In HBP, Dumbledore makes a remark to Harry to the effect of “your blood is worth much more than mine.” I’m certain that that ties in with the gleam of triumph, with doesn’t jive with your theory here.
This is bolstered by the fact that Voldy insisted on it being Harry, not just any wizard.
I thought JKR had done as much as she could to pooh-pooh the whole Lily/Snape crush thing.
These are really big leaps. Two people in the one school (Lily and Snape) can’t be gifted at a subject unless they had help from one another? And how do we know that Lily was “the only person who showed him any kindness.” We’ve seen one event out of a seven year educational stretch.
But my biggest problem with the Lily/Snape theory: it sounds like fanfic. It has the distinct ring of the kind of cutesy solution that would be offered up by a fanfic writer, and it bears no resemblance to the style Rowling has crafted throughout the series. The only way I’d buy this is if Deathly Hallows started off with the announcement that Hogwarts would be accepting a new American transfer student named Mary-Sue.
I disagree that Lupin has to die in order to fulfill some creepy “gotta kill all the Marauders” destiny. Lupin’s death would seem to betray JKR’s theme of hope and survival despite suffering. The message would be really awful. The guy has a miserable life through no fault of his own, suffers endless losses and humiliations, endures bigotry and horrific pain every month, sacrifices the dignity and humanity he holds dear for the sake of the wizarding community that hates him (by going undercover w/the werewolves), at long last finds a hint of happiness and love – and then gets killed. I just don’t think such a fate makes dramatic sense in a book series that’s about love and hope.
Speaking of Lupin (as I love to do!), another departure from the book in the PoA film was Lupin’s lengthy speech about Lily: how uncommonly gifted and kind she was; how she was there for him when no one else was; and how she could find the beauty in someone even when he couldn’t see it himself.
This last part may have been one of the “shiver-worthy” moments for JKR if the screenwriter (Steve Kloves) unintentionally hinted at a future revelation about Lily’s kindness towards those who didn’t receive much kindness … including, possibly, Snape.
Or maybe we’ll find out Lupin and Lily were going at it like bunnies. 
My post was badly phrased. My point is that Harry’s death would still have a major shock value :- it’s been suggested a lot, but people really don’t believe Rowling would kill him. I think she would.
Here’s my theory. The prophesy is not about Harry but about Draco. Sure, he was born in early June rather than the “end of the seventh month” but either they miscalculated based on using the wrong calendar, or Draco’s mother had an early C-section because she didn’t want stretch mark (because she’s a little narcissistic :)). The mark that Voldy leaves on his opponent is not Harry’s scar but the dark mark that Voldy put on Draco. Snape has spent the past seven years protecting Draco so that he could fulfill his destiny and he kills Dumbledore so that he can escape with Draco and protect him. What???
OK-here’s what really happens; Snape is actually good although he legitimately hates Harry. He ends up sacrificing himself to help Harry kill Voldy. Hagrid also dies. All the couples end up together and have a nice mass wedding at the end and they all live happily ever after.
Now for the questions that remain unanswered for me after reviewing books 3-6:
-How does Harry get the Marauder’s Map back at the end of Book 4. When we last saw it, it was in the hands of Barty Crouch junior and Dumbledore (who Harry had carefully prevented knowing about the map in the past) has become aware of it. Does Dumbledore just give it back to Harry?
-Harry has been banned from Quidditch for life in Book 5. Does Hogwarts just randomly reverse the punishment?
-There is evidence of children casting spells without wands, and Harry has also done magic without a wand. Why is it that when a powerful wizard like Dumbledore loses his wand, he is completely helpless?
-There is supposedly excellent protection around Hogworts, to the extent that nobody can apparate within the grounds. However, there is apparently no protection against the flue network before Book 5. In addition, wizards can fly in and out of the grounds without any problems. What kind of crap security is this?
-At one point in Book 3, it is mentioned that the front doors of Hogworts are locked every night. However, students apparently come and go freely at other times. How?
-People in portraits can come and go between each of their portraits. Why do some leave blank canvases, yet some maintain portraits in both places?
I’m sure there are more but this will do for now.
I don’t remember him doing so, but that would be like him.
The ban was rescinded when Umbridge left. She was never the rightful Headmaster anyway, or the door would have opened for her.
I think it’s that and the fact that he’s dying of poison.
The rest I can’t help you with.
I think the difference between wandless vs. wand-held magic may be a matter of control. Perhaps children’s wandless magic is just the gift manifesting itself in an uncontrollable manner. A wand seems to allow the wizard/witch to focus and accurately aim their power.
That said, of course, we’ve seen adults perform wandless magic – Dumbledore certainly, and Lupin too (in the Hogwarts Express compartment he’s able to conjure light in his hand without a wand). But nothing massive. I wouldn’t be surprised if Harry manages something spectacular without a wand.
Same way the front doors of KMart are locked every night but people come and go freely at other times
OK, the structure of the prophecy looks disjoint, even for Sybil! We don’t see the memory from Dumbledore’s point of view - that is, by going into the Pensieve, but see a Princess Leia type image on top of the Pensieve liquid after Dumbledore stirs it with his wand. (If we saw the whole thing from Dumbledore’s point of view, we would know whether Snape came into the room or not!). Maybe there are bits missing? Maybe the whole prophecy really refers to more than one person?
Like…How about Snape is also meant by the Prophecy? Maybe it is even why Dumbledore trusts Snape - he knows Snape is also prophesised to be part of Voldemort’s downfall?
The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches Snape was coming up the stairs to the room Sybil and Dumbledore were in at the time!
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born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies * Harry/Neville
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and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not * Well, Voldemort did put the Dark Mark on Snape
, and it seems, if Snape has been convincing Voldemort of his loyalty, that Snape has a power (occlumens) of which (the strength at least) Voldy is unaware. -
and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives . the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies * Harry/Neville.
Another inconsistency - Dumbledore says Voldemort might be after Gryffindor’s sword, as his only relic. But there are at least 2 relics of Godric Gryffindor left - the Sorting Hat says that it was pulled off Gryffindor’s head.
And the RAB person? What about Amy Benson, one of the small children Tom Riddle took into the cave at the beach. If the boat measured magical power, a muggle and a wizard could have crossed the lake! And the last Horcrux is the thimble or the yo-yo. When Harry asked if one of the small objects Tom Riddle had stolen from the other children might be a Horcrux, such as the mouthorgan, Dumbledore only said that the “mouthorgan is just a mouthorgan”, not that all the items were just items. And I am betting that one is hidden in the Room of Requirement!
…which may be where I will be hiding after you all have a go at these comments
I don’t know, Mame, a lot of those predictions are pushing it just a tad.
On a side note, there was an interesting tidbit in the local paper today. It was a blurb on Helena Bonham Carter, who’ll be portraying Bellatrix Lestrange. She said when she got the role, Rowling contacted her and told her that even though her part in OotP is small, she will play a much larger role in the last book.
So, just how big of a role is Lestrange going to play in Deathly Hallows?
I don’t think the Dark Mark marks someone as Voldemort’s equal. I think it marks them as his abject servant.
Rats - ruin a good theory with fact, whydoncha?
psychobunny, a Q&A:
Q: How does Harry get the Marauder’s Map back at the end of Book 4.
A: JK Rowling’s World Book Day Chat, March 4, 2004
HPFreak7: How did Harry get the Marauder’s Map back, when Crouch Jr. had it last?
JK Rowling replies -> Loads of people have asked me this, I knew I should have shown Harry nipping into Moody’s empty office and getting it back, but I assumed you’d all know that’s what he did. Sorry!
Q: Harry has been banned from Quidditch for life in Book 5. Does Hogwarts just randomly reverse the punishment?
A: I don’t think this was a “magical” ban, just a new rule imposed by the Hogwarts High Inquisitor. There was no magic needed to reverse the ban. Ginny Weasley says as much somewhere in the book - “You’ll be playing again as soon as Umbridge is gone.”
Q: There is evidence of children casting spells without wands, and Harry has also done magic without a wand. Why is it that when a powerful wizard like Dumbledore loses his wand, he is completely helpless?
A: As saoirse said - he was dying.
Q: There is supposedly excellent protection around Hogworts, to the extent that nobody can apparate within the grounds. However, there is apparently no protection against the flue network before Book 5. In addition, wizards can fly in and out of the grounds without any problems.
A: Floo network - are you referring to Sirius’ apparition in the fireplace, talking to Harry? I assume that the magical protection is smart enough to know that a person means no harm when they want to come into Hogwarts. Notice that Sirius did not use Floo powder to break into the Gryffindor common room in Prisoner of Azkaban.
Alternate explanation: the Floo network allowed Sirius to poke his head through but he wouldn’t have been allowed to come all the way through.
Flying - when do we see wizards flying in and out of the grounds? Harry and Dumbledore do it in book 6 after returning from the Horcrux search, when they see the Dark Mark over the Astronomy tower, but it is mentioned in the book that Dumbledore mutters a spell to let them through.
Q: At one point in Book 3, it is mentioned that the front doors of Hogworts are locked every night. However, students apparently come and go freely at other times.
A: You mean come and go freely at nighttime? Example? Also, it is possible to have a door locked from the outside without preventing people to open it from the inside. Which would make sense in case of a fire.
Q: People in portraits can come and go between each of their portraits. Why do some leave blank canvases, yet some maintain portraits in both places?
A: Who do we see maintaining a portrait in two places? I can’t think of an example. I know that for example when Harry goes to visit Arthur Weasley at St. Mungo’s, Dilys Derwent is in the portrait, but then steps out after counting the visitors and winking at Harry, presumably to return to her Hogwarts portrait.
We have seen Harry get progressively darker as the story has progressed. He threw temper tantrums and had a “woe is me” outlook during book five (character development?); in book six he starts to use unforgiveable curses and that entire scene with him coaxing Dumbledore to drink the potion gave me goosebumps. Sure, it was for the greater good and “Dumbledore told me to” but it makes me wonder what other darker things will Harry dabble with to advance the greater good. I predict he gets much closer to the evil side and earns a better understanding of Snape at the end. (Especially since Snape will in some way sacrifice for Harry, causing conflict/confusion for Harry.)
Other way around, I think. Tommy-boy fears Dumbledore because Dumbledore doesn’t fear him. Voldemort excercizes power through fear, and who he can’t scare, he can’t control. And he fears that which he can’t control.
I made this argument in post 141, but in short:
How do you explain why Snape regretted telling Voldemort the prophecy? (Or at least Dumbledore believed he regretted it.) It obviously wasn’t because Snape had any great love for James, or for that matter, Harry.
I’d say either Snape loved Lily or he convinced Dumbledore that he did – and if it was the latter, I don’t see why Rowling would have held back Dumbledore’s reason for trusting Snape until Book 7. She’s held back this info because she doesn’t want too many of the readers to realize Dumbledore is right.
As for whether it’s too “cutesy”, I don’t really think it’s any more cutesy than the fact that Harry’s mother’s love was able to shield him from the killing curse. Yeah, and the fact that she sacrificed herself, but still . . .
Anyway, Dumbledore has told us repeatedly that Voldemort’s weakness is that he underestimates love. Voldemort and Dumbledore can’t both be right about Snape, and if Snape is motivated by love it explains just why Voldemort could be so wrong.
I’m still agnostic on the Snape+Lily=TLA theory, but I will say that Snape throughout the series has been characterized by an inability to get over his school days.
How about Harry and Ron flying in with the car in book 2?
Wild guess - they were outside the Hogwarts grounds (or in the Hogwarts grounds but very far from the castle, and close to the Forbidden Forest)?
Or else it can be explained because the enchantments protecting Hogwarts “knew” that these were students coming to school?
J. K. Rowling does her best to make the story logically consistent, but I don’t think she’s going to manage 100%, and I’m not letting that spoil the story for me.