Absolutely loved the book - - but....

[calamity]

No: HPFGUIDX 134205

Inge <Elvishooked at hotmail.com>:
> I was very disappointed that Tonks' charachter (and her special
> skills) was not developed and put in use for something more
> exciting than falling in love (which also annoyed me a lot since
> Im an uncurable Remus/Sirius shipper).
>
> Rowling could have done anything with Tonks - and blew it.

Cali:
Well, personally, I think the Tonks character was used by JKR as an example of how strong love can be.  It transformed her physically, as well as changed some aspects of her magic (ie-her Patronus form).  It was meant to show Harry (and the readers) just how powerful love is.  Granted, there was MUCH more that could have been done with the character.  However, I think we just got glimpses of it due to the fact that JKR has received a bit of grief on the length of the previous two books. 

Inge:
> Severus as the HBP was all good and fine - but what was that all
> about anyways? Why dedicate the 6th book to Snape if by the end
> of it we practically don't know anything more about him than we
> did at the end of any previous book?
> The fact that Snape is the HBP didn't do anything to his
> character - or to the book. Did it? Am I missing something here?

Cali:
I'm not sure exactly what JKR was trying to accomplish with Snape being the HBP, other than to let us know that he IS (just like Voldemort) a Half-blood, not a Pure-blood.  Also, it let us know that he was (in his own way) a bit of a rebel.  He didn't "follow the book".  He, in fact, made alterations to most of the potions in the book.  He also was gifted enough, even at a young age, to make up his own hexes (something which Harry hasn't done yet, if I'm not mistaken).

Inge:
> I was disappointed that Sirius seems to have completely vanished
> from the books as well as from Harry's thoughts. Maybe in book
> 7.... but if Harry's grief was so easy to overcome as it seemed it
> has - I find it rather difficult to see how Sirius can come back
> into Harry's life - in whatever state (ghost, mirror....) and
> still be important to Harry. Sirius was forgotten a bit too soon.

Cali:
Sirius WAS got a bit too quickly for my taste, as well.  However, I have to admit that I liked the Harry of HBP alot better than the broody Harry of OOTP.  However, I think we're also seeing the resiliance of youth at work here, as well.  No one seems to recover from such tragedy as well as children.  And, given Harry's past and loss to date, maybe JKR is trying to show that people DO recover from such great losses, and move on, and need to focus on what's important, instead of dwelling in the past and letting it control your life.

~Cali