It's Harry Potter Day!

by Rebecca the Bookseller

This is it, kids. This is the day. Tonight, at midnight, we will all hold the grand finale in our hands. A book. A big, beautiful book. Not a video. Not a game with a controller. Not a computer or a PDA or even an iPhone. A book.

In Pittsburgh, PA, everyone who is anyone will be in Oakmont. Dinner in costume, complete with decorations (the House Banners, the Sorting Hat, Hedwig, Crookshanks, Moaning Myrtle's toilet seat - you name it, one of us has got it).

Then to the Oaks Theater for a special 9 pm showing of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" - the 5th movie in the series.

After that, we parade - in costume - (yours truly as Trelawney), a block down the street to The Mystery Lovers Bookshop for pumpkin juice, Bertie Botts, chocolate frogs and the countdown. The store and the sidewalk outside will be full of people families - sometimes three generations - all there for the same thing. And it's not a rock concert or a celebrity siting or a movie set. It's a book. I'll admit it, it makes me cry every time.

Even if you are not a fan of the books, please pay attention. Go to a store - or watch the coverage. Because these days, we need to celebrate the good. We need to cherish the things that make us a community. We need to show our children, and everyone else's children, that people can sometimes come together to do something other than fight.

***

NO SPOILERS*NO SPOILERS*NO SPOILERS*NO SPOILERS*NO SPOILERS

I for one have been VERY CAREFUL not to read any spoilers on The Deathly Hallows. Yes, I know they are out there, but they ARE NOT WELCOME HERE. If you already know what happens, and you want to share, feel free to do it someplace else, okay? Thanks.

HAVING SAID THAT, what follows is from the end of HALF-BLOOD PRINCE. If you have not yet finished the 6th Book in the Series, skip the stuff in italics.

Now - I re-read most of the Half-Blood Prince and here is a recap of the end - remember to skip this part if you haven't finished it yet:

When we last left Harry, he was on the grounds of Hogwarts, immediately after Dumbldore's funeral. He had just told Ginny that they could no longer see eachother, but was unable to dissuade Ron and Hermoine from coming with him in his search for the remaining (four) Horcruxes. He carries the locket that held the note from R.A.B. that may indicate that the locket Horcrux has already been destroyed.

Albus Dumbledore is dead, killed by Snape's delivery of the Avada Kedavra curse. Snape stepped in and killed Dumbledore, despite the fact that Draco Malfoy had been instructed to do so, and in fact had every opportunity.

Bill Weasley, though bitten by a werewolf, is recovering and does not seem to have been turned. His wedding to Fleur is the only bright spot in Harry's immediate future.

The future of Hogwarts is uncertain.

J.K. Rowling has said that at least two main characters will die in The Deathly Hallows. Fans and foes of Severus Snape have been battling over his true alliances. Some fans even believe that Dumbledore may return.

OK - you can read now.

Tonight at midnight, we will all know. OK - probably closer to 6 or 7 am, we'll know - at least those of us ready to pull one final all-nighter for this magnificent series.

So, today it's all Potter all day here at TLC. Let's start with some basic predictions:

Who will die?
Severus Snape: hero or demon?
Albus Dumbledore: Dead or Alive?
Robbie Coltrane - perfect casting as Hagrid?
Viktor: Stud or The Studliest?

Update 530 pm - We are off to get costumed and out the door - here is the beginning of my Trelawney look - Jenn at my Salon out-did herself with the hair, huh? Wish we could all be together tonight, but at midnight, we'll share the Magic Moment!

Update 710 am. No spoilers, as promised. The book is magnificent. A fitting finale for a series destined to be among the greatest ever written. I turned each page with a mixture of anticipation and regret that I was one page closer to the end.

Comments

[Anon]

Now, I'm caught up with the HP books, but was it necessary to post spoilers for HP6? At least tuck them behind an extended entry so they're not on the main page! There are readers who are still working through the series at a much slower rate than the rest of us obsessed geeks.

[Rebecca the Bookseller]

Anon - you make an excellent point, and I shall do so immediately.

[Kerry, The Martial Tart]

I don't want to think about who will die. It's going to break my heart no matter who it is. I love them all!

Snape: yes. Either hero or demon. I actually don't want him to end up (in hindsight) as perfectly black or white, so to speak; I like his ambiguity, and hope it's maintained to the bitter end.

Dumbledore: Please, oh please, oh please let him still be alive. Somehow, somewhere.

Robbie Coltraine: YES!!!!!!!!!!!!! I loved Hagrid a hundred times more after seeing his portrayal. And may I please put in a shout-out to Dame Maggie Smith? She totally rocks.

Viktor: and Need I say more?

I didn't pre-order the book, figuring I'd just borrow from a friend. But dammit, Rebecca is right. I'm out of town today, but am going to find a bookstore and see if I can reserve one to pick up tomorrow! Celebrating books is too special to forego!

[Kerry, The Martial Tart]

Ack! Mr. Typepad is being mean. that should read:

Viktor: (sigh) and (swoon) and Need I say more?

[Rebecca the Bookseller]

Kerry - Mr. Typepad must be jealous of Viktor. For some reason, I had to fight to keep the entire blog from appearing in italics.

Now - I don't want to think about it either, but I am going to step up with a deadly prediction:

Neville will either die or suffer horribly as he avenges his parents - but he will avenge them. This boy is one of my absolutely favorite characters.

[beachfla]

I am not nearly as learned on all things Potter as my friend Kathy Reschini Sweeney, but I will attempt to answer the questions posed:
1. Harry is going to die. Most classical heroes do in literature, right?
2. Snape is good.
3. Dumbledore alive.
4. Robbie Coltrane - perfect casting!
5. Viktor - I'm with Kerry - The Studliest
Enuf said. We'll know all the answers by this time tomorrow, eh?!

[beachfla]

Rebecca, I think I'll be more upset if Neville dies than if Harry does!!

[Laura (in PA)]

I've just re-read the series in preparation for the movie and the book. I'm part of the way through HBP now, and though I won't be attending any of the parties tonight, I'll be there bright and early tomorrow for my book. I hope I'll get it read before I find out what happens some other way - last time I actually went a couple of months before reading the book, and managed not to hear about Dumbledore. I'm sure I wouldn't be that lucky this time.

I think it's amazing what this series has done for books in general, and it brings a tear to my eye as well. Even more gratifying is that they're not only commercially successful, but actually good, and fun to read for grown kids as well as the younger ones. And even re-reading - you become so much more aware of the underlying currents: political arguments, prejudice, just plain growing up. I found a lot more reading the series back to back, which I hadn't done before.

As far as my predictions, I have more of a wish list. Dumbledore isn't really dead, Snape ends up being a good guy who was in cahoots with Dumbledore to fake his death, and Harry lives forever. Yeah, I'm from the Disney age. Pathetic, aren't I?

Realistically, I'm sure I'm wrong. But I'll have my delusions for a few more hours. It will probably be more like this: Dumbledore is dead but still finds a way to help Harry; and Snape is a bad guy who gets his in the end. I refuse to believe that Harry will die. Even if he does in the book, I'll refuse to believe it. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if old Aunt Petunia has a role in the whole thing before it's all said and done.

Robbie Coltrane IS Hagrid. Viktor? Can't find the stud there at all.

Love the excitement. Can't believe I have to go to work instead of finishing HBP. Life just isn't fair.

[William Simon]

I might as well confess now, I'm not a Harry Potter reader. I tried the first two, could not get into them, and passed from there. Fantasy is not really my genre; I prefer more realistic movies like LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD (I would dearly love to have some of THAT computer technology in my lab!)

However, I may have to re-think my stance on Harry. A mysterious e-mail came this morning that reads, in part:

"If you don't read Harry Potter, you are a Big Dodo Brain. You better get the books and read them all RIGHT NOW. Because, as I've mentioned before, I know people. I know people who know people. Just sayin'."

Using my Highly Trained Investigator's Instincts, I'm pretty sure a certain Lady of the Blog sent this to me. It was not Elaine (too busy), it wasn't Harley (too kind), nor was it Michele (too sweet), Nancy (too adorable), Rebecca (too hectic prepping for tonight), or Sarah (too swamped enjoying the sales of TSBP).

Rule Number One: Round Up The Usual Suspects....

[Margie]

Hi. It's Me, Margie.

I am awake and I didn't even stay out all night. Glad to see some of my e-mails were delivered right on time this morning, too.

Know why I'm up and at 'em so early? It's because of Potter. Potter RULES. Everybody can read it - from my nieces to my great aunts. We all read it and then we all talk about it.

And just let me tell you something - these people who think that Potter is anti-faith or anti-Judeo Christian theology just because it has magic and it doesn't call God by some special name?

One word: Idiotic.

There are more clear lessons about good and evil and abuse of power and censorship and racism in these books than in half the allegedly religious stuff I've read. So get a freaking clue.

I will be back with my predictions - I mean, gawd, I just woke up I can't do everything for you people. Steve has some too, but his involve a game called Margie and the Sorceror's -- uh, never mind.

[ramona]

You people need to STOP TALKING ABOUT NEVILLE DYING!!!!

Sorry to shout, but IMO, Neville is the most heroic character in the series. I think you can feel JKR's affection for him through the pages. His journey parallels Harry's in a lot of ways, only he's done it without the talent and bravery and the cool scar. He's just soldiered on, two steps behind his more confident friends, but he's always stepped up, even against the threesome in the first book. I do think he'll get hurt, but more than anything, I want him to kill/maim/disembowel/behead or whatever Bellatrix. It must be done. Oh, and if he could kick Draco in the balls, that would be okay, too. If there were more Nevilles in the world, it would be a better place.

Viktor = Blond Bond in Potterdom. That's all I'm sayin'.

Lucious, I mean Lucius, Malfoy is pretty hot, too, but only in the movies.

I sincerely don't believe Harry will die, but I also don't think the series will be neatly wrapped up. I fear we are going to get an open ending, though maybe not as open as The Sopranos. I think some kids out there are expecting wedding bells for Harry and Ginny and Hermoine and Ron, but I think this book will end like all of the others--at the end of the school year.

Whatever happens, and whatever your personal opinion of the series, it's been a great thing to experience, like The Beatles. If you missed the phenomenon, you really missed out.

I'm with Margie. If you think Harry is the anti-Christ, you're just jealous.

All you need is Neville.

[Rebecca the Bookseller]

Ramona - I agree with you about Neville. Love that kid.

That's why I think he is going to play such an importatnt role in this book. I think he is destined for greatness and sometimes that means self-sacrifice. He will walk in eyes wide open too. That's what true heroes do.

PLEASE - don't even get me thinking that Rowling is going to pull a Chase - I will go completely batty all over again. I think she will give us some closure - maybe not a neatly tied bow on everyone, but I think she will give us a real ending.

[Katie]

My two cents:
Harry dies (I almost think she has to do this, just to keep anyone from taking over her series and writing a "sequel" - like the awful ones to Gone With the Wind and Rebecca).
Dumbledore isn't dead.
Snape is good.
I also think that Voldemort dies - and that Hermione kills him.
Wait and see...

[ramona]

BTW, y'all might want to wander over to JKR's official site. She's going to do her first US book tour in October of this year, with events planned for schoolchildren in NY, LA and New Orleans. She'll be doing a big event in the N.O. Convention Center, sight of some of Katrina's horrors. I don't know if that's why she chose New Orleans, but salut, Jo baby, for doing that.

Here's the link. It's a very cool site: http://www.jkrowling.com/en/thankyou.cfm

[Harley]

I'm dying to know the ending of Book 7, and I've only worked my way through Book 2. I need to brace myself for what shoes may drop from the sky five books down the road. I think this must be some sign of cowardice.

[Cinema Dave]

Who will die? Snape and Voldermort

Severus Snape: hero or demon?
Tragic hero, twisted by the times and envy of all things Potter. Alan Rickman is perfect for the role.

Albus Dumbledore: Dead or Alive?
J.K. Rowling admitted that once somebody dies in the "Harry Potter" universe, they stay dead. Unless they fear death, then they become a ghost that tries to relive their high school years.

Robbie Coltrane - perfect casting as Hagrid?
No, it should have been me. I am taller than Coltrane, but I am not British.

Viktor: Stud or The Studliest?
When I saw "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" on the IMAX screen, the teenage girls just melted when Cedric Diggotry made his entrance. I mean SWOONED.

[Rebecca the Bookseller]

Katie -

Good lord - I thought I had successfully blocked the horror that was "Scarlett" from my brain. Beyond disgrace.

But I still don't think Harry dies. I do think that at least one Weasley dies. The harshest cut would be Ginny, but I don't think that will happen either. One of the twins?

And while we're on the Weasleys, I have faith in Percy. I think Percy will reveal himself to be true to the Good Fight.

Ramona - JKR seems to be a very cool person. I've seen her website and it rocks.

Harley - you will love reading these with your kids as they get older. These books got my son to actually read a whole book for the first time.

[michele martinez]

Oh, I totally disagree. NO WAY Harry dies. I just can't, cannot, will not believe she'd do that. J.K. maintains a pretty traditional pact with her readers, and Harry isn't the typical tragic hero blinded by hubris a la the Greeks. He may have suffered tragedy, and J.K. may love to quote from mythology and fables, but at heart he's a good-guy action hero straight out of Hollywood. He'll win in the end. He has to. Which means Voldemort will be defeated somehow, at least temporarily.

Most Likely to Die: Ginny Weasly (won't miss her, but Harry will), Hermione (THAT will break my heart), Hagred, Neville. I think Ron will be spared, if only because he's so ineffectual that his loss would hurt less than that of others. I do think J.K. plans to make us grieve.

Snape -- this is a tough one. Snape and Dumbledore are a dyad. If Snape is evil, then Dumbledore is dead. If Snape is good, there's a chance Dumbledore is alive. I'm going with the literal here. Part of what makes J.K. dark is that she recognizes the existence of evil in the world and its capacity to trump good simply by being ruthless. Dumbledore's belief that Snape was on his side was just wrong-headed and soft, and he paid the ultimate price for it.

[michele martinez]

PS -- Viktor is a stud, the only character in the series with the teensiest bit of sex appeal.

But Ramona, Lucius Malfoy? I suppose it makes sense if you carry Blond Bond to the extreme, but think about the casting, hon. He's the perfect architype of the Aryan/Nazi.

[Rebecca the Bookseller]

Hi Dave - thanks for keeping quiet on the book (Dave has actually touched Book #7)

I'm with you on Snape - I think he tried, but he hates the entire Potter family too much - and it keeps him going back to the Dark Side.

Man, I hope you are right on both Snape and Voldemort - care to guess who kills them? I like Katie's call - it would be like Eowyn!

I agree on Cedric, but he's dead, so I'm sticking with Viktor.

[Rebecca the Bookseller]

Michele - amen on Harry.

And Ramona - she's right about Malfoy. Double Yuck on he and his old man and their creepy blond hair. I'll bet Blond Bond would take them out post haste - kinda like that Indiana Jones scene with all the fancy sword work.

But HAGRID?! No! I hadn't even thought of that! Oh, man, now I'm sick. And not just about the White House, I mean the Ministry of Magic...

[Maryann]

Well, although I haven't read HBP, I don't mind the spoilers. Since I work in a bookstore populated by Hogwartsians (?)it is hard NOT to hear. I was at the store until midnight (when one of my fellow-Potter people gleefully announced...only 24 hours! I can hardly wait! She's doing a Harry Potter version of Jeopardy) and then got up at 5:30 am to make guacamole for the potluck...my brain is fried, but I will bravely soldier on and don my Professor Sprout regalia before I leave for Hogwarts this evening (Rebecca, I'd love to be there...sounds SO fun)
My predictions? Harry Lives(because after all, we need to believe good triumphs over evil, even if only in fiction). Snape and Ron don't make it, although Dumbledore uses a channel from beyond to come back for the final showdown. Hagrid (I adore Robbie Coltrane too btw) is wounded but not killed.
Hermione? The greatest witch ever uses the Time Turner (or a spell) to help Harry (I know this was done in HP3 but it worked, so why not?).
Snape? Good but with dark undertones. I think he and Dumblebore made a pact long ago that, for the greater good, Snape would infiltrate the Death-Eaters...deep cover if you will. Being a Slytherin and having the endearing qualities of snide remarks, death-wise pallor and a penchant for nasty potions, he would have had little trouble. Lily Potter was the only one he trusted to know the truth. In the final battle, he'll be the one who sacrifices himself to save Harry...I think. Of course, it doesn't matter than I think Alan Rickman is amazing as Snape and want him to be a hero of sorts. :o)
Neville? I think Harry will find he needs him before this is over.
Viktor? Dies unrepentant and casting one final spell.
Oh and He Who Must Not Be Named? Dead, but leaving just a speck of residual evil...after all, the good guys have to have a challenge so they can live happily ever after :o)
No matter what happens, JK Rowling has managed to cross the gender and age divide...Dumbledore's Army will live forever!

[Kerry, The Martial Tart]

Just a thought here -- but does anyone thing Snape might just be arrogant enough to think that Voldemort isn't good enough for him? That he could be trying to use Voldemort himself to prove himself in the eyes of whatever? In that light, he could also have been using Dumbledore all along . . .

[beachfla]

I'm with you, Katie. We share the same Potter world view!

[ramona]

I'm sticking with the Lucius love--but ONLY in the movies and ONLY because Jason Isaacs is a cutie and, IRL, probably a nice guy, because you can just the glee in his eye. "I'm the bad guy! It's so much fun being the bad guy!" Remember him in The Patriot? Same thing.

Michele, I'm thinking you'd have an entirely different take if, say, Clive Owen was cast as Malfoy. Hmmm?

I wonder if Viktor will die saving Hermoine? Cliche, but what a swoony way to go. I don't believe he's one of the two major characters rumored to die, but I think there's going to be quite a body count.