20 Answers

Before the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, I'll make my predictions for the record. We'll see how many I get right.

1) People to die: Neville and Hagrid, possibly Percy (in the midst of or after just recently reconciling with the family. OK, maybe Snape, too.
2) Person who "receives a reprieve": Ron (or maybe Snape)
3) Sirius's two-way mirror will be very important, as will the collapsed passageway on the Marauder's Map, Hermione's knowledge of Ancient Runes, Buckbeak the Hippogriff, and Alice Longbottom's gum wrappers (I hope!)
4) Harry *will* return to Hogwarts, maybe even as a student, but possibly as the DADA teacher; he does, after all, need to find something from Ravenclaw/Gryffindor. Another probable hiding place for a horcrux: Gringott's.
5) Aberforth (who has the locket and is, of course, Dumbledore's brother), Dawlish (who I suspect is a spy for Dumbledore), Slughorn, and Krum will become more important characters.
6) Umbridge will be back, you mark my words.
7) WWII (Wizarding War 2) will involve giants, centaurs, house-elves, dementors, werewolves, and GOBLINS. The giants will tip the balance in our favor, and Kreacher will answer a lot of questions for Harry. Please please please let SPEW actually have a role in something, too.
8) Lupin and Tonks, sittin' in a tree...
9) OTOH, Harry will keep Ginny at a distance. She will be vital to our success, but they will only be reunited after Voldemort is defeated.
10) Fortescue's and Ollivander's disappearances will be explained. I have a feeling Fortescue is in protective custody because of his knowledge of the Goblin Riots, and Ollivander has been kidnapped by Lord Voldemort to help Him get around the peculiar behavior of His and Harry's wands when used against each other.
11) Madame Pince, the librarian, is Snape's mother, in protective custody, which is why Dumbledore trusts Snape so much.
12) Ron and Hermione...not so sure that's gonna work out.
13) Fred and George's shop will be important to the Resistance.
14) Petunia is hiding something magical under the squeaky stair at #4 Privet Drive...a wand? Something from Godric Gryffindor? Letters, perhaps from James to Lily or someone else who was at Godric's Hollow, or correspondence from Dumbledore?
15) Neville's memory is terrible because he had his memory altered when he was a baby. Perhaps *his* family was also at Godric's Hollow?
16) Speaking of Neville: He will Shine with his new wand; he'll take out a lot of Death Eaters, but he'll also have to stand up to a "friend" who has turned.
17) Pettigrew's silver hand will be useful...my guess is that it will have something to do with killing Snape, since so many bat references have been made with regard to Snape.
18) The mysterious locked room in the Department of Mysteries and the flying Ford Anglia will both be back.
19) Draco will be redeemed...his dad, not so much
20) Grindelwald and the 12 Uses of Dragon's Blood will not only be explained, they'll be important.
And a bonus: the word "scar," which Rowling has said for years is the last word of Book 7 and which has since been moved further in from the end, will refer not to Harry's lightening bolt-shaped mark but to the Umbridge-induced scar on his hand.

So now, we'll see whether I'm brilliant or clueless. I'm going with clueless, tinged with a bit of luck. ;o) Now I'm on total internet lockdown until I'm done reading the book. I hope you all enjoy it!

And "I hope it's THICK and LONG so it keeps me UP ALL NIGHT." ;o)