HARRY POTTER!: post one

I was at a restaurant the other day, and two of my friends started their umpteenth argument on whether Harry is going to die. (By this point, it's devolved into, "No, he won't" "Of course he will!") And I got pre-emptively nostalgic.

Because starting in a little over 30 hours, nobody can have these discussions again. The publication, at long last, of Book 7 means the end of theories and speculations and just plain wondering--because we'll know. And while knowing is great, it still makes me sad that we won't be able to argue about it over dinner anymore.

Not that I personally have any elaborate theories. I have a couple of guesses of what will happen, but I have more of just hopes than I do of those. But here they are:

Guess One: Snape is good.
We learned it in the first book, people. Snape is mean, Snape is petty, Snape is physically unappealing in all the ways a regular storybook villain ought to be--and Snape is not the bad guy. I do think Dumbledore told Snape to kill him, because one thing we know about Dumbledore is that he always considered himself expendable. Is it something Dumbledore would do, to arrange for Snape to kill him to save Draco Malfoy from true darkness? Absolutely. But another reason I think Snape is good is because of the theory to which I am most attached . . .

Guess Two: Snape was totally in love with Harry's mom.
Dude is always talking smack on Harry's dad, but has never so much as breathed a syllable to Harry about his mother. Snape's worst memory, in the Book 5 chapter of the same name, was a recollection of what seemed like routine bullying by James Potter and his crew, so why was it the worst? Because he called Lily a filthy name and she decided to stop sticking up for him, forever.
Now, if I am correct (and I am--mark it down!), Snape can't be completely evil like his (erstwhile) boss Voldemort, because of the having loved. Love. It's so important. We learned that in Book 1, too.

Guess Three: Voldemort's going to die.
Nothing, NOTHING, would be more unsatisfying than the triumph of evil. For us or for Jo. Whether Harry has to die to accomplish it or not, Voldemort is going down.

Hope One: That Harry keeps on being The Boy Who Lived.
Is Harry going to die? I have no idea. I mean, I think I'm completely 50-50 on this. But if he dies? What a horrible little life he would have led! And what terrible thanks for saving the world. Poor baby.

Hope Two: That Ron gets to live, too.
You know how I feel about Ron. But I'm very scared for him, mostly because on pages 773-774 of Order of the Phoenix, Harry sees the creepy veil for the first time. In the book, when he hears voices coming from it, he thinks that one he hears is Sirius, and calls for him. Then, a few paragraphs later, he says, "Is that you, Ron?" As even those of you who've only seen the movie know, Sirius falls through that veil, dead, not too long after this. The possible logical extension of this worries me deeply.

Hope Three: That we find out what the deal was with Aunt Petunia and Dumbledore.
I mean, for real! We know Petunia and Dumbledore corresponded about Harry, but I really want to know more about that. It's crazy!
(This hope is clearly of a lesser order than the first two, but it's still important to me, anyway.)

Hope Four: That Neville gets to do some really cool stuff.
And if he lives, maybe get together with Luna Lovegood. I know Jo said that won't happen, but . . . maybe she could change her mind? (If Neville doesn't die. Which . . . let's just say, I wouldn't put any money on it.)

Hope Five: That I manage to read the whole book (in one night, of course) before I pick up any spoilers on, like, the local news.
I'm really paranoid about this. I'm going into Total Media Lockdown tomorrow, and not letting up until I have read every page of the book. This means no news (I think I'm going to reset my homepage from Google News, even), no Facebook (because people will immediately be joining groups like "I still can't beleve Snape killz Hermione!!!!!"), no radio (because deejays have big mouths, you know), etc. Like I said, paranoid.

Hope Six: That the Harry Potter "party" at the gigantic Barnes and Noble isn't too horrible or too hideously long.
The gentleman caller and I are going there in a matter of minutes to pick up The Golden Bracelet that will get us into the Barnes and Noble tomorrow night. And apparently, we're going to have to get there at 10:15 if we want in at all. It may be ca-razy. I'll keep you posted on how that goes.

Overall, though, I am way excited about this. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows! On sale tomorrow night!