Deathly Hallows - no spoilers
Behind the cut are my speculations and predictions regarding the upcoming seventh Harry Potter book. I have not read any of the online spoilers so this is free of outside influence. Discussion on whether you do or don’t agree with my predictions and speculations of your own are welcome, if they are similarly free of actual knowledge. If you have read the photographed copy on the web or believe you’ve read non-ridiculous spoilers somewhere, please don’t comment on this post until next week.
Voldemort will be defeated. This is not the kind of book where the bad guys win. I think he will be killed completely, but it’s not out of the question that he would be merely vanquished in the same way as last time and therefore the wizarding world will need to learn that it must always remain vigilant against the forces of evil and never again be caught unawares.
I think there will be major carnage in this book and probably a large scale battle, so I’m predicting that 3 or more major or supporting characters will die somewhere along the way. I think at least one of these will be a Hogwarts teacher, probably Snape or Hagrid with an outside chance of McGonagall. Perhaps Flitwick or Treelawny or Madam Hooch in addition, but I think at least one of the more central teachers will go. I think one of Ron, Hermione, or Neville will die, probably Ron. I think at least one older Weasley will die, probably Percy or Arthur. I’m agnostic on whether Harry will live. I can see it going either way.
Snape had darn well better turn out to be a good guy. I’m going to be upset if it turns out that Dumbledore was Sadly Mistaken and the kids were right all along and all kinds of horrors could have been avoided if he had just listened to them. At least one Slytherin student will be on the non-Voldemort side, to reinforce the breaking of the kids’ stereotype that all Slytherins are evil. My personal ideal ending would involve both Harry and Snape having to trust each other in a spur of the moment decision and work together to achieve the final, crucial blow against Voldemort.
Dumbledore will make an appearance sooner or later, possibly through a phoenix effect or possibly as a ghost or through a pensieve. His death was part of his plan. Probably only he and Snape knew the plan, but maybe the adult members of the Order of the Phoenix all knew and they just didn’t trust the kids to be able to pull off a secret of that magnitude. If only Dumbledore and Snape knew the plan, possibly Snape killing Dumbledore had to be set up as a way of regaining Snape's double agent credibility with Voldemort because of a traitor in the Order of the Phoenix. No idea who might turn out to be a traitor though.
Questions for which I have no speculative answers:
What will happen to Draco Malfoy? Will he die, end up in Azkaban, turn to the side of good, or be kept frustratingly out of the whole thing by his father or Snape or Dumbledore trying to protect him?
Where will the final battle take place? Or will there be an inconclusive mid-book battle followed by a climactic ‘killing of Voldemort’ scene that is a private struggle between only a few individuals? Will there be a full-scale battle within Hogwarts itself? If there is, I bet the ceiling in the Great Hall is destroyed. I also wouldn’t be surprised if there isn’t a proper battle and the Death Eaters operate in a strike-and-hide terroristic fashion.
Will Durmstrang and Beauxbatons get involved in the fight? Does the wizarding establishment actually have anything like a military? I’m betting on a civilian reserve sort of model rather than a professional military.
Will the prophecy turn out to have been about Neville after all?
What will the final horcruxes turn out to be? Maybe Harry’s scar will be one? That would explain some things, I think.
Will the gang ever actually take their NEWTs and graduate from Hogwarts?
Will we get wrap-up vignettes that tell us what happens to each of the characters after Hogwarts?
Voldemort will be defeated. This is not the kind of book where the bad guys win. I think he will be killed completely, but it’s not out of the question that he would be merely vanquished in the same way as last time and therefore the wizarding world will need to learn that it must always remain vigilant against the forces of evil and never again be caught unawares.
I think there will be major carnage in this book and probably a large scale battle, so I’m predicting that 3 or more major or supporting characters will die somewhere along the way. I think at least one of these will be a Hogwarts teacher, probably Snape or Hagrid with an outside chance of McGonagall. Perhaps Flitwick or Treelawny or Madam Hooch in addition, but I think at least one of the more central teachers will go. I think one of Ron, Hermione, or Neville will die, probably Ron. I think at least one older Weasley will die, probably Percy or Arthur. I’m agnostic on whether Harry will live. I can see it going either way.
Snape had darn well better turn out to be a good guy. I’m going to be upset if it turns out that Dumbledore was Sadly Mistaken and the kids were right all along and all kinds of horrors could have been avoided if he had just listened to them. At least one Slytherin student will be on the non-Voldemort side, to reinforce the breaking of the kids’ stereotype that all Slytherins are evil. My personal ideal ending would involve both Harry and Snape having to trust each other in a spur of the moment decision and work together to achieve the final, crucial blow against Voldemort.
Dumbledore will make an appearance sooner or later, possibly through a phoenix effect or possibly as a ghost or through a pensieve. His death was part of his plan. Probably only he and Snape knew the plan, but maybe the adult members of the Order of the Phoenix all knew and they just didn’t trust the kids to be able to pull off a secret of that magnitude. If only Dumbledore and Snape knew the plan, possibly Snape killing Dumbledore had to be set up as a way of regaining Snape's double agent credibility with Voldemort because of a traitor in the Order of the Phoenix. No idea who might turn out to be a traitor though.
Questions for which I have no speculative answers:
What will happen to Draco Malfoy? Will he die, end up in Azkaban, turn to the side of good, or be kept frustratingly out of the whole thing by his father or Snape or Dumbledore trying to protect him?
Where will the final battle take place? Or will there be an inconclusive mid-book battle followed by a climactic ‘killing of Voldemort’ scene that is a private struggle between only a few individuals? Will there be a full-scale battle within Hogwarts itself? If there is, I bet the ceiling in the Great Hall is destroyed. I also wouldn’t be surprised if there isn’t a proper battle and the Death Eaters operate in a strike-and-hide terroristic fashion.
Will Durmstrang and Beauxbatons get involved in the fight? Does the wizarding establishment actually have anything like a military? I’m betting on a civilian reserve sort of model rather than a professional military.
Will the prophecy turn out to have been about Neville after all?
What will the final horcruxes turn out to be? Maybe Harry’s scar will be one? That would explain some things, I think.
Will the gang ever actually take their NEWTs and graduate from Hogwarts?
Will we get wrap-up vignettes that tell us what happens to each of the characters after Hogwarts?