perfidy

After the fold, some of my overheated fanboy theorizationings about the outcome of the new Harry Potter book. DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT click unless you have either read the book or are quite comfortable not caring about knowing important information that could ruin future reading experiences.

Feel free to use the comments as an open Harry Potter thread, with spoilers.
Okay. So we know that Snape killed Dumbledore. But why? And if Snape hates Harry so much, and is such a badass evil guy, why was he intent on not allowing Harry (or Malfoy) to cast any of the Unforgiveable Curses?

I'll tell you: Snape already made an Unbreakable Promise to Dumbledore that he'd do whatever was necessary to keep Harry alive to thwart Voldemort. That's why Hagrid overheard Dumbledore pleading with Snape in the woods. Snape didn't have the upper hand on old Albus, Dumbledore was reminding Snape of the paramount importance of Harry surviving and his remaining a double agent. You think when Snape and Big D were having their showdown on the rooftop that they weren't mind-reading each other like crazy? Snape isn't evil; he's just a really good spy. Moreover, his killing Dumbledore accomplished other ends: it kept Malfoy from taking a life, which would be a very bad thing; it kept Dumbedore from dying more painfully at the hands of a werewolf; it got the Death Eaters out of the castle promptly with a sense of accomplishment, thereby minimizing casualties among the students and other defenders; and now, do you really think anybody is going to question Snape's devotion to Voldemort's cause?

As for the horcrux thingy. Here's my theory: Voldemort was killing Lily Potter to make his seventh horcrux. The spell went wrong and... Harry is a horcrux. It explains his parselmouth ability, his affinity for the wand, part of why Professor Quirrell couldn't touch Harry in book 1, why Harry could read Voldemort's mind... Voldemort doesn't know this, and probably assumes that he only has the six to work with.

The death of Lily Potter also may partly explain why Snape is on the good side (assuming I'm correct about the above). Dollars to donuts that Snape was in love with Lily before James came along and always carried a torch for her. Her death may have marked Snape's apostasy from the Death Eaters. This may also help explain why Snape, who clearly hates Harry, has sucked it up and agreed to try to help him so much over the years.

As for the "missing" horcrux that is the Slytherin amulet... 1) We believe it was in the Black family treasure at one time. Certainly, "RAB" could stand for Romulus Black, Sirius' brother and a Death Eater summarily killed for treason by Voldemort. Is he... really... dead?? 2) There was a mention in either book 5 or 6 of Kreacher having a hoard of Black family stuff, coins and baubles, and wasn't there an amulet/locket thing in that stash? If, say, Romulus hid the horcrux amulet at Grimmauld Place? 3) Why else to have Mundungus Fletcher show up with a bag full of looted items from Grimmauld Place toward the end of Half-Blood Prince, unless he accidentally got ahold of something verrrry important, like say, the missing horcrux??

And doesn't the foregoing mean that Harry has to die for Voldemort to die?

Finallly... how much does J.K. Rowling kick ass for tying together plot points from as far back as Book II and making them crucial parts of the puzzle? That takes some serious author-mojo.

[wik] Also, check out the very long comment thread on my blogcritics posting of my Harry Potter review for more fan theories. Turns out I did manage to get up one of the first reviews in North America, and blogcritics' server proved more resilient than other fansites, which means that my review turned into a fan forum. Cool.