Potter - Before the hallows

Today is July 20, 2007. Time is 11:51 pm. Exactly 9 minutes later, Rowling will read from her final edition of Harry Potter - the series that captivated the entire world for the past decade. Never have I heard of any literary work winnig the hearts of such a wide range of fans - children, adults, whites, blacks, browns and what not.

And I'm sitting here at my home like millions of potter fanatics around the world, painfully waiting for the final edition of the series. And like them, I've also pre-ordered a copy of the hallows and am expecting it to be delivered tomorrow. So, before immersing myself into the final edition, I'm putting down my thoughts, ideas and expectations. I'll follow this up with a "After Hallows" blog once I finish reading the book. Let's then compare my thoughts and expectations with what Rowling has actually created.

The first six books have built an elaborate plot based on very simple concepts : Good Vs Evil, power of love, friendship etc. All these are themes handled by countless authors, but not many have been as successful as Rowling. Now the final edition is expected to tie all the open ends of the plot and provide a exciting feast for its fans.

So what is one guaranteed ending to this series ? Voldermot will be destroyed and the good will triumph over evil. But how will this come about? Will Potter die along with Voldy? Who else will die? As the series progressed, the story kept becoming darker and darker. So I'm sure this will be no exception. My bet is that either Ron or Hermoine or even both will die in this edition. This is my first bet. Even Harry might die. But that will break the hearts of millions of fans. I myself will be soooo disappointed. But Rowling may just want that.

Next comes the question of how Harry, a seventh year student (?) is going to win over Voldermort, one of the greatest wizards of all time. Voldy specializes in wordless spells, that too one of the most powerful ones that no one else knows about. He is an accomplished occlumens whereas Harry is very poor in this. So Harry will have some special help. I've a few guesses:

1. Dumbledore is going to give Harry with some kind of power to Harry or is going to help Harry in some way. His death is going to aid Harry, like how Lilly's death saved Harry. The circumstances of Dumbledore's death is highly suspicious. However weak he might be, I think he could have protected himself against Draco. His delay there, led to snape interfering. Plus he also stupefied Harry. All these will have a better explanation and effect.
2. I still trust Snape, probably more than Dumbledore himself. All through the five books, he has been protecting Harry. Then all of a sudden, he goes to Voldy's side. His reasons are not so convincing. I feel this is all a part of a plan between him and Dumbledore. He'll probably be the one helping Harry, while at the same time pretending to be a death-eater. He is an accomplished legilimens, so his thoughts cannot be read by Voldy.
3. Whoever this RAB is, he's also going to help Harry in some way.
   
4. I came across some discussions which proposed that Mcgonagall is Voldy's super-spy. I've always complained that she is fit for nothing and is just a side character who does nothing significant. But what if these discussions are true? It gives a different angle. And We can expect rowling to do something like this. But somehow, the character portrayed by Maggie Smith in the movies doesn't give me that impression. She is more like a headmistress than a spy. This link analyses each of the six books and tries to establish mcgonagall as a spy, some of which are quite convincing: http://community.livejournal.com/unplottables/46684.html
5. The other important characters like Hagrid, Lupin and atleast one of the weasley brothers might die. On Voldy's side, Lucius, Bellastrix, Narcissa might die.
   
6. Draco might die trying to protect his father or might end up at the good side (even if reluctantly), after seeing that his father is prepared to sacrifice draco to save himself.
7. Rowling has said that Umbridge will have a role again. Maybe she'll again mess things up.
8. Kreacher might follow Dobby's footsteps i.e. become free. But he might work like a spy and feed voldy with info. Or he might devise some plan to make it harder for Harry to find the horcruxes.
   
9. Neville longbottom is going to play some good role here. Mostly Bellastrix lestrange will be killed by Neville - revenge for what she had done to his parents.
10. Rowling has said that one non-magical character will perform magic. and she herself has ruled out Petunia. I think the person is Dudley. Though I can't imagine what it is. But Petunia is someway related to harry's childhood and is going to play a part.
    

I do not want to guess what the horcruxes might be. I've read the fake potter book (I know it is fake because it has a happy ending, which is so unlike rowling. And not many people died) and as per the book, the horcruxes are ravenclaw's tiara, hufflepuff's cup, locket stolen by RAB and potter himself. With this idea in mind, I'm not able to think of any other credible alternative.

Finally seeing how Rowling approaches her books, I don't think this book is going to have a "Lived Happily ever after" ending. Even if Harry is alive at the end, he's going to be all alone, having lost his friends (possibly Ginny too). The World would be rejoicing, but Harry will be crying in his heart, all alone in this world.

I'm preparing myself to be heart-broken at the endding that Rowling would have given to this series.

That's it for now. I'll get back after reading the book. We'll see how close my thoughts were to Rowling's.