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The troubling timing of Book 7

by David Haber

The official release date of the final Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was announced yesterday. This date is troubling to me for several reasons. We were hoping that Book 7 could be released on July 7, which would have been 7/7/07. But the disappointment that we have apparently missed getting Book 7 on 7/7/07 is not the main reason I am troubled by the announcement of the book's release date.

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Reader Comments:

i do not know what i do if harry s in the seventh book. i might not see another movie

Posted by david from south windsor, CT on February 2, 2007 07:44 AM

I don't think it has anything to do with the plot of the book. First off, I don't think anyone besides Jo and her publisher has any clue what happens in book 7. No one know until the book is released, not even the film distributers.

There are a LOT of factors that go into the decision to release a book on a specific day. Way too many to go into in this post. Besides, I don't even know them all.

I still maintain that I do not think Harry in book 7. I realize that in many classic myths the hero s in the process of completing his goal. But in many other classic myths he doesn't. However, innocent lesser heroes almost always . I suspect that two of the people that in ly Hollows are Neville and Luna.

I believe that the reason Jo meantioned that she understands why a writer would off a main character is her way of letting us know that it isn't Harry, since she also said that there was a character that was originally going to but she gave a reprieve. I think that character was Harry. I think she was originally going to him off and then decided not to.

Posted by Michael Brinkley from Oceanside, Ca on February 2, 2007 08:08 AM

I am not sure about how the release dates got decided but there could be many factors that don't involve the plot or relate to the way the book ends.

I do think that there is a good possibility that JK is going to Harry AND bring him back to life. She has only said that a major character . It's what she is not telling us that is really important. If Harry s to fulfill the prophecy he could possibly be brought back to life with the elixir of life produced by the Sorcerer's (Philosophers) Stone. It was destroyed at the end of book one and Nicholas Flamel was the only known maker of it. He is now because his stone no longer exists. Harry has Snape's potions book from the Half-Blood Prince and has proved to be quite good at making potions when he has these powerful instructions. I think Snape counted on Harry having that book. He is not known for carelessly leaving important and powerful items laying around. So, we might assume that armed with that book he may be capable of producing his own sorcerer's stone and then the elixir of life. He finds and attacks Voldemort but is ed in the attempt. Voldemort becomes mortal once again and has no more horcruxes to fall back on. (If Harry is able to find and destroy them all before) Ron, Hermiony and Ginny use the elixir to bring Harry back to life where Harry is able to finally mortal Voldemort.

I know that there are a bunch of holes in this theory but I don't think JK would permanently Harry. Like David has said, who would want to continue watching the movies or reading the books if we knew Harry was going to in the end? Or if any of Harry's close friends d?

Posted by Brad Jere from Germantown, WI on February 2, 2007 08:09 AM

The rumor/reason I heard that the 21st was the anniversary of the first book's publication. I always thought the last book should have been released on July 31 (Harry's birthday).

Posted by Linda from Fort Wayne, IN on February 2, 2007 08:16 AM

Well i think it is nonsense that if harry d i don't want to see the movie anymore. Maybe the ending is unhappy but it would all make sense. I think he's going to , but I don't know why? I mean can't she make it a happy ending, like lotr. Well I'm still going to see the movie. You know in holland they have special telephone help lines, because two main caracters are going to in harry potter and tdh

Posted by Claudia from Holland on February 2, 2007 08:20 AM

i m so depressed at the thought of the possibility of of harry....it is really pointless to watch any more harry potter movies if he were to in the 7th book...

Posted by vanessa from s'pore on February 2, 2007 08:30 AM

If you add all the numbers in the date 7/21/07, then you get 8, if you add the numbers in 7/21/2007, you get a 1.
Does Arithmancy help here?
8 is the most unpredictable number and can indicate the pinnacle of success or the depths of failure, according to the Arithmancy chart.
1 indicates an individual who is intense and determined, seeing something through to the end.
8 doesn't help us much, but there is hope with 1.

Posted by Patty from Quincy,Massachusetts on February 2, 2007 08:34 AM

its really strange, that hp7 isn't released on july 7 and you could have a point that this is because harry is supposed to . i don't want harry to , too. but on the other hand do we really need a happy end like: voldy is , harry alive and everything is fine? way to simple ending for an author like jk, isn't it.

Posted by Tonks from Bern, Switzerland on February 2, 2007 08:46 AM

Linda: 7/21 is not, as far as I can tell, exactly the anniversary of the first Harry Potter book in the UK, although it is sort of close. According to Amazon.co.uk, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was released on June 26, 1997.

Posted by Dave Haber from Los Angeles, CA on February 2, 2007 09:16 AM

Even if it has a sad ending, I would still want to see the movies. But maybe not directly after reading this sad ending.
Maybe You're right. 7/7/2007 is a lucky number, and if the book doesn't end well, it might ruin your lucky day...
I don't like the date, actually. It's a national holiday here in Belgium, so we would have to wait untill the 23th.
That's just soooo unfair. I think I'll just plan a trip abroad.

Posted by Katrien from Belgium on February 2, 2007 09:17 AM

Talk about lucky dates, the movie is being released on July 13. That's Friday the 13th! This movie is bad luck for us, I can feel it...

Posted by Dave Haber from Los Angeles, CA on February 2, 2007 09:22 AM

JKRowling is certainly a daring author, and a daring move would certainly be to off Harry (or even Ron or Hermione). I don't think that the central three be ed off however. In an interview, JKR was asked which characters she would invite to a dinner party. She listed harry, hermione and ron before pausing and saying that she was not sure if she could invite people. now this may have just been referring to dumbledore, but since she had just been explaining that at least two key figures would be ed off in the final book, perhaps she was referring to others and harry, ron and hermione be fine.

Posted by hamlet from bradford on February 2, 2007 09:47 AM

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