[SixOfSpades]

Snape: Annoyingly, Rowling can still turn Snape any way she wants, we won't know which side he was REALLY on (if, indeed, he was on any side) until the very end of Book 7. His actions on the Astronomy tower were heinous indeed, but consider what choice he had: D was obviously a goner anyway, not killing him would have cost the Order their most valuable double agent, and then of course he was bound by the Vow. Then again, the very fact that he agreed to the Vow, before knowing the exact wording, pretty much proves that he was working for Voldemort all along.
But no matter which side he was really on, dollars to donuts says Harry's going to kill him.


D: I'm sure he will still talk to Harry through the pictures, but with a limitation: He cannot give help or information, only advice. (Which is also how McGonnagall gets around Harry's annoying silent treatment.) I am positive that he won't be coming back from the dead or anything: Not only was he killed pretty much three times, but resurrecting him is just too damned cliche. Besides, what we've seen in the whole Potter series is a cycle: Each time Harry reaches a new level of training to become ready for Voldemort, another layer of his protections is stripped away. Thus, it was actually necessary for D to die: So far, we've seen Harry learn how to fight: Now he needs to learn to fight. Not that I think Harry will defeat Voldemort in a duel; as has been previously said, it is love that will defeat Voldemort, not power. And it might not even be Harry: IIRC, Neville Longbottom is still in the running as being "The Chosen One." We might see a flashback to the end of Book I, when Harry, Ron & Hermione got Gryffindor to within spitting distance of the House Cup, but it was Neville who gave them the final push. (So, the final battle is the entire Order of the Phoenix against Voldemort, but the masterstroke is Neville dropping a cauldron of love potion on Voldemort's head from a balcony, right?)
Personally, I felt the events leading up to D's death were just too damn contrived, because he kept making a string of stupid mistakes: Is it wise to take the hope of the world into mortal peril without even reconnoitering first? Why did he have to take the Horcrux away, why couldn't he have destroyed it right there? Did the concept of dipping out some potion and simply dumping it out on the ground not even occur to him? Etc. But Rowling does sometimes make realism play second fiddle to serving the plot: Remember that the main thrust of ALL of Goblet of Fire was a secret plan to make Harry....wait for it....touch an object. It could have been ANY object! A rolled-up pair of socks in Harry's trunk would have done just as well, but noooo, they had to get involved in the most complicated, least reliable plan imaginable.

Hogwarts: Harry said he wasn't going back, and I can certainly see him abandoning his Herbology for some intense dueling practices with Mad-Eye Moody and the other Aurors, but if Rowling says he's taking his N.E.W.T.s, then I guess it's back to Hogwarts, then. Of course, the final battle would probably take place there, anyway.

Horcruxes: I doubt the little gold cup theory: Voldemort would only have that much attachment to some random object that Helga owned if he could get a complete set, something owned by all four of them. What I'm guessing is that one of the Horcruxes is being guarded by V himself (last place you'd look, isn't it?), and another is at Hogwarts: Given V's attachment to the place, at least one must be there, and that's not counting the one that ended up there. The possibility of the Sorting Hat occurred to me, but that hardly sems likely, given what we know of the Hat.

Death: This is not a prediction, because if Rowling actually did kill this person, Lord knows how many of her fans would be pissed, and rightly so. But here's my evaluation: Hermione must die. Think about it: For her entire Hogwarts career (and even previously), she has been out-Ravenclawing the entire House Ravenclaw every time she turns a corner. She's got her setup of Lessons, Studying, Homework and Exams down cold, and she's an obvious shoo-in for Head Girl next year, unless there's someone out there who got straight O's on her O.W.L.s. Also, whenever anyone is urging Harry and Ron not to do something stupid/brave, it's (practically) always Hermione. Those times when she does find herself doing something heroic, she usually got there through either peer pressure or sheer dumb luck. Therefore, she clearly belongs in Ravenclaw, and almost as clearly does not belong in Gryffindor. Yet the Sorting Hat put her in Gryffindor. Therefore, she's going to have to perform the ultimate act of bravery, one that can overcome all of her Ravenclaw tendencies and make her a true Gryffindor: She's got to sacrifice herself to save Harry and/or Ron.

[ 07-22-2005, 01:55 AM: Message edited by: SixOfSpades ]