Feelings on OoP

[slgazit]

No: HPFGUIDX 80082

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "mochajava13" 
<mochajava13 at y...> wrote:
> we've been given little tibits of Ginny's personality that we 
> weren't shown until now.  (However, I have to disagree that Ginny 
> and Harry will have a romance together.)

We have been given tidbits, but after 4 years of seeing her so shy
and tongue tied with Harry, suddenly have her flit from one boyfriend
to another (though she clearly does not love either one) and
talking back to Harry, acting as the twins' second in command, and
so on, seems a bit startling. I still feel the shift too abrupt -
not out of character, but not done as well. There was no indication
that she had any talent or interest in quidditch, for instance,
until the middle of OoP, when suddenly she becomes a Quidditch
star. I think JKR could have made that transition more believable
if she at the least shown her begging her brothers to let her play
when they were playing Quidditch with Harry for fun.

As for Ginny and Harry, it seems to me that that is what JKR has
been aiming at from book 1. Mind you, I don't particularly like this
pairing - I would love to see Harry and Hermione (my favorite
character of the series) together, but I have a feeling that JKR
has different ideas, and she is the mistress of the plot...

>  Same with Neville: 
> he showed similar personality traits whenever we've seen him, and 
he 
> was in the SS/PS much more than any other side character.

His role in SS/PS was a good preparation for OoP but there were
three books in between where he was downgraded and always portrayed
as this shy, bumbling kid with little confidence or magical talent.
Suddenly he is one of the top in the DA and showing a fighting
ability and skill better than any of the other kids, except Harry.
Again, not out of character perhaps, just a bit too abrupt. The
only convincing explanation I can think of is that perhaps that new
plant of his has some magical qualities in confidence building... :-)

> And I do think that he was at times too 
> angry because of his connection to Voldemort.   (That's my theory.)

It was fairly clear that he was aware when he was feeling his own
emotions and when he was feeling Voldemort's. No, the anger was his
own...

>  Voldemort brings out the worst in 
> Harry, but Harry doesn't realize this.  Harry could bring out the 
> good in Voldemort (if there is any) without Voldemort realizing it.

Well, there is one interesting point about Voldemort in that he
seems to have a soft spot for his own mother. He hated his father,
and murdered him, but always mentioned his mother with respect. That
even when he tells how she fell in love with a muggle - he is angry
that his father abandoned her, but does not express disdain for
her love of a muggle.
Perhaps that was one of the reasons he did not want to kill Harry's
mother - his own mother died giving birth for him. It will be
interesting if this will come to play later, especially that he
now carries Harry's mother protection in his blood as well.

> My theory is that one will, in a way, take over the other's mind 
> until there is nothing left of the other person except an empty 
> shell, but no remanant of the original person.

I don't think so. Voldemort surely will be destroyed (or what would
be the point of the series?). Whether Harry survives or not remains
to be seen. I keep thinking that the episode in SS/PS with the mirror
of Erised is a foreshadowing of a sort. Ron sees himself as Head Boy
and Quidditch captain - something we can already see to be in the
process of happening. Harry sees himself with his dead family. Again
in OoP he is the one most attracted to the whispering behind the
Veil in the Death room. I wonder if this is some sort of
foreshadowing of where he will end up being. It will be a fit end
to the story, but extremely sad. I hope he stays alive...

Salit