Harry Potter & Deathly Hallows: Unanswered Questions

Two of us, me & Shradz got together to discuss the unresolved questions in Harry Potter so far. Nice timepass. Here is the outcome of approx 4 hours of hard work.

The unanswered Questions:

1. The Horcruxes
Dumbledore says Voldemort would have 7 Horcruxes: 2 belonging to the founders of Hogwarts, 1 the diary in Chamber of Secrets, 2 that he has destroyed, 1 being Voldemort himself. That leaves 1 more.
Dumbledore mentions Nagini as being the last one. However, cant the last one be Harry? After all, Dumbledore did mention in Chamber of Secrets that Voldemort transferred some part of himself in Harry without intending to (that's how Harry became a parseltongue). If Harry is the last one, then he has to die to kill Voldemort.
Or could it be both Nagini & Harry? Nagini was present when Voldemort murders the servant in the opening chapter of Goblet of Fire. She can easily be a horcrux too.

2. Snape-Good or Evil
Snape murders Dumbledore in front of Harry. Surely that settles it. Snape is evil.
But is he?
Dumbledore, the gr8est wizard ever. Could he make such a big error of judgement? Everyone tells him not to trust Snape but he does. I dont think so.
Wht if Dumbledore knew that Harry will never become independent, never discover his true strength if he was there. Harry is too dependent upon Dumbledore? Add to it that killing Dumbledore would put to rest any issues with the loyalty of Snape towards the dark side.
Towards the end of Half Blood Prince- Dumbledore says "Severus, please" before Snape kills him. Now lets see hw tht is explained in Deathly Hallows

3. Harry Potter v/s LOTR: Is Wormtail to Harry Potter what Gollum is to LOTR
Its an open secret that Harry Potter is greatly influenced by LOTR.
Harry - Frodo, Ron - Sam, Dumbledore - Gandalf, Voldemort - Sauron, Death Eaters - Nazguls, Order of the Phoenix - The Fellowship
Now when Harry lets Peter Pettigrew go, Dumbledore says something like "Wormtail might do a great service to you someday" akin to Gandalf saying "Who knows, even Gollum might play a role in the quest". I suppose Wormtail is going to help Harry get Voldemort and maybe dying in the way.

4. Harry Potter v/s LOTR/Star Wars: Dumbledore/Sirius going to return
Gandalf comes back after dying
So does Obi Wan
Well does that mean one of Dumbledore & Sirius is going to come back? At the end of Harry Potter 5, Harry asks Nearly Headless Nick about how people can return as ghosts. Seems like an innocent conversation at the face of it but Harry Potter fans know that even a single, innocent meaning line can have hidden meanings. I think one of them is going to come back as a ghost to guide Harry.

5. Dumbledore's smirk in Goblet of Fire
At the end of Goblet of Fire, Dumbledore gives a smile when Harry tells him that Voldemort is more powerful as he used Harry's potter to regain power.Now why would Dumbledore smile on hearing tht? He should be terrified, stupified, petrified, mortified thinking of the repercussions of the Dark Lord being stronger than before. Was it just Harry's eyes, or Dumbledore being proud of his student for once or something else?

6. The Prophecy
Is there a catch in the prophecy somewhere? Something in the fine print?What if Neville is destined to kill Voldemort after all? I guess Neville is the character who is gonna die and would be responsible for downfall of the Dark Lord.

7. RAB
Who is RAB? Is he Dumbledore's brother? Or maybe Sirius' brother?

8. What's behind the veil in the Department of Mysteries?

9. Does Harry learn any unforgivable curses? Does Harry become a killer?

These are just the major questions. There is a lot of unanswered stuff.

Now I just love to make predictions. Most of them fall flat but that doesnt deter me. So here it goes:
- Harry doesnt die, Neville dies & is responsible for downfall of the Dark Lord. He becomes the hero & Harry can go on living a normal life.
- Sirius/Dumbledore make a return
- Peter Pettigrew plays a hand in the downfall of Lord Voldemort
- Snape turns out to be the good guy

Saturday, July 21. Morning 5 AM. My questions will be answered. Only Time will tell if I am eligible for the post of Divination Teacher at Hogwarts. Maybe I'll take Shradz too.

PS: Couldnt help the extremely cheesy ending.

The Bose Effect

Last weekend, I ended up in the Bose showroom with my flatmate who wants a new set of earphones to go with his N91. Now while he was taking a look at his earphones, I just drifted around taking a look at various Bose products & making a mental catalogue of gadgets I wish to own someday.Sorry but this is also not what this post is about.
And I saw something that defied one of my childhood convictions. The poster said "Necessity is not the mother of all inventions". That got me thinking and I realized that what the poster said is true. I mean people didnt need bulbs or electricity, they were perfectly happy with candles & gas lanterns. Are cellphones a necessity or a luxury?
However, my inner self also had a counterview.To quote Akio Morita from "Made in Japan",
people are not aware of what technology is capable of. Its upto us to show them what technology can do
Most inventions start as items of luxury and become an integral part of our lives later on. 24/7 net access, google, wiki, youtube would be a few examples.
Guess like most things in life, this also is in grey. But I still think that most inventions come from ingenuity of the inventor rather than out of necessity.
About the usual stuff starting with cribbing about life in Bangalore.Well, I finally realized two things about Bangalore.
Its next to impossible to find an autorickshaw driver willing to take you to ur destination on the first try.
A movie ticket on a weekend can be flaunted as a status symbol
Ohh and turns out my flatmate was "settling" for Bose earphones. Now he is going for some 10k earphones. (& here I thot I was being extravagent by spending 1300/- on my earphones)

I am back (Yet again)

Long long time since my post. I was so tempted to shift over to a new blog, claim that its a new beginning etc etc and that now I'll blog on a regular basis. But I have said such things in the past and now I realize one thing. Breaks from blogging are inevitable in my case, some self-imposed others because of situations out of my hand. The last one was a bit of both. I'll try to be more regular from now on (Have already made drafts for the next 3 posts) but cant promise.

While going through my previous posts(sounds self-obsessed but I do it at times), I realized that my past few posts have been kind of serious. So to make up for them, I thought why not another post dedicated to the God of pessimism, Murphy. As one of my friends commented, everyone looks like an optimist in front of Murphy(even Guns).

The biggest positives of Murphy's Laws are that they are so true and omnipresent.For example,

Whenever something bad happens(which has been more than usual lately), I remember that "If anything can go wrong it will go wrong at the worst possible time and in the worst possible sequence". So it wasnt in my hand. Things were gonna go wrong neway.

Whenever I am writing some code and decide to put in some enhancements, the working code bombs.My inner voice says "Nothing is so bad that it cant get worse".

Basically, Murphy's Law help in having a laugh if things go wrong and move on.

On my last visit to Blossoms(that accursed place), I spotted a book on 'Murphy's Law for Doctors". Decided to take it for my bro who is pursuing MBBS. Here are some of the quotes from that book. They make my day everytime I think of them. Hope they have the same affect on you.

Murphy's Original Law: If anything can go wrong, it will go wrong at the worst possible time and the worst possible sequence.

Laws Derived from the Original Law:

- If anything cant go wrong, it will

- Nothing is ever so bad that it cant get worse

- If there are 4 ways in which things can go wrong and you circumvent these, then a fifth way would develop.

- Anytime things appear to be getting better, you have overlooked something

- Most things get steadily worse

- When things go wrong, dont go with them

- Magnitude of a catastrophe is directly proportional to number of people watching and exponentially proportional to importance of the occasion.

- Probability of something happening is in inverse ratio to its desirability

- The Unspeakable Law: As soon as you mention something, if its good, it goes away
if its bad, it happens

- Negative expectations yield -ve results
Positive expectations also yield -ve results

- The less you do, the less can go wrong (This one I follow religiously)

- If what you are doing is working, keep doing it
If what you are doing is not working, stop doing it
If you dont know what to do, dont do anything

- Almost anything is easier to get into than to get out of

- If we knew what we were getting into, we would never get into anything

- Time it takes to rectify a situation is inversely proportional to the time it took to do the damage

- Those who can, do
Those who cannot, teach
Those who cannot teach, administrate

- To learn from your mistakes, you must first realize that you are making mistakes

- Hindsight is an exact science

- Do not believe in miracles, rely on them

- Law of inanimate Mobility: All inanimate objects can move just enough to get in your way

- Do not believe in miracles, rely on them

- If you need a straight line graph, obtain only two data points

- If reproducibility may be a problem, conduct the test only once

On a sombre note:
- Even the bestest of friends cannot attend each others funeral

- There are somethings so serious that you can only joke about them

But the best one goes to Mark Twain

If you do everything that your doctor asks you to do- stop smoking, stop drinking etc you still might not live a long time but it will certainly seem like a long time

Enough of plagiarism. At the same time, if you cant better something someone else has said already, why not use it with acknowledgements.

For the essence of my blog, soccer (grin). Last time around I was chided by Shradz on putting soccer gibberish on my posts. Soccer is the main article, rest all stuff revolve around soccer and not vice-versa.

Real Madrid winning the La Liga title - Sweet
First major title after 3 years of waiting - Sweeter.
Ending level on points with Barcelona but snatching the title from under their nose because of head-to-head record - Priceless

I know its cheesy & a bad take on the original MasterCard ad but cant help it. Now time to look forward to the next season. Soccer has a 2 months summer break (a few ppl would be glad, right Shradz ?) but that just means that I'll be focussing on F1 from now.

Shivaji released. Well I knew that ppl down South were movie crazy. Heard stories about movie stars being treated as demi-Gods. But this was my first time experiencing it. Everyone was going crazy. Ppl in my office have already seen the movie 4 times in its first week only. U have to c the madness to believe it. Want to c the movie myself but as expected no tkts are available.

Harry Potter 7 releasing in less than a month. Booked two copies- one for me, one for my bro. Thank God its releasing on a Saturday. Plan to go to Blossoms early morning, get my copy, go to CCD or Barista & read it peacefully in a single go with coffee. Looking for some company. Any takers ?

Turning 23

A month since my last post. Its not that I didnt have things to write about. Just too tired or maybe too lazy. Cant really decide between these two excuses.

The highlight of the past mnth has been the visit to Ahmedabad to meet family after 8 months. I have been away from home for the past 5 years but this has to be the longest separation till date. Its the separation from loved ones that makes one realize what they mean to you, may it be family, friends or someone special.

Ahmedabad visits are always fun. Spending time with cousins (and I do have a lot of them), teasing the one who is getting married next (not me in case you are wondering),being a kid again with mom around fussing over me and taking long walks with my bro.

But this is not all. Visiting Gujarat or Rajasthan for that matter, is like stepping back into the real India. Let me explain

Having spent 8 months in a super-metro like Bangalore (Forgive me, I spent 1 yr in Kota & 4 yrs in Rke. Even Indore seemed like a metro after that), I have become used to the hectic pace of life and living for myself only on the weekends. A popular ad says "Slavery is not dead. We’ve just stopped recognizing it". This is too extreme but the gist is there.

These places have stopped in time. People go about their work at their own pace, not hurrying, living every moment. I remembered a dialogue from a Hindi movie "Badi Badi khushiyon ke peeche bhaagte bhaagte hum chhoti chhoti khushiyon mein jina bhool jaate hai"

And these places are a riot of colours. I mean, a guy in a pink dress with small mirrors (wasnt me, so dnt visualize it tht way). But didnt look out of place. After all, gujju marriages are known for their pomp & splendour. My mom tried her best to get me into one of those traditional dresses. I tried to talk her out of it but couldnt and ended up having one for myself (not the pink one. But a light cream one,without the mirrors and no, I am not putting up pics of me in that).

After all these years, I have gotten used to living away from my family but doesnt mean I dont miss them. Guess its like my dad once said "Ships are the safest in shipyards but they are not meant for it". Add to it that my mom starts getting cranky after a week because of my habits. So its better I keep these visits short.

And plz plz dont think I am depressed or something. Would I swap this way of life for that? Right now I dont think I would. I love the freedom, the responsibilities that come this way. I like doing what I am doing. These are just some things that came to my mind in Ahmedabad.

Moving over to soccer. Every time I see a Real Madrid match, I think they cannot play worse than this. Alas! they prove me wrong every time in the next match. The El Classico, Barcelona v/s Real Madrid coming up on March 11. I just hope we are not humiliated or all those Barca fans I have been making fun of since Real Madrid beat Barca will never let me hear the end of it.

And I m turning 23 today (or tomorrow or maybe I m already 23 depending upon when you c this post). My dad mails me saying Happy Birthday, time to get u hooked. For God's sake, I m still a kid !!

A year ago, I was being bumped around, being made the target on which everyone is venting his fury. This yr its going to be only two of my flatmates who cant even pick me up. Miss those times, guys.

Nothing good ever follows
"We need to talk" in a conversation
"but" in a sentence

Retrospection

The worst thing we can do to ourselves is look back and ask the question What If ?.

Should we live in the moment or take a long, hard look at the future results before taking a decision?

But then isnt this some sort of vicious circle? If every decision we make is with an eye on how it is going to affect our future then why do we have to look back and ask What If ?

A confession though. I have always tried to be one of the In the Moment ppl and have lived on the philosophy of "Greedy Algorithm" taking decisions based what I wanted to do in the present rather than looking at the future. And so I have never had to retrospect.

But lately, the dreaded question has started to raise its head in my life too What If?.

Maybe, its not always good to live in the moment. And now faced with the choice of a lifetime - the harder way is to chase my dream however improbable it might be at the risk of a failure or the hard way which is easier than the dream. Heart says "go for the dream" and mind says "look at ur track record. U must be nuts to do the same thing over again and again".

Maybe, Some dreams should remain dreams only. To act as those unattainable carrots for us to chase.

Sigh, Life shld have a software like Butterfly Effect so we know where our choices might lead us.
But again, the uncertainity of what is coming next is what makes life interesting.

Funny, how 20 days ago I thot 2007 is going to be much better than 2006.

RM going down. 3 losses in the past 5 matches. Foolish President blasting his own players in public, a dictatorial coach. Another trophyless season is here.

Liverpool v/s Chelsea and Arsenal v/s ManU to look forward to this weekend.

Have been watching Boston Legal. Its the story of a Law Firm and its lawyers. Having been a huge John Grisham fan, I just loved the series. Season 1 is over. Now downloading Season 2. Something to look forward to.

2007

It takes one comment, one line to see a person in a totally different light.
It takes one incident to realize that u judged a community too early
Sometimes u realize that u r a different person then the one u thought u were.

I missed my customary New Yr Post. As always, better late than never.

Arrival of 2006 was celebrated with a few friends on the banks of Ganga in Rishikesh.2006 was supposed to be the year of transition from college life to professional life.
I had experienced the uncertainities, the problems, the home sickness etc that come with change earlier. And assuming that I was more 'mature' and hence more equipped to deal with these things meant I wasnt too worried. As Chandler would have said "Could I be any more wrong".

But I have to admit, 2006 hasnt been all that good to me. Last semester in college was gr8 but there were some fights & issues that I could and I should have avoided.

And after 7 semesters of cursing Roorkee and wanting to get out asap, I picked out the worse possible time i.e. the 8th sem to realize that I will miss Roorkee.

The first 6 mnths at Bangalore havent been the best. I mean 3 accidents in 6 mnths. CMH hospital shld have offered me Frequent Patient plan.

To add to all of these, loss of HrishiDa (My fav Hindi movie director of all time), Zizou (The Soccer God), Michael Schumacher (Any introductions needed ?) made it the yr when I have to find new idols. Still looking, but these boots r not easy to fill. And I dont even need to speak abt how RM has been performing.

I have had worse yrs but I have also had better ones. Now every cloud is supposed to have a silver lining. Maybe I just didnt c it this yr or I'll realize it in retrospection sometime l8r. For the time being, 2007 offers a new beginning, a new hope. After all, that's the reason why we celebrate New Yr.

And also New Yr means Resolutions. I guess I'll continue my last yr's resolutions only. So same resolutions for the second consecutive year. Now to c those resolutions, I'll have to check my post for 2006 resolutions, which is not a good omen. But lets hope.

Wishing everyone a Happy New Yr 2007