I think that if Snape showed any kindness toward Harry, that would be the crack that Harry needs to…I don’t know…internalize the shades of gray about Snape. Harry was really ripe for it after he saw what James Potter did to Snape in the penseive. I was disappointed no opening appeared that would have allowed Harry to acknowledge that James had been a jerk to Snape, somehow letting Snape know that Harry is NOT James reincarnated. Harry has youth and inexperience as excuses for not believing that Snape is trustworthy. Snape , OTOH, just can’t imagine (apparently) that Harry is not a carbon copy of James, showing a serious lack of depth or permanent interpersonal damage…like you said, he’s a big jerk.
I can’t understand why no one has told Harry more about his folks, nor why Harry isn’t quizzing everyone who knew them for details about their lives. I guess it goes with the whole modesty/humility thing, but it makes Harry very passive about some really important information.
Along those same lines, I am also not believing there were no belongings to be passed on to Harry except the Invisibility Cloak.
I’m thinking that he went into hiding because the Death Eaters were trying to recruit him. After his comment about how Voldemort accomplished “great things. Terrible things, but still great,” or however it went, I figure that he must be a Slytherin. I’m also thinking that Zonko might be another guy who has fled. Having the #1 source of illicit goods for Hogwarts as a Death Eater would be a huge asset to Voldemort. Zonko knows this, so he’s laying low.
Actually, I thought Rowling was channeling H.P. Lovecraft, specifically the Dunwich Horror. Just replace the Gaunts with “Wizard” Whately, son Wilbur and daughter Lavinia.
My favorite part of the book was when Harry and Dumbledore were in the pensive watching Dumbledore have his conversation with Tom Riddle. You really learn the stuff that D is made of in that part but you also learn more about Voldemort than maybe we ever had before. I was incredibly upset after it was over though, I pretty much knew Voldemort was done.
The first thing that sent off flags for me was when Dumbledore gave Snape his position of DADA teacher. I had two thoughts. My first thought was boy, Dumbledore really wants Harry to be an Auror but that seemed a bit simple. I knew something else was up. Then after the scene between Voldemort and D, it all fell into place. D explains how noone since then has held the position more than a year (confirming what the students always say). This seems like a good way of Dumbledore telling everyone that Snape will no longer be with us at the end of the year - for one reason or another.
He, of course, can’t die because he’s the only member of the order with close ties to Voldemort. We can all figure out the scene this sets up for book seven between Harry and Snape, can’t we. I hope they throw in a bit of a twist.
I’m not gonna lie, I didn’t figure out who the half blood prince was until Snape saw what Harry did to Draco in the washroom. I felt pretty stupid - of course it’d be him. He was the potions teacher after all.
It seems somewhat logical that RAB is Regulus Black. He was a death eater and was killed because he deserted. (I’m pretty sure he’s dead, it’s a big book, I don’t want to go searching for the exact quote). Are we to assume that he’s living or simply that he managed to at least find one of the Horcruxes before he died?
A friend of mine owes me $20. I called the Ginny/Harry thing right from the beginning (I think book one but maybe two). It seems ridiculous to stop seeing one another though, Harry still cares about her so obviously Voldemort would still use her and I figure he probably will still use her (I have a horrible feeling she’s a gonner and that would make me sad, I’m a softie). At the very least, I’m pretty sure she’s gonna play a big part in the seventh.
It’s a shame. Throughout the book, Dumbledore slowly became my favorite character. He’s one of the most truly good characters in any fiction.
Tangential question: if the Dementors have left Azkaban and joined up with Voldemort, what exactly is keeping Lucius in there? Certainly not a houself-esque sense of guilt and self-punishment, that’s for sure.
I was thinking the same thing but I just ended up assuming there must be some wizard guards there as well. The Dementors just make things all the more miserable.
FTR, here are my predictions from the, uhm, predicitions thread we had last week:
Bingo! Very, very tentative at this point though.
Bingo (although I haven’t seen a definitive source for this, but it looks like Ginny.)
BZZZT! and Bingo again. Draco had been sort of laying low the last book, he was almost killed in this one, and his parents did figure in the plot, but not like I thought.
And I could have done with more Neville and/or Luna too. And of course Yoda has to die for the Force to make itself known for the hero–but the way Mrs. Weasley was being talked up in the first half of the book, I thought it would be her.
Well, he did, but he was just being a little sneak. And oh yeah, it seems that Potterverse vampires have no trouble with sunlight; maybe it was snowing when he visited at Christmas, but Scrimgeour was there in the front row at Dumbledore’s funeral on that beautiful summer day.
Uh, hey, I meant Ginny when I wrote Luna, honestly–<sees next sentence>–oh hell. BZZZT.
Well, guess all’s fair in wartime, but he was never able to deliver it in the final battle here either, kept getting interrupted.
BZZZT! Dead is dead.
BZZZT! Bingo! Bingo!
Bingo! Unfortunately, Voldy’s part of the wizarding world too and he’s reached out to the goblins, at least. Nice to see the centaurs and the merfolk at the funeral. And the whole Aragog subplot made it clear that even Hagrid’s going to have a rough time making it all work. The wizards have dissed the other magical creatures for too long. Loved Dobby and Kreacher working together, though.
Anyway…
I reluctantly agree that Dumbledore asked Snape to finish him off; the odd second chapter of the vow with Narcissa, where we saw something that Harry never got an inkling of, initially led me to believe with Harry that Snape is just total evil; but it makes more sense in the overall story for Dumbledore to have been right about him. Perhaps it was an odd version of the spell, but Dumbledore is dead. Totally. Perhaps he and Snape could have fooled Harry but all the other witches and wizards and ministers and centaurs would have noticed something was up. As for the portraits, they seem to contain the personalities of the people in them but they can’t affect the outer world, only observe it; they can carry messages but not objects from place to place and I guess if people ignore their advice, all they can do is call them names like the Blacks do. Their souls aren’t there because then I think they’d be a form of ghost, and after what we learned about ghosts this book…but we have no inkling of any afterlife the wizards believe in. There probably is a Valhalla-like heaven and soulless hell for them.
Lots of snogging but no sex, please, we’re British? In those matters the wizarding world seems pretty old-fashioned; Merope got Tom Sr. to marry her when she could have just drugged and shagged him, and we never see any of the couples sneaking off to the Room of Requirement or anything…then again, children’s book, I know. Then again, Ginny says her friends ask her about Harry’s chest…
Loved the Tony Blair cameo in the first chapter, I always enjoy seeing the two worlds interact. Kingsley Shacklebolt as the private sec, terrific! Would have liked to have seen more of the Order at work; Tonks and Lupin were totally out of left field for me, although I like Remus a lot and hope he’s finally happy.
I don’t think Harry or any part of him is a Horcrux, sorry. The replaced locket was another surprise and yes, I think the one in the Black house is it (wherever it is now, Fletcher will have to remember who he sold it to). Agree that RAB is most likely Regulus Black. As for the theoretical Gryffindor artifact, I don’t share Dumbledore’s confidence that the sword on his wall is either the only artifact or is not a Horcrux.
Harry might–might—be wrong about Snape, but he did finally start to feel something for Draco, which is a huge step for him.
American edition, p. 640:
Draco is still a kid. Harry’s an adult. And after this book I can believe it. Terrific and heart-wrenching stuff.
And never mind Michael Gambon, poor Robbie Coltrane!
I just felt as though the whole book were saying, loudly, amidst furtive glances, “SNAPE IS EVIL. REALLY. I’M NOT KIDDING AROUND, YOU KNOW. EVIL. UH-HUH. YUP.”
I like the “Dumbledore begging to be killed” idea. IMO, bringing people back from the dead would cheapen it all tremendously. So no, Dumbledore’s death was for good.
And may I just say that I will be very disappointed if the next book does not delve deeply into Snape’s character. I mean, come on. So many things happened in Book 6 that we don’t get to see… I’m afraid Book 7 might not be long enough to answer all the questions 6 raised.
I just finished the book, as well. Wonderful book (though there are some spelling errors and typos in these first editions, tsk tsk). I hate the stup[id spoiler tag in a thread already labelled as spoiler-heavy, but here are my three predictions for Book 7: Harry Potter and the End of Trees:
Harry will return to Hogwarts for Year 7, while still fighting to destroy Voldemort’s soul. It was carefully established that Voldemort loves Hogwarts, cherished his time there. The final confrontation will take place at the school… and, in fact, I think Hogwarts itself may be the missing Horcrux.
Harry will be convinced to come back by Headmistress McGonagall (sp bad) who will offer him the chance to truly forge a Dumbledore’s Army as the Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts.
Snape is not evil. He was acting under orders from Dumbledore to maintain his cover at all costs. In the end, Snape will save Harry’s life, allowing Harry to kill Voldemort, or something along those lines. Draco’s not evil, either.
