The Aerie
Wow, this is weird.
I've spent some time recently on some Harry Potter fansites, following reactions to the latest book. For those of you who may be concerned, there will be spoilers if you continue reading...
You have been warned! Turn back now! Booga booga!
Still here? You have too much time on your hands, you know that?
The cogent facts about book six are that 1) Dumbledore is slain by Snape, who runs off with a bunch of Deatheaters; 2) Ginny and Harry snog; 3) someone steals a piece of Voldemort's soul called a"horcrux," in the form of a locket concealed beneath a deadly potion, and leaves behind a note signed "R. A. B." in a substitute locket; 4) Harry is tasked with finding at least four more horcruxes and destroying them in the last book.
Now, of those facts, the tactician turns immediately to the THIRD, and starts puzzling. Who is RAB? Why did they bother to re-conceal the locket and how did they manage to steal it in the first place? And of course the fourth point simply begs the question "How will Harry accomplish the task?"
All reasonable questions. Plot-analysts turn to point 1), Is Snape really evil, or was he acting under orders from Dumbledore to kill Dumbledore if the alternative was to blow his cover? Will Snape's slaying of Dumbledore protect Draco Malfoy from Voldemort's vengeance? And most importantly, did Dumbledore's self-sacrifice lay a form of protection on Draco akin to what Harry's mother gave him whe she died?
Strangely enough, however, the questions that I find interesting aren't those that captivate most of the readership. Most of the fans on these websites seem to be concerned about very different issues:
"DUMBLEDORE ISN'T DEAD!"
Nobody wants to believe it, even after what happened to him in the original "Star Wars" or when he was crossing the bridge in "The Fellowship of the Ring." Die-hard (literally) fans have suggested every other character in the books as people shape-changed to look like Dumbledore. Or Snape's spell is questioned - maybe he SAID "Avada Kadavra," but actually cast and illusion of Dumbledore flying off the tower and crashing to the ground far below... and then somebody brought out a fake corpse and laid it there... with a locket in its pocket that Dumbledore had been holding.... yeah, that's the ticket! Dumbledore isn't dead!
People are bending their brains in knots trying to deny that Dumbledore is dead.
"HARRY AND GINNY?!?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?"
Unknown to me, there is a very large population of people who wanted Harry and Hermione to have a relationship. Called "shippers" by die-hard fans, these folks are incensed that JK Rowling sprang this Harry-Ginny thing on them with no warning whatsoever... That is, unless you missed the growing relationship between Hermione and Ron in the last five books, or Ginny's ongoing interest in Harry beginning in the first book.
If Ginny ended up being tortured and killed by Voldemort in the seventh book, some of these folks would have the Dark Mark tattooed on their forearms in gratitude.
"SNAPE IS/ISN'T EVIL, I KNEW IT!"
This is probably the most arguable point that these readers debate, but still it seems pretty clear to me that Dumbledore meant for Snape to kill him, both in order to maintain Snape's cover, to protect Draco and Harry, and possibly also to lay a protective charm over Draco Malfoy or somebody. In the very first book of the series, Ron sacrifices himself in a chess game in order that Harry can checkmate the King - this is exactly the same thing, in my opinion.
But the questions of Snape's motives and standing don't turn on the tactical issues - they turn primarily on the emotional connection between the fans and Snape. Some pity him and adore him, others loathe him and can't fathom the idea that he might have his own sense of honor.
The fans are all over the place. Dumbledore is dead, Dumbledore is in hiding, RAB doesn't stand for Sirius Black's brother Regulus, Harry is the last Horcrux and will die at the end of the seventh book, Lavender Brown used the Imperius Curse to get Ron to snog her, Snape loved Harry's mother, Snape is Harry's actual father, and on and on and on...
From a plot and technical point of view, book six seems very clear cut. Snape will be revealed to have done Dumbledore's bidding, Harry will discover and destroy Voldemort's horcruxes and help destroy Voldemort, etc., Wormtail will have to pay back his life-debt to Harry, etc. But for a lot of these folks, the inevitable, inexorable outcomes of modern heroic fantasy take second place to their refusal to accept the painful losses of fictional characters to whom they've become attached.
It really is astonishing...
Now, that having been said, if Ginny were to die in Book 7, I am certain she would come back to life in Book 8. But Rowling wouldn't dare!