Voldemort.

well, heres my silly prediction, for what its worth...

i believe that the answer lies in trelawneys prophecy from ootp...

'the one with the power to vanquish the dark lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the dark lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the dark lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... '

my interpretation of this one is that the only one with the power to kill voldemort is harry himself.

my belief is that when voldemort was reborn in gof, he, unbeknownst to himself, made harry something similar to the final horcrux... if you recall, at the end of the book dumbledore asks harry if voldemort took any of his blood during the ceremony of his rebirth. when harry says yes, jk writes that dumbledore got a triumphant expression on his face, and then became serious again. i believe that at this point, dumbledore knows that harry and voldemort are now mortally entwined.

i don't think that it was an accident that harry was there when dumbledore sacrificed himself at the wand of snape... i think that was intended by dumbledore to show harry what he needed to do also when the time was right...

my prediction is that harry and voldemort will meet in book seven, at which point harry will finally understand the prophecy and all that he has learned. he will allow voldemort to destroy him, as according to the prophecy only voldemort CAN destroy him, and as soon as harry has been killed, voldemort will also be destroyed, as he can't survive without harry... fufulling the prophecy that harry 'has a power the dark lord knows not'.

crazy, i'm sure, but hey.

"... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives..."

I don't read that the same has you Sigh. I think the prophecy means that either Voldemort kills Harry and survives, or Harry kills Voldemort and survives. I don't read it that Harry can be saved by being kills by Valdemort. I still hold out hope that the death of Dumbledorn was just a ruse and that Snap is still a good guy -- maybe I'm crazy.

No, no. Harry will live. Otherwise there will be a generation of children in therapy for the next ten years. If it is true that someone else dies, I don't think it will be Ron or Hermione -- too much loose ends to tie up in them. It will be a "red shirt" -- maybe Luna, one of the twins or an adult member of the Order of the Phoenix.

I don't think Harry can take advantage of a Horcux spell. In the Harry Potter universe, this is the ultimate evil spell. No, no. Horcrux is a forbidden fruit and, if it saved Harry, it would make him evil. Its like the "one ring".

Voldemort.

maybe Luna.

I'm thinking Neville?

no, i'm pretty sure snape killed dumbledore. but that doesn't mean snape is playing on voldemorts side now, though... recall when dumbledore sent him away from hogwarts, he said that he knew that he was asking snape to do something difficult... then, when they meet before snape does the 'avada kedavra' on him, dumbledore is almost PLEADING with him to 'do what is right'?? if you look at it another way, to me it seems like dumbledore has this all planned out. he has snape kill him, so that snape can become voldemorts right hand man.. its the only way that snape can get close enough to voldemort to do what he has to do in book 7, i believe.

snape is still on dumbledores side, don't ever doubt that. but dumbledore is dead. although, by what happened at his funeral, i'm not sure if he will stay dead... recall how something left the casket he was in, and recall how close he was to fawkes, the phoenix...

And of course there is Ginny. A classic part of literature is to steal the hero of those who love him.

Maybe Harry's only living relatives will die? Not that Harry would necessarily mourn the los of the DUrsleys but it might be a way to break the protection spell (if it survived Dumbledore's death that is).

OR Draco. What will become of Draco? VOldemort will be less than impressed that he didn't end up killing Dumbledore. But can Draco still be redeemed, even with the wonderful influence of his parentage?

Oh. My. God. I have to go and re-read book 6 now.

GINNY. Eureka. I think you are on to something. I would wager that she is the one who dies. That makes perfect sense.

Yup. I'm placing my bets on Ginny, too. Don't heroes go it alone? Ron and Hermione pair off, Neville and Luna.....and Harry goes alone, into the sunset.....forever the tragic hero. I'm crying already.

I tell you though, , if it's Harry she kills off, I'll be beating back those kids to get to the therapist's couch!

Well, she's as much as promised someone will die AND that book seven so closes the story that there can be no more.

- I think Snape turns out to be good. that "no unforgivable curses for you Potter" seems to be important
- I think Luna is more important than people recognize ... How I do not know.
- Voldemort having taken Harry's blood will turn out to be important and a mistake for Voldemort
- Trelawney's prediction that Voldemort will be "greater than ever" will turn out to be important

i think that the bartender at hogs head bar in hogsmeade is actually albus dumbledores brother.

i'm not sure how that is going to come into play, though... perhaps because they both look alike.... ah, the mind simply reels.

Hmmmm no possible sequel. What if, in order to defeat Voldemort Harry has to end magic? Could his ability to do so be the power that Voldemort is unaware? The end of the magic world would certainly dampen the possibility of sequels.

Harry wakes from a wonderful (and scary) dream in a cupboard under the Dursley's stairs to continue the drudgery of a very unmagical life as the Dursley's neglected nephew.

Wow, what a horrible ending that would be. I can't believe I even allowed myself to think it.

V. is definitely finished, not sure about Harry.

Snape, at the climax of the story, will be redeemed. Dumbledore ordered Snape to kill him.

Hmmm... .What if Snape dies saving Harry?

nah, i'm gonna stick with harry.

jkr has been pretty consistent that there won't be any need for hp books after 'deathly hallows'... i'm guessing its because harry himself gets got.

but he will sacrifice himself for the good of mankind.

come on, anakin snuffs it in 'return of the jedi', and we all cried, but i don't think anybody wound up in therapy??

now JAR JAR BINKS.... THAT put some people in therapy....

Ginny can't die.
She's a / Weasley/ . You can't kill off Weasleys.
That's like....the OC. they went and killed Marissa but needed a replacement so they can only either replace Ginny with Cho or put Ginny in terrible danger.

We have to remember that Dumbley can make mistakes too, like when he didn't tell Harry about the Prophecy untill it was too late. It could have been that stuff he drank looking for the Horcrux,
wich is actually in the Room of Requirement.
That Locket? Who's was it, Rowinda Ravenclaws, i think?

So while it does make a lot more sense that Dumbley planned everything for Harry, it could also just be another mistake that he made. Isn't he like 160-ish?

Not sure why, but I think it will be Hermione. Or Ginny -- Ginny would make sense, actually.

I, too, think Dumbledor told Snape to kill him if the time comes. Remember ... the soul of the person then resides inside the wand of the the person that killed him. I believe Snape will be redeemed.

I think one of the Weasleys will die ... likely Percy, just after having an epiphany about his horrid life. Or Mrs. Weasley. Not Ron.

I also believe Harry will save Draco. Hagrid will do something important at the end, too.

The locket is in Black's house with the house elf of course, hidden near the furnace! Not Ginny, no, that would be too cliche. Ron and Hermione? Gasp, the mind reels. Harry? Again, a rather cliche idea. I mean, even Frodo made it back from Mount Doom although he did choose to sail off with elves because he couldn't handle his war wounds, and I could see Harry's survival in a similar vein. Maybe Snape or Malfoy will make a heroic jump and intercept Voldimort's killing spell, which would send Harry into such a tizzy of recrimination of guilt for the way he had so badly misjudged Snape/Malfoy? Remember, the Hat's request for unity of ALL houses??? Maybe only when Malfoy and Harry work together can they kill Voldimort. Or, gasp, Hagrid? That would definately not be cliched or very predictable, still would hurt. Too many possibilities to anguish about.

Oh, and my thought is that Dumbledore is indeed dead, but that something will come by owlmail to Harry, along the lines of "Harry, if you are reading this, then I am dead and I need to make sure you know..." Maybe a portrait like the ones of the headmasters in Dumbledore's office. Or Snape used a silent unspoken spell just as he spoke aloud which somehow transported Dumbledore forward in time and the funeral was over his body after he sacrifices himself in Book 7, similar to BuckBeak's execution foiled by Hermione's timeturner.

Hmmm interesting thought about the unity of the houses. We would have Harry and Draco for Griffindor and Slithern. Luna seems set up well to be the Ravenclaw (she's Ravenclaw right?) hero. Who could be the Hufflepuff (sp?) student?

The protraits -- maybe a protrait of Dumbledorn will appear on the wall. Couldn't Dumbledorn's portrait tell Harry what ever it is?

hands down Voldermort. Good must vanquish evil. The obi-wan kenobi teacher figure has died so the young student can fulfill his destiny and restore balance to the universe.

"Who could be the Hufflepuff (sp?) student?"
The Hufflepuff hero was Cedric Diggory, I beleive. That's the only character I can think of.

LOL what great relations. Lord of the Rings? Star Wars? Has Harry Potter really acheived that status?

Lord of the Rings -- three movies -- fair to good actors. Star Wars -- six movies -- second rate actors. Harry Potter -- seven movies -- good to top tier actors . Harry is bigger than anything out there!!!!

The idea of a Hufflepuff hero was, as someone suggested, there will be a member of each house who has to join together to defeat Voldemort. Cedric died in the end of Goblet of Fire. Any other Huffers out there, who could help Harry, Draco and Luna defeat Voldemort. Another girl would balance it out and keep it nice and PC.

A representative from each house does have logic to it. But what about the rest of the Wizarding world? Will we see representatives from the other schools come to help?

Remember Dumbledore's speech at the end of GOF before the visiting students returned home....

Hmmmm... Will Draco betray his father?

hello fellow harry obsessors..

according to "mugglenet.com's what will happen in Harry Potter 7" these are the stats:
"Neville Longbottom---10/1
Ginny---8/1
Harry---4/1
Arthur and molly wealsly---even"---explination"Arthur and Molly are Harry's parental figures now, and we know what happens to those. It seems very likely that Voldemort will target them and kill them. We'll be very sad to see them go, but that's the way the dark lord works.
Draco malfoy---1/2
voldemort---1/100"

i like this book, it has very good theories and very good points to back up those theories..

sighsnootles: do you listen to muggle cast?

as for a personal view i think that harry wont die, at least i really hope he doesn't. jkr said that she gave one charactor a repreve from death and killed off two others instead...i think the one who got the repreve was snape, and molly and arthur probably die. *sniff* as for harry being a horcrux..well i think its true, if so..does that mean that there will be a small peice of voldemort left in harry, even after he kills him...and does that mean harry must sacrafice himself in order to rid the world of voldemort entirely...

in the end i think that many people will die, some significant some not so significant..as for who? voldemort

happy_child

I believe Snape will die killing Voltemort.
It's a given that Voltemort has to die anyway.

Oh sorry "he who must not be names".

I just want to say sighsnootles, your original prediction is genius! There was a lot of indepth thought in that one. It took me a minute to figure it out but it works extremely well with the plot line! Coodos!

I think it will be Harry, unfortunately.

I'm more pragmatic than sigh about it, though I admire her analysis. I think it has to be him to give a sense of finality to the whole thing, and also to distinguish this series from most similar good-vs-evil books where the good guy lives and the bad guy dies.