We finally get to go to Azkaban! Dung is there, having been arrested in HBP. But Dung swears he doesn't have the Locket. After some coaxing and deal-making (does Harry use his newfound influence to get Dung out of prison early? Is Dung's six-month sentence over?) Dung tells Harry that he sold the Locket to the bartender in Hogsmeade. Harry vaguely remembers this man, who always looks somehow familiar. Will Harry confront Lucius Malfoy while he is at Azkaban? How satisfying it would be to see Malfoy in ragged robes, behind bars. I hope that Harry manages to free poor Stan Shunpike while he's at it, before rallying the troops and following the next lead.

The Trio goes to Hogsmeade, perhaps with Dung in tow, and meets the bartender who turns out, of course, to be Aberforth Dumbledore, Albus' enigmatic brother. Aberforth will then join the story and reveal whatever it is that he has to share. If Aberforth has the Locket, I do not believe he knows it is a Horcrux. If he did, he would surely have told Albus. Since Albus knew about Mundungus' pilfering of Sirius' estate, it seems that Aberforth told him of their Hogsmeade encounter. Did Aberforth take the Locket? Did he put it somewhere safe, knowing it is now Harry's? Did he return it to #12 Grimmauld Place, where Harry now has to return, full-circle in order to find it?

Does he help Harry to destroy it? Aberforth is such a mystery at this point, there is no way to say what to expect from him. However, I suspect that Dumbledore's few words about him might have been intentionally misleading. Perhaps the best cover for Aberforth is to make the world believe there is nothing too interesting or special about him. I can imagine Aberforth much as Brandon describes him in his recent Underground Lake article: a sort of rough-hewn Albus, using an unassuming cover to secure him the most useful place from which to contribute to the cause. I can see him running a rather shady, black-market trade in bezoars, perhaps even doing regular business with the likes of Mundungus. (Remember, the Hog's Head still smells like goats.) He is certainly surly and can't be described as ever having been friendly or gregarious. But I cannot imagine him useless or otherwise incapable. In fact, I suspect he will be quite helpful, though very different from Albus in his views, perspectives and gifts.

What is the Dumbledore family tree like? Were all the Dumbledores powerful wizards? Is there a direct line to Godric Gryffindor or even possibly Merlin himself? Or, were they humble Muggleborns? Was Albus a Muggleborn wizard, and was Aberforth simply a Muggle, like their parents? Were Albus and Aberforth half-bloods of some interesting mixed parentage? Is Aberforth a Squib? A powerful wizard in his own right? Will Aberforth shed light on the Dumbledore family history, and perhaps the defeat of Grindelwald? All scenarios are possible, depending upon which, if any, of these plot teasers has a bearing on the outcome of the story.

So, to encapsulate: I think we may begin on Privet Drive, as it is tradition. GoF and HBP veered away from this pattern, but I think we may return again. It feels neat and tidy to me to begin the last book where we began the first. Petunia and Harry will have some reckoning and exchange of valuable information. Ron and Hermione say they'll be with him there. I hope so. I have always wanted to see the Dursleys have to deal with more wizards in their lives, and to see clearly how highly respected and loved Harry is in his world. Then, we'll probably be off to the wedding, where Harry will encounter Ginny again, and her role in the adventure will begin to unfold. Harry is anxious to get to Godric's Hollow, so I don't expect him to delay long. Hagrid would be the most obvious helper here, as he is the one who brought Harry out of the rubble all those years ago. It would be fitting for him to put Harry back on Sirius' motorcycle and head back to the Hollow together, Ron and Hermione in tow. Unless they wait until after Harry's birthday, Harry won't be able to Apparate. Ron didn't pass the test yet either, and Hagrid most assuredly cannot Apparate, having never completed his third year of schooling. So I imagine it will be either a portkey or broomsticks and motorcycles. Something they find or discover there may put them on the road to the Locket and RAB, from whence they will begin their circular journey from #12 Grimmauld Place and Hogwarts to Azkaban to the Hog's Head and finally back to #12.

From there, we are on to the destruction of the Locket and the rest of the Horcrux journey, and I cannot begin to surmise where that will lead us next.

The only other thing that stands out to me and to many of you is that Dumbledore did reveal the location of the Order to the Dursleys - all three of them. Why? Will the Dursleys have need of a new home or hiding place after Lily's blood protection expires? Did Dumbledore foresee this and make sure to share the secret with them before he died? I confess the idea of the Dursleys at #12 Grimmauld Place is about the most delicious plot device I can imagine. I hope Jo makes use of it. With Jo's sense of humor and this scenario brewed in a Plot Potion cauldron, the possibilities are simply endless.

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