Albus Dumbledore must die.

[smirnov3]

No: HPFGUIDX 89444

It's true, if the Harry Potter series is to follow the classic 'Epic Fantasy' motif. In all good epic fantasy, the main protagonist starts off with a mentor, who takes him and teaches him how to be a hero and a mensch. But as the protagonist reaches maturity, the mentor always dies, or 'goes away. In Star Wars, that was Obi-one and Yoda. Both died. In Lord of the Rings, Gandalf disappears, but Tolkien is more soft hearted, and has him return for the final curtain.
	But I think JK Rowling is going to continue to push the series in a darker direction, and I don't think she will be soft on Dumbledore.
	In that same vein, I think she is going to take a fairly dark, if not unrealist approach to the romance in the series: I expect there to be at least one romantic relationship in book 6 that fails horribly (hey, how long does the average teen romance last, anyway) . Will it be Ron and Hermione? Harry and Luna? I don't know, but don't expect any lasting relationships in the series until the final book.

smirnov3