* * spoilers * * Speculations and discussion Book 7 Options

[McGonagall's Cat]

I think you guys are being too hard on Trelawney. She does see a lot of the future, she just interprets it wrong and ends up looking like she didn't "get it".

For example:
All through PoA she keeps saying she sees The Grim around Harry. Had she just said she saw a 'Big Black Dog' instead, we would all think of her as having been 100% correct.

She doubts that she's as good as her ancestor, so she feels that she has to "mystify", rather than just report exactly waht she is seeing.

Another example:
In HBP - She is walking down the hallway muttering about what keeps coming up in The Cards no matter how she shuffles them. Harry's under his Invisibility Cloak and is almost bumped into by her, she's so intent on what she is reading. Everything she is saying comes to pass, but at the time we all let it go because she's "Old Fraud Trelawney".

Look closer at what she says. Much of it comes to pass, though not quite the way we expect from the way she words it.

(The part I don't like about giving her credibility is that she keeps telling us Harry will die.)

[zymurgy]

I never said she wasn't a true Seer. I think she IS and that somebody (most probably the Ministry or Voldemort) has tried to tamper with her brain, either (if the Ministry) to enable the Automatic Prophecy Collection Devise, or to try to force her to retrieve or give up information (if Voldy). Now, such tampering certianly wouldn't cause her general air of over dramatizing things, but it certainly COULD have caused her way of never quite knowing what's going on, forgetfullness, and so on.

Of course, all of this is a bit off-topic. I was just pointing out that she wasn't a good TEACHER, not that she wasn't qualified herself. There are lots of people (e.g. Snape, Hagrid...) who are great at their subjects, but don't teach very well.

What Harry really needs is to realize what latent (if any) abilities he has, and how to hone them, and be able to use them conciously. If I were Harry, for instance, I would have gotten myself to be EXTREAMLY good at Parseltongue. Just in case. Don't use it, you lose it, and all that.

[Aureola]

Well, I have a wacky theory about Lily's profession. I think she was a Seer.

- JKR has always represented the subject of Divination and anything related to it as a joke, so I doubt it, but it might be one of her famous red herrings or it might just be irrelevant.

We have indication that Harry has visions NOT sent by Voldemort

- Voldemort never sent any visions, he just didn't realize, and neither did Harry, that Harry was having access to Voldemort's thoughts and memories.

I do remember reading her say exactly this:

"The Potters' profession is important to the plot, and there will be a huge revelation about Lily Potter."

- And ever since I've been dying to find out the thing about Lily, but this seems to be an interesting theory, zym. The closest I have come before was reading somewhere that Lily supposedly had a secret affair with Snape - I mean, are you kidding me? Nobody in their right mind would go out with Snape... But then again, nobody would go out with Filch, and that possibility was mentioned by JKR in HBP. (Madam Pince.)

It also fits in with how her profession could be important now - we know that if she ever made a real prophecy, it's recorded in a little glass bottle in the D.O.M.

- I think that if she actually was a Seer, then it'd be more likely for her to have made the prophecy about Harry...since it's her son... And if she ever made a prophecy in the DOM, Harry would know about it by now - I mean, what reason is there not to tell him? But then again, Dumbledore has always had good reasons...

Wild guess? Sure it is, but you never know...

- I think it's a great theory... with some flaws.

At the very least there is evidence of a bit of extra-sensory perception. There are several instances where he either knows things he shouldn't - the dreams about the green light before he knows anything about how his parents died, for instance ... or when he has that dream about the motorcycle

- Yes, BUT there are "scientific and psychological" explanations for that. After all, he has seen those things before, he has seen them happen, and it is proven that the subconscious kinda "stores" alarming and traumatic events of the very early childhood. For example, people that have been abused as babies might develop psychological problems later that can be traced back to the abuse, even though they themselves don't even remember that abuse.

And one instance, I believe it's in OOTP

-it is-

"see through the skull of," somebody sitting ahead of him when the answer just "comes to him," which seems to imply he read her mind.

- Well, yes, but he did wish he would be able to apply Occlumency to Parvati, but don't you think JKR would have worded it differently if he eventually did succeed? Don't you think he would have noticed it if suddenly, it worked? (I mean, he did know what it felt like because he saw Snape's gloomy memories before.)

He may not be great shakes in Snape or Trelawney's lessons in this area, but the circumstances aren't exactly conductive to learning in either situation.

- Very true I wouldn't have learned a thing.

Great theory... but not always "bulletproof"... I do hope it comes true, though.

And by the way, I don't think Parseltongue is something you can "learn" or "get better at", either you can speak it or you can't.

[McGonagall's Cat]

This article speculating who might be killed in Book 7 has been around for a while, but I thought we should have a link anyhow.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13819658/








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[chad13]

So, kind of speculating on the next title ... my friend and I were talking about all the old titles, in order.

Sorcerer's stone, chamber of secrets, prisoner of azkaban, goblet of fire, order of the phoenix, and half blood prince. So, it's kind of a pattern. object, place, person, object, then (OOTP kind of is a place, the headquarters anyway), and then another person. So, does that mean that the title of book seven will be harry potter and the as of yet unamed object? hmmmmm ...

[McGonagall's Cat]

Hmmm...
On some levels you have a point. I have a problem with calling OotP a place though. I think of the Order as an organization before I think of it as the place that organization meets. Hmmm...

Since she has so much to tie together (and I am quite certain she won't be able to do it without it seeming rushed and just "listing" a few of the loose-end salutions), I think the title will have to be about an event...a verb. Something along the lines of Harry Potter and the Final Battle (though nowhere near that simplistic). HP and the End of an Era?

Someplace I read that a year or more before HBP came out several names were copyritghted in the British legal system, one of them being HBP. HPANA had a list of three that the same thing occurred with last Spring (but of course I don't remember any of them *sigh*). JKR has also recently said she's toying with a fourth name, so I'm not sure any of us can guess. Look at that whole argument that happened with "Pillars of Storge'"... she laughed at all the speculation, but then how much more sensible is the word "azkaban"?

It is almost as though, if any of us guess even close, she'll change it just for the shock value. *sigh* I do wish some little piece would be leaked.


What do the rest of the Ferrets & Stoats think about Chad's thing-place-person theory?

[timeturner]

Why not-- Harry Potter and the Dark Lord

It's simple and covers all the bases. probably too simple though.

Chad13- your theory makes complete sense. If I were to pick the unknown object, I would have to say that it is the name of the spell/trick/whatever it is that Lily performs to save Harry. It is the opposite of a Horcrux. Through an act of sacrafice--not murder--Lily split her soul and put some in Harry- which is why he has her eyes and why he didn't die. So in other words the title must be...

Harry Potter and the Opposite of a Horcrux

Catchy, huh?

[chad13]

Very catchy!

Timeturner, I really like the opposite of a horcrux idea, and the explanation of Harry's eyes. I mean, JK has only been drilling the fact that Harry has his mother's eyes into us since forever! For it to come into play in a very big way in the seventh book would definatley tie up a few loose ends

[timeturner]

Thanks!

It is a small part of my huge theory (I have practically written book 7 in my head I think). I also think that:

Lily worked in the Department of Mysteries in the room Dumbledore tells Harry about during the whole revealing of the prophecy (Book 5). The room dedicated to the one thing Voldemort always underestimated- Love. That's how she got the idea for the "opposite of the Horcrux". Maybe James worked there too, but I am almost certain that Lily had to. There is absolutely no reason for DD to mention this room, yet he does anyway. Plus it seems weird that Harry would have never asked what his parents did for a living- especially when Aunt Marge was always knocking their livelihood. It wasn't mentioned because it could lead to readers guessing where she was taking this anti-horcrux thing in book 7. And since JK once said Lily's profession was important, it all fits.

Of course this could be nothing more than the ramblings of an HP fan who has been waiting just a little too long for Book 7....

[chad13]

Ramblings or not, they sound like good threories to me Very thought out, which is always good. I always assumed James would have been an Auror or something, but Lily may definatley have worked in the Department of Mysteries.

[woodsgurl]

Very catchy!

Timeturner, I really like the opposite of a horcrux idea, and the explanation of Harry's eyes. I mean, JK has only been drilling the fact that Harry has his mother's eyes into us since forever! For it to come into play in a very big way in the seventh book would definatley tie up a few loose ends

'Twas nice of them to not change Harry's eyecolor in the movies then, wasn't it. Half the time Dan's eyes are blue, and the other half you can't bloody well tell, can you. Least, I can't, but that may be cos I'm slightly stupid.

Haven't been in the Ferret Forums for a while...

Hey all, it's Amy here.

Zym's ideas are very appealing to me. I've got an idea of what a title may be, but it's not that great and very well may be the exact opposite of it.. Harry Potter and The Seventh Horcrux.

As for the deaths... Draco's been a staple character throughout, but he couldn't kill Dumbledore, and that's gonna make Voldie very very angry... he might just take out Draco for insubordination.

I read a theory on another site that hermione might be an older herself in disguise. It sounds slightly stupid, but I like the idea. And someone said that the thought of her coming back, disguising herself like that, and then dating young boys like Ron and Krum was just plain wrong, but maybe that in itself is foreshadowing? Maybe in the future, Ron's not around to hit on? *prays for Ottery's sake that it's not so* We all know that it's possible to go back in time. And the twins used an aging potion to get a bit older, why couldn't Hermione use an potion to make her look as she did when she was young? She could've forced her younger self into hiding or something, and then taken her own place.

Being fans, and not Ms. Rowling herself, we can't rule out the possibility that Harry is a Horcrux. Heck, she may just come out and say it in the title: Harry Potter is a Horcrux, anyone?

But that does mean that we'll lose our golden boy in the end.

[McGonagall's Cat]

Glad to see you back, Woosgurl!

There is something going on with Snape that he is keeping assorted students safe - I'm betting it is some promise to Dumbledore. At the end of HBP he and the other DEs have great opportunities to kill Harry, but Snape blocks it each time...and he hides Draco...so I don't think Draco's gonna be done in.

I do think Hagrid will be, though. He keeps saying things about it taking something more than a few wand-spells to do him in, so I'm betting he does a "Big John"* scene somewhere in Book 7. Mostly I think he will die because he's the next "important adult friend" of Harry's who's left. Yeah, there is Lupin, and Mrs./Mr. Weasley, but (to paraphrase Harry) there wouldn't be a Hogwarts without Hagrid, and I think JKR's going to have it be gone by the end of the book...






*A song from the 1960s where Big John holds the timbers steady in the mine so that the other miners can escape, then once they're free the mine falls in.

[chad13]

I can see Hagrid maybe going, it would make sense, that would be sadder than anything though.

[timeturner]

I can see Hagrid going, but at the same time, I say no. Voldemort has to go. Then it's a toss-up between Snape and Peter. Snape because he must do something to redeem himself at this point--why not die saving the trio. Peter because he owes Harry a debt. It needs to repaid before the end of Book 7. I can also see Bellatrix biting it. After what she did to Sirius, a new cell in Azkaban doesn't seem to be a fitting end for her.

I know Harry is a common pick for death. But, I think he'll make it.

[chad13]

I think Harry will make it too, or at least I hope so, haha. I think Peter will probably go, he owes Harry for one, and he was Marauder, and so far they have a very poor life expectancy. I would love to see Bellatrixa dn Snape duel it out a bit, they hate each other so much, plus one of them would have to die, and at least one of them probably is.