Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Having read all the six part of Harry Potter, I was wondering what I would do till I get the seventh edition in my hands. After being addicted to HP for the whole of December, I am finding it tough to lift another novel or to continue the novel which I was reading before laying my hands on HP & the Sorcerers’ Stone.

I started off with reading any available information on HP from various Internet site. My major source of information was Wikipedia and Leaky Cauldron. I was also fascinated by the official J.K. Rowling site, and ended up spending quality time trying to find out the Easter eggs hidden in the sites. I also watched the trailers of HP and the Order of Phoenix, which would be released on 13-July-2007 and read articles about the forthcoming movie.

Just as I had exhausted all possible options of doing anything more with Harry Potter, I thought about trying to predict the story of the seventh edition of the series which is titled “HP and the Deathly Hallows”. There is no way I can predict the story, but what I would be attempting is to predict where the main characters would be at the end of the novel.

There will be a continuation post to this one, after I read the seventh book, where I will evaluate how surprisingly accurate or terrible wrong I have been with the characters.

Harry Potter – Survives after killing Voldemort, marries Ginny Weasley, and works for the Ministry of Magic.

Ronald Weasley – Helps Harry in finding the remaining Horcruxes and Voldemort. Married Hermione Granger and also works for the ministry of Magic.

Hermione Granger – Helps Harry in finding the remaining Horcruxes and to kill Voldemort. Married Ronald Weasley and goes on to become the Minister of Magic.

Neville Longbottom – After surviving the war with Voldemort, he goes on to replace Prof. Sprout as the professor of Herbology in Hogwarts.

Prof. Dumbledore – Returns as the Headmaster of Hogwarts. I believe (no matter what arguments are against it) that Dumbledore is still alive, and will play an instrumental part in training Harry so that he is fully prepared to meet Voldemort.

Prof. Snape – Is killed by Voldemort when he gets to know that Dumbledore is alive and the entire episode was stages to throw Voldemort off guard. I still believe he is a nice guy and works for the Order of Phoenix.

Remus Lupin - Is mortally wounded after the fight with Fenrir Greyback, and succumbs to his wounds. He kills Fenrir and Bellatrix.

Peter Pettigrew – Is killed by Voldemort after Peter saves Harry’s life to fulfill the death-debt.

Draco Malfoy – Not very sure, but I think he will cross over to the good side.

I guess the following characters would die in the next book – Rubeus Hargrid, Arthur Weasley and Nymphandra Tonks.

I guess R.A.B to be Regulus Black, brother of Sirius Black. I also guess that the Slytherin locket (Horcrux) is currently with Albus Dumbledore. Mundungus Fletcher sold it to Aberforth Dumbledore after stealing it from the Black mansion, who passed it on to his brother.

Fred and George Weasley would join the Order of the Phoenix.

Apart from these, I have always wondered what Prof. Dumbledore’s boggart would look like. Even Prof. Snape’s patronus and boggart are unknown. I am totally at sea to try and guess what they would be.

Nevertheless, I am eagerly waiting for the release of the seventh book. No dates have been released yet, but there are rumors that the release date might coincide with Harry’s birthday 31-July-07.

Happy New Year 2007

Firstly let me wish everyone a Happy and Prosperous 2007. Wishes and prayers for the success of all your new and old endeavors.

I had a wonderful beginning to the New Year. On Saturday (30-Dec-06), eight of our friends met up for bowling at a bowling joint near our house. We played two rounds, and we had a wonderful time.

Bowling is one of the crazes which our friends got into in the last year. Our friends usually end up meeting up at bowling joints once or twice in a month and enjoy a few rounds of friendly, but competitive bowling.

The New Year bash began in the afternoon of 31-Dec-06. We had planned to meet at one of our friend’s house, and there were 10 of us. Our plans were to watch movies, chat, eat, drink and welcome the New Year together. We ended up watching “The Runaway Jury” and “Gangster”. Everyone loved former movie, while the latter received poor response from my friends. We left for our respective homes the next day at 11am.

Last year was special in a lot of ways. My job change was the most special of the lot. I had stayed in 3 metros during the year – Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore. Have traveled to a lot of places, mostly to attend my friend’s weddings and to visit my parents who are staying at Nashik. There were trips to Nashik, Pune, Aurangabad, Wayanad and Kottayam. Since I love traveling, my best moments in the year are all linked to the various trips.

The worst moments of the year would definitely be the painful moments I experienced in my previous company, immediately after putting in my papers. My immediate boss was very supportive, but my department head was in no mood to let me go. He used to call me to his desk and we used to discuss for hours on my resignation. It went on until I put my foot down and told him that I have mentally distanced myself from the company and I had no wish to continue, whatsoever.

Another sad moment would be my parents shifting from Bangalore to Nashik. It had just been 2 months, since I had moved from Hyderabad and I was thoroughly enjoying the stay with my parents when my dad was posted to Nashik. It cut short my pampered stay at home and also made it difficult to visit my parents frequently. I have been able to visit them once in the past 6 weeks.

Other memorable moments from last year would be the drive to Kerala in June, the drive to Wayanad in September, the numerous bowling sessions and the trip to Kerala during December.

Unlike last year, I have not made any resolution for this year. I have stopped making resolutions about exercising, since I know I will never do it. I do not want to make any resolution in the professional front, since there are good chances that I might not be able to keep it.

In the personal front, the only resolution I can think about is to change my relationship status from “Single” to something else. I hope it changes to “Committed” rather than “Married” by the end of the year. Talking about marriages, my parents and relatives are out in the open searching for a suitable bride for me.

Not that I have issues getting married, but I still feel that I still have a few more years of bachelorhood and freedom left in me. Marriages, especially when its arranged brings with it a lot of uncertainty regarding the new bridge or grooms and the fears of compatibility. All guys and girls who are have not been able to find their match on their own and are forced to go through the rigorous process of arranged marriage go through this fear syndrome.

Lets see what’s in store for me in this new year.