’s pensieve is described, JK tells us there are runes and symbols around the outside.
And speaking of Dumbledore, this doesn’t really count, as it’s in the movie, not the books, but some eagle-eyed fans at Pottermaniac.net noticed this in the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire movie:
This is in Dumbledore’s office, in the scene with Harry and Dumbledore after Barty Crouch’s body is discovered. Looks a lot like our Septology Symbol, doesn’t it?
So, if our mystery symbol is not a rune, what is it? Many fans, including Beyond Hogwarts reader Darren Turner, have helped us identify a similar symbol:
This is the ancient symbol for Alchemy. Which brings us back again to Dumbledore. As you probably know, Alchemy features prominently in the first book, as the Philosopher’s stone was created by Dumbledore and the famous Alchemist Nicholas Flammel.
This is a description of the symbol from Symbols.Com:
“An ideogram from the seventeenth century representing the art of alchemy. This symbol shows the influence of Pythagorean geometry mysticism. It can also be perceived as a symbol for the four elements combined with water as the small inner circle, earth as the square, fire as the triangle, and air as the outer circle.”
We can’t tell if this is relevant to our Septology Symbol, no symbol anyone can find on the Internet has a line running through it as ours does.
Does the line through the symbol stand for a dichotomy, two forces fighting for control? Control of the new order? Or could the dichotomy symbolize the Chosen One, and that originally there were two possible boys who could have been chosen?
In the Alchemy symbol, the triangle symbolizes fire. In the Harry Potter books, Dumbledore is symbolized by fire over and over again. Could the Septology Symbol be Dumbledore, with a line running through him, possibly mean there are two Dumbledores? [See The Mystery of Aberforth.] Or could a line through him in the symbol signify that he’s truly dead?
Whatever the Septology Symbol stands for, the prominent placement of this symbol on the UK Harry Potter site means we can be sure that it is important to the story in Book 7.
UPDATE: (May 5, 2007)
Last week, the latest trailer for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix contained a very brief glimpse of this image:
It is a triangle-shaped building that appears to be in the middle of the ocean. This is probably the movie’s depiction of Azkaban Prison.
Is it possible that this triangle-shaped Azkaban has something to do with the triangle in the Septology Symbol?
IMPORTANT UPDATE: (July 6, 2007) MYSTERY SOLVED!
Beyond Hogwarts user Ed from Sandy, Utah, has just posted what I believe is the solution to this small mystery!
The symbol is made up of the Greek letter Delta (a triangle), and the Greek letter Phi (a circle with a vertical line drawn through it). The Delta stands for Dumbledore and the Phi stands for Phoenix! As it appears to be carved in marble, it is most likely the insignia on Dumbledore’s tomb.
The solution is even clearer when you see the animation on the Bloomsbury site. You see that first the Delta (for Dumbledore) is drawn, and then the Phi (for Phoenix/Fawkes) is drawn within it!https://www.beyondhogwarts.com/dumbledoresymbol.html
There’s no doubt in my mind, this is the symbol of Dumbledore! And in book 7, I bet it’s Hermione who figures it out!
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This is a very intresting subject…when I read the part “a new order had begun” i thought of the order of the phoenix developing into another order.
The disecting center line means neverending or infinite… perhaps relevant to dumbledore and those beyond the veil.
To add to the ‘new order has begun’ theory, I saw the OoTP teaser trailer again which says ‘A new order begins’ which I am sure indicates the rise of the DA. So, this means that the DA will come in to play again in book 7 probably fighting together against voldemort’s forces.
could the four elements, air, fire, earth and water represent the four houses? air – ravenclaw, fire – gryffindor, earth – hufflepuff and water – slytherin? in our symbol, it only has the small cirle and the triangle, representing gryffindor and slytherin. i don’t know what the line means but i like the theory of the ancient runes.
Interesting…
I think there will be a new Order, but I don’t know what sort of order. It may be another sort of Phoenix Order (Dumbledore/Harrys side against Voldemort), or it could be a sort of new death eaters.
And about that line. I think Dumbledore is dead (but Harry will get help from him in a way, I don’t know how), so it could symbolize “two Dumbledores”, or it could be something else. It could symbolize the Chosen One, but we’ll never know until book 7.
I’d like to add that the symbol of the allseeing eye is also the symbol of the Illuminati, a mythic secret order which is believed to be trying to rule the world and of which many prominent people are believed to be a member of(the allseeing eye on the dollar is believed by some to be a sign of the Illuminati’s influence, some of the founding fathers could be Illuminati). Don’t know what this has to do with our story though…
Roland from Victoria
The circle also symbolizes neverending. What do you make of the line bisecting the circle?
I see two sets of three lines in the symbol, one of Jo’s favorite numbers.
Could the symbol represent a Dumbledore horcrux? That thing in the picture from the movie, which looks a lot the artwork picture, could possibly be his horcrux, assuming of course he made one. Adding on to what Roland from Victoria said, the disecting line drawn through it could represent the horcrux having to be used to bring him back.
This is an very interresting article, and if it is like Wouter said, about Illuminati, then there may be an new evil order. The death eaters and Voldemort are after harry of course and I think they are going to put a lot of chaos in the world. So the terrible things that happened 17 years ago, will repeat themselves.
And maybe there is something in the element theory. But what could that add to the story?
Once again you all are amazing me with the dedication you have to research beyond the direct realms of the Harry Potter series.
The circle is neverending, but it is divided by that line down the middle, so wouldn’t it mean something like neverending unless it is divided? So couldn’t that mean something about Voldemort and his Horcruxes?
How would you relate it to Dumbledore’s silver smoke instrument’s diagnosis of Harry’s vision of the snake in OOP? ‘The same but in essence divided’… Is the circle the connection/combination of Harry/Voldemort but in essence divided?
Also, don’t forget that the Phoenix is the image most closely associated with Dumbledore through out the series. His Patronus is a Phoenix and he has Fawkes. Dumbledore also has a stated affinity for fire. Further the Killing Curse that Snape hits Dumbledore with, if it misses it’s target, explodes into a ball of green flame so, it can be surmised, that the Killing Curse is based in fire. Assume for a moment that Dumbledore is linked to Fawkes or a Phoenix, a Phoenix is reborn by fire. The Killing Curse being fire based would have killed Dumbledore, true, but he would have been ressurected by the flame.
I believe that Dumbledore found out about Snape’s Unbreakable Vow that Snape swore to maintain his cover. Dumbledore told Snape to kill him, knowing that he would return, when Malfoy failed so that Snape would no longer be bound by the Vow and remain, more so than ever, a “trusted and loyal” agent of Voldemorts. It explains why Dumbledore didn’t try to fight Snape, why Snape would betray him, why Dumbledore was never concerned of Malfoy, and why, most importantly, he paralyzed Harry Potter instead of letting Harry fight and possibly kill Malfoy or Snape.
LMD,
No the dream is not related from Harry’s point of view – it is related in the 3rd person, but we do know that Harry has just witnessed exactly what happened and we know he didn’t witness it through Voldemort’s eyes as it is all there in the next chapter (The Scar).
The opening paragraphs of the next chapter have Harry trying to remember what he had just seen in his dream:
‘Harry tried to recall what he had been dreaming about before he had awoken. It had seemed so real… there had been two people he knew, and one he didn’t… he concentrated hard, frowning, trying to remember…’ (GoF UK p.20)
He goes on to describe what he saw and we know that he was not seeing through Voldemorts eyes as he sees Voldemort:
‘He closed his eyes tightly and tried to remember what Voldemort had looked like, but it was impossible… all Harry knew was that at the moment when Voldemort’s chair had swung round and he, Harry, had seen what was sitting in it… (GoF UK p.21)
So either Harry witnesses the dream as a 3rd person (suggestive that he is standing next to or behind Frank Bryce) OR there was a mirror the same height as the chair – by which he would see his/Voldemort’s reflection.
If we go by the theory of Harry being the last Horucrux, the symbol merely gives a visual representation. To divide the trident, you have to divide the circle. To Kill one, the other has to be laid on the line.
I’ve just been reading the first book again, and noticed some hints to dumbledore at the beginning; Dumbledore states that voldemort has powers he dosn’t, but mcgonagall argues that by saying that dumbledore does have those powers, but is too noble to use them. Many other hints appear in the first few chapters of the first book.
I asked my mum about this symbol, she is a math teacher. She said immediately it�s the mathematical sign for the solution. I think this would fit.
Such amazing theories and ideas on this site. Everytime I come back to it, there’s a great discussion going on. I think there’s a bit of possibility to nearly every thread in this discussion and I don’t really have any theories about this symbol but I do like the point that was made that it could represent a horcrux. That makes sense to me as we already know that Harry’s journey in Book 7 will be about locating and destroying horcruxes. And as Hannah from Germany pointed out, if it is the symbol for the solution, it would indicate that Harry finds the solution to vanquishing Voldemort.
About the lightning bolt, I’ve been thinking that Harry’s scar might well have been produced by the wand movement required for the Horcrux creating spell.
I dont meen to ruin the fun. (Get it? Ruin. Rune…)
But what if that symbol isnt meant for us to decipher? Maybe its just something JK is using and not something real.
Justin Pettit from Prattville,
I hate to contradict you Justin, but this site has shown me that JKR does not throw in things just for the fun of it, just to fill in some blank.
Everything has been thoroughly researched for obvious meaning to alternate meaning, to deceptive words. We have seen it from the names of the characters to places, to wand wood types, to wand cores, etc, etc, etc.
As a Mexican I am not very familiar with Celtic lore or Arthurian lore, but I have learnt very much of it through these pages as other commentators had the patience to research and instruct us, the lay persons, and there are many instances where Celtic and Arthurian lore have their parallel in the Harry Potter series.
Many have said that the symbol must be a Rune, I believe it. We have seen the usefulness of most subjects taught at Hogwarts, from Herbology (Devils snare, mandrake, gillyweed), to Care of Magical creatures (Threstals, Hippogriffs, Unicorns), from Divination (Prophesy) to Charms (Summoning, desilutioning), from Potions (Polyjuice, the good luck potion of which I don�t remember the name) to DADA (Bogart, Dementor, Hinkipunk, breaking the imperius curse), but the only Subject that I can think about that so far has not proven to be useful is Ancient Runes, which Hermione has been taking for ages, so it has to be important in DH.
There are too many credible and plausible expanations or aproximations to what this �Symbol� or �Rune� could be, but I think we will have to wait for Hermione to explain it to us, just to be sure. I doubt that any of us is in the same league as Hermy, and we do not have Hogwarts impressive library to guide us.
Hannah,
A very interesting idea with the scar. I had never thought about it like that.
Orlando I definitely think you are right that Harry has inherited a seer’s ability. I was reading the first book over and they mention Harry having a dream his first night at hogwarts. He dreamt that he was wearing Quirrels turban and the turban was talking to him telling him to join Slitherin. That is an example of him seeing into the future, well… not seeing exactly what was going to happen but he saw that something was wrong with the turban early on, he just didn’t remember having the dream the next morning. Also this dream sequence in the book didn’t mention anything about his scar, so it was not due to his connection to voldy thru the scar.
Don’t you think it was just a dream, because he was scared that he was a slytherin. Or it was becase of the occlumency connection between them. I doubt that it was seer moment.
i was searching about Runes in Google. In Wikipedia, under the section “Magic and Divination”, the first sentence is: “the runes are attributed with the power to bring that which is dead to life”
i was shocked when i read that!
As we all know Hermoine has taken this subject for quite a long time, and now we see Dumbledore dead!
I was watching Prisoner of Azkaban this morning and saw this symbol in the movie. It’s when Lupin is teaching Harry to produce a patronus. The candles that look like spine bones are perched on top of a base that is this symbol. Interesting because JK Rowling has said how bizarre it was that the director of that movie Alfonso Cuaron put things in that movie that would come into play in the last 2 books and he didn’t know he was doing that… could those candle holders be one of those things? And the room that Harry and Lupin use for their practice session is actually the set used for Dumbledore’s office (although in POA movie I think it’s supposed to be the astronomy room) and in Goblet of Fire we see that symbol in a cabinet in Dumbledore’s office when Harry looks into the pensieve. But it was interesting to see this symbol in POA movie.
I don’t think that Harry being afraid of being a slytherin would invoke a dream that is so telling of what was really going on with Quirrel (the turban talking to him), and I don’t think that it was caused by the scar connection because at this point Voldy has no real strength. later (I think in OotP) someone says that Voldemort had only recently found out about the connection they had thru the scar which became more powerful after Voldy gained back his body. And it can’t be occlumency because that needs eye contact. It definitely seems, in my opinion, to be a seer’s moment, and so does the dream in the beginning of GoF.
jk rowling said that sirius had to die for a reason so when i first saw the symbol i thought of the archway with the veil where he died i think the circle is in fact two arches and the line is representing the two sides to the veil. if black’s death is significant then i think the final showdown will take place there. the triangle surrounding it could be a representation of harry, ron and hermione with each one of them being a side or point of the triangle and finally the symbol could possibly be like those on the pensieve. an interesting thing is that the pensieve is a stone basin and the archway is on a stone dias so these seem to fit together somehow.
I don’t think Harry is a Seer, but it is a distinct possibility. The same for Lily. About the Snape having a sword because he is the ‘Half-Blood Prince’, his mother’s surname was Prince and there is no connection to royalty (read HBP and listen to Hermione) but I do think he will be helpful somehow. The guy who talked about the validity of the classes made a good point but he forgot Transfiguration (Animagi, maybe some other things that I don’t remember). OH! We also haven’t heard much about Arithmancy much either… I’ve forgotten what exactly it constitutes though.
brava danielle i believe you’ve just proved to us all that harry could be a seer, or at least has powers of foresight maybe he doesnt realize
I think the secret of ancient runes has been revealed in chpt. 1, book 1 already. harry’s scar is lightning shaped and thus resembles the runes eihwaz and sowelu. eihwaz is the rune of defence as well as death and resurrection and is connected to the yew tree. it is the thirteenth rune of the furthark. “13 and a half inches, yew” is voldemort’s wand. sowelu is the rune of wholeness and basically the upside-down of eihwaz. the ancient runes relate to harry’s scar, and to the fate of lord voldemort, the one who flees death, who has been chosen by a wand made of yew and having a phoenix core – both themes call for the acceptance of death to achieve (spiritual) resurrection, same as the two runes.
we should listen to hermione: don’t let yourself be confused with divination and prophecies, study ancient runes and arithmancy!
WOW Mandragora, you have given me new food for thought and the question is there ANYTHING that JK Rowling does not know about? She is a genius.
Have only had a quick look about Runes, but pulled this up about ‘eihwaz’:
EIHWAZ UPRIGHT: Survival, strength, reliability, dependability, trustworthiness, enlightenment, endurance, defense, protection, secret or sacred knowledge
EIHWAZ MERKSTAVE: Confusion, destruction, dissatisfaction, weakness, vulnerability, untrustworthyness, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, ignorance
Harry & Voldemort!
Has anyone else noticed that this symbol is similar to the symbol for AOL! JK has stated that wizards have a way of communicating which is more fun than the internet, and perhaps this thing, whatever it means could be the systems symbol.
My gosh! Ted is right! AOL’s symbol is a circle in a triangle! Very similar! And you know who owns AOL… Time Warner! It’s all a big marketing plot to push the Harry Potter movies!
AOL? now im getting worried!
Dave Haber–
You are just so funny I don’t think I can stand it! A big marketing plot… You should be a stand up comedian!
I honestly don’t think that Harry is a Seer, but a while back I read from… Monkeeshrines, maybe? Orlando?…. I don’t remember but whoever it was suggested that Lily was a Seer, and this got passed to Harry through the fact that he has Lily’s eyes.
I can see Lily being a Seer, easily, mostly because we are given no details as to what Lily and James studied at school. Harry has no traces of the gift, but you never know- when Trelawny gives a prophecy, she doesn’t remember it afterwards, and we mostly follow Harry around during the books. I don’t think so…. I still think Harry sees all of the stuff with Voldemort because of the link they share through his scar.
SEPTOLOGY SYMBOL UPDATE!
Last week, the latest trailer for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix contained a very brief glimpse of a triangle-shaped building that appears to be in the middle of the ocean. (See the article above these comments for the update containing the picture of this.) This is probably the movie’s depiction of Azkaban Prison.
Is it possible that this triangle-shaped Azkaban has something to do with the triangle in the Septology Symbol?
As you said, this symbol has to do with alchemy and ancient magics, and there is no surprise with this. But it’s not similar to anything we know, as usual with Jo: she creates her own universe, inspired by many tales and other novels, but never all the same.
Anyway, as you said, it seems much plausible that the symbol will be used in book seven, in which it could be related to the Deathly Hollows. For instance, it might be a mark that Harry has to find somewhere (in Hogwarts?), after having seen it in a book. It could also be the symbol of all families re-united at Hogwarts, something that clearly Harry has to do to avoids the fall of Hogwarts (and maybe even to save the world from Voldemort).
It is a rare shape for a prison, but I don’t think it has anything to do with it. I mean it only is a triangle. I think it has something to do with the object in dumbledores office.
I suppose the answer may be found if we knew how much input into the visuals of the new film JK had. If she perhaps insisted that Azkaban was to be a triangle it would go a long way to solving this new ‘mystery’.
Without such information, I think I would say that – no – I don’t think the shape of Azkaban is to do with the mysterious symbol on the spine of DH.
Ok, What if they aren’t runes, but greek letters? The triangle is delta. The circle with the line through it could be phi. I think phi might be upside down, but it could be. Delta means change….I don’t know what phi means. But that could be important.
Could this symbol possibly have something to do with the prophecy at the department of mysteries? The book (and movie trailers) show the prophecy as an glowing orb or sphere. And in the book when they walk into the room the prophecy is in it says the room is as high as a church. Most churches having high ceilings are shaped like triangles and nothing is said what shape the ministry building is but it could be triangular. So it could have to do with the prophecy. As to the symbol being the object in Dumbeldores office in GOF movie, the symbol could be the instrument on page 470 of OOTP that dumbledore uses to determine whether Harry was the snake or saw a vision of the snake attacking Mr. Weasley.
Could this symbol be the symbol of the four founders? The vertical line cuts the circle in two parts (Rowenta and Helga?) and it cuts the triangle in two parts (Salazar and Godric?). Maybe, this mark is engraved in a magical stone, where Harry has to bring along the four Horcruxes to neutralize them.
A new order has begun… I’ve always suspected Snape to be in another Order. “A greater good”.
Maybe it is like a cave (the triangle) with the magical defenses (the square) and the Horcrux (The circle) I might be wrong because I thought of the cave in HBP.
i think its a horcrux symbol… the circle being voldemort’s soul contained in the triangle which is harry…
The Triangular Building
I don’t think it can Azkaban, because on the cover of the adult version of PoA, it shows Azkaban and it’s a rectangle-shaped building.
So what can that building be? Look back in OotP, in Grimmauld Place, after the meeting of the Order, all the kids come back into the dining room and the table has all these pieces of parchment on them. Harry sees a piece of parchment with (paraphrasing) “what looked like the plan for a building” before Bill hastily vanished all the parchments away.
Maybe this is the building that’s shown. But why would they show it on the trailer? Maybe Harry sees a picture of the building, instead of the plans, because the movie producers always change everything.
Why would the Order want to build a building. They already have a secret hideout. Could it be a war base? Or a trap? Or a center for training young witches and wizards? Is it even important?
Hannia: This is my idea only, but it was my impression that they were looking at the blueprints for the Ministry of Magic, that they were planning on infiltrating later in book. That’s what Arthur Weasley was doing when he was bitten.
Hannia from Markham,
I agree with Dave Haber’s comment of the plans where like blueprints of the ministry of magic. I do not recall any mention of Azkaban, and they were sending Order members to the Ministry, to guard the door to the Department of Mysteries, to ensure that nobody could get to the prophesy, as it was of the utmost importance to avoid Voldemort getting a hold of it.
Isn’t the Gringots bank building a triangle? And the underground passageways go in circles so those that are unfamiliar with the passages get lost. This would fit with the possible U.K. cover too.
This is such an awesome website! This could totally be true. (And it probably is) This website really makes you think. It’s extremly exciting and I agree!
The triangular building is Azkaban. If you watch the trailer in slow motion you will see the top left part of the structure is demolished and there are flying figures probably dementors fleeing. So, that building is definately Azkaban!