A Look Back at “What Will Happen in Harry Potter 7”: Chapter 3: “What JKR Says”

by · Published · Updated

Earlier this month, my friend and co-worker here at MuggleNet, the talented Lizzie, wrote the first article in our series, which examines MuggleNet’s book What Will Happen in Harry Potter 7. Previously, Lizzie discussed the first two chapters. Today, I will be reflecting on the third chapter of the book, which discusses what the author of our beloved series, J.K. Rowling, said about Book 7 before it was even published. I’ll be going through each of the points in the chapter to see if what JKR led us to believe actually occurred.

1. Quick Facts

JKR said that there wouldn’t be any Quidditch in the final installment of the series. While she was correct, we know that there was a small facet of the sport included in Book 7: Harry’s first Snitch. Inside, the Resurrection Stone was hidden, which helped Harry defeat Voldemort.

For years, JKR led us to believe that the last word in the entire series would be “scar.” However, as we now know, the final three words in Book 7 turned out to be “All was well.” Instead of the book actually ending with the word scar, the final lines reflect on the fact that Harry’s scar hadn’t hurt him in 19 years.

Also, JKR said all characters were redeemable except for Voldemort. MuggleNet then said that readers shouldn’t be surprised if Draco joined the good side. Though JKR was correct that all characters were redeemable, Draco, unfortunately, didn’t join the good side. He remained a Death Eater, against his better judgment.

2. We’ll Be Seeing More Of…

Rita Skeeter: It turns out that Rita Skeeter was in much of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. After Dumbledore’s death, Rita Skeeter wrote a biography of Dumbledore’s life, titled The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore. In her book, she revealed the secrets about Dumbledore’s family and criticized Harry and Dumbledore’s relationship. Rita painted Dumblefore in a terrible light, according to Harry, and her book is a huge topic in Book 7.

Viktor Krum: Readers who loved the Bulgarian Quidditch superstar were most likely pleased to see a brief return of Krum when he attended Bill and Fleur’s wedding. There, he asked Harry about Xenophilius Lovegood’s necklace, which we know was the Deathly Hallows. Krum told Harry that it’s associated with the Dark wizard Grindelwald and that he saw it carved into a wall at Durmstrang .

Dolores Umbridge: The Harry Potter fandom couldn’t forget about Umbridge – a villain deemed more dangerous than Voldemort. JKR told fans that she’d make a reappearance, and she certainly did! The locket – the real one that Harry and Dumbledore had been searching for – was confiscated by her. When Harry, Ron, and Hermione broke into the Department of Mysteries, it was none other than Umbridge who was wearing it around her neck.

The Ford Anglia: Unfortunately, the beloved Ford Anglia didn’t make an appearance in the final book. Much to many fans’ disappointment, we never got another glimpse of the car again.

The Sorting Hat: The Sorting Hat made a triumphant appearance in the last book. In one of the final chapters, during the Battle of Hogwarts, Voldemort summoned the Sorting Hat and placed it on Neville’s head after Neville confronts Voldemort. However, Neville pulled the sword of Gryffindor out of the Sorting Hat and killed Nagini, effectively destroying the final Horcrux.

Two-Way Mirror: Harry spent much of Book 7 looking into a piece of the two-way mirror, swearing that the man he saw in the reflection resembled Dumbledore. The person in the mirror turned out to be Aberforth Dumbledore, who had the receiving mirror.

3. We’ll Learn More About Dumbledore

JKR didn’t disappoint when she promised we’d learn more about Dumbledore. Through Elphias Doge, Rita Skeeter, Ron’s Aunt Muriel, Aberforth Dumbledore, Snape’s memories, and even Dumbledore himself, we learn much about Dumbledore’s past that was never revealed in the first six books.

MuggleNet’s book said that Dumbledore’s family was likely to play a significant role in Book 7, and now we can say that was absolutely correct. Without Aberforth, Harry, Ron, and Hermione likely wouldn’t have survived to defeat Voldemort.

4. Lily Evans

JKR said that Lily Evans would play an important role in what Harry had to do in the end, and of course, as readers, we know just what JKR was talking about. By now, almost ten years later, we know that Snape loved Lily, as seen through Snape’s memories. We realize that Snape had been protecting Harry because of his love for Lily. We also know that Lily’s love protected Harry from being killed by Voldemort, but unfornately, that made him another Horcrux.

5. Love and Romance

Though JKR said that the relationships to be formed were obvious from the happenings in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, in Book 7’s epilogue, we got to see almost everyone’s romantic life played out. We learned that Harry married Ginny, and Ron married Hermione, which was pretty obvious to fans of the series. MuggleNet predicted that love would conquer all, and almost ten years later, we know that was the truth.

6. How Will Book 7 Unfold?

JKR informed fans that in order for Harry to defeat Voldemort, he’d have to destroy all the Horcruxes, which is exactly what happened in Book 7. For a majority of the book, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were hunting Horcruxes and thinking of ways to destroy them in order to defeat Voldemort once and for all.

7. Who Lives, Who Dies

MuggleNet predicted that the three main characters – Harry, Ron, and Hermione – would make it out alive, and MuggleNet predicted correctly! Of course, Harry had to “die” to defeat Voldemort, but Harry conquered death in the end. JKR said that many people were worried about her killing Ron in the end, but she assured fans she wouldn’t kill Harry’s best friend. She did say that no one seemed to be concerned about Hermione, though she viewed Hermione as having many vulnerabilities.

JKR never promised to keep Harry alive. In fact, she led fans to believe that Harry wouldn’t make it out alive by saying it would be impossible to write another book after Book 7. Her statement left fans worrying about his fate.

The only thing that JKR promised about deaths was that more deaths were coming, and almost ten years later, we are still struggling with the deaths of some of our most beloved characters.

Do you have a copy of MuggleNet’s What Will Happen in Harry Potter 7? If so, read the third chapter, and let us know what you think about what JKR said before Book 7 was published!

To read our thoughts on Chapter 4 click here.