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Harry Potter must die
Bookies are certain Harry's a goner. William Hill Plc, a London-based bookmaker, is so sure of Harry's demise that it stopped accepting wagers and shifted betting to the possible killers. Lord Voldemort, who murdered Potter's parents, is the most likely villain, at 2-1 odds, followed by Professor Snape, one of his teachers, at 5-2. "Every penny was on Harry dying, and it became untenable,'' said Rupert Adams, a William Hill spokesman. "People are obsessed about this book.''
Here is the full story. The pointer is from John De Palma.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on June 4, 2007 at 02:22 PM in Books | Permalink
Comments
I guess also that the bets on who will kill Voldemort are going to show up also. I bet on Nevil Longbottom in being the one to kill him...as he will be the one to fulfil the Prophecy!!!!
Posted by: kvrettos at Jun 4, 2007 4:00:03 PM
Agreed on the second count. It's been telegraphed that ole Nevile has greatness in him.
Posted by: ElamBend at Jun 4, 2007 4:48:28 PM
Bets like this are tricky in a fantasy universe. Does the bet pay if Harry dies and returns to life? If he dies but becomes a ghost like those who inhabit Hogwarts? If his body dies but his spirit is magically implanted in a new body? Etc.
Posted by: asg at Jun 4, 2007 5:43:46 PM
NewsFutures on Harry Potter:
http://news.us.newsfutures.com/market/market.html?symbol=HPLIVESY
Posted by: Chris F. Masse at Jun 4, 2007 6:48:12 PM
Harry Potter will be Voldemort. There's enough similarity between Earthsea and Harry Potter in general. No reason Rowling wouldn't copy the very ending too; where the great darkness is the one within.
Expect Harry to kill himself to rid the world of Voldemort (and then perhaps to be resurrected without powers).
Posted by: Macneil at Jun 4, 2007 10:02:32 PM
I read about a similar site that combines betting abd books in The Economist (Media Predict).
http://economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9261810.
May be of interest …
Posted by: Mike M at Jun 5, 2007 10:14:27 AM
I sortof agree with Macneil. Harry Potter isn't voldemort, but Harry is the final horcrux and can't kill Voldemort without killing himself.
I see 75% chance Harry kills himself to kill Voldemort, and 25% chance Harry turns Voldemort to the good side.
Posted by: DK at Jun 5, 2007 10:30:44 AM
DK may be well right, but if we can assume that it is impossible to accidentally create a horcrux, Voldemort has knowingly attempted to destroy one of his, which stretches my credibility.
Posted by: Cyrus at Jun 5, 2007 11:52:31 AM
Posted by: adrian at Jun 5, 2007 1:01:08 PM
Betting markets on who will die in the Sopranos finale-- http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aZ0RQfQ5LTTg&refer=home
Posted by: John D at Jun 7, 2007 9:52:53 PM
So does the statistical idea that large groups of people "guessing" on a number work here? You know the one where people guess the number of marbles or jellybeans in a jar and the average of the guesses tends to be within 2% of the correct answer.
Posted by: Murphy at Jun 11, 2007 1:40:37 PM
i just wanted to kill the little bugger myself.
Posted by: jgodsey at Jun 15, 2007 9:54:27 PM
YES, Harry Potter will survive J.K. Rowling’s 7th installment of the saga, The Deathly Hallows.
http://www.midasoracle.org/2007/06/22/yes-harry-potter-will-survive-jk-rowling%e2%80%99s-7th-installment-of-the-saga-the-deathly-hallows/
Posted by: Chris Masse at Jun 22, 2007 6:10:36 AM
