7/9/07 I heart Harry

Okay, I have a confession to make. I am secretly obsessed with Harry Potter. (What? You were expecting maybe a juicer confession? I shot JFK? I've had an alien encounter? Perhaps that I was a 4th grade criminal? Sorry). The reason that this is a confession is because it's a series of children's books (or at least for teens), and I am not a child, but I really really really like them. And I'm not talking about the movies, which are okay, but I'm a Harry Potter purist, which means that it has to come directly from Rowling's pen in order to get me going). I've been lurking on Mugglenet for ages, picking up juicy bits about what everybody thinks will happen in the last book. I cannot describe how sad I am that this is the end of Harry. I mean, I know all stories must eventually end, but "ze books, they are just so well written!" I have read and reread all my Harry Potter books so many times that I have entire sections memorized. I scored a perfect 20 on this Harry Potter trivia quiz. I reference Harry Potter in real world situations, such as, "Wow Tony! Your hockey team was really flying across the ice tonight! So fast paced! It looked just like a game of Quidditch!" (Tony is not a Harry Potter fan, so he does not appreciate what a fabulous compliment that is. He actually claims that I have a crush on Harry Potter because I spend so much time reading the same stories over and over again. I say that's ridiculous...Harry is only turning 17 this summer (actually, his birthday is this month!) so he's waaaaay too young for me. Well, maybe just a little crush, in a completely platonic, he's-a-fictional-character kind of way). Anyway, I've already set aside the entire weekend of the 21st for laying in bed and reading Deathly Hallows. I think I'll have it finished before work on Monday, but if necessary, I'll take Monday off to finish it. (I know my limits. I would never be able to put the last HP book down halfway through and go to work anyway!)

Everybody's guessing what's going to happen, and Slate even went as far as to publish the "last page" of the book, which I seriously doubt is real, because I greatly disliked how they thought it would end. Here's my predictions:

Snape turns out to be good after all, and will probably end up saving Harry's life, but ends up dying in the process.
I also think Hagrid dies (Rowling claims that 2 characters die in this last book, and that she cried when she wrote it. I know a lot of people think that Hermione or Ron die, but you gotta remember that it is a children's book, and yes, Dumbledore died in the last one, but to kill off one of Harry's best friends? That would just be too crushing...besides, I think Ron and Hermione get together in the end, so you can't kill them).
Of course, Harry defeats Voldemort, because good always wins over evil.
And after Voldemort dies, I think that Harry returns to Hogwarts to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts.
Harry and Ginny end up together.
Neville does something heroic too, because he's just due.

There. I may be totally wrong on all of it, but there's my two cents. We'll come back and revisit it after the 21st and see how close I am. In the mean time, I'm rereading all the previous books one last time before the new one comes out so that I'm completely refreshed on all the tiny details.

Did I mention that I was obsessed?