How Harry Potter Will End – The Deathly Hallows
I think I know how Harry Potter will end. I’m almost 100% certain that I’ve figured it out, based on the title of Book 7.
As I said before, I think the “Deathly Hallows” is the name for the magic by which Harry became protected from Lord Voldemort when Lily died for him out of love. Lily’s performed a “deathly hallowing” of Harry, making him immune to Voldemort’s powers. In Book 7, Harry will learn this magic, and devise a way to use it so that he, Harry, is killed by Voldemort. The key: Harry’s deathly hallow will be on behalf of the entire world, rendering the entire world immune to Voldemort’s power.
The beauty of this is that, in Book 4, when Voldemort used Harry’s blood to reincarnate himself, he undid the protection provided to Harry by Lily’s original Deathly Hallow. Voldemort can now kill Harry, allowing Harry the chance to die on behalf of everyone, leaving Voldemort helpless. This is why Dumbledore smiled upon hearing that Voldemort used Harry’s blood: Dumbledore understood that Voldemort, in his wanton determination to destroy Harry (mostly out of vanity), had opened the door for Harry to defeat him with the one weapon he could not wield: Love.
So that’s it. That’s how it’s going to end. It’s the prognostication to end all prognostications (we’ll still podcast, of course).
December 23rd, 2006 at 7:15 pm
Stunning. It’s too christological for me to fully enjoy, but it’s a great guess.
Questions:
1) Why would Dumbledore smile if the solution means Harry’s death? I understand that Harry’s death is worth it if the world is saved, but that’s not a happy thought. Could it be that it’s possible to protect through love WITHOUT dying?
2) How do you understand the language of the prophecy that neither can live while the other survives? Are you saying that Voldemort would live but be utterly impotent? Obviously there is a way that Harry could live with Voldemort not surviving…
3) I understand that you see Book One as a stand alone, but there’s a problem if it’s not. In SS (PS), Dumbledore tells Harry that Snipe hates James Potter because James saved Snape’s life. (The hatred created by debt.) But we learn in OP from Snape Pensieve that Snape has far better reasons to hate James. Do you see that as a contradiction, or can these two passages be reconciled?
December 23rd, 2006 at 8:02 pm
Raffy, I think your third question is crucial to the upcoming plot of book 7. I think there are far too many questions left at the end of Book One for it to be “stand alone,” though if any book is close, it’s that one.
To the exact topic at hand, I do have to wonder – if it is possible to use “Deathly Hallow” magic to die at Voldemort’s hand for the entire world, why would Dumbledore have not taken this upon himself? Why would he be happy that Harry is the one? Dumbledore surely would know the magic (as evidenced by his use of it to protect Harry whilst he was at the Dursleys). And Dumbledore put no stock in the prophecy, so he certainly wouldn’t have believed that only Harry could defeat Voldemort. Could you flesh this theory out a bit more?
December 24th, 2006 at 12:39 am
OOPS… my first time posting I put this in the wrong spot before, sorry about that.
Okay… I went a little deeper into dictionary.com and checked the encyclopedia part. Hallow as a noun means saint, or so it would seem. I don’t have any idea how that might be relevant. but I thought you’d like to know.
Also, I think you may have hit the nail on the head with your theory of the title referring to the effect of Lily’s sacrifice. although I think that would be better described as a deathly hallowing. But, I can’t see Harry using it in quite the way you described. It seems a bit grandiose and impractical. Besides which, Lily’s sacrifice was a sacrifice because she had a choice. Voldemort is gonna do his best to kill Harry whether Harry wants him to or not. I don’t think that particular spell can work under those circumstances. I think maybe it will work almost like tricking someone into swallowing a grenade. At the end of SS, Dumbledore says that the lingering protection Lily provided to Harry is love. Then at the end of GoF, Voldemort says that this protection now resides in him. So, somehow Harry activates, for lack of a better word, that love now residing in the artist formerly known as Tom Riddle, which puts him in a state weakened enough that he can’t react to whatever spell Harry throws at him fast enough to make that Priori Incantatem thing happen again.
Speaking of Priori Incantatem, if it happens a second time, does the wand regurgitate the same spells it did the last time after the ones it has done since or does it skip them and pick up where it left off?
By the way, I’m a brand new ITunes subscriber and I do love your podcast. Thanks a bunch!
December 24th, 2006 at 2:16 pm
I found another important piece of the HP puzzle. The stoppered death theory is one major piece. And this article about Snape is another: http://www.horcruxcity.com/?p=9
December 24th, 2006 at 10:14 pm
[...] I mentioned in the PubCast the thoughts of Harry Potter Prognostications, and more thoughts have been posted: I think the “Deathly Hallows” is the name for the magic by which Harry became protected from Lord Voldemort when Lily died for him out of love. Lily’s performed a “deathly hallowing” of Harry, making him immune to Voldemort’s powers. In Book 7, Harry will learn this magic, and devise a way to use it so that he, Harry, is killed by Voldemort. The key: Harry’s deathly hallow will be on behalf of the entire world, rendering the entire world immune to Voldemort’s power. [...]
December 25th, 2006 at 4:11 am
I also think you may have hit upon something in the title. I’m not sure however if the act of placing the whole world under the deathly hallows spell would render Voldemort completely impotent. We know from Sirius, (OP i think…), that the very least of Voldemort’s victims were actually murdered by him. It seems to have been the Death Eaters that did most of the work, and the spell oughtn’t affect them…
Which leaves the question whether they, the Death Eaters, would continue to follow a powerless Voldemort. I suppose then would come the rift between the ones who follow him out of fear (Wormtail &c.) and the ones who do it out of their ideological convictions (Bellatrix Lestrange &c.). Even a ‘harmless’ Voldemort, the greatest wizard who has ever lived, supposedly, would be able to at least instruct and coach the remaining Death Eaters to become a murderous faction as powerful as they ever were. What do you think?
December 25th, 2006 at 12:00 pm
Sorry this has taken me so long to respond:
Raffy: 1) He was smiling because of the irony. Dumbledore has probably known for a long time that Harry would have to die, and so he smiled because Voldemort once again did something that he thought would be helping himself, and in the end will hurt him, just like when he thought by killing Harry he would be helping himself, as he thought from the prophecy… 2) I once did a logical analysis of the prophecy, nothing in the language precludes both of them dying. 3) I don’t know. Sometimes contradictions pop up inadvertently in large bodies of work.
Travis: maybe he doesn’t have to die on behalf of the whole world, just the four houses…I don’t know, to tell you the truth, the theory just seems to make sense, and I’m putting my money on the obvious Christian allegory.
Bev: thanks for checking out the podcast! Your theories are interesting, I hadn’t thought about the priori incantateum, or the love inside Voldemort. Good theories! And you’re point about choice in Lily’s case is a good one as well, which bears consideration. Perhaps it’s when one lets oneself be killed, ala Obi Wan Kenobi in Star Wars, rather than when one is murdered in battle, such as James was. What do you think?
Daniel: in our last podcast about the Death Eaters, we discussed their motivations. You are right, they would still be around and cause trouble, I don’t think they would follow Voldie were he powerless, as they seek power, and follow him because he will enable them to achieve it (or they follow him because it provides them an outlet for their racist tendencies).
I’m now thinking that perhaps the effect of Harry dying via Deathly Hallows will allow others to kill Voldemort. Just as when Voldemort almost died when trying to curse Harry after Lily died for him when his avada kedabra was reflected back at him, the same will happen again. Only this time, there wont be any horcruxes to back him up (stay tuned for the next podcast for more discussion on this).
December 26th, 2006 at 6:16 am
Harry’s not related to the entire world by blood, so that would not work. Not the exact same way, anyway. Harry was protected because he shared Lily’s blood (and so did Petunia).
However, Dumbledore did say in the cave that Harry’s blood was more valuable than his so you may be on the right track.
I also like the idea that it’s the name for the magic Lily brought into play by sacrificing herself.
December 28th, 2006 at 2:52 pm
Assuming (and this is a big assumption) that the Deathly Hallows does refer to the spell of protection, perhaps, as Voldemort was ressurrected by Harry’s blood, Harry could confer this protection onto *Voldemort himself*, effectively protecting Voldemort “against himself”, as it were. Since we know that doing evil is damaging to one’s self (specifically, that murder rend’s the murderer’s soul), this may either render Voldemort unable to do evil, or may destroy him outright.
December 29th, 2006 at 1:25 pm
I think it’s a pretty brilliant prognostication. I’ve always been on the Harry will die side of the argument, but I’ve also believed all along that Voldemort would go as well. The thought of him living powerless is absolutely brilliant, also very fitting for an entity that believes in power.
Raffy, I think you have to remember that Dumbledore has never been afraid of death and he’s expressed this to Harry. Harry is brave beyond all else and, I believe, would sacrifice himself if it meant Voldemort would be powerless. It would make a great ending.
Here are some alternative thoughts. Could a Deathly Hallowing mean being stripped of love? Could that allow Harry to kill Voldemort? What about Deathly Hallowing meaning the destruction of all of Voldemorts horcruxes, thus making him vulnerable to death.
I hope Ms. Rowling takes her time and whips up something spectacular! Something we couldn’t possibly guess. In the meantime prognosticate away!
December 30th, 2006 at 5:12 pm
[...] I have a sneaking suspicion that the Arthurian Legend link is the best starting place when thinking about the Deathly Hallows. At least that’s where I’m going to go for now. I was initially attracted to the HP Prognostications theory about “deathly hallows” being the magic that saved Harry, but to borrow a phrase my father-in-law always uses, “That dog won’t hunt.” If somebody could conjure “Deathly Hallows” magic to die at the hands of Voldemort for the protection of the entire world, Dumbledore surely would have taken this upon himself. [...]
January 10th, 2007 at 4:51 pm
[...] As we were saying… [...]
January 12th, 2007 at 4:26 pm
What about hallows meaning a passage way for saints/hugely talented wizards to return to the living world? Dumbledore could then still fight our corner!
February 9th, 2007 at 8:40 pm
That’s pretty lucid thinking! What about Pettigrew and his life debt he owes Harry? I wrote about that on my website. http://www.jayflemma.thegolfspace.com
February 21st, 2007 at 6:28 pm
ok, assuming that the deathly hallows is correct, the only reason that voldemort didnt die was because of his horcruxes. Obviously, there was no indication that the deathly hallows was performed therefore voldemort still attempted 2 murder harry. Now… if harry destroys all of the horcruxes before dying to save the world, then the next time voldemort attempts 2 kill somebody, the curse will reflect onto him and without his horcruxes he will die.
March 12th, 2007 at 11:08 pm
Well I see what your saying. Harry sacrificing himself for the world goes along with a lot of the pieces we have been given. JK Rowling has made a comment about keeping her beliefs secret as she stated it gives a lot away about how the story ends. Now we all know that Jesus is a figure that sacrifed himself for all so this has merit. I have heard you talk about the connections between religion and the story. That being said I will disagree based on the fact that most sacrificial heros in storys are much older. The death of a 17 year old is not viewed as a sacrific or marder as much as a pure sad tragic event. Seeing a young person give his life for God and country forever puts them in a heroic pedistool but the event is never viewd as say Bruce Willis in Armageddon. The death of a young man or woman only brings grief and questions to the worth of the cause. Cedricks death hit me hard and his father’s wail was just chilling bringing a flood of supressed memories back to me. Maybe I am taking this part of the story as way to personnal but hey It is a childrens book, I like it but kids read it and teachers use it. Killing the hero is a bit too intense for these reasons. Might be close, expect it to be right on the edge. I cannot see Harry being dead for whatever reason helping the story. It would forever destroy the books as classics. Harry Potter yeah he dies is not how it will end. If I’m wrong well guess there is a first time for everything. I gotta agree with Penny here but don’t tell Dee. Sincerely Aaron
April 15th, 2007 at 3:44 pm
I reckon you’re all wrong where the hell did you get these prognostications?! How did you connect the title deathly hallow to the whole love thing? I reckon this next book is all going to be about Harry hunting down the horcruxes, i think the deathly hallow just means the time when voldemort and harry face eachother.
April 25th, 2007 at 8:23 pm
i think that the deathly hallow will have more significant meaning than that, otherwise she could of made it something like the time of judgement or some crap like that… idk… im just ready for the book 2 come out
April 25th, 2007 at 8:24 pm
btw, the deathly hallows could also be used in the Viel in the ministry of magic in which sirius fell
May 13th, 2007 at 1:31 pm
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June 25th, 2007 at 11:18 pm
I’ve never written in before but I was reading some of the comments above and I don’t quite understand how the magic that saved Harry can save the rest of the world. For a start the magic that Lily performed to save Harry was used by blood, plus the fact that Lily didn’t have to die. She could have lived and have let Harry be killed, instead her love for Harry was more powerful than her will to live so she sacrificed her life for her son’s life.
Dumbledore is always saying that love will be the key to destroy Voldemort. The one thing that he does not take seriously, Because VOldermort has had someone love him so he feels that only week people love.
I think that the answer lies at the end of OotP when Lord Voldermort possess Harry for a brief time begging Dumbledore to kill Harry. When Voldermort is possessing Harry, Harry starts to wish that he is dead so he can be with Sirius, Harry then starts to feel a huge amount of Love for Sirius which makes it unbearable for Voldermort to possess Harry any longer. I think the scar that connect the two people togeather will play a huge part in killing Voldermort. Sometimes the answer is a lot more simple than we imagine.
June 25th, 2007 at 11:20 pm
sorry i was supposed to say that voldermort has not had love him.
June 25th, 2007 at 11:20 pm
sorry i was supposed to say that voldermort has not had someone love him.
July 6th, 2007 at 1:16 pm
I recently read something about the use of word scar near the end of the book; the rumour was that the last word in the book was scar. This leads me to believe that there is something magical in the scar beyond the last memory of what Lily did. I believe that Dumbledor smiled because it confirmed his belief that Harry himself is a Horcruxe. I think that Harry will realize this and think he has to sacrifice himself but in the end in able to remove the horcruxe magic and his scar disappears. Just a theory.
July 7th, 2007 at 10:48 am
In the half blood prince, Dumbledore and Harry were on a mission to find the Horcruxes that Voldemort had used in order to bring himself back, should he ever be “killed”. Harry’s scar is a Horcruxe, that is why he and Voldemort are so connected and how Voldemort was able to use Harry’s blood to return.In order for Voldemort to be vulnerable to death, these Horcruxes must be destroyed.
I do think Harry will realize this and sacrifice himself. As for as the Hallows part of this, I think Harry will perform the same spell, to either protect Ron or Hermonie from Voldemort, rendering them immune to Voldemort, allowing either one of them to kill Voldemort.
Now that Harry knows how Horcruxes are made and what they are for, is it possible for Harry to create one for himself, so that even with his death, he is able to return? I know that is a bit of a stretch and probably not a path Rowlings will follow, as that would allow the story of Harry Potter to continue and this is supposed to be the last book.
Does anyone else think that Neville will have a bigger part to play in this last book?
July 7th, 2007 at 12:24 pm
Oh, I also wanted say, that I don’t think that Dumbledore would just leave Harry to his fate. I think its possible that Dumbledore made his own Horcruxe and will be back to help Harry defeat Voldemort.
July 8th, 2007 at 12:24 pm
in all the predictions i have read I have noticed that no one has mentioned that the dark lord has a servent that owes Harry a debt. Peter Petegrew had his life saved by Harry in prisoner of Azcaban. Now Dumbledore said that when a wizard saves another’s life it forms a stong bond between them I think Wormtail may yet contribute a verse in the great play to come.
the three thing i see from reading and what i have heard that i think will play a big part are
harry’s blood being used in the spell,
the house elf from ‘Order of the P’ J.k insited he be included in the movie because he playes a big part in the final story,
and Wormtail’s debt to Harry
July 9th, 2007 at 9:18 pm
at first i thought harry was going to die But i heard the righter of harry potter was going to make more stories of harry potter maby the spell he used was more powerful then the last time the spell was used by his mother ????!??
July 13th, 2007 at 1:50 am
I think everyone will die at voldemort’s hand and harry will kill him with all the anger in him
July 13th, 2007 at 1:52 am
also i reckon that voldemort and harry will fuse as one person and die together
July 13th, 2007 at 1:54 am
cause like its possible isn’t it? It would be weird if harry just died in the end. So the series would be about a kid that has a terrible life and dies when he is 17
July 14th, 2007 at 4:42 pm
I’m fine with however J.K. Rowling chooses to end the series, but there is one small detail I hope is resolved with the conclusion. Very early in the series – in the first book, I believe – Harry asks Professor Dumbledore what he sees when he looks into the Mirror of Erised (the mirror of desire) … Dumbledore replies that he sees himself receiving warm socks for Christmas, as everyone always gives him books and scholarly items. Christmas came and went in that book as well as most of the subsequent books, and Dumbledore has never received his warm socks. I hope this is finally remedied before the stories draw to a close.
July 16th, 2007 at 2:17 am
Ron and Hermione die. Rowling admitted to crying for days about two characters that die. If Harry died, someone equally important and good would have to die. There is no other. However, Ron and Hermione are BOTH Harry’s best friends; a couple; and the last significant people in his life that could sacrifice themselves to preserve Harry’s life. Plus, it’s too obvious to kill of Harry. Moreover, due to his suffering the deaths of previous people in his life who died, it only makes sense that Ron and Hermione would further burden his sense of guilt and loneliness were they to perish.
MmeBlaise
Lexington, KY
July 17th, 2007 at 6:29 am
Don’t forget that Slitherin’s ring has a lighting bolt crack in it (see spine of HBP). The ring is a destroyed horcrux, and therefore, accounted for. Harry however, is not destroyed, so the scar (in my opinion) is not so much the sign of a horcrux, but something with strong magic protecting it, both of which the ring (Vold’s protective curse) and Harry (Mothers love) have. This brings us to the conclusion that Harry cannot sacrifice himself to kill Voldemort for several reasons, 1- that if Harry dies, no-one will be able to kill Voldemort (according to Trelawny’s prophecy), 2- Harry cannot come back to finish the job as he has no horcruxes- unless he makes on in the last book, but that probably won’t happen), and 3- Lily’s dying for Harry was optional, not compulsary to the plot, so if Harry HAD to die, it wouldn’t be the same. Now, Dumbledore’s laughter was, as mentioned before, not at the situation, but at Voldemort doing something predictable. In HBP, he does this a lot- remember him going on about the cave and the boat etc…
This means that the obvious conclusion is that as Rowling said, two characters will die. Now, if THEIR dying was voluntary, like Lily’s, then that would reinstate another deathly hallowing, which would perhaps be exploited in some way by Harry to kill Voldemort.
Even with this in mind, we are all probably wrong, and there will probably be a twist at the end of the book, but untill we find out- it’s good to keep up our collective “prognostications”.
July 18th, 2007 at 11:15 am
OK, here is another theory that I think we have to look at. Dumbledore is the Deathly Hallows. Harry was originally protected by his Mother’s love, and was again by Dumbledore. Before Snape killed him, he said “please” as if he were asking Snape to do something that he did not want to do. Snape killed Dumbledore so that his death would again give Harry more power/protection from Voldemort. He was asking Snape to Martyr him in order to protect Harry. Weren’t you shocked that JK would sacrifice Dumbledore so easily? This was the reason. Because Snape was acting at the time as a Death Eater, Harry will have some special protection from them.
Whaddya think?
Matt L
Port Washington, NY
July 22nd, 2007 at 11:01 am
I`ve just read the book – FINISHED (Cried my eyes out)… The theory is wrong, but some of it is the truth… The last chapter broke my heart really, and it was so nice to read it at the same time…
July 22nd, 2007 at 1:46 pm
I finished the book in one day, that’s how good it is. I know there are people out there a little dissappointed with it, but it was an incredible book.
I bawled like a baby too, the last few chapters. Now that the last book is here. I am going to go back and read all the books again in succession. I’m a geek, I know!!
July 23rd, 2007 at 8:40 pm
im disapointed that harry died in the book….anyway it was a great book
August 8th, 2007 at 6:23 am
Why harry’s end will be here it’s just disgusting and ridiculous.I don’t know why???
August 8th, 2007 at 6:24 am
WHY DOES HARRY DIE IN THIS BOOK??
July 13th, 2009 at 6:15 am
Personally, I think that the Deathly Hallows are 3 magical objects that when all wielded by one wizard, makes that wizard invincible. I also think that Voldemort has horcruxes which means he can only die if they are all destroyed. I think all of your theories are awful but have fun anyway. And this was not posted two years after the release of the book. This was posted in 1999, just after the release of the third book. BYE!