Book Six Predictions
The time has come, as the walrus said, to talk of many things. About book six, that is, and the possibilities it holds for the future of those in the world of Harry Potter. This will be a very important book, as it will set the tone and situation for the final episode. Below are my thoughts on what may happen in this sure to be pivotal and gripping novel.
First of all, Voldemort is now fully and entirely back. He has been forced to reveal himself at last, and the Ministry has finally admitted his return, so there will be, most likely, no more hiding around for him. The battle will begin in the open and in earnest. Thus I would not be surprised to see deaths begin in the wider wizarding world as Voldemort tries to reinstate his former reign of terror. As someone points out in the fifth book, though, they have a much better chance of defeating him this time. Those opposing Voldemort have had, thanks to Harry, time to organize, and will not be so outnumbered. The Dementors have already joined him, though, and most of the giants have sworn their allegiance. Of course, there are still a few who may remember Dumbledore's message as relayed by Hagrid and Madam Maxime, and I think it safe to say we will see a few of them joining the fight on the side of good. We have Grawp, at least, who seems to have finally been softened at least a little by Hagrid's attempts. However, last we saw he was fiercely in battle with the centaurs, which was probably a pretty matched battle. I think he'll turn out to have survived it, though. If he died it would just be too sad for Hagrid, and he has some real potential to help Harry and his friends yet again somehow.
The question is, which way will the other creatures go? Will the centaurs and goblins join in? And, to round out the Fountain of Magical Brethren, what about the house-elves? Lupin warned that the goblins may join Voldemort "if they're offered freedoms we've been denying them for centuries." Dumbledore warned that "We wizards have mistreated and abused our fellows for far too long, and we are now reaping our reward." Wizard opinion of non-wizards, like house-elves, goblins, centaurs, giants, merpeople, etc., the kinds of people Umbridge would call "half-breeds," needs to change, the hints of this have been slowly building. And who best to spearhead this campaign but Hermione. I would not be surprised if this is the field she goes into after Hogwarts (she herself has suggested she might) and I'd also be willing to bet she'll start branching out from knitting hats for house-elves at some point in book six. In fact, Anton has suggested, and I think this is brilliant, that Hermione may eventually become Minister of Magic. It's just the position she needs to really make some far-reaching positive changes in the wizarding community.
The Ministry will probably, now that Fudge has seen Voldemort with his own eyes, swing, in its own rather bumbling way, into action against Voldemort. But I have a feeling that for the most part it will be a case of too little too late. It will be interesting to see whether Lucius Malfoy will be at last discredited, or whether Fudge will continue to insist that his effusive donations prove his angelic nature. Fudge will probably remain Minister, although he may find a new Senior Undersecretary, and he'll probably return to his old habits of pelting Dumbledore with owls.
Hopefully Percy will see the error of his ways and the Weasleys will have a heart-wrenching reunion scene. Of course, it's also possible that he will continue in his ambitious quest for power by joining Voldemort. I would say I don't think he's quite that evil, but ambition and a love of power are pretty much the most dangerous things according to Rowling, so there's also the possibility that he will take a turn for the worse. Which makes him a potential casualty in upcoming books.
The Order of the Pheonix may have to move their headquarters now that Sirius has died, unless he willed it to them. Even if he did, I'm not sure why they'd want to stay, what with sad memories of Sirius, Kreacher the traitor still hobbling about, and Sirius's mother cursing them all every time someone rings the doorbell. Perhaps Dumbledore will be able to find them another safe place.
So much for the situation of the wizarding world. On to the situation at Hogwarts:
All the fifth years will be deciding which classes to continue on with to N.E.W.T. level, based on their career goals and the results of their O.W.L.s. (For a more detailed look at these marks and predictions as to how they'll turn out for some of the main characters, click here.) I wonder if this choice will be made by owl over the summer, or whether, as seems more likely, it will be done in person once they reach Hogwarts with their Head of House. If this is the case, they still won't know their schedules until they get to Hogwarts and have their conference. Again, for a look at how people will probably do and what classes people might be continuing in, check out the link above.
In light of that, this probably won't really matter, but will Firenze be staying on as Divination professor? (Harry didn't seem to do so well on this exam, nor does he or Ron seem to have any inclination towards continuing the subject, but still...) It seems likely, because as yet he can't return to his herd anyway. Dumbledore is back in charge, though, and he can reinstate Professor Trelawney if he wants, so he might do that. At least he'll almost certainly keep her around at the school, because Voldemort, who failed in his attempt to obtain the prophecy from the Department of Mysteries, may try to go straight to the source.
They'll be needing, once again, a new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. And my inclination is to doubt Snape will get his coveted position at least until the seventh book, but then again I think it likely that Harry, and maybe Ron, will continue along the path to be an Auror, at least for the moment, and if Snape remains Potions professor this would mean both of them would need an O on their Potions O.W.L., which doesn't seem to me incredibly likely. But if Snape was no longer Potions master, either because he was off on Order business or because he was Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, a different Potions professor might take them on with an E, which is much more doable. Then again, if Dumbledore was going to give him the DADA job, you'd think he would have done it last year, when the alternative was Umbridge and a new Potions master would probably be much easier to find. If not Snape, it's hard to say who. Probably an entirely new character as it has been every year so far.
Will Hagrid stay on as Care of Magical Creatures professor? This is a tough dilemma, because Grubbly-Plank is obviously a better teacher, but we all love Hagrid. Then again, it may be unimportant, as Harry, Ron, and Hermione may choose not to go into Care of Magical Creatures. Although it seems like maybe Hermione would, as it might be useful in liaison with other non-wizards if that's where she's heading.
I couldn't quite figure out if more prefects are chosen in the sixth year, or new ones, or if it's just the same people who were prefects last year plus the new fifth years. Head Boy and Girl are chosen from the sixth year prefects, or so I remember reading somewher in book five, but at the moment I can't find this anywhere. Can anyone point me to it? The odd thing is that most people seem to have read (I, not having my first or third books around, cannot confirm or deny this at the moment) that James and Lily Potter were Head Boy and Girl in their seventh year, but then Hermione says in the fifth book that Head Boy and Girl are chosen from among the sixth-year prefects, and we know from book five that while Lupin was made a prefect, Sirius and James were not, nor, in my opinion, did they deserve to be. So how did James get to become Head Boy, if this is the case? It seems to me that James must have done something in order to redeem himself in Dumbledore's eyes. Indeed, I think he has to have anyway, and that Harry has to find out about it, because having him left with the image of his father, so highly praised by so many people, as a cruel, petty, arrogant git is just too cruel. So I wouldn't be at all surprised if Harry takes another venture into the past and his father's Hogwarts days, either through the pensieve thoughts of Snape or, more likely, Dumbledore, or some other way, to see a nobler James more worthy of Lily's affections.
In the Quidditch arena, Gryffindor will be needing a new Captain, two Chasers (Angelina and Alicia will be leaving), and two Beaters. Ron will probably stay on as Keeper, and maybe after a summer of practice and his last victorious game to boost his confidence he'll be rather impressive. Harry will of course stay Seeker, and Katie Bell will remain a Chaser. Captain could go to her, because she's the most senior team member. It could go to Ron, because that's always been his dream. Maybe Harry, but that's another place I just don't see Harry going because it would be too cruel to poor overshadowed Ronald. Ginny has said she'll try for Chaser, and I'm sure she'll get it. That leaves one Chaser and the Beaters. These spots could be filled by some of the people who tried out last year for various positions, or by entirely new characters. I can't see Neville getting on a broomstick in front of hundreds of people, and Hermione is rather (with good reason, I think) anti-Quidditch. The Creevy brothers are a possibility--maybe they'll at least try out.
Then there's the question of all the children of Death Eaters. Will they return to Hogwarts, or will their parents keep them out, or will they not be allowed to return. This depends in part on whether the Ministry decides to take Harry, his friends, and the Order at their words about who exactly are Death Eaters. But even if they do, I can't imagine that, if they wanted to stay in school, Dumbledore would allow them to be punished for the sins of their parents. Draco's pretty hopping mad at Harry, unsurprisingly, so if he does come back the enmity between them will certainly reach a newly heightened pitch. But I think Harry might be a bit more careful, too, after seeing how mean his father got to Snape, about making fun of Malfoy. Maybe.
Harry will be spending the first part of the summer at the Dursleys', as usual. They'll probably be about the same as last summer--nasty to Harry without being able to do much about it, and maybe the threats of Mad-Eye and Co. will cause them to lighten up on him even further. Also, as Thiaga cleverly notes, Harry now knows Mrs. Figg is a squib, (not a witch, thanks to rose potter for the correction!) and so he'll probably spend much of his summer on Privet Drive with her if she's still around, which I imagine she will be. It will be a relief, at least, for him to be able to talk to someone who knows about and will admit to the existence of wizards. I bet, in his many conversations with her (which the Dursleys, in earlier days, might have tried to prevent, but I doubt there's too much they'll be able to do to stop him any more), he'll find out some very interesting things...
Also, I think we might be finding out something about Petunia, because it seems there must be more to her than meets the eye. I just don't buy her story that she responded so quickly with a name like Azkaban because she once heard James telling Lily about it. And we never quite found out what exactly Dumbledore meant by "Remember my last." His last what, exactly? The Weasleys will try to get Harry out of there as soon as possible, although here's something I don't understand. Dumbledore says Harry needs to stay there a little each year so that it's someplace he can call home, because as long as he does the protection of his mother's blood is there and Voldemort can't get him. But if he's only there for a little while anyway, what does it matter if he's safe there? He can be protected by the Order elsewhere probably almost as well. Why go through all that trouble just to have it be a safe place for him? The only explanation I can come up with is in case they need it at some point when Voldemort is hot on Harry's trail, or something. And maybe this will come up later. But it doesn't make too much sense to me.
Other random things that may come up in book six:
Will Harry try to venture into the world of the dead to see Sirius? He knows a way of getting there now--the veil in the Department of Mysteries. It would be such a classic mythological journey, and Rowling does draw on a lot of myths in the series. And he certainly has the draw to make the kind of journey no one else has probably ever attempted, both to see Sirius one last time, and to talk to his parents, who he remembers only in painful dreams of their deaths. Harry as the modern Orpheus, or Odysseus, who would try to enter the underworld to bring someone back even when no one has ever returned from the world of the dead. It seems crazy, but I think Harry just might try it.
Also, Rowling has said that Harry will find out why some people become ghosts and some don't, but that he "won't really understand that fully until book seven." So maybe his journey to the underworld will happen in the seventh book, which is how he'll come to understand this.
And with that, I'll stop for the moment. If you have any responses to these predictions, or any predictions of your own you'd like to share, I'd love to hear them. E-mail me at dragonfyre52@hotmail.com And be sure to let me know if it's all right if I use some of your thoughts on my site, and if so include how you'd like me to give you credit if I decide to do so, either what name I should use to thank you or the address of a website you'd like me to link to, or whatever. Thanks, and happy pondering!
Want More?
O.W.L.s: How Our Fifth Years Will Do
Trelawney's First Prophecy: Questions and Implications
Predictions for Book Five: See How I Did Last Time
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* Will we see any more of Wormtail's new silver hand in the next book? In particular, what about the relation between Lupin and the use of a silver bullet to kill a werewolf. And what about Dumbledore's claim that the fact that Harry showed mercy on Wormtail and spared his life will come in handy later on?
* Also, we didn't find out, as I had for some reason thought for sure we were going to in the fifth book, what the Sorting Hat does all year long between sortings. Will we in book six?
* Will the Longbottoms recover? I think this is likely, and it would be so nice for poor Neville. Maybe Alice's gifts of empty Drooble's blowing gum wrappers will play some part in this.
* Will the Mimbulus Mimbletonia, which Neville got as a present and which was also the Gryffindor password, reappear and turn out to have some interesting magical properties? (Thanks to nbrown for this suggestion!) And finally,
* Is the two-way mirror Sirius gave Harry gone for good, or will we see its use in some way later on? Harry broke it, but he may have kept it, and why go through the whole business of having Sirius give it to Harry if he was never to use it? And here comes the biggie:
