Harry Potter Book 5

[Laura]

Some random theories on book 5:

Hagrid's gonna die

Order of the Phoenix is group of wizards led by Dumbledore to fight Voldemort including:Sirius, Snape, Mrs Figg (Harry's neighbour of privet drive - one of the "old crew" of wizards and witches), Lupin and mad-eye moody)

Mrs Arabella Figg will be the new defence against dark arts teacher

Aunt Petunia is a squib

How come Harry's grandparents are all dead? Surely not normal at his age and JK hasn't mentioned them at all...

One (and rather far-fetched I admit) theory is that Mrs Weasley is killed. Reason? Jk said a fan of harry's would die and that it would be really difficult to write the death - JK's mum died when she was young and has said it was the most significant event in her life. (Makes a wee bit of sense when u think about it)

Why didn't voldemort want to kill Lily Potter (he ONLY killed her cause she was protecting harry)Any ideas?

Hagrid and Madame Maxime go on a mission to convert the giants from the mountains to be on Dumbledore's side before Voldemort does. The giants will play a pivotal role in book 5.

Aragog returns.

Harry's parents' profession will be a big part of the plot (what did they do anyway and how come James Potter inherited tons of money)

Something HUGE will be revealed about Lily Potter.

Anyway, should go and revise for my exams.

[Kat]

Cool theories. I like the one about Aunt Petunia being a squib, JK has revealed that someone who is 'later on in life' will reveal magical powers because of a situation they find themselves in so that could be her. Does that mean Lily's parent(s) were secretly magical? Surely she has to have had some magical blood in her veins if she turned into such a powerful witch (remember muggle-born Hermione admits she's a good witch coz she's intelligent but she doesn't have massive power like Harry)

[Guest]

Does anyone know when Prisoner of Azkaban is due out on film coz i heard rumours that it wasnt gonna b out til summer 2004. Please say it isnt true!!

[Rrrr]

It should be this summer, I thought they were doing a LoTResque annual release...?

[Saint Sal]

It is 2004. They started filming this March, and are on schedule for Summer 2004 depending on how post-production goes. No idea why it's then, but I think its because PoA is going to be rather complex. And long. Please God let it be long...oh, and they have to abide by the child labour laws. They managed to get a court order letting the children work consecutively for the firs two films, but they are legally obliged to let them have a break for a while

[hr]We are indeed drifting into the arena of the unwell

[cheimon]

also cool theories, but I have to disagree with some:

I don't think Hagrid's going to die; Robbie Coltrane said in an interview that JK Rowling told him some stuff about Hagrid's character in later books so he'd be able to play the role better, and that wouldn't make much sense if his character dies in book 5.

Re Lily Potter. I've always believed that James Potter (and Harry, obviously) are descendents of Godric Gryffindor, same as Voldemort is descended from Slytherin. So Lily wouldn't be the same blood and thus it wouldn't matter if she died. I've always been a bit wary of the whole 'harry lived b/c his mother died for him' because surely that's happened before? it's not entirely unique for a mother to die defending her child. So I think there's something more about the Potters. . .

Also curious about the grandparents and Lily and James' professions. Interesting theory that Petunia is a squib, maybe she just won't let Harry see them b/c she doesn't approve? But Dumbledore said they were his only living relatives, so I don't know.

lol for Arabella Figg being the new dark arts teacher. Is this the same Mrs. Figg of the cats with whom Harry spends Dudley's birthdays? if so, that'd be a little peculiar

Other things I've heard about the book:

JK says: "In book 5, we go into a whole new area, physically, an area you've never seen before, a magical world" Now where is that? I mean, there's got to be more purely magical places, not just Hogwarts or Diagon Alley, but I don't think there have been any hints in this direction.

she also says: "In book five [Harry] has to examine exactly what death means, in even closer ways." Now that sounds a little ominous. The opening lines the publishers have released sound very innocent, but could be bad. I mean, the boy could be lying there b/c he's dead (and if it's Dudley, I'm all for it)

God, how are we supposed to wait until June???

[Greebo]

I'm thinking it's Snape that's for the off.
Not only that - I'm thinking he'll die SAVING Harry Potter (from mr Voldermort?)...maybe Ron and Hermione too but they're optional.

[Kat]

Glad im not the only one who thinks the opening lines are more sinister than they sound. We are just meant to presume the boy is Harry (and what exactly is he doing lying on his back - sunbathing or something?! Highly unlikely since the Dursleys wont let him out of the house). Then again she does always start with the boring bits setting the scene and reiterating wee bits of info for new readers. (The whole "but Harry was no ordinary boy" thing at the beginning of each book is getting a bit irritating - i mean who hasnt read the other books by now). Yeah Arabella Figg is the neighbour with the cats. Presumably she's been living there to protect Harry.

Another fact: JK said Harry would be visiting somewhere he had heard about before but never previously visited (Azkaban, Beuxbatons, Durmstrang?)

On the subject of a new magical world has anyone read Philip Pullman's dark materials trilogy (yeah ok i love kids books)? I thought it might be along similar lines to the magical worlds in those books, i.e. in another dimension and that he might visit it in the end of the book when he does the usual battle with voldemort.

Speaking of voldemort, could we have some more variation with the baddies. Surely she cant keep the same formula in all the books. She'll have to start building up to the climax in book 7.
I reckon we may discover an even badder power who is behind voldemort. (please dont let it be Dumbledore, i have heard nasty rumours citing Dumbledore's 'glint of triumph' in his eyes when he heard voldemort had risen again as a sign he is actually evil)

[Guest]

Hmmmmm... snape... very interesting. I hadnt thought of that. I have heard a rumour or two that snape was always a spy for Dumbledore against voldemort so it could make sense. I'd miss Alan Rickman tho in the films.

[Gemma]

Anyone know who's going to play cedric diggory in POA? I had heard it could be going to jack ryder though i hope not... he's just not . .urgh ... NO! yuk... surely it can't be true!IMO he would ruin it.

[Amanda]

he would totally ruin it, i hope they don't cast some so called 'heart throb' person who is pretty non good looking anyway. they'd be better off casting someone more unknown, then there wouldn't be any preconceptions about characters.
nothing wrong with reading pullman's dark materials trilogy! that'd be a funky twist, the different worlds though. the 'triumphant glint' in dumbledores eye could be a sign, but hopefully it's just to put us off the scent. maybe sirius is really just doing a very good cover job and is really the baddie? i don't know if we can really read anything into the first lines though, jk usually just makes the first baby bit a tad mundane just to introduce. not that harry needs much introducing by now!

[cheimon]

Snape's a good idea, but why would that death scene be difficult for JK to write? It'd be almost jolly if you ask me, although the prospect of no Alan Rickman in the films would indeed be a tragedy.

His Dark Materials trilogy is excellent, but it'd be a little sudden if Harry's just whipped off to some alternate universe without any preparation for us readers, you know? I bet it's someplace like Azkaban or one of the other schools, although I really hope it isn't Azkaban. Lots of scenes of Harry's parents getting killed could be quite depressing. Although it is supposed to be even 'darker' than Goblet of Fire.

Interestingly, since every book seems to be getting progressively more dark, what will the quality of seventh book be? Everyone dies, even Harry, but Voldemort is overcome? Something tells me there are going to be a lot of depressed children around the world :-/

And now, back to revising. Considering that I have an exam in 2 and a half hours. . .

[rae]

My guess is that Dumbledore is going to get knocked off. That leaves room for total chaos in Book 6 and resolution in book 7. He CANNOT be evil. I refuse to believe that.

What are these opening lines and how does one find them???

And yes, Pullmann is excellent--has anyone read his other stuff? I just read an earlier book of his--something about a tiger in the well, I think--that was quite good but very different from the trilogy. I have to say, though, that I wouldn't call those children's books. I was terrified when I read them, and the framework is quite complex. I would say sort of 14+ but not for kiddies. Thoughts?

[Little she-bear]

[s]rae wrote on 12:29, 21st Jan 2003:
My guess is that Dumbledore is going to get knocked off.

I think he will die, but then pull a Gandalf on us. JK is really playing up on the pheonix imagery.

And yes, Pullmann...I would say sort of 14+ but not for kiddies. Thoughts?

I haven't read any of Pullman's other books but His Dark Materials was fantastic. I think you can read it on many levels, I think a young teenager can simply read them as fantasy adventure but adults will pick up on themes and references that they wouldn't get. I think it's great because these are books that will stay with people all their lives, they can be re-read as the kiddies get older and new layers will be discovered, a little like LOTR, it will span generations, well, I hope so anyway!

It always slays me that Harry Potter has caused all this controversy among certain members of certain religious communities, when HDM is so, so much more subversive. Anyone agree?

[Rrrr]

I'm reading Count Karlstein, which is one of Pullman's firsts, based on a school play he wrote when he was teaching. It's pretty good actually. Not as surreal, and quite cute. I'd strongly recommend.

[Amanda]

i agree with rae - dumbledore just can't be evil, jk couldn't have hidden that for 4 books, and there's no way that he would have a)been allowed to run a school, b)stayed there for ages or c)be put in charge of harry. also, if he was in some way connected to voldemort surely he'd have the dark mark?
maybe dumbledore will die, but they'd have to bring him back with the whole phoenix idea. i don't think the last few books would survive without dumbledore.
what about hermione dying? then harry/ron confessing their true feelings...

[rae]

Nope, it can't be one of the three who dies. I wrote a paper on this a while ago. Rowling is firmly based in tradition and the tradition of the triad is not going to be ruined here. Ron, Hermione, and harry are really three parts - in order, heart, head, and gut. If one of them were killed off, the balance would be lost rendering the remaining two pretty ineffective.

There's no real point to killing Hagrid off and we need to resolve the whole Snape-Harry tension before he could get killed off. A student has already gone and no one would care if one of Harry's family died. A Weasley was already under threat (CoS) so we can't go there again. Prof. McGonagall wouldn't make much sense and Sirius Black just doesn't seem likely. So it has to be Dumbledore.

[lolah]

no i think that dumbledore had a glint of triumph cos voldemort made a mistake in the spell at the end of goblet of fire...something thats gonna be his downfall or a part of it

[cheimon]

but if we lose Dumbledore, Harry won't have mentoring father-figure type, always a necessity in these sort of things. Unless, as someone said (lol, by the way) that he'll pull a Gandalf.

On the semi-unrelated note of Philip Pullman: I've been a huge fan of his since I was a child and I read his Sally Lockhart trilogy, which begins with A Ruby in the Smoke and ends with Tiger in the Well. There's also a companion book called the Tin Princess, which isn't as good but still cool. Rae, I'd advise you to read the first 2 of that trilogy, b/c Tiger in the Well becomes so much better when you do.

I also find it interesting that religious conservatives find HP more objectionable than His Dark Materials, which has quite a lot of religious speculation in interesting directions. So, I asked a born-again Christian friend of mine, who although not of the Mrs. Ross/crazy evangelizing type, does believe the Harry Potter books are wrong, and her little brothers aren't allowed to read them. She said that it's b/c HP is set in the real world that religious people find it evil, because it supposedly makes witchcraft real in our world, unlike fairy tales or most fantasy, which is set in a different, made-up world. Of course, in HDM, our world plays a role as well. So I would have to theorize that this may be the reason, but the only reason there's so much vocal anti-HP people is because they're so much more popular than HDM ever were.

Although if you ask me, they ought to just be happy their kids are reading anything at all.

[rae]

Hmmm, good point about the father figure. But, he would be what, 15 by now so he's not quite as vulnerable as when he was 11 and he has Sirius. And without Dumbledore he would have to turn to Snape for protection, thus balancing that old score where his father saved Snape's life AND resolving the tension between the two in one blow!

I will definitely get on those other Pullman books. Did anyone else find though that the beginning of the Golden Compass (the first 50 pages) were really bad and didn't seem to fit with the rest of the book? I remember forcing myself through them and I still warn people when I recommend the book that it gets off to a strange start.