Ever since the A&E biography, in which J.K. Rowling showed a manila envelope that she said contained the final chapter of the last book, sort of an assurance to herself that she would need it someday, a horrid little tickle has been at the back of my head.
What if she pulled a Dallas and in the final chapter Harry wakes up in his cupboard under the stairs at the Durseley house, an orphan boy with no wizarding skills? :eek: :eek:
Or, slightly better but still a cheat, he wakes up as Lily kisses him on the forehead, saying, “Wake up, darling, you’ll miss the train to Hogwarts for your first day of school.”
She wouldn’t. But I hope she really does have a plan for the story “arc”. It’d really suck if she’s been improvising and had to cobble together a lame ending.
IIRC Rowling said that magic could not bring back dead people, including Harry’s parents. Even if she didn’t refer to time travel specifically, it would look extremely inconsequential.
If the prophecy from Order of the Phoenix is any indication, then either
Harry will die at the hands of Voldemort or Harry will kill Voldemort. There doesn’t seem to be any provision for Harry dying and then for Voldemort to be killed by, say, Dumbledore.
Of course in the first case above that leaves open the possiblity of another series. Perhaps
Ron and Hermione Weasley and the Attack of the Clones
Daniel Radcliffe’s thoughts on the end from a CNN interview(in a spoiler tag, just on case):
[spoiler]Q: If you were writing the sixth and seventh books, what would you want to happen?
RADCLIFFE: I definitely think Alfonso (Cuaron, the director) correctly interpreted that Ron and Hermione have a thing going on. And I think Harry’s going to die. I think there’s got to be a reason other than in the finale of the fourth book that Harry and Voldemort’s wands connect … there’s got to be a thing that Voldemort can only die if Harry dies. That’s my theory on it. I think Harry might have to make a sacrifice.[/spoiler]
I’m still hoping that there’s a way in which Neville takes down Voldemort. Though Jo has said there won’t be any need for a sequel to the series, which could mean that either of ivylass’s suppositions is true, or that Harry dies.
There’s one aspect of the whole series that keeps cropping up and standing out against what otherwise looks like a black-and-white, good-versus-bad sort of opposition: Snape. The ominous potions professor is neither one of the good guys nor an ally of Lord V.
In book five, Rowling looks like she might be extending this sense of characters not having to be all-bad or all-good to Ms. Dursley.
And of course many times there have been characters who appeared to be bad guys but turned out to be good guys or vice versa.
What if Voldemort himself develops into a more three-dimensional character rather than just being evil incarnate? We already know that despite his “thing” about pure blood and allegiance to Slytherin’s legacy, he himself had a muggle dad, yes? We don’t know why Riddle (Voldemort) went bad, nor do we know how, if at all, Snape was personally involved in the turn of events that led to Voldemort’s going bad, rising to power, and then killing Harry’s folks. The ultimate triumph of good over evil could take the form of reaching Voldemort and causing him to reject what he himself has built. Or whatever underlying issue led him to seek dominion could be reopened and alliances reformed along different lines, with really complex ethical and political issues for Harry to address as an older and more powerful wizard.
Things we learned in Order of the Phoenix further strengthened my belief that
we will find out that the Potter parents have a big skeleton in the closet.
This could be related to the fact that IIRC the question in which house James Potter was is still not completely resolved. I wouldn’t be surprised if at least James has a few dark spots in his biography. A complete WAG: The Snape - Lily relationship offers potential for many interesting things.
As far as I’m concerned, Order of the Phoenix makes it quite clear that:
Voldemort will kill Harry, but in doing so will be subjected to a fate worse than death, such as having a dementor suck out his soul. The prophecy says that one must kill the other, and Dumbledore says that Voldemort’s inability to recognize that there are worse things than death is his greatest weakness.
Harry will turn evil in the sixth or seventh book but then off himself when he realizes what he’s done
Or, Frodo will finally throw him, wand and all, into the volcano.
I’m still dying to figure out what the connection twixt Harry and Voldemort is; their wands are from the same tailfeather, their physical resemblance has been mentioned, Voldemort was unable to kill him, etc., all of which has made me wonder if
Harry IS Voldemort in some odd continuum shake-up.
[Explanatory hijack]
Bobby Ewing (Patrick Duffy) was killed off (Duffy wanted out of his contract) by his evil sister-in-law Katherine (who was also killed) in the finale of Season 7 [1984-85] of Dallas and, since he was the likable Ewing and the romantic lead, the show went to hell fast in quality and the ratings. They had to get him back, so the finale of the next season [1985-86] featured his wife Pam (Victoria Principal) opening her shower door to find Bobby taking a shower. In the opener of the next season, it was revealed that the entire last season had been a nightmare of Pam’s (odd that she had so many dreams about other characters in the show whom she never met) and that Bobby had never died. (There were major continuity problems with this: among others, Pam’s sister Katherine was still referred to as dead and a couple of characters from Pam’s dream remained in the plot when she woke up, and the Dallas spin-off Knot’s Landing also mentioned Bobby’s “death”.
I remember that Patrick Duffy was on a talk show around this time and was asked “Don’t you think that this was really really unbelievable?”, to which he responded “No, I think it was really silly and really improbable. My new contract is what’s really really unbelievable.” [/Explanatory hijack]
Voldemort and Harry will have a duel of magic, hurling bolts of death rays at each other. Finally, Voldemort will have Harry at the edge of a great chasm, and his wand will shoot a disintegrator spell that burns away Harry’s hand. He will then say, “You don’t know the truth about your father,” and Harry will say, “I know you killed him,” and Voldemort will say, “No, <gasp gasp> Harry, I am your father.”
James Earl Jones has already been hired to do Voldemort’s voice.
In this page of Book 6 facts, we learn a number of things about what sort of surprises might be in store, but not what those surprises are. Among them:
(specualtive spoilers about Books 6 and 7, though no actual plot revealed, just the subjects we will find out more about and what’s important)
-By the end of the 7th book, we’ll have all the backstory we need: no need for a prequel
-Harry’s parents’ profession will be a big part of the plot
-There is a HUGE revelation about Lily
-It’s very important in the plot that Harry has his mother’s eyes, and that her wand was very good for charms
-More about Voldemort’s birth will be revealed, thus helping us understand why he is so evil
-The reason Voldemort and Harry both didn’t die when Voldemort tried to kill Harry, will be revealed
-We’ll learn more about Harry’s scar in the last 2 books.
-In books 6 and 7 we will find out exactly why JK killed off Sirius
-JK has said that giving away the form of Snape’s boggart and patronus says too much. We’ll definitely find out what Snape’s worst fear is, and it’ll be important
-The reason Voldemort and Harry both didn’t die when Voldemort tried to kill Harry, will be revealed.
What do all these pieces come together as? I have no idea. Can’t wait to find out tho.
