Clues to book 7?

[Fortescue]

The following was posted today on CBBC Newsround regarding book 7 to be released in two years.

"I think I give very clear pointers as to what Harry will do next," she said. "There is plenty to guess at... at least one thing I think people will probably deduce, there is a mystery left at the end, but I think they might already know the answer if they think about it."

What things that happened at the end of book six are the "clear pointers" JKR mentioned in the quote?

[Tonks]

Well, Harry did say pretty straight out that he wasn't returning to Hogwarts and after spending a bit of the summer at the Dursleys (like Dumbledore said), he was going to go track down the rest of the Horcruxes to destroy.. Ron mentions Bill and Fleur's wedding so he will probably be going to that first.. and I definitely think that Ron and Hermione will be with him one whatever he does.. 9i

The mystery left at the end though.. hmm, I'm drawing blanks at this one! :eek:

Maybe it has something to do with this:
Ron, he saw, was now holding Hermione and stroking her hair while she sobbed into his shoulder, tears dripping from the end of his own long nose.

[Sirius-fan-forever]

I think that maybe when she talked about the mystery at the end she may have been refering to RAB...in which case it is possible to guess that maybe it's sirius' brother. She could also be talking about snape's double role.

[Fortescue]

Another possible clue is the fact of how HBP ended.

Every other book ends with Harry getting off the Hogwarts Express and leaving with the Dursley's - this book ended while he was still at Hogwarts - could it be that someone comes to him at the beginning of the next book and offers him to stay at Hogwarts where he can do magic, and he only returns to the Dursley's for a day, or a few hours to keep the charm Dumbledore placed on him active?

Harry won't be allowed to do magic outside of school until his 17 birthday - so what will he do for practice for his mission?

[Boing]

We know he has to go back to the Dursleys and JKR said that while we won't see much of them in HBP, we will see "more" of them in Book 7 . . . so either that means that he stays there longer or he has to keep going back or one of them comes with him or he is there for a short period of time, but a lot happens! :D

As for the things we can figure out, I guess I thought that might be related back to R.A.B. as well.

[Weasleyfanforever]

I think that more of Harry's mission will be tactical and subversive at first. He needs to get information, he needs to find out where the Horcruxes are, he doesn't have the information to go running off on a wild goose chase right away, so not sure how much magical training he will do. I am thinking that he will be more focused on finding where the Horcruxes are then learning magic before he goes on the mission. I also think that having Hermione around will be a major help, because she could either be doing research on where the Horcruxes are, or researching defensive magic while Harry tries to find the Horcruxes.

[Tonks]

I'm starting to think that this mystery she left us was definitely in regards to R.A.B., because there is really nothing big that can be seen as a mystery. Sure, dozens of things can be deducted from other scenes at the end, but R.A.B. sort of seems the simplest thing that people could deduce..

I really do think that Harry will go back to the Dursleys though, especially since Dumbledore set the scene early on and made sure Harry knew that he wanted him to go back to the Dursleys.. I bet it's nice for Harry that he knows he doesn't have to remain there for the entire summer, but only until the end of July..

[Fortescue]

As for Harry going back to the Dursley, I think he will do no more than stick his head in the door and say goodbye, but according to Ron and Hermione, they will be with him when he goes there and he won't be staying at all. Dumbledore only said he had to return to the Dursleys - a mere technicality to the charm he placed on Harry and Petunia. Harry won't stay there a night much less until he turns 17.

I think a big clue, as I mentioned before, was the way JKR ended HBP. She ended the book with Harry still at Hogwarts. I think book seven will begin at the exact point that HBP ended, with Harry still at Hogwarts. Sort of like the two books are really one. Someone significant to Harry's quest will approach him before he leaves the school with more answer for Harry, and possibly help as well. I think Aberforth might be one to approach Harry. He has been the silent and mysterious brother of Dumbledore and member of the Order. What bit of him that has been painted by JKR can't be his only purpose in the story.

[Alz]

As for Harry going back to the Dursley, I think he will do no more than stick his head in the door and say goodbye, but according to Ron and Hermione, they will be with him when he goes there and he won't be staying at all. Dumbledore only said he had to return to the Dursleys - a mere technicality to the charm he placed on Harry and Petunia. Harry won't stay there a night much less until he turns 17.

I'm not sure I 100% agree here ...
Basically JKR said there will be no threads left hanging by the end of the series - as such there is parts to the story to tell on the Dursley's - like Petunia for a start.
I think he will be there long enough to get all the details of Petunia and her past - her relationship with Lily and of course the reaction from her on the news that Dumbledore is dead ...

[Boing]

Agreed. JKR has said we will see more of the Dursleys in Book 7, so I think Harry will spend more than just a couple minutes there. I'm interested to find out what the correspondance was about between Petunia and Dumbledore.

As for Aberforth, I also think he will come into play later on. I believe it was in the Mugglenet/TLC interview where JKR said that we need to pay attention to Dumbledore's family or that we will find out more about them in Book 7 . . . I personally was waiting for the entrance of a widow, but alas, looks like Dumbledore was an old bachelor . . . :D

[kashlie]

Dumbledore could have been an old widow too though...with a son...or a daughter...where would Fawkes go besides Harry? To Dumbledore's closest living relative :p

I wonder whether seeing more of the Durselys means we will just see them again, or that we will see lots more of them?

[Alz]

I also still feel Petunia is the one to do magic late in life ...
As such it is plausible that she will become more involved than we initially might think.
We have so many question with regards to the Dursley's that a couple of pages just wouldnt seal it in my mind ... perhaps a chapter - perhaps Harry thinking he will only spend a few hours there will be a clue he will spend longer?