It occured to me that the fountain in the Ministry of Magic, the “Magical Friends” is not only a decorative element, but is also a symbol. Harry first encounters the fountain in the Order of the Phoenix when Arthur Weasley brings him to the Ministry of Magic for his disciplinary hearing. The fountain has statues of a wizard, a witch, a centaur, a goblin, and a house elf.

Through the series, Harry has managed to find a single ally among various magical creatures, among centaurs, only Firenze will assist Harry. Among house elves, Dobby allies himself with Harry, among giants, ony Grawp returns (and it could be argued he didn’t exctly come willingly).

It would seem impossible that by the end of book 7, whatever it is to be called, that Hermione and Ron would fail to be teh witch and wizard central to the story of how Harry defeats the Dark Lord. If I guess correctly that Firenze and Dobby also play a significant role, then I venture to predict that a new character to be introduced in the last volume will be a goblin. That of all goblins, only one will abandon the neutrality of the rest of goblinkind towards this war among wizards, by doing so will be shown to be regarded as a freak by the rest of his/her clever magical race, and will play a significant role in the downfall of Lord Voldemort.

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