Harry Potter: Final RSI Family Thoughts

The Potter-obsessed Caric family of Kentucky hasn't been talking much about whether Harry is going to live or die. My wife and I think Harry will live while our 12 year old daughter Katy believes he'll die. No doubt, Mrs. RSI and I are biased toward irrational optimism concerning teen-agers as our own daughters march toward their teen years.

But Harry's fate really hasn't been the main topic. What we worry about more is the how the forces of good and evil line up and what Rowling is going to do with Voldemort's horcruxes.

Camp Voldemort. Our main idea about how the order of battle between good and evil is that there's going to be trouble in Voldemort's camp. Voldemort's death eaters have put up a relatively united front through the first six books of the Potter saga, but Harry's cause will be aided by major schisms within in The Deathly Hallows. Certainly, Peter Pettigrew will betray Voldemort. That was foreshadowed in Prisoner of Azkhaban. Likewise there will be a falling out between Voldemort and the Malfoys (Lucius, Narcissa, Draco, and perhaps sister-in-law Bellatrix Lestrange). There's no way to avoid this. Voldemort is still angry at Lucious for goofing up the attack on the Department of Mysteries and he's going to punish Draco for not killing Dumbledore when he had the chance in The Half-Blood Prince. Even worse from Voldemort's point of view, Narcissa Malfoy's love for her husband and son are greater than her commitment to Voldemort.

However it works, I think the Malfoy's will wind up as allies of Harry's.

Severus Snape will leave the death eaters for good. I don't think Snape is being "good" or feeling guilty any more than I could see John Bolton as being good. But Snape's just too powerful now to remain a stable element within the Voldemort camp. If nothing else, Voldemort's paranoia about Snape will drive Severus into an alliance with the only person Voldemort fears--Harry Potter. I also have an idea that Snape's betrayal of Voldemort will be the event that triggers the movement toward the final showdown. Like most people, I think Snape is central.

Finally, there is a wild card somewhere. It's generally accepted that Regulus Black is RAB, but Dumbledore said in The Half-Blood Prince that one person could not have retrieved the locket by themselves. Regulus Black must have had an accomplice and it is pretty likely that the accomplice is still a death-eater. In other words, Voldemort has a mole in his circle. Perhaps it really is Snape himself. More likely, however, the accomplice is a true wild-card and a new character for Deathly Hallows. But Harry should get suprising and powerful assistance from the accomplice of Regulus Black.

Harry's Assets against Voldemort. First and most importantly, Harry loves on a large scale and that will be a decisive element in Harry's defeat of Voldemort.

Right behind love in significance is the fact that Harry is mentally stronger than Voldemort as proved by the confrontation in the cemetary in The Goblet of Fire. Harry also has the advantage of Voldemort's having used Harry's blood to regenerate himself, but his mental power is what will be decisive.

Like Voldemort, Harry has a large number of allies. These include his friends Hermione, Ron, Ginnie, Neville Longbottom, and Luna. There are also adults like the Weasleys, Minerva McGonnegal, Tonks, and Remus Lupin from the Order of the Phoenix. I'd be surprised if the adults were of much use. They didn't help a lot in either the Order of the Phoenix or the Half-Blood Prince. There will probably be one death from the ranks of Harry's adult allies though. Like a lot of people, I bet on Mrs. Weasley.

However, Hermione's a very talented witch; she'll solve a problem. Likewise, Ron gets one very good idea per book. Harry's friends Neville and Luna have surprising capabilities. They'll all provide real help. Unfortunately, one of these characters will probably die as well.

Horcruxes. Harry and Dumbledore hypothesized that the remaining horcruxes were Slytherin's locket (last seen at 12 Grimmauld Place in Order of the Phoenix), Hufflepuff's cup, a relic from Griffindor or Ravenclaw, and Voldemort's snake Nagini. Like a lot of people, the lovely Mrs. Caric believes that Harry himself or his scar is a horcrux. She called me from her office in January to tell me this. Perhaps that's possible. Maybe Voldemort wanted Harry's corpse to be his last horcrux but wasn't able to fulfill the intention because of his failed Avada Kedavra curse.

If Harry is a horcrux, this doesn't necessarily mean that he'll die though. Like many things in the magical world, the horcrux spell can probably be reversed.

Our daughter also thinks that one of the horcruxes is the tiara on top of the cabinet in the Room of Requirement where Harry hid his illegal potions book. That would make it Rowena Ravenclaw's tiara. Perhaps!

But I'm pretty sure I know how Harry will find the horcruxes. He'll use "legilimency" to find three of the horcruxes in Voldemort's mind without having to do an extensive physical search. In other words, Harry's going to break into Voldemort's brain to find the information he wants and Voldemort won't be able to stop him. This is where Harry's mental superiority to Voldemort will come into play. I bet that Voldemort and Harry will have an epic mental battle as Voldemort tries to keep Harry out of his brain, but that Harry will win.

I also think that Harry will find the final horcrux by commanding Kreacher to give him Slytherin's locket. Of course, destroying the horcruxes encased in the objects will be more difficult.

Then, it will be on to the final confrontation.

Unlike most of my theories about most things, my family likes the idea of Harry finding the horcruxes through legilimency.