Summer’s biggest mysteries

By Patrick Day and Deborah Netburn, Times Staff Writers

The Mystery: Will Harry Potter die at the end of the series?

The Sleuths: Harrypotter.wizards.pro, the-leaky-cauldron.com and most media outlets.

The Facts: J.K. Rowling let slip that two characters would die at the end of the final book. Daniel Radcliffe speculated as far back as 2004 that his character would end up dying in the end.

The Theories: Vegas oddsmakers and fan polls said the smart money was on both Harry and Voldemort. But others speculated that the tragic Professor Snape could bite the dust.

Chance of Being Solved: Already solved. But we’d never dream of spoiling the fun.  (AFP / Getty Images)

The Mystery: What happened to Tony Soprano?

The Sleuths: Televisionwithoutpity, BobHarris.com, anybody who thought their television broke.

The Facts: Tony meets his family at a diner. A man in a Members Only jacket goes to the restroom. The front door opens, Tony looks up and “The Sopranos” ends its six-year run.

The Theories: He died, he didn’t die, the family was in witness protection, the onion rings were surrogate communion wafers, everybody in that restaurant had some reason for wanting to kill Tony (that last one was definitively proved to be untrue). Bob Harris’s 5,000-word opus offered up the most theories in one place.

Chance of Being Solved: David Chase has vowed never to explain, so we’ll never know for sure.  (Will Hart / AP)

The Mystery: Is there anything the iPhone can’t do?

The Sleuths: ThinkSecret.com, maclife.com, appleinsider.com

The Facts: Hyped as the ultimate phone, or the “Jesus Phone,” Apple’s highly anticipated iPhone combines a cellphone, video iPod, Web browser, camera and more in an easy-to-use interface.

The Theories: Since its release, reams have been written about the phone’s capabilities. One site even took the thing apart piece by piece and posted pictures. So far the only thing it fails at is providing service for poor people -- although many speculate that the budget-priced iPhone nano is coming soon.

Chance of Being Solved: Geeks have already hacked the OS, so it’s unlikely the well of iPhone discoveries will dry up anytime soon.  (Jason DeCrow / AP)

The Mystery: What’s with that trailer running before “Transformers”?

The Sleuths: The movie geeks of Aint It Cool News and 1-18-08.com.

The Facts: A shaky home movie shows a going-away party, then a mysterious creature decapitates the Statue of Liberty and makes New York explode. Its working title is “Cloverfield” and it comes out Jan. 18. Oh, and it’s produced by “Lost” co-creator J.J. Abrams.

The Theories: It’s either a new Godzilla movie, an adaptation of the works of H.P. Lovecraft or a new “Voltron” movie. Two websites -- ethanhaaswasright.com and ethanhaaswaswrong.blogspot.com -- were initially thought to be associated with the film, but Abrams has since disproved that, while also hinting at other websites still undiscovered.

Chance of Being Solved: Abrams has promised to reveal the movie’s title very soon. Other than that, we’ll have to wait until January.  (Lawrence K. Ho / LAT)

The Mystery: Is Avril Lavigne a thief?

The Sleuths: PerezHilton.com, Idolator.com, TMZ.com, YouTubers who have helpfully made side-by-side comparison videos.

The Facts: Avril Lavigne has been accused of stealing from two artists on her third and most recent album, “The Best Damn Thing.”

The Theories: First, two songwriters for the 1970s group the Rubinoos accused her of plagiarizing their song “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend” on the track “Girlfriend,” and then a Perez reader said her track “I Don’t Have to Try” sounded like Peaches’ 2003 song “I’m the Kinda….”

Chance of Being Solved: Low. Accusations like this are easy to make and hard to prove. Lavigne may settle out of court to avoid the negative publicity.  (Samuel Golay / EPA)