Oh, one more thing. Most or all of the following people will appear in some capacity:
Terry Boot
Mandy Brocklehurst
Morag MacDougal
Sally-Anne Perks
Lisa Turpin
Blaise Zabini
Well, Cho wasn’t introduced until Book 3, and even then, her role wasn’t remotely a major one until Book 5. Given the average length of the books these days, I can easily see Luna (or Umbridge, or any other relatively one-dimensional new character) developing quite a lot of depth in the final two books.
Regarding Ron… well, considering that he did not pick up on Ginny’s last two boyfriends until long after she had entered into those relationships, I don’t think we can assume he knows much of anything about his sister’s interests. 
Even though he somehow because Prefect over Harry, I don’t think he’ll ever be Quiddich captain over him. Dumbledore doesn’t get to decide this one :D.
As for Luna, I really don’t think there is any chance that she and Harry get together. If anything Luna dates Ron (whom she showed more interest in the book… remember she walks up to the three of them one time and only says ‘Hi’ to Ron, kinda like what Cho did with Harry and his group).
Yeah, there are several hints like this. In the first scene, she bursts out laughing at some not-terribly-fun quip Ron makes, and then there’s another scene where she’s watching him and not paying much attention to anyone else.
I wouldn’t worry too much about what Harry saw in the Mirror of Erised; it simply is not a clairvoyance device. Ron saw himself as Quidditch Captain and Head Boy because he had such a desire to stand as an equal with his older brothers, in terms of achievement. Harry saw all of his relatives, because being surrounded by loving family members had been the strongest desire of his heart, that Christmas night in 1991.
I do think it possible that Ron may achieve both positions, but his vision in the Mirror of Erised will have nothing to do with it.
sv_87, I’m pretty sure that Neville won’t train as an Auror. He would need to take N.E.W.T. - level Potions courses from Snape, and he can’t qualify to do that without an “O”-level O.W.L.
in Potions. Even though Snape wasn’t administering (and more important, won’t be grading) the O.W.L. test for Potions, I have the feeling that his problems in that subject are not wholly due to Snape-related performance anxiety. I could be wrong about this, of course.
I still think that it will be revealed that Voldermort and Harry are somehow related. Several times their physical resemblance to one another has been mentioned.
It’s possible that Voldemort is related to Harry’s dad. We know nothing about James Potter’s relatives. BTW: how old is Voldemort?
Since he was approximately fifteen in 1942 (cf. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, in which fifty years prior, he had been old enough to be a prefect, but was not yet Head Boy), I would have to put him at about sixty-eight years old as OotP opens.
I agree that the Dumbledore tell-all was disappointing: nothing we hadn’t guessed or known, and the connection between Voldy and Harry is still confusing at best.
We’ve now seen Dumbledore facing Voldemort down to a stalemate. He’s spilled all his beans. He’s definately not got long for this world. I’d put his death at the end of book 6 myself: the ultimate cliffhanger for the conclusion (not a true cliffhanger, but a real “how will they possible make it next year without his protection!?”
Ron is no Auror. That’s Harry’s gig, and maybe Nelville, potions aside.
Yeah, but he spent some of that time “dead.” Do you age when you have no body?
I believe Voldemort is as old as Hagrid is now. Remember in the second book, Voldemort framed Hagrid for the death at Hogwarts. Remember the ghost in the girls bathroom? So if anyone remembers how old Hagrid is, we can figure out Voldemort’s age.
I also think that the mirror will play an important role. However, I think that Lupin may use it and then TOOTP can keep in contact with Harry in that manner.
I think if Ron and Hermione don’t get together, I’d be very confused.
I hope that J.K. Rowling does develop Aunt Petunia’s character more. It’s obvious that she knows more about the magical world than she’s willing to admit. That’s why she was able to remember the dementors. You have to wonder though, what else can she remember? She lived with a magical sister long enough to understand some of it. What else has she heard or remember?
I wonder though if Uncle Vernon will finally get a blood doctor or something. That blood pressure of his is way too high.
I like how J.K. Rowling built up Neville’s character. Does anybody have any idea what will happen to his parents? Will they recover from the curse and help the TOOTP again? Or will they remain in the closed ward until they die?
Book 6 will probably be all about Lily and her friends and Petunia, in much the same way that Prisoner of Azkaban was about James and the Marauders.
I think it’s about time too. 
I was expecting something more in Order of the Phoenix, but she did actually appear, I guess that’s a start…
I asked about Voldemort’s age to check out the theory that he is related to James Potter. Good call about him being the same age as Hagrid (within a year or so). Hagrid is pretty active for a guy in his late sixties. Then again, Dumbledore is 150 years old, so maybe magical people just naturally live longer than us muggles.
If Voldemort is about sixty-eight or so, then he could be Harry’s grandfather or grand-uncle. Think about it: Harry is 15. His father, if he was still alive, would be in his early 40’s. Harry’s grandfather would be in his late 60’s or early 70’s. Could be.
Of course, now that Voldy has a new body, his chronological age is meaningless.
It is certainly telling that while Harry’s parents and aunt and uncle are endlessly fussed over, not a peep has been made about his grandparents–except that Lily and Petunia’s parents were proud of Lily. I wonder if the missing section of the Black family tapestry tells about the link between James Potter, Sirius Black, and the Riddle family? I am taking for granted that Harry is somehow related to Sirius. Not that it’s a big deal–as we sat in OotP, all wizards are related. However, Sirius’ death has set us up for the hackneyed “dead father figure appears in visions to instruct young vigilante” so heavily used in sci-fi and fantasy. Luke and Obi-Wan, Lion-o and… what was that guy’s name…
I see Luna and Neville getting together at the end. They’re both oddball types. I’ve been guessing that Neville has some sort of memory charm placed upon him… perhaps to keep the memory of his parents’ torture out of mind. If that is the case, I expect the charm to be broken (or grown out of), leaving Neville to break free from his squib tendencies.
I don’t expect any communication between Sirius and Harry, except when Harry dreams about him. Harry’s made the effort - trying the mirror and asking Nick, but it will not happen.
I also expect Wormtail to redeem himself… but the silver hand given to him by Voldie blatantly foreshadows Lupin’s death. What better than silver to slay a werewolf? Perhaps as he’s about to slay his old friend, Wormtail will see how far into the dark side he has gone. Anyone else notice his conspicuous absence in OotP?
I’m with others on Harry & Ginny getting together. I was holding out hope for him & Cho, but after OotP it feels like Cho was just using him as a Cedric substitute. She’s got to get over Cedric, and Harry remains only as a reminder of what she lost there.
I see Snape making the ultimate sacrifice against Voldemort. I hope before he does Harry has a chance to thank him.
I don’t believe we’ll see much more of Petunia’s ramblings of the magic world. She’s greatly jealous that her sister was a witch & she was left out. All she does know of the magic world is what she has heard through James & Lily. I’m really intrigued about what Dudley experienced with the Dementy-whatzits though.
Lastly, I sadly conceed that Dumbledore will bite it in book 6. You can take books 5, 6, and 7 in a trilogy of their own. The 2nd part of a trilogy always holds the darkest parts.
I wonder if Dumbledore will die a natural death? I’ve read many threads and theories where he is killed, but dying naturally would fit well into what he tells Riddle.
Or would that be too like Yoda?
Specifically it says several times that she looks like a frog. Could she be Neville’s toad, Trevor, or some connection to same? (It’s not easy to tell the gender of toads, or at least not to me or most other non-toadologists.)
I think Dumbledore’s brother will make an appearance as well, but probably as a Death-Eater. Perhaps he’ll take over Hogwarts when Albus is killed.
I think that Hermione will reverse course and develop a same-sex union with a witch called Tara, then become a Death Eater when T… wait, that sounds familiar…
I think that Ollivander will return as well. This isn’t a very reliable gauge, but John Hurt was way too major an actor to play such a tiny role in the first movie.
I could definitely see Voldemort as Harry’s granddad, but it’s almost too obvious. I still think there’s another major connection twixt the two- I used to say I thought you’d find out Voldemort and Harry were the same person (which is why Voldemort destroyed himself when he aimed at Harry), but too much was made of Harry’s resemblance to his parents in PHOENIX.
I think we’ll learn that Petunia AND OR Snape were instrumental in the deaths of the Potters.
BTW, my favorite exchange of the books was between Vernon and Moody: “Are you threatening me?” “Why, yes I am…”
I hope that Mad-Eye will be played by name’s-the-same actor Ron Moody , best known as Fagin in OLIVER. He certainly looks the part. (He’s old now, but then he married at 61 and had 6 kids so he’s obviously still healthy.)
I’d also love to see Brian Blessed as Fudge and Edie McClurg (if she can do a British accent) as Umbridge. Of course I always pictured Eric Idle and Jennifer Saunders as Mr. & Mrs. Weasley but that didn’t pan out…
You guys are SURE it’s OK if I spoil here?
I thought before reading this book that it would be Percy who died, and that theory was reinforced when Molly saw the boggart. If you recall, in the third book she was very upset when Fred & George came back from the World Cup because she thought her last words to them were harsh ones. Imagine how much more badly she will be upset if something happens to Percy while he’s at odds with his family. Molly’s a good character, and I was pleased to see her go up against Sirius where she felt he wasn’t protecting him enough. I do wonder though why she didn’t seem more upset over Fred & George dropping out.
The line where Petunia tells Vernon what a dementor is was priceless, and I was into the following paragraph before I completely realized what she had said. We know Lily was Muggle-born, but that doesn’t mean Petunia didn’t also get her sister’s magical abilities. I predict a great moment of some kind for Petunia in future books. Incidentally, James as a teenager was cruel to Snape, so I would think it’s possible that Lily was cruel to her sister… maybe Petunia’s attitude was shaped by that.
My thoughts on Snape - it’s been made clear that he was a follower of Voldemort’s, but it’s NOT clear whether he went of his own accord or if he was an agent of Dumbledore’s. I too am confused about his fawning over Draco, since he (Snape) seems destined to be a good guy in the end, and Draco’s father is definitely bad news. In the movies so far, Alan Rickman as Snape seems a good deal more sympathetic than the book Snape. I wonder if he knows something we don’t.
At the end of the fourth book, Harry thought Dumbledore had “a triumphant gleam” in his eye when Harry told him Voldemort had risen again - why, I wonder? That wasn’t really touched on in this book, but so far Rowling has been very careful not to leave loose ends - even a character as minor as Mrs. Figg was touched upon early in the series (and I think the Weasley’s had borrowed her tent for the World Cup, by the way) so I can’t see something like suspicion of Dumbledore’s motives going unremarked later.
I’m sure I have more thoughts on this, but I’m too sleepy to think them just now.
Heck, Draco is already bad news: it’s very strongly hinted that he knows Voldemort is back, and his happy about anticipating the new world order.
I’d say that Snape is favoring him as good cover, but we already know that Voldemort knows that Snape is a traitor, so what’s the point of a ruse?
I think Snape’s just a Syltherin alumn who wants to see his house win, especially if it dims Harry’s star in the process. He doesn’t want Voldy to win, or Draco to rule the world, but in the meantime, while he’s fighting Voldymort, there are still the petty matters of house rivalry.
Of course, now it’s been hinted that the houses are meant to unite. THAT should be interesting.
The real question is whether Snape will ever become the DatDA teacher like he wants, and if becoming it means he’s doomed. Maybe that’s why Dumbledore DOESN’T want him to teach the class?