Not all predictions regarding Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows can be formulated in a yes/no fashion ("Will Harry die?" "Is Snape evil?"). Not all of them even lend themselves to multiple choice.
And some of the predictions I've seen are so vague as to be meaningless ("Luna will be important in Book 7"). I don't care much for vague predictions. They seem to me to be akin to the newspaper horoscope -- "Friends will be important in your life" -- not much to work with there, not much even to discuss.
So here is my big, bold, going-waaay-out-on-a-limb, as-specific-as-you-can-get prediction, based on my study of set-ups and payoffs in the HP saga.
I predict:
Harry, toward the end of the book, will be stymied in his need to get physically close to Lord Voldemort to kill him. He may or may not have tried and failed to reach Voldemort, or he may have just considered and discarded ways to get to him.
He may at this point remember Dumbledore's words: "They can't kill you if you're already dead." And he will get an idea. (I say he "may" remember only because my understanding is that this line did not appear in the UK version of Half-Blood Prince.)
Harry will make the Draught of Living Death. To do this, obviously he needs the Half-Blood Prince's potion book, the one currently hidden in the Room of Requirement. Harry may have already retrieved it by this point, or this could be his motivation to go get it.
Having made the potion, Harry will take it at the appropriate moment. He will then appear, to all intents and purposes, to be dead.
It's possible that Hermione and Ron (and Ginny) may not realize what Harry is doing. They might believe Harry is dead. In fact, we might believe Harry is dead (if we don't see him make the potion in chronological order, but just hear about it later).
Harry's dead body will be taken to Lord Voldemort. Voldemort will believe he has triumphed.
And then Harry will wake up (a bit at a time, but fairly rapidly, as we saw with recovery from the Polyjuice Potion). And he will be right where he wants to be, right where he couldn't get any other way: Within striking distance of Voldemort.
It's all been set up. And yes, of course I could be completely wrong. A prediction this specific is a risky, risky thing.
But if I'm right, I want a parade.
Monday, May 14, 2007
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12 comments:
Oooh, good one! Definitely, it's all be set up!
The only thing conspiring against it is some villain (Can't recall who, Bellatrix?)'s words: "Potter belongs to the Dark Lord! Leave him!"
Which seems to say Voldemort will be coming after Harry (soon).
Huzzah Jan!
I like the boldness.
You may be onto something here, especially with that "draught of living death" hanging about the way it has been.
One question that intrigues me is how JKR will handle the narrative if we reach a place where Harry appears to be dead. Since she tells the story in third person, that wouldn't seem to be a huge question, but she generally keeps us behind Harry's eyes (except in rare circumstances...) so I just wonder what creative choices she would make at that point.
I am getting shivers of excitement about this book, and we've still got two months to go!!
It's interesting idea, but I just don't think it's Rowling's style.
I could be wrong, of course.
I'm a big fan of your blog - especially the Harry Potter stuff - and I actually emailed you once, forever ago, with a link to an interesting article about HP and libertarianism.
I just came across a VERY interesting HP theory (on the blog where I originally read about the HP/libertarian article). It suggests, with backup, that McGonagall might be a traitor. I haven't read anything quite like this before, but at first read, it's quite convincing.
Anyway, I thought of you as soon as I read it - thought you might be interested in taking a look. And since you are much better acquainted with the books than most (I just started a reread of all the books, but I've only gotten through the first so far), I'd love to hear what you think of the theory.
Here's the link to the post: http://galleyslaves.blogspot.com/2007/05/greatest-harry-potter-theory-ever.html
And thanks again for all of your great thoughts. You've added a lot to my enjoyment of the series.
I was first directed to your site by a post at Galley Slaves a couple of years ago. There is an interesting post there right now pointing to McGonagall as a possible traitor at Hogwarts. I don’t recall coming across this before. It has fallen on me to direct my wife, eldest son, and various other friends and family members to any Harry Potter information I come across. I thought I would send this one to you as well as it seems to be well thought out.
http://galleyslaves.blogspot.com/2007/05/greatest-harry-potter-theory-ever.html
I would like to take this chance to tell you that I really like your site. I originally visited for Harry Potter predictions, but I visit regularly because I like just about everything you write. We seem to be in similar places. I think your kids are a bit older than mine, but by not much. Reading your posts seems a bit like reading letters from a friend. Some other sites seem to talk down to the reader or are a bit impersonal. Thank you for sharing a bit of you with all of us in cyber-land.
Chris Craft
Irving, TX
PS - You should never feel guilty for not blogging all of the time--definitely not when your time away is family oriented, as it was this week with your editing work. This is where I tell you something I often tell my wife: You do realize that your volunteer work will be remembered, right? The next time they need an editor, they know who to call. (My wife doesn’t know how to say “No” either.)
Good theory, but I think Voldemort would see right through a potion.
My theory:
Harry is actually a seventh Horcrux. Voldemort is not aware of this, because this was completely accidental: the night Voldemort killed the Potters and made his first attempt on Harry's life, it obviously backfired. When the Killing Curse backfired on Voldemort, a piece of Voldemort went into Harry (remember all of Dumbledore's 'there's a bit of him in you, Harry' speeches, especially when referring to the scar?).
With Dumbledore gone, there's no way Voldemort would not try to take over Hogwarts. Harry will confront Voldemort near/at Hogwarts, and Voldemort will use the Killing Curse - Harry will fall, but he will not die. What dies, I think, will be the little piece of Voldemort inside Harry. So in essence, Harry fakes his own death. Now, obviously Harry has to be perfectly still and honestly LOOK dead in order to Voldemort to be fooled. This is where I think one of the Malfoys will come into play.
In the Spinner's End chapter of Half-Blood Prince, Narcissa Malfoy is in desperate desire to save her son from Voldemort's wrath. With Lucius in Azkaban (and in Deathly Hallows, Voldemort will probably want to keep a tight hold on him), she sees her husband as useless in the effort to save their only child.
Voldemort will make Harry's "murder" public - he'll do it in front of Death Eaters, but his own arrogance won't allow him to actually examine Harry himself. With this all taking place at Hogwarts, I think he'll have Narcissa or Lucius check Harry for vital signs - they'll obviously know he's alive, and only want to know if Draco's alive. If at this point Draco is really still alive (I don't think he'll die), Harry will tell them so and one of the Malfoys will lie to Voldemort and confirm Harry's dead.
We have to remember that the Malfoys mainly joined Voldemort for their own gain - they're greedy and they buy the pureblood mania, but they don't care what happens so long as their son remains safe.
With that out of the way, all Harry has to do is keep acting. Once Voldemort makes a parade of Harry's body, Harry will magically 'resurrect' and destroy Voldemort.
But that's just a theory.
I don't want to spoil it for anyone, so I won't be specific, but wow some of you guys are good. It was pretty shocking reading the book and seeing some things play out almost exactly as described.
Dude.
*stares at my own theory*
DAMN.
@Ashley.
That's too many coincidences for me to believe you came up with it on your own.
But if you did....wow. Props.
Yeah, in retrospect I'm a tad suspicious...But if you didn't read any spoilers/leaks before posting that, woah, good job.
I actually originally wrote the first version of this prediction back in early 2006 (would have to dig back through blog entries to find it), then published a revised version in my book in 11/06, then published this final revised version here in May... so no, no spoilers, believe me.
Though I'm sad, just for the sake of bragging rights I guess, that the Draught of Living Death didn't show up, as I've always said, what JKR writes is *right*... So I'm happy w/ how it plays out in the book.
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