Amazon has now put 2007 in parenthesis next to “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”. Phew. Despite all of the commotion and discussion that came with the March 31 date, I am very happy. I enjoyed speculating but let’s be honest, I am completely not ready for this book to come out yet.

So, now we shall see whether March 31 is the date that the pre-order will be made available. Luckily, we will always have proof of Amazon’s March 31 debacle thanks to Greg’s quick screen saving abilities.

I wonder if there is a former Amazon employee on the streets today after having been fired for that horrible error. Sorry, Amazon employee- you are better than that. Don’t you know that We, the Harry Potter fans, will pay attention to every little nuance and clue out there?!? We will latch onto anything. To quote Michael J. Fox in The American President , “They’re so thirsty for it, they’ll crawl through the desert toward a mirage, and when they discover there’s no water, they’ll drink the sand.” OK fine, this quote has nothing to do with what I wrote above- but taken completely out of context, it works. (This is my blog, I’ll write what I want).

Just to note, I firmly believe that one of our listeners (who shall remain nameless at his/her request) affected this social change (yes, it is a social change- we all have to do what we can for society!). He/she was relentless with Amazon and called them on their March 31 date. They finally caved and changed the date. Well done! Hpprogs listeners are the best!

Penny:)

Ruth left a comment pointing out that the search results page for Deathly Hallows on Amazon.com shows Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows as available March 31, 2007!!! See screenshot below.  Not sure if this is the date of publication, or perhaps the date that it will be available to order; the page for Deathly Hallows itself does not appear to be updated, still allowing only email alert signups.

(click on image to enlarge)

Is this the end for Harry Potter? 

We’ve got a brief podcast with a few quick thoughts on the news.

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In this week’s podcast, Penny and I review the book Harry Potter and Philosophy: If Aristotle Ran Hogwarts: If Aristotle Ran Hogwarts. The book is a collection of scholarly essays relating to the Harry Potter series. We discuss a few of the essays and their relevance to the major themes of the Harry Potter books, in particular how they might relate to what is to come in Book 7 (The Deathly Hallows).

For more information, check out Harry Potter and Philosophy: If Aristotle Ran Hogwarts on Amazon.com.

And the news:

• Chilean fanfic author publishes first original novel.
• A Norwich, CT newspaper wants your thoughts on how Harry Potter will end.
• Check out the latest Movie 5 action figures.
• MTV, EW and Premiere all include Movie 5 on 2007’s “must-see” list of movies.

You can listen to the podcast using the player below, or download it directly as an mp3.

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Penny picked this up whilst listening to MuggleCast. The Wikipedia entry for The Hanged Man reads:

It is a card of profound but veiled significance. Its symbolism points to divinity, linking it to the death of Christ in Christianity and the stories of Osiris (Egyptian mythology) and Mithras (Roman mythology). In all of these stories, the destruction of self brings life to humanity; on the card, these are symbolized respectively by the hanged man and the living tree from which he swings. Its relationship to the other cards usually involves personal loss for a greater gain.

Recall the game of hangman behind the locked door on JKRowling.com. And there was something about the words hallows and gallows meaning the same thing in days of yore…

As we were saying…

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).

After thinking about this a bit more, I think it’s likely that the Deathly Hallows refers to what happened to Harry when Lily died to save him, i.e. Harry became consecrated by Lily’s death for his sake.  Keep in mind that this took place in Godric’s Hollow, on All Hallows Eve.  So perhaps Harry is going to be finding out more about the nature of how his mother’s death protected him, and how he can use that to defeat Voldemort.  Methinks we will finally find out what Dumbledore was smiling about at the end of Book 4.

I think the title says it all.  Penny and I made a quick podcast of our thoughts on the new title.  Check it out (or download as an mp3).

We’ll definetly be talking more about this in future episodes.  Some things we missed in our quick podcast:

• Dictionary.com entry for hallows. – hallows is a transitive verb, which means it requires a direct object.  Grammatically, the title is very interesting.
• Keep in mind: Halloween is more formally known as All Hallows Eve.

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BREAKING NEWS: JKRowling.com just updated, you can open the door to reveal the title of Book 7: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

What does it mean?  I have no idea.  But it sure is ominous and spooky.  And now I’m all excited.

To open the door:

1. Goto www.jkrowling.com
2. Click on the eraser.
3. Click on the top of the mirror to reveal the Christmas tree.
4. Click on the top half of the door to reveal the wreath.
5. Click on the top of the mirror to reveal the Christmas decorations.
6. Click on the spider web.
7. Click on the fourth windchime from the left.  It becomes a key.  Drag the key to the door to unlock it.
8. Play a game of hangman to see Book 7’s title.

I guess we’ll be talking about this in our next episode.

We’re back after a week’s vacation (I was in Vegas, baby).  Instead of discussing the minor characters, which would have taken a tiny bit of preperation, we chose instead to rate the books in order from best to…least best.  As Penny and I rarely agree on anything, it’s not surprising we come up with different lists, tune in to hear our reasons.

Here’s the news:

• J.K. Rowling Wins Legal Battle Against Cyber Squatters
• OoTP Trailer online (not bootleged version).  Just ignore the penguins.
• Harry kisses Cho (for those of you who read the book, this will come as no surprise).
• Alfonso Cuaron talks Harry Potter - English is not his native language.

We’d also like to thank The Parselmouths for allowing us to use their song It’s Not Half Bad to add a little pizzaz to the podcast.  Check the link above for their MySpace page and the rest of their music.  Also don’t forget to check out the Harry Potter Podcast Coalition.

You can listen using the player below, or download the podcast directly as an mp3.

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