# Illogic of Harry Potter's Choice at the End of Book 6 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 16, 2006, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illogic-of-harry-potters-choice-at-the-end-of-book-6/380731 "2006-11-16T20:40:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illogic-of-harry-potters-choice-at-the-end-of-book-6/380731/21 "2006-11-17T00:30:41Z")
Well, Ginny’s not yet of age(and won’t be for another year), so she can’t legally do magic outside of school, and she doesn’t know how to apparate. Remember, Harry currently doesn’t plan on returning to Hogwarts. As long as she’s underage, Ginny would be a liability.(plus, Molly would kill him) As long as Hermione and Ron are with Harry, they can’t really be used against Harry: the Death Eaters will have to go through Harry to get either of them anyway. Now, I don’t believe that Harry thought this through at all. For starters, even if Ginny was of age, I think that Harry would have broken up with her anyway. ---
**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:** [November 17, 2006, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illogic-of-harry-potters-choice-at-the-end-of-book-6/380731/22 "2006-11-17T11:46:17Z")
[QUOTE=eleanorigby] But, but, but–Nev and Luna BELONG together! They so remind me of that odd, but filthy rich couple in 4 Weddings and a Funeral–the hopelessly geeky guy and the chick who actually wears the lil Bo Peep wedding dress…yes! A match made in heaven. [/quote] Nah, I can’t see Neville and Luna. He’d be too worried to keep up with her flights of fancy. Besides, I think JK’s said it’s not happening (Yay, JK!). > [@](#): > > Can’t you just see Luna up against Voldemort? He’d be all “Fear me, tremble at my wrath!” and she’d be all “what happened to your nose?” > > heh. That _would_ be great. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Who\_me\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/958977/32.png) [@Who\_me\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_me_1)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illogic-of-harry-potters-choice-at-the-end-of-book-6/380731/23 "2006-11-17T12:17:04Z")
Jeeze guys! Let a guy try to do something noble and you think he’s being stupid… 😉 Now I haven’t read any HP books in a while, but I don’t remember Harry, Hermione, Ron, Neville, Luna, et al… being in the Order of the Phoenix. They were, however, in Dumbledor’s Army. ---
**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:** [November 17, 2006, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illogic-of-harry-potters-choice-at-the-end-of-book-6/380731/24 "2006-11-17T12:23:56Z")
The only reason they weren’t allowed in is because they weren’t of age - that’s why the Weasley twins were. So probably Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville will be made members in the 7th book, while Ginny and Luna will have to wait a year. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illogic-of-harry-potters-choice-at-the-end-of-book-6/380731/25 "2006-11-17T19:34:05Z")
Right. And even if the OotP is off limits to the Hogwarts crowd, I’m betting that the DA is reformulated in some guise or other. I can’t see Ernie MacMillan not going to school, but then, we don’t know if Hogwarts will even be open. I’m also betting that the final scene takes place in Hogwarts or on the grounds. I really don’t see how Rowling is going to do all this in one book. Unles it’s twice the length of GoF. I’m no shipper, but I like to think of Luna and Neville as an old retired couple, pottering about in their garden. Luna is into ceramics and pottery, and Neville is now a famous herbologist who has discovered the cure for X… Hermione is Minister of Magic, Ron is a househusband, Harry raises hippogriffs at the Burrow with Ginny. It could happen! ---
**Author:** ![Dob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Dob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dob)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illogic-of-harry-potters-choice-at-the-end-of-book-6/380731/26 "2006-11-17T20:24:26Z")
some musings… I’m betting that somehow Aunt P. will be shown to be a real witch. Why didn’t Harry go back to Dumbledore’s office and talk to Dumbleodre’s painting? Drives me nuts, but I expect he will in the 7th book. Draco will die in the next book trying to redeem himself, or his mother will die trying to protect him. Snape will be the one that actually kills Voldy. The prophecy never said it had to be Harry, only that “one cannot live while the other does” or something like that. And Dumbledore kept drilling into Harry’s head that he needed to stop worrying about the prophecy and just do what he would normally try and do. Harry just doesn’t have the power or knowledge to kill him, it will have to be a real wizard. I’m thinking that maybe at the wedding Ginny hooks back up with Harry and all 4 go out, no matter what Harry says. Dumbledore comes back in some fashion. Maybe not as the “person”, but as a guide of some kind or something in a different incarnation. I know what JK said, but still… Ron and Hermione better not die! ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illogic-of-harry-potters-choice-at-the-end-of-book-6/380731/27 "2006-11-17T20:54:15Z")
I agree-Draco will definitely start to work with HP (or at least not against him). I thought there was mention of AD’s pic in the last bit of book 6–wasn’t it all dark or something? Perhaps it takes time for the subjects to dwell in their pictures (?). Ginny will be fighting in some way, I’m sure. when does the book come out? I could google, I suppose, but I am that lazy. ---
**Author:** ![Autumn\_Almanac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d26b3c/32.png) [@Autumn\_Almanac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autumn_Almanac)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illogic-of-harry-potters-choice-at-the-end-of-book-6/380731/28 "2006-11-17T21:03:11Z")
[QUOTE=eleanorigby] I thought there was mention of AD’s pic in the last bit of book 6–wasn’t it all dark or something? Perhaps it takes time for the subjects to dwell in their pictures (?). [/QUOTE] I think the book states that Dumbledore had already occupied his portrait, but that it depicted him sleeping. The implication was that new portrait-dwellers have to sleep for some unspecified amount of time before they can wake up and begin interacting. ---
**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:** [November 17, 2006, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illogic-of-harry-potters-choice-at-the-end-of-book-6/380731/29 "2006-11-17T21:10:49Z")
[QUOTE=Revenant Threshold] The only reason they weren’t allowed in is because they weren’t of age - that’s why the Weasley twins were. [/QUOTE] If you’re implying that Fred and George were members of the Order of the Phoenix in Book 5, I must disabuse you. That’s why they had to use the Extendable Ears, you know. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illogic-of-harry-potters-choice-at-the-end-of-book-6/380731/30 "2006-11-17T21:31:32Z")
[QUOTE=eleanorigby] when does the book come out? I could google, I suppose, but I am that lazy. [/QUOTE] Rowling’s shooting for [July 2007.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Potter_7_%28book%29#Release_date) ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illogic-of-harry-potters-choice-at-the-end-of-book-6/380731/31 "2006-11-17T21:56:44Z")
For future reference: Spoilers are accessible on mouse-over this high up in 1st threadpost. It’s better to quote the spoiler part > [@](#): > > Like this. Even if this were the first sentence in the first post of the thread, it won’t show up in the mouse-over previews; and because it’s in spoiler tags, no one IN the threads sees it either, unless they deliberately highlight the spoiler box ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illogic-of-harry-potters-choice-at-the-end-of-book-6/380731/32 "2006-11-17T22:15:46Z")
[QUOTE=Autumn Almanac] I think the book states that Dumbledore had already occupied his portrait, but that it depicted him sleeping. The implication was that new portrait-dwellers have to sleep for some unspecified amount of time before they can wake up and begin interacting. [/QUOTE] I think you need to re-read the exact wording of that…but I think that you’re at the right place in the wall for the secret passage, alright. [spoiler] I think that AD has faked his death. :eek: I think that significant magic was used on the portrait to make people believe he is dead, including one empty portrait. I think Snape is, while unpleasant, a triple-agent as it were…and that’s why he said “Oh no, No unforgiveable curses for You, Harry Potter…!” :dubious: He’s Angry…angry that he will be hated and reviled for being the killer of AD, when he’s not…angry that it had to be that way…and he blames HP for the role that he must now play. IMHO. Now I’ll go back and pepper my post with one or two random smilies so people not reading it will Really be confused. 😛 [/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![Gidget\_Widget](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ce73a5/32.png) [@Gidget\_Widget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gidget_Widget)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illogic-of-harry-potters-choice-at-the-end-of-book-6/380731/33 "2006-11-17T22:21:19Z")
[QUOTE=Dob] some musings… I’m betting that somehow Aunt P. will be shown to be a real witch. [/QUOTE] Rowling has said that Aunt Petunia has absolutely no magical power. [http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/rumours\_view.cfm?id=37](http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/rumours_view.cfm?id=37) ---
**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:** [November 17, 2006, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illogic-of-harry-potters-choice-at-the-end-of-book-6/380731/34 "2006-11-17T22:42:34Z")
[QUOTE=Gidget Widget] Rowling has said that Aunt Petunia has absolutely no magical power. [http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/rumours\_view.cfm?id=37](http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/rumours_view.cfm?id=37) [/QUOTE] Give him a break. He meant to spell that with a “b”. 'Course, I can’t see how anyone could have got this far in the series without already reaching that conclusion… ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2006, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illogic-of-harry-potters-choice-at-the-end-of-book-6/380731/35 "2006-11-18T00:33:40Z")
[QUOTE=eleanorigby] But, but, but–Nev and Luna BELONG together! They so remind me of that odd, but filthy rich couple in 4 Weddings and a Funeral–the hopelessly geeky guy and the chick who actually wears the lil Bo Peep wedding dress…yes! A match made in heaven. [/QUOTE] [I’m afraid JKR disagrees.](http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/rumours_view.cfm?id=24) > [@Dob](#): > > Snape will be the one that actually kills Voldy. The prophecy never said it had to be Harry, only that “one cannot live while the other does” or something like that. And Dumbledore kept drilling into Harry’s head that he needed to stop worrying about the prophecy and just do what he would normally try and do. Harry just doesn’t have the power or knowledge to kill him, it will have to be a real wizard. > [@Trelawney](#): > > And **either must die at the hand of the other** for neither can live while the other survives I’m not sure why Rowling keeps emphasing the “neither can live” part, when the “either must die at the hand of the other” seems to be the important part. > [@Count Blucher](#): > > I think that AD has faked his death. I think that significant magic was used on the portrait to make people believe he is dead, including one empty portrait. I think Snape is, while unpleasant, a triple-agent as it were…and that’s why he said “Oh no, No unforgiveable curses for You, Harry Potter…!” He’s Angry…angry that he will be hated and reviled for being the killer of AD, when he’s not…angry that it had to be that way…and he blames HP for the role that he must now play. IMHO. [http://www.quick-quote-quill.org/articles/2006/0802-radiocityreading2.html](http://www.quick-quote-quill.org/articles/2006/0802-radiocityreading2.html) > [@JKR](#): > > But I see that I need to be a little more explicit and say that Dumbledore is definitely … dead (crowd gasps). And I do know - I do know that there is an entire website out there that says - that’s name is [DumbledoreIsNotDead.com](http://DumbledoreIsNotDead.com) so umm, I’d imagine they’re not pretty happy right now (crowd laughs). But I think I need - you need - all of you need to move through the five stages of grief (crowd laughs), and I’m just helping you get past denial. So, I can’t remember what’s next. It may be anger so I think we should stop it here. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2006, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illogic-of-harry-potters-choice-at-the-end-of-book-6/380731/36 "2006-11-18T01:16:11Z")
Don’t confuse me with facts! I want Neville and Luna to grow old together. Make it so. I never thought Petunia was a witch, but I think she does play a part in the next book. Re the spoilers–I did the whole [spoiler] thing, not knowing that it would work-and it does! I am very excited. Any ideas as to the part that the twins will play? I think they’ll be important in (for lack of a better word) Homeland Security. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f9b8f/32.png) [@The\_Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Octagon)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2006, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illogic-of-harry-potters-choice-at-the-end-of-book-6/380731/37 "2006-11-18T01:48:15Z")
[QUOTE=Rysto] I’m not sure why Rowling keeps emphasing the “neither can live” part, when the “either must die at the hand of the other” seems to be the important part. [/quote] So Potter will lose his hand and Snape will slap Voldemort to death with it. No big deal. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2006, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illogic-of-harry-potters-choice-at-the-end-of-book-6/380731/38 "2006-11-18T02:07:16Z")
[QUOTE=eleanorigby] Don’t confuse me with facts! I want Neville and Luna to grow old together. Make it so. [/QUOTE] Hey, why not. I still hold out hope for Harry/Hermione…once poor Ron dies, they’ll both need a shoulder to cry on, you know. I’ve always thought that Petunia was a squib. I’m prepared to be proven wrong next July. And hey, I predicted a July 07 release like a year ago. My secret formula is this: The newspapers predicted book 5 would be out 1 year before it was, almost exactly. And book 6 too. Initially there was a prediction that book 7 would be out this past July… ---
**Author:** ![Sutremaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@Sutremaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sutremaine)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2006, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illogic-of-harry-potters-choice-at-the-end-of-book-6/380731/39 "2006-11-18T03:16:16Z")
Apologies for quoting the whole thing with a comment that’s shorter than this preamble, but it’s a bit upthread and I wanted to comment on the post as a whole. [QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Logical or not, it’s a brilliant setup. It allows Rowling a lot more possibilities in plot development than just having Ginny remain Harry’s GF would. Will Ginny pine for Harry and try to scheme some way back into his life – and play into Voldemort’s hands in the process? Will she try to console herself with some other boy, driving Harry so insanely jealous that his judgment is impaired and he makes a deadly mistake? Will Cho Chang come back into the picture and create a triangle? Rich, juicy possibilities! Better still, Harry can’t just cut Ginny out of his life entirely because they’re still schoolmates and he’s still Ron’s best friend and visits the Weasleys every holiday; so he can’t help seeing her before his eyes, and vice-versa, practically every day of the year. Oh, the tension! [/QUOTE] I can’t tell if this is sarcasm or not. It smells like it, but I’m not sure. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2006, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illogic-of-harry-potters-choice-at-the-end-of-book-6/380731/40 "2006-11-18T03:18:19Z")
I just spent an hour perusing the site that **rysto** linked to. Petunia is NOT a squib… Good site-from the horse’s mouth, so to speak. I can handle July of 2007-that’s not that far away. It will be hard, since it is the last. I do hope she does the encyclopedia that she mentions a few times in that site. I hold out for _Hogwarts: A History_ just because it’s quoted so often. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illogic-of-harry-potters-choice-at-the-end-of-book-6/380731.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illogic-of-harry-potters-choice-at-the-end-of-book-6/380731.md?page=3)