The Joke's on Me

[julie]

No: HPFGUIDX 174787

I actually kept a log as I read DH, making notes of certain 
clues and revelations, all to see how much of what I and others
predicted would come to pass. I don't think I have a career 
waiting for me in baseball, given my batting average:


***Here are the thoughts that came to me as I read DH on Sat am, July 
21...
 
So, the Malfoys are in pretty miserable circumstances within 
Voldemort's circle. 
I'm thinking that means they're ripe to turn on him...
 
Poor Charity Burbage! Of course even if Snape is DDM there isn't 
anything he
could do for her once she'd been captured...
 
Hmm, another mention of the "spider or two" that always seemed to be 
in the corner
of the cupboard beneath the stairs. Does this coincide with 
Dumbledore's comment
that he watched Harry "more closely than you'll ever know"?...
 
I figured there was more to Dumbledore's family than just Aberforth! 
I even speculated
there might be a sister...gotta take my bows where I can ;-)

I really thought it would be Petunia who would show some residual 
concern about
Harry. But it's Dudders...
 
Interesting that Snape only slices off George's ear. As Mrs. Weasley 
said, "It could
have been much worse." Is his aim really that bad, or did he hit the 
intended target...
 
Poor Moody. No body, though...that's not good. Will he reappear later 
as an Inferi?...
 
So the soul bit cannot exist without the Horcrux that encases it. 
There's an important
question answered. Each soul bit is essentially destroyed with its 
horcrux...
 
And you can put a torn soul back together, but it's very painful 
because it involves
real remorse for your actions. Remorse? Such as Dumbledore claims 
Snape felt
when Voldemort targeted the Potters? If there is a spell that tells 
whether a soul is
intact or torn--or has been repatched back together--could this be 
the ironclad reason
Dumbledore trusts Snape...
 
What's with the chickens? I supposed it's been mentioned before that 
the Weasleys
have chickens, but so many times in one chapter? Odd...
 
Why's Lupin so despondent, when he's just married Tonks? Hmm, another 
mystery...
 
So a Patronus does speak, and at least in one case, in the voice of 
the wizard who
casted it. Makes it kind of hard to conceal the sender's identity 
then...
 
First completely laugh out loud line "What is Xenophilius wearing? He 
looks like an
omelet." LOL!...
 
What's a "cop hold"?...
 
How did Harry know Voldemort's wand in their first confrontation 
was "borrowed"?
Maybe just an error on JKR's part...
 
So what was up with Dumbledore's sister? I can't blame Harry for 
being a bit miffed 
about Dumbledore telling him so little of his past and their common 
connection to
Godric's Hollow (no surprise)...
 
Wow, Scrimgeour didn't last long, did he...Too bad (not really)...
 
Harry still has the trace on him, even though he's 17...like 
Voldemort and the DEs
somehow knowing there were seven Harrys...this seems to indicate a 
traitor in the
Order...
 
It also seems that someone removed the last part of Lily's letter, 
hiding the contents
of her final observation "It seems incredible that Dumbledore..."
 
Ah, RAB is Regulus and it was Kreacher who went to the cave with him 
to retrieve
the real locket. Didn't suspect Voldemort originally used Kreacher to 
test the cave
potion, but it's no surprise either. Who would have thought I'd ever 
feel sympathy
for Kreacher...
 
Speaking of house-elves, where is Dobby? Hmm...
 
Okay, so maybe Scrimgeour *was* good for something...
 
Finally, someone tells Lupin to stick it with his self-pity! You go, 
Harry!
 
Really love Moody's dust-corpse at Grimmauld Place that keeps asking
"Severus Snape?" Seems like it would get tiresome endlessly 
repeating "I
didn't kill you (Albus)"...
 
Whoa! Severus Snape confirmed as Hogwarts Headmaster...I didn't see
that one coming! 'Course, if he's a good guy, it's the best position 
from 
which to potentially protect the children of Hogwarts...
 
Guess we all kind of missed with the filling in of those teaching 
posts...
unless there's someone out there who guessed Amycus would be the
new DADA professor. 
 
Speaking of which, no McGonagall so far in the book, not even at Bill 
and
Fleur's wedding? Not even mentioned until page 226? Seems strange...
 
Hee, Ron and I just love Kreacher now! Is that bad? ;-)
 
Is it really wise for Harry to take the identity of a completely 
unknown 
wizard? He could be anyone, like maybe a DE...
 
End of chapter 12, so I'm a third of the way through DH, and so far. 
It's
as good as I'd hoped...better, even!
 
Julie, thoroughly enjoying every minute so far


continuing my reading on Sat eve...
 
Moody's Eye! That toad, Umbridge. Glad Harry took it, even if it gave 
them 
away later...
 
That young thief who stole whatever it was from Gregorovich, was 
anyone's
first thought Lockhart? Though I'd think Harry would recognize him, 
even if he
was years younger...
 
So Dirk figures someone confunded Dawlish and that's how he was able 
to
escape while being taken to Azkaban? Another Snape move perhaps...
 
I like that Ginny tried to steal the sword, even though it was a 
fake. So where
is the real one? And gee, such a nasty punishment from the ogre, 
Snape...Like
Snape thinks Ginny, Neville and Luna will be afraid of the Forbidden 
Forest, with
Hagrid yet...Really, shouldn't Harry (or at least Hermione) start 
wondering about 
Snape's rather toothless concept of evildoing?
 
I'm really disappointed that Ron left. I'm trying to sympathize with 
him being
worried about his family...
 
Okay, this is the only part of the book so far that's dragged just a 
bit. Time to quit
hiding in the forest already...
 
Interesting that Harry is wondering what happened to the cottage at 
Godric's Hollow.
I thought it was canon that it blew up...
 
So James and Lily were born in 1960. I always thought it was 1959...
 
Okay, so the young blond man in the photo must be Grindelwald...
(confirmed a 
few pages later)...
 
So that's what happened at Godric's Hollow, all too fast for Lily to 
apparate with
Harry maybe. And if anyone else was there, Voldemort didn't know 
about it...
 
Forest of Dean...turns out JKR lived on the southern edge of the 
forest at Tutshill
from 1974-83. (Wikipedia)
 
A doe Patronus. The mate to a stag. Lily Potter. Snape's Patronus? If 
it was always
his Patronus surely Sirius or Lupin would have said something. Maybe 
it changed...
 
So did Snape put the sword in the pool? Or Dumbledore at some earlier 
time? I
wonder if Snape and Dumbledore's portrait have been recently 
chatting...
 
Good to know Ron was specifically affected by the locket Horcrux, and 
interesting
to see JKR address the Harry/Hermione issue directly. If it was 
always planned it
seems to validate the fans who viewed the possibility as genuinely as 
Ron did.
 
So is that really why Dumbledore had the Invisibility Cloak? To 
inspect it? Seems
like an odd time to do so, while the Potters are in danger from 
Voldemort...and
why not just inspect it at their house...
 
I was really missing hearing what was going on with others besides 
the Trio! And
really missing the twins. "...he can move faster than Severus Snape 
confronted 
with shampoo." Priceless, Fred!
 
Poor Ted Tonks though...
 
Dumbledore's eye in the mirror...some connection to his portrait 
maybe? Or to
the Order...Dobby! 
 
Well, that wasn't what I expected from Wormtail's Life Debt to Harry, 
or from the
silver hand Voldemort gave him. But the ignominous end was well-
deserved.
 
And Dobby died a hero's death.
 
I immediately suspect that the wand in Dumbledore's tomb is not the 
Elder Wand.
Perhaps Dumbledore hid it somewhere, or gave it to Snape for 
safekeeping...
 
And *who* told Griphook to put the false sword in the Lestrange 
vault? 
 
Well, here I am about two-thirds of the way through the book, and so 
far some
things have been as I suspected--the Trio searching for the 
Horcruxes, Voldemort
and the DEs on their tails--but other things have not. I expected to 
see more of
Hogwarts, something about the uniting of the houses, and perhaps hear 
some
words of wisdom from Dumbledore's portrait. And then there is Fawkes. 
Where
might he be...
 
Julie, moving toward the conclusion

Continuing my reading on Sun am...
 
So now we know it was a goblin on Harry's back in the picture on the 
cover
of the British children's edition of DH. And the identity of the 
dragon on the
Deluxe edition...
 
So Aberforth is the eye in the mirror, and he sent Dobby. The doe 
isn't his
Patronus though...
 
Ah. That's what Dumbledore saw when he was drinking the potion. It 
was his
own past, not anyone elses'...
 
Neville!
 
Feeling a bit disappointed that still no Slytherins have joined the 
DA...
 
Okay, I was a bit disturbed that Harry could do the Imperius curse, 
though it
was only a weak one. Now he's doing a Crucio...Well, the good wizards 
are
just throwing those Unforgivables around, aren't they? McGonagall 
too...
 
The Gray Lady and the Bloody Baron! Hogwarts own Romeo & Juliet. 
Sorta...
 
Nooo! I really didn't think one of the twins would die. It's so 
cruel. We loved
you, Fred.
 
I guess that's an appropriate way for Hagrid to go. Trying to save 
his spider
friends, who were never friends at all...poor, deluded Hagrid...
 
I'm stunned. This is the first moment I've felt bereft of emotion. 
And JKR
certainly isn't killing the characters off in ways I'd expected. 
Voldemort kills
Snape still believing in his full loyalty (NO, it isn't true!). I 
hoped Snape would
live, but I certainly never thought he would die so...obscurely. 
Voldemort didn't
even suspect Snape's disloyalty, he'd just outserved his purpose. 
 
I take it the blue stuff is Nagini's venom or whatever. And just 
those couple of
words "Take it...take it..." and then "Look...at...me..." What did 
Snape want 
Harry to see? (Yes, I reread the scene three times)
 
No! Not Remus AND Tonks! How many deaths are we supposed to bear...
aargh! And how many must Harry bear...
 
Oh, the blue stuff is Snape's thoughts. Guess I missed that, huh? 
 
Aha! So Snape *was* "that awful boy"! Revelations. No additional info 
on the 
Prank, so it stands as is. And Snape did use the term "mudblood" 
regularly
at school. Ouch--Dumbledore certainly didn't welcome Snape with open 
arms,
trusting him out of some foolish hope. And Snape's story isn't a 
pretty one.
But he did love Lily. It really was all about her.
 
So in the end, Snape did come to Dumbledore for his own selfish 
reasons--
to save Lily Potter. Yet he remained Dumbledore's Man, and by the end 
only
will watch those he cannot save die, and demands Portrait!Phineas not 
use the
term "mudblood." The choice defines the person, even more so as time 
passes...
 
Dumbledore really expects Harry to die? I'm still hoping he knows 
something
about "dying" but returning from beyond the veil. Otherwise he seems 
so very
cold about it...
 
I still think it's unrealistic that no one mentioned Snape's patronus 
given what
it symbolizes. Perhaps the Order members aren't as brilliant as we 
fans in
making immediate connection between a doe and Lily Potter...
 
Colin Creevey! Stop already, JKR!
 
It's nice to know Dumbledore is just a man. Not a God, not a puppet-
master,
but just a man, with both good and bad impulses which fought for 
supremacy 
throughout his life. That he succumbed to the lure of Marvolo's ring, 
even for just
a brief minute...
 
And Harry did exactly what we all expected. Sacrificed himself 
willingly for others,
and it saved him in the end.
 
I LOVE IT!!! Molly Weasley takes out Bellatrix!! You GO, girl!
 
Okay, once upon a time I thought I was joking when I said Harry would 
name one of
his kids Albus James--though that turned out to be separate names for 
two kids--and 
two twins Sirius and Severus--then it turns out he does use Severus 
for a middle name.
But not Sirius...hmmm, food for thought...(Maybe they are James 
Sirius and Albus
Severus...but then what about Lupin...)
 
Hugo though. What's that all about? ;-)
 
Wow. That was quite the emotional roller coaster during those last 
few chapters.  I 
can't really express all my feelings and conclusions now, since I'm 
still forming them.
It was good, but I do feel a little despondent. Because it's over, 
and because I'm a bit
mad at JKR. She didn't HAVE to kill Lupin and Tonks. Fred was bad 
enough. I hate
that there is no one at all left from the Marauder days, not even 
Snape, who can be
a link between Harry and his parents. Lupin SHOULD have lived.
 
Julie, with mixed-up thoughts and emotions****