Tuesday, July 17, 2007

HARRY POTTER WEEK

Loved the Order of the Phoenix film.

Am re-reading Half-Blood Prince.

And on Saturday, it will all be over.

Yes, I am a geek. No, I don't care.

Here are my thoughts and predictions on Book 7, trying to fill my hours before I can wait in line for the midnight release of the book.



Dumbledore: Alive or Dead?

Dead. Definitely dead. But not entirely gone. No, I don’t believe he’ll be Gandalf, rising into a new life. He’ll be more like Obi-Wan, providing moments of help along the way. How will he do it? I expect to see Dumbledore’s help through one of his 3 “P”s: portrait, pensieve, and/or phoenix.


Snape: Good or Evil?

Good. Not that he and Harry will ever share a summer cottage together (as Dumbledore said, “Some wounds go too deep for the healing”), but Severus Snape was not a Death Eater in disguise rejoicing at the opportunityto kill Dumbledore. Like Harry, I am Dumbledore’s man through and through. Unlike Harry, I don’t have a personal history of abuse from Snape, so I am free to see the clues to Snape’s behavior. His Unbreakable Vow with Narcissa Malfoy was not his first. Why did Dumbledore always trust Snape? Not merely because he has to believe the best in everyone. No, I believe when Snape left the Death Eaters (over Voldemort’s hunt for Lily Potter) that Dumbledore placed Snape under an Unbreakable Vow to follow his orders. It’s the only explanation I can see that explains Dumbledore’s unwavering trust. Dumbledore trusted Snape. That’s good enough for me.

Harry: Horcrux or Not?

Harry is a horcrux, unbeknownst to both him and Voldemort. The scar is the representation. (We all know that Avada Kedavra doesn’t leave a mark—the scar is a symbol of Voldemort’s unwitting transfer of part of his soul to Harry the night he tried to kill him.) When I first finished Book 6 and thought of this, I was devastated, believing that Harry would have to die to destroy the piece of Voldemort’s soul within him. Now I don’t think so. Both the ring and the diary—the two horcruxes that have been destroyed thus far—continue to exist, albeit in broken or blank form. Harry is a horcrux. He will have to destroy the piece of Voldemort within him. When he does, I predict that he won’t die—but he will lose his magic. That’s the great sacrifice. Harry will choose to give up the power behind his happiest memory—the moment Hagrid told him he was a wizard.


Who Is RAB?

The easier answer of all: Regulus Black. (Quite possibly Regulus Alphard Black, the middle name being found on the Black family tapestry at 12 Grimmauld Place.) How did he find the locket horcrux? I don’t know, but I think it was Kreacher who helped him retrieve it—maybe drinking that horrible potion that weakened Dumbledore is what sent Kreacher over the edge once and for all. And the real locket is almost certainly the one referred to in Book 5 as being in the Black family home. Is it still there? If not, than Harry will have to look to Kreacher and/or Mundugus to locate it.


People/Items/Oddities we’ll see again

Peter Pettigrew. He owes Harry a life debt. We’ll see the payoff in Book 7.

The arch where Sirius died. (Yes, Sirius too is definitely dead.) But the arch will return and may even provide Harry a means to see Sirius once more.

Bellatrix Lestrange. Neville isn’t finished with her yet. (And yes, it will be Neville who faces Bellatrix. As much as Harry wants her for what she did to Sirius, Neville wants her more. This one is Neville’s fight.)

Dumbledore’s famous “gleam of triumph”. When Voldemort used Harry’s blood to regenerate in Book 4, Dumbledore obviously thought that critically important. The power of blood, the power of Lily’s love . . . this is one I don’t have a prediction for. I don’t know how it will help Harry. But it will.


Mortality Rate

JK Rowling said while writing Book 7 that she had given a reprieve to a character she thought would die and killed two others she hadn’t previously planned on.

Who got the reprieve? I think it’s Snape.

Who got the axe? Hmm, this one is harder because there are so many vulnerable people. I hate the thought of it being Arthur or Molly Weasley, though it’s probable that at least one of them will die. Lupin is in the line of fire. Another teacher, a student . . . let’s face it, with Dumbledore’s death Rowling proved that no one is safe. I will go out on my hopeful limb and predict that the charmed circle (once three, now four) will survive: Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny.


After Voldemort

Rowling has said that she wrote the final chapter of Book 7 years ago and that it’s a wrap-up, a look into the future that tells everyone’s fate after the war. Here are my predictions:

Ron and Hermione marry (well, this one isn’t really hard—they’re obviously meant for each other. Rowling couldn’t be much clearer if they walked around with flashing neon lights proclaiming "Ron and Hermione Forever".) They will have a bunch of kids with lots and lots of bushy red hair.

Neville and Luna marry: this one is more wishful than supported by evidence, but I just love the thought of the children these two would produce. Believers in nargyls and the Rotfang Conspiracy, but not able to remember what those are from moment to moment :)

Hermione becomes the first Muggle-born Minister of Magic

Neville teaches Herbology at Hogwarts

Fred and George grow rich on Weasley Wizarding Wheezes

Harry marries Ginny, lives long and happily with her in the family he always wanted, and (this one is out on the shakiest of limbs) becomes Headmaster of Hogwarts in spite of the fact that he can no longer do magic


Certainty

In the end, only Jo Rowling knows for certain the details of what happens, how, and why. But there is one certainty. If I were a gambling woman, I'd bet on it.

Voldemort dies.

For seven books, it's been a fight between good and evil. Though the costs are high, good will triumph. Between Luke and Anakin, the emperor was killed. Thanks to both Frodo and Gollum, the ring was destroyed. No matter how twisting and painful the path, Harry defeats Voldemort.

I can't wait.

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