Oh, and one hope/speculation:
JKR MUST demonstrate to us, in the next two books, why Slytherin is still a house at Hogwarts, probably by showing us a heroic Slytherin (perferably more than one).
So, anybody feel like sepculating about the covers, front and back?
cmkeller. Granted, but law enforcement is the only area where I see multiple deputies. In other, administrative positions deputies tend to be a bit rarer than even assistants or vice-presidents. Unless this is one of those dastardly British eccentricities about the Potterverse.
I can’t see a legitimate political wing of the Death Eaters existing, at this point. Like a magical version of Stormfront? NO WAY! I can see Narcissa, in some disgrace as the wife of an imprisoned Death Eater, keeping her head down, attempting to maintain her dignity (and her freedom). She will, at most, operate as the hostess of clandestine meetings of Death-Eaters, and probably not even attend the meetings. She has to know she’s being watched.
I still think that Petunia Evans matriculated at Hogwarts, found it not to her liking (and/or too rigorous for her temprament), and returned to the Muggle world. Notwithstanding her dislike for the environment, she carried a significant load of shame and resentment for her failure to assimilate, and rationalized away any sense of personal inadequacy by developing an extremely sour grapes attitude regarding the realm of Magic. She may even have persuaded herself that it was possible for her to completely divorce herself from the magical realm, and that she had done so. Certainly her own son is not remotely magical. However, she is still the repository of an ancient magic enchantment, the blood-bond protection that keeps Harry safe from Voldemort. I would be very surprised if that enchantment does not also protect Dudley from Voldemort.
And that’s why Dumbledore can’t die in book Six. Hermione could never in a thousand years explain that. 
[QUOTE=Hamish]
Another reason I don’t think Lupin will be the next DADA teacher is because I buy the theory Diceman presented in an earlier Harry Potter thread here on the SDMB. That theory is that the potions Snape used to protect the Philosopher’s Stone foreshadow the DADA teachers:[ul][li]Poison – Quirrel [/li][li]Nettle Wine – Lockhart[/li][li]Allows you to go forward – Lupin[/li][li]Poison – fake Moody[/li][li]Poison – Umbridge[/li][li]Nettle Wine – Unknown[/li][li]Allows you to go backward – Unknown[/ul]By this theory, our next DADA teacher should be a total incompetent, but not particularly dangerous to Harry. Doesn’t sound like Lupin.[/li][/QUOTE]
Actually, I didn’t create this theory. I read it an article on Mugglenet, and I broached the theory in the last Harry Potter thread. Incidentally, I’ve thought alot about what the Backward potion might symbolize. According to the riddle, both Backward and Forward will help you, so the seventh DADA teacher will be a good guy. Also, it says that safety lies behind. Perhaps the seventh teacher will offer Harry a chance to go back to an ordinary muggle life, and avoid a confrontation with Voldemort. Naturally, Harry would have to refuse this offer.
I wonder what that “death arch” that Sirius fell through is for. I think that it might be an execution device, a relic from the days when England still used capital punishment. Consider:[ul][li]It sits in a room that looks like the old courtroom.[/li][li]Both of these rooms are in an old, neglected part of the Ministry building.[/li][li]The arch is obviously connected to the spirit realm.[/li]The arch would be the perfect device for a “humane” execution: the death is quick, not bloody or gruesome, and probably painless. There is no chance of the condemned person failing to die, and you don’t even have to dispose of the corpse afterwards. You just push the prisoner through the arch, and he’s gone forever.[/ul]
Absolutely. Remember, when Harry saw the Mirror of Erised, he became obsessed with it. Ron, on the other hand, was very excited about it, but seemed to know when to let go of it. I think Ron got the best possible outcome from the mirror – a tiny little spark of confidence from the idea that maybe, just maybe, it might be possible to succeed. In the mirror, he literally “saw” himself as a success for the first time. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was part of the reason why he had the guts to try out for the team in the first place, even though he was an absolute nervous wreck about it.
Here in Canada, we have multiple Deputy Ministers in every ministry, and I seem to recall that the CIA has multiple Deputy Directors.
I have some really, really devastating news:
[spoiler] I thought we were camping the weekend of the 23rd. We have just found out that there was a miscommunication between Mr. Ujest and our friends organizing this clambake and …I…won’t be …home…to get …my #6 book …for the second HP release in a row.
I am so not happy right now. Like a petulant teenager. [/spoiler]
gasp Don’t go! Fake sick! It’s Harry freakin’ Potter!
Beleive me, I am so not happy about this. The last time, I remember the pain very well, June 21 of 2003, we were in Holland Michigan and every freaking where we went all I saw as Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
However, being that we are going to the thumb area of Michigan to camp, I have hopes of not being tortured so brutally.
On to more serious matters:
The book covers by the links provided:
The horses with wings: pegaguses (Pegasii?) or some other new kind of Magical Beastie?
One of the back covers looking skyward at night at a Deatheater signal looks to be Hermione, Ron and possibly Harry without any glasses.
The one with Dumbledore and Harry Potter in a Ring of Fire is clearly a hemroid ad in making 
This is just wrong, wrong, WRONG!
The kid will be half-centaur, half-human. As for what he’ll look like… well… I’m imagining that he’ll look something like a Greek Satyr.
For homework, write a speculative essay on Buckbeak’s parentage.
On the back book cover:
It kinda looks like Brak. Or a really odd version of the biq queen alien from Aliens. Or very disturbing tentacle hentai.
Better a hemmoroid ad than slash. cue Johnny Cash
How about another guess for THBP?
I think it’s Salazar Slytherin.
He left Hogwarts because he didn’t want to admit non-pure bloods. He left the Chamber of Secrets so that Hogwarts could be purged by his “true heir”. This makes it sound like he didn’t expect to come back on his own to do it. Yet he wanted it done. Why was that so important to him, that he couldn’t just leave he also had to wreck havoc on “mudbloods”? A self-loathing complex maybe?
It’s been ~1,000 year since he left. He’s had any number of descendents. What made Tom Riddle/Voldemort his “true heir” over all of the others?
I think it’s the same thing that made Voldemort “choose” Harry over Neville. Harry’s more like Voldemort by way of being of ‘non-pure blood’. Salazer Slytherin’s immediate descendents were nowhere near Hogwarts, and over time the rest became effectively pure blood.
We know Harry’s going to “win” in the end, and he’s totally accepted himself for who he is. I think neither Voldemort nor Salazar Slytherin did.
The thing is these are intended as kids’ books. Rowling’s made no bones about the fact that while she appreciates her adult fans, she’s not changing her target audience. The moral of the story may be “to thine own self be true.”
Dumbledore/Harry slash? I haven’t seen that before…
This is reallly good. I Like It. Two thumbs up for originality.
The would definitely go with Slytherin’s “true heir” being Riddle, if both of them were half-bloods and hated it. I could see that being unintended by Slytherin - when he told the spell to wait for his true heir, he was just thinking of someone who would take up the anti-muggle crusade, but the spell waited until someone who was more like him than that, at least in his reasoning.
Seconded. (Or thirded if someone else says it before me… stupid slow computer… mutters)
Thanks guys. This came from a joking comment to Basandre this morning that it was Salazar Slytherin, but then I actually thought about it. And the more I think about it, the more I like the idea.
Now I agree with flamingbananas. Shirley Ujest, fake sick. It’ll be worth it.