What will come in book 5

[Tom Wall <thomasmwall@yahoo.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 50485

The HP Lexicon has a tidy list of quotes from various news sources 
that feature things JKR said about OotP. 

(http://www.i2k.com/~svderark/lexicon/book_op.html)

I went there and found a few quotes that really piqued my interest. 
The numbers in parentheses at the end of each quote refer to a key 
that is at the bottom of the URL posted above.

JKR: "What's very important for me is when Dumbledore says
that you have to choose between what is right and what
is easy. This is the setup for the next three books.
All of them are going to have to choose, because what
is easy is often not right."  (1)


I think that what we're going to really start to see in OotP is a 
series of dilemmas that involve serious moral and ethical thought.  
We're going to see our characters learn tough lessons about love and 
hate, life and death, and honest-to-goodness self-sacrifice. And our 
heroes are going to learn that the results of these dilemmas are 
almost always less than what they'd ideally want, and yet, they still 
require some sort of serious loss. In other words, they will learn 
that sometimes they just have to choose the lesser of two evils and 
still not really reap any good.

Plus, it's interesting that she says "All of THEM are going to have 
to choose." It means we're looking at moral dilemmas for all of our 
major characters over the next few books. No more clear cut good and 
evil. Complicated, difficult decisions from here on out. And I bet 
that some of those decisions, while "right," will break our hearts.

JKR: "In book 5, we go into a whole new area, physically, an area 
you've never seen before, a magical world." (1) 

JKR: "Book five will be scary. Harry finds out a lot of things he 
hasn't stumbled across so far." (4)

JKR: "Why do some wizards/witches become ghosts and others 
don't? "You will find out much more about that in book five." (3) 

Let's take these together. I've noticed (forgive me if this 
reiterates an earlier thread) that in each novel, JKR is slowly 
expands her universe. In PS/SS, we pretty much only have Hogwarts and 
Diagon Alley. In CoS, we learn of the Burrow, and also hear about 
Azkaban. In PoA, we learn even more about Azkaban, and then also 
Hogsmeade. In GoF, we get the Riddle House (and the two towns), the 
Quidditch World Cup, St. Mungo's, and other wizarding schools and 
organizations from around the world. In each case, we're also 
learning more about Hogwarts, and more about the Ministry of Magic.

OotP will top this tremendously. There's going to be a massive 
outward expansion of the HP universe: I bet we'll see Azkaban, we'll 
see this magical world, we'll learn more about other schools, and we 
may even see one or two of them. And maybe, just maybe, this "magical 
world" has something to do with the ghosts, since she keeps alluding 
to them in her interviews. Oh, and at the end of GoF, Dumbledore told 
Sirius to lay low at Lupin's for a while, so we'll probably get to 
see where he lives too, not to mention wherever the giants live. And 
now that Lord Voldemort's around again, I wouldn't be surprised if we 
get to catch a glimpse into Malfoy Manor.

JKR: "The Dursleys are in the next book, and there's stuff coming 
with them that people might not expect." (5) 

I am 100% convinced that Voldemort is going to entrap or endanger the 
Dursleys somehow, or even worse, get them to do his work for him 
outside of Privet Dr. He's somehow going to put their lives on the 
line - and Harry's going to have to make some dreadful sacrifice to 
save them. And he's not going to want to (because they're the 
Dursleys and they suck) - but it will be the "right" thing for him to 
do. 

And I don't think it will be just the Dursleys. JKR has been slowly 
setting up these semi-race conflicts: between pure-bloods and 
mudbloods, and over the House Elves, the giants - i.e. this is not 
just a battle for the magical world. Voldemort's after everyone and 
anyone who's a threat to him: wizards, mudbloods, and I'm sure he's 
also going to try to hurt innocent muggles. Somehow, saving those 
muggles is going to get in the way of saving someone else. But again, 
saving the muggles will be the "right" thing to do, so someone will 
die for it.

And on the to-be-dead characters:  I don't really know (or honestly, 
care) who the dead fan will be - all of Harry's fans strike me as 
annoying: Ginny, Dobby, Colin, Dennis: the whole lot - they can all 
go.  However, as far as the major characters are concerned:

I am 100% convinced that Dumbledore is toast. First, because of all 
of the references in GoF to his fatigue and his aged appearance.  
Second, because the story really can't progress (i.e. our characters 
really can't progress) until they're in serious, mortal danger and 
have to face it alone. And as long as Dumbledore is around, there's 
no need to be afraid, because Voldemort is terrified of him. So he's 
out. He's got to be. But it won't be easy - my guess is that he'll 
either be betrayed, or will sacrifice himself.

Speculation makes the noggin hurt too much to continue... however, if 
anyone has foresight regarding the role Draco Malfoy (in particular) 
will play, I'd REALLY like to hear it. I'm very curious as to how 
she'll develop him. I agree with JOdel, that he'll do some serious 
damage before the end, but part of me also hopes that he's going to 
redeem himself.

-Tom