My First Comments!

[heather the buzzard]

No: HPFGUIDX 132974

Ahh!  We're open.  Nearly 60 posts before I'm even out of bed, no fair.  
Heehee!

Anyway, I can't wait to read them all before I post.  I expect many 
folks will have similar ideas anyway.  So I'm just going to summarize my 
main thoughts:

1.  I believe Snape was acting on DD's orders.  I did read the first 
post about an 'assisted suicide' theory, and I think that's partially 
right -- except DD was not wanting to kill himself because of the 
injuries of the potion.  It was something he already knew was going to 
have to happen at some point, and the circumstances of that night showed 
him that the time was now.  "Severus, please" indeed meant "Severus, I 
know you don't want to do this, we talked about this, but the time is 
now and you MUST", and indeed the 'hatred and revulsion' was for the act 
he was being asked to do and not for DD. 

Snape has always appeared as very cold, calculating, and unemotional, 
even when he's being 'mean and nasty'.  Very rarely has he lost his 
cool.  If he were being his 'true evil' self through these last 
chapters, I don't think he would have been freaking out the way he was.  
He might even had taken a few moments to sneer at DD first... "you 
foolish old man, the Dark Lord will be victorious over muggle-lovers 
like you, victory is now mine..." 

He didn't injure Harry seriously.  He was thoroughly distraught over 
what he'd just had to do, and Harry is attacking him, and he is still 
*teaching* Harry... "close your mind and stop talking..."  He does not 
attack back until Harry has taunted him about being a coward.  Snape has 
just lost *everything* -- all his good standing, his position at 
Hogwarts, the trust people had for him.  He killed someone he 'loved', 
he has to run into hiding and now depend on the evil folks for his 
life.  A huge sacrifice to have been made, on the trust that DD knew 
what he was doing when he asked him to.  He knows what people will think 
of him.  He is far from cowardly over this, therefore... and so loses 
his cool over Harry.  Even still, he only 'slaps' him and doesn't hurt 
him badly.

2.  Draco could be redeemed still!  I loved this bit.  I have seen 3 
possibilities for Draco before HBP, who has always been rather 
cowardly.  1 - The imprisonment of his father and his becoming 16-17 
finally steels his strength and desire for revenge and he becomes 'truly 
evil'.  2 - He finally realizes the extent of the evil side and becomes 
'good'.  3 - He remains a coward, continuing on the evil side but not 
very well, and probably dies or does something disastrous.  Through most 
of the book, it looked like #1 had happened, which was certainly 
plausible but I had wanted to see #2 heh... Then Harry sees him crying 
with Moaning Myrtle.  Crying!  My impression from there was not really 
#3, but a bit of a blend... Then by the end, it looks like #2, where his 
attempts at proving himself are coming to the point where he will 
realize the extent, the reality of what is going on.  Who know what will 
happen now that he and Snape are in hiding?

3.  Harry himself will be the last Horcrux.  DD said that he suspected 
LV was planning to use Harry's murder as the source of the last 
soul-split.  When the murder went wrong, somehow the bit of soul 
'accidentally' went into Harry instead of whatever he'd been planning.  
This is why Harry has some of LV's powers, why they have that psychic 
link through the scar.  Harry will realize this about halfway through 
book 7.  He will have to either destroy himself in order for LV to be 
destroyed, or else destroy that within him that is LV -- and lose many 
of his powers and abilities in the process.

I loved the whole Horcrux thing, BTW.  A few people had been speculating 
along these lines a week or so before the release, and it was really 
cool that they were *totally right*!

4.  The book itself was rather... hollow.  Someone on the chat board 
said that JKR wrote the movie version, without all those bulky subplots 
to have to cut out.  That's a perfect description.  Where were the 
descriptions of student life?  Where was Hedwig?  Crookshanks?  Grawp is 
just sitting there?  So many characters made only cameo appearances.  So 
much more COULD have been done with the fear, the panic about the world 
outside.  We never even got to see Snape and Harry interacting *all year 
long*, just one token DADA class.  Come on, we've been waiting 6 books 
for Snape to get the DADA and we don't even get to see him in action?  
Or really see what they're doing in that class?  Did the former DA 
members fare any better than others?  We had basically one token example 
from each class (birds in Charms, tree stump things in Herbology, etc) 
but that was it.  The whole character of Hogwarts was underplayed for 
the sake of the 'main plot', which was a shame.  The book was GOOD of 
course, but could have been so much better.

5.  The Gryffindor rubies spilled all over the floor, glistening like 
blood.  Hogwarts itself is bleeding.  Love that.

6.  The thing with the PM at the beginning seemed out of place.  It was 
a great beginning, don't get me wrong.  But it was never followed up 
on.  This is part of the #4 again.  It showed that the muggle world was 
being affected and it introduced Scrimgeour.  That's it.  It well 
introduced the atmosphere of fear, the 'unseasonal mist' (which is never 
really mentioned again after they get to Hogwarts), the dark 
oppressiveness of the times.  But once they're at Hogwarts, all we have 
is an occasional report of someone being called home by their parents.  
There was no indication of the atmosphere through the conversations, the 
actions of the kids.  This could have been much, much more.

7.  Nearly all of Draco's ideas actually came from the 'good' side.  The 
idea for the poison, the communication via coins, etc.  Wonder if he 
realizes the significance of that -- he got more 'help' from the good 
guys than he ever did from the bad guys...

8.  Again regarding the first chapter... Fudge mentions there's going to 
be an inquiry into the battle in the DoM.  So... yeah?  What became of 
that, eh?

9.  Killed off Amelia Bones in the first chapter.  Any mention at ALL 
about Susan in the rest of the book?  Hello?

10.  Ships -- never bought H/G, though I know there were screams of 
delight from many quarters.  I like the way his interest in her was 
brought in subtly, gradually -- the scent in the potion that reminded 
him somehow of the Burrow, which he didn't realize at the time was 
Ginny.  This was a subconscious desire.  And how Harry wrestled over the 
idea of it since Ron was his best friend.  Then when he finally acts on 
it, Ron's all like "hey, whatever dude".  ROFL.  HOWEVER, I was totally 
unconvinced by Ginny's reciprocation.  It didn't feel like Ginny to me.  
It was too out of the blue, too sudden.  I'm glad they 'had' to break 
up.  Heh.

Looks like R/H are finally starting out... I think the implication at 
the end of the book is that they haven't yet 'snogged' or talked about 
things, but there is an unspoken acknowledgement and the talking and 
snogging are just around the corner.

Neville and Luna?  It's only barely implied, but I like it.

Lupin and Tonks?  Weird, but hey it could work.  So much for the 
Lupin/Sirius shippers, eh?  *giggle*

Bill and Fleur -- LOVED how she showed her mettle at the end, and Molly 
comes around to appreciate her -- not because she likes her personality, 
but because Fleur obviously *truly loves her son*.  That's powerful.

There was a lot of shipping happening quickly, but I think it's 
appropriate.  First, they're at the age when that happens, and second, 
as discussed at the Burrow, folks tend to rush relationships when they 
are in mortal peril... it happened in the first war and will happen 
again now.  So now I'm wondering, now that many of our main characters 
are actually of age and adults, will there be more really fast weddings 
in the next book?  Maybe even, not babies being born but announcements 
of expectations?

11.  RAB would seem to be Regulus Black, and I suspect that the real 
necklace will turn out to have been one of the items stolen by 
Mundungus, or possibly Kreacher.  I wonder though, if DD was not able to 
get the necklace by himself, how did Regulus?  Did he have an accomplice?

12.  DD dying sacrificially is VERY reminiscent of Gandalf.  The whole 
emphasis on 'white' strengthens this too.  JKR has said that "dead is 
dead", but there's got to be some significance to DD's connections with 
the phoenix.  DD went up in white flames, like the dying phoenix!  What 
if the ghostly phoenix Harry imagined he saw flying off into the blue 
was NOT just his imagination? 

13.  I bet that DD is going to leave his silver instruments to Harry.

I think those are the main things I've been contemplating and wanting to 
throw out before even reading others' ideas.  I'm sure I'll have more to 
say in response to others...

heather the buzzard