HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS gets its first teaser poster

Hmmm... not too jazzed by this one. Maybe it has to do with it being that I've yet to see the movie version of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince? More likely the fact that as much as I love the Harry Potter books, I've grown weary of the film adaptations. They've diverted so much from the original novels that I for one would welcome a new attempt to make a movie franchise of this series ten or so years from now (ideally one movie a year for seven years, with the same cast). 'Twould definitely benefit from being produced in hindsight.

Anyways, there's yer first teaser poster for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the first part of which is due out later this year.

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DEATHLY HALLOWS to be a two-part movie?

In a move that will have many thinking back to how Quentin Tarantino handled Kill Bill, word is that the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be told across two full-length movies.

And no, making more money out of this final chapter of the Harry Potter saga is said to have nothing to do with it. The problem is something that most fans of the books have noticed in the film series: that with each new chapter in the movie version of the story, whole chunks of pertinent details from the books are getting cut out. This was especially a problem with this past summer's movie of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Not to mention the fact that Deathly Hallows is an incredibly dense book that ties up every thread that's been left dangling across the previous six books. There's no way that all of that could be wrapped up in a single two-plus hour movie. So doing Deathly Hallows as two installments makes some sense.

I think that someday, there's going to be another film adaptation of the entire Harry Potter saga. It'll be done with the entire scope of the books in mind, now that they have all been published, instead of what has really amounted to a lot of guesswork by the various directors with input by J.K. Rowling... who naturally couldn't lay all her cards down on the table for the films' sake. But ten or twenty years from now... I think the time will be ripe then for a cinematic treatment that will be able to do the Harry Potter saga its fullest justice. That's not to slam the current batch of movies, 'cuz I absolutely do love them quite a bit. It's just that later on there'll be the proper hindsight to handle them better. And maybe by then, the groundwork will have been prepared so that Deathly Hallows could still be a single movie.

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J.K. Rowling opens up bigtime on Christian inspiration for Harry Potter

Perhaps more so than she has ever done since the publication of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling has started talking about the deeper theological meaning of her runaway bestselling books... and especially the profound Christian underpinnings that only really came into focus with the final novel of the Harry Potter series. Here's the story at MTV.com.

Among the highlights...

But if she was worried about tipping her hand narratively in the earlier books, she clearly wasn't by the time Harry visits his parents' graves in Chapter 16 of "Deathly Hallows," titled "Godric's Hollow." On his parents' tombstone he reads the quote "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death," while on another tombstone (that of Dumbledore's mother and sister) he reads, "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

While Rowling said that "Hogwarts is a multifaith school," these quotes, of course, are distinctly Christian. The second is a direct quote of Jesus from Matthew 6:19, the first from 1 Corinthians 15:26. As Hermione tells Harry shortly after he sees the graves, his parents' message means "living beyond death. Living after death." It is one of the central foundations of resurrection theology.

Which makes it a perfect fit for Harry, said Rowling, who was talking about those quotes for the very first time.

"They're very British books, so on a very practical note Harry was going to find biblical quotations on tombstones," Rowling explained. "[But] I think those two particular quotations he finds on the tombstones at Godric's Hollow, they sum up — they almost epitomize the whole series."

Rowling also addresses the numerous religious detractors - who have all too often claimed the same Christian faith that she holds to - who have condemned the Harry Potter books over the years...

That, by the author's own acknowledgement, "Harry Potter" deals extensively with Christian themes may be somewhat ironic, considering that many Christian leaders have denounced the series for glamorizing witchcraft. When he was known simply as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the Pope himself condemned the books, writing that their "subtle seductions, which act unnoticed ... deeply distort Christianity in the soul before it can grow properly."

For her part, Rowling said she's proud to be on numerous banned-book lists. As for the protests of some believers? Well, she doesn't take them as gospel.

"I go to church myself," she declared. "I don't take any responsibility for the lunatic fringes of my own religion."

And there's plenty more at the link above. Thanks to Roxanne L. Martin for this great find! :-)

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Rowling reveals TONS of post-DEATHLY HALLOWS info during online chat

A few days ago J.K. Rowling did an extensive online chat via Bloomsbury Publishing's website ... and she unloaded a whole heap of answers to questions about the Harry Potter saga in the aftermath of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. There is substantially more information that she gives here than she did in her interview with NBC last week. Absolutely must-reading for anyone who's been reading and enjoying these books.

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Since Lisa is about to finish reading HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, I'll go ahead and say it ...

"NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!"

Greatest. Line. In a children's book. Ever.

If that line is not in the movie, I will walk out of the theater.

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J.K. Rowling reveals what happens after THE DEATHLY HALLOWS!

WARNING: Do NOT click on the below link until AFTER you have read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. You have been warned! :-)

In an interview for NBC, J.K. Rowling has revealed a LOT about what happens to many of the characters after the events of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Some of the details are wonderful, others are heartbreaking. I'm not going to post what she said here, you're going to have to click the link to find out.

Thanks to Phillip Arthur for the heads-up!

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HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS midnight release party at Border's in Greensboro

Here's the big report - that had to wait until my brain recovered from reading the thing - on the party two nights ago at Border's bookstore on High Point Road in Greensboro for the midnight release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (and here's my review in case you wanna read my thoughts on the book). This is the same place that we were at two years ago for the Half-Blood Prince release.

Here's the exterior of the store. It's probably my favorite bookstore in Greensboro, if for no other reason than because I've come to know a lot of good people who work there.

Without a doubt, there were more people waiting inside Border's this time than there were two years ago. And it seemed that the crowd only grew exponentially as midnight approached.

Here he is: the infamous Brian aka Darth Larry, who Border's brought back special for this night before he starts his new job as a music professor at Mercer (click here for what Darth Larry thought about the book after his insane reading binge).

Here's the sign-in table. If you pre-ordered the book you got a wrist-band in one of about 5 or 6 colors, depending on how early you showed up to get a spot in the check-out line (I think). My wrist-band was colored pink, which put me in the group about 5 places from the front of the line (I guess we could have gotten there earlier and received a higher color in line, but Lisa and I did have our fifth anniversary to celebrate over dinner, 'course :-).

I didn't take these next three pics. They came from someone who I let borrow my camera so they could get these photos of the sealed boxes containing the copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I would have probably been severely mangled if I had come within eyesight of these crates before they were brought out at midnight.

This being a Harry Potter release party, a lot of folks came out in costume (and in case anyone's wondering, I did not wear the "Read a Harry Potter book for Jesus" t-shirt). This dude is sporting some wizarding high fashion.

And here's a guy who's either Voldemort or a Death Eater.

For the kids (and the considerably older kids as well) Border's had several events going on, including a "dance floor" and Harry Potter Bingo.

This is Susan Miller, a teacher at Ragsdale High School. She came dressed as Professor McGonagall and her daughter came as Nymphadora Tonks, complete with wild pink hair.

Ahhh yes, the big question we expected to be answered in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (besides whether Harry lives or dies): is Severus Snape a good guy or a bad guy?

Luna Lovegood has become quite a popular character from the books. There were at least two young ladies who came as Luna (complete with copies of The Quibbler).

"The Great Snape Debate": a lively forum about the infamous Hogwarts potions master.

This person came dressed as a Gringotts goblin two years ago. It looked great then and I think the makeup and costume looked even more outrageously terrific this time.

And the Gringotts goblin entered the place accompanied by another awesome costume: none other than He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named himself, Voldemort!

Here's Phillip Arthur, one of the Border's managers not to mention fellow blogger and good friend (click here for the review he wrote of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows).

In the last hour before midnight, the Border's staff had a costume contest. I wasn't able to get too many good pics of this 'cuz of the crowd, but there were plenty of good and original costumes, including one guy who came as "Harry and Cho's secret love child from an alternate universe"!

The calm before the storm: with about 45 minutes to go before midnight, the front counter was bereft of customers. Here you see Border's employee Liz as the lone guardian on the frontier of madness.

Hey look: a kid actually dressed as Harry Potter at a Harry Potter book release party!

Finally, with about ten minutes or so to go, everyone was more or less in their color-designated sections around the story. With one minute left the countdown toward 12:01 a.m. commenced.

And then: Magic Hour! Here are the first customers to buy the book, including the guy in the Voldemort getup who won the costume contest.

The "pink-coded" people wrapped around inside the store, but the line moved very quickly. Darth Larry told me Saturday afternoon that they were able to get around 600 people served within an hour and a half: a new record!

Here are three good dudes that I spent time with in line as we made our way to the counter.

On final approach to the checkout counter. One of the things the Border's people did that seriously expedited things was that they were busy bagging individual books so that they would be ready for purchase immediately.

Our copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is almost in hand!

And there's Brian, in his farewell appearance at Border's before he rides into the sunset for Mercer.

And heeeeeeeere's Harry!

That last picture was taken by Meaghan (here with her husband, whose name is on the tip of my tongue - is it Scott? - but I can't remember exactly, c'mon you guys shoot me an e-mail and please let me know so the record will be accurate :-) who I'd last seen playing cello along with Brian this past December at UNC-Greensboro's performance of Amahl and the Night Visitors.

And, that was what went down on the night of July 20th-21st 2007 at the Border's in Greensboro. The Border's staff did an awesome job of entertaining the crowd and making sure that everyone got their books. It was a perfect model of customer service: I tip my fedora to the whole crew there.

'Twas a wonderful time! Lisa and I both enjoyed the evening (it was still an offbeat way to celebrate a fifth anniversary though). Too bad it will never happen again. But maybe J.K. Rowling will go the George Lucas route and write some prequels someday (maybe about the first war with Voldemort?) and we can all get together again. Maybe then I'll be courageous enough to actually come as Snape next go-round :-)

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Review of HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS

(NOTE: This review does not contain spoilers. Feel free to read without risk of having something revealed to you that you don't want to know about yet if you haven't read the Harry Potter books ... even though you should read them at some point :-)

The best magic is when the trick is done right in front of you, in plain sight where you can see everything, and still your mouth hangs open in utter amazement at trying to figure out "how did they do that?".

For the past seven years, ever since I first bought and read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, I've watched J.K. Rowling spin and weave her wonderful tale. She has made me look forward to each succeeding book with a wide-eyed wonder about what was going to happen next, where was this going. Always with the barest hint of mis-direction or sleight of hand on her part.

So at about 12:30 a.m. this morning (late last night in layman's terms), I finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, almost 24 hours to the minute after first buying it at Borders in Greensboro (full report with photos of that coming later today).

And now, the morning after, I feel as if I have watched the conclusion of the most magnificent magic act in the history of fiction. The way it unfolded, the way it was always playing out before our eyes from the very beginning even if we didn't know it. How everything, in the end, is revealed to have been working in glorious sync toward the act's climax ...

"How did she do that?"

How wonderful a performance was it? Right now, I think that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is a more fulfilling and uplifting end for a saga than Revenge of the Sith was to Star Wars ... and maybe even how The Return of the King wrapped-up The Lord of the Rings.

And the more I think about this book, the more I'm becoming convinced that the Harry Potter series is allegorical Christian fiction on par with C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia. After Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, nobody will ever again be able to claim that Harry Potter is "evil" or "promoting witchcraft" or whatever ludicrous things have been said about these books and their author. What Harry and Hermione discover in Chapter 16, and the very title of the next to the last chapter of the book (it's called "King's Cross") should be flashing sign enough about the considerably Christian element that has been at work in this series.

I'm very glad now that I took the time to re-read all of the subsequent books in the past few weeks leading up to the release of The Deathly Hallows. It refreshed my mind about a lot of details that seemed so minor then, but take on enormous new significance in this final chapter of the Harry Potter saga. I'm trying hard this morning to think of some thread from subsequent books that is still left dangling by the end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. So far I can only think of one, and it's a pretty minor one (but something toward the end makes me wonder if Rowling left that hanging after all).

And this book, at long last, delivered solid answers on some things that I had been wondering a lot about since the very beginning. Want an example? Without giving away any spoilers to those who haven't read the books yet (you know who I'm talking about ;-) I'll offer this example: in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, when Harry and Ron meet for the first time, Harry reads something. This particular item has to do with a certain major character and it cites a name and a year. Mention of the year alone has piqued and ached my curiosity for the better part of a decade now, because it happens to have been a very significant year in real world history and I've been dying to know all this time "okay, what's the connection here?". Sometimes I've wondered if I was reading too much into it. And then it turns out, after reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, that I was right to have caught note of that and maybe I didn't give it enough thought, because it turns out to have been very, very important to the story as a whole (and I'm probably giving away too much already just talking about it like this).

That's what this book is like though. Whatever question that likely has tantalized you for so long during the Harry Potter series, is answered here. Including some things that I had never given a second thought to. It can never be said that J.K. Rowling was simply "making it up" as she went along: this kind of orchestration isn't possible unless there were years of planning and forethought behind it.

This book has heartbreak. It has horror. It even has humor. It satisfies in ways that I've never enjoyed out of a fictional saga before. And for what it's worth, I will go ahead and say that the greatest line of the entire series is in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and it's spoken (actually screamed out) by Mrs. Weasley. You'll know it when you read it.

And so far as The Big Question goes, the one that has been foremost in the minds of readers these past two years - other than about if Harry is going to live or die in The Deathly Hallows - I can only say here that the answer is definitive and final and absolutely fitting in every way. But that's all I'm going to say about it until I'm confident that plenty enough people have read the book so that it can be discussed safely in the open.

I'm not going to say much more about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It's still very soon after the book's release and there are plenty of folks who haven't even read the first novel in the series, much less this final one. Those people really do deserve to discover the world of Harry Potter as we first came upon it: with amazement and wonder, and as unsuspecting as we were as to how beautifully crafted this intricate world really is.

In the meantime, I've finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and soon my wife Lisa will be reading it for the first time too (she's currently finishing reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince again). And then the book will join the others on our shelf as the complete seven-volume collection of the Harry Potter saga: a story that we will be returning to many times over the years, not just for our enjoyment but also to share with our children. And, no doubt, that they will share with their own children.

I used to wonder if my generation would ever see a literary masterpiece like The Lord of the Rings be produced in our own lifetime. I wondered if there was still enough magic in this world to do something so beautiful and wonderful again. With Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows finishing this series, I am at last convinced: the magic is still out there. We just need to have faith that we can ... and will ... find it.

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Just finished reading HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS

It took almost exactly 24 hours, from the time that we bought our copy, to finish reading it. As I've said in the last few posts, I wanted to take my time reading it, and let this experience linger and be drawn out and enjoyed as much as it possibly could be, because this really is the very last time that I will get to read a Harry Potter book without having any way of knowing what to expect as the next page is turned.

For the first time in my life, ever, my eyes were full of tears after reading the final words of a book.

That wasn't the only time either that it happened while reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, either.

Best experience I've had reading a book since ... maybe ever. It's going to take quite awhile for this to fully sink in.

There are a lot of things I'm going to be saying about this book in the next few days, especially when I write up my full review. But this needs to be stated loud and clear and right now: As of this moment a lot of people, if they have any shred of conscience, owe J.K. Rowling a huge apology. For trying to claim that this series of books is evil and morally corrupting and the ridiculous charge that it's "promoting satanism". The people who have said these things and have tried to ban the Harry Potter books and who have said a lot of nasty things about Rowling, if they have any sense at all, they will express nothing short of profound regret at what they have done all these years.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows establishes these seven books, now and forever, as Christian allegory that's just as wonderful as The Chronicles of Narnia. And I defy anyone to argue with me otherwise about that.

This book came out just over 24 hours ago. I'm already finished reading it. If you've finished reading it too and have a blog, do yourself a favor and make a note of it with a post, so that you can have something to point toward in years to come so you can tell your kids and grandkids "yes, I read Deathly Hallows when it first came out."

This book makes history. The good kind.

Will write more later. I'm gonna rest awhile now.

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THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: Just finished page 501

Words fail.

The end of this chapter - Chapter 24 - made me have to step away from the book and take a break for about a half-hour. It literally made my brain hurt to read something that horrific.

Something like this is perhaps the last thing that I would have ever expected to read in a children's novel.

That scene was ...

Like I said, words fail.

Still taking it nice and easy so that I can savor every moment of reading this. And so far, I can definitely say that it's been a very long time that a book has affected me like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. And it's still far from over.

Many more thoughts about it later. I just wanted to hit the blog and chronicle my stunned disbelief at what I just read in this book. And even this probably won't be the last unholy act that I read before this night is over ...

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Darth Larry and Jenna have already finished THE DEATHLY HALLOWS

Darth Larry phoned me about 2 this afternoon to tell me that he had finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows already. He was helping with the festivities at Borders last night (report and pics coming soon) and he said that they got everyone in line taken care of within an hour and 15 minutes. Then he went home and started plowing through the book.

Now comes word that Jenna Olwin has finished reading the book, too.

I am just now getting to Chapter 16 on page 311. I started reading the book as soon as I got home early this morning, then got some sleep starting at about 5, slept 'til 10 and then took another nap 'til noon. And I'm going slow with this book: I want to savor every bit of it, as much as I can, because this really is the final one. I want the experience to linger out a bit.

I should finish sometime later this evening. In the meantime, congrats to Darth Larry and Jenna (and probably a few others that I know have finished it by now too no doubt :-)

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Just a few chapters into THE DEATHLY HALLOWS ...

For several years, the movie Red Dawn held the Guinness world record for being the most violent movie ever made. If you ever saw it, just keep in mind how much bad stuff happened from the very beginning of the movie.

If Guinness has a category for "most violent children's book ever written", then Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows has already earned the title ... and I'm not even a hundred pages into the thing!

Death toll so far: won't spoil it with numbers but it's far beyond what you would expect from kiddie literature.

And it's threatening to get worse.

Nobody is safe anymore.

"old Charlie stole the handle and
the train won't stop going --
no way to slow down."

-- from "Locomotive Breath" by Jethro Tull

If you're just about to start reading, boyz and goylz: hang on tight. It's going to be a very long night indeed.

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We've got HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS

That's one odd way of celebrating a fifth anniversary ...

Lisa and I went to Carrabba's on High Point Road in Greensboro for dinner at about 8, and then after that we went on to Borders further down the road. I got to purchase Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows about 35 minutes after the book went on sale.

We just got home. The first thing I did was make an annoying crank call to certain friends in Bellingham, Washington to let them know that us folks on the East Coast have already got the book, and they still have to wait more than an hour at least!

Full report of what happened tonight (well at Border's anyway) on this blog sometime during the weekend.

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On the eve of THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: Final predictions for Harry Potter

A little over 24 hours from now, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be released.

So here are my absolute final predictions for the Harry Potter saga before this concluding chapter of the series is published:

- Harry will live.

- Hagrid will die.

- The fatal shot aimed at Voldemort will come from none other than Draco Malfoy, who reconciles with Harry just before passing away from wounds suffered in battle.

- Rufus Scrimgeour will be sacked ...

- ... and Arthur Weasley will become the new Minister of Magic.

- We will finally get to see Azkaban Prison.

- Norbert will return as a full-grown dragon

- Neville will finally confront Bellatrix Lestrange, upon which he goes into a fit of rage and kills Bellatrix with a savage assault of the Cruciatis curse.

- In a perfect world, Harry would hunt Dolores Umbridge down like a dog, and shove that evil quill pen of hers straight and hard up her (vulgar terminology for human anatomy).

- Ron and Hermione will wind up married, and have twin sons they name Albus and Hagrid.

- Wormtail will rescue Harry from an attack by Fenris Greyback by plunging his silver hand into Greyback's chest and ripping his heart out. With Greyback dead, the curse of lycanthropy will be lifted and Remus Lupin will no longer suffer from being a werewolf ...

- ... and Remus will relent to having a relationship with Tonks.

- The Dursleys will barely escape the total destruction of Number 4 Privet Drive that is scheduled for 12:01 a.m. on July 31st, 1997.

- EVERYTHING that was published in The Quibbler will turn out to be absolutely true, including the story that Sirius Black was once a singing sensation and that Cornelius Fudge is after the Gringotts gold.

- Professor McGonagall will be confirmed by the board of governors as the new Headmistress of Hogwarts.

- Professor Sprout will flee the country and Neville will fill in as substitute Herbology teacher at Hogwarts (by this point he will already be of age by wizarding standards) until a permanent replacement is appointed.

- It will be revealed that Snape was working for Dumbledore against Voldemort all along. How this will be possible is something that I have been trying to figure out for two years now and am no closer at understanding: it's just a gut feeling.

- Filch, for the first time in his life, will perform magic. It comes in a moment of madness after he sees his beloved cat Mrs. Norris killed by the Death Eaters. And the magic that Filch does is nothing less than the Avada Kedavera.

- Bill and Fleur will have their wedding but it will be too much of a target of opportunity for the Death Eaters to pass up and an attack ensues.

- "R.A.B." will be revealed to have been Regulus Black, and the strange locket that won’t open at 12 Grimmauld Place will indeed be the Slytherin locket that is the real Horcrux.

- Harry will, at some point, come to Godric's Hollow and meet his father's parents for the first time.

- Luna and Neville will end up getting married.

- Harry and Ginny will end up getting married also.

- Lucius Malfoy will end up bankrupt and destitute.

- Viktor Krum will replace Karkaroff as the head of the Durmstrang school.

- The last we see of the Weasleys' Ford Anglia, it is flying off into the sunset with Ron and Hermione, with the words "JUST MARRIED" written on the rear window.

- Harry will fulfill his dream of becoming an Auror.

- Harry and Ginny will have a son, who they name Sirius.

That's just the stuff that readily comes to mind. This probably isn't even half the predictions that I could come up with: it's still leaving out Grawp and Professor Trelawney and the motorcycle and dozens of other things.

I'll probably be finishing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows about 48 hours from now. And then we'll see how this all goes down in the end.

EDIT 10:37 p.m. EST: Jenna Olwin has published her own list of predictions for Deathly Hallows. Amazing how some of ours are close similar, and we didn't even compare notes or anything before we did our own lists!

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"Read a Harry Potter book for Jesus!"

This is either a very clever statement, or I have crossed a terrible, terrible line ...

The "Read a Harry Potter book for Jesus!" t-shirt. So what's the story behind the inspiration for this latest bit of mischief? I'll admit that part of it is because as a Christian, I don't have a problem with the Harry Potter books. But also because it really hit me earlier today, while going through a certain portion of the book Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, that there is an amazing use of scripture toward the end of the book. It's not directly quoting from the Bible, but it's a wonderful depiction of the nature of God.

It's toward the end of the next-to-last chapter of the book, "The Lost Prophecy". I was finding so many Bible verses that reflect what Dumbledore is saying there, that I literally lost count of them all.

There's no telling how many people have possibly received a knowledge of the gospel through these books and others, like the Chronicles of Narnia. It doesn't matter how the truth is presented or what the exact words are - this isn't Gnosticism we're dealing with after all - just so long as the truth is presented.

So ... should I wear this thing on Friday night? :-P

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Really wacky prediction for HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS

I don't know if anyone has suggested this yet, but here goes...

We know that the body count is going to peg the needle in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, due out this coming Saturday. J.K. Rowling showed that she was playing for keeps in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire but the past two books especially have made it clear: nobody is safe.

The biggest question of all: Will Harry Potter be one of those who perish?

Theories abound. I've thought for awhile now about what might happen: Harry discovers that he himself is one of the Horcruxes, during the final battle he turns his own wand toward his chest and does the Avada Kedavera spell, killing himself and destroying the Horcrux... and then Ron and Hermione and everyone else attacks the now-mortal Voldemort. Now, for some reason, I'm not so sure if that's what will happen. I'll be surprised if it does.

No, I think Rowling has something even crazier in mind for how to wrap up this story.

What if... in the final showdown between Harry and Voldemort, Voldemort commits suicide?

I'm thinking it could go like this: Voldemort is made to confront not only all of the evil that he has done with his life, but also how tortured and diminished his own soul has become. It overwhelms him so much, that it makes him forget his lust for immortality. He realizes that for all the power that he has gained, in the end it is totally meaningless. In despair, Voldemort performs the Avada Kedavera spell on himself. It might be the only noble thing that he will have ever done with his life.

I know: that sounds completely bonkers. But hey, I made an off-the-cuff prediction two years ago for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and I hit the bullseye on that one. So who knows, maybe I'll have extrapolated well again :-)

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EXCLUSIVE: The FINAL PAGE from HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS!

This has to be the biggest coup in the history of this blog. Yes, ladies and gentlemen it is true: this evening the absolute very last page of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was sent to The Knight Shift. This is it! This is how the entire saga ends for good. This is the most absolute toppest-top secret that J.K. Rowling has been sitting on for over ten years now.

If you DO NOT WANT TO BE SPOILED, you are advised to TURN BACK NOW!

I mean it!

MASSIVE HARRY POTTER SPOILERS AHEAD

You sure you want to know?

Okay, let it be on your own head. Don't say that I didn't warn you.

Here it is, the final page from the very last chapter of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows:

"Is there anything you would like from the menu?" Rosmerta asked.

"Three bottles of butterbear and an order of onion rings, please" replied Ron.

Rosmerta said "coming right up" and left for the kitchen. Harry looked around the pub: a family was laughing at a table close to the window. At the bar, a wizard was nursing a mug of meade.

Hermione turned to Ron. "You told her we would be here, right?"

"Ginny said she was going to come right after Apparation practice," Ron told her.

A trio of tough-looking Slytherins walked through the door. Harry watched them sit down. At the bar, a wizard in a Member's Only jacket was getting up and headed to the restroom.

Without warning, the scar on Harry's head began to tingle madly in pain.

The front door of the Three Broomsticks opened.

Harry looked up.

There you go folks: the conclusion of the Harry Potter saga. Discuss!

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RACE TO THE DEATHLY HALLOWS is finished! All 6 Harry Potter books read in less than 3 weeks!

A few minute ago, just 27-some hours since I finished re-reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, I arrived at the last page of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the penultimate installment of the entire saga (and once again, I find that the last 5 chapters of that book fly by fast!).

It was on the night of June 25th that I started re-reading ALL of the Harry Potter books in what was then just less than a month before the release of the seventh and final novel in the series: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It gets published everywhere at 12:01 a.m. next Saturday. Our copy is already pre-ordered and waiting for us.

And now, on July 14th, I'm ready for it. I think re-reading all the subsequent books made going through Half-Blood Prince much more enjoyable and worthwhile in preparation for the final novel.

And you know what? I'm just as undecided as the first time I read this book two years ago about which side Severus Snape is really on. I've tried figuring him out so much that I've had to give up out of frustration. However this turns out for him, it's going to pack a wallop of a surprise for me.

So, here it is. This war that has spanned two generations is about to enter the final stretch. After six books covering just as many years, we've arrived at the endgame. The authoress has said that all the pieces have been put on the board. After a decade of debate and speculation, one week remains to wonder about how this is going to finally play out.

The only prediction that I'm brave enough to make: at 12:01 a.m. on July 31st, Number 4 Privet Drive in Little Whinging is going to become one helluva smoking crater.

In the meantime, I'm happy for re-reading all six of the previous novels in way less than a month!

(So Jenna and Darth Larry, where are you guys at now? :-)

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Every Harry Potter book ... in less than a month

A few weeks from now on July 21st, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - the seventh and final chapter of the Harry Potter saga - will be published. We pre-ordered our copy last week. On the night of July 20th (which ironically will be me and Lisa's fifth wedding anniversary) we'll be at the Border's bookstore on High Point Road in Greensboro to be part of the midnight festivities, just as we did two years ago. I'm considering putting together some sort of costume for the night, which will be the first one I've done for a Harry Potter character. But who to go as? My first inclination is to go as Professor Severus Snape, since my dark black gown from high school graduation looks perfect for the role. Except that if I show up as Snape I'll probably get lynched and killed on the spot by a gang of angry adolescents.

In the meantime, with twenty-five days to go, I'm going to take a stab at reading all of the Harry Potter books, leading right up to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ...

So that will wind up being every Harry Potter book in the space of a month. I'm going to start later tonight with the first book: Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone. Can I do it? My friend Jenna Olwin started on May 31st so she's got a way head start. Hope I can catch up with her in time. And the plan is to take down notes of things that I'm going to notice this time around: seemingly small details that may or may not have significance in the last novel. I'll be posting reports here as I finish each book :-)

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At last: the cover artwork for HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS

I am so digging this. Bright and brilliant and an amazing contrast to the previous six covers. This one screams, how do I say this... "Here I am, at last. Here is where I make my final stand. No matter what happens, I will hold my head high and proud. Now do your worst."

And here is the full cover artwork - front and back - minus the title. Notice that this is the VERY first time (I'm assuming this is him) that we have seen Voldemort's face depicted in any of the book artwork:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows comes out on July 21, 2007.

EDIT 5:53 PM EST: I keep looking at this cover and for some reason I can't help but think: Harry is gonna die. There's something about this cover that hints at at, just like the last cover seemed (well it did for me at the time anyway) to be hinting at something major. It's the heavenly glow of the whole piece, it has a welcoming warmth to it.

Wouldn't it be something if Harry is killed, and we then see him come to Heaven and finally meet his parents and everyone else that he has lost?

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