My Predictions for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

As the final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, draws near, speculation runs rampant. Who lives, who dies, and who ends up with whom? You could fill a book (and several people did) with personal insights, information gleaned from interviews, websites and forums, and scrutinizing the books and movies as they're available.

I'm not going to do that, but I am going to tell you some of my pet theories. Hey, if I'm right I get bragging rights, and if I'm wrong then I'm no worse off than everyone else doing this. So, without further ado, here are my theories.

Harry:

There is a lot of information indicating that J.K. Rowling has at least considered killing off Harry- including the interview where she confirmed that Dumbledore is, indeed, dead. In that interview she quoted another author who said that every writer needs to have a "chip of ice in his heart". On top of this she has stated that this is the last Harry Potter book, and she doesn't intend to write more in that world. Many people think (and she may have said so in an interview) that killing Harry off will effectively block her from giving in to the temptation.

I disagree. Not only would killing Harry off destroy the wonderful world for many of us, but it wouldn't accomplish her goal. It would be too easy to pick it up from another character's perspective. So many of us are more interested in Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and even Draco than we are in Harry himself. No other character would work this well in this series, but there's nothing to keep them from starring in their own. And the temptation might become too great for Rowling in an attempt to assuage our sadness at Harry's passing. There's no good reason to kill him off unless the plot of the final book hinges on it.

Voldemort:

Of course, the majority of fans are rooting for (and assuming) that of the two, Voldemort will get it in the end. And with good reason- the prophecy states "neither can live while the other survives", and yet Dumbledore said that there are things much worse than death. Voldemort's failing to understand that was his greatest weakness aside from his dismissal of the power of love.

The problem here is that the prophecy was made about "the Dark Lord" and "one... with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord". Rowling chooses her wording very carefully, and while a slip up here and there can occur, I don't think she would have treated such an important plot point so lightly. Should Voldemort lose his powers would he continue to be the Dark Lord? I don't think so. His followers are with him out of fear, not loyalty. If any one of them thought they could seize power without him, they would. Some might give up the goal all together if it weren't for fear of repercussion. Without his power he is merely Tom Riddle, no Lord involved whatsoever.

You may be saying, but "neither can live while the other survives". As I pointed out above- that prophecy was made about the "Dark Lord". Once the Dark Lord no longer exists, is there any such prophecy about the Wizard Formerly Known As The Dark Lord? Any about Tom Riddle? If there are, I doubt if they are the same in nature.

Voldemort only cares about two things- power and immortality. Take away the power and immortality no longer means anything.

Dumbledore's Army:

I can see Dumbledore's Army reforming as the center of an underage wizard resistance. McGonagall has the students' safety at the forefront, but I think she would appreciate the students learning to defend themselves and honoring Dumbledore. I don't think she would encourage them to seek out enemies to fight, but from a purely defensive standpoint she would approve. If this happens, I can see a core of the D.A. being present at the final battle.

Charlie Weasley:

I believe Charlie will be featured in the final book. While he was present in Goblet of Fire, his part was rather small, not much bigger than it was with Norbert. My reasoning is this: So far every Weasley has been featured so far. Ron throughout the series, Molly and Arthur in Order of the Phoenix, Percy for several books, and Bill in Order of the Phoenix. Where's Charlie?

When you think about it, Charlie's job is working with dragons. With the last battle approaching, what creature could be more useful than dragons? And without this, he would be the only Weasley left out of the series.

I really need to reread Half Blood Prince, but I'm going to make a major leap of faith here and say that Krum will be involved with Charlie and the dragons. Rowling has said that we'll see Krum again, and Charlie's in Romania- near Durmstrang. Maybe his stint in the Tri-Wizard Tournament has giving him a taste for the scaly things?

The Malfoys:

We all know that Draco was raised... well, evil. His two goons are sons of Death Eaters, the same as he is. Here's the thing, as much as he buys his father's view in life he's inherited his mother's softness. Not that she's a wonderful person, but she clearly loves her son and hasn't really given any indication of her loyalties outside of family. Sure, she's a pure blood who married another pure blood, but all we've seen of her is who she's related to and her terror of losing her family.

Draco may be a little snot, but he couldn't bring himself to kill Dumbledore. His hatred of Harry began after Harry refused Draco's offer of "friendship". I think the rejection stung him more than a little. In both the book and the movie it is this moment that turns Draco into Harry's enemy. While this does not make Draco "good" by any stretch of the imagination, it does indicate that he is not fully evil. Remember, the wizarding world as much as our own is not divided into "good" and "bad", there are many levels in between.

However, since Draco has been placed into a very precarious situation he will have to choose good or evil, and soon. I personally think he'll choose good, though maybe not for the right reasons. Perhaps to save his mother (Dumbledore offered to protect them both), perhaps for other selfish reasons. Either way, I think he'll waffle a bit and go with the flow through most of the book and only make his stand at the end. At this point, I believe that Voldemort will order Lucius to kill him.

These are just my opinions and theories; I'd love to hear yours.