My 2 Knuts

[Milz]

I hope these don't upset anyone
.too much;-)
S
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Harry: Well, his inattention to detail, impulsiveness and his "I 
don't want to bother ___________(fill in the adult's name)" really 
did him in this time. I'm glad Harry is portrayed as being not too 
perfect. He is slowly realizing that adults, even the ones he admires 
and trust, make mistakes. 

Hermione: She has decreased her "Type A" personality. Her character 
has grown too.

Ron: What can I say? He's gained more confidence. When he played well 
as Keeper, it was a relief to me because he has finally stepped out 
from under the shadows of his brothers. I also think his 
protectiveness of Ginny is cute.

Ginny: Wow! I had always hoped Rowling will show Ginny's spunk. I'm 
glad we finally caught glimpses of the "secret life of Ginny 
Weasley". She's out-going (has non-Gryffindor friends) and sneaky 
like the Twins. I especially liked her interaction with Harry 
concerning Voldemort possession.

Neville: I was so disappointed when I read CoS, PoA, and GoF, because 
Neville had so much potential in SS/PS. I was glad to see him 
fighting side-by-side with H-H-R. Just like Ron, Neville's confidence 
has improved. I have a feeling that Neville will be as great a wizard 
as his father.  

Fred & George: Okay, their farewell to Hogwarts was the one of the 
best "F-You" scenes  in literature (ranks up there with Rhett and 
Scarlett, imo). I can see them using their skills to make weapons for 
the OoP. I bet their joke shop will be among the more popular shops 
in Diagon Alley.

Percy: Ron was correct in GoF. Percy did choose his ambition/career 
over his family: slamming the door in Molly's face when she tried to 
talk to him, not visiting Arthur in the hospital, sending back the 
Weasley jump. His letter to Ron summarized his philosophy: your 
career is more important than your family. Sad, imo.   But it also 
made an interesting parallel with the Death Eaters. Percy was willing 
to follow Fudge and the MM, to the point of disowning his family, in 
order to advance himself.

Molly: Wow, she's had a tough year. No wonder she's so snappy: she's 
scared of losing her family.

Sirius: Never in a million years would I have ever expected him to 
die. I thought it would have been Dumbledore. The questions about 
Sirius I have are 1. did he have a "death wish"? He was still a 
fugitive and still a prisoner, of sorts. Was death his only means of 
freedom? 

Dumbledore: He finally told Harry the score. More importantly he 
admitted his mistake. However, if Dumbledore can misjudge, as anyone 
else, then can we continue to wholly trust his decisions? Which leads 
me to 
.

Snape: I agree with Harry. Only Death Eaters call Voldemort "the Dark 
Lord", so why does Snape continue to address him thusly? Yes, yes, 
yes, I know Dumbledore trusts him. However, several characters 
continue to believe Snape hasn't reformed, including Ron (who thought 
Lockhart was a fake and who pegged Percy correctly), and Sirius (who 
apparently grew up in a bigoted household and knows the psyche of 
these magical bigots). Never have I so much wanted to reach into a 
book to tell a character "Get over it. Harry isn't James so stop 
using him as your emotional punching bag.   Hug your inner moppet and 
get over your childhood trauma already. The Marauders were jerks, but 
that doesn't excuse your behavior , then or now, either!"

Tonks: I like her and hope to see her in the future books. The one 
thing I noticed was that her clumsiness was pointed out a couple of 
times. Will this be a liability in future books?

Arthur, Lupin, Bill, Moody: More in the background, unfortunately. I 
suppose if Rowling gave them larger roles, the book would be 2000 
pages;-)

Luna: In an American high school (well, at least the one I attended), 
Luna would be a "freak". I like her, but then I was a nerdy kid
.I 
also liked the jibs at the tabloids. 

The DAs: Imo, the organization was introduced because they might 
battle the Death Eaters Junior League in later books.

Draco: Lots of anger and hate there. If Lucius will be jailed, I'm 
pretty sure Draco won't have a conversion to "our side". I can see 
him being the next "faithful servant" of Voldemort and the president 
of the Death Eaters Junior League. (I hope Harry
.no, I hope Neville 
kicks his behind).

Embridge: lol, I've actually met her type before
.Brought back some 
bad memories
.

Random thoughts:
Bill and Fleur: possible Weasley wedding in the future. 

Pure Blood Family Genealogy: This is very interesting. If the pure 
blood families are somehow related as Sirius stated, then there might 
be some dark Weasleys and "good" Malfoys. For example in Sirius' own 
family, he, Andromeda and Tonks didn't turn out dark/bigoted, but 
were disowned by the Black family. The Malfoys probably don't 
acknowledge their blood ties to them either. Sirius' admission that 
he and Molly are cousins by marriage and that Arthur is his second 
cousin once removed (meaning they share a common great-grand parent) 
makes me view Molly's initial reaction to hearing Sirius' name in PoA 
in a new light. Was she surprized that Sirius escaped from Azkaban or 
was she afraid that the family relationship would be brought up and 
tarnish her family?
Another thing that's interesting with this revelation that pure 
blooded families have intermarried to the degree that they are all 
related, is that James Potter might not have been a pure blood. 
Unless all wizards with Potter blood were killed by Voldemort or died 
by some other causes, Harry could have had some distant wizarding 
relative that he could have lived with. Unless, Harry does have 
wizarding relations but since the protect he got from Lily's was from 
Lily's blood, Dumbledore had no choice but to house him with Petunia.

Florence: Okay who was the Florence Bertha Jorkins caught kissing 
someone, who in turn jinxed Bertha (GoF)? Was Florence the girl 
sitting behind Sirius "eyeing him hopefully" during the OWLS?

Madam Pomfrey: Is she a "nurse" or is she a qualified healer like 
those at St. Mungo's?

Dudley: What did he hear when he was influenced by the Dementors? 
Also, I thought Dementors just made Muggles feel depressed (have to 
go check PoA). If so then why did it attack Dudley, unless Dudley 
isn't a Muggle? 

~Milz