Will They Return? *SPOILERS*

[Boing]

Hee hee - this is hard to come up with titles for the threads that I don't think give too much away!

Anyway, just wanted to start a thread for whether or not we think Harry, Ron, and Hermione will actually leave Hogwarts. Will they go back to Hogwarts for a little while? Will they realize they have to go and then just leave to go on adventures every once in awhile? Will they simply not return as students, but will go back every once in awhile to visit with members of the Order (like McGonagall) and talk to Dumbledore's portrait?

So many questions.

JKR has said that the last chapter of the book focuses on what the people who survived did after school was done . . . sort of like mini bios of their futures. So, that gives me the idea that they will be at school for at least a little bit as it would be weird to have the whole adventure outside of school and then talk about what the other students did after school.

Does it mean that more students will join them outside of school? Like Neville, for instance? :D

What do you guys think?

[Fortescue]

I think Harry is determined to not return, but finish what he started with Dumbledore, but I think he will, or they will return. Harry needs the resources available to him at Hogwarts, such as, the adept wizards that work there as teachers, the protection of the castle will be reinforced once more so the students can be safe, and they still need to finish their education.

I don't think Harry is done learning from Dumbledore, even if it's only now from his portrait in the head's office, or possibly from a few randomly selected memories Dumbledore has bottled for Harry to view in the Pensieve to help him complete his tasks. I'm sure that considering what Harry has to face he will have plenty of leeway with Headmistress McGonagall to leave the school when he needs to and to use any and all resources available through his connection with the school.

[Alz]

I wonder if Harry will forgo his last year of schooling in order to undertake the mission he now faces?

I mean - unless he hopes to tackle it over the summer - or we see a very quick year 7 - i think there is a chance Harry might drop school in order to do what he needs to ...

Any thoughts etc?

[yarvelling]

Well, he did say that he wouldn't return to Hogwarts next year.....so, unless Hermione or Ron can change his mind, then I guess he won't! Of course, I don't think we've seen the last of the school...if Harry goes off with his two friends, he's surely going to need help/advice, etc from other members of the Order and DA who are still at Hogwarts....I can't see either Neville or Luna being out of the picture for long, and Prof. MacGonagal and Hagrid are bound to have some further input......

[Fortescue]

This is like Boingy's "will they return" thread :D

Harry won't be 17 and able to use magic away from Hogwarts until a month after they leave school, so he has a little time to think and plan what he has to do. I think he will return to the school to use the resources there - teachers, Order, Dumbledore's painting etc. but he will probably leave for periods of time to do what he needs and if he saves the world at the end of the book, I'm sure he will pass all his classes.

[yarvelling]

I'm sure that we'll see many of our favourites back next time...Harry, Ron and Hermione are sure to return to Hogwarts if only for help, advice, guidance from MacGonagall and Hagrid, and of course, I'm sure that Neville and Luna's story has not yet ended, so Harry will need to return to get with them.
I too also believe that if DD didn't fake his death (MOST unlikely...sadly...sniff!) then he still has a role to play in Harry's fight with Voldemort, even if it is through the portrait.
Also, don't forget, there's now Kreacher, Buckbeak, and Dobby still there, along with the house at Grimauld Place, and I'm sure that Harry hasn't seen the back of Fawkes just yet. I can't believe that at least some of these will just fade away with no more part to play, especially as Harry's inheritance from Sirius was a key part of DD's introductory scenes.
If DD lives on through his portrait, then so too might his enchantment over Grimauld place...after all, it was he and not Sirius that was the secret keeper....Harry, Ron, Hermione and other members of the Order and DA may still be able to use it as a refuge, especially if Harry can keep a firm control over Kreacher. Also the house has a direct link via portraits to the headmasters office at Hogwarts so Harry could still maintain contact with MacGonagall and DD....

[Tonks]

Still, the way Harry said it, there was no way he was going to come back to Hogwarts. And by the looks of things, if he goes, Ron and Hermione will go as well. I doubt Mrs. Weasley will be happy about that.. but hey, Ron is 17 now and she can't exactly do anything about it..

I bet other people will want to go with them as well, but there's no way Mrs. Weasley will let Ginny go.. Neville and Luna would probably want to come and while they could be a help, that'd be quite a lot of people.. Hagrid could be of some use though..

[kashlie]

Ron will have to learn to apparate, and Harry will have to get his licence too. I think there is a lot of things to do before they can leave Hogwarts completely - if it even reopens.
McGonagall I think will be happy to have Harry there part time to prepare himself, and it may even become some kind of head quarters, as the only way in will be destroyed. I don't think they'll be seeing many new students, and most likely no kids who'd be sorted into Slytherin.
I daresay the lack of students will mean the school will be a school no more.

I will even go further and say a school for the children of the order, of course, not publicised because that is just too dangerous!!

[kashlie]

There wasn't a single person who believed that the school would reopen next year, was there?
I think they will return to the school, but it may not be a school any more. I don't see any Slytherin students returning, I can't see new students arriving, and many more from the other houses will be pulled from the school. There won't be many students left at all.
It might become some kind of head quarters, or purely a place to train the students for battle, because obviously, the ones who remain have parents who want their kids to learn defence.

[mimbulus mimbletonia]

I agree with Kashlie, it's the perfect place to use as headquarters, training base, howver you want to see it. Hermoine's strongest point is her thorough reading and research, so she will still need the library. I can see Harry based Dumbledore's office to some extent. Although McGonagall might not relinquish that so easily ;)

The Sorting Hat's song from OotP (I think) comes to mind also that the houses must unite in order to survive - the school just can't be finished yet...

[Tonks]

One of the teachers said that if only one student wanted to come back to Hogwarts, then it should remain open to teach that one pupil. However, obviously the decision to close the school is really up to the school's governors, who might opt to do just that now that Dumbledore is gone. However, I do think that the teachers will do their best to talk them out of this, because they do wish to prepare the ones growing up to fight should the need be.. and Hogwarts is still safer than many places, despite the lack of the one who made it so..

I do think that Harry might not return to Hogwarts, and if he does not give Ron and Hermione the slip, they too will probably go wherever he decides to..

Still, should the school remain open, I do think that Harry & co. will find themselves back there at some point, if only to talk to the portrait of Dumbledore or to gain other such information.. As mentioned, there is stuff at Hogwarts that can only be obtained at Hogwarts..

[Boing]

As Fortescue said, this was exactly like the "Will They Return" thread . . . ;) Great minds think alike, don't they?! :D

At any rate, I have merged the two threads together, so feel free to continue the discussion here of whether or not Harry and Co. will return for a seventh year of school or will ever see Hogwarts again . . .:

[Hermione]

What does everyone think of Harry's plans to take a year off to find Horcexes instead of going to Hogwarts?

Personally, I think if the school is open, he should be there, learning everything he can to defeat Voldemort. The idea of foregoing an education just scares me a little.

But there are pros to chasing horcexes too. It would help bring down Voldemort and give him some experiance as to what it is like chasing death eaters and fighting on a daily basis, not once a year.

[kashlie]

I think Harry will go there long enough to learn a few more things, and to get his apparition licence. He'll be advised, I am sure, by all the teachers, and be allowed to consult with a certain portrait in the headmasters office when needed.
He still will come of age, with or without the school, just in a more dangerous way than the other students. But, we have to remember, he is essentially doing this for them, and for all students that will follow, he just has to realise that himself too, i think.

[Weasleyfanforever]

Still, the way Harry said it, there was no way he was going to come back to Hogwarts. And by the looks of things, if he goes, Ron and Hermione will go as well. I doubt Mrs. Weasley will be happy about that.. but hey, Ron is 17 now and she can't exactly do anything about it..

I wholeheartedly agree here with Tonky. Nope, they won't be back. Oh, they may visit, or stop by for help, but they won't be going to classes and worrying about Apparition licenses and such. Harry was determined when he decided, he didn't break up with Ginny for no reason, he's not just saying things and not meaning to do them. He grew up a lot in the time that he had the discussion with Dumbledore about being 'dragged into the arena for a fight to the death, and walking in with your head held high'. Harry shows a resolve at the end of this book that is beyond his 16 years, and his friends show a loyalty that is beyond theirs. And yes, I believe that Hermione said what she meant in CoS. 'Books and cleverness, there are more important things.' Hermione, of all people, will not be there to sit her exams if Harry and Ron are not.

[Padma Patil]

Personally, I think that they will return. Here's a new idea... what if McGonagal invites him back as a teacher? Defence against the Dark Arts perhaps? Since once again they need a new one?

I don't think Harry would accept, because he is too concentrated on finding the horcruxes. I do hope though that the school will not be abandoned. I like the idea of using it as a training base and or a headquarters.

But I think that Harry is so focused on finding those horcruxes that he doesn't care about much else.

[Alz]

I am so torn about this ....
It just wouldnt seem like Harry Potter if there was no school year - but then again the circumstances which we left Harry and co under almost dictates that we wont see Harry there if there is ...
Harry is now resolved on his quest - I think he rates that higher than his education - so I think that he wont be back - well maybe for Graduation where special circumstance might be made to allow him to grad - or he just wont be alive ... ;)
The terrible trio have been just that all these years - I cant see them deserting him in his last hour of need - as such i think they will also be missing if there is a school year.
Will there be a school year - I think there has to be, if noly just for the memory of Dumbledore - and to show they are all united!

[Tinkerbell]

I think that perhaps over the summer holidays, where we assume Harry will return to the Dursleys for the shortest ever time, he will rally the troops as it were, and after being able to give some tought to the situation perhaps return to Hogwarts, even if it is to use Hogwarts as a 'base'; he has already said that he didn't want to return to Grimmauld Place if the Order goes there.

Perhaps he will use Draco's idea and use the Room of Requirement and the cabinet to move between Hogwarts and Grimmauld Place!

[Tonks]

Personally, I think that they will return. Here's a new idea... what if McGonagal invites him back as a teacher? Defence against the Dark Arts perhaps? Since once again they need a new one?
As much as I hate to say this, I don't think Harry would be prepared enough to be the DADA teacher, especially since if he became such, it would technically be a year he was still supposed to be in school. Therefore, he never finished the last year of DADA and hasn't (yet?) received a DADA N.E.W.T., so he would sort of be lacking in some areas. Also, old Armando Dippet refused such a teaching job to Voldemort himself for the very reason of him still being too young, and I'm going to say that the same will probably hold true for McGonagall and Harry, not that Harry would ever ask.. he's too set on being an Auror (yet I wonder if he will ever be able to become that as well, because he won't be attending school - poor Harry :()

That is actually one of the only reasons I can see Harry returning - to finish his Auror training so he can become an Auror himself. I don't know how that would be possible as he seems bent on going off to track down the Horcruxes, but I can't exactly see him just throw this away..

How can JKR call it year 7 if it isn't really year 7? :(

[Alz]

You know it could be a forshadow - Harry going off on his quest in the last year of school ...
What I mean to say is that JKR keeps teasing Harry might not survive - well that would make the last year at school irrelevant wouldnt it ...?
If he decides to go off on his quest and not complete the school year - and then was to die ...

I still feel at least one of the three central kiddies here has to die - I dont want any of them to - just I get a feeling that JKR will take one of them out during the last book :(

[anthony]

i think harry will drop out when he is 17
and head straight for the big V (and mabe big D while he is at it we would all love to see that) nearing the end of the year he may return to hogwarts for a possesion of dumbledores or somthing

i think hogwarts will make him an honarary graduate though

[Tonks]

A quote from the TLC/Mugglenet interview with JKR (yeah that one im obsessed with):
MA: You said that during the writing of book six something caused you fiendish glee. Do you remember what that was?

JKR: Oh, god. [Long silence as Jo thinks.] What was it? It wasn't really vindictive [laughter] – that was more of a figure of speech. I know what I've enjoyed writing – you know Luna's commentary during the Quidditch match? [Laughter.] It was that. I really enjoyed doing that. Actually I really enjoyed doing that.

You know, that was the last Quidditch match. I knew as I wrote it that it was the last time I was going to be doing a Quidditch match. To be honest with you, Quidditch matches have been the bane of my life in the Harry Potter books. They are necessary in that people expect Harry to play Quidditch, but there is a limit to how many ways you can have them play Quidditch together and for something new to happen. And then I had this moment of blinding inspiration. I thought, Luna’s going to commentate, and that was just a gift. It’s the kind of commentary I’d do on a sports match because I'm — [laughs]. Anyway yeah, it was that.
The last Quidditch match?! :eek: Wellll, I do have to say that this does support the idea that Harry will not return to Hogwarts for his seventh and supposed-to-be last year there. If he doesn't go, he obviously can't play Quidditch. . . I mean unless he somehow got signed to another Quidditch team, but that obviously won't happen because JKR said no more Quidditch matches! Besides, Harry's a little preoccupied for that . . .

I suppose that there could be some other circumstance why there is going to be no Quidditch-playing, such as there was during GoF due to the Triwizard Tournament. I do find that kind of unlikely, although not impossible..

Anyway, yeah, I think this backs up the not-to-return end of the theory - :)

[Snuffles]

yeah, I was wondering if Harry will ever return....
I don't think he will, either. He had his reasons, and I don't think the Ministry has much to say about that now that Dumbledore's dead and all...

[Fortescue]

Okay, this is from the JKR interview with Melissa and Emerson - I think we can figure from this that Harry probably won't be returning to Hogwarts, and if by some chance he does, he won't be playing Quidditch:

MA: You said that during the writing of book six something caused you fiendish glee. Do you remember what that was?

JKR: Oh, god. [Long silence as Jo thinks.] What was it? It wasn't really vindictive [laughter] – that was more of a figure of speech. I know what I've enjoyed writing – you know Luna's commentary during the Quidditch match? [Laughter.] It was that. I really enjoyed doing that. Actually I really enjoyed doing that.

You know, that was the last Quidditch match. I knew as I wrote it that it was the last time I was going to be doing a Quidditch match. To be honest with you, Quidditch matches have been the bane of my life in the Harry Potter books. They are necessary in that people expect Harry to play Quidditch, but there is a limit to how many ways you can have them play Quidditch together and for something new to happen. And then I had this moment of blinding inspiration. I thought, Luna’s going to commentate, and that was just a gift. It’s the kind of commentary I’d do on a sports match because I'm — [laughs]. Anyway yeah, it was that.

I would assume based on this that we won't see Harry back at Hogwarts as a full-time student. Even if he was still a student but too busy to play Quidditch, we would atleast hear of it or see bits of it. I think we can safely say he won't return!

[Alz]

Is it possible that JKR can tell a story where both things take place concurrently?
Can she pull of having a Hogwarts year and also Harry's search for Horcruxes?
See this is what I think - Harry will need to do a lot of investigation - a lot of reading and needs to polish up his skills in order to get passed the Voldemort protections.
Is it possible Harry's quests can take place while he is at school - weekends, school holidays. Christmas etc?
I think there is a chance Harry could do both at once - and JKR is clever enough to pull off running both situations at once.
I'm still unsure Harry will drag Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Luna & Neville to all the Horcruxes hunts - instead he will have them help guide him with facts and details - and then he will go off alone (not for all of them - I can see the team heading out for at least the final one) to try and destroy these Horcruxes.

[Snuffles]

I'm with you there, Blaise. Even though I said that I don't think Harry would come back, I think I changed my mind :p. JKR wouldn't leave us all hanging about Hogwarts! Harry at least needs to get his studies to become an Auror or whatever job he wants for the future.

I'm still unsure Harry will drag Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Luna & Neville to all the Horcruxes hunts - instead he will have them help guide him with facts and details - and then he will go off alone (not for all of them - I can see the team heading out for at least the final one) to try and destroy these Horcruxes

I agree here, too. Even though Harry said that he would do the Horcrux thing all alone, I don't think any of his friends would let him. They would help him with the facts and details, even some fighting, if necessary. Harry would be alone in fighting and facing Voldemort, but Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, and Luna are definitely going to help Harry out somehow! They aren't just going to sit there!

[Alz]

I dont think anyone could stop Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Luna & Neville all coming with Harry on the Final Horcux - and possibly the final face off with Voldemort ... but I think they will respect and see that Harry might be better off on his own for the first few.
Harry knows all those close to him are a real target - in fact he has lost so many already - and as he embarks on this final part of the story - I think he knows he has to keep the ones he loves as far away as possible - because while they are around - Voldemort will have the advantage and will use them against Harry.
The final horcrux will be the big one - all those around Harry will be there - and some will die ...