OOP: Mysteries and Inconsistencies

[joywitch_m_curmudgeon]

No: HPFGUIDX 61858

Just a few questions I have after reading OoP:

Instead of guarding the prophecy, why didn't they just destroy it?  
It's only a written record, so they don't really need it.  Surely 
Kingsley or Tonks has the authority to enter the Dept. of Mysteries 
prophecy room.  Instead of having the Order guard the damn thing 
24/7, why didn't one of them just smash it so Voldemort couldn't get 
his hands on it?  This, to me, is a major plot hole.

Did anyone else recognize the sinking telephone booth gimmick from 
Get Smart?  I hope JKR has never seen that particular bad American 
60s TV show, since I think she'd be embarassed to be stealing her 
gimmicks from it.

Like everyone else, I want to know how Harry got the Marauder's Map 
back.  The last person to have it was Crouch, Jr. Did Dumbledore find 
it in the trunk, recognize the names, and give it to Lupin or Black, 
who then gave it to Harry?

Why *can* Neville see the thestrals?  Who did he see die?  His 
parents aren't dead.

This has been mentioned, but why didn't Harry see the thestrals at 
the end of GOF, after he saw Cedric die?

And why aren't thestrals mentioned in FBAWTFT?  (The obvious answer 
is, of course, that JKR has made them up since she wrote it)

And, I just thought I'd point out that we still don't know what the 
gleam in Dumbledore's eye at the end of GoF was all about.

OK, this isn't about OOP, but does the posting rate on this list 
remind anyone else of that plate of sandwiches that McGonagall gives 
to Harry and Ron in Snape's office, in CoS?

--Joywitch, who will post her thoughts about OoP tomorrow, probably 
about 1000 posts from now.