The Lost Day Part 5: All Good Things Must Come to an End

by Brandon Ford

It will have been a long seven years at Hogwarts, but all good things must come to an end. On an A&E biography, J.K. Rowling said that she has written the Epilogue to the books, which basically tells what happens to each of the characters after the end of Book Seven. I, too, would like to throw my hat into the ring and speculate as to what will happen.

1. The fate of Dumbledore

Sorry Dumbledore, but you gotta die. Dumbledore is the Obi-Wan Kenobi of this scenario. He is the wizened old mentor who must prepare the young hero before his big confrontation. As an archetype by definition, he must die. But there is a better reason: he loves Harry. Dumbledore WOULD NEVER allow Harry to face Voldemort alone. To face Voldemort is Harry’s destiny. But, Dumbledore cares too much for Harry to throw him to the wolves without trying to protect him. The lengths Dumbledore went through on the ‘Lost Day’ tell us that he will do whatever necessary to protect Harry, no matter what the Prophecy says. The only way Harry can fight Voldemort is alone. I predict Dumbledore has to die fighting in the crucial climax of Half-Blood Prince because, narratively, Rowling is taking us into darker and darker territory. Things have to be at the absolute lowest point before Book Seven begins. Dumbledore has to go down so that Harry has no choice but face Voldemort without the aid of “the only one he ever feared.”

2. Ron & Hermione: Yay or Nay?

To continue our Star Wars parallel (because those movies are big budget archetypes), Ron and Hermione are our Han and Leia. They are sidekicks. They are comic relief. They are going to hook up. Some argue that Harry and Hermione are supposed to get together. I say NO to you! Harry can have no female attachments at this point. If he is our Luke, his job is to be alone. Remember, in Book Four we learn the person that Harry cares the most about is Ron (and this is AFTER he started liking girls). Ron and Hermione, however, will together play the crucial role of helping Harry get as far as he needs to before having to go off on their own for their own adventure while Harry tangos with Voldemort. It is obvious at this point that Ron likes Hermione. Will it come to fruition to actually be seen in the books? At the speed Ron is going, not likely. But Ron needs to step up. I see them together, however; if not in the books, eventually.

3. The Mystery of the Appointments

Isn’t it interesting that Trelawney works as Divination teacher even though Dumbledore was going to discontinue Divination? He could have easily hidden her somewhere, like in the ministry so that in case she gave another Prophecy, it could be recorded. Isn’t it also strange that two years after the Prophecy, Hogwarts gets another new employee: Snape, an acquitted Death Eater with an abnormal obsession with the Dark Arts? Then there’s Filch: the only employee (with the exception of the newly appointed Firenze) that is not a wizard (Binns is a ghost meaning he used to be a wizard, Hagrid would have been had he finished school, and if you say Dobby, I will hunt you down!) to work at Hogwarts. As what, a janitor? There’s Firenze: exiled from his kind with an affinity for Harry Potter and the power to predict the future through the stars. When did Hogwarts turn into a halfway house for societal rejects?

A) I think Trelawney is now in mortal danger. There is a chance Voldemort might disregard the Prophecy but I doubt it. Eventually he’ll discover who made the Prophecy and that will lead him to Trelawney. I think he will devise some means of extracting it directly from the source. B) Snape is there for his own protection, but also so Dumbledore can keep an eye on him. Should Voldemort discover his treachery, it might be safe for Snape to be close to Dumbledore. C) In CoS, we discover Filch is a Squib. I think there is something else to him. If there were an attack on the school, Filch wouldn’t stand a chance alone. He obviously couldn’t go to Hogwarts as a student, since he possesses no real magic power. I think Filch has a secret (HBP??? I doubt it, but you never know). He knows something or is able to do something and Dumbledore needs him close. After all, the house-elves could do all the cleaning. And Hagrid could easily patrol the inside of the school as well as the grounds. I think Filch is more than meets the eye. D) Firenze knows that wheels are in motion, but he is rebellious against the other Centaurs who feel that they should stay neutral. Firenze is wise and possesses knowledge of the past that could be very crucial to defeating Voldemort. Not to mention, Dumbledore seems to be trying to summon a sort of United Nations of species in his quest to defeat the Dark Lord. Firenze may, in the end, be able to rally the Centaurs together for a last hurrah in the Great War.

4. The Initial Confrontation

In a great saga between good and evil, there must be an initial confrontation between the opposing forces. In the climax of Book Six, Harry will have towillingly fight Voldemort. Like the first battle between Luke and Darth Vader, Harry will enter this battle ill-equipped. As much as Voldemort wants Harry dead, at some point Voldemort will realize that he will be taking a huge risk by trying to kill Harry with Avada Kedavra since he still doesn’t know all the Prophecy. A stronger Harry than their previous meetings (which were not confrontations because in the first, Harry was a baby; the next two times it wasn’t the REAL, whole Voldemort; the fourth time Harry was tortured and forced to fight and was scared out of his mind; and lastly at the MoM, Harry was caught off guard by Voldemort’s sudden appearance), Harry will fight to the best of his abilities and be beaten. Before a deathblow can be administered, Dumbledore will intervene and be destroyed in an effort to give Harry time to escape. Harry is all that matters in these confrontations. Do I think he’ll lose a hand? No! But he’ll go home beaten, bruised and broken.

5. Pettigrew and the Final Confrontation

***Before I begin with this, on a related note, I have received several comments about Pettigrew and Voldemort’s wand. Remember: the 12 Muggles were NOT killed using Avada Kedavra. Prior Incantato (not to be confused with Priori Incantatem) shows the LAST spell used. Pettigrew didn’t use Avada Kedavra on the Muggles because as we learn in GoF, Avada Kedavra leaves no actual damage to what it is used on (to those wishing to cite the statues in the Ministry of Magic, remember that Dumbledore animated those statues and brought them to life. They can’t “die” because they were never alive to begin with so they shattered.) With Priori Incantatem (the wand connection thing), since Voldemort cast Avada Kedavra, anyone that was Avada Kedavra-ed would come out of the wand. So, the 12 Muggles shouldn’t come out of his wand because Avada Kedavra wasn’t used on them. Pettigrew blew up the STREET and THAT killed the Muggles.

Also, in reference to Pettigrew as Secret-Keeper:
1) The fact that in PoA it does say that Dumbledore gave testimony wouldn’t change the fact that Sirius would still be Secret-Keeper along with Pettigrew, thus the secret would be kept by two different people. Is that possible for two different spells to be used on two different people for the same secret? I don’t know; ask JKR. Sirius would still be in danger and a target from Voldemort and the issue of changing Secret-Keepers would then be irrelevant because Sirius WOULD STILL KNOW and be ‘Numero Uno’ on Voldemort’s hit list.

2) I totally concede to your point about what Dumbledore told Harry and Hermione. I TOTALLY FORGOT THAT POINT! Ten points to you all. I would like to defer your question to JKR, because Sirius says that it was his idea to change Secret-Keepers at the last minute, but since Dumbledore cast the first spell, would Sirius or James and Lily have the power to undo a DUMBLEDORE spell and change it? And if that’s possible, then wouldn’t Voldemort, a much more powerful wizard, easily be able to change the spell? Thus he wouldn’t need Pettigrew. (FAQ question, JKR. HINT, HINT!)***

Back on topic, inspired by the death of Dumbledore, Harry will constantly be training to defeat Voldemort in Book Seven. With Dumbledore out of the way, McGonagall will be the new Headmistress. With no Dumbledore, Voldemort will make his move on Hogwarts, the last bastion of safety. This, I think, is where Trelawney’s life will be in danger. With access to Trelawney, Voldemort may hear the whole Prophecy… but maybe not. Harry will be put in a position where he will most assuredly be killed… except – enter Peter Pettigrew. Don’t forget, Peter Pettigrew owes Harry one for sparing his life in PoA. And as we learned there, when a wizard saves your life, there is a binding tie (See James’ saving Snape’s Life – Snape couldn’t rest unill he paid back the debt). YOU HAVE TO RETURN THE FAVOR. For good or ill, Pettigrew may end up messing up Voldemort’s plan to kill Harry. At that point the greatest wizarding duel of our time will take place.

6. The Death List

I think these people have to die:

1) Dumbledore – see above. I don’t want it to happen, but there you go.
2) Peter Pettigrew – In order to even out the deal, he must sacrifice his life to save Harry.
3) Lupin – I have the sneaking suspicion that ALL the Marauders have to die in some way protecting Harry. Remember: Harry has to be alone!
4) Bellatrix Lestrange – She must be brought to justice. The question is who does it: Neville because of his parents or Harry because of Sirius? I don’t think she can go crazy like Neville’s parents cause she already IS crazy. She can’t go to Azkaban cause we been there, done that. She’s going down and she’s going down hard.

Snape can’t die. Mean people live forever. The good die young, which leads me to…

7. Harry – To Be or Not To Be

In the FINAL CONFRONTATION, Harry has to die. There are no two ways about it. He will fulfill the Prophecy by willingly going to Voldemort and sacrificing himself in order to vanquish him. JKR has been careful not to give Harry any binding ties. We got rid of Cho and we’ll have to wait and see if anything develops with Luna or Ginny. Whenever they discuss his future, it’s always WHATEVER RON WANTS TO DO! Every time they pick classes, Harry always just picks the same one as Ron. When asked what he wants to be when he grows up, he doesn’t know. Ron thought about being an Auror and suddenly that was a great idea for Harry. But what could Harry possibly do after killing Voldemort? You can’t really go any higher. Not to mention, the Mirror of Erised. Harry won’t be truly happy until he’s with his parents. That requires death. He will die a good death. But…

8. The Loophole

With JKR, it’s never that simple. There’s always a catch. When Voldemort was going to kill him in PS/SS, he had the “love mark” from his mother. In CoS, Fawkes’ tears saved him. In PoA, he saved himself with time-travel and a good Patronus. In GoF, it was Priori Incantatem and the wand relationship. In OotP, it was “the power which the Dark Lord knows not.” JKR has this funny habit of getting Harry to the point of death and then saving him by some catch. Although, the final death may be permanent; with the exception of Ron and Hermione, Harry has no ties to this world. They have each other; they don’t need him. He could easily die. But I think that mysterious power in the Department of Mysteries will be the loophole that saves Harry from death.

9. Betcha Thought There Couldn’t Be A #9

The other stuff is so depressing. Let’s think about the good things:

1. O.W.L. Scores – they get those back in Book Six. Harry will have good enough marks in Potions to warrant his admission to Snape’s N.E.W.T. class. It’s just no fun without Potions. Hermione will get top marks of course. Ron will do better than Harry (he gets higher Potion grades!).2. The D.A. – More fun lessons. It will now be a sanctioned activity by Dumbledore. We got a small preview of the DA in CoS with Lockhart’s Dueling Club. It will be back.

3. Neville – He’s not takin’ any more crap! Expect a prouder Neville armed with a new wand and ready to kick butt!

4. Quidditch – If we are to assume that Angelina Johnson was in Fred and George’s year, she has graduated. Harry SHOULD be Quidditch captain by default, unless Alicia Spinnet is still on the team (not sure what year she is). Harry should be Quidditch captain, yet I am haunted by Ron’s vision in the Mirror of Erised. Harry was out of commission all last year and didn’t play his fourth year. Will Umbridge’s ban cost him the captaincy?

5. Fun With Apparation – I foresee Apparating lessons in the near future; sort of like a driver’s ed course. Only problem is it has to be done in the summer, because you can’t apparate on school grounds.

And that’s all, folks.