Why down on all the characters?

[julie]

No: HPFGUIDX 179313

Susan wrote:
I wanted Snape to save
> Harry from Voldemort at the last minute, and THEN die himself
> (okay pretty close). 

Julie:
Oooh, yes! I also wanted to see some reconciliation between
Harry and Snape in real time. I wanted *both* of them to 
recognize their misjudgment of each other, rather than just
Harry (though, admittedly, this was much more important for
Harry's character as the heroic character than it was for 
Snape's antiheroic character).

Susan:
I did NOT want Snape to be in love with Lily.... 

Julie:
This wasn't my favorite development, but it would have
been worse if Snape had harbored some faraway love for
her, rather than this love having grown from them being
actual childhood friends. The latter fact saved Snape's
love from being truly pathetic, IMO. 

Susan:
I thought Harry  was WAY too hard on Lupin..... 

Julie:
Given that I'd had it with Lupin's self-pity and at this
point wanted to slap him good myself, I can't say I was
too bothered by Harry's censure ;-)

Susan:
The camping scenes were enervating,
> but I thought JKR was trying to involve us in how the trio
> felt (tired, cold, lost, irritable, fighting, unhappy). 

Julie:
This was a valid plot choice by JKR, but to me it did hurt
the story in some ways. For instance, why couldn't the Trio
have hidden in the Room of Requirement, had the House Elves
bringing them food and maybe the DADA members sneaking in 
and out, all right under Voldemort, the DEs, and Snape's noses
(though the latter might have eventually figured it out and
allowed it to continue)? Admittedly this idea is off the top
of my head, and I haven't thought out any ramifications, but
as a reader I really wanted to know what was going on with 
other characters, especially at Hogwarts, rather than to be
forced into the same months-long ignorance and hiding as the
Trio was. 

Basically it seemed like JKR wrote much of the middle of DH
in sort of a passive voice (subverting the actual literary
meaning of "passive voice" intentionally here) rather than in
an active voice, plot-wise. It just wasn't as riveting nor as 
action-oriented a read as I was expecting in the end...

Julie