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Musings #1:
Introductions and HBP Theories
by Matthew Vines
August 18, 2004
First of all, some introductions: My name is Matthew Vines, I'm 14 years old, and I live in Wichita, Kansas. You may remember me from such columns as "Get Confident, Stupid" and "Alice's Adventures through the Windshield Glass." ...Or if you've ever been to the staff page, you may know that I'm the webmaster of Veritaserum. (If you didn't already realize this, I'm a huge "Simpsons" fan). Every so often, I think of some seemingly brilliant Harry Potter-related theory or idea. Unfortunately, when I think about it again an hour or so later, it seems rather elementary and dull/obvious, but the occasional idea sticks with me. However, most of my thoughts don't follow a logical pattern - hence the title of this column, HP Musings.
Secondly, I must admit that I am almost always wrong in theorizing. Not only was I one of the fans who fell for the Pillar of Storgé rumor and then refused to believe that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was the title until JKR confirmed it in a news post on her site (yes, that is still rather embarrassing), but it seems that all of my theories for major things in later books are falsified mere days after I've assured myself that they're correct. After ruling out several leading Half-Blood Prince candidates, I came to the conclusion that the HBP was Hagrid. However, just a few days ago, a rumor that holds water surfaced stating that Hagrid is not the HBP. Another Matthew prediction to throw in the ever-growing pile of falsified theories lying next to my computer in a sad little heap...
Speaking of trash, I think that the new Rubbish Bin and Easter eggs on JKRowling.com are simply brilliant - like everything of hers, of course. Most of you probably hadn't visited JKRowling.com until a few months ago when it was redesigned, but it was fairly extremely boring before then. The new site is simply fabulous; if you are one of the few fans who have yet to visit, do so now (unless you're planning to do something in the next few days) - www.jkrowling.com.
A few of my Half-Blood Prince theories...
- Royal Ronald Theory
As I was looking at our Name Meanings page today, I noticed something that intrigued me - Ronald means King's advisor. Arthur has different meanings in four languages, one of which is "noble." In a Matthew's-theories-are-right world, Arthur Weasley could be the Half-Blood King and Ron Weasley could be the Half-Blood...Prince? Unfortunately, this is quite a stretch, because no matter what dictionary you look in, "advisor" doesn't mean "prince." And the fact that the Weasleys are pure-blooded is yet another strong argument going against this, but it's still an interesting thought.
- Lupus HBPus Theory
Now that Lockhart, Hagrid, Harry, Tom/Voldemort, and Dudley have been ruled out, my new HBP prediction is....Lupin. And here's why. Although I think Lupin will be the HBP, I'm also expecting JK Rowling to update her site tomorrow saying that he's not.
- The One Big Happy Weasley Family Theory
The two couples that I am most convinced will hook up in the sixth book are Harry/Ginny and Hermione/Ron. There are all too many reasons to go into supporting both, but in essence, I think it'd be logical (not to mention that they'd all be related - how cool!). And although JK Rowling is not easy-to-guess, some things (such as relationships) can't just come out of the blue. I'm glad to see that a third of the currently polled audience agrees with me on Harry/Ginny. If we do a "Ron will hook up with..." poll next, I can almost guarantee that more than 50% of fans will say Hermione. It just seems right. However, I can also see Hermione pairing with Harry and Harry pairing with Luna, but those two pairs don't seem quite as possible as Harry/Ginny and Hermione/Ron.
Release Date: summer of 2006. Once again, just a theory, but this is the thing I'm most sure about regarding anything Harry Potter as of now. My reasoning: All of the Harry Potter books have been released in the summer, and this trend is not likely to change. At an August 15, 2004 Book Festival in Edinburgh, Rowling stated that she is "just over halfway through" writing the sixth book. On November 11, 2002, Rowling announced that she was finished writing the fifth book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. However, the book was not released for more than seven months after this announcement. The process of writing the Half-Blood Prince started more than a year ago, and while writing the second half of the book will most likely go faster than the first half, it would be a huge push to have the book ready for release by summer 2005.
Also, bear in mind that they are not in a hurry to release the book. The longer they wait, the longer the Harry Potter hype remains at the current level and the more money they make. After the seventh Harry Potter book is released, the Harry Potter fandom will be forever changed. Not only will fan fiction partially lose its foothold in the fandom (it won't be as fun to write when you know what you're writing about can't happen), but the fandom will soon become only the devoted HP-ers. The sixth and seventh movies, if made, will likely be released after the seventh book is released, but they will be much darker and the hype simply won't be the same. Dan, Emma, and Rupert will no longer be kids, they'll be adults. But nothing can last forever.
However sad the release of the seventh book may seem, it will also be an incredibly exciting day in the lives of millions of Harry Potter fans worldwide. At last, we will have answers to everything. Everything! The phrase ignorance is bliss will be reversed, and knowledge will be bliss for Potter fans. The knowledge...of everything. Although the fandom will lose most of its current gusto, the Harry Potter books will mark their place in history as one of the greatest and most popular book series ever written.
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