So... how about the chapter titles for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince? Plus: "Dumbledore dies?!?"

These are legit. For real. Have it on good authority that these are the actual chapter titles for Harry Potter #6 that a lot of us (the lovely "spousal overunit" and I included) will be standing in line at midnight this coming Friday night in the local bookstore to get. I've no idea what most of these could possibly be referring to (and I'm re-reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix right now) so parse these as you will...

1. The Other Minister

2. Spinner's End

3. Will and Won't

4. Horace Slughorn

5. An Excess of Phlegm

6. Draco's Detour

7. The Slug Club

8. Snape Victorious

9. Half-Blood Prince

10. The House of Gaunt

11.Hermione's Helping Hand

12. Silver and Opals

13. The Secret Riddle

14. Felix Felicis

15. The Unbreakable Vow

16. A Very Frosty Christmas

17. A Sluggism Memory

18. Birthday Surprises

19. Elf Tails

20. Lord Voldemort's Request

21. The Unknowable Room

22. After the Burial

23. Horcruxes

24. Sectumsempra

25. The Seer Overheard

26. The Cave

27. The Lightning-Struck Tower

28. Flight of the Prince

29. The Phoenix Lament

30.The White Tomb

Chapter 22 is the scary-sounding one. I've heard that a major character dies in this one (which will honk off a LOT of readers if its anything like the character J.K. Rowling "offed" in the last book). Las Vegas should do a "betting odds" thing for this. Personally I'm betting that Rowling kills off Dumbledore. He's like the Obi-Wan Kenobi of this story, the "elder master" who's been guiding Harry into wisdom and experience... but for the apprentice to really come into his own, the master must step aside. That's what's being set up right now, I think. Dumbledore's death will be the final thing that "clicks" it all into place for Harry to fulfill his destiny. That, and because nothing would ratchet up the "oh CRAP NOW WHAT?!?" element for this saga than to kill off its number-one figure of goodness and authority. The clues are all there, including these chapter titles: "The Phoenix Lament"? That's Dumbledore's phoenix Fawkes crying over his dead master. "The White Tomb"? Who else could be buried there? Why else is Dumbledore shown on the cover of book #6 with Harry? He's never been on the cover of any others before now, so this is like finally getting his time in the spotlight before the curtain falls. Yeah, light a candle and say a prayer for Albus Dumbledore: his days just might be numbered.

The good news is, I'm also betting that Dumbledore comes back somehow, either "resurrected" in the flesh or as a ghost (remember what Near-Headless Nick said about that toward the end of Order of the Phoenix, hmmmmmm?).