Keith Olbermann at msnbc has pieced together his own theory of how the book ends. He bases a lot of it on financial concerns, but his final theory incorporates a lot of my own theories and put a spin on it I hadn't thought of. Here it is:
(I'll put a little space in here in case you don't really want to spoil the ending.)
So why not this ending? Harry eliminates all but one of Voldemort’s horcruxes. The dark lord’s life is now reduced to this undulating welt on Harry’s own forehead. To kill Voldemort, Harry must kill himself and is about to, as millions of readers recoil in horror and anger, when who steps out of the shadows but Snape to explain to Harry that there is another way that the last horcrux, Harry’s scar, can be removed, but at one dreadful price. Harry can survive it, but his magical skills cannot. To finally vanquish Voldemort, save Hogwarts and Hermione and Ron, and, in fact the magical world, to say nothing of the J.K. Rowling franchise for decades and generations to come, Harry Potter must give up being a wizard.
So what do we all think?
2 comments:
Hmm, this could be workable. I've said before that Severus Snape basically has to be good, or it destroys the character of Dumbledore, who has for six books trusted him implicitly, without ever really giving us, the readers, any particularly strong reason for it. If Snape is in fact evil, Dumbledore is a fool, and his sacrifice was worthless. I have a hard time believing that something like that will come to pass.
Snape, however, may not necessarily by this logic be good, either. Rowling is certainly sophisticated enough as an author to not need to cling to a Lucas-esque good/evil duality with her characters. Olbermann's solution for the ending does definitely allow for Snape to be either morally ambiguous, or to be evilish but redeemed through his actions, both of which would do justice to the depth of his character, without detracting from Dumbledore.
I do not believe that Snape will survive book seven.
The cheese is of two minds here...
let's start with the one "least" likely...
The cheese hopes against hope that Snape is evil. That would be satisfying as hell...for the cheese. In some ways, it might detract from Dumbledore's character to have so badly misjudged Snape, but then again, Rowling does a fairly good job of casting the characters in realistic lights. Dumbledore is a great wizard, but he isn't infallible. If Snape is evil, killed Dumbledore willfully, he could still "save" Harry. Dumbledore makes a big "to-do" about the magical debt Snape owes to James Potter (and Harry by default), when James saved Snape's life. So Snape might have been able to kill Dumbledore, but might not be able to act against Harry. Also, Snape might still kill Voldemort. If Snape is as power hungry as he seems then, logically, at some point he would want to off Voldemort as a rival.
The cheese holds out that something like that might be the case, but must admit it is probably not going to happen.
So then, we're left with the idea that Snape is good (or as suavo points out, morally ambiguous), which would still uphold Snape's debt to Harry. This might lead to something like Olberman's guess, but the cheese doubts it. Rowling isn't a "happily ever after" type of writer; obviously, since the last three books all end with "good" type guys biting the dust. But the cheese doesn't believe Rowling will end the whole series like that. So Harry must live, but to have him live but no longer be magical (as Olberman suggests), would be worse (the cheese thinks) to the fans then having him die. Better Harry die a martyr then be completely stripped of every good thing he ever had (which, basically, magic is a conduit for...before he learns of his magical essence, Harry has no friends, family, nothing worth living for period, better to kill him completely then send him back into the mundane world). And here, the cheese thinks, means that in order for Harry to live (and stay magical) then someone HAS to die.
The most likely culprit, the cheese thinks, is Snape. Snape can save Harry, and fulfill his debt by dying/killing Voldemort. Of course, the cheese also thinks there will be more deaths on along the way (Hermoine really seems a likely target), but Snape is going. Plus, with Snape/Harry's past, Snape's sacrifice will haunt Harry for the rest of Harry's life.
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