h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

On the MSN webcast, JK Rowling addresses the apparent problem with Harry not seeing the Thestrals before book 5. She says (and her tongue seemed well in her cheek like she knew it was an inconsistency) that it takes time for the impact of death to be properly felt by someone, and so the thestrals would not be visible to the infant Harry or to someone who was still in the immediate aftermath of grief.

Re book 6:- Ron & Luna, Harry & Hermione, Ginny gets killed. (Someone in the DA is going to snuff it big time methinks, and I think it'll be her)

Oh, and my prediction for the final outcome:- Harry becomes Professor Potter, Defence against the Dark Arts Teacher and Head of Gryffindor after the death/retirement of Professor Dumbledore and the promotion of Professor McGonnegal(sp).

well... i sorta think that harry's going to be running through a number of girls (well, starting with cho in book 5), but that he's going to end up with the proverbial girl next door, namely his best friend's little sister. does that make sense? (and no, i don't think harry and hermione are going to get together... it's just that you feel this certain very strong - albeit really odd - chemistry between hermione and ron, it's been going on since book 4)

Hermione and Ron, there's been no hint of her and Harry (in the books at least). Harry and Cho don't actually make that good a couple, there will always be the problem of Cedric, and in theory she won't be present in the last book. Ginny is a possibility, her 'transformation' only appears so sudden because we see everything from Harry's point of view and she only recently started being herself when he was around.

Did Sirius actually *die*? This wasn't my thought, but it does make you wonder. Going behind the veil to the world of the dead or whatever doesn't mean you are dead yourself. (plus I think it was a rubbish way to die, I wasn't impressed at all and didn't even think about crying)

There are plenty of ways for Voldemort to die, with or without curses, and I hope she picks a good one. Frankly it would be better if Peter Pettigrew did it, rather than Harry having to becoem a killer.

well yeah... dumbledore *did* say that there would come a time when harry would be glad that he shared a bond with peter...

In a rather 'Gollum may yet have a part to play' sort of tone, don't you agree?

Dumbledore is not saying the truth. He does not come across as really honest anymore. There are still things he has not yet told Harry, and some of what he did say may be a lie. That's why he "buried his face in his hands" or whatever he did, so that Harry would not see his face as D. made up this lie...

Y - rather in a don't-trust-them mood

If you can't trust Dumbledore who can you trust?

Good point... only that this is exactly the question Harry will have to face. But as it stands, everything that Harry ever had to structure his world is falling apart. His dad was a jerk; his jerky aunt knows more than even old Vernon ever suspected; the Weasley twins make a good example that you can make it in life without graduating from school...

But as for the D'dore thing - what was the deal about, erm, "persuading" Kreacher to tell the truth? Does that sound like Old 'Dore used improper means or what? What did he do? Crucio? That mindreading business, which is also not strictly speaking a nice thing?

Nonono, the whole point here is that old convictions have to be re-examined very closely. Sure, V'mort is the baddy, but apart from that, everything goes swimmy.

Y.

ooh ooh... if we're going to go into crackpot speculations, i've got one... you know how in every book voldemort says he tried to destroy harry but didn't succeed then but he will now (etc etc)? what if... dumbledore was the only wizard he ever feared because dumbledore was the evil one trying to seize control and... wait for it, wait for it... voldemort has been under an imperius curse by dumbledore the whole time? and it's only in the final book that he manages to throw off the curse, and save harry's life?...

YESSSSS! Nice one!

Y.

My friend's got an interesting theory as well - at the end of book 5 (sorry if this post contains inaccuracies) it talked about the prophecy about harry him or voldemort have to die- and he was scarred- marked - it could only have been him or neville something like that - well it might turn out that it should have been neville all along because although harry was obviously physically scarred, neville was mentally scarred by voldemort - the death of his parents. what do you think?

if that one about the imperius curse on voldemort is true then you are a genius! of course the obvious twist would be that Voldermort is his father or something stupid like that - altho bk 5 kinda ruled that one out.

i have a feeling that dumbledore is gonna die soon tho... bk 7 - Voldemort takes over Hogworts... or at least tries to...

Oh, you muggles, you...
Don't you understand that really Snape is Harry's father? (Even though someone once speculated that Snape was Sirius's secret gay lover, but let's not go there now, all right?)

I love the one about D'dore controlling Voldemort.

But anyway, I just have to re-state an earlier thought of mine. Hermiony will definitely go over to the dark side. She and Harry will be bitter opponents - and he will have to kill her. Of course, then Ron will not be too pleased with Harry, either, but he will probably die soon, anyway (through Hermiony's hand?).

I do agree though with whoever said it that Sirius's death was not much of a thriller (and not much of a surprise, either). And much more could be done about Harry using the Crucio on whatshernameagain... It just has to show up in the next book, right? When will that one be out, by the way? How about next month?!!!

Y.

You're all insane.

i like endymion's postulate! i'm equally sure that neville will have a major part to play before all of this is over.

yelbakk - regarding snape and sirius, we've been speculating for a while now that it was *james* and sirius. let's count the facts holding up the hypothesis:

1. sirius and james are never apart - even in detention
2. sirius is apparently the only one who has any control over james
3. sirius ran away to james' house when he was sixteen

shall i go on?

what about a really wild twist - harry, deluded by dumbledore into thinking that voldemort is really evil etc etc, falls to the dark side as well (thus fulfilling dumbledore's plans to have harry join him... who could stand up to two seriously evil/powerful wizards). convinced that hermione and ron have turned against him, he attacks them. but then voldemort recovers from the curse, and manages to turn harry back. meanwhile, wormtail (who 'shares a bond with harry'... dumbledore had engineered it, hoping that wormtail would be an ally in wiping out voldy, but then things turn against him) is the one who does the actual killing of dumbledore, thus freeing voldy and harry from the responsibility of having blood on your hands. everyone lives happily ever after.

(at least it would explain why dumbledore is affiliated with a death-eater - snape)

methinks my imagination is going a tad too wild. i shall withdraw -

No, keep going!!!

Y.

yeh i'm liking Farlander's way of thinking...

while i'm cooking up more insane theories, here's something for you guys to speculate on :

1. just how on earth did hagrid's dad get attracted to a violent giantess (fridwulfa) in the first place (i know there are guys who like big women, but -); and

2. how in the world did they manage to conceive hagrid, bearing in mind hagrid's dad is 5-foot-something and fridwulfa is most likely over twenty feet tall?

To answer Q2...

It is entirely normal for conception to take place while supine, or in any number of positions that height differences don't affect. I refer the honourable researcher to the Kama Sutra for more extensive reading.

Something that I noticed...
I think that JK Rowling deliberately let slip the death of a character to heighten the enjoyment of the book. Mr Weasley, McGonnegall & Hermione all come close to getting wasted, and each time I caught myself thinking, "Is this the one?". Clever bit of marketing, methinks.

i've noticed something really odd... well, actually, i *felt* there was something wrong about a certain chapter in 'the order', but it wasn't until this morning that it really sank in -

1. in book 1, hagrid tells harry that his parents were among the best in hogwarts, and that they were the *headboy* and *headgirl* in their final year.

2. but then, in book 5 we have sirius and lupin both confirming that james was *not* a prefect when he was in school (nobody's going to make a guy a prefect who spends most of his time in detention!). in fact, lupin says that he thought dumbledore made *him* a prefect so that he would (hopefully) exercise some control over his two best friends. (and we know that there's only one boy and one girl prefect from each house)

which brings us to the question - *who* is telling the truth here? hagrid, or james' friends? (hey, it didn't sound as though lily were a prefect either... you know, that pensieve scene)

ok, time for some more of my hare-brained speculations *maybe* this implies that harry's *real* father is lupin after all? that would certainly explain why snape *loathes* him...

(oh, and this one's for you, yelbakk and deano: prediction for book 6/7 - hermione gets fed up that none of the teachers at hogwarts have anything more to teach her that she doesn't already know, and storms out of school - after which she begins her own highly profitable business counterfeiting galleons. hey, it's not as if she's never done it before...)