OOP: Jumbled musings on various brilliant bits

[Anne]

No: HPFGUIDX 63443

Back, I hope, from my pre-OOP exile...
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I might never be able to review this book properly, but my short 
overall reaction is *bloody brilliant*!! Where to start? In no 
particular order the bloody brilliant bits were (IMO): 

* Angry!Angry!ANGRY!Harry (through the whole book) -- to me this was 
where most of the hormones we were "promised" were channeled. I wish 
I could remember what hormone is released by persistent anger, but 
whatever it is, OOP was awash in it, much moreso than in estrogen or 
testosterone.

* much-nicer!Ron, with some independent successes under his belt

* Hermione the rule breaker (!!) - her loyalty to Harry and her sense 
of justice made her incapable of accepting Umbridge's tyrannical coup 
d'etat

* Fred and George's escape from Hogwarts - infreakingcredible!!

* KickAss!McGonagall -God how I adore that woman!

* Harry's trip into Snape's pensieve, and his resulting 
disillusionment about his parents - poor Harry found out his sainted 
parents were human after all.

* the D.A. (which seriously Rockkkkkked! and which showed Leader!
Harry very nicely)

* the visit to St. Mungo's - nice cameo by Lockhart, and the 
Longbottom scene was sooo sad

* Dolores Jane Umbridge, the Headmistress from Hell - not sure I've 
ever hated a character as much as hate this woman. She's the devil's 
spawn.

* Harry's dreams and the whole Occlumency thing - as we discovered in 
DD's big talk with Harry, these were really the backbone of the book 
and the linchpin of the action

* the O.W.L.s - just loved the whole chapter on the exams, as well as 
the descriptions of all the *extra* homework they got that year. 
Makes me glad I didn't have to take them!

* Grawpy (I refuse to ship Grawpy/Hermy, though I might be persuaded 
to ship Grawpy/Umbridge)

* KickAss!Neville (finally, Neville shows why he's in Gryffindor) -- 
Loved, loved, loved. He lived up to every Courageous!Neville 
depiction I've ever seen in fan fic.

* Ginny finally getting a personality (and getting over Harry) -- yes 
Ginny suddenly got a personality, after 4 years without one; maybe 
she IS finally coming into her own. The fact that she had 2 
boyfriends this year and NEITHER of them was Harry suggests to me she 
is soo over him. (Don't want to debate shipping here, just my 
impression).
* Luna Lovegood and her so-obvious-crush on Ron - she seemed a tad 
too goofy at first but she grew on me. I think she could be shipped 
with several of the male characters (including Ron :) (ditto above)

* the thestrals - JKR introduces at least one new and important 
Fantastic Beast in every book, and these were amazing. I wonder how 
many other students besides Harry and Luna could see the thestrals?

* the return of Lupin -- MOONY!! MOONY!! MOONY!! -- but he didn't get 
nearly enough page time ... but I can wait till Book 6 I guess.

* Tonks and Kingsley; -- Kingsley seems like Mr. Clean (but black, 
possibly Jamaican); Tonks is just totally rad. Yes, there will be 
about 500 Metamorphmagus fan fics on ff.net by the end of the year 

* the REAL Mad-Eye Moody - I was surprised at how much Real!Moody 
seemed like Fake!Moody (except not a bad guy)... but maybe I 
shouldn't have been.

* Molly Weasley's boggart -- that was the first thing in the book 
that made me cry.

* Percy's attitude problem -- Sellout!Percy didn't get much page time 
but was annoying as hell... will he come to his senses now that even 
Fudge admits the truth?? Let's hope so.

* the swashbuckling confrontation at the MoM (and the MoM itself 
seemed to have come out of a brighter version of Terry Gilliam's 
Brazil) -- This reminded me of the climax of a particular fan 
fiction - not that I think JKR has read that fan fic, it just kind of 
flashed in my mind as I read it. Except unlike in that fan fic, 
Harry's not a Mage.

* the death (*still sobbing*) - As with many fans, the death of 
Sirius hit me hard. Harry will feel guilty about this the rest of his 
life... 

* Dumbledore's revelation (the annual "big pep talk" which turned 
into "what I should have told you five years ago") -- ah yes, the 
prophecy. I will have to re-read that chapter many many times. 
Voldemort CHOSE Harry for this... marked him... just amazing.

***

What I didn't see or hear that I wanted to see or hear was someone, 
ANYONE saying, "I love you, Harry." Harry must know by now that 
certain people love him, just by the way they stand by him and back 
him up, but as far as I know no one has said those words to him since 
his parents were killed. Now that he's turning 16, it's about time 
someone said it. How can anyone go through life without hearing that? 
Hugs and the occasional peck on the cheek aren't enough. He needs to 
hear those words. 

That's all I can write now, except to say that JKR's entire approach 
to this novel was quite audacious and very brave for a writer of 
popular fiction. She has taken a very difficult year in anyone's life 
(age 15) and added onto that the many-layered problem of Being Harry 
Potter. I raise my proverbial butterbeer to you, JKR. You've got some 
cojones, lady.

Anne U
(so where can I find people's "reviews" of OOP? kind of hard to tell 
from the subject headers alone)

 
*"Ah, music! A magic beyond all we do here." - Albus 
Dumbledore, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" **
* "Anyone could be the one to change your life" - Monte Montgomery, 
http://www.montemontgomery.com *
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