back with Harry (part 7 [beta])

We are less than a week before the release of The Deathly Hallows, so I may as well commit to and throw in my predictions.

1) Harry won't kill Voldemort.
By the rules of the universe as laid out in The Lord of the Rings, good never defeats evil, it's always evil that defeats itself: Aragorn doesn't break Sauron, Gollum (inadvertantly) does; Gandolf doesn't kill Saruman, it's Wormtongue who knifes him in the back. In The Half-Blood Prince, Dumbledore exclaims in this direction: "Voldemort himself created his own worst enemy, just as tyrants everywhere do! Have you any idea how much tyrants fear the people they oppress? All of them realize that, one day, amongst their many victims, there is sure to be one who rises against them and strikes back!"

Of all Voldemort's minions, I think the one most likely to finish him is Peter Pettigrew. Pettigrew is pathetic and sniveling, cutting off his own hand to ressurect the Dark Lord, and being rewarded with insults and Crucio curses. Also, at the end of the Prisoner of Azkaban, Dumbole says that Harry may one day be glad that he spared Peter's life. And it is worth remembering that Pettigrew's nickname is Wormtail, which is just one body part from Wormtongue. All that said, it would also fit Tolkien's model if Snape, Draco, or Narcissa Malfoy killed Voldemort instead.

2) Ron and Hermoine will hit it.
I've always wanted a love triangle between Harry, Ron, and Hermoine, but it ain't happening. I'll live.

3) Hermoine will return to Hogwarts as a teacher.
Don't know if Rowling will do a "Here's how everyone turned out!" chapter, but it'll somehow be implied that Hermoine is on track to be a Headmaster one day.

4) R.A.B. is Regulus Black.

5) The final Horcrux will be Harry himself, or his scar.
Harry may have to die to destroy this, or at least he will offer his death. I don't have an official prediction on whether Harry will croak.

6) Snape will redeem himself.
After rereading the series, I think it's obvious that Snape is with the good guys. He killed Dumbledore because of the Unbreakable Vow and because Dumbledore asked him to. Dumbledore died to save Draco, and Snape followed his Headmaster's orders. As mentioned above, I wouldn't be surprised if it was Snape who killed Voldemort; I also wouldn't be surprised if Snape somehow died to save Harry.


Note that many of these ideas weren't originally mine. My former coworker M. came up with the Harry-as-Horcrux theory the day after The Half-Blood Prince came out, and the Pettigrew-kills-Voldemort theory came from a random guy I met in Brooklyn Supreme Court.