OOP: Spoilers and such

[tongapeach]

You know, I keep thinking of a song I sung in grade school- the one 
about the cotton fields? It was a southern folk songy thing. ANd the 
line 'it was down in louisana, just about a mile from texarkana'.. 
have you looked at a map? texarkana is more than a mere mile from the 
border... I don't get it. And I'm hoping this is enough for Spoiler 
space! ;-)

Now then, I've read several- but by no means all- postings. Jeez-
louise! You've been awfully busy here haven't you?

Now then, I finished at 4am Monday and have been digesting what I 
read and talked to one of my BF on the phone figuring things out. I'm 
still in denial... where's the SHIP! I want to be on board! A 
suggestion though- could we use that awful house-elf as an anchor?

Now on with the show...

Mundungus- LOVED this character, had me rolling most of the time. 
Anyone read the 'Artemis Fowl' books? Doesn't Mundy remind you of 
Mulch? And Figg, I'm a bit disappointed, but was surprised to see her 
after all seeing the Dateline interview... JKR seemed to be at a loss 
to come up with her name, although she was a very comical addition. I 
don't think she'll be a major part of the next two- I could be wrong 
however.

The UKims, loved em, keep it coming as far as I'm concerned. Just 
don't let my lil bro see them... I have a feeling we're all going to 
be laughing our heads off on the way to Orlando in July as he tries 
to use them in conversations very inaccuratly. Poor boy, he was in 
shock when he found out that James Marsters wasn't actually 
British... and the look on his face!

Neville... oh my... *sniff*. His mum... oh god, I cried. That was 
just too heartbreaking. I'm glad to see him getting stronger, I 
suspected with the release of the movies he was going to start 
playing a larger role since Dean and Seamus are kinda 'quiet' in the 
movies and Neville is focused on moreso. JKR did say she was 
supervising so that important clues didn't get skipped over. ;-) His 
entire reaction- 'Harry's not alone, he's still got me'- gah! Neville 
the utterly Loyal and Brave!
Yep Richelle, I want to adopt him now too!

Ginny- another I was pleased to see come into her own. And what a 
character! I'm glad she's over her 'shy' phase, but can she really be 
called shy now?

New characters: Tonks- OMG! She's my new role model! I kept reading 
it, and I am working on a fanfic that wasn't hit too hard, and when 
my friend and I talked today we were both like- AH! Tonks is - well, 
one of the chars we created. And Luna... talk about strange... she's 
definatly important somehow, I'm just not sure how yet.

UMBRIDGE! Yes, I will risk Azkaban to use an Unforgivable on that 
thing posing as a woman! She aggrevated me to no end, and is 
currently the reason my friend has been unable to finish the book. 
It's kinda funny, she gets to a scene and gets so mad you think she's 
gonna hurl the book across the room. And Fudge. Don't hate me for 
this, but it must be said. I don't hate Fudge. He's a politician, and 
as you are well aware of politicians are generally out there for one 
thing only- to place themselves at teh front. People didn't want to 
hear the truth, Fudge didn't himself, so he did what any politician 
would have done. He lied. Percy needs to have his red-headed bottom 
kicked though. Putting his mother, father and siblings through all 
that. I felt it coming however... it was all to clear from his 
reading 'Prefects who Gained Power' to Ron's statements in GoF.

And my goodness Dumbledore! 'You know, Minister, I may not agree with 
everything Dumbledore's done... but you cannot deny he's got 
style...' Loved it all! Was a bit disappointed with the lack of 
Hagrid at the beginning and throughout the book, made me very 
nervous. And then McGonagall... what can I say? That scene (and you 
know the one) made me nearly scream. If it weren't for the fact my 
mother and lil bro had flipped through the book and found out who 
snuffed it (gulp!) and I knew it was at the end of the book I would 
have strongly believed it was McGonagall who'd bit the bullet. What a 
brave woman... I still am FURIOUS over the way Hagrid's dismissal was 
handled, I thought that surely someone (one of the OWL professors?) 
would have had something to say over what had transpired?

Gred and Forge... ah, I'm going to miss those two. Life at Hogwarts 
without them will be very difficult indeed. All out war, perfect... 
and the reactions of the staff- you know, I used to like Filch 
somewhat but now I'm ready to burn him at the stake. And we all know 
he wouldn't be able to do the Freeze Flame spell.

As for Harry's behavior. Yes, it was a bit much- but he is, after 
all, a teenage boy. Those of you who haven't been around one think 
yourselves lucky. Those of you who were one- I am very sorry. ;-) I 
don't think I've ever really yelled out loud at a book, but the whole 
time he was in panic-mode I kept growling underbreath 'go to Snape 
you moron' and 'he gave you that package at Christmas, use it!' But 
ah, that would have ruined the plot, wouldn't it? Ticking, 
testosterone time bombs... anyone want a 16 yr old?

As to SHIPS- I have no clue anymore. I used to think it was clearly 
going to be R/Hr... now it looks like possibly H/Hr. Well, Ryann (who 
is 7) will be tickled pink with that.

The look into James/Lily. Well, I was jumping up and down and 
couldn't sit still. It took me close to an hour to read it cause I 
kept having to get up and run around my room with a waaay silly grin 
on my face which made my mother ask me what I was on. Let's just say 
that I'm now of the opinion that JKR has decided that James is a 
Seeker. Afterall, the shield in SS movie said Seeker, and the only 
contridiction we have is JKR's interview-thingy where she stated he 
was a Chaser. She is allowed to change her mind I would imagine. I 
was VERY happy to see that all descriptions of the MWPP generation 
that were written by JRK melded into what I have for my MWPP-fic. I 
think that was why I bounced around so much. And yes, for the 
measure, James and Sirius were self-righteous little... er, not 
allowed to say that am I? *looks sheepish* I am still overwhelmed 
that I actually felt *shock!* sorry for Snape... though, as my mother 
pointed out, Snape might have done something we're unaware of that 
would warrant James and Sirius' actions.

And speaking of fanfic- someone asked if they were the only ones who 
felt as if they were reading fanfic as they read this. I answer yes- 
but not for reasons you state! I have been drowning myself in fanfic 
since GoF left off, hungry for more HP. And three years later I'm in 
deperate need of a 'fix'. ;-) I've read so much that I think it was 
leftover from reading so much. If you understand that kudos! I don't 
think she 'took' anything from fanfic, I just think that a few lucky 
FF authors out there have hit the proverbial nail on the head. Kudos!

I think I've covered all but what I was saving for last. ;-) The big 
killer. Ooooh, bad choice of words there.

OMG! I was in shock! I only had two parts I had to read twice cause I 
thought I'd read wrong. The first was when Petunia answered Vernon's 
question of what Dementors were. *SHOCK!*- and what exactly *does* 
Petunia know of the wizarding world? Obviously more than we 
thought... will Harry find someone to turn to after all?

The second was Sirius dying- WHICH I REFUSE TO BELIEVE! I suppose I 
should have seen it coming. I voiced my opinion 3 years ago when JKR 
mentioned a 'big death' that Sirius would be the next to kick the 
proverbial bucket, but here lately- in a desperate attempt to 
convince myself otherwise- I've been going with Lupin, Hagrid, 
Dumbledore, McGonagall, even Ron or Hermi! Silly as it may sound I 
had to wait several hours after I'd read this- and only after talking 
to my friend- before I would go back and read it again. I didn't 
think I would ever be able to read it, had at the moment I finished 
the book sworn to myself that I would NEVER read OotP again and that 
it was going on my list of most hated books, but I did. I needed 
closure. *sniff*

I think my attempts to convince myself it wasn't him failed when I 
read Harry's thoughts at leaving Black House at Christmas. Something 
about 'having a bad feeling about this parting'. I just about broke 
down into tears right then and there. I even, somewhat guiltily, 
hoped that McGonagall had snuffed it when she was attacked. But alas, 
it was not to be.

As sad as the death scene was it was not the most shocking. It was 
Harry's reaction. And to those of you out there saying Lupin should 
have done more to express sadness think of the words and conditions. 
JKR did say he said what he did to Harry 'chokingly' and every time 
he was mentioned afterwards it was always giving the impression that 
he was ready for a good cry. And what about the whole British 'stiff 
upper lip'? Hmmm? It wouldn't have done to break down at the scene, 
Harry's safety was in jeopardy. I'm sure somewhere off scene he 
mourned for the loss- after all, he really is the last one now, isn't 
he? (and no, Wormtail doesn't count)

Harry however responded just as I would have- and I was amazed at 
Dumbledore's insight to sit calmly and let him get it 'out of his 
system'. His comments were somewhat disconcerting (hope I'm thinking 
of the right word here). I was HUGELY disappointed with the whole 
Prophecy- though pleased to see the previous PoA comment 'that makes 
two now' brought to light. (on a joking note- goodness, you can 
really tell they haven't read the books can't you?). You would think 
it would be obvious to them as it is to us... but ah well, that lies 
the easy way out.

I was, in short, bawling. My pages have tear-stains on them and my 
friend is goeding (sp?) me with 'eh, he was starting to get annoying 
anyway' comments. I feel so lost. *sniffle*

Now then, to join the SHIP, USS DENIAL is it? Heh, just call me 
Cleopatra!

Tonga- who is still miserable and has been spending an unusal amount 
of time with her black lab- even letting her sleep on her bed- which 
is a big no-no! Is this a sign that my beloved pet- who just turned 
13 this month- is soon to be departed? OMG- gotta go cry now.