The “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” Prediction Contest, or, The Most Trivial Thing On This Blog To Date, And That’s Saying Something

Deathly_hallows_4
It’s time.

The book is on sale for pre-orders. It comes out in July of this year. And rumors about the possibility of spoilers are already starting to circulate. So now is the time to begin Greta Christina’s Harry Potter Book Seven Prediction Contest.

Buffy_season_7
I’m not quite sure why I do these. When I did my Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Seven Prediction Pool, I got exactly zero out of five predictions right. But I had a gas doing the pool anyway, and was entertained and impressed by how well other people did on it. (Rebecca and Jack both got four out of five, and the game wound up coming down to the tie-breaker.)

So here are the official rules to Greta Christina’s “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” Prediction Contest. If you don’t like ’em, hold your own damn contest.

Sorcerers_stone
1. Predictions must be posted as comments in this blog. No private emails.

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2. Each player should submit a list of five predictions. If you want to make more, you can submit a second list of five — but correct predictions from the two lists will not be added together. Each list of five stands on its own. (No more than two lists per player.)

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3. Predictions must not be totally obvious. For instance, “The book will be longer than 300 pages” or “Harry will use magic during the course of the book” will not count.

Voldemort
3a. On that topic: “Harry will defeat Voldemort,” “Harry will kill Voldemort,” and “Voldemort will die” will not, by themselves, be accepted as predictions. You can, however, predict how Harry will kill/defeat Voldemort, how exactly Voldemort will die, or whether Harry will die himself in defeating Voldemort.

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4. Predictions must not be totally vague, either. I have to be able to reasonably determine whether what you predicted did or did not happen in the book.

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5. Your predictions may duplicate other people’s predictions. You’re on the honor system to not cherry-pick the best predictions from other people’s lists. However, each new player must make at least one prediction that’s not on a previously posted list — so it’s in your interest to post your predictions early.

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6. Predictions may not be changed once they’ve been posted.

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7. Predictions must be submitted no later than 12:01 am Pacific time on July 20 (that’s the day BEFORE the book comes out). If serious, credible spoilers about the book leak out in the media before then, I’ll stop accepting predictions. (So again, get your predictions in early!)

Greta
8. In the case of judgement calls, I will be the final arbiter. If you don’t like it, tough. This isn’t global warming, people — this is a Harry Potter prediction contest, and in the cosmic scheme of things, or indeed any scheme of things, it is utterly trivial.

Gravestone
9. Tie-breaker: Originally, I was going to have my tie-breaker be the same one I used in the Buffy Season Seven Prediction Pool: how many major characters will die in the last episode? But J.K. Rowling has already announced that two major characters will die in the last book, thus completely screwing up my tie-breaker.

Thanks, bitch.

Therefore, the tie-breaker question instead will be: Which two major characters will die in Book Seven?

(If there’s a tie, and both/all winners get the tie-breaker right, then all will win, and all will have prizes.)

Chocolate_crinkle_cookies
Prize: I’m not actually going to do this as a pool this time — it was too much hassle with the Buffy pool. This is just a straight-out contest. The winner, if they live in the Bay Area and are someone I personally know, will receive one (1) homemade chocolate pie, personally delivered to your door. With whipped cream, if I can find my hand-held electric mixer. If the winner doesn’t live in the Bay Area or is someone I don’t know, they will receive, in the mail, 1 (one) batch of my homemade chocolate crinkle cookies.

List
And now, to get you started, here is my list. Again, I don’t know why I’m subjecting myself to this public humiliation, as my track record on these pop-culture predictions has consistently sucked. But I’ve always promised myself to be fearless in my writing, and that includes being unafraid to make a fool of myself in public over pointless pop-culture trivia.

So here goes.

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1. Snape will turn out to be a good guy after all, and it will turn out that he murdered Dumbledore on Dumbledore’s own orders.

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2. In his search for Horcruxes, Harry will encounter Snape also trying to find and destroy Horcruxes, and the two of them will have to cooperate to destroy them (or at least one of them).

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3. Snape will die heroically attempting to defeat Voldemort. (Unofficial prediction: One of the Horcruxes will be in Snape himself, and he’ll kill himself to destroy it. That one doesn’t count, though — if it turns out to be right, I get nothing but glory.)

Dumbledore
4. Dumbledore’s portrait will begin to speak, and will give Harry advice.

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5. Harry will NOT die — or if he does, it’ll be some weird temporary “visiting the land of the dead” thing. He won’t be dead at the end of the book.

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Tie-breaker: Snape and Voldemort will die in the last book.

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Okay, fine. So three out of my five predictions involve Snape. Plus my tie-breaker. So what’s your point? At least one of them wasn’t “Snape will have a torrid affair with a 45-year-old atheist sex writer from America.” I have SOME pride.

So those are my predictions. What are yours?

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The “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” Prediction Contest, or, The Most Trivial Thing On This Blog To Date, And That’s Saying Something
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14 thoughts on “The “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” Prediction Contest, or, The Most Trivial Thing On This Blog To Date, And That’s Saying Something

  1. 1

    Okay, so I’m with you on the Snape predictions, most of them. Here are mine, beginning with the “twue wuv” portion of the subplots:
    1. Ron and Hermione will finally get together as a Couple.
    2. Harry and Ginny Weasley, likewise in a Relationship.
    3. Snape was always a good guy, it will turn out.
    4. the order in which we visit the Olde Favored Locaciones will be: the Dursleys’ place, Diagon Alley, Hogwart’s, Out Somewhere Where the Final Battle Will Be.
    5. Moaning Myrtle will NOT be laid to rest.
    Re your five, I don’t quite believe JKR would stoop to cribbing from Pullman, but do concur that Harry will be alive at the end of the book.
    After all the dust has settled, I want a copy of the recipe for your famous chocolate pie…and a hand-whisk works great on whipping cream at our house.
    Back from Tucson and closing up the folks’ place, and still in overwhelm mode: love to all the Nettles reading here, and pass on around to absolutely all Nettles!
    -Ruth

  2. 2

    I’m going to post the one prediction I came up with back when I read book 2. Even though it’s been essentially shot to hell since then, since it’s the only original prediction I’ve come up with for the Harry Potter series, I still cling to the faint hope that it will materialize in the final book:
    To explain Harry’s connection with snakes and the fact that he opened a door that can only be opened by the heir of Slytherin, I guessed that Harry might be closely related to Voldemort, for example Voldemort’s parents might have first had one muggle child who became Harry’s grandmother on his muggle mother’s side.
    I’m not doing a full five predictions here since I’m sure I won’t win (and I’m too far away to receive the pie in any case ;^) ), but I’ll just throw that one into the pot and watch the rest of the game as a spectator. Overall, I agree with your predictions about what will happen.

  3. Vim
    3

    ok..some of my guesses are original, others collbarated and modified to fit what i think. Well here it goes;
    1. Snape is evil, totally. and he’s dumb. he will die. Trust is a good thing, and for taking advantage of this Snape will die horribly.
    2. As soon I finished Half blood prince, this occurred to me, cept no1 has said anythin about it. The room of requirement, where Harry hid the potions book(o unofficial, that book is going to help harry kill snape) there is a horcrux in there. I just know it.
    3. Harry, whereever he goes wandering in his holidays, will come back to Hogwarts. i dont know how many, but most of the horcruxes are at hogwarts, it makes sense, Voldermont loved the place.
    4. Dumbledore has left the pensieve which will help Harry
    5. Who will die? Its definetely one of the Weasleys, not Ron, but someone else. So sad, but it will happen. Im thinking its either Ginny or Mr. Weasley.
    I dunno if i conformed to the rules..but hey this is what i think. Just cant wait for July 21st.

  4. 4

    Did anyone ever think that Draco Malfoy could be the “Chosen One”? He has just as much reason to hate Voldemort as Harry Potter does. Just think, Voldemort basically said to Draco, “Kill DD or I’ll kill you and your family. So DM thinks he should do it, then he is not able to. Because DD is on the good side, secretly so is DR.
    P.S. DD = Dumbledore DR = Draco Malfoy

  5. 5

    ok 5 predictions:
    1)Snape is NOT evil
    2)house elves will play some significant role in the next book. probably along the lines of helping him fight/defeat death eaters and/or voldemort
    3)Dumbledore is dead and is not coming back. he will though somehow transcend the grave to help harry (i.e through a portrait or the pensive)
    4)despite what Harry said at the end of HBP, he will be returning to Hogwarts for at least part of the school year
    5)Harry himself is one of voldemort’s horcruxes. when voldemort’s killing curse backfired off of Harry when he was a baby, a portion of voldemort’s soul was put inside Harry (or his scar)

  6. 6

    1. The series is essentially comedy, not tragedy, and comedies end with weddings. Bill and Fleur’s wedding, I predict, will not take place as scheduled at the beginning of the summer; instead it will be disrupted by a Death Eater attack. At Book 7’s end, at least 1 and up to 3 weddings will take place, Bill/Fleur, Lupin/Tonks, and maybe Ron/Hermione.
    2. Deaths in Book 7 will be of characters with no known family. There will be no new orphans, widows or grieving parents created in Book 7; there is too much other plot stuff to resolve, and we are too close to the end to tear apart any more families. Hence Hagrid is safe (because of Grawp), Harry(Ginny), Ron(Hermione & vice versa), even Percy Weasley (Molly et al.).
    3. Kreacher has a Horcrux, and only Hermione knows enough about house elves to get it away from him. That is the whole plot reason for her involvement with house elf rights.
    4. Voldemort will say or do something before he dies that will make us miss him, and may even make Harry forgive him. But he still dies.
    5. One Horcrux will be found at Godric’s Hollow, in the ruins of the Potter house. The first battle will take place there. But the final battle will be at Hogwarts, probably on the Quidditch pitch.
    That’s a bit more than five predictions, but that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
    Best–David

  7. 7

    1. A Weasley will die.
    2. SOMEONE will be (or will have been) pregnant by the end of the book. Probably Fleur or Tonks, but it could also be Hagrid’s girlfriend, Madam Maxime.
    3. Harry’s flying ability will be involved in the Final Battle.
    4. Something human — rather than magical — will defeat Voldemort.
    5. A long shot: Harry will be with his parents at the end of the book, either because he will be dead, or because they return to life.
    Tie breaker: Snape and a Weasley twin.
    ps: I reserve the right to change these before the deadline.

  8. 8

    What fun! Thanks!
    Here we go:
    1. My favorite: Aberforth is currently a goat (the current barman is familiar because he is Caradoc Dearborn). I cannot tell you how many forum threads I’ve been censored on for THAT idea…
    2. Eileen Prince was murdered by Tom Riddle for the Ravenclaw relic and Tobias Snape had his memory modified to confess to the crime.
    3. Lily learned the truth (or at least enough to guess) from Dog Lady at St Mungo’s (likely the new heiress of the relic once Eileen died…and likely the daughter of Belvina Burke nee Black and mother of Argus and Irma.)
    4. Harry will have a true member of another house pull at least one founder’s relic/Horcrux from the Sorting Hat bypassing Voldemort’s protections.
    5. Snape committed himself to revenge against Voldemort for his destroyed childhood (social outcast because considered to be son of a Muggle man who murdered a witch. Snape might even hate Dumbledore, but he hates Voldemort more.)
    You wouldn’t believe the work (of many, many posters) that went into the above ideas. Thanks for letting me share!
    HPSpec

  9. 9

    Seeing as I have only seen the movies and not read the books, My predictions may have already come to pass, but whatever it’s a game, If I need to come up with new ones tell me.
    1)Snape is good, (He killed Dumbledore on DumbleDore’s orders)
    2) DumbleDore will be reborn, just as his phoenix is.
    3)Snape will die in a heroic act of saving someone else’s life.
    4) The reason Voldemort couldn’t kill Harry as a child is because they are somehow linked. (Harry recieved part of Voldemort’s soul when Voldmort ‘died’ and is his quasi-reincarnation?, he had the chance to live life over and choose good instead of evil? this part doesn’t count just guessing)
    5) Voldemort will be the second main character to die

  10. 10

    okay here goes my guesses
    1. The initials on the locket (R.A.B.) are the initials of Sirius’s brother and the real locket is at the Black’s house.
    2. Either something Aunt Petunia knows or something about her heritage will play a part in this book.
    3. Nothing major will happen during the Fluer/Bill wedding. It will go smoothly.
    4. Harry won’t come out completely victorious, rather it will end the same way that the battle before book one ended (some think voldermort is dead, others think he will return again).
    5. Snape turns out to be a hero.
    Tie breaker: Voldermort and Snape

  11. 11

    Snape is a spy among the Death Eaters, working for Dumbledore. Dumbledore already knew he was going to die soon, and persuaded Snape to “finish him off”. Snape did this only after much soul-searching and protesting. The “murder” served to allay the Death Eater’s concerns that Snape may be a double agent for Dumbledore and the good guys (which he actually is) and allowed him to continue to move freely among them. The “murder” also allows Dumbledore to continue to work for the forces of good from behind the mysterious “curtain of death”. Other spies for Dumbledore are the Longbottoms, held against their will in a Death Eater-run sanatorium. Neville’s parents are putting on a “crazy act” that allows them to get a lot of information.
    When Snape left with Draco, he was actually kidnapping the boy, to protect him from Lucius. While in hiding, Snape and Draco will argue, and Snape will reveal that Lucius does not have his son’s best interests at heart. But Draco will scoff. Draco will escape and rejoin his father in the Death Eaters’ camp. At first all will appear to be well between Draco and Lucius as they are summoned join the Death Eaters for a big gathering. Voldemort is expected to announce the last major “push” to defeat the forces of good for all time.
    Harry has received mysterious messages from Sirius, who upon reaching the afterlife has learned something important regarding Voldemort’s secret vulnerability. But Sirius can only tell Harry that the boy himself holds the answer to defeating the Dark Lord. Harry presses Sirius for more clues, but the communications from Siruis are very cryptic, and Harry is frustrated at his slowness in deciphering them. His friends are baffled as well.
    When Harry goes to see the new painting of Dumbledore, he is told not to expect the picture to talk to him, because there’s a waiting period for departed headmasters to be able to speak. But as soon as Harry is about to leave the room after having been left alone with the painting, he is delighted to hear Dumbledore quietly call him back into the room. To Harry’s delight, Dumbledore speaks with him. Harry tells Dumbledore about the mysterious message from Sirius. Dumbledore tells Harry that he himself has learned much in the afterlife. But all he tells Harry is that the boy does indeed hold the key to defeating the dark forces. Harry wants to know more, but Dumbledore falls asleep in his frame. Harry sullenly leaves the office. But he doesn’t have much time to contemplate the message before he is called into action. He overhears worried faculty discussing an upcoming Death Eaters gathering.
    Harry meets with Ron and Hermione to fill them in on what he has learned from Dumbledore. Ron and Hermione can hardly believe that the painting of Dumbledore talks. As Hermione points out, there is a waiting period that has never been waived in the entire history of the school. Harry impatiently says that isn’t the point. Dumbledore’s message is basically the same as that from Sirius. But what does Harry have that will defeat Voldemort? The three conclude that it must have to do with the last horcrux. They figure that the only thing that Harry has that seems to fit the bill is his wand. Has Voldemort indeed captured the final piece of his soul in Harry’s wand?
    Harry thinks about this for a while, then hatches a daring plan of his own to defeat Voldemort. He will challenge the Dark Lord to a wand duel. All his friends immediately try to discourage him from this very dangerous undertaking. But Harry is adamant. In the end they all, including Neville, Luna and Ginny, insist on joining Harry in the dangerous venture, overcoming his objections. He doesn’t want his friends to be in danger, but there is no dissuading them.
    The students manage to sneak into the Death eater’s rally unobserved. IT’s being held in a huge amphitheater that reminds them of the Colosseum. At the gathering, all are surprised to see the Longbottoms held prisoner. This is too much for Neville. He cries out, and the group is discovered. It looks like Harry was right to be worried, as he and his friends are all quickly captured by Death Eaters.
    Draco gloats over this apparent victory, but his delight turns to horror as it is revealed that Voldemort has commanded to prove his loyalty by sacrificing his child. For the first time, Draco sees his father (and Voldemort and his followers) as they really are. He will also see Snape for what he really is, a force on the side of good. Harry offers himself as a substitute sacrifice to Voldemort in order to save his friends and Draco as well. Voldemort pretends to accept the deal but seizes both boys. He is about to finish Harry off when Snape intervenes with a daring plan of his own to save Harry and Draco, who were always his favorite students. But no sooner has Harry realized Snape really is a friend after all, than Voldemort kills Snape. Snape’s whispers a few last words to Harry, as the two are finally reconciled. No one else has heard what Snape said.
    Harry challenges Voldemort to a wand duel. He seems to be winning. But Voldemort taunts Harry, telling all that these are to be Harry’s final moments of life. Then, to the horror of all Harry’s friends, Harry turns his wand directly at his own face and utters a fateful curse. Has Voldemort taken control of Harry at last and forced him to commit suicide? Harry is thrown into excruciating pain as the wand does its work. He falls to the ground, apparently dead. Voldemort laughs. But it turns out that it is Voldemort who is dying. Voldemort realizes what Harry has done. He cries out that he has underestimated the boy. It is too late for Voldemort. This time he really is gone. The Dark Mark appears in the sky and is obliterated. All the Dark Marks on the arms of his followers also are obliterated.
    Harry’s friends hardly notice this, as they rush over to the lifeless Harry. Ginny throws herself tearfully on Harry’s chest. Then Hermione makes an important discovery. Harry’s scar is gone!
    Harry is alive, albeit dazed. He tells everyone what Snape told him. It was the final piece of the puzzle. The final horcrux was Harry’s famous scar itself, and Harry destroyed it. That explains all the strange pain and premonitions regarding Voldemort over the years. It also explained why Harry was The Boy who Lived. Voldemort was keeping him alive as a living repository for the last piece of his own soul, and had planned to take back the scar and dispense with Harry. But Harry won at last.
    Draco is numb with shock at the loss of his father. Yet he has a new respect for Harry, and it looks like they might even turn out to be friends.
    The grateful government offers Harry the job he has always wanted, to be an auror. But to his friends’ surprise, Harry turns it down. He has had another offer. All the departed headmasters have voted, and they want Harry to become the youngest-ever headmaster at Hogwarts. He’ll have good advice in the job from Dumbledore Harry’s first act as Hogwarts’ new headmaster will be to give Hagrid the promotion long denied him. All ends happily, with wedding plans for Ron and Hermione and Harry and Ginny.

  12. 12

    Um… that’s rather more than five predictions, Cathy. Can you narrow it down a little?
    Also, I was going to make a change to one of mine, but on reviewing the rules I see that I said “no changes once your predictions have been posted.” So I’m making a new, unofficial prediction that doesn’t count towards anything: At the end of the book, Harry will either be named the new Defense of the Dark Arts professor, or it will be promised/ strongly implied that he’ll get the job when he’s old enough.

  13. 13

    1. Snape killed Dumbledore on Dumbledore’s orders. (I’m not cherry picking this from anyone else’s list, I swear! This seemed really clear to me at the end of the last book but no one else I know reads it that way.)
    2. The real locket of Slytherin was stolen by Sirius’s brother – who died from drinking the same potion that weakened Dumbledore in the last book. The locket is either still in the Black family home OR Kreature knows where to find it. Harry will realize who R.A.B. is while looking at Sirius’s family tree during a visit to the Black family home.
    3. Harry will have to team up with both Snape and Draco M. to destroy one of the Horcruxes.
    4. Harry will use the remaining Felix Felicis potion to find and destroy at least one of the remaining Horcruxes easily, because otherwise the book would be impossibly long.
    5. In defeating Voldemort, Harry receives a permanent wound, possibly as severe as the loss of a limb or his sight, and therefore feels alienated from the rest of his world a la the returning Frodo.
    I was going to also predict that Harry’s scar turns out to be the last Horcrux, but since that would cause him to have to destroy his own head, I decided that was just a little too weird.
    Tiebreaker: Snape and Tonks. 🙁

  14. 14

    Who decides which books get press (Harry Potter) and which get censored? After all, censorship is becoming America’s favorite past-time. The US gov’t (and their corporate friends), already detain protesters, ban books like “America Deceived” from Amazon and Wikipedia, shut down Imus and fire 21-year tenured, BYU physics professor Steven Jones because he proved explosives, thermite in particular, took down the WTC buildings. Free Speech forever (especially for books).
    Last link (before Google Books caves to pressure and drops the title):
    http://www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book_detail.asp?&isbn=0-595-38523-0

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