I apologize for apparent crankiness in my previous commment; I wasn’t, but it reads that way. Half, if not more, of the fun of the books is speculating about them and attempting to figure what comes next. The creative, unhampered thinking on this site and others reveals the sharp intelligence of diligent HP readers.

The narrative misdirection angle is intriguing and enlightening–J.K. is propelling us through a funhouse of twists and turns. And what a wild ride it is.

I like the idea of narrative misdirection — it certainly creates a lot of possibilities from a plot standpoint (just look at all the speculation that came before this post!). . . it will be interesting to see it is the tool JKR chose to use and where it leads her characters (and us, along with them) in the end.

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

I do believe DD is dead. But I believe he will have more to say to Harry, particularly the story he promised to tell him about the destruction of the ring horcrux. How? Well, through his portrait in the headmaster’s study. It was explained once that all former headmasters in the portraits know what they knew in their living years. So DD still has a wealth of information for Harry, should Harry “consult” him. I guess we’ll know if DD is really dead when he appears in his frame.

I’ve felt from book one that Snape will die for Harry. I think a lot of people will die for Harry to be able to accomplish what he must.

Dive deep, but don’t hit your head on a rock.

Got to go see to the kitties.

Then even again, snape always seems to protect Harry at a spot where it *looks like* snape’s trying to kill him. Snape is always the first guy to point your finger at, but he’s got that double-agent side that makes you realize you were wrong. The one guy who looks like a murderer turns out to be the savior.

Well, it makes perfect sense to me. You see, Rumor, in a way Harry *is* Voldemort; the Dark Lord can look out through Harry’s eyes any time he wants to. And it is really, really important for the endgame that Voldemort be convinced Snape is his man. Well, now he’s convinced.

In addition, Snape is not stupid – he is far, far more intelligent than Harry, from what I can see – and he certainly knows by now what motivates Harry most strongly. The boy is most focused, and most competent, when he is angry. And, if he is going to destroy the horcruxes and face Voldemort, he had *better* be both focused and competent. So there is absolutely no harm, and some possible good, to be had from his fury at Snape. Just my two cents!

But, as I said to John in my earlier posts, I don’t believe for a moment that Dumbledore and Severus have already destroyed the horcruxes. That’s Harry’s job, just as it will finally be Severus’s job to destroy Voldemort.

JKR said herself, “Harry-Snape is now as personal, if not more so, than Harry-Voldemort.” [Read the whole quote from the Leaky Cauldron, 2005]”

Also, JKR has said:”In Book 6 “Harry finds out a lot of Voldemort’s history. Though he was never that nice a guy.” [Read the whole quote from Time Magazine, 2005]

After Book 6 “you’re left with a very clear idea of what Harry’s going to do next.” [Read the whole quote from Time Magazine, 2005]
In Book 6 Harry is “ready to go out fighting. And he‚Äôs after revenge.” [Read the whole quote from Dateline NBC, 2005]

Dumbledore’s guesses about how to kill Voldemort are ‚Äúnever very far wide of the mark.‚Äù Harry will need to get rid of four horcruxes, and then ‚Äúgo for Voldemort.‚Äù Dumbledore has given Harry ‚Äúsome pretty valuable clues‚Äù and Harry “has amassed more knowledge than he realizes.” Dumbledore will not ‚Äúdo a Gandalf;‚Äù he is truly dead. [Read the whole quote from Radio City2, 2006]

Dumbledore had to die because ‘In these sort of epic sagas, the hero eventually has to fight alone’, although Harry still has his two faithful sidekicks. Fundamentally, Jo is saying ‘the old wizard always gets it’. [Read the whole quote from Radio City-pressconf, 2006]

But I had not ever considered that the drama was played out not just for the Death Eaters present to believe, but also for Harry to believe (and with him, Voldemort). It is intriguing – even if it’s only a theory at this point – to look at Book VI as a drama being played out not so much for Harry but for Voldemort (who never appears in the book!). What if Voldemort is “present” all through the book and that is why Dumbledore is not so freaked out by Harry looking at him and being nearby. All those journeys that Harry and Dumbledore go on, as edifying as it is for Harry – what if it’s for Voldemort’s benefit as well? That is an intriguing thought.

I do think it’s intriguing to think that the horcruxes are indeed all destroyed, the last one being the locket and that seems to have been destroyed by RAB (but was it really and not that locket that was found while cleaning in Grimmauld Place in Book V?). If it was indeed destroyed, then we really have no idea – except what we can glean from other books of this genre – what Harry is off to do. Harry thinks he’s off to do Horcrux Hunting (and we of course believe him – when will we ever learn??? Harry is not the best indicating of what is really going on, but we like him so much we keep trusting his judgment!).

I am now off to listen to the CDs of the Book VI YET AGAIN (sorry for shouting) just to consider if it is a drama set out for Voldemort, not present in this book but perhaps more present than any of us realized. It would also make the title “ironic” in that the “Half Blood Prince” is not only Snape – but the Dark Lord himself. Could it be that he was indeed the star of this book and we never realized it?

Intriguing and at certainly worth going through the book again from that point of view.

Thanks, John – I’ll check back in when I’m done with the book and give you some thoughts.

ZR

I believe that the “white hot” spell that whizzed by Harry’s face at the end of Half Blood Prince had more to do with Snape’s emotions. Snape was doing all in his power to hold back his anger and to avoid cursing Harry for being his usual thick-headed self. I found two sentences at the end of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix that uses “white-hot” anger as anger and frustration at being misunderstood.

Here are the two mentions near the end of Order of the Phoenix:

page 823:
White-hot anger leapt inside him. Dumbledore knew knothing about his feelings.
page 823
Harry felt the white-hot anger lick his insides, blazing in the terrible emptiness, filling him with the desire to hurt Dumbledore for his calmness and empty words.

It’s probably a coincidence, but I thought I’d mention it.

“At the end of book seven, Harry and Voldemort will ‘merge’ to form a single persona who will command both the forces of good and evil.”

I know that’s not exactly what you are saying, but it is similar. Her response was:

“This is not really a rumor, more a lone theory on the net that the son of a friend of mine pointed out to me. He wants me to repudiate it, so I’m repudiating: Harry will NOT merge with Voldemort to become a single entity, nor would Harry even wish to command Death Eaters/Dementors/Inferi.”

Whatever the intended effect of the theory, she very definitely says that Harry and Voldemort are not one–so doesn’t that negate the whole idea that that is what the gleam of triumph was all about?

And really, if Dumbledore had used Harry as a pawn from the time he was 11, that doesn’t go along with Dumbledore really seeming to care for Harry, so much so, that he would put Harry’s well-being ahead of his grand plan. It also means that it doesn’t matter whether Harry has the power that Voldemort doesn’t have–love. If Dumbledore and Snape are taking care of the Horcruxes, it won’t matter what Harry does. He might as well sit down in the pub and have a butterbeer and let them–well, now just Snape–get on with it.

The other part I can’t buy into is the whole idea that it wasn’t Dumbledore who went to the Cave with Harry. If they knew the Horcrux wasn’t really there, because they already had the real one (and had destroyed it), then what was the point of putting Harry in that kind of danger? And how is it that Dumbledore and Snape are face to face on the Tower–when would they have had time to switch back?

Narrative misdirection is one thing, but this theory is so full of manipulation of everyone that it just feels wrong, to me. It becomes the argument of the end justifying the means, rather than love being what is needed to defeat evil. And if that story line turns out to be true, I for one, will feel very cheated. Cheated because the wizard who was so powerful and represented all that was good and right (Dumbledore) turned out to be a liar and a deceiver of the worst sort.

How can the Horcruxes all be already destroyed anyway? If Dumbledore and Snape have destroyed them, then why are they putting Harry and all the others in such constant danger by not just finishing off Voldemort. I see no purpose in the whole charade of teaching Harry about the Horcruxes, showing him the known ones, all of Tom Riddle’s life history, and the clues about what the rest of the Horcruxes are. Sorry, John, but this one just doesn’t work for me.

Oh, and rumor–I posted this on the forum, but I’ll post it here as well–Rowling said that Snape was not hiding under the invisibility cloak on Halloween–but she didn’t say that he wasn’t there. Actually, until she posted it with that terse wording, I wasn’t in the camp that thought he was at the Potter’s when they were killed. But now I at least think it’s a possibility.

Pat

I am now of the mind that 17 year old Harry (Harry II) may battle Voldemort II (who either goes back to the past and Harry follows or the other way around) in the past and could die there (leaving the way for the story to begin all over again with Baby Harry, though I’d rather see something else!!).

Voldemort I could actually be the one who kills Voldemort II (by mistake – imagine them coming face to face – Voldemort II will know, Voldemort I will not know).

It could be that Voldemort II attempts to kill Baby Harry (which only causes the scar since he’s time out of mind, so to speak) and it is Voldemort I who inadvertently kills Voldemort II (again, remember that we’ve been warned that terrible things happen when people see each other from the future/past). That deed alone could cause the house to explode.

Anyway, speculation aside, the bottom line is that I think Harry goes back to Godrick Hollow and is hidden under James’ coat. This is left behind (either by finding the dead Harry II in the past by Dumbledore) or that Harry II (if he should survive and go home to the “present”) leaves it behind while fleeing from the explosion and from being discovered.

There really isn’t a clear way to know what could happen there (this is mere conjecture – I don’t know, there just isn’t enough clues to know but right now this is my best guess) but I think it was 17 year old Harry who was was under the invisibility cloak and it was left behind at Godric Hollow and retrieved by Dumbledore for Harry – again.

Of course I could be wrong!!!

zr