OoP comments, questions, concerns

[elady25]

No: HPFGUIDX 61543

S
P
O
I
L
E
R
 
P
R
E
F
I
X
*********************************************************************
Wow, that was the book I'd been waiting for.  I really loved it. I'm 
still digesting it, of course, but I wanted to put out my initial 
thoughts.

I thought JKR gave us answers to a lot of our frequently theorized 
questions.  I was actually really excited to find how close this 
group has come in our guesses.  More about Petunia, Mrs. Figg, D. 
Diggle, Snape, everyone!  No, I was not surprised by the prophecy, 
but I (like Voldemort) wanted to hear it exactly the way it was 
given.  I read it over three times to see exactly what it said.  I 
was surprised by the connection with Neville.  Imagine how different 
things might have been if Voldemort had marked him?  Also, while it 
was no surprise to *me* to hear that Harry and Voldemort will someday 
have to engage in a mortal struggle, I was very interested in Harry's 
reaction.  He does not seem to like the idea of killing anyone, even 
Voldemort.  Some of you were surprised he tried Crucio on Bellatrix?  
I was actually surprised he didn't attempt an Avada Kedavra.  He was 
defending his life, after all.  It says a lot to me that Harry is 
*so* unwilling to take another's life.  It also spoke volumes to me 
that he felt so unclean after Arthur was attacked.  Harry now has to 
reconcile himself to the fact that if VM is going to be stopped, he 
*has* to destroy him.  (P.S.-will an Avada Kedavra even work on VM 
now, after all his weird guarding against death DA magic?)

About the veil:  In my faith, we are taught that there is a veil that 
separates the living from the dead.  My impression was that this veil 
was an actual gateway into the next life.  I also got the impression 
that Sirius died because he *fell through* the gateway, not because 
of the spell that knocked him over.  My fear is that to find out 
anymore about the other side of it, we will have to go there with 
Harry, and I don't think there is any coming back.  I really hope not!

I thought JKR did a magnificent job creating the teen angst needed 
for her characters.  I am *so* glad Hermione had the foresight to set 
up D.A., because it gave Harry one constructive outlet for his 
frustration, and I think he did a lot of good for his fellow students.

Loved this, it was what I was waiting for, and thanks for being there 
to listen to my musings.

imamommy