Part III

The next question has bothered readers since it surfaced after the release of GoF. The answer seems likely to be highly important—it’s probably the key to defeating Voldemort after the destruction of the Horcruxes. Harry speaking to Dumbledore and Sirius, telling them what happened in the graveyard during Voldemort’s return:

“’He said my blood would make him stronger than if he’d used someone else’s. He said the protection my mother left in me—he’d have it too. And he was right, he could touch me without hurting himself, he touched my face.’ For a fleeting instant, Harry thought he saw a gleam of something like triumph in Dumbledore’s eyes.” (Gof, Ch. 36, pg. 696).

Why this gleam of triumph? The most likely answer is that Voldemort now carries blood that is infused with the thing he hates most in the world—love. This may potentially be weakening him, though he remains unaware and sustained because of the Horcruxes. Once those are destroyed, however, I think he could well find himself inexplicably and dangerously sapped of strength by the conflict between the good in Harry’s blood and his own wholly evil nature. There’s also the thought that the force of good in Harry’s blood will make Voldemort unable to split his soul further, something he would surely attempt to do if and when he discovers that his Horcruxes are destroyed.


This next question comes directly from Rowling—it was her response to the question “What is a question that you haven’t been asked, that you should have been?”
Her response: “Why did Dumbledore have James’ invisibility cloak at the time of the James’ death, given that he (Dumbledore) can make himself invisible without the use of a cloak?”

She went on to say, “there is a significant, even crucial answer.”

I’m not too sure about what that answer is. I don’t think James gave it to Dumbledore after discovering that Voldemort had discovered the Potter’s hiding place: he would have wanted to stay and defend Lilly and Harry. That means that Dumbledore must have had the cloak before the Potters were betrayed. There are a few possible explanations for this.
Perhaps another member of the Order borrowed the cloak, and returned it to Dumbledore after the Potters were killed? This kind of borrowing seems to happen quite regularly in OotP, but I don’t think it’s the right explanation for the question at had; Dumbledore tells Harry rather explicitly that James “left it in my (Dumbledore’s) possession.” (SS, Ch. 17, pg. 299).

That seems to imply that James actively sought to give Dumbledore the cloak. My only thought is that he may have hidden Gryffindor’s sword in the cloak, and then sent both to Dumbledore (by way of Aunt Petunia?), which would have prevented Voldemort from obtaining it. Even if James hadn’t known about Horcruxes, he may have known that Voldemort was after founder’s items, and in hiding the sword in the cloak and giving it to Dumbledore, he was doubly ensuring that Voldemort would be foiled. That is another bit of wild speculation, however. There’s nothing to even say that the Potter’s had the sword. But if they had, they would have wanted to keep Voldemort from it simply on principle, if nothing else.

Another plausible train of thought is that someone was hidden under the cloak at Godric’s Hollow in the in the moments preceding the Potters’ murder. This would serve to tie up another couple of loose ends, including the question “how did Voldemort get his wand back?”.

Next, two questions about Lily Potter.
First, Rowling tells us that Harry “has his mother’s eyes, and that’s very important in a future book.” I don’t think this has been answered fully yet. Harry does get Professor Slughorn’s real memory of Riddle asking about Horcruxes in part because of this: “‘You’re a good boy’, said Professor Slughorn, tears trickling down his fat cheeks into his walrus mustache. ‘And you’ve got her eyes…just don’t think too badly of me once you’ve seen it…” (HBP, Ch. 22, pg. 491). There’s a chance this is all Rowling meant by her quote, but I sort of doubt it. The acquisition of the memory is unquestionably important, but I think we can contribute it as much to Felix Felicis as Harry having his mother’s eyes. There’s some thought that Lily was an accomplished Legilimens (which requires eye-contact), and that Harry, in inheriting her eyes, will have inherited this ability, but there’s no hard evidence for this. It’s an interesting possibility, however. Legilimency would surely help him in his Horcrux hunt.

Second, why on earth didn’t Voldemort want to kill Lily? It’s totally inconsistent with his character, and yet the fact has been emphasized several times throughout the series:

“I killed your father first, and he put up a courageous fight…but your mother needn’t have died…she was trying to protect you...” (SS, Ch. 17, pg. 294).

Next, from PoA, Harry’s memory of his parents death, which the Dementors cause him to relive:

“Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!”

“Stand aside, you silly girl, stand aside now…”
(PoA Ch. 9, pg. 134).

I have no explanation for this. Voldemort is pure evil, there’s nothing in the text to indicate he would do anything except kill Lily to get her out of the way. But he doesn’t, and that doesn’t make sense. The best and only real theory I’ve read is that Snape had feelings for Lily and asked Voldemort not to kill her, but this seems like it would almost certainly compromise Snape’s cover, and I doubt Voldemort would heed such a request in any event.

Next, I think that Peter Pettigrew is going to be very important—Dumbledore speaking:
“‘Pettigrew owes his life to you. You have sent Voldemort a deputy who is in your debt. When one wizard saves another wizard’s life, it creates a certain bond between them…and I’m very much mistaken if Voldemort wants his servant in the debt of Harry Potter…the time may come when you will be very glad you saved Pettigrew’s life.’” (PoA, Ch. 22, pg. 311).

There’s only one book left in which Pettigrew can repay this debt: he must do so in book 7. I think one way in which he may do so is in saving Harry or one of his friends from the werewolf Fenrir Greyback. You kill werewolves with silver, and Pettigrew has a silver hand.

A different thought I’ve had is the striking similarity between Dumbledore’s comments here and something Gandalf tells Frodo Baggins when they’re discussing Gollum. Frodo says he wishes Bilbo had killed him when he had the chance, and Gandalf replies:

“My heart tells me that he has some part to play yet, for good or ill, before the end; and
when that comes, the pity of Bilbo may rule the fate of many - yours not least.”

There’s a certain likeness between Pettigrew and Gollum: both are somewhat wretched, friendless, and bound to masters they have no real wish to be tied to. And I think there is a chance that Pettigrew, like Gollum, will dictate a surprising end to that master. It’s something to consider, at any rate.

That’s the last important question we can raise with any sort of solid text behind it. These next few are answerable only on a purely speculative basis, but they’re worth trying.

First, will Hogwarts reopen? I think so. I don’t see McGonagall, any of the other staff, being the types to willingly become victims of an atmosphere of fear. It’s an act of defiance to keep the school open, and they’ll do just that. Besides, Dumbledore would have wanted to keep the school open, and that will be a powerful motivating factor.

Even if they do reopen, we know that Harry, Ron and Hermione have no intention of attending. I do however think that they will revisit the school—as the greatest single depository of magical knowledge in Britain, and as a place where members of the Order are concentrated, it’s an ideal headquarters for the trio to use in between Horcrux finding missions.




Second, who’s going to end up with whom? Rowling answered this question once and for all in interview:

I will say, that yes, I personally feel - well it's going to be clear once people have read book six. I mean….it’s done, isn’t it? We know. Yes, we do now know that it's Ron and Hermione.

Third, who’s going to die? We know from Rowling that at least two characters will, and that one character she had originally intended to kill “got a reprieve.” The only sure thing here is Voldemort: I don’t think Rowling would leave the us, and the wizarding world in the state of suspense and fear that would remain with Voldemort alive at the end of the series, nor do I think Voldemort’s going to win. After that, your guess is as good as mine. Personally, I don’t see Harry, Ron, or Hermione being killed. Most of the Harry-will-die thinkers tend to prescribe to some kind of Harry is a Horcrux theory, which I just disagree with. If Snape is good, and I think he is, he might die a redemptive death saving someone from the Order. I also worry about the Weasleys: Mrs. Weasley’s boggart in OotP seemed like a worrying bit of foreshadowing to me.

Finally, what do the covers of the American and British versions depict, respectively? I think that the British version is clearly Gringotts: all that treasure is a pretty glaring clue. Also, Harry’s arm looks rather burned—remember Hagrid telling him that dragons were rumored to be guarding some of the higher security vaults? As for the American edition—this definitely seems to be the final battle. It looks to me as if it’s taking place behind the veil Sirius falls through in the Department of Mysteries. The most obvious pointer to this is the curtain/veil around the edges of the picture, and that certainly looks to be an amphitheatre they’re battling in; the veil is in an amphitheatre. Those shadowy figures would then be the whisperers Harry and Luna hear in OotP (is Sirius among them?), and that wreckage is the crumbled remains of the archway.