I’m a pretty big fan of Harry Potter. Like pretty much everyone else in the world right now. I’ve been reading the books since the summer of 1999, when I was pregnant with Harry. Shortly after we found out I was pregnant, my husband would read the Winnie the Pooh book a good friend of mine gave me to my belly at night as we were going to sleep. We’d heard some of the hubub about the Harry Potter books and thought it’d be a nice investment for our son someday. Because at that point, the books were still primarily for children and also because I thought it was cute how close the name of the title character was to our unborn child’s name. Since I’ve always had a love affair with reading, I thought it would be something nice to pass on to my boy. So we purchased “The Sorcerer’s Stone” and “The Chamber of Secrets” and took them home to read to the belly.
To be honest? We had a hard time getting into it at first. My husband would read a couple pages each night and we were having a hard time figuring out where this whole thing was going. And you have to admit, those first chapters at the Dursley’s in Book 1 seemed to drag on forever. But once Harry got to Hogwarts? We were more than on board. Before we knew it, we were diving into Book 2. And when that was done and Book 3 was already out? We got that too. And that’s when I really fell in love with it. “Prisoner of Azkaban” was (and is) my favorite of the books. When Harry was born, Kile read the books to him all over again as I would nurse him to sleep each night. I still remember neither of knowing how to pronounce Hermione and calling her “Her-me-own”. When Book 4 came out, I picked it up at Target the day it was released and we started reading it to Harry that night.
We’ve seen all the movies (we were there opening day “Sorcerer’s Stone”) and read all the books. We don’t read the books aloud anymore (and haven’t done that since Book 4 came out) and so now we have to “share” the books. Which means that come Saturday, there’ll be a race to the door when the UPS guy delivers our copy of “The Deathly Hallows” to see who gets first crack at it (better be me). I both cannot wait to read it and see what happens and am in mourning for the end of the series. Once it’s over, it’ll truly be over. And I doubt any series will take it’s place anytime soon. In the mean time, I’m still speculating as I have been for the last two years. If you’d like to see some of my ideas and theories, then join me after the jump. If you’d rather not, well, this is your warning. Don’t read any further.
So what do I think will happen? I honestly have no idea. I mean, I know Harry will at some point fight Voldemort. And someone will be successful because this series has to end with the vanquishing of Voldemort. That’s just the rules right there. But beyond that, I only have vague theories. Wanna hear them?
- I think Snape is good. I think he’s been good all along. In fact, I’d wager to say that he hasn’t ever been actually EVIL and that he joined up with Voldemort after he was already on Dumbledore’s side. Now, I understand this is somewhat contrary to things that Dumbledore told Harry in the last book, but I definitely think there’s more to this whole story than we know right now. Snape killed Dumbledore on Dumbledore’s orders and I haven’t ever been able to read that whole scene without it seeming to be just that way. Dumbledore would NEVER plead for his life. Yes, we had just gotten finished watching Dumbledore at his weakest, as he and Harry visited Voldemort’s ocean-side cave and he drank from the enchanted basin. But the mental effects of that potion had already seemed to be worn off (if not the physical effects). No, Dumbledore was pleading with Snape to kill him, not the opposite. Mark my words, folks.
- I believe Snape will die in this last book. I believe Voldemort will die as well. I don’t think Harry will die. I just really don’t think so. I don’t think Ron or Hermione will die either. Maybe one of the Weasley’s but not Ginny or the twins. Maybe I’ll get lucky and Cho will bite it.
- I think Neville will come out as a big hero in this book. They’ve been building up to that for quite some time now. We saw a bit of that in Book 5.
- I don’t know if Harry will return to Hogwarts or not but I do think it will reopen. Maybe he’ll return for a portion of the year. I would hope that he’d at least finish his schooling. I was a little disappointed that the Weasley twins didn’t finish theirs.
- Ron and Hermione will “get together” as will Ginny and Harry. Like, DUH.
- I like the idea of Harry saving Malfoy. I don’t know if it’ll happen or not, but I like the sound of that and I see a lot of potential with that storyline.
- Perhaps Harry will defeat Voldemort or maybe Neville will do it. Either way, Voldemort WILL be defeated. And for good, which means Harry will find all the horcruxes.
I’m just so excited for my book to be delivered. I plan to avoid as much spoiler talk as I can until I’m finished with it. I doubt I could enforce a complete media blackout (I am an addict, after all), but if I come across anything even REMOTELY giving away the ending, I’m going to be plenty pissed. I plan to discuss the book after I’m finished with it, but I will make sure to properly mark those posts so those that don’t want to be spoiled can avoid them. I’m toying with the idea of doing podcasts during the course of reading the book like Zoot is planning on doing. I hate hearing my own voice, but it sounds like fun. And at least I’ll be getting to talk about the book with SOMEONE (since Kile and I have to share the book, I’ll probably finish before he does). Again, those posts will be properly marked so you won’t stumble across anything you don’t want to hear.
Can you just NOT wait??
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