The List update

[nkafkafi]

> Pippin:
> I still don't think it's unmanageable. If we could dip into JKR's
> notes and see the Snape/Marauder backstory, the DD backstory 
> and the outcome of the final battle, most of our questions would 
> be answered, no?

Neri:
The original idea was to estimate if JKR can do all that in a single
book, right? So here's my estimation for the minimum text needed for
each of these items.

> Harry/horcrux/RAB/prophecy/Voldemort death/scar

This is the biggest item and needs to be further detailed. I think
that finding and destroying each of the four missing Hxs must take at
least 3 chapters on average. Less than that would hardly be
believable, since it took the great Dumbledore three years to find and
destroy the ring and another year to fail in finding the locket. For
another useful reference we might look at the amount of text it took
Harry to find, explore and destroy the diary Hx in CoS. I believe it
was more than 3 chapters by any count. So with 3 chapters for each
missing Hx we're already looking at 12 chapters. The final battle
itself should be *at least* 3 chapters, since the climaxes of PoA,
GoF, OotP and HBP are all 3 – 5 chapters each. Overall 15 chapters

> Which side is Snape really on/what happened on the tower?

I'd say the resolution of the whole Snape subplot should take *at
least* 3 chapters overall, which is approximately his stage time in HBP.

---------------------------
Current total: 18 chapters.


Now there are several items that IMO should take at least one chapter
each (not necessarily one continuous chapter, but when summed up over
the whole book):

> Fate of Draco Malfoy

> Trio romances

> Dobby/Kreacher/SPEW/House Elf liberation

> Fate of the founders/Houses unite

> What does Petunia know/what is Dudley's dementor memory

> What happened at Godric's Hollow/Who was there?/How did DD discover 

> Pettigrew life debt/inconsistent powers/silver hand


My own additions to this category include:

Ministry politics (Scrimgeour, Fudge, Arthur, Muggle Prime Minister, etc.)

Harry visiting GH and his parents' graves.
 
-----------------------------
Current total: 27 chapters


Now to items that IMO might be solved in several pages, perhaps half a
chapter each:

> What did the Longbottoms know/the resolution of their story/fate of 
> Bellatrix/who sent the Lestranges.

> Why did Voldie try to spare Lily?

> Harry/Ron/Hermione/Neville career plans/NEWTs

> Fate of Percy

> Fate of Krum

> Lupin/Tonks

> Fleur/Bill wedding

> What's become of Fortesque & Ollivander?/which supposed DE victims 
> have been saved by the Order?

> What happened during the missing 24 hours?

> Why are eyes/glasses the key to Harry's vulnerability?

> Will the goblins fight? On which side? 

> Centaur predictions about Harry/Firenze

> DD's backstory/defeat of Grindelwald/Aberforth/hand/basin
> vision/green goo


My own additions to this category include:

Hogwarts (new Headmaster, teachers, operation during wartime, etc.)

Secrets of the DEs (Dark Mark, saying Voldemort's name, backstory of
the gang, etc.)


If we assume each of the above takes overall 1/3 chapter on average
then we're looking at about 5 chapters.

--------------------------
Current total: 32 chapters



The next items IMO might be solved in a single page, perhaps two pages
each:

> The prank/change in James's character

> Fate of Dolores Umbridge

> Fate of Fenrir

> Snape and Lupin patronus and/or boggart

> Fate of Norbert/the boa constrictor from the zoo

> Hagrid/Maxime

> Flying car/motorcycle/Fluffy and other forest exiles

> Why Lily was so extra-special to Slughorn

> Grawp does something useful

> Two-way Mirrors

> Prince's book

> Significance of Sirius's death


Lets say 2 chapters for all of these together.
 
----------------------------
Current total is 34 chapters


And now to items that only deserve a honorable mention but IMO might
be taken care of in a single paragraph:

> What are the 12 uses of dragon's blood?
> Do any of the creatures Luna believes in actually exist?
> What other ways of being invisible (besides an Invisibility Cloak). 
> Why Sirius thought Lupin was the spy.
> James and Lily's occupations/source of wealth.
> Gryffindor's sword.
> Lupin's missing years/peeling letters mystery.
> Are any of the teachers married.

---------------------------------
Current total remains 34 chapters 


This is already more than HBP (30 chapters) but still less than GoF
(37). However, here I estimate that we must reserve *at least* 5
chapters just for moving the characters around in a believable manner,
developing the plot (in ways that aren't a part of any of the items
above), describing locations (especially since we won't be at Hogwarts
so there are likely to be many new locations), atmosphere, weather,
times and dates, character descriptions, red herrings, twins' tricks,
trio's arguments, Molly's hugs, Hagrid's cooking and other
house-keeping chores.

------------------------
Final total: 39 chapters 

This is even longer than OotP (38 chapters) and yet it's only my
*minimal* estimation. That is, The Story Of Severus Snape or The Final
Battle of the series *can* be summed up in just three chapters, but I
think most of us would like something grander. I mean, there's should
be some epic plot development and satisfying resolution in there, not
merely ticking check marks.

JKR's current plan for Book 7 is probably more detailed than the list
above, and yet she doesn't seem worried about the overall length. This
might be because:

1. She has a serious problem with math.

2. She's going to cheat big time. Say, Draco mentioned only in
passing, or the Hxs found and destroyed in one chapter each. Prepare
for BIG disappointments.

3. There's going to be *a lot* of combining items together. Say, Draco
helps Harry finding one Hx, Kreacher helps him finding another, Snape
brings him a third, and the Longbottoms the forth. Then Wormtail tells
him what happened in GH and why Voldy spared Lily while paying his
life debt. Yet all this must not happen in a way that everything is
done for Harry by other characters.  

I personally hope it's mainly explanation 3, since it helps with
theorizing if you know your theory should solve several items at once,
but I suspect that explanations 1 and especially 2 cannot be
disregarded either.  


Neri