Book Seven Predictions
antosha_c participated in a "Book Seven Predictions" Meme today, and I couldn't resist trying my hand. bandcandy has done something similar in the past, but I was able to maintain self-control in her case. Now I've lost it, and I have to give in. I'm listing AC's predictions below in italics and replying to them; then I'll add my own.
· Like Spanish strongman Francisco Franco, Sirius will still be dead.
Yeah. Only it’s “Generalissimo”
· So will Dumbledore
Uh-huh. Work a bit harder.
· They will both manage to appear, even so :shifty eyes:
I think that Dumbledore's portrait will say something, but that's about all. I don't think we'll hear from Sirius, mirror or no mirror.
· Voldy will die
And the sun will rise in the morning.
· Snape will die, paying his debt to James/Harry
Snape will die, but only because he has been written into a narrative corner where martyrdom is the only way of resolving the problem.
· Pettigrew will die.... ditto, ditto, ditto
Yes, he does owe a life debt.
· Hagrid will die, which will make me sad, but since his only contribution to the plot since book 3 is Grawp... :salutes:
Hagrid will die for symbolic reasons, ably set out by bandcandy and her cohorts. (1) Harry's protectors are dying in the reverse order in which he met them; (2) alchemically (?!) the elixir of life is created by burning first that which is black, then that which is white, then that which is red.
· Harry will die... or appear to. And then will 'come back to life'... or appear to. ;-)
Nah. He will not die permanently; I doubt even that he will appear to die, as it's too flashy and unnecessary. He might die symbolically (e.g., burial under the earth) or accept death as a consequence of his victory, but I don't think he'll actually die, even temporarily. We won’t leave Harry’s POV.
· Ron and/or Hermione may die, but not if Harry does.
No. The trio is too perfectly balanced; there'd be no way to cure the imbalance afterward.
· At least one Weasley will die to pay off Molly's worst fear-possibly Charlie or Percy, more likely Fred and/or George.
I'd bet on Percy, as he's the central counter-figure for the "good vs. easy" paradigm.
· Draco will appear in exactly four chapters, do nothing of consequence, will attempt to win favor with Moldyshorts by betraying/killing Harry, will fail and will either die or slink off into the darkness in humiliation... and show up at the end sneering and muttering you'll get yours, Potter, just as he has for the previous six books.
Who cares? Actually I disagree pretty strongly, see below.
· Ron and Hermione will hook up. Finally. ("I love you." "I know.")
They already have; JKR doesn't get more explicit than she already has. Ron already told her he loves her. They will eventually marry, though, in the Epilogue.
· Neville will get laid. Come on, the boy has earned it! (It won't be Luna, we've been told; nor will it be Ginny or Hermione, because as much as these books have gotten older.... Look at the uproar Ginny's causal dating of two boys raised. Casual sex? So... Susan Bones? Hannah Abbott? Pansy? XD)
No. Nobody will get laid, unless you count a notation that he eventually got married. Jo is still Jo.
· Draco won't get any. Because I said so. (And also because the author actually a) doesn't care about him, b) doesn't like him and c) doesn't think of him as at all appealing or attractive. So there.)
See above.
· There will be at least one scene in which the curtain comes up on Ginny and Harry alone together in a private place (her room, the broom shed, the RoR, the Chamber of Secrets), both acting a bit shy and dreamy... And we'll suddenly find ourselves asking... Wait. Did they just...?
No. Story will be entirely from Harry's POV, and we won't be left wondering anything of the kind, and Jo thinks of herself firmly as a children's book author. But we will hear that they eventually marry.
· Ginny won't go on the Horcrux Hunt™. Even though I've written it that way in some of my fics. :-p
Right. And she shouldn’t.
· The Trio won't go back to school, but Hogwarts will reopen.
I think that's probably right, on both counts.
· We'll get at least a few scenes from the Other Trio's PoV, following Ginny, Luna and Neville around to DA meetings or such.
Not too sure about that, as JKR has been pretty assiduous about keeping things in Harry's POV unless absolutely necessary for plot reasons, and then for a chapter or two at most. It is possible, but if I had to bet on even odds, I'd vote against. But we will find out about them (at least Ginny) somehow.
· Ginny will be attacked at Hogwarts/the Burrow anyway, and Harry will feel like a right idiot.
I would have said so a few months ago, but now I think it's not necessary for what JKR wants to do with the story. It will be necessary for Ginny & Harry's love to contribute to the end of Voldemort, but I don't think H & G's decision was the wrong one and so I don't think Harry needs to feel like an idiot. The only reason to have Ginny attacked would be to have Harry fly to her rescue (see previous sentence) -- but it's not the only way of resolving the problem.
· Ginny will save Harry's life at least once.
Probably. 75% probability.
· Luna will kick a#$#.
Maybe. Or else she'll snuff it.
· We'll watch the scene where Harry dies/appears to die/comes back/appears to come back from Ginny's PoV.
No.
· Harry will 'vanquish' LV, but it won't be because Harry stands there like Clint Eastwood with a wand, muttering, "Eat green light, scum!" Either LV will try to do something to Harry that will cause his own demise, or Harry will selflessly protect someone else as his mother protected him-only this time, no Horcrux. And Harry will either die or... blah, blah, blah.
Something like that. All we know is that love will be the weapon, some way or other. There is simply too little data on which to make any more precise prediction.
· If somehow that final selfless act is about saving Draco (which I don't expect), then Malfoy will owe Harry a life debt. Which will piss both of them off.
Not. “Life debt” concept is all played out with Pettigrew and/or Snape.
· The final showdown will happen behind the Veil. (American cover?)
No.
· RAB=Regulus. Locket=one of the items that Dung sold to Aberforth.
Yes he is, and yes Dung stole it, but I'm not sure about Aberforth. We don’t even know for sure that the Hogshead proprietor is Aberforth, although I agree it’s likely.
· The Ravenclaw artifact will be Neville's wand.
There is some textual support for its being a wand, but I'd give this one only a 50% chance. As for its being Neville’s, I’ll give 3:1 odds against.
· One way or another there will be a Gryffindor Horcrux-Harry, the sword, the Sorting Hat... Dunno if Nagini's really a Horcrux or not.
I agree, but I don't think it's the sword. (Actually, it could be -- see my predictions below.)
· Norbert will reappear, as will the Mirror of Erised. Harry will see something different in the mirror this time.
No to both.
· At some point, the Trio will burst into a treasure trove, led by a house elf wielding Gryffindor's sword... (How does he do it! XD)
Observe that at no time do my fingers leave my wrist.
Now, as to my own predictions:
· One of the horcruxes will turn out to have been created during Voldemort’s 1970 visit to Dumbledore’s office in which he ostensibly asked for a job. Someone else was being killed at the time of the visit or immediately beforehand. That Horcrux is in Hogwarts, possibly in the office itself
· We will learn that Severus Snape believed himself to be in love with Lily Evans, but that she never loved him, except possibly as a pal. He hates Harry because he sees Lily’s eyes looking out of James’s face.
· Gilderoy Lockhart and Rita Skeeter each have some remaining role to play, although it may be minor.
· At the very least, Harry will visit: St. Mungo’s, two or three separate locations in the Ministry, Little Hangleton, Godric’s Hollow, the Burrow, Grimauld Place, Privet Drive, the Headmaster’s Office and at least the exterior of the Locked Room.
· Although I really don’t like the idea, Harry will wind up (in the Epilogue) being an Auror. (I want him to be the long-term DADA teacher, which would be thematically just about perfect, but Jo has hinted strongly that he will not have an academic career.)
· Hermione will wind up (in the Epilogue) teaching at Hogwarts. (Probably she’ll be the long-term DADA teacher.)
· Draco is ultimately savable and will be ultimately saved from his own tendencies towards evil; he might die in the process, but he might not.
· Neville will kill Bellatrix, or die trying.
· Either Lupin or Bill Weasley will kill Fenrir Greyback; possibly the other one will die trying.
· Fleur’s magical prowess, and possibly her Veela ancestry, will prove crucial in at least one battle.
· Viktor Krum will do battle against the Death Eaters. I have no prediction as to whether he will survive, but if he dies it will be in a blaze of glory.
· McGonagall will not be the new head of the Order of the Phoenix. I am unsure whether it will have a named head at all, and if it does I’m not clear on who it will be - Moody would be my probable guess.
· The virtues of Slytherin House will be vindicated. A whole, healthy life requires all four of the primal elements. In concrete terms, we will see one or more brave, loyal, good Slytherins who are instrumental in the quest. It may be Draco, or it may not.
· Hermione’s efforts to break down the barriers between the magical species - elves, goblins, unicorns - that is, her crusade against racism, will be a key factor in the victory against LV.
· There will be a DADA teacher in Year Seven, who won’t be there the following year.
· Frank Longbottom will be shown to have been an eyewitness to the death of the Potters.
· Voldemort’s use of Harry’s blood in his regeneration will prove either to (1) make it impossible for him to kill Harry, or to (2) cause some other aspect of Harry (perhaps his strong feelings?) to have a detrimental impact on LV.
· Godric’s Hollow will prove to have some connection with Gryffindor himself. It may be that the Gryffindor artifact will be found there, or will have come from there.