Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince-SPOILERS!!!!

[Olgar Shiverstone]

He may have said he's not coming back, but since Hogwarts has been the center of the entire series (look at the inside flap where each book is "Year XX at Hogwarts") I think it's unlikely to change. The majority of the peripheral characters are tied to Hogwarts -- you'd lose Ginny, Luna, Hagrid, McGonagal, etc, if it doesn't remain a key location for Book 7. I can't see Hermione not going back to school for the 7th year. I expect something will happen that convinces Harry to return, if only for a while.

Since he probably passes his Apparition test, I think he and his pals use Hogwarts as a safe base of operations, sneaking off the grounds to Apparate off to wherever they need to go, then returning.

I also suspect, based on the last memory involving Riddle, that Voldemort wants to return to Hogwarts himself for some reason. Perhaps the ultimate key to victory is hidden there at the school , and only the DADA teacher can access it -- which explains his interest in the job, his push to get Snape the job, and the reason every DADA teacher is undermined. That's a crackpot theory, anyway.

Some other ideas: Who takes over Hogwarts, and who are the Head of House for Book 7? I think McGonagal becomes Headmistress, Slughorn takes back over Slytherin, and Hagrid takes Gryffindor -- but mostly 'cause I can't think of good alternatives. We'll need a new DADA teacher again, too (once again, a recurring plot device -- Snape was doomed as soon as he took the job. If he weren't so young, I'm nominate Harry).

There's the Head Boy/Girl question, too. I'll bet Herminone gets Head Girl, but I suspect some other House will have the Boy (Ernie Macmillan?) -- unless there's a Head Boy and Girl from each house.

I enjoyed many of the links to the first book in this one -- the bezoar, for example, and Ron winning the Quidditch Cup (remember his vision in the Mirror of Erised?).

 

[KenM]

I heard book 7 will have Harry going to throw a ring into a volcano.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I heard book 7 will have Harry going to throw a ring into a volcano.

And he'll have to use a broom to get there, 'cause you know you can't Apparate inside Mt. Doom. Unless you're a House Elf.

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Here's my outline for Book 7:

- Opens with a backdrop of what is going on in the world. Things are looking really bleak with Dumbledore gone, and the Order of the Phoenix is fragmenting.
- Scene with Malfoy and Snape
- Harry is at Number 4, biding time until his birthday when he must leave
- Harry goes to the Burrow for Bill & Fleur's wedding. While there, he taskes & passes his Apparition test with Ron.
- He visits Godric's Hollow and the graves of his parents, and vows to find and destroy Voldemort.
- Hermione and the Weasley parents convince him to return to school; he plans to use Hogwarts as a safe base of operations for his counter-Voldemort campaign.
- Usual trip to purchase supplies; information gathering in Diagon Alley- Return to school; meet new teachers, etc. Trio begins research in earnest.
- Learns that RAB was Regulus Black, and the first Horcrux is either in the possession of Kreacher, or hidden at 12 Grimwauld Place. The trio locate & destroy it.
- Interference at the school by Death Eaters -- something they want is still within Hogwarts
- Horcrux #2 is a relic of Ravenclaw's, and is located and destroyed.
- Trio tracks down and fights Nagini, Horcrux #3.
- The last Horcrux is hidden deep within the school grounds (Forbidden Forest, perhaps). A race between Death Eaters and the trio to locate it culminates in a battle. Werewolves play a key roleMalfoy or Snape is captured, interrogated, and turns due to remorse over DUmbledore's death. Gives Harry the secret he needs to destroy Voldemort.
- Trio tracks Voldy to his lair, Wormtail & associated Death Eaters die, Order comes to the rescure, but not before Harry & Voldy face off. Voldy falls. End of War.
- Denoument, and we learn what happens to the students for their future. Relationships are resolved, etc.
- Side plots involve Ginny & Harry, Ron & Herimione, Neville & Luna, Ron as Quidditch captain, the new DADA teacher, Hagrid & Grawp, and the House Elves.

 

[Barendd Nobeard]

I think more than just the trio will be involved in the major tasks.

What saddened me most about book 6 is that when Harry put out the call to the members of "Dumbledore's Army" only Luna and Neville responded. WTF? Do the other students want Voldemort to win?!

So, it might just be the trio + 2.

And Neville has to kill Bellatrix (or at least capture her). He'll finally get his revenge for what she did to his parents.

I don't think Hagrid will take over Gryffindor. We'll either see a new character brought in for that--or someone else. Hagrid never really graduated from Hogwarts; I don't think the new head of the school would put in charge of a house. With all of her kids at school or grown up, Mrs. Weasley would be a good choice--and someone that Minerva McGonagal would trust to do the job right.

 

[ruaalien2]

Mmmhhhh. Some random observations and theories:


I was wrong about the Half-Blood Prince.

Malfoy can be turned.

Snape isn't evil either.

Harry and Ginny, either way it couldn't have lasted.

Multiple phylacteries, nice idea.

I also like the 'competition between dark wizards' bit I read out of the R.A.B. letter. No idea who it might be, though.

It should have been 'inferii'.

It felt to me like the book was rather short.

Or maybe that was just the way things seemed to fall in place miraculously even without magic at work.

Harry will meet Dumbledore again, in some form.

My sister is already waiting to get the book.

I need to read it again soon, I read rather fast in my curiosity.

Let's hope, Rowling doesn't lose her touch. Potential for that I sense.

I'm going to stop annoying you now.

We haven't seen the last of Harry & Ginny, IMO. With the way he ended things with her, it makes mething that isn't over with.

Snape is evil, and I don't think that Harry will ever be able to forgive him, both for the death of his parents (he was the one that told Voldermort the prophecy) and for the death of Dumbledore. Although I think that he is evil. he is trying to do some good by tryign to save Draco.

Draco wouldn't have had the guts to kill Dumbledore, I'm starting to think that underneath it all he's not that bad.

 

[Lord Rasputin]

We haven't seen the last of Harry & Ginny, IMO. With the way he ended things with her, it makes mething that isn't over with.

Snape is evil, and I don't think that Harry will ever be able to forgive him, both for the death of his parents (he was the one that told Voldermort the prophecy) and for the death of Dumbledore. Although I think that he is evil. he is trying to do some good by tryign to save Draco.

Draco wouldn't have had the guts to kill Dumbledore, I'm starting to think that underneath it all he's not that bad.

It's pretty clear (to me at least) that, should both survive, Harry and Ginny will wind up together. Ron and Hermione, they need to get a room. Really, I know this is young adult oriented, but at some point, the thought of nookie will pass through the mind of a pair of seventeen-year-olds.

And a few seconds later, it will pass through again.

Snape's allegiance is to Snape. Things are deliberately ambiguous with where he will wind up. Personally, he'll bite it at some point in Book 7, but not before messing things up for both Voldemort and for Harry. He wouldn't have it any other way.

Draco has always been a coward, as witnessed by his adventure in the forest in the first book. I do wonder when Harry will figure out that Dumbledore died to save Draco's life -- he wanted Harry to witness this.

 

[Dakkareth]

Snape is evil, and I don't think that Harry will ever be able to forgive him, both for the death of his parents (he was the one that told Voldermort the prophecy) and for the death of Dumbledore. Although I think that he is evil. he is trying to do some good by tryign to save Draco.

Ok, let me clarify: Snape is not Evil. He certainly is an evil jerk, he hates Harry and cares mostly for himself, but he is neither the vile person Voldemort and some of his Death Eaters are, nor does he work for V. Not in the long-term anyway.

 

[Piratecat]

What saddened me most about book 6 is that when Harry put out the call to the members of "Dumbledore's Army" only Luna and Neville responded. WTF? Do the other students want Voldemort to win?!

I think you're misinterpreting. Hermione used the enchanted coins that they had used in the previous year, but most of the kids no longer carry them and so didn't get the message; only Luna and Neville still had their's on them and knew to come.

I liked this book a lot more than Order of the Phoenix for a few reasons.

1. Rowling doesn't do the annoying "Harry ignores important clues until it is essential to the plot, just to make time pass." She starts to with Slughorn, but resolves it before it gets excessive.

2. Harry has almost completely stopped whining and being a moody, bratty prat. Thank goodness.

3. Sirius's death in the last book felt really strained. The climax of this book was much more satisfying to me.

4. Dumbledore clears up the reasoning behind what I thought was a comparatively lame prophecy.

5. The adults - almost all the adults - have become much more complex and interesting. This process has been a lot like maturing. In the first books, the adults were cut from Roald Dahl's mold, completely stereotypical and one-sided in a very fun way, as a yound child might see them. As Harry matured, the adults gradually revealed greater depth and intricacies that have made them really interesting. . . just as a maturing teen might realize about the adults around him or her.

Thumbs up from me.

 

[Barendd Nobeard]

I think you're misinterpreting. Hermione used the enchanted coins that they had used in the previous year, but most of the kids no longer carry them and so didn't get the message; only Luna and Neville still had their's on them and knew to come.

What? Misinterpret something, after reading a 650 page book with only 3 hours of sleep? Impossible!

Seriously, I hope you're right. But if someone had one of those coins, why not still carry it? It's a great chance to get an early warning of an attack; whether you choose to rush to someone's aid or flee to safety is an entirely different concern.

 

[drothgery]

4. Dumbledore clears up the reasoning behind what I thought was a comparatively lame prophecy.

I kind of think that if JKR was going to kill him off, she should have done it in book 4 or 5, unless her intent in book 7 is to have most of the wizarding world frightened, confused, and disorganized when Our Heroes get a lucky shot and take down Voldermort. I've said before that I think Dumbledore is probably the only one that could hold the fractious bunch that is the Order of the Phoenix together; none of the adult members of the Order have both the magical talent and the temperment to do so, and Harry is too inexperienced. Which means a lot of good-guy infighting in what should be the final book of the series.