Harry Potter and the Seven Deathly Secrets

MYSTERY ONE: DOES HARRY DIE?

THIS is the biggie-what millions of Harry Potter fans worldwide have been waiting to find out since they finished the first book ten years ago.

J.K Rowling drafted the last chapter of the final book several years ago to give herself an ending to work towards-last week she revealed one of the last word of the final chapter of the book would be 'scar'.

It's very likely that this refers to the lightning-shaped scar on Harry's forehead-but doesn't help readers work out whether he's alive or dead.

However, she HAS confirmed that two major characters will die at the end of the final book.

"There are deaths, more deaths coming," she said.

"A price has to be paid. We are dealing with pure evil. They go for the main characters."

Rowling has toyed with the idea of killing off her hero so no other authors can write unofficial sequels to the Original Seven Potter books.

Stone Harry Potter & The Philosopers Stone

Harry Potter & The Chambers of Secrets

Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban

Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire


Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix


Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince


Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows

She once joked: "I can completely understand an author who thinks, ‘Well, I'm going to kill them off because that means there can be no non-author-written sequels.'"

It's possible that Harry himself is one of the six Horcruxes created by Voldemort to make him immortal-meaning that in order to finish off He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, Harry will have to kill himself.

But as you'll see below, we don't buy this theory-because we've worked out what the remaining Horcruxes are.

The real question here is, would JK Rowling really want to upset her legions of fans by killing off a character beloved to millions?

We think not. Harry's just too beloved of too many readers to be disposed of in such a way.

But it IS possible that he'll lose his magical abilities after Voldemort is gotten rid of and the prophesy is fulfilled-neatly preventing any unofficial sequels without having to butcher the poor lad.

So which main character is for the chop?

We think the smart money is on Snape, who will die after Voldemort learns that he played a key role in the conspiracy against him-read more about this theory below.

Who's the second casualty? How about Hagrid-why not.


MYSTERY TWO: WHO OR WHAT ARE THE DEATHLY HALLOWS?

SINCE the title was revealed in December last year, fan speculation has raged over its meaning-and what the Deathly Hallows might be.

JK Rowling has already said: "Any clarification of the meaning of ‘Hallows' would give away too much of the story."

The dictionary isn't much help, as to ‘hallow' something is to make it holy or pure. The word is most commonly used today in Halloween and dates from the days when it was still a religious festival.

However, foreign editions of the book have slightly different titles-also created by Rowling-which shed some more light on the matter.

The Swedish title is "Harry Potter and the Relics of Death", and the Japanese title is "Harry Potter and the Secret Treasure of Death."

So it's very likely that the Deathly Hallows are a collection of special treasure items.

This fits with the plot at the end of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Harry now has to track down four treasure items known as Horcruxes, each of which contain a part of Voldemort's soul.

More clues can be found on the cover to the children's edition. The illustration shows Harry, Ron and Hermione falling away from or onto a massive treasure trove.

Gripping Harry's right shoulder is a spindly grey hand, possibly belonging to Kreacher, the Black family's House Elf-who Rowling has revealed plays a key role in the seventh book.

In the creature's other hand is a silver sword with a red gemstone mounted on the hilt. This blade perfectly matches the description of Godric Gryffindor's sword in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

In Arthurian legend, there were four artifacts known as the Holy Grail Hallows: a sword, a spear, a plate and the Holy Grail.

And JK Rowling has already mentioned Gryffindor's sword, Slytherin's Locket and Hufflepuff's cup as three key artifacts in the Potter books.

Could it be that there is a spear-like item belonging to the fourth Hogwarts founder Rowena Ravenclaw-and that these four items are the Deathly Hallows Harry must locate to kill Voldemort once and for all?

MYSTERY THREE: IS SNAPE GOOD OR EVIL

SEVERUS Snape is the sinister Hogwarts teacher who killed Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Since Harry's first day at Hogwarts, he's never trusted Snape-who has links to the Death Eaters and Lord Voldemort himself.

But we think that the final book will reveal Snape to have actually been on Harry's side all along-and he'll make the ultimate sacrifice to enable him to fulfill his destiny.

Dig out your copy of Half-Blood Prince and look again at the scene where Snape tops Dumbledore.

The wise old headmaster is described as "pleading" with Snape-but he NEVER explicitly pleads for his life. Could he be pleading with Snape to go through with his mission and kill him instead?

The events that follow-Harry being hit with a deadly curse, Snape raging after Harry calls him a coward-are all ambiguous enough

Earlier in book six, Hagrid overhears Snape telling Dumbledore that he can't cope any more and that perhaps the Hogwarts headmaster is asking too much of him.

Harry assumes that this means Snape is cracking and will betray the Order of the Phoenix.

But the Potter books are packed with overheard conversations where someone gets the wrong end of the stick-and there's no reason to think that this one is any different.

We reckon that Snape's apparent ultimate act of evil-killing Dumbledore-was actually part of a greater plan that HINDERED rather than helped Voldemort.

Wouldn't Snape tell Dumbledore that he thought he was asking too much of him if the headmaster ordered him to kill him? It's certainly possible.

Another important clue was revealed in an interview given by JK Rowling when she was quizzed about a "redemptive pattern" to Snape's behaviour.

She blustered: "He, um, there's so much I wish I could say to you, and I can't because it would ruin.

"I promise you, whoever asked that question, can I just say to you that I'm slightly stunned that you've said that and you'll find out why I'm so stunned if you read Book Seven.

"That's all I'm going to say."

If Snape is going to redeem himself in an incredible way, it's not too hard to imagine him making the ultimate sacrifice to allow Harry to finish Voldemort once and for all.

Snape is better informed about the Dark Lord's darkest secrets than virtually anyone else in the books.

What better final twist could there be than Snape finally opting to side with Harry-even if it means losing his own life?

And let's not forget the most important thing in Snape's favour: Dumbledore trusted him. As Lupin says: "It comes down to whether or not you trust Dumbledore's judgement. I do; therefore, I trust Severus."

Dumbledore has never made a bad call throughout the first six books-and he's not about to be proven wrong in the seventh.

Snape's a goodie and he's going to die saving Harry's life. Trust us on this one.

MYSTERY FOUR: IS DUMBLEDORE REALLY DEAD


JK Rowling has always been at great pains to stress that, even in the wizarding world, when people die they stay dead.

"You can't reverse death-that's a given. Without it, the plot would fall apart," she said in an interview way back in 2000.

"Though in Book Seven you'll see just how close you can get to the dead."

Rowling clarified that "Dumbledore is definitely dead" when asked by Sir Salman Rushdie.

However, on the set of the Order of the Phoenix film, she remarked to Daniel Radcliffe: "Dumbledore's giving me a lot of trouble."

When Daniel asked "But isn't he dead?" she clarified, "Well, yeah, but it's more complex."

Strictly speaking, then, Dumbledore is really dead and will stay that way.

But in Harry Potter there are plenty ways for the dead to communicate with the living-as ghosts, or living paintings, for example-so it's very likely he'll be making an Obi-Wan Kenobi-style return to help Harry out.

Back at the end of Goblet of Fire, Dumbledore had a "gleam of triumph" in his eyes when he heard that Voldemort had used Harry's blood to resurrect himself.

We've still not exactly found out why this is-but rest assured it will be a key part of Voldemort's eventual undoing.

MYSTERY FIVE: WHO STOLE THE HORCRUX

AT the end of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, a mysterious note signed ‘R.A.B.' tells how one of Voldemort's Horcruxes-objects containing his soul-has been stolen and replaced with a fake.

R.A.B's identity isn't known, but it's very likely that he will be Regulus Black-the younger brother of Sirius Black, the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Regulus was a Death Eater-one of Voldemort's followers-who tried to turn against his master at the 11th hour.

The translator of the Portuguese Harry Potter books said that Rowling told her R.A.B. was a male called Regulus Arcturus Black during a discussion about translation.

And Rowling has already said in an interview that Regulus Black is "a fine guess" for R.A.B.'s identity.

Regulus has so far not been a major character in the Harry Potter series.

But despite being mentioned only once in the first five books, his name crops up three times in book six-suggesting he is about to play a much bigger role.

MYSTERY SIX: WHAT IS AUNT PETUNIA'S SECRET?

HARRY'S unpleasant Aunt Petunia has always played a lowly role in the Potter books-but there are big things in store for her in the next book.

Rowling said back in 1999 that a non-magical character will perform magic in "desperate circumstances"-but this hasn't happened in any of the first six.

And at the 2004 Edinburgh Book Festival, she mentioned that something more would be revealed about Petunia Dursley in future.

"There is a little bit more to Aunt Petunia than meets the eye," she teased. "She is not a squib (a person of wizarding heritage who lacks magical ability), although that is a very good guess.

"Oh, I am giving a lot away here. I am being shockingly indiscreet."

However, in August last year, she stressed that Aunt Petunia will NOT perform magic.

Rowling has never fibbed about what's coming up in the next Potter book, but she has been deliberately misleading before.

Is it possible she'll be used as a conduit by Dumbledore-who wrote Petunia a letter before he died?

Or is it possible her son Dudley has inherited some magical ability down the family bloodline and is just a late-bloomer?

Either way, we reckon there is still a partularly important skeleton in the Dursley family closet that not even the odious Uncle Vernon is aware of.

MYSTERY SEVEN: WILL RON AND HERMIONE GET TOGETHER

THE short answer is yes. Rowling said she was surprised that Prisoner of Azkaban director Alfonso Cuaron had put things into the movie that, "without knowing it, foreshadow things that are going to happen in the final two books."

The only vaguely important addition Cuaron made was to add a splash of simmering pre-sexual tension between Ron and Hermione, which wasn't in the book.

The Harry Potter books have never been big on romance so don't expect any long, drawn-out lovey-dovey stuff.

A chaste kiss in a Hogwarts corridor is about all we'll get-but it'll definitely be in there.

High School Musical 3 reviewed by Christopher Lyon

There's nothing quite like going to a movie about high school seniors with a theater full of pre-schoolers and their moms. And, honestly, both age groups seemed to be really into it. Even weirder: So was I.

The Story

As one of the characters sings, "You can't stay in high school forever." After battling their way to one more basketball championship, the seniors immediately start feeling the pressure of getting everything done before high school ends. No way do they have time for one more musical! Oh, come on, of course they do.

Between rehearsals, Troy (Zac Efron) wrestles with a decision between playing basketball with Chad at his dad's former college or maybe going to Juilliard in New York to study theater to pursue his own dreams. Either way, Gabriella (Vanessa Hudgens) is bracing herself to say goodbye to Troy and the gang when she heads off to Stanford.

Sharpay (Ashley Tisdale) is plotting to make herself the star of the musical while brother Ryan (Lucas Grabeel) choreographs the show in hopes of getting into Juilliard himself.

No matter what, the show must go on with all the singing and dancing and the joyful exuberance and the embracing of the future.

The Verdict

What we thought of the movie on its own terms

What works: The singing and the dancing works. The joyful exuberance works. The cast is still likable and fun to watch. But those things alone should not be enough to make HSM3 as good of a time as it is.

Here's the difference: The story and every performance is completely free from irony, sarcasm, and attitude. It is all utterly earnest and sincere and bold. In that way, it's just old fashioned "theater" with the kids belting out the tunes for the cheap seats. It becomes cool in a way by being the least cool thing imaginable, by taking its approach completely seriously.

That commitment works well enough to pull you into the big singing and dancing emotions playing out at the end of the film. It's not Shakespeare, but I left with a touch of that happy energy you feel walking out of a good high school production at your own school that turned out way better than you would have expected.

What Doesn't Work: After the basketball intro, the energy sags and takes quite a while to pick up again. The non-singing parts of the story sometimes just limp along predictably. Zac Efron is becoming a pretty good actor; the rest of the cast doesn't keep up. You'll get zero street cred for liking this if you're over 15 or so. Or if you're a guy.

Content: This G-rated Disney film is pretty much squeaky clean, aside from a little cleavage and Troy and Gabriella hanging in her room on the sly from her mom (without doing anything more than quick kisses).

Worldview

How the film's take on life compares with a biblical perspective

Of course, the HSM high school experience doesn't exist in the real world. You might get closer if you took the stay-out-all-night, openly gay and drunk, ironic/sarcastic kids from "Nick & Nora's Infinite Playlist" and averaged them out with the HSM kids.

Real or not, though, the questions these kids are singing and dancing about are the genuine article: Should I try to take this high school romance into my college years? Should I stay local or go away to school? How can I balance what my parents want for me with my own dreams? Wait; do I have any dreams?

One thing I liked was the way Troy talked Gabriella into participating in the end of her high school experience. He said with lovable and corny earnestness: "You might be ready to say goodbye to East High, but East High isn't ready to say goodbye to you."

My takeaway: It's not all about you and what you want. Troy models that advice when he shares the glory at the end of the big game at the start of the film. He could have listened to it a little more when constantly agonizing over what to do with his life.

One danger of being a senior in high school is falling into a giant tar pit of self-focus it can take years to claw your way out of. Everyone is asking what you want to do with your life. Everyone is asking how you feel about the end of this era and how you feel about the future. Everyone is asking you to decide what you want, who you want to be, how you want to get there.

It's as if the whole world wants you to do nothing but think about yourself Ñ and compare yourself to everyone else Ñ with every spare moment you have. The big message: It's all about you.

If you really want to make the most of your high school career, try something radical: Make it as little about you as possible. Worry less about your status and your future than about building up all those people around you. What are they feeling? What are their hopes and dreams? How can you serve them and make them successful before you move on to the next season?

It's how Jesus would do high school. And here's the weird thing about making everything about everyone else: It will probably make you strangely popular and respected, because people liked being liked. And they trust someone who doesn't serve herself first.

Oh, and dance around and sing a lot. People love that, too. Especially when you're playing basketball.

Questions:

1. If you're a fan of the franchise, which HSM is the best? Was this one as good as you hoped?
2. Which member of the gang do you relate to the most? Why?
3. Is the HSM high school experience anything like yours (aside from everyone breaking into song on a regular basis)?
4. Do you do theater or drama? What's your favorite moment from those experiences?
5. Do you ever worry that you spend too much time and energy focused on yourself? What could you do to change that? Who could you focus on instead?

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