I really think Dumbledore is dead, though. Rowling has practically confirmed it. I don't think she has answered the point-blank question, "Is Dumbledore really dead?" but she did all the talking about how the hero has to stand by himself and have his loved ones, the ones who can protect him, dead. So I think he's, for all practical purposes, dead. I wasn't aware that the Ministry had any more problems with Dumbledore after Order of the Phoenix. All of his status was returned to him at the end of that story, as was his job. I don't recall him having any real problems with the Ministry anymore. That is a cool idea, though, that he might have faked his own death to get away from the beauracracy.
R.A.B...? Yeah, we all know. No point in trying to play us anymore, J.K.
Two parts to Book 7. Eeeeh, I hope not. Besides being a copout and kinda screwing the customers, I think she has everything well enough planned out that this need not be a problem to run into. Still, I can see what you mean about length. Rowling said that Order of the Phoenix was so long because Harry spent so much time away from Hogwarts and having to set all of that up (i.e. St. Mungo's, Ministry of Magic). It seems that he'll spend much more time going to exotic locations in Book 7, having to find Horcruxes and hunting down his enemies like a man possessed. Well, we'll see.
Harry as Horcrux and Dead Harry. Well, still wasn't my idea, but I freaked out when my friend told me, because it really lends itself to the "Harry will die" theory that a lot of my friends seem to cling to. Because if Harry is a horcrux, he'll have to be destroyed to destroy that part of Voldemort's soul. And I'm not really a fan of Harry dying. Call me a sap, but I'm partial to the happy ending. And sure, the world will be happy because we all know Voldemort's going down, but practically every chapter of every book has been from Harry's perspective, and I don't feel like saying goodbye! Dumbledore, I could handle because I predicted it and was therefore happy. But leave Harry alone! He's suffered enough! So I'm just going to stick my fingers over my ears and ignore all these horrible comments in the hope that they'll go away and not be true.
I'm not listening!!!