OOP: Speculation based on sanctioned spoilers and my last read-through.

[Marie Jadewalker]

No: HPFGUIDX 60959

These have probably all been discussed to death before.  If so, I 
apologize.  I've read this group when time allowed, so if this is all 
repetitive, forgive me.  I'm currently about 200 posts behind and 
trying to catch up, so if the things I said regarding recent topics 
of discussion have already been voiced, I am sorry for that too.  

1)  JK said in an interview (I don't have the citation, sorry) that 
she almost gave the whole thing away in Chamber of Secrets.  While 
most people think this is referring to the Heir of Gryffindor, Ginny 
Weasley's future role, or something about a connection between Tom 
Riddle and Harry, I was intrigued by the following:  

"Harry couldn't explain, even to himself, why he didn't just throw 
Riddle's diary away.  The fact was that even though he knew the diary 
was blank, he kept absent-mindedly picking it up and turning the 
pates, as though it was a story he wanted to finish.  And while Harry 
was sure he had never heard the name T. M. Riddle before, it still 
seemed to mean something to him, almost as though Riddle was a friend 
he'd had when he was very small, and half-forgotten.  But this was 
absurd.  He'd never had friends before Hogwarts, Dudley had made sure 
of that."  (COS Chapter 13: The Very Secret Diary, p 174 in the 
British Paperback edition)  

What if this is more than just filler to explain why Harry didn't 
throw out the diary?  Does Harry really have experience with Tom 
Riddle that he half remembers?  Perhaps he remembers hearing his 
parents talk about Riddle for some reason.  Maybe Mrs. Figg had a cat 
named Riddle at some point (which would seem ominous).  Perhaps 
someone from an offshoot of the Riddle family (a cousin or something, 
if not Voldemort himself) did have contact with Harry as a youngster 
and then memory charmed him.  (This could even tie in with the recent 
theory about Harry being Imperioed not to ask questions.)  I don't' 
know, but this could be an important clue to a suppressed childhood 
encounter.  

2)  Someone asked recently why the Dursleys didn't recognize Sirius 
on Muggle News, since he had an unusual name and had been close to 
James and Lily.  (Great question, by the way!)  But when I was re-
reading that scene, I noticed that the Muggle newscaster only 
referred to the escaped prisoner as "Black," possibly 
because "Sirius" /is/ something that would stick out to most 
Muggles.  At any rate, with his extreme appearance and only a last 
name given, I don't think it's surprising that the Dursleys failed to 
recognize a particular wizard "freak," even one who had been close to 
their late in-laws.  

3)  At the end of POA, Hermione drops Muggle Studies, saying that 
will enable her to turn in the Time Tuner and have a normal schedule 
again.  However, she started the year with five "electives:" Muggle 
Studies, Divination, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, and Care of Magical 
Creatures.  We know she's dropped Divination and Muggle Studies 
during her third year, which leaves THREE more classes.  Harry and 
Ron only have two (CoMC and Divination).  I know Hermione stays in 
CoMC, and mentions Arithmancy in GOF.  Did she drop Ancient Runes 
without us hearing about it?  Or is she still taking an "overload" 
schedule, just one that can actually be done within the normal 
wizarding week?  

4)  The end of GOF gave me several new thoughts, especially when 
combined with the few spoilers we have about OOP.  All quotes are 
from the last chapter, which begins:  

"When he looked back, even a month later, Harry found he had only 
scattered memories of the next few days."  (GOF Chapter 37: The 
Beginning.  P 716 in the American Hardcover edition)  

In the little audio clip, Harry says it's been a month since he's 
seen Ron and Hermione.  Is it when they're reunited that he ends up 
trying to reflect on the last few days of his fourth year?  (I think 
that would be quite good for his psyche, although he might be too 
caught up in fifth year challenges and confusions for that.)  

5)  A bit later in the chapter we find: 

"Harry's trunk was packed; Hedwig was back in her cage on top of it.  
He, Ron, and Hermione were waiting in the crowded entrance hall with 
the rest of the fourth years for the carriages that would take them 
back to Hogsmede Station.  It was another beautiful summer's day.  He 
supposed that Privet Drive would be hot and leafy, its flower beds a 
riot of color, when he arrived there that evening.  The thought gave 
him no pleasure at all."  (GOF Ch 37, p 724 in same edition as 
above)  

I wouldn't have noticed at all if I hadn't read the scholastic 
release of the book's first line, but it had a boy lying in a garden 
on the hottest day of the summer.  Might it not be coincidental that 
Harry thought of Privet Drive thusly on his last day in school?  The 
action in OOP might pick up on the very same day that GOF left off.  
Perhaps the death eaters launch a direct strike, or Mr. Malfoy goes 
after him personally for daring to touch his little Drakey-poo.  
(Dementors could still be involved somehow, possibly as body guards 
for the attackers.)  

6)  (By the way, it's not in Chapter 37, but that reminded me of 
something.  Back in chapter 33, Voldemort goes through his oh-so-
evil, gloating personal history lesson for the Death Eaters.  He says 
Harry was better protected than he knew while he was in his 
relations' care.  But might that have been part of the "Plan B" that 
the Magic  Dishwasher folks advocate?  What if he's found a way 
through the Privet Drive protections, but is pretending they're 
amazing so that he'll ensure himself that Dumbledore will send Harry 
back there this year, if the plan fails and Harry makes it back to 
Hogwarts.  Hmm
.)  

7)  Also related to recent speculations.  Someone (Sorry I don't know 
who; I'm offline right now) speculated that Snape's task at the end 
of GOF might be to pose as Barty Crouch and rejoin the Death Eaters 
THAT way.  I was intrigued.  Since, as someone else realized, Barty 
is still technically alive, though soul-sucked, that should be 
possible if they had the polyjuice.   I realized that since Crouch!
Moody has had to be drinking polyjuice every hour of every day all 
year, he's probably had several cauldrons of it at different stages 
of readiness at all times so he'll never run out.  (My guess for the 
location of those cauldrons would be in the trunk, since Harry didn't 
tell us what was in every compartment.)  Assuming there's still some 
left and that Barty, like Hermione, didn't add the bits of Moody `til 
last, Snape could simply add one of Barty's hairs to a completed 
batch and go off to Voldemort in disguise.  This could even work long-
term, since I doubt that Fudge will widely publicize the re-
appearance and demise of young Barty.  (Then again, Rita getting 
loose and telling all might wreck this.  She may have been on the 
windowsill long enough to hear the whole story.)  

8)  Finally, when Harry, Ron, and Hermione arrive at King's Cross, 
Uncle Vernon and Mrs. Weasley are there.  Harry makes no mention of 
Hermione's parents, although he has met them before (COS) so he'd 
presumably recognize them.  Might Hermione have been going with Mrs. 
Weasley then, to do whatever it was Dumbledore had asked of her and 
Ron?  Perhaps they were directly bound for the mysterious house of 
audio-clip infamy, and went to King's Cross just so Harry wouldn't 
wonder.  

Okay, I think that's it for now.  But for predictions, I do think 
that the hexed junior death eaters and the blackmailed Rita Skeeter 
will come back to haunt our heroes.   (But I doubt Rita will end up 
being the DADA teacher since Dumbledore didn't seem to happy with her 
in The Weighing of the Wands – "reason behind the rudeness," 
remember?  I suppose if we end up with a new headmaster or if the MOM 
starts making appointments, it's possible.  Fudge certainly seems to 
believe her!) 

~Marie