'Harry Potter': A to Z (2024)

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A: Avada Kedavra!

The naughtiest words in the wizarding world. This unforgivable killing curse produces a jet of green fire — and death. You'll hear it at least once during Harry's climactic duel with Voldemort.

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B: Boathouse

A new part of the Hogwarts campus that was added by the filmmakers (with the blessing of J.K. Rowling) for the last movie. According to Daniel Radcliffe, it is here, not the Shrieking Shack, that a certain iconic character — SPOILER ALERT! — will meet his bloody, brutal end. ''Snape's death is going to raise a few eyebrows,'' he says. ''It's vicious. And so it should be.''

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C: Cedric

Before vamping it up in Twilight, Robert Pattinson played the hunky Hogwarts student whose demise in the fourth film helped complete Voldemort's resurrection. Now we know where the Dark Lord gets his undead pallor.

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D: Dumbledore, Albus

The former Hogwarts headmaster died in Half-Blood Prince, but you haven't seen the last of Harry's beloved mentor. After all, the hippie-looking wizard still has to explain the mystery of his black-charred hand. Deathly Hallows — Part 2 will reveal wise Dumbledore's shameful weakness and more of his relationship with his brother, Aberforth.

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E: Epilogue

SPOILER ALERT! The emotional coda to Part 2, set 19 years in the future, finds the surviving young heroes (now adults and parents) shipping their kids off to Hogwarts. Pack tissues.

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F: Forbidden Forest

Home to uppity centaurs and giant spiders, the spooky Forbidden Forest outside Hogwarts will serve as the hideout for Voldemort's army — and the setting for one of the most poignant moments for the Boy Who Lived.

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G: Gringotts Bank

Harry & Co. will return to the Diagon Alley S&L — last seen in the first Potter flick — to make an important withdrawal, provided they don't drown in money. We mean that literally. And ominously.

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H: Horcruxes

In Deathly Hallows — Part 1, Harry, Ron, and Hermione went on an epic road trip to find and destroy the remaining Horcruxes, the magical objects that hold pieces of Voldemort's soul. Ron took out Salazar Slytherin's locket with the Sword of Godric Gryffindor, but there are more Horcruxes to track down, including Voldemort himself.

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I: Invisibility Cloak

Horcruxes aren't the only magical objects in play in Part 2. There are the Deathly Hallows themselves, a set of three artifacts that, together, grant their owner immortality: the Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone (whereabouts unknown), and Harry's own Cloak of Invisibility. At the end of Part 1, Voldemort played tomb raider and stole the Elder Wand from Dumbledore's grave. But he needs the others to achieve his sinister dream of cheating death forever.

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J: ''Jo''

That's what J.K. Rowling's friends call her. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was the last novel in her blockbuster series... though she recently told Oprah Winfrey she's open to the idea of writing more. Please, Jo? Pretty please?

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K: The Kiss

The sparky friendship between Ron and Hermione finally ignites into love in Part 2 when the two bickering teens find the guts to embrace their feelings for each other — and then embrace each other.

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L: Lupin, Remus

Harry's favorite Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, a good-hearted werewolf little seen since the third film, shows up big time in the finale, especially during Harry's darkest hour.

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M: Malfoy, Draco

The ivory-haired Muggle hater — son of Lucius Malfoy, one of Voldemort's top Death Eaters — displays surprising soulfulness during the series' conclusion. Enough to save him from Voldemort's corruption? TBD.?

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N: Neville vs. Nagini

Among the many must-see action set pieces in Part 2: Neville Longbottom's terrifying fight with Voldemort's monstrous serpent. Daniel Radcliffe says that Matthew Lewis, who plays the once bumbling Neville, ''really comes to the fore in this movie. He's a brilliant actor. When I direct my first film, I'm totally casting him.''

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O: The Order of the Phoenix

The secret society dedicated to opposing Voldemort and his followers. The impending war between the Order and the Death Eaters will wreck Hogwarts and claim countless lives.

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P: Potter, James and Lily

Harry's dead parents have haunted the saga, sometimes literally. They'll appear to ? the boy wizard one more time, and they'll bring the late Sirius Black with them.

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Q: Quidditch

You've seen the last of the popular wizarding-world sport, but keep your eye on the Snitch Dumbledore bequeathed to Harry. That little plaything has some serious significance.

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R: Room of Requirement

Imagine a room that holds anything you can possibly think of. Now imagine that room on fire. Here, inside one of ? Hogwarts' most mysterious spaces, Harry, Ron, and Hermione will rumble one last time with Draco.

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S: Severus Snape

Is the foul-tempered professor really Voldemort's lackey? And does he really hate Harry? And can we all agree that Alan Rickman's performance as Snape has been one of the best things about the series? ''We were all terrified of him for the longest time,'' Radcliffe says of Rickman, ''but he's the kindest man you'll ever meet. What he's done for me as a person and an actor is remarkable.''

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T: Tonks

The heroic young hunter of Death Eaters is now married to Lupin, though if the final film holds true to the book, their marriage will be tested at a most inopportune time.

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U: Umbridge, Dolores

The cruel villainess had a memorable scene in Part 1 where Harry, Ron, and Hermione stole Salazar Slytherin's locket from her. Alas, this witchy woman is MIA in the climax.

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V: Voldemort

Debate: Where does Ralph Fiennes' vampiric, snake-snouted dark-magic terrorist rank among cinema's greatest villains? Seriously, debate this. What else will we have to talk about after July 15?

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W: Wands

The book's resolution of the Harry-Voldemort conflict hinges on the byzantine rules of wand ownership. A spectacular physical brawl has been added for those who need a more visceral form of catharsis from a movie.

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X: Xenophilius Lovegood

In Part 1, Harry, Hermione, and Ron go to visit Luna Lovegood's far-out father — who reveals the existence of the Deathly Hallows. Then, in the brilliant animated sequence from this scene, Hermione narrates the legend of these essential magical objects.

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Y: Yates, David

The man behind the curtain of Harry Potter's big-screen goodbye. ''I can't quite believe it's coming to a close,'' says the 47-year-old British filmmaker, who directed the previous three Potter films, too. ''I'm excited, because I think the movie is strong and entertaining. I feel sad, but also a sense of relief. I am looking forward to having it all done, and all I can see ahead of me is a lovely, beautiful beach. And some yoga.''

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Z: Zero

Exactly the amount of Harry Potter that's left. Because that's all Jo wrote. (For now?) ''Harry is not a character to me,'' says Radcliffe. ''It's a wonderful thing that happened to my life. It brought me loads of stuff that I never would've had otherwise. Harry's had a bigger effect in my life than anyone outside of my parents and Jo Rowling. I've been lucky to have it, and I'll be sad to leave it.'' Jeez, Dan, you have us crying already. Ten points from Gryffindor!