Unfogging the Future Plotline, revamp part 1

The future is proving much too foggy for me to parse it out into chapters.

So, let's start over. I'm leaving my first post on this subject up, but only for posterity's sake. It might be worth a laugh....

Here, in no particular timeline order, are my predictions (and statements of already-known bits). A few of my predictions have changed, but not much:

• Harry returns to #4 Privet Drive for his shortest stay ever. I think it will be no more than a week, perhaps only a day or two. Though Ron and Hermione say that they will accompany Harry to visit his aunt and uncle, I think they will not go to #4 Privet Drive with him.
• Dudley has been trying to figure out how his parents have damaged him. Sadly, Dudley will never fully recover from his horrible upbringing.
• There is more to Petunia than we have seen so far. No, Petunia is not a witch or a Squib. She will not be using any magic. Petunia confides in Harry more info she had previously held back about her involvement in the wizarding world. This should include some specifics about correspondence between herself and Dumbledore. I think Harry will (because he's obsessing over it) mention that Dumbledore was killed by Severus Snape. Petunia will admit she knows who he is, and it will become clear to Harry, finally, that "that aweful boy" Petunia overheard talking about dementors to Lily was in fact Severus Snape, when they were kids, not James Potter.
• Harry gets escorted to the Burrow by members of the Order (as stated on one of the book covers). The Order might have to fight off Death Eaters during the trip (suggested by the same book cover).
• Harry spends his birthday at the Burrow. It being his 17th birthday, the haul of presents will be quite good. Watch out for Hagrid's gift; it should prove to be particularly important -- I think it will be the flying motorcycle Sirius let him keep when he tried to return it.
• Harry will receive something from Dumbledore, either as a birthday gift planned way in advance or through Dumbledore's will. I'm holding out for Harry to receive the Pensieve, the golden pocketwatch, and perhaps even some silver instrument Dumbledore used to keep in his office (like the one that emitted smoke in the shape of two entwined snakes). It would be most useful if he received the Pensieve, so that Harry can learn to use it... also so that Harry can examine some of his own memories. The golden pocketwatch would also be a good item for Harry to receive, since the Weasley men tend to receive a golden watch on their 17th birthday. Plus, that pocket watch could be really useful.
• Bill and Fleur will get married in August. The wedding will be quite eventful. There are too many possibilities here; Fred and George could play a big prank, Dobby (or someone else) could crash the wedding or the reception, Percy might reunite with the family, Scrimgeour might show up to confront Harry....
• Umbridge still works for the Ministry, and JKR will have more fun with the character. How this is going to play out... the fog is too thick. Now that Dumbledore is gone and McGonagall has taken over as Headmistress of Hogwarts, Scrimgeour will set Umbridge upon the school once more -- this part is doubtful. Since she's failed to control Hogwarts once already, and she's afraid of centaurs (Firenze teaches Divination there, along side Trelawney), I think any assignment she has regarding Hogwarts would be from a distance. I'd like to see Fred and George play a prank on her, or for Harry to prank her using WWW products. Umbridge is quite afraid of centaurs now. At the end of OotP, Ron starts having fun with Umbridge by making horse hoof sounds with his mouth. At Dumbledore's funeral Umbridge moves far away from Firenze, and she's probably one of the people who scream when the centaurs shoot arrows as their show of respect for Dumbledore. She's also quite wary of Hagrid and Grawp... well, with half-breeds and non-humans in general. I think Umbridge's increased fear of half-breeds and creatures (particularly horse-like animals) will lead to her further humiliation and downfall.
• Harry will travel to Godric's Hollow while Ron and Hermione return to Hogwarts. He'll use the flying motorcycle to get there.
• The Dursleys (mainly Vernon) will demand to see the house Harry has inheritted. A trip to #12 Gimmauld Place is not want Harry wants, but he goes anyway. This must happen quite early in the book, perhaps within the first few chapters. Hilarity ensues as the Muggles try to enter and check out the house, enchanted as it is.
• At #12 Grimmauld Place, Harry will notice Regulus Black's name on the Black family tapestry. Regulus will be R.A.B. Harry will look for the locket there but not find it. He'll call on Kreacher, who must obey, and demand to know what Kreacher did with the locket. Kreacher will look in his "nest" and find it is missing. Harry will recall Mundungus's theft of Black family heirlooms and search for him. Mundungus will admit he sold the locket to none other than the bartender of The Hog's Head, Aberforth Dumbledore.
• Aberforth Dumbledore has a long memory (Albus says this in OotP). Harry will go to The Hog's Head and speak with Aberforth, in an attempt to retrieve the locket Mundungus stole. Aberforth will give Harry some memories (in vials) or will simply recount stories -- about the previous war with Voldemort (1970's), about Albus's life (including his battle with Grindlewald), about Severus Snape (eavesdropping on the prophesy, etc.), and other topics of interest.
• Bezoars are rare (Slughorn says this in HBP). Therefore, bezoars are probably a bit expensive... and lucrative. Aberforth has a reason for his odd association with goats. I think he's been charming goats to produce bezoars faster or in higher quantities than they normally would. Considering his dealings with Mundungus even after he banned him from the bar, it's not too far a stretch to suggest that Aberforth and "Dung" were in the bezoar business together. Aberforth raised charmed goats, and Dung sold the bezoars. Aberforth got called in for his charmed goats, and Albus helped his brother's case. This is probably when Aberforth banned Dung from the bar... after the legal issues. It didn't keep Aberforth and Dung from doing some sort of business transactions outside of the bar.
• Madam Irma Pince will turn out to be somehow related to Severus Snape. I'm not ready to predict exactly how they are related, but Irma is probably either his older sister or his mother. We're not sure Severus even has a sibling, so I'm leaning more towards mother. I'll give some of my reasoning here:


1. Irma's physical appearance is described in similar terms as for Eileen... and Severus.


2. If there is any truth to the Irma Pince anagrams of "I'm a Prince" or "I am Prince", then it would make more sense for her to be Eileen (née Prince) than for her to be a sister (née Snape) of Severus.


3. Eileen Prince was a Gobstones champion in her schooldays, and that is considered a bit nerdy (wizard chess is cool), even by Hermione's standards. Becoming a librarian would be perfect for Eileen.


4. It would be humorous for Severus (who scribbled mercilessly in his textbooks) to have a mother who detests such behavior.


5. If Severus's switch to Dumbledore's side is sincere (and I think it is), and Dumbledore publicly proclaims Severus's denouncement of the Death Eaters (which he does more than once, including during Karkaroff's trial), then Dumbledore would offer Severus the same thing he offered Draco: protecting him and his family from Voldemort. Remember, Voldemort doesn't just kill his enemy, he kills off the entire family of his enemy... and the enemy's friends... you get the idea. Anyway, Hogwarts would be a safe place to keep Severus's family members.
• A secret passageway on the fourth floor of Hogwarts was blocked off sometime after Severus and the Mauraders left Hogwarts but before Harry started attending the school. This blocked passageway will turn out to be connected to Severus Snape. As an extention to the above part (Snape's relatives in hiding idea) I believe the blocked passage's location, relative to the library, means it's a particularly good place for Dumbledore and Snape to hide Snape's relatives. It would also be a good place for Snape to hide. This also leads to my next prediction....
• Harry will find out that Snape snuck back into Hogwarts (through tunnels, probably) and impersonated Irma Pince by dressing up in the same outfit Mundungus uses to enter The Hog's Head. If Irma is really Eileen or some other relative of Severus, then she would probably let him hide at the school and impersonate her. Severus attended Dumbledore's funeral by wearing the veil. Filch (apparently a really good friend of Severus's, possibly attracted to Irma) may or may not know about the switch.
• Severus's memory of his parents fighting might turn out to be evidence that his parents got divorced. Since JKR likes to "kill" off Muggle relatives, Tobias might have died of natural causes. Either way, I think Tobias is out of the picture and doesn't need protection from Voldemort. Plotwise, it would be more interesting if Tobias found out Eileen was a witch (when Severus was a small boy) and left her, much like Riddle Sr. left Merope. It would give us (and Harry) more insight into the choices Severus has made. Harry has paralleled young Voldemort and Severus Snape -- witch mother, Muggle father, wizarding child who chooses to associate with the wizarding side of the family. I think this will be the big difference: Voldemort kills his father and his paternal grandparents; Severus does not kill his father or other relatives... and means them no harm. It dawns on Harry that Severus couldn't possibly stoop to such cruelty, even though his childhood was miserable... and despite his otherwise cruel behavior.
• Severus's Killing Curse is not what killed Dumbledore. Or I should say, Severus used a combination of a failing Avada Kedavra (said out loud), Wingardium Leviosa (or some other levitation charm, nvbl), and a nvbl Banishing spell. It's the only way to achieve the effects Harry saw on the tower. If you are hit with a lethal Killing Curse you just colapse in a heap right where you stand (like poor Cedric). However, Dumbledore was lifted into the air and sent over the ramparts. The Killing Curse alone cannot do this.
• On a similar topic, Dumbledore did not beg for his life, he begged for death. He wasn't affraid of death. Besides, he knew about the Unbreakable Vow Severus took for Narcissa and would not want Severus to die.
• On the same topic, Dumbledore owed Severus a Life Debt ever since Severus stopped the curse (from the ring horcrux) from spreading up Dumbledore's arm. This would be during the summer before Harry's 6th year at Hogwarts. Though Dumbledore didn't fear death he probably didn't want to die having not fulfilled his Life Debt to Severus. Spiritually it would be even worse than that for Dumbledore -- to actually cause or allow the death of the person you owe a Life Debt to.... Seriously bad Karma, there. Dumbledore reminded Snape that he (like Harry) had promised to do whatever Dumbledore said. So, again, Dumbledore is asking for death, not for his life to be spared.

I'll continue this later. Make sure to check here from time to time and see if I have updated anything... changed my predictions, etc.