First OotP thoughts (SPOILERS)

[Madam Rosmerta]

No: HPFGUIDX 61408

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First thoughts.....

I am so, so sad at the death.  I knew it was coming (though I guessed 
wrong on who it would be -- JKR misled me beautifully) but I just 
wasn't prepared.  It seems so unfair to deprive Harry of the one 
adult he seems to need most , after he's already been deprived of his 
parents.  But of course that just underlines Voldemort's evil and 
JKR's merciless, shall I say, realism?  No candy-coated struggles 
here -- no deaths of "minor" players only.  That battle scene was 
fantastically suspenseful.  At every moment it seemed someone new 
would be the sacrifice for Harry's safety.  When the death actually 
came it was so sudden and in a strange way, gentle -- it reminded me 
of Cedric's death -- it seemed unreal, almost anticlimactic, until 
you'd had the time to really take it in.

OotP is so much better than book 4 was, in my opinion.  JKR was right 
to stipulate that no deadline be set.  This was worth the wait.

This was definitely (understandably) Harry's worst year yet.  It was 
exhausting to read, in a way -- all his anger and guilt and fear!  
And it seemed there were only a few comic moments and bits of 
happiness and fantastic events to lighten things a bit (will anyone 
ever make a better exit than Fred and George -- escaping dire 
punishment, leaving on their own terms, riding off literally into the 
sunset, saluted by Peeves and cheered on by most of Hogwarts!  
Terrific!!).

But Harry's anger and guilt and fear was a large part of what made 
Book 5 so real.  For a while now I've been guilty of thinking 
Rowling's characterizations rather shallow at times.  But you can't 
say that in this one -- not about Harry, above all.  You can really 
tell he's entering those angst-filled, hormone-ridden mid-teens (and 
I don't mean just the delightful misunderstandings with Cho ... 
beautifully conceived and written though they are!).  That anger to 
which Harry is so entitled is partly a reflection of the anger and 
bewilderment of every young teen struggling to enter adulthood.

Other great things about OotP: seeing Ron come into his own.  Seeing 
Neville come into his own.  The Ministry of Magic is finally out of 
denial.  There's a wealth of new details about the Potterverse -- new 
characters (loved Tonks and Luna!), new insights into the Ministry, 
the return of Rita Skeeter and Hermione recruiting her for the good 
guys, Hermione's wisdom (though it has to fail sometime -- she's 
*scarily* right -- I expect to see one or two spectacular blunders 
from her in the next book).

One thing did bother me. Sirius's moodiness and recklessness, I felt 
so sure, must be partly due to Kreacher's dosing his food and drink 
with some of the scurvy-grass, lovage, and sneezewort described on 
pp. 383-384 (American edition) -- JKR seemed to be planting clues in 
that direction -- but the clues were never followed up.  I couldn't 
believe Sirius was so ready to dismiss Harry with his scathing 
comment about not being as much like James as he'd thought -- how 
cruel!  I really disliked Sirius at that moment and was ready to 
agree with Molly about his recklessness.  

Drugging with herbs intended to cause hotheadedness would have 
explained a lot.  Are we supposed to believe the caring, cautious 
Sirius of GoF now wants Harry to be ready for the kind of adventures 
he and James used to get up to -- only with lethal stakes this time?  
I can't believe that mere "house arrest" could do this to a man who 
endured years in Azkaban.  I'm wondering whether the herbal clues 
were meant to be followed up by later confirmation that Kreacher was 
addling Sirius with bits of these plants, but JKR just forgot to 
follow up.  We even got another clue in Sirius's mood at Christmas -- 
he became so cheerful when Kreacher disappeared for several days, 
only to inexplicably return to moodiness once the house-elf 
returned.  Now I'm wondering whether JKR deliberately didn't follow 
up on this, and is waiting till book 6 or 7 so Kreacher can try it 
again with Harry or someone else! 

Related to that, Harry had so little time with Sirius in this book, 
especially after Christmas, that I felt bad for him.  Or maybe it's 
that I want to know more about the time he did have -- all those days 
during the summer and over Christmas -- did he and Sirius never talk 
about Harry's parents?  Harry's future?  Sirius's past or his plans?  
The one conversation over the family tree was very illuminating -- I 
wanted a lot more!  Greedy, I guess.  Just call me Dudley.  ;^D    
But the idea that Sirius changed so much in this book - and then 
died - really left me feeling so sad for Harry.  I can only trust 
that JKR knows what she's doing, since even she couldn't stand to 
kill Sirius off, but she did it anyway because it's important to the 
story ... something else will result for Harry out of this, I have to 
believe -- more self-reliance, stronger ties with Lupin and/or Molly 
and Arthur and/or Dumbledore (didn't you just want to cry when you 
saw that tear on Dumbledore's cheek and heard how much he loves 
Harry...).

Also: NOT ENOUGH SNAPE.  Well, there was a lot actually, but it's 
never enough for me!!  :)   What was there was choice.  So many of 
our theories confirmed: the abusive parent, the ostracism and teasing 
from peers, the loneliness of the outcast.  How about that awful 
Pensieve scene!  I felt so sorry for him and Harry both, and I truly 
despised Sirius and James every bit as much as Lily did just then 
(amazing how all those many, many love/hate James/Lily fanfics turn 
out to be on target, when I thought that had to be such a cliche!).  
I'd like Snape and Harry to make it up, though I'm not holding out a 
lot of hope.  (And what happened when Snape went searching the forest 
for Harry??  Apparently no run-ins with centaurs??)

I even thought there's still hope for the Snape-loved-Lily theory: 
Snape looks paler after Harry accesses a few of his *own* memories, 
none of which should mean anything to Snape, but one of which 
includes Lily and James in the Mirror of Erised, waving ... and 
somehow that paleness didn't seem to be anger at seeing his old 
enemy, not to me at least.  (And what were the OTHER two wisps of 
memory Harry DIDN'T get to visit, that Snape kept removing from his 
head before Harry's lessons???  Anything involving his mother, I 
wonder?  There's always that kiss with book 4's mysterious Florence, 
and Bertha tattling on him....) 

Anyway ... other than all that, a couple of other little things 
bothered me -- two or three little grammar errors, plus a "time" 
issue or two (for instance, there were only 3 weeks till the 
Slyth/Gryff Quidditch match *before* Harry and Hermione began the DA 
group, and it's "hard for them to find a regular time for a weekly 
meeting," yet it's clear they've had several meetings before all 
meetings were called off as the match approached so there could be 
daily Quidditch practice). And DID Hermione visit Viktor??  We never 
found out, though she's corresponding with him -- nice long letters 
too -- I was happy about that!  I would've liked to see more 
development with the Ron/Hermione dynamic, though -- just lots of 
nagging (lay off it, Hermione!) and bickering and an occasional 
moment of jealousy from Ron.  Guess he's still in denial about his 
feelings!

Funny fanfic "echoes": for Rebecca J. Anderson fans, the Room of 
Requirement -- especially as found by Fred and George -- should stir 
a delightful memory of another closet that actually followed Fred and 
George around the castle, in Rebecca's fic ... and for Cassandra 
Claire fans, knowing that Sirius and Narcissa are actually cousins 
should be amusing, given their plans in the Draco trilogy!  (Do 
cousins in England still get married, though?  I know it was fairly 
common in the not-too-distant past...)  Though it's less amusing when 
you come to Sirius's death...

My two Galleons!!   :^D

-- Rosmerta