The Song Fight Bulletin Board

yeah, i'm a couple months early on this, but 2 main characters get whacked.

place your guesses here and we'll see who is right in july.

my 2 cents:

ron & snape

I'll put it my guess of Neville & Voldemort.

Either Harry or Voldemort has to die. So I vote the villain and since Neville has been entwined in the prophecies, I say he bites it too.

i almost wouldn't consider voldemort a "main character" although by the nature of the storyline he certainly is. he "lives" in other peoples bodies, so i'd almost consider him more of a shared character if that makes any sense.

just another speculative guess but i think before the end of the final book, voldemort and snape will be one.

Snape - yes. He will turn out to be a big hero and good guy after all and save the day then cop it in the end.
Then I reckon Ginny will cark it. Leaving Harry a bitter and twist rogue wizard who goes to the dark side, ready for the next series of 7 books.

My theory is that Harry will realize that he can't kill Voldemort, and the only way he can stop him is to perform some kind of spell that will render them both muggles.

As to who dies, I don't know. My random guesses are Ralph and Snape.

Lunkhead wrote: My random guesses are Ralph and Snape.

Don't know about Ralph - but Pottsy or The Fonz could get it.

Oops. I meant Ron. I don't know where the hell I got Ralph from...

Im guessing Harry AND Voldemort die, probably the only way to truely stop him (Voldemort) is for Harry to sacrafice his own life. It seems like the books have been building to some sort of Greek-like tragedy ending.

"The final chapter is hidden away, although it has now changed very sightly. One character got a reprieve, but I have to say two die that I didn't intend to die ...".

I'm gonna guess that a lot of characters die. I'd bet there's an all out war. Dementors loose in the streets. Muggles and wizards running for their lives. I don't think it's really obvious who is going to make it through the struggle. Rowling herself spared a character that she planned on having die. That implies that the first choices as of book 4ish may in fact not be right. I guess the good guys will win, but I'm not SURE about that even. I mean, she says she's done at book 7. It's not like she really needs to keep everybody happy with a perky ending.

But guesses abound anyway. Hagrid seems like the sacrificial type. He's just big enough to be heartwrenching. But he's an adult, so he's had his chance. Plus he's not crucial to the wizarding world. And he's got a heart of gold. Can't you see Hagrid dying for just about any of the main characters? I bet Voldemort dies. It would be sooo silly to have a mushy "I'm Harry's father?! Then I won't be evil anymore" kind of ending. I also bet there'll be that wedding with the Weasley and the French girl and that'll be significant.

And I think that there's a showdown on broomsticks because of the way the Universe has been presented. Harry's only exceptional magic abilities (magic excludes all heroic character traits like cool under pressure and courage) are summoning protective stag-ghosts and riding a broom. Six books and the only thing he's really ever done with magic to surprise people are make a deer appear and ride a broom really well. You can't base a final confrontation on a single spell that appeared so long ago because that is lame and it won't make for a good film adaptation. But broom riding is sort of not what makes or breaks wizards. Especially considering that teleportation is way faster. But you can't apparate in Hogwarts! So I see Harry having a final fight in Hogwarts, the home ground that he knows best and he gets to ride around on a broomstick which he does best. Plus, there's no quidditch in this book. And why'd you make such a big deal out of broomsticks if you weren't even going to feature them in the last book?

Also, I bet the twins' pranks are pretty useful. I could easily see Harry becoming a little Batman sort of wizard using their (incredibly powerful) gags throughout the entire book.

Snape probably turns out to be an okay guy. I think Draco Malfoy will also be redeemed. JKR has actually said one of the students in Harry's class that we wouldn't expect to become a teacher will be a teacher in the future and I'm guessing it's Draco. Neville I suppose is an easier choice, but I think Neville will die.

Harry's blood is probably important in the book because it's all about bloodline and family in these last few books. Also, JRK has never really portrayed James in a very favorable light, so I wouldn't be too surprised to find out that James isn't that great of a guy. Maybe James isn't even Harry's dad. That would be pretty out there. (I refuse to say James is Voldemort just because Harry knows what his dad's looked like and he's seen lots of incarnations of Voldemort. It would just be too ridiculous). But these books did get very "decay of the southern family" feel to them toward the end. A real faulkner vibe with inbred brothers, abusive fathers, pure-hearted daughters and crumbling family lines. I expect the ending to continue along those lines.

I have absolutely no opinions about religion in the Harry Potter books. Why don't they ever talk about religion? I think it would be interesting. This book does have hallows in the title as a noun. That happens when you talk about saints and reliquaries and such. Maybe there's going to be some church intervention in this book.

I hope it's Frodo and Sam.

Billy's Little Trip wrote:I hope it's Frodo and Sam.

Hahaha nice

Harry & Hermione, a la the first Friday the 13th movie (screwing in a cabin in the woods).

Ron and Ginny discover the bodies, of course.

remember these are juvenile novels, and will be plotted as such

Neville's done. I can feel it. I'm not sure if Ron's going to make it either - he always gets hurt pretty bad no matter what he's doing, so I figure he'll get owned in a big battle.

If Ron dies, Rowling dies.

Rowling will write herself into book and kill herself off. Hermione will also die but come back in the next one (wait is this the last one?).

Lisa Lamponelli dies.

jb wrote:remember these are juvenile novels, and will be plotted as such

true, and this is why i think rowling will be careful not to alienate her younger readers with something too far fetched or dramatic. even dumbledore was getting old, and had to sort of die the tragic death to fuel harry's final destiny.

i still think snape for sure, because he has to get his long over due. i just don't see hermione dying. she's the only real lead female character in the series (the others are much more peripheral, although ginny's story line has been building). i don't see harry dying because she needs an in to come back if she wants to. i just don't see her killing the series like that. but i could see ron dying some sort of tragic hero's death, in some sort of final epic battle after snape/voldemort kills ron, harry kills snape/voldemort thing.

snape for sure. ron maybe. neville is a good guess too. but malfoy i think is also a good guess.

i guess we'll find out soon enough.......

Plus since Snape killed Dumbledore, Dumbledore can re-appear later via prior incantate or whatever the heck it's called (the thing that happened when Harry and Voldemort's wands locked up and all the people Voldemort killed started appearing as ghosts).

or i could also see dumbledore coming back as harry's patronus.

jb wrote:remember these are juvenile novels, and will be plotted as such

These are juvenile posters and will prognosticate as such.

But seriously folks, Rowling is probably sick of the whole thing, she's kind of said as much. She's ready to slip into obscurity and live off her royalties. So, it could be anyone that bites it. Although previous dire pronouncements have ended up with the offing of some second tier character, so I predict the same.

I dunno. With the Harry Potter themepark opening 2009, she's not gonna be disappearing for a good while.