Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

[Katie]

[IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE FIRST SIX BOOKS YOU CAN BE SURE TO EXPECT SPOILERS ABOUT THEM, SO DON'T BITCH]

Rowling's 7th and final book in her [adjective of your choice] series will be released in approximately 42 days. I'm positively wetting myself in anticipation, along with millions of other people, whether they'd like to admit it or not.

I remember another thread like this becoming pretty chatty around the release of the 5th book (And maybe 6th? Can't remember) so I figure we're due for another. Share your theories, questions, complaints, concerns about everything in the Harry Potter books here.

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Me: I just finished re-reading the (available) books, and now that everything is fresh in my mind I have a clearer picture of the whole series. The sixth book, being most recent, is obviously under a lot of speculation. Is Snape really evil? Is Dumbledore really dead? Is R.A.B. Sirius's brother? What are the Horcruxes? Will Hogwarts close? Who dies? Who shags who? Will Harry pass his apparation test?!?!

I believe Snape is evil. Maybe a fence sitter before, biding his time until it was clear which side would "win," but definitely made a choice in favor of Voldemort. I'd like to think that the Unbreakable Vow he made is simply impossible for one to break, similar to the Secret-Keeper thing, but after re-reading HBP it says that if you break it you die. If Rowling intended Snape to be noble or something, he would have died. I do however think that Malfoy may turn out to be good due to his actions at the very end, but then again he might just be a coward.

I also believe that Dumbledore is dead. His new portrait in his old office, Fawkes mourning and leaving, Harry being un-paralyzed immediately when he dies... all point to death. I did read an interesting theory about him possibly being an animagus in the form of a phoenix (and therefore being born again after death). I can go look for it if anyone is interested. I do hope that is what happens, Dumbledore's one of my favorite characters, but at the same time I doubt it.

R.A.B. is most certainly Regulus A. Black, and the locket they found while cleaning out his old house is the Horcrux. He was a Death Eater, therefore knew Voldemort, and probably "went good" after he got screwed over or something. Rowling made that painfully obvious.

The Horcruxes are the diary (check), ring (check), Slytherin locket, Hufflepuff cup, Nagini (?), and Voldemort's body. That makes six total, with him intending to make the seventh after murdering Harry as a baby, but never getting around to it due to unforeseen circumstances (Harry not, well, dying).

I hope Hogwarts does not close, but it's kind of hard to speculate, given that I don't think we've been introduced to those who will be making that decision.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione will not die. I will discard my book and declare the series rubbish if they do. I hope it's Neville, trying to save someone. I like him, but it would really flesh out the character we all know is inside that forgetful, bumbling but lovable oaf. Him and somebody we all know but don't really care about, like Flitwick.

Who ISN'T shagging who?! I can count four new couples for the 6th book alone. Hurray for being 16!

Harry will of course pass his apparation test, I don't want to read about the months he'd spend walking around to find the Horcruxes.

[Magmar]

I can sooo relate to Harry Potter with being youngest in the class and having to wait to drive a.k.a. apparate to get places. Poor fellow!

I don't think Harry is a horcrux. AT ALL. OR his scar.

Snape's good.

[Gavin Luper]

Yeah, well naturally I'm hanging out for the last book too. Can't wait to find out what actually happens, because there have been so many theories since the sixth book came out. I'm pretty sure Rowling will find a way to surprise everyone nonetheless.

However - there's something amiss with your Horcrux tally (Yes, I read the series way too much) - it is believed (by Dumbledore, at least) that there are indeed six horcruxes AND the seventh piece of soul is within Voldemort himself. So we've got:

1. Riddle's Diary.
2. Gaunt's Ring.
3. Slytherin's Locket.
4. Hufflepuff's Cup.
5. (? Something of Ravenclaw's or Gryffindor's?)
6. Nagini. (? Possibly created in the 4th book?)
7. Voldemort.

The diary and the ring are gone; and it appears that the Locket might be well within grasp. Plus, Nagini would logically be wherever Voldemort is ... thus there could only be two Horcruxes that Harry actually needs to go on a quest for.

Though that could take quite some time, anyway ...

Anyway, that's my two cents. I always procrastinate like this when I have exams.

[mistysakura]

Mm, RAB = Regulus Black all right. Considering the initials still match in various translations of HBP (yes I spend too much time on this), it would be disappointing if she did that just to trick us. And I think that Dumbledore's definitely dead; character development-wise, Harry needs to stand on his own feet. Also, what with JKR placing emphasis on mourning and death being the next adventure, it wouldn't be right for him to be revived. I still don't know what to believe on Snape being good or evil. I don't think he's 100% evil, because although HP isn't supposed to be about morals, it would be a bit disappointing for the stereotyped evil guy to actually be the evil guy. I think he's either marginally good, or just working for himself. I see your point that Rowling could have made Snape die had she wanted to make him a noble character, but if she did this in book 7 it would have a much larger impact. Actually, I think it would be cool if Snape were a noble person, but he dies with the world thinking he's evil. Although I'm pretty attached to them, I wouldn't mind if Harry, Ron or Hermione died. I'm sure she wouldn't do it just for the sake of killing a main character; it would really hit home about the reality of war and stuff. Who shags who? Hehe, too obvious. Although I still don't think that Harry/Ginny was obvious from books 1-5, like the shippers claimed after book 6 (and calling Harry/Hermione shippers delusional). I could definitely see Ron/ Hermione, but I really thought Ginny was over her crush by book 5. Oh well.

The thing with Harry Potter books is that I get paranoid that because we've been throwing out so many theories and there's all this hype, that we've built our expectations up so much that nothing could poossibly satisfy us. I think a lot of people were disappointed with book 6 because of that (I wasn't; I thought it was a good comeback after OOTP). But I'm still looking forward to Deathly Hallows anyway. It comes out right before uni starts for me, which is good (and a bunch of friends and I are planning to go out the night before and get hyped, hehe).

[Weasel Overlord]

Yeah, me and my friend are off to Midnight Opening! Hee!

I think Snape is good. I'm stubborn like that.

I thought that the talk of dying if you break an Unbreakable Vow was merely speculation, anyway? I'm sure that part was in OoTP or HBP (the only two I didn't bring to uni with me, typical), and I have a vague memory of Ron mentioning one of his brothers trying to make him do one, and Molly stopping them. If my memory is right, then I don't think anything is certain about the Unbreakable yet.

* Snape hesitated when the full terms of the vow were given.
* Dumbledore begged for him to do it. Or it appeared that way. Maybe Dumbledore was aware of the vow, cos didn't he know about Malfoy's attempts to kill him already? My memory is hazy on that part.
* Damn, I've forgotten all my other arguments. All I know is that I'm certain Snape is good, and that I want him to end up being so. If JK has decided to make him a truly evil character, I'll be very disappointed.

Also, how can Dumbledore be an Animagus of a Phoenix? Cos most of the times Harry's been in his office, with Dumbledore, Fawkes has been there too. It wouldn't make sense. I would be intrigued to see the theories behind it, though.

And if she brings Dumbledore back and not Sirius, I will REALLY be angry. Sirius only fell behind the Veil, he didn't physically die. He was only hit with a stunning spell. Gah. I've been reading too much fanfiction. I want Sirius back ... ;_;

But either way, I CAN'T WAIT!! I only hope it doesn't kill the fandom when it arrives ... that would make me a sad weasel.

[Saffire Persian]

Anybody seen the Deluxe Edition USA (I think only US) cover for Deathly Hollows?

Here, if anyone's curious

I'm betting ANYTHING that the dragon pictured there is Norbert... XD

And yeah, if they bring Dumbledore back, they need to bring Sirius back. Although I am of the opinion both are going to stay dead...though I think Harry will get to meet with Sirius via that veil thing somehow. That'd satisfy me, I think.

[Weasel Overlord]

NO FAIR!! Why do we only get the horrible, shit covers in England!? The kids one looks like some sort of horrible, knobbly disease has struck each character and the adult one won't go with the rest of my collection! Ooo noo.

And yeah, I agree with you Saff. Even one last glimpse of Sirius would satisfy me. Every time they bloody mentioned him in HBP I nearly burst into tears again. >_<

[mr_pikachu]

POPUP WARNING. FOLLOW THE LINK AT YOUR OWN RISK.

New Harry Potter Movie Gets "Mature" Rating in Australia

Yes, I know it's slightly off-topic. But it's still Harry Potter news, so why not mention it?

[Heald]

Since most Americans probably don't know what 'hallow' means, are they going to dumb down the book's title a la the first one (if you can't remember, changed from 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone' to 'Harry Potter and the Magic Rock')?

I can just picture it now:

Harry Potter and some bad shit happening

[mr_pikachu]

Yeah, I remember the whole ordeal with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. But I doubt the same thing will happen this time... even if they don't know what "hallow" means, hopefully they can at least get fairly close by thinking of "Halloween."

Then again, I've overestimated the reasoning capabilities of people too many times in the past to be sure about that. We'll see.

[Houndoom_Lover]

Hahaha

NO FAIR!! Why do we only get the horrible, shit covers in England!? The kids one looks like some sort of horrible, knobbly disease has struck each character and the adult one won't go with the rest of my collection! Ooo noo.

They look like they're all high XD

I'm just eger to see it end. -_- After she became all 'famous', you could tell the way her writting changed, but either way. I'm in line to get one of the first books that comes out and Barns and Nobles! ^_________^ Or at least, I hope -_-

I hope Harry is a whatchamacallit! That means Harry would have to destory himself in order to kill Voldy. He did kill that Huffle-puffer when Harry was there. *nods* And he killed alot of people.

[Saffire Persian]

Since most Americans probably don't know what 'hallow' means, are they going to dumb down the book's title a la the first one (if you can't remember, changed from 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone' to 'Harry Potter and the Magic Rock')?

I can just picture it now:

Harry Potter and some bad shit happening

No, the title is the same here as everywhere else. I specifically pre-ordered my American copy from Amazon. The only titles getting changed are foreign ones. And I think we Americans are a bit smarter than your blanket statement suggests. The decision to change Philosopher to Sorceror was a silly one. And I'd say most Americans would have understood that, too. If you want to blame someone, you can blame the editor/publisher.

[Houndoom_Lover]

I agree with that! I thought there was a copyright issue, but when ever I read it, I just replace a word over it! ^_^

I want to know more about Vampires in her world, though I make up stuff as I go when I roleplay one ^-^

[Gavin Luper]

The fourth film got an M rating in Australia too, so I don't know why they'd bother putting that in the news. But anyway, July 11/12: I can't wait.

Oh, H_L, I don't reckon Rowling changed her writing just because she became famous; I think that she kind of hit her stride in that her ideas and words began to flow more and more freely as the rest of the series shifted into place.

[Magmar]

In America, the legend has always been of a "Sorcerer's Stone" so I bet that's why they changed it.

An M rating in Australia is basically PG-13 in America.

[Emotional Faun Chiko-sai]

...I also think that Snape is good, and only doing his job, the only way he can, but that's because I'm biased towards anything Snape-related. :x

And yes, there must be at least slight Sirius in the last book or... or... I'll put off reading it for umpteenth months again like I did with the sixth!!

[Magmar]

I wonder if Harry will have the balls to kill Voldemort.

Shoulda named him Barry. After me. Then he'd have balls. Cuz ya know, balls, B. Halls, H. Like hallows. What kinda manly term is halls? Ya need balls.

[Jeff]

Yeah, the term "Philosopher's Stone" is virtually unheard of here. Keep in mind that it was also the first book so no one had ever heard of Harry Potter. So if someone saw a book called "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" they would say "a book about a guy and a stone that belongs to someone who asks a bunch of dumb questions? I'll pass". So they changed it to something "cooler" sounding. Of course, now they could name a book "Harry Potter and the Magical Prancing Unicorns" and it would still sell like crazy. So all the other books have kept their original names.

[Zak]

I wonder if Harry will have the balls to kill Voldemort.

Shoulda named him Barry. After me. Then he'd have balls. Cuz ya know, balls, B. Halls, H. Like hallows. What kinda manly term is halls? Ya need balls.

Umm... I've had some pretty hard shit, but WTF were you smoking when you posted that. I can't seem to decipher that last statement for the life of me. rofl

[Magmar]

Umm... I've had some pretty hard shit, but WTF were you smoking when you posted that. I can't seem to decipher that last statement for the life of me. rofl

The amount of drugs and inhalers I'm on for this particular sinus/ear/throat infection "Worst I've seen in ages" according to the doctor is pretty intense, so I owe it to that.

(Yes I finally went to the hospital. $$$$$$$ but... I would've probably died otherwise.)

Nevertheless, will Harry really have the balls to kill voldemort without Voldemort killing someone very close to him first--closer than Sirius and Dumbledore??

[Charles Legend]

You know something is a miss here, it said that Dragons can't be tamed in Harry Potter and Sorcerer's Stone, but Hagrid attempted to tame Norbert, however the attempt was not going to well....

So here my question why would a very dangerous Dragon like Norbert Allow Harry, Ron, and Hermione ride him?

~Charles Legend

[Magmar]

Because the Dragons hate Voldemort =)

[mistysakura]

So. A newspaper in Hong Kong's gone and spoiled the ending of Deathly Hallows. Without a proper spoiler tag. I read one line and went 'oh crud'. Am annoyed. The leak also looks genuine, with photographed pages of pretty much all of Deathly Hallows. ... And I was wondering why that particular newspaper was flying off the shelves...

[RedStarWarrior]

Actually, Hagrid wasn't doing a bad job of taming Norbert, he just wasn't that experienced at it. The poor thing was blamed for things it wasn't doing as well, so we didn't get to see how successful Hagrid would have been.

[Heald]

I've already read the entire leaked copy of the book. Definitely not worth the £18 tag they're asking for over here. Anyway, here is a list of characters that die:

Frodo
Anakin
Dave

[Roarkiller]

It's about S$48 here in Singapore. Which is about US$32.

Wait a few months, price will drop like crazy. I just bought the 6th book last month for less than twenty, which was selling for twice that amount when it was first released.

[Weasel Overlord]

£18? Dude, where are you shopping? I'll be getting mine for £9, cos I preordered it aaaages ago with Waterstones. And to be honest, most places will be selling it either that cheap, or around £13, it just depends on what extra stuff you want with the book. I'll be getting a Wizards of the World book to distract me until I get home, since I'm not allowed to read it until the 26th. *cries*

Is anyone doing anything special for the release? Me and Vulpix.ck are off to a midnight opening at Waterstones dressed up. Well, sort of anyway. As in, I have a dog collar and a Padfoot name tag, and she has a big old scratchy jumper and we both have fake-fur ears. (guess who we're off as! Shoebox Remus and Sirius! Yaaay! )

[AdventureSerum]

I will be so, -so- happy if the word 'bother' enters ANY line of dialouge in the upcoming book. Or for that matter, any of the upcoming movies. That's all I can think of to say.

[mistysakura]

Aw, Weasel, why can't you read it until the 26th? I'm not doing anything special for the release, but I'm gonig to see OOTP tomorrow

[Heald]

^ - OOTP film is terrible, unless you like seeing Sirius' animagus form, then I guess you'll like it for 10 seconds.

[Jeff]

So, The Baltimore Sun ran a review of the book today. Yes, you read that right. I personally didn't read it but I heard it does contain spoilers. Apparently The New York Times did their own review. Needless to say, J.K. isn't happy about it.

[Magmar]

I was dead on in my prediction.

I totally threw from left field that the imperial regala was going to be included in the story. Just because I love Sailor Moon S.

Can we discuss spoilers here?

[Roarkiller]

I was dead on in my prediction.

I totally threw from left field that the imperial regala was going to be included in the story. Just because I love Sailor Moon S.

Can we discuss spoilers here?

Might wanna start a new thread on that, with a HUGE spoiler tag attached to the title.