With Deathly Hallows dropping this weekend, and the world (particularly the internet) on the verge of going into a temporary shutdown as people drop off to read said book and avoid encountering spoilers (which are out there already, of course, the most prominent being that guy who supposedly “found” a copy of the book early, photographed each page – this link isn’t a spoiler –, then uploaded everything into the data stream), it seems like now’s a good time to revisit my previous thoughts and predictions on what’s to come.

Sadly but practically, there’ll be no midnight release parties for us this time; not that they aren’t fun, but we have kids who don’t stay up that late (and frankly, we’re parents who don’t often stay up that late, and even if we did, it’s no fun wrangling unconscious children around anyway). Amazon guarantees delivery for Saturday morning (and according to the email I received, they’re prepping our copy for shipping now), and that ought to work well enough for our purposes.

Anyway, it goes without saying that there are at least oblique spoilers for books I-VI below (although I suspect most people will probably have read them already), so be warned…

Now then, to summarize what I wrote back in ’05:

• Harry will FINALLY make his way to Godric’s Hollow, the site where things all started back on October 31st, 1981. He’ll finally pay his repects at his parents’ graves (ideally, at night, in a rainstorm, for the whole “Bruce Wayne/Tortured Soul” vibe). I figure he’ll also find some hidden “message from beyond the grave” from his parents, providing useful information leading into the final battle, and providing more clues about who his parents were in life (it’s always bugged me that he never asked any of the many people around who knew James and Lily about them). And I’d love a secret underground base/lab/rumpus room, but it’s not really necessary.
• Harry will also visit 12 Grimmauld Place, ostensibly to check that no more of the home’s treasures are stolen, but also to arrive at some sort of peace regarding his godfather’s death. I also would hope he’d take posession of Sirius’s flying motorcycle, because I love the image, and it works with Harry’s dual nature (more on that later).
• Somebody’s going to stir things up at the wedding.
• Snape, I believe, is, in the end, a good guy, but ends up working apart from the main force, as they’ll never accept him, at least until he sacrifices himself to tip the odds of the final battle in favor of the forces of good. He’ll be redeemed in death, but will remain singularly unpleasant (though appealing to the reader).
• Dumbledore stays dead, though we haven’t heard the last of his wisdom.
• I think the last bit of the book will mirror, at least in structure, the end of book one – a series of tests, each falling to the strengths of one of the main characters; with the final “boss fight” falling to Harry alone.
• Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny all survive, and pair off in a non-incestuous manner. Everyone else is fair game.

Now for the more current commentary and trite literary analysis:

I recently re-read book six, and was struck by the effort the story goes to draw parallels between the upbringings of Harry and Voldemort – both “half-blood”, both orphaned, both raised solely by muggles until arriving at Hogwarts. It was really at the forefront on my second pass through. The only difference between the hero and the villain is how they deal with their lot in life; with Harry embracing, to some extent, all aspects of his past (at least as much as he knows about it), while Voldemort basically denies his, instead striving for a manufactured image of what he would have liked things to be; but denying quite a bit of his actual nature.

Of course, there’s the whole “capacity to love” thing, which will probably, given the constant harping on about it, be the primary difference in the end. Frankly, however, that’s not quite as interesting to me.

I’d love for there to be some focus on Harry’s embracing the best of both sides of his heritage, the wizard AND the muggle, and having his (relatively) unique experience with both realms provide him an advantage over a purely magical foe (or at least a foe who only holds stock in the magical), and knocking down the whole wizard superiority complex. No idea how JKR’d do it (I am, after all, not a bestselling author who’s work has earned him more money than God), but I like the idea.

This is why I would love for Harry to claim the bike; it’s the perfect symbol of embracing both sides of his nature, combining both elements into something greater, and infinitely cooler. Really, wooden broom or black Triumph bike? No contest, even if they both fly.

Besides, literary Harry has explicity expressed his preference for flying over apparating, and you know Radcliffe is pining for the bike. Oh yeah.

Finally, I think Draco Malfoy, in some capacity, will be redeemed, or at least prove not to be totally evil – otherwise, Dumbledore’s sacrifice would prove to be rather empty. Of course, an empty sacrifice might be an interesting twist. Maybe Narcissa pulls a Lily in the end, and Draco becomes “The Boy Who Lived” ver. 2.0?

And, completely unrelated to everything else I’ve written, I love this whacked out theory more than anything else I’ve seen on the net, that Minerva McGonagall is thoroughly evil, whether it turns out to be true or not.

That’s all I have – I’m really looking forward to reading it (though not quite as much as the wife – she’ll get first crack, of course).

see you on the other side of the dust jacket,
-chuck