Well, Joanne Rowling has got a dustbin installed at her website.

Possible Title of book 7: Harry Potter and the Mysterious R.A.B.!!!

I highly doubt that this is actually true, mostly because J.K. Rowling is really the only one who reveals information regarding subsequent books, and this Portuguese translator could get in a lot of trouble, not to mention lawsuits, for revealing secrets about Book 7. With that said, I wouldn't mind knowing now what R.A.B.'s middle name is. I think there are enough mysteries and secrets to reveal in Book 7, that knowing his middle name wouldn't hurt anyone.

why wouldnt you want her to comment, i do! i want to know if it's true!

i hope she give us no hints about RAB, instead she should give us the title of book 7, even though i don't want that either.

in the dutch translation, the B becomes an Z, and the only characters that we know of wich has a Z as the first letter of his last name or the Zwarts Family, aka house Black

Think about this from a marketing point of view. There may have been no breach of contract at all; in fact, it may have been down that she would leak the info, to get people excited again. It's a long time between books - you want to remind people that you're still there while writing the next one. She starts a "rumor", and talk starts up again - takes people another week or two to settle. Then someone else "in the know" leaks another small tidbit, and people get excited again. And if JKR never officially confirms or denies, she's got a lot of people ready to jump out of their skin when she's ready to release some bigger stuff - like the title. Aren't we about due for that, Jo? lol Or, maybe the lack of news has been bugging her - we know she reads the fansites. lol She's very possibly laughing about this right now. I'm not saying this is definitely what happened, but either scenario is certainly a possibility.

CHECK OUT what I just found on Wikipedia!! "Arcturus (α Boo / α Boötis / Alpha Boötis) is the brightest star in the constellation Boötes, and the third brightest star in the night sky, with a visual magnitude of −0.05, after Sirius and Canopus. " So there is some kind of bond between them, but does anyone know if there is a character named Canopus?

It could be anyone's middle name and we'd never know.

I'm all for it Opaque! What would we call ourselves? The especially obsessed fans of Harry Potter and all related criteria? Or is that a bit too long?

I think Arcturus is a very good candidate for the middle name of Regulus. But still, who knows if Regulus even has a middle name, I mean, we never heard that Sirius had one, so why would his brother? In the series, if one of the siblings has a middle name, most of the siblings do.

I htink it will bw someone we know cuz i don't think she would make it someone we don't know.

Has everyone read the comments about the Dutch translation? Witch_Eva said the Dutch translator hasn't got a clue who RAB is. *raises eyebrows in a look of imperious suspicion* I dunno you guys. This is just fishy to me. It doesn't feel right. Personally, I think this Portugese translator sounds like a scumbag, but that makes me think that if she did know something, wouldn't she have come out and said it by now? I mean, she obviously wants her name to be known. If I were a jerk in her position, I would tell the world the identity of RAB! I hate to say this but I'm starting to compare this woman to John Mark Karr. *ducks flying keyboards* I know it sounds dreadful but there it is.

I thought when Jo said "that would be, um, a fine guess" she was being sarcastic and therefore it wasn't him. I don't think Jo would tell anyone who RAB is because that seems to be a major plot point. She would have only told her if it was a minor plot point.

I'll check out the Norwegian translation tomorrow, and post if this commentboard is still active. I have a friend with the book, but I have read all the books in English, so I have no idea.

SORRY for the spelling!!! i don't think it will be anyone new, she'll make it someone we know

I am very annoyed with this. (Probably obvious by my #of comments) but i am! I feel sick with myself but part of me wants to hear what this woman has to say! I'm gonna check Jo's sight now.

I agree hg06, there is no way she will make this incredible important character someone we have never heard of before. That would be ridiculus, she will probably not introduce very many new characters in the seventh book.

I thought about this whole thing, and I was convinced it was Regulus. Then I thought about it again, and I decided that I couldn't possibly be Regulus. Sure, there's tons of evidence pointing to the fact that it IS Regulus, but c'mon, when have we ever really guessed correctly prior to a book's release? Remember, it's JKR, guys! She's capable of anything, and is seriously unpredictable!

I dunno Krissa, Even if it is Regulus we've not met him before. I rather think that we won't actually meet this person. That he or she is already dead and that we'll rather go with Harry in kind of following his footsteps through the plot.

Wow-talk about a hate-fest for this poor woman! I'm inclined to agree with others that have said this is probably a "planned" leak. Also - I happen to believe RAB is Regulus, as if it wasn't, why were the letters traslated in other languages to still mean 'Black'? I would be shocked if RAB WASN'T Regulus Aracturus Black! Besides, it's already been theorized TO ABSOLUTE DEATH by the fandom......I also don't really see why everyone wants the title so bad, I'd settle for another tasty bit of info that's in the book, myself....*can't WAIT for Book 7* :)

Hi all, i found something interesting about the name: Tarot Arctu rus is associated with the Hermit in Tarot. Oswald Wirth in The Tarot of the Magicians writes about the Hermit ... Depicted wearing a cloak with a hood that covers him from head to feet; except for his face and hands he is completely undercover. Held up in his right hand is a lighted lantern, a walking stick in his left, with a serpent on the ground nearby. With his cane he taps and sounds out the earth as he advances slowly. Rather than kill the serpent he casts a spell on it so that it twirls around his stick suggesting that he works along with the lower energies. The lantern penetrates and searches out and reveals the inner quality of things. The Hermit is the master who works on the drawing board, where he casts the exact plan of the intended construction. Before taking form everything pre-exists as an abstract concept, as an intention, he represents the mysterious artisan, the drawn-up plan, the scaffold without which no vital construction could be made, the prototype putting the stamp of the species on the individual, the astral body of the occultist. He is the master capable of directing the work of others and of discerning what is in the embryo in the sphere of human development. Seriousley sounds like someone who can help harry in his journey!

i don't think jo would give it away.lol.

WW, I didn't mean physically "meeting" the character, I ment, we have heard about him. Who else have we heard about with those initials? I'm not wholly convinced myself, I stick to "Innocent till proven guilty", but still, Regulus is the best alternative we have.

Krissa, I agree in that. This really has been beaten to death by the fans. I wonder if Jo will shock us again. *Crosses fingers in hopes for a juicy plot* **Mutters under breath "Snape is not evil not evil.....**

What a shame this woman decided to go waffling about the identitiy of R.A.B. I suspect it is just a rumour. I have personally always thought it was Regulus Black from looking through the books and finding clues (ie. the initials, Regulus's ties with Voldermort etc.) but I wish hp fans could just be left to speculate (with the help of the fansites and mugglecast :). This is the last book afterall, so lets not get any definite answers now When the 7th book finally comes out with all the secrets intact and hidden inside we will feel all the more excited about it and read the story in JK's own words, the way it is meant to be.

You know, i just re-read what i put and is it me or does that sound like tom the barkeeper of the Leaky Cauldron?

ok, that's godd news. but ciaran, I'll be officially a translator soon (I'm finishing college next year) and I can tell you that a translator doen'st have a CONTRACT about confidentiality, it only works in the deontological code for interpreters. translators can share that information as long as tha information is public. If JKR told her the middle name and the gender, it's public information. translators don's usually have that kind of contracts whan translating books. publishers don't pay that much.

Snape is probably craving to be independant, so he tries to be in both crowds, gets all the information he needs, and then he goes off and becomes his own master. I also think there is more to the Malfoy-Snape relationship than meets the eye. But Aloysius, I think the reason that people want the title is that they believe they will get some serious hints through that, plus it's annoying to be left in the dark;)

somehow, i seriously doubt that jkr would tell someone who rab is

listen...like everyone keeps on saying, Jo is the only one that knows the truth, and she should be the only credible source to accept it from. Sure this makes for a perfect blog session, but I wouldnt beleive everything that you hear. So, we can think what we want to think, fabricate ideas, but the only one that knows for certain is Jo, so we shouldnt kill ourselves over this...{but personally I dont think that it is him}...{HE WAS A BAD GUY!!!} Ü

Oh! I don't know if I could be entirely satisfied in that ending for Snape! I want him to be good! Pity me Krissa! It's making me crazy!

I think Snape will die in B7. Along with Hagrid. I really doubt that Voldemort will survive, because that would be a lousy ending of the series, if it just continues and Harry dies. Plus, in an interview, asked which 5 characters she would invite for dinner, she has said: Harry, Ron and Hermione, but she couldn't decide who more because she knew who would die and that would be stupid, to invite someone who's dead. BUT, does that mean H, R&H survives?

she could be sued, unless JK told her that it was alright to say.

I dont think that she should stop at 7...She should write one like 5 years after school...his carrier (of course if he survives) (and he better...because I think I would cry again, poor Dumbledore...anyway) so yeah, she should write more...obsession?

She has said that she might write a cyclopedia(spelling?), for charity of course, where you could look up names, spells, places and such.

You're going to make me cry. But you're right. This is a moral story. Good vs. Evil. If she killed off the hero and Voldemort achieved WORLD DOMINATION that would kind of suck right? (Oh the understated sarcasm)

I really hope Harry doesn't spend half of book 7 wondering who RAB is when we already know. That would be like reading PoA for the first time and already knowing that Sirius was Harry's godfather.

Muahaha *makes WW cry* :K Haha lol. I agree Performingmonkey, that would stink. I think he'll add two and two back in Grimmauld Place, finding the locket "that no-one could open".

You're thinking of an encyclopedia. It would be really cool to have one you know for a bit of 'light reading' *sniggers at stupid joke*

i agree w/ performingmonkey, lol, soooo true. u guys are stil crazed fanatics!!=]

Personally, I'm a crazy mixture of Hermione and Ginny, I hate school and homework, though I'm one of the best in my year, but for light reading this weekend, I read the LotR(cover to cover), HBP and OotP, looking for things I might have missed.=P

Man... I agree with Ciaran, i don't want this to be confirmed! This is the beginning of the end of the greatest thing in my life. i want to think of every possible theory without too much help, or info given like this...

Darn you Krissa Darn you. *sniffs* Anyway, we are crazed fanatics aren't we? Oh well.........*not evil not evil.......*

As much as I respect Ciaran, his news is wrong. Probably because he doesn't know Portuguese. First: There is confirmation Ms. Nunes told that Regulus Arcturus Black was RAB. It was published in November 2005 in the Diário Económico - youmay see the link here: http://diarioeconomico.sa po.pt/edicion_impresa/ima genes/2005/PDF/do2511.pdf on page 15, though they wrote Arthur instead of Arcturus, but Ms Nunes corrected it to Nimbus.com. The site Nimbus knew it and had several confirmations but they decided not tu publish it not to spoil the fun. The reason it was published now, 10 months and a half later was because someone put that link in their forums. Second : Ms. Nunes won't be sued because there was no clause of confidentiality. JKR's agent spontaneously gave this piece of information. And, let's think: most of the fans had already deduced it, Jo said it was a fine guess the day the book was published. do you really think it is an important secret to book seven? I'm sure it isn't. Third: Ms. Nunes was not the first to tell this. Steve Vander Ark himself told that one year ago in the Lexicon and then he decided to take the information away again. At that time we have never heard about an Arcturus in the Black family. And he told it because he didn't think it was an important secret, he thought it was as important as the sex of Zabini, which I thionk Ms. Nunes thought too (when asked about it, she mentioned having talked to Steve). Fourth: Arcturus is the name of the grandfather of Sirius and Regulus, another information given by Jo herself, in that tree of the Black family , that you can see here:http://www.hp-lexico n.org/wizards/blackfamily tree.html So, get over it. It's true and it's been published since last year and it isn't an important secret.

I think I'm a bit like you Kris. I used to like school but now that I've moved it's horrid. Homework had always been the tool of the devil. I'm the best in my year though. I read this weekend but mostly I did a lot of wrighting. A LOT OF WRIGHTING My goal is to get another 100 pages into my latest story by Hallowe'en.

i thought about that, but i think its too obvious. hmm. WHY DO YOU DO THIS TO US, JO? ♥

WW, do you fan fic? I had this wierd theory about the ending of B7, and one about Grimmaul Place, and I was suddenly told to right fan fics. I refused:P I love reading them though, I especially like RW/HG with a dose of GW/HP but I also like HG/DM. Just randomly asking, you know.=)

interesting, very interesting, so interesting infact that i think that these 'rumors' might be truth but than again we have bin beffuddled by other things aswell and still wont be surprised if this is a rumor. Im not believing anything until Jo confirms it

OH YES! I most certainly do fan fic! The problem is none of mine are online! I write and write and write and whenI get finished with one thing I simply MUST start on another. All these ideas go through my head and If I don't get them out I'll go batty! It's not just fanfic though. I write about life, my own expiriences and poetry.