Digital Harry Potter manuscript allegedly stolen

[CommanderROR]

btw...this is FUN!

What did JK say? How many people are going to die in the last volume...any guesses who that might be...

[NatCh]

I believe she said that 2 "main" characters would buy it.

I think that Voldemort is probably one. But that leaves the other open. I think our main characters are: Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny (maybe), Hagrid, Snape and possibly Draco Malfoy.

Once you get past the first three, it enters very quickly into opinion, and after Malfoy, the ice gets very thin, indeed.

As far as who else goes, she's hinted that Harry might not ever make it to full adult-hood (someone asked her what he'd be like as an old man and she responded with something to the effect of "what makes you think he'll live that long?"). If she doesn't kill off Harry, I'd say Snape, Malfoy, and Hagrid are good candidates. I really don't think she'll bump off Ron or Hermione, they've clearly (to me) been planned to marry and grow old together from the very first novel. I also think that Ginny is probably safe, but who knows?

I'm currently re-reading them, and looking for death foreshadowings for Snape and Harry, but I'm in HP3 at the moment, which is all death foreshadowings for Harry, so ....

[yvanleterrible]

Originally Posted by CommanderROR

@NatCh

Severus Snape is actually one of the strange points. He is quite undeniably evil, yet Dumbledore let's him pester Harry without interfering. Dumbeldore trusts Snape and let's him into most of the secrets.

Now, the way I see it this is one loooong foreshadow.

Nobody really trusts Snape apart from Dumbledore which means he probably made some kind of master-plan right in the beginning, long before Harry Potter gets to Hogwarts and Severus Snape is going to be one of the main keys to destroying Voldemort.
Either he is an unwitting decoy of some sort, or he is really (for some reason) 100% loyal to Dumbledore and killing him is part of the plan.
Remember that Dumbledore is called the "Greatest Wizard of All Times", he might have made an elaborate counter-spell that causes the Deadly Curse that Snape directs at him to trigger a deathlike sleep, maybe even something that puts him into some kind of "immortal Stasis" where nothing physical can harm him.

The point of this would be this:

Snape regains the full trust of Voldemort AND Voldemort sees his most dangerous foe gone and decides to openly take action thus revealing himself to his enemies in full for the first time and making it possible for Harry Potter and his friends (with guidance from a strange source that later turns out to be Dumbledore) to find and defeat Voldemort.

This trust from Dumbledore towards Snape looks similar to Jesus' towards Judas. It's all an accessory to a goal, definitely part of the next plot.

Draco will be solicited to enter the Deatheaters and perform a ceremonial deed; again part of folklore.

[Roy White]

Ten Bucks says that Crookshanks turns out to actually be Harry's Grandfather in Animagus form watching over him.

He will reveal himself halfway through the book, then sacrifice himself for Harry.

[NatCh]

Heh. Even if you're right there, Roy White, I don't think he'd count as a major character.

Hmmm, how to end the series so there could be no more Hogwarts? Why, have Harry wake up in the hospital!

"Whoa! Mother! Father! You would not believe the dream I had! It was so real! Doctor Dumble you were in it too! Brother Ron, Sister Herme, even Nurse Snapes! Oh, I'm so happy its over though I will miss it some but will dedicate my life to living each day to its fullest! God bless everyone!"

(cue snowglobe)




(and yea, my ruffian comment was a jab at the good lady. still on my annoyed list from when she commented that she was behind her writing schedule because none of the stores around her carried the type of paper she likes to write on. thankfully she must have a good local supplier for goose gall and iron oxide. feh....)

[yvanleterrible]

Originally Posted by stxopher

Hmmm, how to end the series so there could be no more Hogwarts? Why, have Harry wake up in the hospital!

"Whoa! Mother! Father! You would not believe the dream I had! It was so real! Doctor Dumble you were in it too! Brother Ron, Sister Herme, even Nurse Snapes! Oh, I'm so happy its over though I will miss it some but will dedicate my life to living each day to its fullest! God bless everyone!"

(cue snowglobe)




(and yea, my ruffian comment was a jab at the good lady. still on my annoyed list from when she commented that she was behind her writing schedule because none of the stores around her carried the type of paper she likes to write on. thankfully she must have a good local supplier for goose gall and iron oxide. feh....)

With all her money she must own the forest the paper was felled from.

Originally Posted by yvanleterrible

With all her money she must own the forest the paper was felled from.

Agreed. Or at least have enough to keep a couple extra reams in the desk since she insists on writing longhand on a particular type of stationary only. If your livelihood depends on tools, keep those tools in good condition and in stock.

Chalk up another advantage to digital authors.

(I say that while at the same time my journal and snail mail letters are written on particular papers with a fountain pen. Sooooo....I'm only partially a hypocrite.)

[Robert Marquard]

Originally Posted by stxopher

Chalk up another advantage to digital authors.

Not really. Baen author David Drake uses up notebooks fast. May have to do with his insistence to write outdoors.

[yvanleterrible]

Originally Posted by stxopher

Agreed. Or at least have enough to keep a couple extra reams in the desk since she insists on writing longhand on a particular type of stationary only. If your livelihood depends on tools, keep those tools in good condition and in stock.

Chalk up another advantage to digital authors.

(I say that while at the same time my journal and snail mail letters are written on particular papers with a fountain pen. Sooooo....I'm only partially a hypocrite.)

Don't say that! You can't be a hypocrit for doing many things in different ways! Why is then calligraphy considered an art form? I think that It's sad that it should be doomed! It's a pleasure to sit and 'draw' your words.

[Turtle Woman]

Oh goody! A chance to immortalize my opinions on the future of HP and friends.

Dumbledore is really dead. The phoenix lamented him and flew away. His portrait is on the wall of the Headmaster's office. The spell he cast over Harry dissolved when he died. (Yes, I just finished reading #6 again in preparation for #7).

Snape will die in #7. He did, after all, perform an Unforgivable Curse. However, Snape, while obnoxious, is not evil. There are way too many clues in #6 to that fact. He is a double agent, but ultimately loyal to Dumbledore. Dumbledore was begging him to kill him so that Malfoy would not do it. Can you imagine Dumbledore begging for his life?

Snape will die saving Harry's life and thus redeem himself. Dumbledore may appear, but only in spirit form, like Harry's parents.

For a series that is so vehemently hated by right-wing Christians, HP has many Christian themes.

I read the spoilers from the person who claimed to have hacked the publisher's system and I don't believe them for a minute.

[NatCh]

Originally Posted by Turtle Woman

For a series that is so vehemently hated by right-wing Christians, HP has many Christian themes.

Not all of us, Turtle Woman, and I agree, it does.

Most of the hatred you reference is dismally ignorant of the reality. I've been told that Ms. Rowling is a witch herself, Wiccan, specifically (she is, in fact, a Presbyterian, if memory serves me), but the biggest thing that seems to get them going is "her" claim that Harry Potter's name will be known to every child in the world. Apparently folks feel that she is trying to brainwash the children by knowledge of the name.

The silly thing there, is that she never (so far as I can tell) ever made such a statement. It would have been an extraordinary (though not necessarily evil) thing to say if she had, but she didn't. They seem to be mis-referring to Dumbledore's statement at the beginning of the first book, that everyone in their world (which would be the fictional wizarding world in which the fictional characters live in a fictional fashion) would know Harry's name.

And within those fictional boundaries, it's both true and not extraordinary.

Anyway, I haven't heard much of that sort of uninformed vitriol since around the time the second movie came out, so perhaps it's died down some? Then again, perhaps I've just succeeded in informing the folks around me enough that they've gotten over it ... or just stopped complaining where I could hear it.

The only real part of the series that I find concerning is the rather casual relationship the characters seem to have with the truth (i.e. they lie a lot), but that's something to talk to your kids about, not something to put together a stake and bonfire combo over.

[yvanleterrible]

Basically, some parents are afraid of the fact that she reaches their children with greater ease than they can. That has a similarity with the feeling I got when my kids came back from their first week at school. From there they didn't respond the same way to things we said anymore. Their 'new siblings' got their attention more readily.

With HP, I just picked up the books and joined in. That was easy for me, I just worked on the goodness she builds in the main characters. I feel that precise religious extremists that go strictly by the good book could face hurdles in doing it the way we did. I can see why they panic but it's their choice. Nothing's perfect. You make the best of it.

[NatCh]

It's especially silly, when you consider that Barney is the real embodiment of evil in our society.

[yvanleterrible]

Or square pants.