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.

Nothing strikes fear into the heart of wizards like a Death Eater. These minions of the Dark Lord do his every bidding, or they suffer the consequences. The worst part is: no one knows for sure the identities of these dark wizards; shrouded in mystery, their chief weapons are fear, surprise, a ruthless efficiency, and an almost fanatical devotion to Lord Voldemort.

Who are these masked men? We now know the identities of most of the Death Eaters. But what lies in store for them? What is their raison d’etre, as it were? What is their task, come Book 7, and by extension, what is the task of their master, the Dark Lord himself? All this and more are discussed in this week’s installment of Harry Potter Prognostications.

And the news:

• Potter OK in Georgia; take that, Laura Mallory!
• JKRowling.com: Harry and Voldemort will NOT perform a mutual mind meld.
• Somewhere on the web, more pictures of Daniel Radcliffe.

Blog post of the week goes to Rob from At the Core, who links to the HD version of the Book 5 movie trailer.

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October 31, Halloween, has special significance in the Wizarding World; not only does it mark the anniversary of Nearly Headless Nick’s nearly-beheading, it’s also the date that Lord Voldemort attacked the Potter’s in Godric’s Hollow. In memory, we’ve got a special All Hallow’s Eve edition of HPProgs discussing just what went down on that fateful night. There’s a lot we don’t know, which, of course, calls for some prognosticating.

For some background info on Godric’s Hollow, check out the HP Lexicon’s page on Godric’s Hollow, as well as this timeline of the events leading up to October 31, 1981.

A roundup of the news:

• JKRowling.com: New Title for Book 7?
• 60 Minutes: An old interview with JKR with lots of good info.
• The Leaky Cauldron: Movie 5 cut to under 3 hours.

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Listen to the podcast using the player below, or download it directly as an mp3.

As villians go, Harry’s arch-nemesis Voldermort carries a big stick, but does he use it? Although we are admonished as to the unbelievable evilness of He Who Shall Not Be Named, for some of us, the picture painted of Lord Voldemort is not all that horrifying. Certainly he talks big, representing ideals that would seem to lead to mass murder and genocide, but his follow-through, at least so far, has been pretty weak. Is this really the true source of his ultimate evilness, or is there, perhaps, so underlying theme that animates these dark ambitions? What is the secret to understanding the real, utlimate terror that is Lord Voldemort, that will really cause us to fear to speak his very name? Tune in as we discuss and debate what makes Voldie such a baddie, and how this reflects on Harry and the nature of his goodness.A quick wrapup of the news:

• Child Magazine: JK Rowling one of 20 most influential people on children.
• The Leaky Cauldron: Book 5, The Movie, Teaser Trailer coming on November 17.
• MTV.com: No More Dobby.
• Harry Potter coming to Disney?
• MuggleNet: RAB Revelead? [hat tip: At the Core]

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