I didn’t think Snape was evil then at all, but I also don’t think there is any secret plan between Snape and Dumbledore. Rowling always emphasizes that fighting hte Dark Arts is a seat-of-the-pants affair, so they were probably improvising. I don’t know if Dumbledore’s exchange with Malfoy was an attempt to redeem him, or just shatter his nerve, giving him a case of Buck Fever and then having Snape do the deed for him, so that he may never be able to pull off the Avada Kedavra.
I think Percy is a dead man. He has “redemption through a noble death” written all over him. I suspect that the death Rowling originally had planned was Ginny’s, and there are just too many Weasleys for them all to survive.
Does anybody have a guess as to why Snape has never been allowed to be the DADA teacher? If he survives the last book (and turns out not to be evil, of course), I hope to see him finally get the gig he always wanted and excel at it.
I think the last horcrux is Harry’s scar, by the way.
I also suspect that Harry was an unintentional horcrux. I don’t think he’ll die, though. Someone in another thread suggested, and I like the idea, that Harry and company will destroy the other horcruxes and Voldemort, leaving the last bit of the evil bastard in Harry to guard for the rest of his life.
I don’t know if Voldemort’s spirit would still be manifest if that last part of himself remains. We already know he existed incorpeareally for a while because of the horcruxes. I would assume so…perhaps too weak to reincorporate?
By the way, what are the odds on Dumbledore being resurrected? I seem to remember at least one discussion in which Dumbledore says no magic has brought anyone back from the dead yet. With all that phoenix imagery surrounding him it seems like a possibility.
I would hate that. I love Fred and George. I would rather see Ginny go then them (if one of the Weasley’s must).
Diogenes, did you read Half Blood Prince? (spoilering - just in case) Snape was the DADA professor all through Half Blood Prince. That was the big tell that he wasn’t going to make it back to Hogwarts for book 7.
Edited to add: I know this is way out there. But, I would love it if Snape’s name were cleared and he was made the new Headmaster. (I know, I know - not gonna happen).
JK Rowling has pretty much admitted that R.A.B. = Regulus Black.
I agree with you 100% on this.
Which Weasley (if any) will die? The twins seem a logical choice, a parallel to Molly Weasley’s brothers (Gideon and Fabian Prewett of the original Order of the Phoenix) dying like heroes in the time of Voldemort’s first ascendancy. But I like them too much and think they are too clever to assume this will happen. Percy redeeming himself is a good suggestion by saoirse, but if I had to bet on any Weasley dying, it would be Charlie - the death with the least emotional impact for the reader. The Weasleys have already paid their dues with Bill being disfigured in the battle at the end of Half-Blood Prince.
I still can’t believe that Harry’s scar is a horcrux, for reasons of logistics - I imagine that to create a horcrux, it’s not enough to murder someone, it would have to be a murder followed by a complex spell. This wouldn’t fit Harry’s attempted killing, because a) Harry didn’t die and b) Voldemort wouldn’t have been able to perform the complex spell after the Death curse rebounded back on him.
I didn’t know that the Prewitts were Molly’s brothers. How did you figure that out? Did I miss something in the reading, or did you get it from one of the HP websites?
Well, Harry was protected by his mother’s sacrifice, and I think that was the factor that messed Voldermort’s plans. Imagine for a moment that the sequence V has to follow is not murder then spell, but spell then murder. If this is the case, V’s soul fragment was ready to be transferred with the forthcoming murder; the attempted murder bounced off because of the Harry’s mother’s protection but in some way still transferred a fragment of V’s soul in Harry.
An old theory of mine is that the last horcrux is Harry’s body, as opposed to his soul, so maybe (but I think it’s a long shot) his body can be “purified” and Harry can survive, possibly mangled or even brain-damanged. Imagine if the last scene of the book is a fade to black on an incapacitated, vegetative Harry in St Mungo’s hospital, with Ginny caressing his brow in the place where he had a scar.
Another thing to consider: Harry has to destroy all horcruxes before facing Voldemort, to ensure V is permanently rendered inoffensive, or, as long as there is one anchoring V’s soul to this world, V can come back. If this is the case then Harry can’t be the last horcrux. But if the last horcrux can be destroyed after defeating Voldemort, to remove V’s last toehold in this world, then Harry could be it, and he might have to kill himself, or do something nearly as drastic, to destroy his enemy permanently.
Lars Aruns - “Imagine if the last scene of the book is a fade to black on an incapacitated, vegetative Harry in St Mungo’s hospital, with Ginny caressing his brow in the place where he had a scar.” With Moody’s voice in the background saying “Better dead than what happened to him!” Now that would be a truly terrible ending. I hope that’s not what is in store for our hero.
Speaking of surprise endings for the Harry Potter saga, have a look at this one and tell me what you think of it. I’m terribly conflicted between dreading it and hoping for it!
But going back to Harry (or Harry’s scar) as horcrux:
Assuming that, following your reasoning, it did happen, I think it would have happened inadvertantly on Voldemort’s part - he would have preferred for one of his horcruxes to be Gryffindor’s sword. But since he couldn’t get to it, he still ended up, luckily for him, with a horcrux hidden in a relic of each of the four founders:
Hufflepuff’s cup
Slytherin’s locket
Ravenclaw’s wand
A relic from Gryffindor - Harry Potter, who (speculation here) is, like Voldemort, the last living descendant of a Hogwarts founder - in Harry’s case, Godric Gryffindor.
I predict that Harry will marry Ginny Weasley and she’ll sacrifice herself to save him from Voldemort like Harry’s mother did, after which Harry will defeat Voldemort.
This fits certain hints that have been thrown:
Harry was protected from Voldemort only by his mother’s love - but the magical effect of that only lasts until he reaches majority. It seems logical that the equivalent protection for an adult would be a spouse.
“He will have power that the Dark Lord knows not.” The protection imparted by Harry’s mother is in Voldemort’s blood, due to his use of Harry in the resurrection spell in book 4. But spousal love will still be a power that Voldemort does not know. This could also explain the gleam of triumph in Dumbledore’s eyes at the end of book 4 - Voldemort only thinks he has the same protection Harry does, but when they have their ultimate battle, Harry will have something different.
Additional predictions: Peter Pettigrew has a life debt to Harry. Harry will call in the debt…to get him to take down Snape.
Hogwarts will be open, and Harry will return for his final year there. I make this prediction because the whole seven-year series structure is based around a Hogwarts curriculum. If Harry being a student wasn’t essential to the battle, then why would book seven have to logically be the last? (notwithstanding J. K. Rowling’s desires. My point is that she herself designed the series’ pacing around the Hogwarts curriculum)
