Spoilers for the upcoming last “Harry Potter” novel are starting to spring up like weeds on the internet.
I’ve read none of them, but now seems a good a time as any to post my daughter Ariel’s predictions. Over the past two weeks she’s re-read the previous six books and here’s what she thinks will happen.
(I’m putting them below the cutline since I know there are some strange individuals out there who consider guesses to be spoilers, but I emphasize that in the definition of spoilers that sane people hew to, there are none.)
Real spoilers are NOT to be put onto this thread.
1) Wormtail will save Harry in return for his debt. I believe it is DUmbledore who says that in saving Wormtail from bing killed by Lupin, Wormtail is now in Harry’s debt.
2) Either Ron or Hermoine will die. There is no way they will get a happy endng. It seems too good to be true that they get a happy ending.
3) I hope Neville kills Bellatrix.
4) Harry versus Voldemort will take place in Cedric’s Hollow, which will become nicknamed Deathly Hallow afterwards.
5) Regulus Black took the locket. I have looked through all the books and he is the only one with RB as his initials. They mention in the fifth book when they are cleaning the house of Black that there is a locket.
There. Ariel’s guesses. We’ll see how close she came. She also mentions that she wants Russell T. Davies to do one of the two remaining Harry Potter films.
PAD
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Harry and Voldemort team up to fight a greater equal. Once that is defeated, Voldemort dies, but not before making peace with Harry. Voldemort–now as Tom Riddle–appears as a ghostly form alongside Dumbledore and Sirius Black as Harry and his friends dance and rejoice with a bunch of fuzzy furry beings in the forest, all singing a “yub yub” song.
Fifteen years later, J. K. Rowling announces plans to a series of prequels tracking the evolution of Tom Riddle into Voldemort. Tom will accompanied on his adventures by a powerful wizard, a young Albus Dumbledore, and an annoying house-elf named “Raj-Raj.”
The book’s climax comes when Harry utters a marvelous but very soft-spoken three-word curse: “No more wizards.” Suddenly, the world reshapes and where there were millions of wizards and witches in their secret world, there are now but a handful (maybe a mere 198) left and they’re forced to deal with Harry’s mysterious disappearance.
1) This guess is probably right or close. Wormtail’s death is probably going to be vital to the story.
2) I don’t think any of the main three will die – but I wouldn’t be suprised if any of them sustains heavy injuries.
3) I don’t think Neville will kill Bellatrix, but it would be fitting if he was the one to defeat her in the final battle.
4) I think ‘Deathly Hallows’ refers to something other than Godric’s (not Cedric’s) Hollow. This renaming would not only change Hollow to Hallow, but change the singulart Hollow to Hallows.
5) I think it pretty well has to be Regulus Black, there being no other RB’s. I think Regulus will turn out to still be alive and will replace Sirius as a father figure for Harry.
As for my own guesses:
a) Dumbledore will be resurrected. I don’t think it’s accidental that there’s a phoenix motif assoctiated with him.
b) While I wouldn’t call Snape good, I think he is still on the side of the Order of the Phoenix, and killed Dumbledore because Dumbledore asked him to do it.
c) Ron and Hermione will end up together, and Harry will end up back with Ginny. Rowling has laid a lot of groundwork for these pairings, and hasn’t really given much basis for a Harry – Hermione pairing.
From the ashes, five will rise. But then Stu will quit and Pete will be fired and replaced by Ringo.
Then John will be the Walrus.
And they shall be “Beatles” with an “a.”
And he who killed his king must beware the thane of Fife.
And questions of names, quests, favorite colors and airspeed velocities of unladen sparrows must be correctly answered.
And when they’ve eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.
Okay. I’ve never actually read any of the Harry Potter books. Maybe I will one day. Just to satisfy my curiosity.
Rick
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1) This guess is probably right or close. Wormtail’s death is probably going to be vital to the story.
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Ooops, that’s supposed to read ‘Wormtail’s debt‘.
Jerry thanks. i do hope you’re right see on live journal someone posted the very last page. and thinking it was a joke (and unaware of the apparent leak) i read some of it it wasn’t all that good . then when i found out it might be genuine..
I don’t want to read the leaked copies because i didn’t like what i read and if i go in that frame of mind it’s going to be bad.
real or not the person behind this is a class A jackhole
“The Dursley’s kick HP out for good – only to be captured by the bad guys and held hostage as a lure for HP, who saves them reluctantly. However, this will not change the fact that they hate him and magic.”
I’m not sure. I have a feeling Aunt Petunia is actually a squib, and therein lies her hatred of magic. Her sister was a witch and drew all the attention, while poor Petunia tried and tried and never got anywhere, and thus she shuns everything magic. How else would she know about the Dementors, and who’s words was she supposed to mind?
“…and an annoying house-elf named “Raj-Raj.”
Not to mention, his overly annoying precocious sister Dee, and a pair of sidekicks, one whose purpose is to greet everyone they meet with “Hey, hey, hey” and the other who brings salads and invokes house elf magic. “Ooom shal-a goom shock shock, Ooom shal-a-goom shock shock!” This will be closely followed by a ligament tearing dance and a twirling red beret.
You know what’s funny – I’m the only one in our house that has read all the books so far. Children numbers 3 and 4 started the “Harry Potter” craze in our house, but lost interest around book 4. Children numbers 1 & 2 (who were in their mid-late teens when the first one came out) have never gotten into HP. Number 2 will watch the movies, number 1 won’t even do that.
Megan
Ok, only one real prediction from me.
Peter’s life debt to Harry.
When he lost his hand rezzing Lord V, His Evilness replaced it with a *silver* hand. Silver. Good for killing werewolves with.
I always thought that it would be the hand of doom for Lupin, as much as I lvoe the character. However…. What if Peter pays his debt by killing Fenrir Greyback?
The funniest prediction I’ve heard yet is that the end of the new book has Harry, Hermione and Ron eating a plate of onion rings in the Leaky Cauldron. Voldemort walks in and then the last 80 pages of the book are blank.
The only thing I see as being fitting would be for Harry to discover the true biggest V supporters all along… The Weaseley Family!
They’ve been the center of everything, even moreso than Harry, the whole time.
Ron versus HArry… Ron dying.
A poster named Duke of Earl Grey posted these predications at nitcentral.com:
10) Harry realizes the past year of his life was just a dream when he wakes up one morning to find Dumbledore taking a shower in the prefects’ bathroom.
9) Peeves? Gay as a French horn.
8) James Potter left his invisibility cloak in Dumbledore’s possession merely as collateral for his massive gambling debts.
7) In a Fight Club-like twist, Harry finally recognizes that Ron and Hermione don’t actually exist, except in his mind. Go back and look at the clues. It makes complete sense, I swear…
6) To open the locked room at the Ministry of Magic, one need only sing the complete lyrics of a specific Huey Lewis & The News song.
5) Dumbledore’s implicit trust of Snape stems mainly from Snape never giving away that Dumbledore was a big Air Supply fan.
4) Wormtail ate all the Cracklin’ Oat Bran! I thought I smelled a rat…
3) Mistakenly convinced R.A.B. stands for “Raymond Burr”, Harry spends his entire summer watching old Perry Mason TV movies, but in doing so, ironically he discovers the vital clue to his quest.
2) Though relieved to find out he is NOT one of Voldemort’s horcruxes, Harry is soon dismayed to learn he is in fact housing a portion of the soul of Peter Tork.
1) A dying Snape, defeated at the hands of Harry, utters his ominous final words: “Fifty points… from… Gryffindor…”
I’ve never read any HP book, but did see the first 2 movies. After watching them, I told my diehard literature friend that in the last book HP would realize all the magical world was a made up fantasy to compensate for his real parents (or relatives) abusing him. I still believe that this was JK’s original intent, but I don’t think it’ll happen now with the success the story line has brought to everyone involved. It’d just be too tragic and too real.
I’ve never read any HP book, but did see the first 2 movies. After watching them, I told my diehard literature friend that in the last book HP would realize all the magical world was a made up fantasy to compensate for his real parents (or relatives) abusing him. I still believe that this was JK’s original intent, but I don’t think it’ll happen now with the success the story line has brought to everyone involved. It’d just be too tragic and too real.
I’ve never read any HP book, but did see the first 2 movies. After watching them, I told my diehard literature friend that in the last book HP would realize all the magical world was a made up fantasy to compensate for his real parents (or relatives) abusing him. I still believe that this was JK’s original intent, but I don’t think it’ll happen now with the success the story line has brought to everyone involved. It’d just be too tragic and too real.
I’ve never read any HP book, but did see the first 2 movies. After watching them, I told my diehard literature friend that in the last book HP would realize all the magical world was a made up fantasy to compensate for his real parents (or relatives) abusing him. I still believe that this was JK’s original intent, but I don’t think it’ll happen now with the success the story line has brought to everyone involved. It’d just be too tragic and too real.
He grows up and marries you. Is that what you wanted to hear?
He grows up and marries you. Is that what you wanted to hear?
Sasha-
That is one of my favorite cameos on the Simpsons. The way she said it you KNOW she has thought it before.
Kath
It was perfect, wasn’t it.
Last minute predictions before I go off to the bookstore, rereading Year Six:
Harry achieves detente with Aunt Petunia and the Dursleys (whom we learn was a witch-in-training who quit) and the Dursleys. However, just as he leaves as the last bell chimes signifying his 17th birthday, Number Four Privet Drive explodes, killing the Dursleys. Harry feels terribly guilty, realizing he really did love them. These are “minor” deaths though, leaving the other two major deaths in play.
Dumbledore is dead, dead, dead (his appearance in the picture frame as a former headmaster gives it away). He leaves clues and exposition in the form of phials of memory to be seen in the pensieve.
Dumbledore made a deal with the centaurs when he rescued Umbridge, securing their support.
Umbridge will appear to make life difficult. She’s not a Death Eater or under the Imperious Curse. After having a chance to relearn to hate her, something truly horrific will happen to her, making Harry feel horrible (again).
Someone will be kissed . . . by a dementor, thereby getting around the Rowling’s two death dictum by having someone suffer a fate worse than death. Umbridge, Bellatrix, or Voldemort will be at least one of the victims. Rowling will actually show the kiss “onscreen.”
Longbottom will utterly spank Bellatrix with a Cruciatus Curse, avenging his ‘rents.
Wormtail will repay his debt by not killing Harry when he has the chance. He may very well kill someone else instead, making Harry wish he had been the victim instead.
All the Weasleys will survive. If one dies, it will either be Ginny or one (but not both) of the twins.
Weasley Wizarding Wheezes pulls the family out of poverty. Arthur gets a significant promotion.
Percy becomes a spy for Voldemort, either by becoming a Death Eater, courtesy of an Imperious Curse, or by threatening the family.
Fleur and Bill’s wedding will go off alright; Molly will be a perfectionist terror.
Kreacher becomes a spy for the Order.
Draco utterly pûššìëš out when he could have made a real difference, possibly leading to someone’s death. He’ll have to live with it.
Hagrid dies. So does Lucius.
Snape is still on the side of angels but not because he wants to do the right thing, but rather to avenge Lilly Potter (nee Evans). He will do anything and sacrifice anyone to take down Voldemort. He truly regrets killing Dumbledore. He will live and go quietly to Azkaban.
Harry will defeat Voldemort; Snape will kill him.
Hogwarts will be the scene of the final fight. It will take damage, but will survive.
Either Harry or Voldemort’s wand will break, exposing the phoenix feather core, bringing Fawkes into play, probably as a 1-Up powerup.
One of the horocruxes is the locket nabbed by Regulus Black mentioned in Book 5. Mundungus Fletcher has since filched and fenced it.
Voldemort accidentally created a horocrux with Harry. Harry isn’t the horocrux – Voldemort is (for Harry).
A new ghost is created, probably Voldemort since he will try to escape death.
Hermione survives, and in the AMERICAN GRAFITTIesque epilogue, we learn he eventually becomes headmistress of Hogwarts. Harry becomes an Auror. Ron goes to play quidditch professionally.
I just read books 4-6, and came up with this list of predictions with my son.
1. Fleur and Bill’s wedding will take place relatively early in the book.
2. Neville will bring Bellatrix to justice one way or another.
3. Harry will somehow discover a way to channel the spirits/essences of the 5 people closest to Harry that Voldemort has killed (Mom and Dad Potter, Sirius, Cedric DIggory, and Dumbledore). In this way, he will defeat Voldemort.
4. The three major characters (Harry, Ron, Hermione) will all live.
5. Couples at the end of the book will include Ron and Hermione, Harry and Ginny, Lupin and Tonks (though one of these might die), and Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood.
6. Snape will go to Azkaban, Voldermort and Bellatrix will die.
I have a theory that I’d bet money is correct … read at your own peril:
I just finished reading Book Six, and I was reminded that Voldemort hid pieces of his soul in six items in order to ensure his immortality. Dumbledore speculated that these items were a locket, a ring, a cup, a diary, a mysterious item that would have belonged to one of the founders of Hogwarts, and Voldemort’s snake.
I believe that Dumbledore was wrong. I don’t think Voldemort hid a piece of his soul in the snake. I believe that he hid a piece of his soul in Harry! That is why he wants Harry alive, that is why Harry seems to have picked up pieces of Voldemort’s personality, and that is why, as J.K. Rowling said, one character dies but gets a stay. This makes me think that Harry will have to die to make Voldemort vulnerable to death, but Harry will be ressurected at the end.
I mentioned this theory to my partner, and she is now livid with me because she’s afraid I gave away the ending. We’ll have to wait and see, but I’m betting I’m right. I look forward to finding out tomorrow!
I saw the new HP movie this past week, but otherwise have not been giving the franchise a lot of thought recently. (My book should arrive early next week, as I am frugal and went for the free shipping.)
That said, predictions:
1. Everybody will save Harry, or nearly so. very likely including Wormtail.
2. I think Ron & Hermione will both survive (as will Harry). Very few of the archetypes Rowling is using as plot-templates are fundamentally tragic; I think that as dark as Book 7 is likely to get, it’s also going to be very much about redemption and the enduring power of love, and in the particular kind of story-construct Rowling is building, you just don’t do tragic endings.
That said, I will venture the prediction that if either Ron or Hermione dies, so will the other — they will live or die together.
3. For absolutely no tangible reason at all, I think it may turn out to be Draco who takes out Bellatrix Lestrange.
4. Surviving Weasleys are likely to include Ron (see above), Mrs. Weasley, and Ginny. All other Weasleys are both expendable and likely to be expended. Ginny will live, I think, because I expect that a key element of the ending will involve Harry and Ginny essentially taking on the roles of James and Lily.
5. Surviving Hogwarts faculty are likely to be very, very thin on the ground. I’d like to see Hagrid survive (I think he may have been Rowling’s reprieved character), but I wouldn’t bet on any professor’s fate one way or the other save for Snape, who is almost certainly doomed (if probably in a good cause).
6. Surviving Hogwarts students? Pure guesswork. My own guesses are that Draco and Luna will live, Neville will die heroically, and all other secondary student characters are tossups.
I finished book 7 this morning.
🙂
Megan
Friday during lunch I stopped into a local Borders store. The manager and his staff looked like soldiers preparing for battle. They were moving racks from place to place and turning the area near the cash registers into a maze so that the expected throngs would be orderly when it was time to pay up.
Reader’s reviews on Amazon have been mixed and Deathly Hallows rating is now at a 3.5
Susan O said: “I have a feeling Aunt Petunia is actually a squib, and therein lies her hatred of magic. Her sister was a witch and drew all the attention, while poor Petunia tried and tried and never got anywhere, and thus she shuns everything magic.”
Aunt Petunia can’t be a Squib because her parents weren’t magical – a Squib is a non-magical person born to magical parents. JK Rowling has confirmed she is not a squib, but that there is more to her than meets the eye.
Having finished the book, I figured it was safe to come back online and read the rest of the theories but I will not say anything about it. So don’t ask. 🙂 Happy Reading!
Finished it last night. Loved it. Waiting for the review thread.
David
I’m not far into it, but I have started it. I’ll try not to spoil what’s happened so far in my predictions.
Lots of deaths. Not necessarily major characters, but we’ll see at least one major battle featuring witches and wizards not necessarily of the Order (Hogwarts, perhaps? Hogsmeade? Diagon Alley?) and many of them will be killed. Personally, I think any and all of the teachers and more-or-less unimportant students are fair game.
I don’t think Harry will die. If he does, he’ll somehow be ressurrected.
If Voldemort doesn’t die, he’ll be a ghost, a phantom, or some other non-dead entity that has no bearing on the physical realm.
I don’t believe Harry is a Horcrux, although it would make for an interesting twist. It just seems like Voldemort is too adamant about killing Harry himself, though.
Dumbledore is dead. Not that I want him to be, but I believe Rowling has confirmed it.
That said, I suppose it is possible for Sirius to come back in some way, shape, or form.
Snape could go either way. However, I believe if he turns out to be evil, it’s not because he has been the entire time; I believe if he’s loyal to Voldemort again he was turned somewhere between Goblet of Fire and Half-Blood Prince, and has a dámņ good reason (in his eyes) for doing so.
While I could see the “Big Three” surviving to see another day, I can also envision at LEAST one of them biting it as to give the final moments a deeper impact.
The redemptive/protective power of love will come into play at some point. It seems like it was too big a deal in the first half of the series for it to be completely ignored since Voldemort’s physical reincarnation.
As per the cover, I predict that the final battle between Harry and Voldemort will take place in some sort of magical colosseum (perhaps called the Deathly Hallows) with Death Eaters watching.
Kreacher himself will not do much of significance; however, I feel that more than likely he’ll have some kind of information that will either reveal backstory or give Harry a clue to his intended path.
That’s all for me, for now.
-M
Voldemort is Harry’s father, Hermione is his twin sister, and the whole thing will end with Snape chucking Voldemort off of the top of a tall tower, then collapsing.
These were my predictions (I won’t tell you if they came true or not):
1) Hermione will die. I agree with Ariel on this one, and since Hermione is my favorite, she’s getting the axe.
2) The reason Snape turned was that he was in love with Lily Evans/Potter, and the depth of his love is what convinced Dumbledore.
3) Harry is a horcrux. I can’t figure out how this works with the “six horcruxes” idea, but I believe that this is the cause of his connections with Voldemort.
4) Snape will do more despicable things until right before the end of the book, where he will play a key role in saving Harry or, more likely, weakening Voldemort. Perhaps Snape will figure out the horcrux thing and take one of them out.
5) ALBUS Dumbledore is not dead. He was switched with his brother, Aberforth. Rowling has said “Dumbledore IS dead,” but I’ve never heard her say “ALBUS Dumbledore is dead.” I don’t really believe this, but I kind of hope it’s true, as Dumbledore was my favorite character before… you know.
6) I, too, believe that Wormtail will fulfill his obligation to Harry in some way.
7) I, too, hope that Neville opens a can on Bellatrix, preferably with a cool, Inigo line (“My name is Neville Longbottom. You killed my parents. Prepare to die.” OR NL: “Offer me stuff!” BLS: “All that I have and more, please!” NL: “I want my parents back, you female dog!”)
8) Harry will have to die in his final fight with Voldy, as I believe HP to be a horcrux.
9) After Harry dies and is freed from Voldy’s influence, his forehead will no longer have a scar (Hence the long-foretold last word of the book, now confirmed to no longer be the very last word).
10) One of the Weasleys has to die. I hope it’s Mr. or Mrs., as I hate to see parents lose children, but I don’t really know who it will be. I don’t think the Weasleys are safe even if Ron bites it.
Well, there you go. Right or wrong, those were my predictions. When I was wrong, I was usually happier with the choice Rowling made than I would have been with my prediction.
Eric
their won’t be anymore Harry books but I think their could be a Dumbledore prequel similar to The Hobbit.
Adding to my earlier, completely off-the-wall predictions posted above:
Ron Weasley becomes the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts. His first week on the job, he gets pantsed during class by a rowdy young wizard. His second week, he wanders into a room he’s never noticed before and is eaten by a troll. Ginny replaces him.
This morning, on the way into work, I thought up a final scene that actually ends with what I’ve been told is the real last line of the book (which I don’t own and haven’t read–in fact, Sorcerer’s Stone is the only one of the books I’ve read so far). It’s pretty grim, though, so I may send it to Peter first since it’s his board.
Must see!
http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20070722