Who is R.A.B., really?

[nuadan4me]

No: HPFGUIDX 138251

This is my first posting since joining HPfGU, which in itself was
less 
than a week ago; I'm days behind on reading postings, so I hope
you'll 
forgive me if the topic I raise has already been dealt with
thoroughly!

Like just about everyone else, when I came across the message 
contained in the locket that was meant for Voldemort to read, I 
wracked the HP part of my brain, and came up with Regulus Black.  I 
was very satisfied with that idea, and it worked well with my desire 
for someone in the Black clan besides Sirius to have seen the evil in 
Voldemort; someone who could and did do something about it.

However, it just seemed too easy, too much (if you'll pardon me) of a 
no-brainer.  We all know how JKR loves riddles, hidden clues and the 
like; so I figured that maybe there was more to this "R.A.B."

I've come up with a couple of ideas -- postulates, if you will -- 
about finding the identity of R.A.B.  Mind you, I really don't know 
who this person could be: he/she could be someone with whom we're 
already acquainted, or someone entirely new.  That's for JKR to
reveal 
in Book 7.  (Personally, I have a secret dread that Harry's not going 
to survive Book 7, and we'll all be desolate at his heroic, but
tragic 
end.)

At any rate, here are my ideas (the last, I think, is the best):

1)  The person who found the locket Horcrux in the cave was not 
necessarily killed by the potion in the bowl (possibly because that 
person didn't drink it), but knew that he/she was going to die soon, 
possibly from some other cause (old age?).  I realize that the
descent 
to the cave was perilous, but Dumbledore was able to manage it.

2)  In Book 7, Harry will almost certainly visit No. 12 Grimmauld 
Place.  Upon inspecting the tapestry delineating the Black family 
tree, he might use the Reparo spell to bring back the names of the 
family members that Mrs. Black blasted out, and possibly learn
whether 
Regulus Black's middle initial is A.  There is another Black family 
member held in disgrace; namely, Alphard Black; which brings me to my 
third postulation:

3)  There are many people who, for reasons of their own, initialize 
their first name and use their middle name; for example, W. Averell 
Harrimann.  It's just possible, though it's a long shot, that we
don't 
have enough information on one of the characters we've already met, 
and that person could be the locket thief; for example, Alphard Black 
(who, I admit, is a long shot).

Finally...

4)  I think there's a good possibility that, because of the way in 
which it appears on the page, that R.A.B. is a monogram, and should
be 
read as "R.B.A.", where the surname initial is given prominence, i.e. 
in the CENTER.  This is the way monograms traditionally are
presented, 
and in JKR's rendering of the monogram, the initial "A" is prominent.

Well, there it is.  I'd appreciate your thoughts on my ideas; and if 
these thoughts have already received treatment, please let me know.

Kathy, a half-blood calligrapher