Well, I've had very strong theories about what's going to happen in the last book(s) for ages (saw Harry and Ginny hooking up pretty much from the first time the boy got on the train, sorry all you Harry/Hermione shippers out there). I just haven't had a chance to sit down and write them where other people could access them for a while, but figured I better get to it, and trying to get it done before Liam wakes up (Del's in a sling on my chest as I type as he's having a fussy morning after a fussy night - reflux and/or indigestion I think from all the grunting). People who have had Harry Potter conversations with me know these aren't things I'm making up after reading spoilers or something (I've actually read no spoilers, mostly from lack of time - I read spoilers for the last two books judiciously).
Should be no surprise that I'm racing to get this up when I still haven't written up Del's birth story yet to people who know me, right? *blush*
I'm posting the theories as the first comment to this post so it doesn't potentially spoil anyone who stumbles upon this and doesn't want to read that kind of thing (but wants to read my other random ranting for some reason? Must be a relative looking for baby pictures - haven't updated those in a couple weeks either, sorry!).
edit: wow, even trying to keep it short, typing up my Potter theories in Word (so I could spell-check and auto-save in case Del projectile-spit-up on the keyboard or something) wound up being 5 full pages at 12 pt font with 1" margins... so be prepared for a very long read before you go read the theories I posted as the first comment to this!
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3 comments:
On to the theories.
First off, Harry will not die and he will not become a murderer.
Harry won't die for many reasons (he's too powerful though he doesn't know it, blah blah blah) but the most important is, despite what people say about the genre JKR is writing in and the main character mortality rates (and her stated desire to kill him off), she's always been writing these as CHILDREN'S BOOKS and she's always been a mother since starting to write them. Yes, other children's books in this genre kill off the main character, but those books were written quite a long time ago when young children lost friends/family to disease and death wasn't such a distant thing from their everyday lives. It was less of a shock to their systems. Today's kids (including JKR's own - she IS married to a physician) are protected against watching people close to them die from communicable diseases (at the very least we know to make them wash their hands now). JKR's readers don't handle death nearly as well as those first readers of her predecessors' books that kill off main characters who happen to be children.
Harry won't become a murderer. It would violate character too much, and not to mention that having someone else actually be the one to kill LV gives it a nice "Law and Order" twist. Yes, the prophecy says "either must die at the hand of the other" but like all good prophecies, this has multiple ways to be interpreted. First off, the "other" mentioned in there can (grammatically) be a 3rd person. Person A=Harry + Person B=LV = either. "Other" can refer to a third party. And since it specifically mentions such "Other" person's hand... I specifically believe it will be Wormtail who kills LV. This has a lovely symmetry to it (and JKR loves symmetry – just look at how much lovely symmetry there was in the journey to and from the cave, such an obvious passing of the torch but so well done) - Dumbledore was killed by Snape, arguably the bravest character in the book because of the double life he willingly leads (seriously, I think most people would prefer a quick and known to be fairly painless death to that, and the man knows his poisons well enough to accomplish that). For symmetry, it should be the most cowardly person in the book that kills LV, which would be Wormtail. But why would Wormtail do that when he's such a coward? He will have no choice - he's still bound by that suspiciously-barely-mentioned life-debt/wizard bond created when Harry saved his life at the end of POA. JKR/Dumbledore mentions it's powerful, then walks away from it. Definite clue there.
Which brings me to why Snape is acting in Harry's best interests (which I believe he is - he protected the kid and was trying to teach him even at the end of HBP - yes, the Death Eaters were probably under orders not to KILL Harry, but do you really think LV would have been angry if they'd brought him back stupefied with them as a nice extra gifty for their master? The DEs present at that point are rather dimwitted and wouldn't question an authoritative directive from someone like Snape who is distinctly in LV's inner circle). Snape is still bound by that life-debt/wizard bond he had with James Potter, and since Snape was a direct cause of James’ death, one can only wonder what the effects on a magical bond of owing someone your life and then being the cause of their death can have. My guess would be that basically the debtee would magically have no free will in the matter anymore when it comes to whoever inherited the life-debt – i.e. Harry – and it wouldn’t be able to be repaid because of what you’d “cost” the inheritee, to stay with the debt terminology (magic that is ignored has repercussions – i.e. yes, you CAN break an Unbreakable Vow, but most people wouldn’t want to DIE just to get out of a promise). This would also neatly explain why Dumbledore trusted Snape so completely, even allowing him to be alone with Harry for extended periods of time. He knew Snape was physically incapable of hurting Harry (psychologically, on the other hand…). This would be why telling LV the prophecy would have been “the greatest regret of [Snape’s] life” – gee, who would be thrilled about being magically bound to protect, for the rest of the time both were alive, the spitting image of a person you despised? I believe Snape has as much free will as a house elf when it comes to protecting Harry’s life (and I see similarities between the way Snape reacts to Harry and the way Kreacher does). What a happy life the guy’s leading. Would he have turned “good” if it hadn’t been for that consequence of the life-debt? Who knows, probably not (at least not to the point of joining the Order). I doubt he would have loudly proclaimed his support of his Dark Lord if/when LV fell like Bella did, but I could see that he would likely have gone on doing his DE thing as long as it lasted. I don’t think Snape is a good guy by nature. I think he’s basically faced with the choice of constantly protecting Harry and death (by his own hand or another’s, not that I think the magic would kill him, though it might if he intentionally let Harry die).
I also don’t believe that was a true AK that Snape shot at Dumbledore. Yes, I believe Dumbledore is actually dead, but I think Snape saying AK was theatrics for the sake of the people present (who were all either too dimwitted, bloodthirsty, and/or inexperienced to realize that an AK doesn’t usually physically lift the victim up – all the AKs we’ve seen/heard about, including the state that LV left his paternal-line relatives in “still in their dinner things”… and “the Riddles all appeared to be in perfect health – apart from the fact that they were all dead”, indicate that an AK just immediately kills the person where they stand/sit. No motion, just death). I believe Snape performed a different spell without speaking (yes, I agree with Serena, “non-verbal” is a misnomer, it should be “non-vocal” since the person is still thinking the word they would otherwise be saying). Why would he do that anyway? Dumbledore was clearly in his last moments of life, Snape has a keen enough eye to see that, but Dumbledore is capable of wandless magic (says so in his Lexicon entry ;) ). Snape could have been hoping that maybe Dumbledore would have the strength to slow his own descent and save himself from dying from the fall. Dumbledore wouldn’t have bothered since his death would release Snape from the Unbreakable Vow. The argument Hagrid overheard, I believe, was Snape telling Dumbledore he was sick of being a double agent, didn’t want to have to kill Dumbledore to save Draco and himself, and would rather just die and be done with it already. Dumbledore would never have allowed that kind of wallowing (and yes, in his weaker moments I believe Snape is capable of some major wallowing)..
Other small details about Snape and Wormtail… Even though she’s said in interviews that Snape has no connection to vampires, her lack of information about vampires in the books (aside from that brief meeting of Sanguini in HBP for no apparent reason), her descriptions of him in text say something different. I don’t believe he’s an actual vampire, but I do think he’s got some vampiric blood – “Tobias Snape was a Muggle from what it said in the Prophet”… the Prophet isn’t exactly the most reliable source of information as we’ve had carefully pointed out to us repeatedly over the course of several books. I think it’s definitely possible that Tobias was a vampire and still somehow managed to impregnate Eileen with Severus (especially since we’ve no description of how JKR views vampires – they’re not in Fantastic Beasts and Lupin doesn’t discuss them “on camera” though he mentions them, and werewolves and vampires don’t get along well by nature in a lot of folklore). If I’m correct on his parentage, that would make Snape a dhampire. And if he’s long ago cut off contact with his father (or if his father has since been killed), then he may honestly have no “link” with vampires (came up in an interview in 2004 - http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/2004/0304-wbd.htm). And my feeling that it’ll be Wormtail that kills LV is strengthened by the fact that Wormtail was living at Snape’s house at the beginning of HBP.
About Dumbledore’s death and consequences – I believe Harry will inherit some of the items from Dumbledore’s office that were not the property of Hogwarts (such as the silver objects he comments on several times, and most especially the pensieve, including memories to help guide him/provide him with information and insight).
Harry and Ginny aren’t done with each other, just on hiatus. She’s underage and, in addition to being a target simply for being a Weasley and that magnified exponentially if the dark side figures out she’s Harry’s girlfriend (and with big-mouth Draco around they probably already know, doesn’t sound like Harry and Ginny were exactly hiding their affections for each other around Hogwarts while they were going out). The hiatus may be completely pointless, as I doubt anyone will believe that they’re really broken up (or even that the dangerous ones would hear about it anyway since it happened after Dumbledore’s death and they’re a little out of the inside gossip loop now). Ron and Hermione I expect will be an official couple within the first 5 chapters of Deathly Hallows (I suspect they’ve had their “talk” already sometime around Dumbledore’s funeral, just out of Harry’s earshot).
I don’t expect any of those four to die, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see them maimed/disfigured. Hermione herself took a nasty blow at the Ministry battle (yet another reason I hate the movie, the bravery of the other kids in that scene was really downplayed and they missed developing Neville’s character pretty much throughout… oh, and we never heard the whole prophecy either – in fact, the “hand” line that I put so much emphasis on above I believe was completely left out of the movie, just like Regulus was). I think we will lose at least one Weasley kid and likely one or both Weasley parents. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Molly throw herself between Harry and an AK just like Lily did, and I have a horrible suspicion that JKR will kill Fred but not George (Fred is pretty consistently the first twin to speak, the first to act, and hence the first into the line of fire). I think it would be extra horrible to kill only one of the twins, I could deal with both of them dying easier than leaving one alive to suffer. Charlie and Percy are also possible deaths, I think Bill is likely to be spared since he has already been severely disfigured. I also think it’s likely that Fleur will be pregnant by the end of the book, to show the continuing on of life after all the terror is done (it’s a mom thing, and I was a fan of the “One Big Happy Weasley Family” idea before I was a mom myself).
As for RAB, I think it’s Regulus, he took Kreacher with him to the cave (and that’s part of the reason Kreacher is so insane – I think Regulus fed him the potion in the basin). Not sure how long afterward Regulus lived, but if Kreacher was with him he could have brought the necklace back to 12 GOP if Regulus was killed before they got home. I agree with the majority of Potterheads that the “heavy locket no one could open” they found while cleaning 12GOP was the actual horcrux, question is where it’s gone now – either Mundungus got it or Kreacher’s got it in his nest. If Dung got it, Aberforth (Dumbledore’s brother and confirmed to be the barman at the Hog’s Head) may have gotten it from him (but then why Dumbledore didn’t know and made the trip to the cave… *shrug*). Harry will probably need the pensieve (and sharing the memories within with Hermione and Ron) to spark his brain to realize the two lockets – the one Merope was wearing at the Gaunt house and the one they found while cleaning – were one and the same. He’s just not that good at noticing patterns (Hermione has that strength instead), he’s at his best when he just relies on his gut instincts (and my Snape theory above explains why Snape could be the one person that Harry misjudges the intentions of consistently – he’s not actually a good person by nature like Hagrid is).
I have an all-encompassing theory about Life-Debts but I don’t have time to write it… basically, it boils down to the fact that Harry’s been saving at minimum one life per book for every single book. His friendship with Hermione started with him and Ron saving her life (and since they weren’t otherwise connected any more than Snape and James were beforehand, I think that there was a life-debt there at least for a little while, probably repaid). Life-Debts are the exact opposites of Horcruxes – they are created by risking your self (or your strong desires, in the case of Wormtail) to save the life of another whereas horcruxes are created by placing your own self/desires above the life of another to the point of killing someone to achieve your desire. Ergo, a horcrux tears the soul but a life-debt builds one/makes it stronger. I believe this is a central key to Deathly Hallows and that Harry has had life-debts owed him by at least 6 people over the course of the series (Snape by inheritance; Hermione – likely considered repaid; JKR said Ginny doesn’t owe Harry a life-debt so probably not any of the other Weasley’s he’s saved since becoming Ron’s friend by extension; Dobby possibly for being released from slavery, if a house-elf can owe a life-debt; Wormtail; possibly Gabrielle Delacour even though she wasn’t actually in danger – I’d argue that perception=reality when it comes to magic and Fleur definitely thought her sister was at risk of death… I’m probably forgetting other possibilities here but time is short and kiddos will need me soon). I think Harry will likely have help from people who owe him life-debts to destroy each remaining horcrux (which would also be why Ginny wouldn’t need to still owe him one, though she may have before – JKR didn’t go into specifics, and the life-debt may have been disbursed when they became more than just linked together by relationship to Ron and started having a friendship bond – and more - independent of Ron). There are two horcruxes known to be destroyed, and hence having two life-debts already resolved/repaid would work. Harry already cared too much about Arthur to have created an actual debt there I’m sure, but I bet that the whole Weasley family (except maybe Percy) will act as though they owe him a life-debt anyway (actually, many people in the wizarding world probably would, at least former Gryffindors).
Other smaller details:
Harry’s scar is the final horcrux (not Harry himself, just the scar, hence the localized pain when the link to LV is activated). This may have been why the Dementors thought it was OK to try to Kiss Harry in the POA – they could have actually been going for his forehead since I’m sure they’ve got permission to Kiss LV on sight if they had permission to Kiss Sirius on sight. The scar was created accidentally when whatever it was that LV had intended to make a horcrux out of slipped out of his hand when his AK rebounded on him, and is the reason that some/all of his innate abilities (parseltongue, and possibly others – I agree with Serena that there’s reason to suspect Harry is capable of possessing others like LV does, but, like Dumbledore, has just been “too noble to use it”). Not sure if/how Harry will get rid of the horcrux in his scar without dying himself (and I’m sure once he figures out that his scar is the horcrux he’ll assume that he has to kill himself – maybe Snape will be the one to help destroy that horcrux since Wormtail is the LD-ower that I think will kill LV?). Nagini is a red herring that Dumbledore put there to get Harry on the right track – really, how do YOU think the kid would have reacted if Dumbledore had said “oh, yeah, and the last horcrux, you/r scar, but I don’t have the slightest clue how we’re going to get rid of that one without killing you”… Harry was having enough trouble dealing with absorbing other information around then I think, especially considering he’s a very hormonal 16 year old boy at that point. So the actual horcruxes are: Diary (destroyed), Ring (destroyed), Necklace (unknown, likely still a horcrux), Cup, Harry’s scar… and I suspect something of Ravenclaw’s – Harry was living in Godric’s Hollow (Godric as in Godric Gryffindor), and she’s never directly confirmed or denied that Harry could be a descendant of Gryffindor’s… I wouldn’t be surprised if it was actually through his mother’s line instead of his father’s.
Which brings me to my next theorylet… JKR has said that “there’s more to Petunia than meets the eye” but also specifically denied that Petunia is herself a Squib. I suspect it’s actually that one of Petunia and Lily’s parents (or both) was a Squib. To people with pure-blood mania, the wizarding child of a Squib and a Muggle would still be Muggle-born I’m sure, and if one of her parents had been a poorly-treated Squib (possibly with the grandparents showing preference to cousins or other magical family members over their family) it would explain quite a bit of Petunia’s animosity toward the Wizarding World – and why her parents were “so happy to have a witch in the family”. I think the person who JKR has mentioned in interviews will show magic later than normal in life is likely to be Dudley, much to his parent’s utter horror, and this is a part of the “appalling damage” the Dumbledore accuses the Dursleys of inflicting upon their son at the beginning of HBP. He may have even bound Dudley’s powers as the only way to get Petunia to agree to take Harry in the first place, and possibly that binding either dies with Dumbledore or ends anyway when Dudley comes of age for the Wizarding World (17th birthday).
We haven’t seen the last of the Dumbledore Chocolate Frog cards – the reason I believe he said that the authorities could do whatever they wanted as long as they didn’t take him off the chocolate frog cards is because I think he was using them to keep an eye on the students (including Harry) similar to the way he uses the other headmaster/mistresses portraits to view things happening in other locations (like Phineas eavesdropping on Harry at 12GOP). Same thing with the 2-way mirror (after a repairing spell), though I’m not quite sure how I think that one will play out, I bet Sirius had it on his person when he went to the DOM.
And I really hope Tonks and Lupin survive, hook up, and have lots of technocolored little puppies together.
That’s all I can think of for now… I typed this up in Word so that it would auto-save in case the Internet timed out or something and it’s at the top of page 6 already so I guess that’s enough! Let’s see how accurate I am….
oh, and it took 3 hours to type because I had to breastfeed a couple times and potty Del once (he pooped in the potty and became SO much less fussy after he managed that - took way more straining on his part tho, need to check what in my diet may not agree with him, I suspect the broccoli from last night's dinner, I think I ate quite a bit of it in the last few days). And I'm still sure I forgot at least one of my major thoeries in there. Oh well.
okay, so I just have to say, even if you are wrong, you are *brilliant*! you never cease to amaze me with the way you can put this all together! And ditto on Tonks and Lupin! Technicolor puppies! yay! :)
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