So, as I'm now down to less than 4 hours to make this cleanly, let me get down as much as possible. These predictions are muddier in my mind, because I've spent more time debating this one with my friends Susan and Rebecca, the latter of whom has an eagle eye, and spotted things I would have completely missed. Anyway, here goes...
Update/Warning: There are book 7 spoilers in the comments.
Okay, let's get this over with...
I know a lot of you are probably sick of this by now, but as Barry notes, tonight is Potter night at your local bookstore. While I don't read much sci-fi or fantasy anymore, and I resisted the Potter craze until the fourth one came out, I'm solidly hooked. This probably should be a guilty pleasure, but there is so much depth and cleverness in these books that I don't even feel that guilty about how much I enjoy them.
I somehow get the feeling that the rampant speculation tonight is something with a deep literary past, from medieval readers waiting for the next installment from Cervantes, to Victorian readers debating how the next Dickens or Doyle would turn out. Tonight is the last night when the resolution won't be hanging in the air, hiding behind the resolute look of our friends who have already made it through. Up until now, none of us know what's coming, and frankly, that's wonderful. The commonality of the suspense is a rare thing, on the order of "who shot J.R.?" but this time, waiting in lines outside of bookstores.
So, those of you who are sick of the phenomenon can ignore the rest of this post. Because it's going to get a little thick, I fear...
(And I suppose I have to say that there are spoilers for the first six books below...)
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