WHOLE cover of HBP released

[thestral]

bloomsbury just revealed the whole book cover for HBP (except the summary, so no spoilers!) and there is some interesting stuff, two hands interlocked ina blood-brothers sort of way surrounded by some sort of magical fire lines. there's also a very interesting ring, in which the stone in the middle is cracked. sooo something to do the the identity of the HBP (i think)

if you want to see it yourself, here's the link:
http://www.mugglenet.com/viewer/?image_location=/hbp/ring.gif

any theories?

[Phinea Rogue]

No idea what it can mean... for now... but it looks interesting. I suppose that one hand can be Harry's, it seems like a young hand, while the other seems to be much older.

[Tanuki]

It kind of looks like Dumblydore is giving his power to Harry; or something like that anyway. That would be interesting. Just as dumbledore is about to die, he gives his vast ammount of knowledge and power to Harry who is now the last chance against Voldermort

[Broccoli]

The link didn't work for me, here is another one:

http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/image ... oomsb.html

[thestral]

yeah tanuki, that's what i thought when i saw it, i mean all the main book covers show harry and DD shoulder to shoulder, they look like an alliance, so i would guess that the hand thing is an extension of that.

but what about the ring? i think it belongs to the HBP, maybe when the true HBP puts it on, it'll identify him or something??? some ancient artifact that will show the way?

[thestral]

sorry about the double post

but i meant to say in the opening post of this thread, but my link only shows the graphic of the hands and ring, but if you follow broccoli's link you see the whole thing, and it has a little boat, lake and magical pedestal thing as well on the back cover (the hand thing is on the side flaps). but in that version you can't see the ring which i why i posted the link i posted cos i thought that the ring was important. hope i haven't confused anyone and you get my drift... sort of anyway.

[Broccoli]

thestral, in your link I can't see any picture at all, maybe you could re-check it?

[Mistress Siana]

Okies, my thoughts. Really interesting, that cover!

-I assume the glowing pedestal thing is a pensieve, just like on the fromt cover. But the foot is interesting...it looks like a claw...of a raven? A Griffin? A phoenix? Anyway, I think we can be certain that Harry will have a look into the past.

-where is the little boat? It looks as though there is something like an iron gate in the background, so maybe it's Azkaban?

-Green is the dominating colour. Is it of importance? It might point to Slytherin, the Dark Mark or Harry's eyes playing a major role.

-The hands...I'd say the hand is much too young to be Dumbledore's, and that plain black sleeve doesn't fit either. I immediately thought of Snape...but why would they shake hands? Then again, it might not be a friendly handshake, there's quite a big space between those two people. The other might be a Death Eater, it's the right hand, so it could work. Sirius would fit as well, but there's the slight inconvenience of his death...

Maybe...(warning: wild and pointless guess)...Looking into Gryffindor's old pensieve, the find that Salazar Slytherin was the HBP, everyone's surprised, the Houses unite, Harry and Snape bury the hatchet and fight the Death Eaters, who have spectacularly broken out of Azkaban...ahem...
My, that was cheesy

[Phoenix in the Ashes]

And we all live happily ever after...
I too assume the dish is a pensieve. Looks like a sort of claw at the bottom, so maybe Rowena's old hangout, rather than Gryffindor?

[Un'Anima Persa]

I dont think they are shaking hands. They look too tense to be shaking hands. To me it looks more like arm wrestling. but i dont thionk they actually arm wrestle... maybe it is a symbol... i mean... wel duh its a symobol...

[Phinea Rogue]

To me those hands seem like they're wrestling too, or maybe they're doing something like Winnetou used to do with Old Shatterhand? Becoming blood brothers or something like that, if you can understand me. Whoever the other hand belongs to, they could be uniting their powers - I first thought of Snape too, then of Dumbledore or the HBP...

[thestral]

[/quote]thestral, in your link I can't see any picture at all, maybe you could re-check it?

sorry broccoli i just checked it there again and it seems to be working fine for me i hate computers is it working okay for everyone else?

i was thinking that it might be underneath hogwarts, i mean it's obviously a very magical place and you never know what could be underneath it, i'd never actually considered what was beneath hogwarts before and there is the lake on the grounds, so it isn't so crazy to think it might contunue underground.

it could have been the secret lair of the 4 founders and perhaps they left some sort of magical power reserve there for someone who really needs it in order to defeat evil. also hence the hands and magical lines thing, a transfer of power?

it all seems to be very fiery (front cover included) and like the unleashing of great and powerful magic so maybe that's what that place is. where ancient powerful magic has resided for centuries. also it does look ancient and remember the way DD said that voldemort always underestimated ancient magic, perhaps this the the most ancient of magic and this is what will help harry defeat voldie (as well as his room of love power thingy).

these are just lots of wild/shot in the dark theories.

[Broccoli]

Today I can see the picture! Well, probably my computer was too tired yesterday!

This thing with ancient magic is very interesting, I hope it will be explained more. It is mentioned quite often and seems to play a big role. For example, it is ancient magic that saved Harry from being killed.

[Hagger 9003]

this is quite an interesting topic. im wondering about those things being pensives though... why all the green light? its supposed to be silver!!! sorry, but this bugs me a bit. how can it be a pensieve if it doesnt have silvery thoughts? maybe its something to do with harry's eyes, but im confused... i like the idea of it being underneath the school though. the chamber of secrets was there, and that was very powerful, so what other secrets might be hiding there?
the ring is what caught my eye. usually, that bit is just a small thing from the front cover, but this time its completely different from anything else on the jacket... maybe its another relic from the founders.. but i doubt they left that much stuff lying around... i dont know. the ring is intriguing... a grey jewel, maybe dust, maybe magic. it looks like something to do with the dark arts to me.
is this just me, or is there something wrong with the reflection of the boat in the water... it looks like a green person, or maybe im getting too paranoid. you can see a light though.. maybe its a wand...
im still confused about all the green. that and the fire makes me think of alot of powerful, old magic. and those hands are interesting. i cant tell if they are gripping each other or not. i dont think so, but then there is the fire around them. maybe sharing power, maybe stealing. i do think its harry and DD tho. it looks similar to DD's wand arm in the main picture.

[Phoenix in the Ashes]

I have a feeling that DD is giving Harry some sort of power, in the picture. I can't really make a guess over the ring, mainly because I don't tihnk there's been a single mention of the actual word "ring" over the whole series.
It fits in with a theory I've got about the HBP being the Bloody Baron, though. It's grey for ghost!