“The final chapter is hidden away, although it has now changed very slightly. One character got a reprieve, but I have to say two die that I didn’t intend to die.” — J.K. Rowling
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Desperate for clues about the imminent showdown between good and evil in the Wizarding World, Harry Potter fans started to buzz when author Rowling dropped this hint about her still-untitled Book 7, which ends the series.
Here, edited for brevity, are some Tempo readers’ theories about what Rowling meant. For more Potter Dead Pool speculation, check out the tally Tribune entertainment reporter Mark Caro is keeping on his blog, Pop Machine (chicagotribune.com/popmachine).
It’s become obvious to me, a spouse conscripted into this Hogwartian nightmare, that the two characters that most deserve the “bolt in the head” are Draco and Snape.
— Dave James, South Chicago (many blissful miles from Hogwarts)
I think that in Harry Potter 7, Voldemort and Harry will be the ones who are killed.
Here is my logic: According to Dumbledore, Voldemort “dumped some of his soul in to Harry” the night he gave him his scar. I think that this might mean that Harry himself is one of Voldemort’s Horcruxes. Then, in order for Voldemort to be successfully killed, Harry would have to die first. After that happens, someone else kills Voldemort.
— Emily Kleeman, Chicago
I think that there will be two dead at the end of the Harry Potter books. Dobby turns out to be a Horcrux, and because of this, Harry must kill him to kill Voldemort.
Then Harry learns that the remains of his parents are the last two Horcruxes; but he can not bring himself to destroy them. Then Voldemort kills Harry.
Harry will die and not Voldemort because of two reasons. One, if Harry dies, there will be no more books, or possible books; and two, I think that J.K Rowling is too good a writer to wrap up the whole Harry Potter book series in such a predictable way.
— Max Zuckert, Evanston
There have been so many parallels between Ginny Weasley and Lily Potter that I have a feeling that Ginny will sacrifice herself for Harry the same way Lily did — to protect him. And for the second death, let it be Snape as karma for his actions in Book 6!
— Jenny McCarthy, Orland Park
I think the obvious characters to die are going to be Harry himself and Hermione. Also, you’d have to believe that either Snape or Draco will be offed as well, since the bad side has to sustain a loss, or else there’s no justice!
— Dave Worniak, Chicago
If she [Rowling] can kill off Dumbledore and Sirius, Harry’s two most beloved and respected friends, then anyone is fair game.
— Deanna Miller, Mobile, Ala.
If you remember from the fifth book, in the end, Harry has to kill Voldemort
— or the opposite. So I think it will be Harry or Voldemort, but hopefully just Voldemort will die.
— Arielle Van Deraa, Highland Park
Since I finished reading the sixth book, I have suspected that Harry and Voldemort will die. Based on the prophecy revealed towards the end of the fifth book (“One can not survive while the other lives”), it is clear that Voldemort, despite having a physical form, is not really alive, which is why Harry can still exist.
However, if Harry did die, then based on the prophecy, that would mean Voldemort would gain true life, including the ability to die. So my theory is that in the final confrontation, either Harry, Draco, or Ron will realize this, and Harry will take his own life; or Draco will kill him and everyone else will turn on him, not realizing he was doing the right thing for a change; or Ron, in a heartbreaking moment, will be forced to kill his own best friend.
Then someone, probably Draco or Ron, or perhaps Neville, will attack and kill Voldemort before he even realizes what has happened.
However, with J.K. Rowling’s talk of “a reprieve,” I find it quite possible that with Voldemort dead, Harry would come back to life. This way, two characters die, and one is given a reprieve.
— Neal Heatherly, Palatine
My theory is that the character who has been saved is Percy. I imagine that the two characters who are now going to die are twins Fred and George Weasley, who ironically perish while heroically saving the life of their brother whom they have spent so many hours teasing, ridiculing and even despising.
— Julie Meyer, Huntley
I almost hate to write this, but I predict Harry will take his own life in the end, once he realizes that he, himself, is the last Horcrux. The purpose of Dumbledore’s sacrifice in Book 6 was primarily to show Harry what is at stake and give him the courage to do what he must. Ron and Hermione survive, but Ginny dies (after all, she will need to go wherever Harry goes in the end). I hope that I am wrong.
— Jeff Schroeder, Oak Park
Professor Lupin will turn traitor and pay the ultimate price. With Dumbledore’s death, Lupin will grow convinced there is no defeating Voldemort — so he will betray Harry in exchange for being cured [of being a werewolf]. His betrayal will lead to his death.
Neville, it will turn out, knows some great secret, hidden within him by a memory charm. This knowledge will be key to finding the remaining horcruxes. He was going to die, but is the character saved.
The other character to die is Dumbledore, who is not really dead at the end of “Half Blood Prince,” but who will die again in earnest in Book 7.
— Douglas Cogan, Brookfield
The people that I believe will die in the newest of the Harry Potter books by the marvelous J.K. Rowling have got to be none other than Professor Snape and our dearly beloved Harry Potter himself. In the end,Harry will have to destroy himself in order to kill Voldemort.
— Claire Kinder, Lake Geneva
