Predictions about the New (and last) Harry Potter book.

1) The fact that Harry saved Peter Pettigrew's life in book three will play some part in saving Harry's life in book seven. Albus Dumbledore mentioned a magical link that this action would create, pointing out that Voldemort would have a servant indebted to his enemy.

2) Severus Snape will turn out to have been true to Dumbledore and the Order of the Pheonix all along; and Dumbledore and Snape to have planned for Dumbledore to die by Snape's hand rather than Draco Malfoy's. Too much was left unnaccounted for, for us to assume, as Harry does, that Dumbledore was mistaken. I refer to the unbreakable vow, Dumbledore's mysterious confidence in Snape (the reason for which he never disclosed) and his uncharacteristic pleading at the point of Snape's wand during the death scene.

3) Dumbledore's role in Harry's life did not end completely in book six. There will be some continuing help from Dumbledore in some way. The bit about his portait slumbering on the headmaster's wall was tantalizing.

4) Harry will not die. This story is not a tragedy but an epic. The plot does not trundle along the line's of a flaw in Harry's character; rather it follows his struggle as he grows in strength and approaches his final battle. The story would be pointless if he lost. Nor is it a story of his sacrificing his life for others. The particular moral proportions of this story would be destroyed if the hero and the villian ended up sharing the same fate.

After I read the book I'll follow up and account for how my predictions line up.

One thing about which I wonder is how Draco Malfoy's story will end. Will his costly redemption from the lip of the moral pit, by Snape and Dumbledore, prove effective? Or will Malfoy's weakness, bad associations, or love of bullying drag him down to Voldemort's hell of servitude in spite of their efforts? How will Dumbledore's "mercy matter?"

Today I saw a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel newspaper headline:

Will Harry Die? No; young readers won't tolerate their hero's death (or) Yes; Harry is linked to Voldemort's fate.

I found this incredbily condescending. As much of a financial success as the books have been, that's due to their literary value, not any Hollywood tricks. J.K. Rowling knows what she is doing and where her story is going. If anything's clear after six books, it's that. She won't shy from an obvious conclusion to her story out of fear her readers can't handle it. Furthermore, anyone who has stuck with Harry this far, no matter what his age, can handle whatever ending makes sense, provided it follows a moral continuum with the rest of the story.

The link to Harry's fate is probably taken from the words of the prophecy. But I've already discussed that. Ms. Rowling is evidently very concerned with the moral shape of her created Universe.

See you all on the other side of the Deathly Hallows.