Now, let's see...

BY THIS time, those who have purchased the last Harry Potter book must have figured out how J.K. Rowling tied up everything in her seven-part series. But those who didn't, like me, had to rely on the internet to find the answer.

Yesterday morning, I spent some time reading through book reviews and synopses that appeared in various newspapers and publications, like the New York Times, Baltimore Sun, Salon and the Times of London.

Towards the evening, Wikipedia already had an entry on the Deathly Hallows, supplemented by a section on all characters in the Potter series.

From these alone, one can already get an idea of the final outcome. Based on what they contain, we can now check whether the leaks got it right:

• Harry will go to Godric's Hollow. Check. Harry and Hermione went there, hoping to find the original Gryffindor's sword.
  
• Harry will find a letter from his mother, Lily. In the letter, Lily said many BAD things about Albus Dumbledore. Not sure. Although the part about Dumbledore's dark side is correct.
  
• One of the twins will die. The one who lives will lose an ear. Check. Fred dies and George loses an ear.
  
• Ronald Weasly will die. He will be killed by Bellatrix Lestrange. Misses by a mile. Ron and Hermione survive, get married and have two kids.
• Severus Snape will become Hogwarts Headmaster. He is an ally of Harry's. Check. Lily Potter is the reason why.
  
• At the end of the series (Epilogue), Neville Longbottom becomes a Herbology teacher, Hermione a healer. Mixed. The part about Neville is spot on, about Hermione not sure.
  
• Ron will destroy one of the horcruxes. Check. Using the real Gryffindor's sword, he destroys the Slytherin locket that Harry was carrying.
  
• All three will be kidnapped and will be brought to Malfoy Manor. Check.
  
• Tonks and Lupin will be wed, will be dead by the end, and will have a son named Teddy. Check.
  
• Snape will die. Killed by Nagini on Voldemort's order.
  
• Voldemort will die. Killed by his own rebounding Avada Kedavra curse.
  
• Mad-eye Moody will die. Check, killed by Voldemort.
  
• Dobby the house elf will die. Harry's owl, Hedwig, will die. Check.
  
• Harry and the Dursleys will make amends. Mixed. Only Dudley apparently made amends when Harry had them secured at the beginning of the book.
• The first chapter will be entitled "The Dark Lord Ascending." The last chapter will be "The Flaw in the Plan." No way of knowing.
  

Except for Ron's death, this leak got most everything right.

But the book's release still doesn't settle this personal question until I get to read it myself. Because from the looks of it, the fanfic version also makes for an equally compelling resolution of the Potter saga.

Nonetheless, for a sucker-for-happy-endings like me, it's a great relief to find out that the good guys eventually won out in the end.