Predictions

[Carol Bainbridge]

No: HPFGUIDX 43437

This is in response to EH's note on predictions.

> > 2. Harry, Ron and Hermione will not die (Duh!)
> > Don't be too sure. Ron's fate is by no means sure, and JKR plays
> > coy with Harry's. I'd say he's going to live. I think Hermione is safe

I agree with this assessment.  So many people assumed that Harry would of 
course live that JKR through out comment about his possible death to make 
people think his death is a possibility.  I can't imagine that she will 
kill off Harry.  I agree with the poster who said that authors become 
attached to their heroes and so rarely kill them off.  It's clear that JKR 
is attached to Harry; she even married someone who looks like a grown up Harry!

>My prediction regarding Ron's fate:
>In Book 5 or 6, Ron and Hermoine become an item. Harry
>and Ginny will also become an item(I am *such* a fan
>of the Harry/Ginny scenario. Always go with the
>underdog, I say).

I think this is "iffy" because it seems like such the obvious thing to have 
happen.  For that reason alone, I don't see it happening.  I think Ginny 
continues to have a crush on Harry for much of the story, perhaps to the 
end when she realizes that other young men have qualities she was never 
able to recognize, Neville for example.  Everyone laughs at bumbling 
Neville, but I suspect that he's going to come to his own at the end of the 
final book.

>Just a theory. I could be *way* off... but
>interesting, no? Either way I think Ron's fate is
>ultimately a dark one - I really think he will either
>be tempted to the Dark Side(due to his increasing
>bitterness towards Harry's fame and money), or he will
>die.

I agree with this ultimate outcome and the basic reason for it.  (I *just* 
sent a note including this idea!) However, I don't think Ron intentionally 
goes to the dark side.  I think he is tricked into it -- but then that's 
how a lot of people end up on the "dark side," isn't it?  We don't intend 
to do something bad, but jealousy or some other "deadly sin" leads us to 
behave in ways that eventually makes us "evil."  I think this is the kind 
of thing that happens to Ron, but at the very end, he realizes what he's 
done and redeems himself.

>Also I think Hermoine will live and Harry as well - if
>JKR was really going to kill him off, I don't think
>she would have ever even *hinted* at it, seeing as
>she'd probably assume no one would expect his death.
>She'd want it to come out of left field.

Total agreement.

An additional prediction I have:
Neville will turn out to be a much better wizard that anyone suspected.  He 
is in Gryffindor, so we know he is very brave, but he is always so clumsy 
and inept.  We know his grandmother, and other family members, thought he'd 
never even get into Hogwarts because he had little or no magic in 
him.  However, it could be that at the end, Neville, who has showed his 
bravery in the past, plays a crucial role in the fight against Voldemort 
and as he does so, discovers the truth about the death of his parents.  It 
may be that what he remembers about his parents' deaths prevented him from 
tapping his inner magic.  When he learns the truth, the block is removed 
and he finds that he is much more capable than he thought.  It may be that 
this new magical ability helps a great deal to destroy Voldemort, who 
certainly would not expect it from Neville, if he knew him at all.  After 
this, everyone will see Neville in a whole new way, including Ginny Weasely.

Carol Bainbridge
(kaityf at jorsm.com)

http://www.lcag.org