I finished 'Half-Blood Prince' last week and enjoyed it. I have a few random thoughts that I'd share, though my coffee hasn't kicked in yet and its early.
Is Dumbledore dead really?
Well, hmmm.... I'd *like* to say yes BUT... based on my readings of the series and the feelings I've had on the ebb and flow of the tale, I'd have to guess a 90% or so sure 'No'. I smell a Ben Kenobi 'strike me down and I'll grow more powerful' scenario here. Actually with the Ministry and Voldemort both gunning for Dumbledore, what better way to fight than to disappear and have everyone think you are dead! Assuming he lives, DD would now not have to run the school or play polictical b.s. games with the rest of the wizarding world. And that would also play into a theory I'll mention later....
R.A.B.?
I agree with the Regulus theory. Magic 8 Ball says 'Yes'.
Length of Book 7?
My gut here says 'Kill Bill' or 'Lord of the Rings'. Either based on her own whim or on publisher's pleading I can envision see 'Book 7' being released in two parts! JKR said 7 would be the last one, but not how many parts it would be!
As has been said there are LOTS of loose ends to tie up and I think none of us would want them to be tied either too quickly or too loosely. Not to mention that the publisher, smelling the end of the franchise, would be desperate to make as much money as possible from it. So instead of a single 'Year 7' $30 retail hardcover they could have 'Year 7, Semester 1 and 2', *each* at $30.Horcrux?
Interesting theory above about Harry being a horcrux. I'll have to think about that one more. Dumbledore did though keep stressing how much the only thing Tom Riddle ever seemed to show any care for was Hogwarts and we already know that supposedly that at least two of the Horcrux are in items from the founders of Hogwarts so I'd imagine the rest would play into that somehow. So I expect to see at the very least Gryffindor's sword being one of the horcruxes. "How when it was always in Dumbledore's care" you ask? Remember- in Chamber of Secrets Harry uses it, via the Sorting Hat, against Riddle's basilisk. Perhaps at that time something transfered to the sword. Then again, as I don't have all the details on what it takes to make something a horcrux, there could be many other explainations.
Harry is toast!
I firmly stand by this one. I came into reading the books only after the movies started coming out and I had avoided (and still do) any HP fan/discussion sites but based on a purely literary reading of the HP books... Harry is going to die in the final book. Not only is he the only thing that can 'cancel out' Voldemort, but all sorts of liitle clues lead to this.
I see it like this:
The final battle gets set up and things look dire for Harry and the world at large. Harry who thinks that he is alone in being able to stand against Voldemort (after Ron and Hermione have finally hooked up and everyone else is busy fighting other battles) will be shocked to have Dumbledore (and possibly Sirius) return at the last moment, only to get brutally attacked by Voldemort or through some mistake Harry makes- at which point Harry sees that to destroy Voldemort he must allow himself to be destroyed. So to save his friends, all that he loves and the world, Harry allows himself to die in the final destruction of Voldemort.
By doing this, all is not horrible for Harry- he's never really fit in anywhere he's been and he longs for those who have passed on to the other side... his parents, Sirius. I envision a scene in which DD and maybe Ron and Hermione stare into the mirror from the first book and see harry re-united with his family. He could finally be happy and he would have fullfilled his place and importance in the wizarding world.