This Magic Stuff – Nina Hynes
La Ritournelle (Mr. Dan’s Magic Wand Mix) – Sébastien Tellier
The big day is finally here. About an hour ago, I made my way down to Barnes and Noble to pick up a numbered bracelet to secure my spot in line. It’s pretty amazing that six hours before it actually goes on sale there were hundreds of people there. I can’t even imagine the mob that will be there come midnight.
My hypothesis is that this is the single biggest cultural event of our entire generation. It’s the closest thing we’re going to get to a “Beatles on Ed Sullivan” moment. And I, for one, am very excited.
For the record, I will record here my predictions for the book. Now, I realize some of these are somewhat contradictory, but it’s just my list of things that I think have a decent shot of happening. The stuff at the beginning is my “serious predictions” and the stuff at the end is my other thoughts, which if they come true I won’t really try and take credit for predicting:
Draco ends up playing a crucial role for the good guys. Potentially even turns out to be the “hero”
Snape is good…
…but, in helping to kill Voldemort, he does something really awful (like using Hermione as bait and getting her killed or something)
Hagrid dies
One of Ron or Hermione dies
At least one fairly significant (if not one the two “main characters” she says will die) deaths happens relatively early, and kind of pointlessly, potentially even offscreen.
Harry and Ginny are together at the end (this may by my hopeless romantic side battling it out against the clear impression that she’s building toward a dark ending, but dammit, Harry’s secret power is love after all, plus he and Ginny deserve it)
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Slightly less firm thoughts:
I realize that it is kind of weak given my earlier prediction, but I’m also curious about the idea that Snape made an Unbreakable Vow to Dumbledore to be good, which he never meant to follow through with, and in the end he kills Harry and then dies himself because of the Vow, leaving the supporting folks to actually take out Voldemort.
Another Snape thought. I may have read this somewhere, but I can’t think where, so maybe I made it up, but I have kind of an idea that he does something heroic to save Harry, gets killed, and his final words are “you have her eyes.”
Harry is the last Horcrux
At odds with my Harry/Ginny prediction above, I think there’s also a chance that Harry basically does the same thing his mom did (only for Ginny or Ron or Hermione) sacrifices himself for them, and closes the circle, which makes Voldemort killable (leaving Draco or Neville or someone to actually get him).