Well we already know that JKR said Harry will leave the Dursley's for a much "pleasanter" reason this time. I felt that last time wasn't too pleasant at all... so really this more pleasant reason may not even be super pleasnt like we'd all hope...

Will Harry go back to Number 12 Grimmauld Place?? Or the Burrow perhaps??

Let me know what you all think :-)

I don't think the more 'pleasanter reason' why Harry will leave the Dursleys so early will involve Harry returning to 12 Grimmauld Place as this would probably just remind Harry of the very recent loss of Sirius.
It's hard to think what this could be as Harry has just lost Sirius and will still be very down about this.

I can think of three (admittedly very ludicrous) reasons for why Harry would get to leave 4 Privet Drive more quicker and for a more pleasant reason than normal,

Harry is going to be given an award by the OWLs examining body for his OWL result, which was the highest in 100 years (just a guess!). And so will have to leave Privet Drive much earlier as its the day after the OWL results come out.

Harry is formally asked to be the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, after all his D.A. student get 'outstandings' in the DADA examination and so is offered lodging at Hogwarts Castle. This probably won't happen unless Harry is given an exemption from Defence Against the Dark Arts NEWT class as he can hardly teach himself. Plus Harry probably wouldn't have the time to teach and take his NEWT classes, so I suppose this ones unlikely, although I still like the idea of Harry being a Professor.

Fred and George invite Harry (as there main benefactor) and Ron of course to participate in some publicity stunt for their joke shop, 'Weasley's Wizarding Wheeze'.

It just occurred to me that it might be a memorial service for Sirius but this would hardly constitute as ‘pleasant’, although it might offer Harry some closure on the matter.

Hmmm a memorial service seems possible... and I do feel that a type of inaugural thing for MoM would be a possible reason too...

I quite liked the idea I saw on Mugglenet the other day about there being a memorial party thingy, a bit like an Irish wake. Nothing too depressing. Plenty of stout and dirty limericks - now that's a send-off.

i reckon that coz jk said that it would be good terms, i reckon it would be a wedding, a wizard wedding. maybe bill and fluer, maybe lupin and tonks!(that was a joke).

I really like the idea of tehre being a memorial service for Sirius, it would maybe help Harry move on. And he may get the explanation we´re all looking for about the black veil

The memorial ceremony would be a good one... and could explain why Harry could meet Draco that soon in HBP (chapter 6: "Draco's Detour").
In general, who comes to memorial ceremonies??? Relatives!!! And Naarcissa Malfoy is born Narcissa Black... Na!!! too far-fetched

Hmm. There will probably be a memorial service, but I don't think that's the reason Harry will leave the Dursley's. A court trial seems more pleasent than attending a funeral. Unless of course, something positive happens while he's there.

Something to do with the Joke Shop is plausible.

Dumbledore isn't going to keep Harry in the dark anymore, or so he might get to leave because Dumbledore wants to show him something.

Anyways, I have to ban myself from this forum because I have 2 essays to write for university, but I keep coming back here to browse.

heh heh...good luck mate..... I tried that last week and I only managed to last about five or six days... HP is far more interesting than toxicology papers any day of the week...

Anyway....I don't think it will be a funeral, more an Irish wake, like alexis said. If you've ever been to one, you'll know that they're far from depressing or sad....

I had another idea though....you know Celestina Warbeck? The singer? She was mentioned once in the CoS and she's been 'plugged' quite a bit on JKR's site, so I was wondering if maybe she's in concert and they go to see her, maybe? **shrugs**

It's a new idea anyway....

I've been meaning to pop on here and submit my theory for a while...surprised nobody beat me to it since it seems the most likely one.

Harry leaves the Dursleys early because he's invited to try out for one of Brittain's quiddich teams. Krum was playing for Bulgaria by the middle of his sixth year - in order to be on the team when it got to the World Cup - and Harry's an incredible flyer. It would make sense that some team would be scouting him.

I think that Harry will be leaving in time for his birthday away from the Dursleys. He has never left Privet Drive before his birthday before (Hagrid took him to Diagon Alley on his birthday in book1, but returned him to Privet drive afterwards until the start of term). It would be nice if Harry could have a proper party for once.

you're right! Harry really has never had a proper birthday party...

Ooh, you know...that *is* a good idea!! God, why didn't that occur to me before?! I guess that would make sense, wouldn't it? I mean, Harry's had a really tough year and the last thing the Order would want to do would be to leave him there on his birthday with people who hate him, especially *this* year.....**sobs**

Poor Harry....wish I could give him a hug...

Sorry I’m going to go way off topic and probably sound a bit stupid (being from Northern Ireland and all ) but what’s the Difference between an Irish Wake and any other kind?

Here’s my experience of Wakes,
I've been to a few wakes in my time and they've all been depressing and sad. They usually happen in the evening before the funeral and involve a room being set up with an open casket were people come to sit with the deceased person for the last time and say good bye, if they want to. Outside the room (in the other rooms of the house) you go to give your respects to the family of the deceased and stay for a while to talk about happy memories they have of or involving the person who has died, while the deceased persons family make tea, sandwiches and do the general host thing. Oh and all the curtains in the House are drawn, a wreath is placed on the door and all the Mirrors are covered.

Sorry I was just wondering what the difference was.


Back on the topic I think some sort of a birthday celebration would make a lot of sense as the 'pleasanter' reason for leaving the Durselys earlier and it would definitely be his shortest stay at Privet Drive ever as he's always spent his Birthday at Privet Drive to date.

But if he was leaving for his Birthday were would he go and what would he do?

I think probably the Burrow for a quiet enough celebration with the Weasleys, (a humble Percy included) Hermione, Remus and possibly Tonks and Moody.

Really??!! Wow....well, the one I went to wasn't like that at all!! It was more like a celebration of life....plenty of alcohol, good memories being shared, having a laugh as we remembered the person who had gone. Ended up more like a wedding reception....all of us rolled home a little the worse for wear.... As opposed to the traditional after-funeral British thing where everyone goes back to the family's house for a cup of tea and a sandwich (very quintessentially British, huh? and sits round looking depressed and saying what a lovely service it was and didn't the vicar speak well and didn't the wife/husband/whatever hold up well and isn't it nice that the rain held off, blah, blah, blah....)

I don't know, I'm not really 100% on these things and I bow to your greater knowledge though, Shane, you being Irish and the only one here qualified to speak about what the Irish do...

Is there a difference between Northern Ireland and Eire, maybe? Or might it be to do with differences between Catholic or Protestant funerals, if there are any? Sorry....you'll have to forgive my ignorance...not being religious, I'm clueless about these things...

Sorry no I was just interested about what an Irish Wake was I've heard the term a few times before and was just wondering what it meant

The wakes I was describing were catholic ones but I think protestant and catholic wakes are pretty similar (after all the two Religions are very similar in nature) There are a lot of rituals and practices which people adhere to.
But I might be wrong; I'm not a very religious person either. Generally as a family we stopped going to mass about 9 years ago (apart from Christmas, wedding and funerals and things like that). My dad is from the Republic of Ireland and as far as I know in general the wakes down south are the same. But I suppose they ultimately depend on the individual. People deal with grief in different ways.

I personally want to be cremated but now I think your right an Irish Wake would probably sound better than the one I described. I'd want people to be happy! Sorry to turn the topic so morbid.

But thank you for clearing that up for me Dana If I asked some over here the same question they'd probably that the Mickey… slightly, to say the least!

I like the idea of Him (Harry) going to Hermiones house for the first time...

harry mustn't go to hermiones house..
because he must be in a safer place.
i want to see harry's bırthday party. but i think he is waiting very big suprise..

i'm not sure if this is The Reason for harry's leaving early, but it seems to me that he's going to have some kind of inheritance from sirius. after all, sirus has no living relatives except people like bellatrix and narcissa, and he'd never leave his possessions to them. JKR has said in an interview that we'll be seeing or hearing about sirius' flying motorcycle at some point. i think harry will inherit that, along with sirius money (which we know he has b/c of the firebolt) and 12 grimmauld place.

other than that, i think something with fred and george's joke shop sounds very possible.

Maybe he leaves early to attend a wedding. What if Bill and Fleur Are getting engaged. That could be the possible reason why he leaves early

ooh, a wedding, i like that! or maybe tonks could get married, she's young. we don't know if she's already married. actually, we don't know the marital status of most of the adult characters, and jo said that she'll be telling us about spouses later and it will be important.

Well, those are all good reasons, it's hard to know what it will really be...Maybe Harry's reception commitee from the end of OotP are just going to keep their promise to get him away from the Dursley's quickly.

I wonder just how short his stay at the Dursley's will be. Do you suppose the July 16th release date of HBP coincides with Harry leaving?

I would think that after what happend to the Dursleys in the begin of OoTP that they won't let Harry in their house anymore.

Besides that I would think Dumbledore would rather have Harry at Grimouldplace 12 that at the Dursleys. He is much safer there (GP12)
Voldemort is on the loose and Harry is in danger. Would Dumbledore put Harry at such big risk?

I go with the idea that Harry gets a call-up for a professional quidditch team now he's 16.

Don't have a copy of the GoF on me right now but didn't Ron say that the Quidditch world cup was held every two years? Maybe he's going to see it in Bulgaria or something?

The book says it is held every four years, but there´s some controversy around this. The dates and editions don´t really match.

i don't know if we can say that the book release date coincides with harry's leaving the dursleys (although that would be a very cool touch) because jo doesn't decide the release date, her publisher does. then again, they might be the ones giving us the cool touch.

harry's shortest stay at the dursleys' so far has been around four weeks, and if he's leaving even sooner than that this year, he'll be leaving before his birthday, which is great for him.

If by pleasenter you mean better than the trial..I assume Harry will be leaving for grimmauld place to be with Ron and Hermione,assuming they are working on an 'anti-darkforce defense plan'.Or if you mean in all around happy,I assume that he will leave the Dursleys on the Knight Bus for the burrow,sporting event,or a service for the new Minister of magic!! cant wait!!

Perhaps for the appointment of the new Minister for Magic? I don't know why I hadn't thought of it, but isn't Dumbledore a possibility? That would be a much pleasanter event would it not?

But DD would never want to be Minister of Magic, he didn´t want the job when Fudge got it, why would he now?? Do you think he would??

I don't know...but probably not. He didn't want it before when Voldemort had power so why would it matter now. Whether or not Dumbledore is MoM, he's still got influence in all the wizarding world.

Anyway i like the idea that Harry will be going to train for Quiditch. But it would be heartbreaking too, because he wouldn't have anyone (as in Sirius *wipes tear from eyes*) to be proud of him. Well i guess he'd have the Weasleys and Lupin and stuff but still....it would be sad for me

MOD EDIT: Minor netspeak spotted! Please be careful next time, okay? In case you're wondering, it's 'b/c' instead of 'because'. Your post has been edited.

I accidently already posted this on a new thread, because i wasn't aware that there was already a thread going, but doesn't anyone notice that in ootp fred and george learn to apparate, (its their 6th year), so seeing as harry is going into his 6th year, he should be learning how to apparate, right??

MOD EDIT: Minor netspeak spotted! Please be careful next time, okay? In case you're wondering, it's 'b/c' instead of 'because'. Your post has been edited.

Learning to apparate does not relate to the year they´re in, but to their age, and I believe Harry turns 16, and Hermione turns 17 in september. So I don´t think it has to do with them learning to apparate, but please correct me if I´m wrong about the ages.

I believe you're right about the age for learning to apparate. I'm anxious to see how Hermione learning to apparate will come into play in the 6th book. I'm think that Hermione will pass the apparition test on the first try.

I think/hope cause the Dursleys die. And he is either adopted by the Weasleys or just goes back to number 12 Grimwald Place.

Hmm.. I have a suggestion...

He might be invited over to Hermione's place... I mean Molly and Arthur are both in the order so they're both at Grimmauld Place... Harry wouldn't want to go back to Grimmauld Place because it would bring back to many memories... So the only place left is Hermione's...

Or...

Since Harry now knows of the prophecy he might go into training, he could go back to Hogwarts early and be trained by some of the teachers... Though i don't know if this could be described as "pleasant"...

Just some of my thoughts...


- Fawkes

I remember hearing/reading Jo say something to the extent that we will not see anymore of Hermione's parents than we usually do on the platform at the train and such. I don't think Harry will be going there. I'm still liking the idea of Harry having a proper birthday party and some closer over Sirius.

I think he could leave for Sirius' memorial ceremony but I am not sure if that would be very pleasent. That would just remind him of his godfather, as will going to Grimmauld palace. I think he will leave because he will have his first proper birthday party.

A good cause to take Harry out early is to attend Bill/Fleur's secret wedding. In secret, because the Second War has begun.

My.. very weird idea is that Harry will leave the Dursleys earlier because he has been asked to help in the effort against Voldemort... I don't know if this could classify as pleasant.. Another idea is that, as JKR said, we will learn about Petunia, so maybe something that has been hidden about her will, i don't know, somehow allow Harry to leave... Just a stab in the dark

Well (relating to "who will Harry kiss") i think that there will be a change in the usual summer routine. I dont think that Harry will go to the Burrow i thinik he will go to hermiones. I think J.K. will spring the kiss on us when we least expect it and (duh) he'll kiss Hermione.

I doubt that he will go to hermione's house, for her parents are muggles and therefore the house will have little protection, and remember from what we know or rather don't know, teh headquarters of the Order remain at Number 12 Grimmauld Place. I'm even more dubious about Harry kissing Hermione (What about Ron??!!)

With Harry leaving earlier from Privet Drive this year, I checked out the books. In almost every book Harry is leaving in chapters 3 or 4. This would mean that if he is leaving earlier then he should be doing it in chapter 2, Spinners End. The question is then what or where is Spinners End?, and why?

Just a thought.

I like the attention to detail. So if Harry does leave in Spinner's End. Then we can infer that "end" means the end of his stay with the Dursleys. Spinner can be a place, but in this context can mean different from the normalality. Just thinking..

The second chapter brings about question on question though. It all depends on what Spinners End is.

Place? ie. Godric's Hollow, Hogs Head...etc.
Occupation? ie. Weaver
Occurance? ie. A spider's (possibly Aragon's) death.
Ancient magic? ie. Blood protection.

and so on. With no other information to glean from this other than the location in the story line and the literary identifaction of the words, it appears true understanding will not be available for 81 more days.

Watching clock intently

Yes, we are all waiting for that auspiscious day. We must remember that this first chapter is a chapter JKR has been trying to fit in for a long time. So I doubt this new.. thing... Spinner's End will be anything big, for after a big chapter one, there will not be much room for development in chapter two.. maybe it's just me blabbering.. but I think it sounds like a place or creature..