Last-Minute Predictions for Year Seven
Having reread the series for the umpteenth time in preparation for Book Seven of the Harry Potter saga to arrive, I’ve consolidated fifty of my past and new predictions into one place. After the book comes out, I will revisit the page to indicate which predictions actually came true.
- There is a connection with Godric Gryffindor and Harry’s birthplace of Godric’s Hollow.
- Harry Potter is related to Godric Gryffindor, maybe even the last heir!
- The fact that Harry has his mother’s eyes will play a significant role. Not sure about this one.
- Love will help destroy Voldemort again. Although I was a bit surprised that it was Snape’s love for Lily.
- Voldemort made a mistake using Harry’s blood during his rebirth.
- Voldemort will destroy himself again by another bounced Aveda Kedavra.
- Harry will falsely believe that he himself is a Horcrux. Well, I got the belief part, just didn’t realize that it was true. Really wished I’d kept the early prediction that I’d labeled insane, since it was right on target!
- Harry will become an Auror.
- Harry will marry Ginny.
- Harry’s scar will not disappear.
- Dumbledore is related to someone significant, even Harry perhaps.
- Dumbledore’s portrait will continue to help Harry beyond Dumbledore’s death (although I am still not entirely convinced he is dead). By continuing to instruct Snape in helping Harry, I guess this qualifies.
- Dumbledore’s memories in his Pensieve will again prove useful. It was Snape’s
- Dumbledore’s suspicions that Nagini is a Horcrux were accurate.
- Dumbledore has a dark side or secret that will be revealed.
- Ron will live.
- Hermione will live.
- And they will marry.
- Bill and Fleur’s wedding will not go quite as planned. I’ll count this as a successful prediction since the wedding reception didn’t go as planned.
- Either Mrs. Weasley will knit her final sweater, or Mr. Weasley will inspect his final eclectical plug.
- Snape was given the order to kill (real or fake) Dumbledore by Dumbledore himself.
- Snape loved Lily.
- Snape’s two other memories from his Pensieve will be revealed. Close enough that I’ll count it anyway.
- Snape is made headmaster by the idiots at the Ministry.
- Snape dies trying to help Harry and betrays Voldemort at the last moment. Mostly right.
- Once everything smooths over, McGonagall is made headmistress.
- Draco will join forces with Voldemort. Stupid prediction, really. Especially since it was already known that he was a Death Eater. Sheesh.
- But then Draco will eventually wimp out. Not sure about this one either.
- Draco will live.
- Sirius will send a final message through the two-way mirrors. It was Harry.
- Neville’s memory has been modified, and we’ll find out what those memories are.
- Neville will settle the score with Bellatrix by killing her. Way to go, Mrs. Weasley!
- Neville will live.
- Neville will become a teacher at Hogwarts.
- Wormtail will help the Order due to his life debt to Harry. Close enough. He helped Harry himself.
- Wormtail will die.
- Percy will redeem himself with his family.
- Percy will snuff it.
- Dobby will collect his final sock.
- Lucius will die early on, causing conflict for Malfoy.
- We will found out more about Regulus Black — thanks to the locket Horcrux in the Black family house.
- Petunia will reveal a secret about Lily to Harry. Not really, although she was involved in a secret about Lily.
- Ollivander will manufacture a new wand for Voldemort. Close. He was forced to make a wand for Wormtail. And Voldemort sought a new wand.
- Once Harry comes of age, the Dursleys will banish him or abandon him. Close. They left him to be in the care of the Order.
- Hedwig will deliver his (her?) last letter.
- The reason for Luna Lovegood’s odd personality and her personal death experience will be revealed.
- Mrs. Figg (a Squib) will perform some defensive magic in a last-ditch effort to save someone. If not Mrs. Figg who performs first-time magic, then it will be *gasp* Petunia!
- Mrs. Figg (or Petunia, whichever one did the magic) will then die.
- Hagrid will live.
- No one at Hogwarts will catch the Snitch during Year Seven.
Thinking about it a bit more, I wish more major characters had ended up dead. Rowling said in enough interviews that she wasn’t hesitant to do it. So, while not necessarily wishing ill on any of these characters, I’m finding it really does bother me that there wasn’t a higher price paid to beat Voldemort.
Off the top of my head I would list as 1st-tier characters:
Harry himself
Friends and Classmates
Ron
Hermione
Neville
Luna
Ginny
Fred - killed
George - injured
Seamus
Dean
Cho
Teachers and Adults
Hagrid
McGonnagall
Mr. Weasely
Mrs. Weasely
Lupin - killed
Mad-Eye - killed
Others and less major
Dobby - killed
Uncle Vernon
Aunt Petunia
Dudley
Tonks - killed
Sprout
Flitwick
Bill
Fleur
Percy
Not even that many serious injuries among the principal cast.
Dumbledore and Sirius died in erlier novels, of course. And there are several other named characters (Colin Creavy, Bathilda Bagshot) who where killed and at least 50 unnamed corpses in the Great Hall during the break in the battle, but I wouldn’t consider them “major” characters.
The “bad guys” seemed to get off lightly also, mostly as none of the Malfoys seemed to pay any real price.
On the plus side (since I did enjoy the book and don’t want it to look like all I can do is complain) I very much liked:
- The departure from Privet Drive
- That every Horcrux was destroyed by a different person (would like to know which murders V. used to create each Horcrux)
- That Ron got to face a real test and pass it (locket Horcrux)
- That Ron finally did something (albeit mostly offscreen) by opening the Chamber and getting the basilisk fangs. (Although, since making my earlier comment about Hermione rather than Ron being the one who actually does things, I noticed that really being the case over and over again in this book.)
- That Neville lead the resistance and sincerely has had the best coming of age arc of any character.
- McGonagall calling the suits of armor to life (definately a rousing moment I want to see in the film.)
- Of course, Molly “Gonna own you, bìtçh!” Weasley. (The moment I’ll most be looking forward to. They better not shortchange that fight.)
Good day to you’s (RDL, Sean, Stacey)
Great predictions Richard; Stacey has been mentioning this site to me for a couple of weeks now, but was kind enough to withhold the link until I finished book 7. I would say the best predictions were about Snape as it was really difficult to put a finger on his allegiance. And although it was hinted at in book 5 and 6, I just didn’t see the depth of feeling he had for Lily (btw, amazing prediction Stacey about it’s effect). I’m glad JKR included all that back story in the pensieve bit at the end.
As for the lack of price paid for in deaths Sean, I disagree. My fear as I was going thru book 7 was the typical body count mentality that writers/screenwriters get when they’re near the end of a story. I understand people have to die in battles (and for causes) but if it’s not in the natural flow of the story, it can seem arbitrary and capricious. This can lead to reading the story with a different point of view than originally intended due to overtly negative feelings. I think she did a good job of not getting carried away with writing off her characters.
And finally, a big thank you to Stacey for suggesting I read the series as a placeholder until the final Dune novel is released. I loved the first few movies, but after reading the series, the movies pale in comparison in scope, depth and execution.
Roy H.
Interesting to hear you say that. It wasn’t until I read your comment that I realized that every prediction I made about Snape was accurate, but I didn’t completely nail down any of the other characters.
Perhaps I am further along on my studies of the Dark Arts than previously thought…
As for the lack of price paid for in deaths Sean, I disagree. My fear as I was going thru book 7 was the typical body count mentality that writers/screenwriters get when they’re near the end of a story.
Again, I wasn’t looking forward to a high “just because I can” body count either. That would have felt somewhat forced. But the low count seemed a bit of a force, also.
Granted, this book has probably had more expectations to live up to than just about any in history, but JKR ws frequently quoted as saying that this is serious evil we’re dealing with and it doesn’t mess around.
The filght from Privet Drive, for example. Yes, Moody dead and George lost an ear. But 12 other participants facing a couple Death Eaters each and not a one of them gets hit with even a JellyLegs hex. It just feels as if Rowling was holding back a bit on the consequences.
And of those that did die, not a one got a heroic finish. Fred was killed abruptly and every other death happened off screen. So even where a price was paid, it felt like Rowling might not have been able to bring herself to really write about it.
I have to admit that the entire time I was reading, I was thinking “Okay, she said a major character would die”…then with each death, I wondered “Um, were they major?”
Unless she counted Voldy as the major death…in that case, I feel like it’s a cop-out [aside to Richard: hyphen there or no?]; the classic good-versus-evil plot requires that good perseveres and evil is vanquished, so it was the expected resolution for the series, what it was all building towards.
Totally random thought: How awesome [and earth-shattering] would it have been if she’d said “sod it all, I’m killing Harry and Voldemort can live”?? Now *that* would have taken major cojones [and most likely have led to someone else taking up the reins so as to give the public the happy ending they craved]. :^)
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing, too! *rolls eyes*
She said in June 2006:
I expected terrible things. Great, yes, but terrible!
Based on the death toll, the only “main characters” that died were Fred, Lupin, and Mad-Eye. All are really kind of minor, and Fred is the most major minor character. Fred’s death did take me by surprise, though. I expected a joke or two at the end about Molly being *finally* able to tell the twins apart, thanks to George’s missing ear.
Well, Harry did die, sort of. I need to reread the end, because isn’t there still a bit of Voldy left in Harry?
Having only read the last book once so far, IIRC, when Harry gets hit by Voldy the first time, it kills the Horcrux that was in Harry. Don’t think we can consider the Horcrux a character though.
As for the level of the characters dying, she couldn’t have been perfect no matter what she did. I just read a review that reminded me of how many teens and pre-teens read her work. The reviewer felt that she killed too many people, if you can believe that. While I disagreed with Sean about the quantity, I wouldn’t have been put off if a couple more had died. And I certainly think it’s a valid statement to say the body count was on the low side, considering the nature of the conflict.
As an aside Richard, your name is awfully close to Delacour. Nice coincidence, or a recent legal procedure to show your love of the work?
Funnily enough, our original family name was Delacour, but it evolved several centuries ago to its current spelling. Imagine my own shock reading Goblet of Fire and seeing Fleur’s name for the first time. Not exactly common.
And on a different-yet-related note:
Heh.