Deathly Hallows - Guesses

[drothgery]

He's deep-cover Snape, determined, even ordered by Dumbledore, to act the part fully until the time is right to take Voldemort down even if that means he might be maneuvered into directly attacking Dumbledore himself. But, that's primarily after Voldemort is reborn. Until that time, Snape is a forgiven man (forgiven by Dumbledore) but still fundamentally a titanic jerk with lots of grudges. He wouldn't be interested in killing Harry, not being an evil man to the core, but torment him by using his power in a juvenile way? Oh, yes. Most definitely.
Viewed like that, Snape makes sense.

No, it doesn't. Snape's done things that are recklessly stupid if he genuinely wants Voldermort defeated (being willing to see Harry, Sirius, and Lupin suffer minor discomforts over a petty grudge is one thing; being willing to see Harry be possesed and used as a catspaw, Sirius executed, and Lupin fired is another thing entirely), things that are recklessly stupid if he doesn't (quite frankly he could have done a lot to help Voldermort's plans along without anyone knowing about it), and things that are recklessly stupid if he's playing both sides against each other and hoping to come out on top himself (most notably taking an Unbreakable Vow when he either didn't know what it was going to lead to and was stringing Narcissa along, or did and knew that would mean setting himself up for a direct confrontation with Dumbledore). And yet the general impression you get is that he's neither a reckless nor stupid man.

 

[Steel_Wind]

Here is my prediction; the ending will disappoint a lot of people and piss people off and folks will grumble how the series really hit a high point at PoA and has been down hill since.

Which would be true.

The reason, in my opinion, why it is true is because this damn series was much better when it was about Harry Potter and Hogwarts.

It became a lot worse when it became about Harry vs. You Know Who (Yes - I know it started that way - it just would have been better if she had let it be after Chamber of Secrets. And PoA shows us why).

The absence of the Valdemort metaplot is why PoA is the best of the series, imo.

 

[Steel_Wind]

No, it doesn't. Snape's done things that are recklessly stupid if he genuinely wants Voldermort defeated (being willing to see Harry, Sirius, and Lupin suffer minor discomforts over a petty grudge is one thing; being willing to see Harry be possesed and used as a catspaw, Sirius executed, and Lupin fired is another thing entirely), things that are recklessly stupid if he doesn't (quite frankly he could have done a lot to help Voldermort's plans along without anyone knowing about it), and things that are recklessly stupid if he's playing both sides against each other and hoping to come out on top himself (most notably taking an Unbreakable Vow when he either didn't know what it was going to lead to and was stringing Narcissa along, or did and knew that would mean setting himself up for a direct confrontation with Dumbledore). And yet the general impression you get is that he's neither a reckless nor stupid man.

Snape's not a traitor. If he was - he would have finished Harry off - not continue to instruct him to keep his mind closed as he was fleeing and fighting.

In the end, Snape will turn double agent and do something significant to give Harry the chance to prevail.

Snape is actually the most interesting character in the novels I think, and the one that JKR says the movies have had the most effect on. While other character's portrayal on screen JKR assessed whether or not the actors fit the roles and characters as she wrote them, Alan Rickmans' take on Snape was so successful she began to write the character deliberately to be more like Rickman's Snape.

 

[drothgery]

The scar is the last Horcrux.

I just don't think that works. I mean, I know that's a really popular theory, but it just doesn't make sense.

It definitely wasn't initially; Voldermort was genuinely surprised that Harry lived and intensely curious as to how he survived. It definitely wasn't as of the end of Goblet of Fire; Voldermort targetted him with lethal spells. And it definitely wasn't as of the end of Order of the Phoenix for the same reason. And after that, pretty much any Death Eater that wasn't in deep cover or a junior leaguer had kill on sight plans for Harry, orders or no.

 

[Andre]

I'm still of the opinion that Neville Longbottom is one of the key players in the finale. It's been too long since I read the last couple books, but there's something about the prophecy and the fact that Neville also lost his parents to Voldemort, IIRC. One possibility is Harry sacrifices himself to allow Neville to stop V (or vice versa).

 

[Crothian]

I hope Neville Longbottom plays a bigger part. He's been a great secondary character and once we learned his history with his parents and what happened to them it just seems like there will be some sort of payoff with him.

 

[kingpaul]

Harry is the last horcrux and to save the world he has to die.

I don't think that's right either. From my recent re-read of the series, a Horcrux has to be created intentionally. Voldemort has tried to kill Harry on a number of occasions after the 1st time. Because of his mother's love, the killing curse ricocheted back at Voldemort, but the Horcrux piece wouldn't have been aimed at Harry, so there would have been no rebound.

What I'd be interested in seeing is if the relic that Voldemort intended to use as the Horcrux (assuming Dumbledore was correct, and Harry's death was going to be used to power a Horcrux) is in the area of his parent's house still.

 

[kingpaul]

Here is my prediction; the ending will disappoint a lot of people and piss people off and folks will grumble how the series really hit a high point at PoA and has been down hill since.

Well, IIRC, there are going to be 2 main character death's in this book, so that is bound to disappoint people. However, I don't think the series has been going downhills since PoA. YMMV.

 

[RangerWickett]

Harry goes to find the sacred doodad, fails, and is captured. Ron and Hermione do get the doodad, and go to rescue Harry, while Harry is tempted to join Voldemort's side. Ron, Hermione, and doodad get captured in a valiant attempt to stop Voldemort. At a pivotal moment, when Voldemort and dark Harry are preparing a ritual that will destroy the muggle world, Snape reveals he's a good guy, and sacrifices himself so Harry can see the light.

They save the day, and then Harry and Draco Malfoy confess their love to each other.

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

Snape's not a traitor. If he was - he would have finished Harry off - not continue to instruct him to keep his mind closed as he was fleeing and fighting.

In the end, Snape will turn double agent and do something significant to give Harry the chance to prevail.

I'd be more sympathetic to this point of view if what he was saying at the time wasn't "I'd kill you, but the Dark Lord wants you for himself!"

I'm willing to believe that he was on the side of the angels at one point, but I suspect he made a choice at the beginning of HBP to go over to the other side. I'm even willing to concede that he didn't *really* want to kill Dumbledore.

But, of course, he did.

Brad