I have created a few essay type editorials over the past year, predicting what may or may not happen in Deathly Hallows. in this one, i shall discussion one thing that may happen in "The Blood Bath"

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hmm... we thought we'd thought this through, didn't we? im about to throw spanners into every part of the works. THIS IS NOT MY OWN WORK, PLEASE DO NOT CREDIT ME FOR THIS. CREDIT GOES TO NUMEROUS OTHER PEOPLE, I’M MERELY OPENING THIS FOR DEBATE

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Ok, so there are three reasons why Ron might die. firstly are the numerous "prophecies" so to speak, throughout the story. these are all put into the story as jokes in Ron and Harry's divination lessons.... and they all come true.

lets look at some tea leaves... (book 3)

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Harry begins the lesson of Divination with the first reading of the tea leaves.

“‘Right, you’ve got a wonky sort of cross’ he said, consulting Unfogging the Future. ‘that means you’re going to have “Trials And Suffering” – sorry about that – but there’s a thing here that could be the sun. Hang on … that means “great happiness” … so you’re going to suffer but be very happy …’”

Ron certainly went through some trials in book three didnt he? he lost his rat, buckbeaks execution, a broken leg at the hands of Sirius, his rat was a murderer...

lets say the thing was buckbeaks execution. but buckbeak didn't die... so how is it?

"so you'll suffer, but you'll be happy about it"

that follows the prophecy immediatly after.

and Ron must have been happy that Buckbeak didn't die.

ok, next one, because that isn’t so clear cut.

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Ron then reads Harry’s tea leaves

“’There’s a blob a bit like a bowler hat,’ he said. ‘Maybe you’re going to work for the ministry of magic …’”

Harry is almost recruited to work for the ministry by Fudge and then Scrimgeour. They certainly try to anyway. Maybe he will still?

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Ron continues with his predictions

“’But this way it looks more like an acorn … what’s that?’ He scanned his copy of Unfogging the Future. ‘”A windfall, unexpected gold.” Excellent, you can lend me some.”

Ron’s powers of prediction come through again

Unexpected gold. Well, Harry didn’t expect to be in the Triwizard Tourniment, and he didn’t expect to win, and he got 1000 galleons for it.

“great, you can lend me some”

Harry does lend Ron some. He gives the gold to Fred and George, and specifically tells them to buy Ron some new dress robes, which they do.

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Finally, a teaser

“that looks like an animal… yeah, if that was it’s head… it looks like a hippo… no”

Ron is about to comment on the “head of a hippo…” and cuts off, apparently after the word hippo. But no, a hippo is a muggle animal, surely Ron wasn’t talking about muggle animals.

A hippo…griff?

The head of a hippogriff

Buckbeak’s head.

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Now, astrology.
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“that can’t be right, I have two neptune’s here” – Harry
“ahhhh when two neptunes are in the sky, it’s a sure thing that a midget in glasses is being born” – Ron

Wait? Ron was imitating Trelawney, right? Didn’t Trelawney prophesise Harry’s birth? Has Ron just done the same? Could Ron have unknowingly been talking about something that did happen on the night of Harry’s birth, and this is why Voldemort chose him? It’s a little farfetched, but if Ron’s powers of prediction are true. I mean, it was the end of July, like Trelawney’s prediction, but that could have been Neville. What if there were two neptune’s in the sky somehow, on the 31st of July, which meant Harry would have “power the Dark Lord knows not”?

It’s a long shot though, how do you get two neptunes in the sky?

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Now Homework. Ron and Harry do lots of predictions in GOF for homework, but which come true? These strictly relate to GOF, although im sure lots could go further.

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Ron predicts he is likely to develop a cough

Ron and Hermione do develop coughs, the yule ball, before going to it. They cough at Hagrid’s Cologne. Its not much, but it proves his predicting skills.

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Harry predicts “on Monday, I will be in danger of burns”
Harry predicts “on Tuesday, I will lose a treasured possession”
Harry predicts “on Wednesday, I will lose a bet”

Now its time to show Harry’s skills of prediction. Lets have a look at these three days as three stages. What else has three stages?
The triwizard tournament does.
Stage One- Harry is definitely in danger of burns from the dragon
Stage Two-Harry believes he will lose Ron, Hermione AND Cho if the champions don’t turn up in time
Stage Three-Harry loses a bet, although he loses it for someone. He had a bet on him that he’d win, by Ludo Bagman

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Ron has another go at a made up thing for Harry.

“why don’t you get stabbed in the back by someone you though was a friend?”

Um… I only need to say one word, it should be obvious

Moody.

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Ron next does one for himself.

“I think ill come off worse in a fight”

He never got anything from fighting with Harry or Hermione throughout the year did he?

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Harry predicts his own “death by decapitation”

This one doesn’t literally happen, but how about when he and Ron are “fighting” before the yule ball is announced to the class?

..the head of Harry's haddock drooped and fell silently to the floor - Ron's parrot's beak had severed it moments before...

Harry was decapitated, or his fish was.

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Hermione says “you seem to be drowning twice” to Ron

So Ron predicted he’ll drown

Well, he was under the lake for a long time, and he would have “drowned” if Harry didn’t get there in time, but what about twice?

Well, Hermione said it, not Ron. Perhaps Hermione is the same? Yep, Krum arrived after the time limit was up, she should have drowned.

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Ron then changes the duplicate to “getting trampled by a rampaging hippogriff”

Can’t really say anything about this, this doesn’t really come true, although Hermione certainly rampages when they argue… who knows?

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So, what do all these predictions mean?

Well, Ron makes one more


“I don’t care if my tea-leaves read “die Ron die” I’m chucking them in the bin where they belong.”

“die Ron die”?

But JK didn’t set it out like I did either. She put that quote in italics, not quotations. What I did was put it in quotations, and it works perfectly fine. Why did JK want these words to stand out so much?

Also, it set out as “die Ron die” Ron is between two “die’s” as it is. Doesn’t look like he can escape.

And with Harry and Ron’s powers of prediction, perhaps it would come true. It was a simple joke, but simple jokes mean a lot.

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Ok, I’ve spent enough time on predictions, let’s get away from divination, although we’re still very much on prophecies.

Let’s talk chess!

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Chess is very important in the first book. As we know, Ron is “taken” by the queen in the game. But is that all?

Lets review the game in full.



“Well, Harry, you take the place of that bishop, and Hermione, you go next to him in place of that castle”
“what about you?”
“I’m going to be a knight” Said Ron


Why was Ron the knight? Ron summed things up in the previous statement of “neither of you are any good at chess” so without Ron, both Harry and Hermione would easily be taken. Therefore, would it not make more sense for Ron to be the King, who has to stay there throughout the entirety of the game for them to win? It would have been more sensible, but JKR deals with symbolism in this sequence. Ron is not a King, whilst he takes charge in this scene, he’s not a King and cannot lead a battle. However, Ron does possess the qualities needed for a good knight. Bravery, strength and pure of heart, willing to do whatever it takes. He is a knight, so he takes the place of one.

Hermione being put as the castle is done because Hermione “goes straight” just like the castle does. Hermione doesn’t bend rules like Harry and Ron, and she is much stricter, and therefore, she goes straight.

Harry is Bishop because bishops do not go straight, they go diagonally. This means they have a disregard for rules, which Harry does. Also, Bishops are closest to the King, who we can place as Dumbledore.

Now, lets continue the game.

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Their first real shock came when their other knight was taken. The white queen smashed him to the floor and dragged him off the board, where he lay, face down and motionless.
“Had to let that happen” said Ron, looking shaken “leaves you free to take that bishop, Hermione, go on”


What could this move signify?

It’s the other knight. Who shows characteristics similar to Ron?
Who is brave?
Who is pure of heart?
Who is strong?

Sirius fits the category, it can be said Sirius, like Ron is a true Gryffindor and a true knight. Also, it can be pointed out that Sirius was James’ best friend, like Ron is Harry’s best friend.

The white Queen? Well, if we’re follwing the story, it has to be Bellatrix, but even if we don’t, who is close enough to Voldemort, (the White King) and female? We know there are few female death eaters, and even fewer who are close to Voldemort, but Bellatrix definitely fits the mould.

And she does kill Sirius, and it was their first real shock of the war, definitely for Harry anyway.

Also, Hermione takes a bishop afterwards. What does this represent? The bishop could indeed point at Lucius Malfoy, who is close to Lord Voldemort, and also has a disregard for the rules. He is the equivalent to Harry on the Death Eaters side. Malfoy doesn’t die, but he is arrested, almost immediately after Sirius is killed.

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Every time one of their men was lost, the white pieces showed no mercy. Soon there was a huddle of limp black players slumped along the wall. Ron himself darted around the board, taking almost as many white pieces as they had lost black ones.


Now, this next quote can’t be taken too literally. We can’t say that Ron kills a lot of people in the war, because he has killed nobody yet. However, this can be used to show how many casualties are lost on both sides? Mrs.Weasley’s fears of people dying are not stupid at all, they are perfectly real.

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Yes..." said Ron softly, "It's the only way... I've got to be taken."
"No!" Harry and Hermione shouted.
"That's chess!" snapped Ron. "You've got to make some sacrifices! I take one step forward and she'll take me -- that leaves you free to checkmate the king, Harry!"
"But --"
"Do you want to stop Snape or not?"
"Ron --"
"Look, if you don't hurry up, he'll already have the Stone!"
There was no alternative.


There you have it, this is obvious. There is no alternative. Ron has to die in the chess game. This could easily mean Ron has to die in real life too. And it’s not an accident or some miscalculation that makes it happen. Ron sacrifices himself for Harry and Hermione to advance. He does it, so that Harry can check mate the king.

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He stepped forward, and the white queen pounced. She struck Ron hard across the head with her stone arm, and he crashed to the floor - Hermione screamed but stayed on her square - the white queen dragged Ron to one side. He looked as if he'd been knocked out.


We’ve decided, Bellatrix is the Queen. So this means Ron will be killed by Bellatrix.

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Of course, there are serious flaws with this. For a start, the King of the Black Side (Dumbledore) died, and there was never a time when the Black King is described as being checked or check mated. However, it could simply mean that the King was checked but they got out of it. There is still no firm evidence saying Dumbledore is gone for good. To be honest, while his portrait is there, Dumbledore is not gone at all.

That’s the chess game in full.

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Now, there is one more reason, which is quite a simple one

Throughout the whole series of books, Harry has lost everyone he loves, his family, Sirius, Dumbledore. However, he still has friends. Ron, according to the triwizard tournament, is the thing Harry will most dearly miss. therefore, Ron is a prime target.

Remember how drawn to the veil Harry was in the Department of Mysteries? Is it not possible that he could hear the voices of the people he loved behind there, who were dead? His entire family could be behind there. Now, two more have been added to the veil, Sirius and Dumbledore. If Harry came across the veil now, he would probably be very drawn to it, almost enough to go through it. If Ron went, he’d have nothing to lose, and walking through the veil would be a simple, quick way out. Also, note who Harry thinks is speaking from behind the veil and having him on. Ron.

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thats the full editorial on why Ron Weasley will die in the next book.