What she said.
No stomach acid? That’s what it came to for me.
Finally my mom gave me a sip of cognac. Instant relief.
There might have been some mixed in, but it was mostly saliva. I think I started puking at 4 am and then kept on every half-hour on the dot practically.
This thread has taken a weird, weird turn…
Anyway, finished up re-reading V about an hour ago. It makes a lot more sense every time I read it; I really felt it when Sirius died ths time, for example.
Predictions: D’oh. I know nuffink. But here goes:
Ron and Hermoine will begin a tentative romance. Noticed that Harry saw flashes of Mr. and Mrs. Weasley between them in one scene. Cute.
I think that the people on the back of the US book are Ron, Hermoine, and Ginny.
Malfoy will die. Draco, that is. You heard me. I’ve noticed he didn’t really have much to do in the last book and Harry has lots more potent enemies now. I think he’ll snuff it as a result of betraying Harry somehow and die at the hands of someone who’s after Harry; either Narcissa or Lucius will die in the aftermath. Harry just lost Sirius and I don’t know if Rowling will take out one of the good guys again–if they do, bye bye Neville or Dumbledore.
If a Weasley is lost, Percy (whose reaction to the big upheaval at the Ministry in the last chapters we never got) will come back to the family.
Luna and Harry will become better and better friends as Hermoine grows closer to Ron. Romance, well, not yet, but she has courage and honesty and they’ve both seen death of parents and seem otherwise connected.
Even though she deserved it and more, Harry’s failed attempt to use the unforgiveable Crucio curse on Bellatrix will somehow rebound on him.
The Guardian on the Edge of Forever–whoops! the Arch of Death or whatever is is a gateway to the dead; I’m pretty sure that Harry, probably with Luna, will try to talk to Sirius (who is totally dead) through it.
Trelawney will move on and Firenze will stay. I think Rowling will keep the tradition of having the DADA teacher a totally new character.
The destruction of the statue fountain in the Ministry is symbolic and means that the wizarding world will make more of an attempt to reach out to non-human magical sentients, like the elves, goblins, centaurs, etc.
I can’t find it now, but I could swear that I read that Harry and Draco form a sort of “alliance” for a bit. Amazon.com states that chapter six is titled “Draco’s Detour”. I wonder if perhaps Lucius and the captured death eaters are killed by Voldemort, making Draco peeved off at Voldemort (take a “detour” from past behavior) and thus help out Harry in some way. I couldn’t expect it to last…but. Geeze, wish I could find where I read that.
Cats
I’m thinking that Voldemort, still wanting to learn the prophecy, might lure Trelawney away from Hogwarts and kidnap her. She doesn’t consciously know the prophecy, but it’s probably somewhere in her subconscious, and Voldy could probably dig it out of her just like he did to Bertha Jorkins. In this case, Trewlawney is a goner.
I’ll be honest here: aside from the fact that I don’t care about guessing spoilers, I really don’t like Rowling’s 'tude. I mean, is she a drama queen or what? People keep asking her these inane questions (of course, some of them have to be semi-correct) and she starts on about, “Oh, how clever, blah blah, can’t tell blah blah.” Plus, she seems to say this to everything.
Interesting, but they can’t really get rid of Trewlaney – too dangerous to risk her falling into Voldemort’s hands. The job, I suspect, is just a cover, and kids get their divination in other classes – Runes, Arithmancy, and probably astronomy as well (why would wizards being learning astronomy if not for astrology?).
Always possible, of course, but my first guess would be some nasty trick played on Draco – or a trick of his backfiring.
There are a lot of suggestings Aragog will be making an appearance. Maybe h’ll wind up there 
Guessing spoilers is part of the fun. Nobody is required to participate, but some of us enjoy it.
As for her attitude, what you’re describing seems exactly the opposite of a drama queen, which is a person, to me who throws temper tantrums over little things.
How would you have her react to stupid questions? Maybe, “You putrid !%@ 8-year-old, are you even reading the #$$!@& books?!” Most of these questions are asked by kids. I doubt she wants to destroy their self-esteem.
Best to wait until they reach the workforce for that 
Oh, I’ve been coming across some interesting theories lurking around fansites. My favourite right now is that Professor Sinistra, the astronomy teacher, is a vampire, since her classes are always at night, she’s never at dinner, and the astronomy tower is off-limits except for classes.
Since vampires seem to be able to control their thirst for human blood in the Potterverse, maybe she’s in the same kind of situation as Lupin?
More thoughts:
I agree that Firenze stays - when he took the job, it was more or less a “no turning back” move for him, and undoubtedly Dumbledore gave him instant tenure as part of the deal. Trelawny probably will stay around in some sort of staff counselor or professor emeritus kind of role.
I think (and may have mentioned in prior threads) that Draco-Harry has shades of the Severus-James relationship, and that something will happen that pulls Draco away from the Death Eaters and toward the D.A./Order side. Since his father seems to be the only person that he truly admires, I think we’ll see Lucius get killed by Voldemort and that will serve as the catalyst for Draco’s redemption. Related to that, I think we’ll find out that a similar murder (a wife, perhaps?) was the reason Snape turned against Voldemort.
I don’t see Draco being either redeemable (he hasn’t shown one shred of decency in five years), or a next-generation mirror of Snape (he’s a spoiled, upper-class twit, while Snape seems to have been a poor kid from a really screwed-up family situation – not that this excuses his joining the Death Eaters, but it makes his motivations somewhat comprehensible).
And I think his “detour” will involve being shanghaied into the Weasley twins’ joke shop. Should be fun to see
But I’ve got high hopes for Theodore Nott (the stringy Slytherin kid who can see Thestrals, and who hasn’t joined Draco’s gang in spite of being a Death Eater’s son). I won’t be surprised if he emerges as one of the good guys.
I would just like to register that I cannot wait for Neville to kick some serious ass in HBP, now that he’s got his own wand and a modicum of self-confidence. I also think he and Luna will end up all snuggly-like.
Rowling has stated the two important questions are ‘Why didn’t Voldemort die when his curse rebounded?’ and ‘Why didn’t Dumbledore tried to kill Voldemort when he had the chance during the confrontation in the Ministry of Magic?’.
We know Harry, in the aftermath of the failed curse, has a connection with Voldemort to the point where he can see through his eyes, speak with snakes, etc.
Could it be that somehow the connection between the two is what has kept Voldemort in the land of the living even; somehow he has survived on the connection between him and Harry all these years.
Both Harry and Voldemort have identical wands. Wasn’t there some suggestion that wands are highly individual things?
Voldemort’s power seems to be coming back in porportion with Harry’s growing powers.
And it might be that Dumbledore knows this, and realizes that to kill Voldemort would also kill Harry at this stage. What has to happen is for Harry to somehow break the bond before he can destroy Voldemort.
That’s one very, very good theory.
Oh, has anyone else noticed that the Dark Mark and Harry’s eyes are the same color?
Think it’s a red herring or am I actually on to something?
Well, my pet theory about the “why didn’t Voldemort die?” question is that it’s precisely the same reason why Harry didn’t die. Tom Riddle’s mother chose to save her baby’s life at the price of her own, Voldemort is protected by the very same branch of ancient magic he despises, and all of his later experiments with immortality are red herrings
I wonder if his “rebirth,” through a process which doesn’t involve his mother at all, might have negated that protection – hence the gleam of triumph in Dumbledore’s eyes at the end of GoF?
JKR has described Nott as a clever loner, with no need to join anyone’s gang. He is, I gather, smarter than Draco. She’s got a scene with the two of them talking away from the school that she’s considered using a couple of times, but wound up cutting. His lone-wolf tendencies could keep him clear of the Death Eaters without necessarily making him a good guy. Still, if we are going to see any cooperation between Slytherin and the other houses, he’s as good a candidate as any, as he has no obvious rivalries or grudges against anyone.
I really don’t think we’re going to see any redemption for Draco, either. He’s rotten, and likely to stay that way. The fact that he’s also a coward may keep him from perpetrating any serious nastiness, but I wouldn’t count on it. I still hope to see Neville swat him like a fly at some point.
What think ye all of the deluxe edition cover art?
I think the Mysterious Man in the Hat is probably Peter Pettigrew, but I’ve got no clue where they are and who’s in the house.
I am very curious about Harry’s relationship with the Dursley’s and theirs with him.
I know it’s standard fare in fairy tails for the hero or heroine to have truly horrid parent figures and sibs (like Cinderella), but it occurred to me yesterday that in any world even close to ours, a baby has got to have SOME modeling from a loving adult in order to grow properly. And Cinderella at least had some positive stuff from Daddy before he died…what positive stuff did Harry get?
How Petunia could completely resist adorable baby Harry? Vernon, I can see, but Petunia?
That set me to wondering if she at least treated him with some tenderness in the beginning, but gradually hardened toward him. That set me to wondering if Petunia in particular was somehow inhibited from loving Harry.
I know this is extremely far fetched and over-thought for fantasy, but I don’t see how Harry could be the essentially good and upright young man he is without some positive influence in his early life (and Arabella Figg doesn’t seem to be on his radar as other than a peculiar old neighbor lady).
Anyone else gone down this trail of thought before?
Ooooh, I really like the theory that Harry is so linked to Voldy that killing him will kill Harry; however, if that’s true Dumbledore didn’t convey this to the rest of the Order, since short of using Unforgiveable Curses they were trying like hell to kill Voldy in the battle in the Ministry. But it does seem to contradict somewhat Dumbledore’s last speech to Harry in his office:
Originally posted by Sybil Trelawney:
Originally posted by JK Rowling:
Since the whole chapter starts off with a long confessional from Albus about how he won’t conceal things from Harry anymore, I don’t think that if working on severing the ties between him and Voldy would save his life he wouldn’t tell Harry about it. He did try to stop Voldy from invading his dreams via the Occlumency lessons, but Snape and Harry sabotaged that. But perhaps in the SIXTH book is when we find out your theory is true, presenting the Order with a true dilemma for the seventh.
Interesting, but too cryptic to really make much of at this point. It’s hard to tell what might be significant. I would presume the knife in the tree will be relevant. No idea about the bat.
The guy in the hat could be Pettigrew. It was his left hand that was replaced, right? The guy’s left hand is hidden, so there’s no way to confirm there. My first thought was that it might be Moody, given that OotP referred to his headgear on several occasions, and I believe I recall that he uses a staff/walking stick sometimes. That was just a wild guess, however. I get the feeling that Harry and Dumbledore are tailing him without his knowledge, but you never know.
The carving on the door is presumably a snake, which suggests a connection between the house and Voldemort, but doesn’t guarantee one. Either way, it doesn’t necessarily reflect on the current occupant. There also appears to be a rather snakelike wisp of vapor near the right-hand window, but that could easily be me projecting something into a completely innocuous brushstroke.