# Harry Potter's final dilemma (speculation/spoiler) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 2, 2006, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potters-final-dilemma-speculation-spoiler/350903 "2006-04-02T02:47:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2006, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potters-final-dilemma-speculation-spoiler/350903/101 "2006-04-05T18:51:08Z")
Dumbledore is definately going to be hanging in the headmaster’s office, dispensing his wisdom, but I don’t think we’ll see him in the flesh again. That was \the\ major happening in the last book, and I can’t see JKR nullifying it. What are the odds that, without a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Harry teaches the class this year? ---
**Author:** ![kellner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c2a13f/32.png) [@kellner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellner)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2006, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potters-final-dilemma-speculation-spoiler/350903/102 "2006-04-05T18:58:08Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > Could Dumbledore come back in another form, perhaps? Not as Dumbledore as such, but perhaps in some spiritual way? Perhaps he will be sent back as _Dumbledore the White_? I think there are enough established ways how Dumbledore could give some missing information to Harry without a real return: A stored pensieve memory, the different portraits etc. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2006, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potters-final-dilemma-speculation-spoiler/350903/103 "2006-04-05T19:43:11Z")
> [@Kythereia](#): > > I honestly think Dumbledore will be back in at least _some_ capacity, even if just in a portrait. He did appear in a portrait in McGonagall’s (formerly Dumbledore’s) office on p. 626 of HBP, snozzing away like the other past headmasters. Hmmm. But I still think he’ll be back. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2006, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potters-final-dilemma-speculation-spoiler/350903/104 "2006-04-05T19:45:18Z")
Or even snoozing. Whichever. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2006, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potters-final-dilemma-speculation-spoiler/350903/105 "2006-04-05T19:52:59Z")
> [@Fretful Porpentine](#): > > If James’ marriage to Lily _is_ in fact Snape’s motivation for hating Harry, what is his motivation for hating Sirius and Lupin? Snape hates James for two reasons: James used to pick on him (to impress Lily, and also because he didn’t like Snape), and James capture the heart of the woman he loved. Snape hates Sirius because Sirius was eager to participate in the tormenting of Snape (it’s not easy to forget the people who constantly humiliated you in high school) and because Sirius sent him to his near-death when Sirius convinced Snape to go spy on Lupin the werewolf. Snape doesn’t hate Lupin - he strongly dislikes him because when Sirius and James were tormenting Snape, Lupin the prefect stood by and did nothing. Remember that Snape made the werewolf potion for Lupin during the whole school year in Prisoner of Azkaban? Can you imagine Snape performing a similar service for Sirius Black? ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2006, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potters-final-dilemma-speculation-spoiler/350903/106 "2006-04-05T20:02:39Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > Hermione’s natural partner (in terms of archetypes) is Harry, not Ron. I have wondered myself why Hermione likes Ron and not Harry. I think the most logical explanation comes from the rational, practical side of Hermione’s character, and casting your mind back to the original description of Ron Weasley (from Philosopher’s Stone): > [@](#): > > He was tall, thin, and gangling, with freckles, _big hands and feet, and a long nose_.(italics mine) Need I say more? ---
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2006, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potters-final-dilemma-speculation-spoiler/350903/107 "2006-04-05T20:17:00Z")
I think the monstrosity of Ron’s dong will be very important in book 7. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2006, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potters-final-dilemma-speculation-spoiler/350903/108 "2006-04-05T20:24:00Z")
Engorgio! ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2006, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potters-final-dilemma-speculation-spoiler/350903/109 "2006-04-05T20:48:49Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > I waiver between Rowling being simplistic and her being very deep–not quite sure which at this point. > > I dunno–I realize that Harry looks very much like James and all, but is that enough for Snape to essentially passively/aggressively persecute him for 6 years? To me, that says that Snape is incapable of growth or perspective–which means he is not someone to go against Voldemort as he did (or did he?). I do think that if Snape turns out to be part of the Death Eaters all along, my fondness for the books will turn to dismay and then indifference. Fiction is all about change and growth-forcing Snape into such narrow character constructs is cheap, IMO. I think that having to work with Sirius and Lupin again (and trust them and see them trusted by others etc) would be enough to renew Snape’s enmity. But his treatment of Harry is in another league. I disagree with you, in some ways. Snape doesn’t strike me as narrow. Snape is NOT the forgive and forget type, he would very much fall into the catergory of hold a grudge and remember. Not only does Harry look like James (and has Lily’s eyes) but he ACTS like James, up to holding his same position on the quidditch team, disregarding the rules, etc. He spent his formative years being tormented by James and Sirius and is lashing back out at someone who strongly resembles James in both appearance and behaviour. And of course, Harry hasn’t exactly gone out of his way to make Snape like him, very much the opposite. Snape also shows a lot of insecurity and Harry has shown repeatedly that he is not afraid of Snape or unwilling to defy him. Anything Snape perceives as a slight against himself gets filed away in his ‘You are my enemy’ list. Such as, in COS when the kids steal supplies to make the polyjuice potion, he doesn’t seem as upset by the fact that items were taken, but that it was HIS office that was broken into and HIS items that were taken. It seems that Snape is torn between doing whats best for the school and the wizarding world overall and doing what would make him happy, IE get Harry out of his way. All of this is my opinion only and I apologize for any grammatical or spelling problems. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2006, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potters-final-dilemma-speculation-spoiler/350903/110 "2006-04-05T20:49:29Z")
You gotta wonder if _size_ in these matters doesn’t matter in the wizarding world or if spells don’t work in that particular area of life for wizards. Certainly, Rowling’s books border on asexual, but I don’t mind that–I am more interested in character and plot, any sex would slow things down (but then, I always wanted the pizza to be eaten in those porn films…). 😉 I am somewhat concerned by all the hugging that Hermione does to Harry in the movies–I can’t help but wonder if Rowling has told the directors a thing or two. I have had close male friends my whole life, and never hugged any of them as a teen as much as Hermione hugs Harry. She does not do so in the books, however. So, is it film shorthand or a subtle message? She doesn’t hug Ron at all, so perhaps she truly DOES “like” him, afterall… If the series is to end with Happy Ever After for all our main characters (except the Deatheaters, of course), then I have no problem with Hermione and Ron being a couple, Luna and Neville (a natural!) and Harry and Ginny. And, of course, Tonks and Lupin. But I fear that is too easy and too predictable. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2006, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potters-final-dilemma-speculation-spoiler/350903/111 "2006-04-05T20:56:16Z")
> [@Fretful Porpentine](#): > > I suppose it’s possible that the Potters have more recent Muggle ancestry than the Blacks or the Weasleys, but if you consider the Black family tree that Rowling drew to be canon, at least one Potter has married into the Black family without either party getting burned off the tapestry, which suggests that they _are_ in fact one of the old pureblood families. (FWIW, I don’t think Dorea and Charlus are James’ parents – I’m guessing distant cousins or something.) Possibly. They could just be totally unrelated Potters, but J.K. doesn’t often throw away links like that. And just because a Black married a Potter doesn’t mean that Potters are an old pureblood family - look at the Death Eaters, a lot of them aren’t, and at least one is a half-blood. I think the Blacks would have been happier with a member of one of the old families, but accepting of a pureblood such as James as long as they had the right ideas. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2006, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potters-final-dilemma-speculation-spoiler/350903/112 "2006-04-05T20:57:38Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > Luna and Neville (a natural!) Debunked by J.K. (and I personally say hooray. Luna’s my favourite character, she can do much better than Neville. 😛 ) ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2006, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potters-final-dilemma-speculation-spoiler/350903/113 "2006-04-05T21:03:43Z")
No no no! Neville is a sweet and wonderful guy, SHUT UP DAMN YOU (tears…) Seriously though, Dumbledore is DEAD. Snape took an unbreakable vow to kill him, and he killed him in the fulfillment of that vow. Dumbledore may well have known it was coming and even planned it, and most people seem to think that he was fatally injured in taking the ring, but the result of the plan is: he’s dead. Rowling would never undo the final chapter of Book 6: the funeral, the weeping, the resolve. His picture is in the headmaster’s wall. No doubt it will speak to Harry, but as we have been told, it is merely an echo of the man. The dude’s gone. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2006, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potters-final-dilemma-speculation-spoiler/350903/114 "2006-04-05T21:38:25Z")
Neville is WONDERFUL and any girl would be proud to be his GF, she said huffily. Seriously, Neville is a great guy. I doubt Luna deserves him. She is also wonderful in her own, odd way–she does deserve some happiness. Personally, I always thought she was the wizarding equivalent of a lesbian. I have no idea where that impression comes from, but I can see her as one. I can also see her as an agitator and insurregent revolutionary. Neville I see as professorial and exacting, but still effective in his own way. Herbologists unite! or some such thing. Hee. I agree, AD is dead–but can still help Harry via the cards and the pictures in some way. And there is Fawkes as well. I don’t see Harry as teaching the DAD class at all. I doubt he shows up at Hogwarts unless as a plot device to communicate with AD or garner aid in his Quest. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2006, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potters-final-dilemma-speculation-spoiler/350903/115 "2006-04-05T21:45:39Z")
eleanorigby, adding to what Revenant Threshold said, you should read [this interview of J.K. Rowling](http://www.mugglenet.com/jkrinterview.shtml) over at mugglenet. I am sure you will find it interesting. All those hugs between Hermione and Harry must be movie shorthand. Hermione and Ron are clearly an item. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2006, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potters-final-dilemma-speculation-spoiler/350903/116 "2006-04-05T21:48:00Z")
P.S. I thought it was in that interview that J. K. Rowling said that Luna is “too much woman” for Neville (her weirdness would intimidate him), but I guess not. That must have been from the Rowling website or another interview. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2006, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potters-final-dilemma-speculation-spoiler/350903/117 "2006-04-05T21:49:02Z")
Correct me if I’m mistaken (or support me if I’m correct), but I believe I read a Rowling quote in which she stated that the Chocolate Frog cards are _not_ a useful means of data transmission. In book 5, when Dumbledore was said to have only cared about remaining on the Chocolate Frog cards (after being removed from the Wizengamot), he was manifesting an endearing eccentricity. He was communicating that he did not take the sanctions against him seriously enough to disturb his focus on his work against Voldemort. The above is MHO, of course. I _do_ have hopes that his portrait in the Headmaster’s office will be helpful to Harry. I wonder if Aberforth is going to have one in the back room of the Hog’s Head? ---
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2006, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potters-final-dilemma-speculation-spoiler/350903/118 "2006-04-05T21:55:09Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > I don’t see Harry as teaching the DAD class at all. I doubt he shows up at Hogwarts unless as a plot device to communicate with AD or garner aid in his Quest. I admit Harry teaching DAD was a bit of a stretch, but he almost certainly will show up at Hogwarts for either of the two reasons Mz. Rigby just mentioned. There are too many loose ends there that need to be tied up----not that it isn’t possible we get chapters with Harry defusing Horcruxes inbetween the goings on at the school. I just couldn’t imagine Harry NOT showing at Hogwarts for the last book—seems counterintuitive. Oh. Which reminds me, all this Potter-ing reminded me to check JKR’s site & her [diary](http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/). Just don’t get excited. The entirety of her book 7 thoughts: “The book’s still going well, I’m sure you’re pleased to hear, lack of paper notwithstanding.” You tease, you. ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2006, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potters-final-dilemma-speculation-spoiler/350903/119 "2006-04-05T22:13:31Z")
The order communicates via Patronuses anyway, not frog cards. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2006, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potters-final-dilemma-speculation-spoiler/350903/120 "2006-04-05T22:21:03Z")
> [@Birdmonster](#): > > I admit Harry teaching DAD was a bit of a stretch… Unless Harry shows up the gravestone, a HUGE stretch. 😉 Just to qualify my comments to the (apperently many) Neville fans, I probably phrased it badly - Luna can do better than Neville because she should have someone more willing to go along with her…oddities. If they were an item, she’d be giving him heart attacks all the time - he’s dependable and loyal, but she confuses the hell out of most people, let alone a worrier like Neville. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potters-final-dilemma-speculation-spoiler/350903.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potters-final-dilemma-speculation-spoiler/350903.md?page=7)