Book 7 looms in the horizon like an ominous pool of quick sand. As the time draws closer to immerse myself in it, the following conversation sums up my worries.
Prax: (Weeping melodramatically.)
Oh Sakti! He is going to die, I tell you. Die! The end of the seventh book is going to break my heart! Then…then, what will I do?
Sakti: (Sane individual who nevertheless being in close proximity of many a Harry Potter freakomaniacs has mastered the art of dealing with a pre book depression…
Or so she thinks)
Prax, come on. How can you be so sure he’ll die? J K probably won’t kill him. He’s the ‘boy who lived,’ after all.
Pause
Prax: (icily) You think… this is about… Harry Potter?
Sakti: (tries to leaf through the ‘What Not To Say To A HP Freakomaniac’ in her head before babbling,) Er, I mean… yeah.
Prax: (drops bollywood inspired anguished expression, to adopt pure look of outrage)
Potter? Prax snarls. Who cares about what happens to that idiot boy. He wouldn’t survive a day if it weren’t for Severus.
Prax becomes emotional at the mention of the ’s’ word and sighs, before adding passionately,
“It is Severus, that I am worried about!”
Sakti is unable to come up with a possible explanation for Prax’s madness. She decides to blame it on her own auditory failure.
“WHAT?”
Prax: “Severus may die and then…then what. Everyone will tell me to move on. Concentrate on your studies; take each day as it comes. But without Severus… (is unable to continue)
Sakti (look of disbelief): but…but…He’s the bad guy.
Prax: (waves hand dismissively) Not if you believe ‘Conspiracy Theory 1747’, he’s not.
A pause
Then a longer one
Sakti: (finally) what…is that?
Prax: (excited) see the thing is Dumbledore asked…
Sakti realizes that she is voluntarily listening to something called ‘Conspiracy Theory 1747’. The stupidity, she is subjecting herself to, hits home. Hastily interrupts,
Wait …just forget the theory. Let’s just look at facts, okay? What did Snape do at the end of sixth book? (Encouraged by Prax’s slight change in expression) Yeah, the unspeakable …that too, to Dumbledore. So logically, what follows?
‘ Snape is the bad guy.’
Prax ( self righteously): Well…I think that event, in itself, is open to investigation & interpretations.
Sakti: Maybe. But what if, there is no other explanation and he is just a horrible, callous Death Eater?
Prax (ignoring Sakti, to go misty eyed instead.): The subtleties of Severus’ character are beyond normal human comprehension.
Sakti (enunciating slowly, like to a kid or an idiot or both): He is NOT REAL.
Pause
Prax: Bah! Well if you are going to focus on the trivial details…
___________________________________
So, what’s the worst thing that could happen in Book 7 for you?
