# Little Things You Hope JK Rowling Will Clear Up In Book 7 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 20, 2005, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-you-hope-jk-rowling-will-clear-up-in-book-7/313276 "2005-07-20T12:21:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-you-hope-jk-rowling-will-clear-up-in-book-7/313276/21 "2005-07-21T00:08:33Z")
But…but…Ravenclaws are SMART! I am a wee tired of all this “man of action” stuff. I wish that HP would THINK and ponder and consider before he runs off. I am seriously wondering how JKR will frame the next book, because w/o Hogwarts as a device–this could get complicated. It could also be complicated with Hogwarts! Other loose ends: do something with the house elves. (did you know that SPEW was completely left out of GOF movie–rumor I heard). Enough with Lily’s eyes already–they must mean something. Provide some rounding to James, 'cause right now I think he was a bit of a prick. Provide backstory/reasons for Snape’s hating of HP–there has to be more to it than Jame’s boorish behavior. Along with that, Snape needs to truly look at HP and stop seeing JP. Complete the prophecy–is Neville a key character or not? Is HP a direct descendant of Gryffindor? I think Dumbly is. Note-I see no problem with Tonks being a few years behind Snape in school. She is in between the Potters and the trio in age, I think–like 19-20-ish. Andromeda could have married way early( I have a friend whose kids are all thru HS and we are 43-she had them all in her late teens, early 20’s) Clear up Malfoy’s dilemma–does he help HP in the end? does he die? Do the ghosts play a role in the finale? So many questions. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-you-hope-jk-rowling-will-clear-up-in-book-7/313276/22 "2005-07-21T00:14:18Z")
> [@Alias](#): > > “Say crucio again! Say crucio one more time. . .” “Blast ended skrewts may taste like butterbeer but I wouldn’t know cause I wouldn’t eat the filthy mugglestuffer.” ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-you-hope-jk-rowling-will-clear-up-in-book-7/313276/23 "2005-07-21T00:18:12Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > Ravenclaw is the house for people who are, frankly, geeks and nerds. (Don’t be offended. I expect that I’d be sorted into Ravenclaw.) Gryffindors and Slytherins (who are the wizarding world’s headstrong jocks and obnoxious preppies) tend to ignore them. > > Also, Hufflepuffs don’t get much attention either. One of the Sorting Hat’s songs makes it pretty clear that Hufflepuff is basically the miscellaneous category, for people who don’t fit into any of the other three houses. And (IMO) it’s pretty clear that what Harry’s gonna do at some point is to get all four houses working together: Ravenclaw to do the brainwork, Hufflepuff to do the gruntwork, Slythern to do the strategy/sneaky stuff and Gryffindor to do the gutsy stuff, to take down Voldy… Also, anyone get the feeling that the last paragraph (which she apparently wrote first) is gonna be something like “…and that’s how The Boy That Lived died .” ---
**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:** [July 21, 2005, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-you-hope-jk-rowling-will-clear-up-in-book-7/313276/24 "2005-07-21T00:19:12Z")
How did James Potter get to be Head Boy, if he wasn’t a prefect? How did Lily Potter get to be Head Girl if she wasn’t a prefect? If Lily Potter _was_ a prefect, why wasn’t she pulling rank on James _and_ Snape in that memory Harry witnessed in the Pensieve? And maybe leaning on Remus to use his own authority to rein in the doofus he hung out with. ---
**Author:** ![Axel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6de8d8/32.png) [@Axel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Axel)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-you-hope-jk-rowling-will-clear-up-in-book-7/313276/25 "2005-07-21T00:25:43Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > But…but…Ravenclaws are SMART! > > I am a wee tired of all this “man of action” stuff. I wish that HP would THINK and ponder and consider before he runs off. > > I am seriously wondering how JKR will frame the next book, because w/o Hogwarts as a device–this could get complicated. It could also be complicated with Hogwarts! > > Other loose ends: > > do something with the house elves. (did you know that SPEW was completely left out of GOF movie–rumor I heard). > > Enough with Lily’s eyes already–they must mean something. > > Provide some rounding to James, 'cause right now I think he was a bit of a prick. > > Provide backstory/reasons for Snape’s hating of HP–there has to be more to it than Jame’s boorish behavior. Along with that, Snape needs to truly look at HP and stop seeing JP. > > Complete the prophecy–is Neville a key character or not? > > Is HP a direct descendant of Gryffindor? I think Dumbly is. > Note-I see no problem with Tonks being a few years behind Snape in school. She is in between the Potters and the trio in age, I think–like 19-20-ish. Andromeda could have married way early( I have a friend whose kids are all thru HS and we are 43-she had them all in her late teens, early 20’s) > > Clear up Malfoy’s dilemma–does he help HP in the end? does he die? > > Do the ghosts play a role in the finale? > > So many questions. Again I simply agree. Except for AD and HP being descendant of Gryffindor. With the emphasis the books have placed on choice, I’d hope that the characters, or at least the goodies, would move away from ancestral impetuses. We’ve seen that Voldemort was a sociopathic bastard before he ever knew he was the ‘heir of Slytherin,’ and Harry was only his nemesis through Voldemort’s own choice, and muggle-borns can be as skilled as purebloods, so hopefully heritage plays no part in the heroism of any of the other characters. Now I want to see the ghosts and the house elves team up in the Final Battle alongside the good guys! ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-you-hope-jk-rowling-will-clear-up-in-book-7/313276/26 "2005-07-21T00:51:29Z")
I just can’t shake the image (very Arthurian) of HP pulling the sword out of the hat. Then again, it just sort of appeared. Dunno. It’s gonna be a loooong wait! ---
**Author:** ![stringy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@stringy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stringy)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-you-hope-jk-rowling-will-clear-up-in-book-7/313276/27 "2005-07-21T03:53:40Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > Also, anyone get the feeling that the last paragraph (which she apparently wrote first) is gonna be something like “…and that’s how The Boy That Lived died .” Apparently the last word in the last sentence is “scar”. Can’t remember where I heard that, possibly on her site or in an interview - if anyone else knows I’d be grateful for a link so I can take another look. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-you-hope-jk-rowling-will-clear-up-in-book-7/313276/28 "2005-07-21T04:10:29Z")
It doesn’t really need to be cleared up, but I guess Ginny didn’t make prefect. I kinda wondered if she would since so many of the Weasly kids did. No mention of new 5th year prefects was made in this book. Where do we hear that James and Lily were Head Boy and Girl? I think Hagrid says it, but clearly he’s made mistakes remembering things before…like the thing about all bad wizzards come from Slytherin. Count me in with those who would like to hear more about Hermione’s home life and parents. I was so delighted in CoS when we saw them at Gringott’s changing money. I think they are very brave to let their daughter keep going to school after all she’s been through. Or maybe she never told her parents she was petrified, although I would think someone would have told them when it happened. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-you-hope-jk-rowling-will-clear-up-in-book-7/313276/29 "2005-07-21T09:24:41Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > Also, anyone get the feeling that the last paragraph (which she apparently wrote first) is gonna be something like “…and that’s how The Boy That Lived died .” I should certainly hope not. I would be roundly disappointed to see the series take a turn to adolescent pathos. (Some of the theories being floated about here are quite heavy on death - if all of them came through, every single wizard in England will have nobly sacrificed themself for some pet cause. I guess Eloise Midgin is gonna bite it ridding the wizarding world of acne forevermore.) Seriously, I’d be shocked if the author chose to kill off the main characters at the end; it’s easy writing, of course, because it ties up loose ends, and the books’ intended audience by now is probably mostly angst-ridden teenagers. Still, I’d hate to see Rowling resort to that sort of nonsense to end the books. ---
**Author:** ![Marlitharn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marlitharn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlitharn)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-you-hope-jk-rowling-will-clear-up-in-book-7/313276/30 "2005-07-21T10:50:52Z")
Is Fawkes gone forever or did Dumbledore bequeath him to Harry? Why such on emphasis on the fact that Fawkes’s feathers were only ever used in two wands: Harry’s and Voldemort’s? This McCraggin or McGraggin or whatever his name was; he just appeared out of the blue, yet apparently he’s been a Gryffindor the whole time; where’d he come from? In OotP, we learn that Charlie’s been in Romania trying to convince foreign wizards to fight for the good guys; any success? I’ve been waiting for 6 books for Trevor the toad to do something besides try to escape; I even wondered if maybe he was the half-blood prince in disguise. That stupid toad had better do something soon. Her next book is gonna have to be about 3,000 pages long to tie up all the loose ends. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-you-hope-jk-rowling-will-clear-up-in-book-7/313276/31 "2005-07-21T11:06:07Z")
> [@Caricci](#): > > For me it’s this: how on earth did Hagrid’s dad get together with a giantess? Someone put him up to it? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![merrily](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@merrily](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/merrily)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-you-hope-jk-rowling-will-clear-up-in-book-7/313276/32 "2005-07-21T11:07:03Z")
If Andromeda is 42, Snape 38, and Belletrix older, Belletrix and Snape could still be schoolmates–they were all in Slytherin, after all, and Harry knows older Gryffindor kids. It doesn’t have to mean they were buddies–there are 7 years of kids there, after all. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-you-hope-jk-rowling-will-clear-up-in-book-7/313276/33 "2005-07-21T12:08:52Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > Seriously, I’d be shocked if the author chose to kill off the main characters at the end; it’s easy writing, of course, because it ties up loose ends, and the books’ intended audience by now is probably mostly angst-ridden teenagers. Still, I’d hate to see Rowling resort to that sort of nonsense to end the books. I saw someone call this “pulling a Gundam.” Personally, I think you can kill off adults, but it’ll be much harder for Rowling to kill off any kid. ---
**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:** [July 21, 2005, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-you-hope-jk-rowling-will-clear-up-in-book-7/313276/34 "2005-07-21T23:00:56Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > Where do we hear that James and Lily were Head Boy and Girl? I think Hagrid says it, but clearly he’s made mistakes remembering things before…like the thing about all bad wizzards come from Slytherin. Yes, that _is_ where I get my expectation from. But until Rowling states in the story or in an interview that Hagrid was embellishing, I want her held to the point. Also, in _Sorcerer’s Stone_, Snape’s first Potions lesson reveals that the recipe for Draught of Living Death is powdered root of asphodel mixed with an infusion of wormwood. Yet, when the NEWT Potions class is challenged to make it, there’s all this extraneous nonsense about chopping up valerian roots and expressing juice from a sopophorous bean. Huh? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-you-hope-jk-rowling-will-clear-up-in-book-7/313276/35 "2005-07-22T01:17:17Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > I saw someone call this “pulling a Gundam.” Personally, I think you can kill off adults, but it’ll be much harder for Rowling to kill off any kid. I’ll mention this to Cedric Diggory; I’m sure he’ll be relived. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-you-hope-jk-rowling-will-clear-up-in-book-7/313276/36 "2005-07-22T04:41:26Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > I’ll mention this to Cedric Diggory; I’m sure he’ll be relived. Any kid we actually care about. Or hate but has been too well-established. ---
**Author:** ![vtynos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f07891/32.png) [@vtynos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vtynos)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2005, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-you-hope-jk-rowling-will-clear-up-in-book-7/313276/37 "2005-07-23T18:43:15Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally Posted By Stringy_ > Apparently the last word in the last sentence is “scar”. Can’t remember where I heard that, possibly on her site or in an interview - if anyone else knows I’d be grateful for a link so I can take another look. The last word is indeed scar. I believe the end of the seventh book goes something like this: > [@](#): > > Harry awoke, the morning sunlight streaming over his face. Looking up, he could see his mother, father, Ron and Hermione standing over him. > > “I’ve just been to the most amazing place!” Harry exclaimed. “There were wizards and witches and a magical school and a terribly evil wizard.” And, pointing to each of them, he said, “and you were there, and you were there, and you were and you were there!” > > (There also turned out to be a shady lawyer in a powder blue suit in the room, to whom Harry said, “You I’ve never seen before.”) > > Harry’s mother sat down on his bed next to him, and patted his arm. > > “Wizards? Witches?” she said. “Oh, Harry you must have just had a bad dream. There are no wizards or witches here.” > > “But what about… my forehead?” Harry asked, reaching up and running his hand across it. Then he gasped in shock. There was nothing there. It must have all been a dream - he could not feel his scar. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2005, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-you-hope-jk-rowling-will-clear-up-in-book-7/313276/38 "2005-07-23T18:51:07Z")
> [@](#): > > Why must she [Tonks] be at least 24? When Harry first meets her at the beginning of OotP, she’s been qualified as an Auror for a year, and we learn later in the book that becoming an Auror takes three years of training. So assuming that she left Hogwarts at 18 (and we’ve had no indication that anybody can skip years or begin school early), she must have been at least 22 at that time, which would make her 24 two years later. ---
**Author:** ![Hamish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a5b964/32.png) [@Hamish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamish)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2005, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-you-hope-jk-rowling-will-clear-up-in-book-7/313276/39 "2005-07-23T19:54:49Z")
> [@DeVena](#): > > Drooble’s Best Blowing Gum wrappers and Neville’s wacked out parents. **Excalibre** is right – she confirmed there is no secret behind the gum wrappers in an interview posted yesterday at Mugglenet. It’s actually based on a true story – a woman with Alzheimers, giving her child candy wrappers – which she’d heard. ---
**Author:** ![Hamish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a5b964/32.png) [@Hamish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamish)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2005, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-you-hope-jk-rowling-will-clear-up-in-book-7/313276/40 "2005-07-23T20:06:23Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > Why do we NEVER hear about Ravenclaw? Various kids are mentioned, but the skills of Ravenclaw (I would think) would be neccessary to defeat Voldy. Ravenclaw has a purpose in the books – to provide love interests. With the exception of Luna, all the Ravenclaws become significant as love interests – Cho Chang, Michael Corner, Penelope Clearwater, Roger Davies, Padma Patil – all would be totally unknown if they weren’t (respectively, not collectively) Harry’s first kiss, Ginny’s boyfriend, Percy’s girlfriend, Fleur’s date for the Yule Ball, and Ron’s date for the Yule Ball. Luna will probably wind up with someone, and that’ll clinch it, though at least she’s done something other than suck face with Gryffindors and Veelas. I’m hoping the last Horcrux will be something of Ravenclaw’s, since we’ve seen artefacts from all the others. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-you-hope-jk-rowling-will-clear-up-in-book-7/313276.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-you-hope-jk-rowling-will-clear-up-in-book-7/313276.md?page=3)