Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

The thing she does is mention things in books that you don't pick up on until you've read what they are used for...e.g. the way the Order of the Pheonix communicated was touched upon in Goblet of Fire. RAB might be mentioned in one of the earlier books and we just haven't picked up on it yet beacuse we didn't think it important when reading it.

Btw Slaynish, Goblet of Fire is coming out on 18th November here, so unless you lot get it before us, it will be realeased on 18th November in America.

I'd put money on it that it's Regalus. I've been right on about all of my guesses :-P.

Unless Regulus has a horcrux then it can't be him.

I don't think that he would have one, as even most dark wizards don't like making one...or something like that. Only read the book a week ago and I'm already forgetting things......time to read it again I suppose.

Why would he have to have one?

The letter says that he will be dead by the time Voldemort finds out. Regalus doesn't have to necessarily be alive now to be RAB, he just has to have taken Voldemort's horcrux from the cave. It's probably going to be how Harry finds out where the horcrux is, by finding out that RAB is Regalus, then looking wherever Regalus would keep it.

Whoever RAB is, he had to be a follower of Voldemort, because the letter is addressed to "Dark Lord" and nobody called him that but his followers.

RAB can't be Regulus unless he had a horcrux as he was killed by Voldemort. Which means he is well and truly dead:

Regulus Black: Regulus, who shared his parents' pureblood prejudices, joined the Death Eaters willingly because he agreed with their general philosophy, but tried to back out when he realised how far they were prepared to go. He was consequently killed on Voldemort's orders not long before Voldemorts fall.

Regulus Black: Regulus, who shared his parents' pureblood prejudices, joined the Death Eaters willingly because he agreed with their general philosophy, but tried to back out when he realised how far they were prepared to go. He was consequently killed on Voldemort's orders not long before Voldemorts fall.

Where did you get this?

RAB can't be Regulus unless he had a horcrux as he was killed by Voldemort. Which means he is well and truly dead: Regulus Black: Regulus, who shared his parents' pureblood prejudices, joined the Death Eaters willingly because he agreed with their general philosophy, but tried to back out when he realised how far they were prepared to go. He was consequently killed on Voldemort's orders not long before Voldemorts fall.

So he couldn't have done it before he was killed?

The letter reads:

To the Dark Lord

I know I will be dead long before you read this
but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret.
I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can.
I face death in the hope that when you meet your match,
you will be mortal once more.
R.A.B.

So, from this letter alone, we know that R.A.B.:

Was a follower of Voldemort, since he addressed him as Dark Lord.
Discovered Voldemort's secret(most likely that he was trying to make himself immortal through the use of Horcruxes.)
Knows he will die, and is facing death in hopes that Voldemort will be mortal when he meets his match(Harry Potter.)

What we know about Regulus:
Joined Death Eaters because he agreed with their philosophy.
Found out that they were prepared or preparing to go farther than he thought(most likely Voldemort making himself immortal.

Regulus could have gotten and destroyed the Horcrux (or not destroyed it) before he was killed, which was probably how he was facing death.

Why would he have to have one? The letter says that he will be dead by the time Voldemort finds out. Regalus doesn't have to necessarily be alive now to be RAB, he just has to have taken Voldemort's horcrux from the cave. It's probably going to be how Harry finds out where the horcrux is, by finding out that RAB is Regalus, then looking wherever Regalus would keep it. Whoever RAB is, he had to be a follower of Voldemort, because the letter is addressed to "Dark Lord" and nobody called him that but his followers.

Yea, I suppose it would have to be Regalus. One thing JK seems to do is bring back seemingly unimportant characters, and give them a bigger part in the story, so there's a good chance it could be Regalus. Of course, she could simply introduce someone new. Since everyone is expecting it to be Regalus, I wouldn't be surprised if JK does bring in a new character.