OoP: Focus on the Trio + Ginny + Neville (Spoilers)

[Laura]

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Rebecca wrote:
> Oh, and did anyone else wonder why Harry wouldn't have
> picked Ginny from DA?  I understand Neville, he's
> never been the strongest fighter, and Luna's a bit
> strange and he doesn't know her well.  But why not
> Ginny?  Was some weakness of hers described in the
> practice sessions that I missed.  I know why Ron
> wouldn't pick, but why wouldn't Harry?

Laura:
Yes, I know, that really bugged me!  Honestly I'm not sure what's up 
with Luna, she's a very odd character and she ended up playing a 
fairly large role in the book...it just sort of came out of nowhere, 
you know?  

As for Neville, I absolutely loved the character development!  It's 
what I always dreamed of.  *sniff*  Screaming at a VERY evil DE 
through a broken nose on the top of his lungs, and then screaming 
just as loud to Harry to not give up The Prophecy, no matter what she 
did to him- after he KNEW what was coming, after he'd seen it happen 
to his parents and knew what it did to them....wow.  I am so proud.

And Ginny- that was the first thing I noticed, that she bounded into 
the room and said Hi to Harry without flinching or being nervous at 
all, and the first OOP thought I had connected to Ginny was, "She's 
over him."  And I was very proud. =)  I mean, sure, OBHWF would be 
great, but would it really stem from a crush at the age 11?  And 
besides everything everyone else said, a few times reference is made 
to her magical power.  George mentions it in the beginning, something 
about how size doesn't matter, saying something like, "Look at Ginny, 
and have you ever been on the receiving end of one of her [something] 
curses?"  Then she apparently clobbers Malfoy to escape from 
Umbridge's office...very good.  I love it.

Now, everyone's on Harry's case for being so temperamental, and 
you're probably right, but I must say I'd probably be as bad, if not 
worse, than he was.  I would have had twice as many detentions from 
Umbridge (ouch!).  Also, I honestly don't blame him for all the rages 
he had at Ron and Hermione and sometimes even Dumbledore.  I realize 
it's a flaw, but I really can't blame him after all that he'd been 
through and the way he was treated.  (But maybe that's just because I 
myself would have been 10 times as bad)  

Finally, I really don't see why everyone is blaming him for 
his "playing the hero" characteristic.  He'd seen the snake attack 
Mr. Weasley and he was right, and then he saw Voldemort attacking 
Sirius.  What would you have done?  Sirius was the closest thing he 
had to a family.  Maybe if Dumbledore had told him that LV might try 
to trick him, then maybe I would see a problem with it.  Of course, 
Hermione spotted it, but then again, is there anything besides Ron's 
infatuation with her that she *doesn't* notice?  (And there's 
actually no reason to think she doesn't notice that either).  I 
really and truly cannot fault Harry for running to Sirius's aid.

And finally, onto the dark stuff.

I remember, awhile back, in what seemed to be a past life back before 
OOP, we were discussing deaths and Lupin's name came up.  And someone 
said something to the effect that Lupin has been through enough 
already, and they didn't think JKR would kill him because his life 
was so tragic already, that it would almost be overkill.

If that were true, I honestly think she would have been kinder to 
just kill him off.  Think about it- a werewolf, shunned his whole 
life, and how he's lost all 3 of this only real friends- all to 
Voldemort.  Talk about Comfort-Hurt.  Or Hurt-Comfort.  Or whatever 
it is that Cindy's always going on about.  (At least, I think its 
Cindy).

Anyway, those were my frist impressions of OOP.  And one last thing: 
I hated it.

By which I mean, it was an absolutely amazing book and I hated almost 
everything that happened overall- from Dumbledore's mistakes to 
Sirius's death to Harry being left out and James's arrogance and 
everything else.  My saving graces were Neville and Ginny.  And the 
Gryffindor version of "Weasly is our King" which almost made me cry 
with happiness. =)

-Laura

P.S. And oh yeah- Fred and George's dramatic exit. *huge grin* I 
really think it was the students who came through in the book.