Interesting… I can’t imagine he would have suffered unnecessarily, so I assume that the curse was too powerful - it could be halted, and the damage reduced to just his hand, but not undone.
I think that the curse was fatal. Dumbledore could slow it’s progress, but not stop it completely. This is why he was willing to drink Voldemort’s unknown potion. (Which, if you think about, was an almost insane risk.) He had nothing left to lose.
I was talking about the book with some friends who told me that Rowling isn’t writing the books anymore, that she is just providing outlines to a ghost. They said this as if it were as open and common knowledge as VC Andrews’ ghostwriter.
Is this true? Can anyone shed light on this story in one direction or the other?
I saw the interview with JKR by Katie Couric last night on Dateline. Katie specifically asked what would happen if JKR was hit by a bus before she had finished the last book. JKR said that no one else knew her plans for the story and that it was “her baby.” Implicit in that is that she and only she knows her plans and writes her books.
Of course, she could be lying, but that is what she said.
So, I read the book over the weekend, and I’m mostly posting here so that I can point to my post in the future if any of my wild speculation turns out right.
First, I was a little disappointed by some of the middle of the book, I felt some of it was a touch slow and disjointed. I asusme the JKR is setting up everything for the seventh book which means she has to establish a lot of backstory so she has more space for the sequence of dramatic events leading to the showdown.
The ending was better but, like a few people, I’d seen a spoiler before the book even came out. Just one line, but it gave away the identity of the HBP and the death. As I read the book it became clearer that this spoiler would in fact be true, it’s a bit of a shame but nothing I can do.
::dingdingding::
Agreed completely, Voldemort was going to create his last Horcrux with one (or all) of the Potters deaths. But Harrys mother, in order to protect Harry, does something that ends up making Harry the Horcrux. Thus Harry should be one of the last people Voldy wants to kill, fairly efficent protection. This means that whatever Voldy originally intended to use as a Horcrux should be around in those scenes. Sadly this also leads to a Harry sacrifice ending which I’m not sure I like but …
Few other predicitions, echoing things said in this thread.
Snape is on the side of good, I’m 100% certain of that. Probably he’s under several unbreakable vows (the inside label artwork on my copy has the hands wrapped in fire so I guess it’s important) one to protect Draco and complete his mission and one probably with Dumbledore to either not die, or not be exposed, or just to follow orders. You notice in the final sequence he doesn’t do anything offensive towards Harry and even protects him, I reckon this is the definitive proof that Snape is on the right side. Their motivation here is protect Draco and Harry, perhaps this is important.
I’m surprised that Dumbledore didn’t leave a message for Harry. I predict we’ll discover he did in the last book. Or he’ll talk from the painting. This is all we’ll see of Dumbledore – he ain’t coming back kids.
I doubt we’ll see Fawkes again, unless Harry dies then he might turn up.
I could guess more wildly than that, particularly regarding Snape but I’ll stop for the moment. But I will predict that my copy will be borrowed within the week and I’ll not see it again for at least six months (if ever).
Waiting for the next book is going to suck, I wouldn’t be surprised to see it sooner rather than later. But JKR has left herself a difficult task, as the seventh book will have to depart, at least a bit, from the normal structure and she has a lot of loose ends to tie up.
And regarding the books being ghostwritten, I doubt very strongly that the book we read yesterday was not entirely written by her (and then edited or reworked a touch). From a quick web search (so take it how you want) there’s nothing about the main books not being all her work but it looks like the tie-in books (Quidditch Through the Ages and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them) are indeed only ghostwritten – perhaps that’s where the story started.
On the other hand I don’t believe for a second that there’s not a contingency in place if she can’t finish the seventh book for whatever reason.
SD
At one point doesn’t it say that the HBP’s book was about 50 years old, meaning that HP, Hermione and Ron all thought it couldn’t belong to either of Harry’s parents. Yet, Snape was at school with them, so logically it couldn’ have been his either.
UNLESS…it was handed down to Snape by his mother.
A question about the deaths of Harry’s parents… (And please bear with me, my book is at home)
In this book, Harry is talking to Dumbledore about his parents’ deaths. Dumbledore says. “blah blah blah Voldemort murdered your father…” and then a couple of paragraphs later he mentions “Lily’s giving up her life” so that Harry could live. Is it possible that Voldemort *didn’t * intend to kill Lily? At least not before he made her watch as he killed Harry? That she somehow sacrificed herself willingly?
Or have I just not had enough sleep?
His plan was to kill Harry. I don’t think he cared about Lilly, she just got in his way to try and protect Harry.
Most likely. Or else he bought a used book. He doesn’t strike me as someone who comes from money.
I woke up this morning and remembered that Harry had talked to Ron about the Unbreakable Vow after eavesdropping, so that part of my post was wrong. Sorry about that.
I don’t think we can make too much of Snape not killing or seriously injuring Harry while covering Draco’s escape. Snape says something about not killing Harry because Voldemort wants (? needs) to be the one to do it. (It covers his butt for both sides of the fence, not that anyone in the OoTP is likely to trust him ever again.)
Thanks, Axel and Reepicheep, for your thoughts on Snape’s being angry over being called a coward. I still find it surprising, as Snape has undoubtedly been putting up with worse insinuations or outright insults for years, but maybe his hatred for Harry plus the anguish of having had to kill Dumbledore (plus all the consequences) made him more sensitive to that insult.
I second the theory that Snape had an unrequited love for Lily. Afterall, it is James that he hates so very much (and between you and me, James was an ass of the first order)-- I’ll bet that Snape used his mother’s book, had Lily as a Potions partner and crushed on her summthin fierce. To see her pick his worst enemy at school for a life partner must have hurt–it explains so much about Snape.
I really like the UV between either Liliy/Snape or AD/Snape.
I doubt that Harry will go back for the Potions book. He is “man of action”–he will send Hermione or Ron(?), but not go himself.
I could understand Harry dying at the end of book 7, but I won’t like it one bit.
And I do hope that JKR writes Hogwarts: A History --the ultimat reference book!
Re: The usage of slut I brought up. – I asked a roommate who is British and he pointed out that the American printing may have some slight word changes to better suit American readers and he mentioned a few British slang terms which were close to ‘slut’ but marginally more acceptable. Unfortunately they escape me right now. Secondly I ran across an article which says that JKR’s editor doesn’t want the children cussing so she gets around it by saying “Ron curses under his breath.” So apparently she isn’t as sensitive to this type of thing. shrug
Re: Dumbledore returning – His patronus is a Phoenix and he is also considered to be the most powerful wizard of the modern age (Voldemort and possibly Harry not withstanding.) I expect we’ll see him come back in some form, be it in the form of a lucid dream, or perhaps even to sway Snape at a key point. We’ll see.
Re: R.A.B. - I think Regulus is a right on
Since Thursday I have reread books 4 and 5, finished book 6 yesterday.
I want book 7 NOW!
I believe Dumbledore may have left his pensieve to Harry along with quite a few bottles of memories. It’s his way of contacting Harry and showing him the “way”. I mean, face it, Harry is not that bright to figure out where to go to obtain the horcruxes. At one point in Book 7 Harry will pull out a memory that will have occurred after Dumbledore’s death, showing him that his mentor is not dead.
I’m having a hard time believing Snape is actually good. However, the fact that he has Wormtail does point that way. I do think Harry’s quest for vengeance against him will cause Harry to go down the wrong path and it will be Ron and Her-My-Nee who will have to deal with Harry’s temper and ego to push him back on track to Voldemort.
The humor in this book was great - the comment about believing Ron would be conscious for his birthday made me snort. And the whole Won-Won super snog fest was great. I can see how Hermione would act the way she did. Just because she is book smart doesn’t mean she can’t behave like a jealous harpy.
Just saw a bit between Chipmunk Katie Couric and JK Rowling on the Today show. JK admitted she doesn’t often look back to previous books to fact check and has been called out few times on errors. So, I’m thinking, expect a few loose ends simply because she doesn’t remember what should be wrapped up.
Well, Jeebus.
the woman can afford to have a whole phalanx of fact checkers, fer crimeny’s sake.
That comment pisses me off. She has a great responsiblity–one she never expected to have, but it is there, nonetheless. IMO, it is her effing DUTY to get her continuity and “facts” straight.
Jeesh. (I didn’t watch because there are no words for how much I loathe Katie Couric).
And now back to the thread.
IMO, “slut” is used appropriately (for the character who says it and in the context it is used)–also, children’s fiction is already Bowlderized enough. It’s a word. If Johnny asks what it means, that opens up the opportunity to explain about the word and why we don’t use it.
I am absolutely sure that AD will be back in some guise or other–oh, not resurrected from the dead, but his spirit will somehow speak to Harry.
I may be way off here, but I smell something fishy about Dumbledore’s death.
Consider this:
-
This is the book where non verbal spells were introduced or explored more deeply.
-
When speaking with Draco, Dumbledore said
“He cannot kill you if you are already dead. Come over to the right side, Draco, and we can hide you more completely than you can possibly imagine.”
- When the Avada Kevadra spell hit Dumbledore, his body was thrown in an arc.
From what I remember of the Avada Kevadra spell, you simply drop dead and not get blasted. Now consider 1 and 2, maybe Dumbledore is not really dead.
I know…I should get more sleep…I’m going now…
I’m with Tarrsk concerning Harry as a Horcrux, I just don’t see it. I mean I do, but Tarrsk brings up a good point concerning the fact that he had intended to kill Harry, not keep him around.
However, having said that, I had one thought. What if he unintentionally made a horcrux on Harry, ala the Scar. We all know the scar carries weight and is a physical mark of Voldemort’s attack.
Now I’m not trying to argue semantics, between Harry being a horcrux and Harry having a horcrux on him. The difference being if Harry has some way of removing the scar as opposed to say, dieing.
We’ll have to wait and see.
I think Harry is the last Horcrux. When they mentioned V-man wanted to make the last one after killing Harry it just made sense. V-dog went “Wait, this isn’t working and I don’t have my last Horcrux!” He did it to Harry and that’s why they have the link–V-boy’s soul is in Harry. Also would fulfill ISiddiqui’s prediction that Harry must die at the end–he will figure out he’s the Horcrux and that the only way to kill V-guy is to die himself.
Yes? No?
Anyway, Snape was doing what Dumbledore wanted to keep Draco from being evil. Ginny and Harry will get some more loving in the next book. Harry’s death will bond Ron and Hermione together as more than friends. [del]Sirius[/del] Dumbledore will come back from the dead and [del]sex me up[/del] help Harry out somehow.
I would say that the odds of Harry dying at the end of Book 7 are about 1 in 10 to the 77th power, whcih if I recall correctly is the approximate number of electrons in the entire universe.
Not to be picky, but “Harry Potter” is not a tragedy. In a tragedy, the protagonist has a tragic flaw that must inevitably kill him. Harry doesn’t have a tragic flaw.
I don’t think Rowling has the guts to kill Harry, for one thing. Killing off Sirius Black - an extra character anyway - and Dumbledore, who was old and whose death opens up things for the finale, and who millions thought would die, were easy. For all the blather about how a “major character’s gonna eat it in this book!” for both #5 and #6, Sirius and Dumbledore were easily disposed of. Killing RON, now, that would have been a trick.
As to the issue of Snape, I thought it was pretty much completely telegraphed that he killed Dumbledore on Dumbledore’s orders. If he didn’t, Rowling blew it so spectacularly that I don’t know how she could fix it - she would have esseentially ruined both characters, since it blows Snape’s duality and makes Dumbledore look like a gullible fool.
The odds of Harry dying are zero. Even RickJay’s (albeit cleverly put) odds are off. There is, in a nutshell…
No bleeping way that Harry dies
Because, after all,
It’s a children’s book, you twits.
It’s interesting to say, “I don’t think Rowling has the guts to kill Harry,” because it suggests she has any desire to do so. I mean, has anything JKR has done lead us to believe that she doesn’t know what she’s doing in terms of storytelling or marketing? Do we have any reason to believe she actually hates her characters and her fans and wants to end the books on a sour note, make the whole epic story seem pointless, and piss off her audience? I say, No. it’s not about guts. She doesn’t want to kill Harry for aesthetic and economic reasons.
The Harry as Horcrux thing is interesting. It would mean that Voldemort never wanted Harry to die and can’t kill him now… I’m not sure it makes sense. Which doesn’t mean it won’t happen, but it does boggle the mind a bit. I guess we’ll find out in book 7. But one thing that is certain, is that good will win and Harry will live.