[HPforGrownups] HBP prediction contest: comments wanted

[elfundeb]

No: HPFGUIDX 129204

Very late entry - it took me this long to look up the links.

> 1.      Who will be the most major character to die?

Luna Lovegood.  Or Percy.  Reasons described here:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/113568 (Luna)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/58796 (Percy)

> 2.      Who is the Half-Blood Prince? (If "The Old Lion Guy,"
> describe more.)

I am tempted to say that there is no HBP; that, rather, it is an old
legend like the Chamber of Secrets.  But, since the Chamber turned out
to exist after all, I must conclude that the legend is also true and
that the HBP is . . . Salazar Slytherin.

> 3.      What is Lily's big secret? (This question will be eliminated
> and full credit given to everyone if no big secret is revealed.)

Nothing significant about Lily will be revealed in HBP.

> 4.      Who will be the new DADA teacher?

It will be a new character, not named Felix Felicis.

> 5.      With whom will Harry have a romantic relationship?

Nobody.

> 6.      Who will be the new Minister of Magic?

Whoever it is will be a hard-liner of the Crouch ilk.  Of the MoM
employees we know, Amos Diggory best fits that description.

However, I will go out on a limb and completely contradict my logic by
predicting that the ever-so-evil Ludo Bagman will get the job.  He
will be a front for the hardliners as well as the DEs.

> 7.      What is that bowl-thing on the green U.S. HBP cover?

A pensieve.  Not Dumbledore's.

> 8.      Will Harry take Advanced Potions?

Of course.

> 9.      Will Neville take Advanced Potions?

Yes.  Didn't Harry notice how much better Neville seemed to do at the
O.W.L. exam without Snape's regular humiliation?

> 10.     How many OWLs did Harry get?

Everything except Divination and History of Magic.  Not all were
Outstanding, though.

> Predictions (0-10 points each):
> Make 5 predictions not covered in the Compulsory Question
> section. 

1.  Potions!  We will learn more about the Draught of Living Death,
which Harry will use as a portal through the Veil.  Luna might
accompany him; if so, she will not return.

2.  Draco will turn 17 and officially join the DEs, a fact that Harry
will discover near the climax of the book.  There will be no
redemption for Draco in HBP.

3.  Ron will be subjected to the Imperius Curse and behave like a DE. 
See prior answer for the identity of the perpetrator.

4.  Percy will be too proud to admit he was wrong and beg forgiveness
from his family; instead he will attempt to redeem himself by skirting
the law in an attempt to rescue a family member in trouble, and
getting himself in worse trouble.

5.  Hermione will become an animagus.  If not this book, then in book
7.  Note how she told Percy on her first day at Hogwarts that she was
particularly interested in Transfiguration.  (This was my earliest
prediction about the books, made long before I found this group.)

And, a bonus prediction:

We will learn that Neville's use of magic has been hampered by a
Memory Charm.  We will also learn that it was not inflicted by any of
the Pensieve Four, but by someone at the Ministry, most likely Fudge,
to prevent Neville from revealing what the MoM did to Frank and Alice
in an attempt to elicit testimony from them (which Dumbledore
commented was "none too reliable" but which Bellatrix seems to confirm
was accurate in at least some respects).

Debbie
who hasn't read most of the other predictions yet and hopes there
isn't too much duplication here