HBP prediction contest: comments wanted

[hickengruendler]

No: HPFGUIDX 128568

Hickengruendler:

My predictions:

1. Who will be the most major character to die?
- I know very well that my answer is not very original, but I think 
it will be old Albus. Harry Potter is at least partly a heroes 
journey, and in those the mentor always dies, and I don't think this 
will be an exception. And book 6 would be the best moment for it, 
since the situation before book seven would seem pretty hopeless, 
which I think it should to make the finale victory brighter. 
Therefore Dumbledore gets my vote (I consider him the most important 
character after the Trio, and I don't think anyone of the Trio will 
die and certainly not yet). But I will add to my prediction, that he 
will sacrifice himself for one or more of the good guys or die of 
natural causes. (Natural causes is also if he gets a heart attack 
while saving Harry from Voldie). He will not be killed by any 
villain. I also think that we (and therefore Harry) will attend the 
funeral, and this is why the graveyard at Hogwarts is important.

2. Who is the Half-Blood Prince? (If "The Old Lion Guy,"
describe more.)
- Another unoriginal answer, but I vote for Godric Gryffindor. There 
is a trace of a Godric Gryffindor storyline in CoS, with him being 
the owner of the sword and the hat, and I think this could be the 
point that will be explored more in HBP.

3. What is Lily's big secret? (This question will be eliminated
and full credit given to everyone if no big secret is revealed.)
- I really don't think that some secret will be revealed. My guess is 
that her parents were killed by Voldemort and that this leaded to the 
rift between Petunia and Lily. But I'm not sure if that does count as 
a secret.

4. Who will be the new DADA teacher?
- A new character, and to be precise, the lion man from the snippet 
from JKR's website. He is a descendent of Godric Gryffindor (the Half-
Blood Prince) and through him, Harry will learn about Godric and 
maybe even the other founders.

5. With whom will Harry have a romantic relationship?
- Ginny, but I'm not looking forward to it. There has to be a reason 
why she was constantly compared to Cho in OotP, even dowm to their 
Quidditch skills.

6. Who will be the new Minister of Magic?
- Amelia Bones. None of those who were openly against Dumbledore in 
OotP will have a chance now. But Amelia always remained neutral, if 
not pro Dumbledore, and she already had a pretty important office in 
OotP (much more so than Arthur). Therefore her being promoted to 
Minister seems not unlikely. If not her, than a completely new 
character, because everyone else we know was either against 
Dumbledore or to unimportant in the Ministry. But my vote is for 
Amelia.

7. What is that bowl-thing on the green U.S. HBP cover?
- Something with which Dumbledore conjures all this green smoke. 
Beyond this, I have no idea.

8. Will Harry take Advanced Potions?
- Yes, he will. And he will because he passed his OWL with an O, not 
because of any other reason.

9. Will Neville take Advanced Potions?
- No. He will get an OWL in Potions, but he will not continue the 
subject.

10. How many OWLs did Harry get?
- DADA, Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, Herbology and Care of 
Magical Creatures. Making 6.


Predictions (0-10 points each):
Make 5 predictions not covered in the Compulsory Question
section. "Negative" predictions, i.e., "The Centaurs will *not* come
skipping into Hogwarts offering free pony rides," will receive no
credit. Obvious predictions, i.e., "Harry will be in his 6th year at
Hogwarts," will likewise receive no credit.

1. I think that the happy reason for Harry to leave the Dursleys 
early is a wedding. Bill and Fleur will marry. The wedding will be 
the prologue of the book, similar to the QWC in GoF, and JKR will use 
it to introduce important themes and characters of the book. And as a 
bonus, we will learn that Fleur is pregnant.  
2. Percy will not attend the wedding. He still hasn't returned to his 
family. We will learn that he, too, lost his job, and now either is 
jobless or has some job at the very bottom. He will regret his 
behaviour, but is to proud to return. However, he will prove himself 
around the end of the book and will do something heroic, possibly 
saving Ron.  
3. After the Dementor incident, Dudley is now nicer to Harry (he 
needed some time to relaise what exactly Harry has done). However, 
Harry doesn't believe him and thinks Dudley has ulterior motives, 
which is not the case. They will not made up, living this plot open 
for book 7.
4. Draco will make a step to become really evil. He wants revenge 
because Harry sent Lucius to jail, and now he can't hide behind 
Lucius anymore, anyway. He has used the summer holidays to learn more 
about the Dark Arts and becomes a serious opponent again, not as 
powerful as Harry, but on the same level as most DA members 
(including Ron). By the end of the book, he will have killed someone 
(possibly a Weasley) and left Hogwarts to join the Death Eaters. 
5. Neville will continue to step out of his parents shadow. The 
memory charm theory is IMO still intact. By the end of the book, the 
memory charm on him is broken, not by any magic, but by the fact that 
Neville trained his memory and continued to work as hard as in OotP, 
and he will remember something crucial. His grandmother will die 
during the book, and Dumbledore (or if he's already dead McGonagall) 
will allow Neville to spend the summer holidays at Hogwarts, because 
they don't want Voldemort to get him or the information he has.