I want to begin this article with a reference to a passage of the song of the Sorting Hat from The Order of the Phoenix. This will help explain my opinion.

And never since the founders four Were whittled down to three, Have the Houses been united As they once were meant to be.

Now, as you can see, even the Sorting Hat seems to have a good clue as to what needs to happen in order for Hogwarts to succeed if attacked by Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters. JKR left the feeling that there will probably be an attack on the school within the next 2 books. Believing this, I have no choice but to agree 100% with the message from the Sorting Hat.

Now I am sure there will not be any issues with at least three of the four houses in terms of uniting into one force. The stick in the mud, without a doubt, will be Slytherin; but I have an interesting and possible plot twist. I hope it comes true because I think it is very JKR. Now, this is just an opinion based on internet rumors that someone in Book 6 may change houses. If there is any truth to this, it will be someone least expected.

Who better than Draco Malfoy? Here is what I think will cause this slime bucket to finally grow up and switch to the side of good. As you know, Lucius Malfoy is a Death Eater and, after Book 5, he is an imprisoned Death Eater. After the attack in the Department of Mysteries, Lucius was caught along with certain fellow Death Eaters. Malfoy tried to attack Harry on the train home due to his feeling that Harry was the reason his father was chucked into Azkaban.

I can think of one other person who is going to be pretty upset that Lucius failed at his mission to retrieve the Prophecy. Yep, you guessed it: Lord Voldemort. Not only did he fail to bring Voldemort the orb, he screwed up so badly that now the wizarding world knows He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has returned. Now imagine this for a moment: Lord Voldemort tortures and kills Lucius Malfoy for failing him. Now I would imagine youÂ’d have one angry Draco. He would finally be put into the position Harry has been in all his life. The very same person that had killed HarryÂ’s parents murdered his father. He would now also be without a father. Is it enough to make him want revenge...to turn to the side of good...to switch houses, perhaps, and try to get the rest of the Slytherins to follow suit?

Only JKR truly knows, but I think this could be a very strong possibility. Otherwise, I couldnÂ’t see how the houses would unite as one. Something extreme has to happen. I think this theory could be a strong possibility. But, alas, we will have to wait and see when Book 6 comes out sometime next year. So what are your thoughts?

8/10/04