Will the Mahdi emerge next year, and is there anyone practicing sorcery to bring forth the Dajjal and kill the Mahdi?

Only Allah knows what will happen in the coming year, and no creature has a way of knowing that. A Muslim should focus on working for Islam and learning the two Revelations (Qur’an and Sunnah), and should not concern himself with the matter of the Mahdi; because the Mahdi himself may not know that he is the awaited Mahdi until Allah wills for him to be revealed. The Dajjal's emergence is not hastened by the magic of sorcerers; because he is imprisoned until Allah permits him to emerge.