Harry Potter SPOILERS HERE

[Tharkun]

(Ah, yes, that was a theory I missed: I say the HBP was Gryffindor. Or at least someone from that period or before, but as there's a connection to CoS...)

Makes sense, but if it follows CoS, maybe it's the heir of Gryffindor instead of Gryffindor himself.

Could be, but JKR has dropped about as many hints that Harry is the Heir of Gryffindor as she has that Ron and Hermione will get together, so I don't think so. (Example: "What is the significance of the Potters' hideout being named Godric's Hollow?" "Ooooh, you caught that, did you?" to paraphrase an interview shortly before OotP.)

I know, it utterly clashes with her blood-doesn't-matter theme. I'm displeased too.

Anyway, there hasn't been wizarding monarchy since before the 1100s (earliest mention of the Wizarding Council in QttA,) thus my insistence on the time period.

[Josephine]

Speaking of wizarding monarchy (well, kind of) who do you think will become the next Minister of Magic? Madam Bones would be quite cool.

[Tharkun]

Speaking of wizarding monarchy (well, kind of) who do you think will become the next Minister of Magic? Madam Bones would be quite cool.

Too cool, really. Structurally, HBP has to be the belly of the whale, and though I can see Madam Bones rallying a lot of support behind her, she can't, because she's the best option.

Though Dumbledore as Minister would suck in a number of ways, he's spending too much time with Harry on the covers alone to make that plausible. Furthermore, he's not that stupid.

I don't have any actual candidates to put forward - just a basic premise that they have to suck.

On another note, Mungo's obviously isn't a den of sin, as Arthur Weasley and Minerva McGonagall both came out alive, but I'm not so sure about Healer Strout.

And another note - Neville's strain to think of happy thoughts in "Centaur and the Sneak" will definitely be important, and may play a role in his poor memory.

[Josephine]

Ooh! Remember in GOF when we found out the forgetful Ministry Witch Wormtail had captured and brought to Voldemort - Bertha Jorkins - had been tortured with Cruciatus Curse up to a point where her memory was damaged beyond repair? Maybe something similar happened to Neville when he was a baby, along with parents being driven insane by the same curse. Highly doubtful of course, but it's a theory.

EDIT

Mmmk, just checked out the HP Lexicon and found this -

"I think it is very possible that Neville's forgetfulness is the result of Memory Charms placed upon him as a small boy to make him forget witnessing his parents' torture. Memory charms do affect a person's mental ability, as we see with Bertha Jorkins."

Ah.

[Asparagus Queen]

http://195.137.125.242/hpforums/index.php?

*points up* A good Harry Potter forum.



http://www.mugglenet.com/editorials/edi ... al01.shtml

Has anyone seen that article? It's pretty good, and rather convincing! Says that Caradoc Dearborn is the HBP...

[Sapphire Faerie]

http://www.mugglenet.com/editorials/edi ... al01.shtml

Has anyone seen that article? It's pretty good, and rather convincing! Says that Caradoc Dearborn is the HBP...

OOoooh. That's really interesting. Especially about the King Arthur folklore guy being a half-blood prince

[Tharkun]

It's a great observation, but allow me to take this space to say that I am fed up with people who say Peter Pettigrew is stupid and talentless. Anyone who can cook up such an elaborate frame-up in ten seconds is not stupid, and anyone who can perform the Avada Kedavra curse is not talentless. Sirius underestimated Peter, and that is why the Potters are dead. Capisce?

[Xandra]

It's a great observation, but allow me to take this space to say that I am fed up with people who say Peter Pettigrew is stupid and talentless. Anyone who can cook up such an elaborate frame-up in ten seconds is not stupid, and anyone who can perform the Avada Kedavra curse is not talentless. Sirius underestimated Peter, and that is why the Potters are dead. Capisce?

Agreed- agreed on every single level. Peter may be a traitor, but he's no idiot. Nor is he a coward, for that matter. He's dedicated to what he believes in- like all Gryffindors.

The man is brave. A bit psychotic and homicidal, yes, but brave- courage comes in different forms. Remember, he cut off his own hand to bring Voldemort back. He betrayed his best friends- no coward could do that.

Same goes to everyone who thinks the Marauders weren't equal. Perhaps not entirely in friendship (we all know James and Sirius were best friends, moreso than they were to Remus and Peter), but definitely in power- hey, three of them became animagi before they were seventeen, and one survives transforming into a wolf against his own will once every month.

And dude, the Marauders Map, remember?


Marauder dissing is one of my biggest sore points. Really, really gets to me. Okay, so insult them when they weren't the Marauders anymore, or hate them for their bullying Snape (I'll admit I hold no amount of love towards them for that), but don't start saying, "Peter's a moronic weakling coward who's near being a squib!" or "Sirius and James were so much smarter/more powerful/better/um, better than Peter and Remus! and hotter lolz" or "SIRIUS, REMUS AND JAMES DIDN'T ACTUALLY LIKE PETER, THEY WERE JUST PRETENDING BECAUSE HE WASN'T HAWT".

...Alright, so maybe the Marauders weren't totally equal and "let's go be friends forever and make daisy chains". As you said, they never suspected Peter could be the traitor. And Sirius did think Remus was the spy, I believe (I need to re-read PoA).

[Asparagus Queen]

I don't understand why anyone would call Peter stupid after he blew up a whole street. A loser maybe, but a pretty powerful loser. I think maybe in his first school years he wasn't doing so well, but he learned. And people picked on him because he was a 'dork', not because he was not powerful.

Also, he did hide his powers from good people. I don't think anyone saw him do anything incredible, they all thought Sirius blew up the street, and no one saw him kill Cedric except for Harry and DE's. It's possible that he never let on that he knew what he was doing.

[Nulashae]

I don't understand why anyone would call Peter stupid after he blew up a whole street. A loser maybe, but a pretty powerful loser. I think maybe in his first school years he wasn't doing so well, but he learned. And people picked on him because he was a 'dork', not because he was not powerful.

Also, he did hide his powers from good people. I don't think anyone saw him do anything incredible, they all thought Sirius blew up the street, and no one saw him kill Cedric except for Harry and DE's. It's possible that he never let on that he knew what he was doing.

Agrees. His appearence may lead to one thinking that he's cowardly, stupid... etc. but it's just another thing he's got going for him. Oooo...

Back when I was reading book two about heirs and what-not, I was actually thinking maybe Ron was. His whole family has been in Gryfindor house... Isn't his family pure blood? I don't know, maybe I'm going crazy, I need to reread the books. But if the heir isn't Harry, I'd bet it's Ron.

[smudgeoffudge]

http://www.mugglenet.com/viewer/?image_location=hbp/ukcover_extended.jpg

In this image, what do you see?

Harry and Dumbledore seem almost to be levetated. Harry's legs do not seem to be touching anything solid. The glowing near their feet is either caused by a camara flash or is part of the image itself. I do not think it is part of the image however, but just happened when they tried to take a picture of this sticker or peice of cardboard or whatever it is made of. Anyway, near what would be Dumbledore's feet you can see *something* depending on how you look at it, it could be an animal, his boot, or a sack. To me it looks like a black sack with a rope leading up. But if you look at another way, what is the "neck" part of a sack could be a fold in his robes and all the black part of the sack could just be shadows. I don't really know what I am looking at here. But I say it is a sack, because if it isn't then how can rope be tied around a fold in Dumbledore's robes? And if there isn't a sack there, than what is that thing in the right bottom corner anyway? The more I look at it, the more confused I become. It is like looking at that illusion of the vase and the face. I don't know if I am seeing a sack or what.

What do you see here?

[Paul]

http://www.mugglenet.com/viewer/?image_location=hbp/ukcover_extended.jpg

In this image, what do you see?

I see some guy with horns. I also find that it's interesting the photographer pointed they're camera straight at at the thing, I don't believe someone would obscure it with a flash on purpose. If you were taking a picture of something, the general idea is to aim at the thing you're taking a picture of directly; e.g Harry & Dumbledore, but it's pointed at the thing below...

[Asthaloth]

Looks like a cat to me
with egyptian stylised collar and feet-things.
maybe i have egypt on the mind, but it deffinetly looks like a cat, or some weird dog.

oh.

[Sapphire Faerie]

It's probably just a buckle or something on Dumbledore's shoe.

[Josephine]

It's probably just a buckle or something on Dumbledore's shoe.

That's what I thought, to be honest.

JKR is way too clever/evil to reveal spoilers about the next book through cover art.

The artist can't have even read the book yet... It's just a general picture.