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Like clay in the hand of the Potter
Jun. 29th, 2007 10:34 amHey, the last Harry Potter book comes out next month! Honestly, I've been on so much of an Oz kick recently that I haven't been thinking too much about Harry, but what with all the theories I've been seeing about what will happen in the final book [1], I might as well get in my two knuts on some of what's been proposed.
Harry dying: I really don't think it'll happen. Sure, it would be a noble self-sacrifice and all if Harry were to end his own life in order to vanquish Voldemort, but it would be too disappointing and disturbing to the readers. Well, unless Rowling thought, "Sod the readers! I'm already a billionaire!", but I don't find that too likely.
So, then, who IS going to die? I can't say I know. Harry has already lost so many people that offing another close friend (Hermione, one or more Weasleys, Hagrid, or Lupin) almost seems like overkill, but I still expect it. I really hope it isn't Hagrid, not just because he's one of my favorites, but because he's already been through so much (both in terms of physical danger and being tormented by Draco Malfoy and his ilk) that I'd like to see him emerge triumphant. A lot of people seem to think it's a foregone conclusion that he'll die in the final book, though.
Has Rowling given an actual number for how many major characters are going to die in Book 7? It seems to me I've seen the number five tossed around, but I can't recall where I've seen it. With the last two books, we could be pretty sure that, once we knew who died, everyone else was safe. Maybe this was done on purpose, to avoid making the books any scarier than they already were. Of course, they happened so late in the books so as not to allow for much relief, but I know a lot of people pretty much figured it would be Dumbledore who was the main casualty of Half-Blood Prince, effectively meaning they didn't have to fear QUITE as much for the rest of the principal cast. With this last book, though, it sounds like the threat of death will be looming throughout the story for just about everyone. I'll be really surprised if we don't see the final downfall of Voldemort and a relatively happy ending, but "relatively" might be the key word in that sentence.
Snape: While the ending of the sixth book initially left me thinking, "Wait, so Snape is really evil after all?", looking again at his flight from Hogwarts and the tips he gives Harry in the process, I think it's much more likely that (however much it might annoy him) he's still on Harry's side. It COULD be seen as the villain gloating and taunting the hero, but I doubt it. Besides, while making Snape a total villain might be an interesting twist, wouldn't it kind of negate the "you can't trust appearances" moral of the first book?
Harry's scar as horcrux: Kind of makes sense, but also kind of doesn't, because why would Voldemort put a piece of his soul into someone he was trying to kill? That still allows for the possibility that it was a rush job ("Crap! I'm dying, and I still need one more horcrux! Eh, that forehead will do.") or a mistake, but can a horcrux BE a rush job or a mistake? I don't think we have enough evidence to know for sure.
The other horcruxes, and the structure of the story: For all of the twists and tangents in the earlier books, they basically all fit the same structure--Harry and his friends go through another year at Hogwarts while Voldemort and/or his followers brew an evil plot in the background, and the plot finally comes to a head at a time conveniently close to the end of the school year. All the talk at the end of the sixth book about the remaining horcruxes and the possibility of Hogwarts closing down makes me wonder if the last book will be less along these lines and more of a traditional quest story. Half-Blood Prince made finding ONE horcrux a huge challenge and a major contributing factor in Dumbledore's death, and it turned out not to even be a real horcrux. So I definitely expect a LOT of challenges involved in tracking down the rest, especially since clues are few. As such, even though I pretty much expect Hogwarts to stay open despite the professors' discussion at the end of Book 6, I doubt there will be much occasion for Rowling to focus on school-related issues.
Okay, I guess that's about it. I doubt there's anything all that original in there, but hey. Feel free to let me know what you think about any of that stuff.
[1] Not to mention ENTIRE BOOKS. There's a book out in stores now called something like What Will Happen in Harry Potter Book 7. Talk about a book with a short shelf life! Sure, maybe a few people will pick it up off the discount shelf after the release of Deathly Hallows to see how totally wrong it ended up being, but not that many.
Harry dying: I really don't think it'll happen. Sure, it would be a noble self-sacrifice and all if Harry were to end his own life in order to vanquish Voldemort, but it would be too disappointing and disturbing to the readers. Well, unless Rowling thought, "Sod the readers! I'm already a billionaire!", but I don't find that too likely.
So, then, who IS going to die? I can't say I know. Harry has already lost so many people that offing another close friend (Hermione, one or more Weasleys, Hagrid, or Lupin) almost seems like overkill, but I still expect it. I really hope it isn't Hagrid, not just because he's one of my favorites, but because he's already been through so much (both in terms of physical danger and being tormented by Draco Malfoy and his ilk) that I'd like to see him emerge triumphant. A lot of people seem to think it's a foregone conclusion that he'll die in the final book, though.
Has Rowling given an actual number for how many major characters are going to die in Book 7? It seems to me I've seen the number five tossed around, but I can't recall where I've seen it. With the last two books, we could be pretty sure that, once we knew who died, everyone else was safe. Maybe this was done on purpose, to avoid making the books any scarier than they already were. Of course, they happened so late in the books so as not to allow for much relief, but I know a lot of people pretty much figured it would be Dumbledore who was the main casualty of Half-Blood Prince, effectively meaning they didn't have to fear QUITE as much for the rest of the principal cast. With this last book, though, it sounds like the threat of death will be looming throughout the story for just about everyone. I'll be really surprised if we don't see the final downfall of Voldemort and a relatively happy ending, but "relatively" might be the key word in that sentence.
Snape: While the ending of the sixth book initially left me thinking, "Wait, so Snape is really evil after all?", looking again at his flight from Hogwarts and the tips he gives Harry in the process, I think it's much more likely that (however much it might annoy him) he's still on Harry's side. It COULD be seen as the villain gloating and taunting the hero, but I doubt it. Besides, while making Snape a total villain might be an interesting twist, wouldn't it kind of negate the "you can't trust appearances" moral of the first book?
Harry's scar as horcrux: Kind of makes sense, but also kind of doesn't, because why would Voldemort put a piece of his soul into someone he was trying to kill? That still allows for the possibility that it was a rush job ("Crap! I'm dying, and I still need one more horcrux! Eh, that forehead will do.") or a mistake, but can a horcrux BE a rush job or a mistake? I don't think we have enough evidence to know for sure.
The other horcruxes, and the structure of the story: For all of the twists and tangents in the earlier books, they basically all fit the same structure--Harry and his friends go through another year at Hogwarts while Voldemort and/or his followers brew an evil plot in the background, and the plot finally comes to a head at a time conveniently close to the end of the school year. All the talk at the end of the sixth book about the remaining horcruxes and the possibility of Hogwarts closing down makes me wonder if the last book will be less along these lines and more of a traditional quest story. Half-Blood Prince made finding ONE horcrux a huge challenge and a major contributing factor in Dumbledore's death, and it turned out not to even be a real horcrux. So I definitely expect a LOT of challenges involved in tracking down the rest, especially since clues are few. As such, even though I pretty much expect Hogwarts to stay open despite the professors' discussion at the end of Book 6, I doubt there will be much occasion for Rowling to focus on school-related issues.
Okay, I guess that's about it. I doubt there's anything all that original in there, but hey. Feel free to let me know what you think about any of that stuff.
[1] Not to mention ENTIRE BOOKS. There's a book out in stores now called something like What Will Happen in Harry Potter Book 7. Talk about a book with a short shelf life! Sure, maybe a few people will pick it up off the discount shelf after the release of Deathly Hallows to see how totally wrong it ended up being, but not that many.
