| Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter - Place | |
| Forest of Dean | |
|---|---|
| Location | Southern England |
| Permanent Residents | |
| First Appearance | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows |
General Overview
After the disastrous visit to Godric's Hollow, and during Harry's recovery from that, Hermione Apparates them to the Forest of Dean, a place where she and her parents had gone camping in simpler times.
Extended Description
As Harry is so badly injured in the encounter with Nagini and Voldemort, Hermione takes over many of the aspects of managing their travels. The place where Harry and Hermione first end up after Godric's Hollow is not named, but following that Hermione takes the two of them to the Forest of Dean, a place which she has previously visited with her parents.
Harry's wand is broken, and as he cannot sleep, he is standing guard with Hermione's wand when he sees a white doe, an obvious Patronus, though one he does not recognize. The Patronus leads him to a pond, in which he sees the Sword of Gryffindor. His attempts to recover the Sword are only made successful by the timely reappearance of Ron, who saves him from nearly drowning in the pool. Harry then asks Ron to destroy the Locket Horcrux, which the Trio have been carrying in their travels. The Horcrux attempts to anger Ron into striking at Harry instead, but Ron, in the end, succeeds in destroying it.
Ron and Harry then return to the camp site, and Ron explains the reason his absence was extended, and what he has been doing in the meanwhile, while starting the process of reconciliation with Hermione.
The following day, Ron provides a spare wand for Harry. This wand, not having accepted Harry as its new wielder, proves significantly less powerful than his own, and he is generally disappointed with it.
Analysis
The Forest of Dean is a real place, a domesticated forest with a holiday camp located in the South of England, near the Severn River east of Cardiff. It is apparently quite a popular vacation spot in the summer, and there are a number of tourist guides available for it. While its popularity among the vacationing Muggles might seem to make this a questionable choice of destination for fugitives like Harry and Hermione, we remind the reader that it is December, and so very unlikely that any vacationers would be braving the bitter cold winter weather in an essentially open forest.