Theories

I? I see myself holding a pair of thick woolen socks.

Iv fallen in love with this line. Its made by Dumbledore when harry asks him what he sees in the Mirror of the Erised. Which makes me wonder.... has the Erised served its final purpose ? Will it have any role to play in the final instalment of the series ? We'll have to wait and see.

Meanwhile, i just read in the paper, that the security arrangements for the release of the Harry Potter and the Deathly hallows is unprecedented in literary history. Yet another literary first for Ms Rowling. Reportedly, A whopping 10 Million Pounds in security has been invested. These figures just make me laugh out loud. It is still really astonishing, that in spite of a mammoth preparation for security of the book, a copy always leaks out somehow. Well, i hope they come up with an ebook soon enough before some crackpot decides to reveal the plot to me. ( No i aint gettin a copy :( , spent all my allowance on this stoooopid phone of mine ).

Back to the topic. From now on, each post till july 21st shall house one or two cranky theories that i have either ome across during hours of mindless browsing, or that have originated in this brain of mine. ( Oxymoron ?? )
So first of all, What comes to my mind is RAB. Who is this RAB ? Most of the forums and Hp fan sites that iv gone to unanimously agree that the only possible answer to this is Regulus Black.
However, i came across this site, where a member posts this intriguing line of thought : What if it isint a person at all ? What if RAB stands for, say, a place, or some sort of code word or something ? Just the sort of thing JKR may do to catch the entire rumour mongering business wrong footed.
Again, in this fan fic by a writer named Razzberry2 from the veritaserum forums, a theory has surfaced that set my thinking gears into motion. What if RAB is indeed Regulus Black, but like harry accompanied Dumbledore to help him drink the green liquid, it was Kreacher who accompanied regulus into that cave, and it was kreacher who drank the liquid, which permanently affected his brain ? Thought provoking, i must say.
Wikipedia gives an intresting article about RAB's identity.

In several foreign-language versions of the series, the surname Black has been translated into the respective language to correspond to the colour "black". In those cases, the 'B' in R.A.B. has been changed accordingly. For example, the Dutch edition uses the initials R.A.Z. in the locket note, and the Black family name is Zwarts, corresponding to "zwart". In the Norwegian edition, the note has R.A.S. (corresponding to the Svaart family or"svart"), and the Finnish edition has the letters R.A.M., (corresponding to the Musta family, or "musta"). In other editions where the Black family name is not translated to the local language, the initials remain "R.A.B.". For example, the Swedish, Spanish, and French translations keep the family name "Black", rather than translating it to the respective Swedish, Spanish, or French words for "black" ("svart", "negro", and "noir" respectively), and the initials remain as "R.A.B."

This analysis lends support to the theory that regulus is indeed RAB. But as is typical of JKR to squeeze in a twist somewhere, it might well be andromeda ( tonk's mother, another black ) , or even alphardus black, who was disowned by the blacks for supporting sirius.

The turmoil ends july 21st when it shall be clear as to what lies in store for the wizarding world as we know it.Till then, let the speculation get into overdrive !