HBP- Spoilers, of course

[songbird3411]

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I just finished the book about an hour ago.  I am still recovering 
from the shock of that ending.  Oh. My. God. SNAPE!

I have to chime in with those who claim all is not lost for Snape.  I 
reread that ending 5 times.  Admittedly, it looks *really bad* for 
Snape.  However, the Snapefan in me cannot quite believe it.  Snape 
evil?  Error.  Does not compute.

I, too, can see a scenario where Dumbledore and Snape worked this out 
in advance.  Some sort of last-ditch contingency plan.  I mean, as 
was pointed out earlier, Snape was violently objecting to something 
Dumbledore was asking of him.  Enough to get into a shouting match 
with Dumbledore.  Unheard of!  I can also see Dumbledore's final plea 
as a plea for Snape to kill him.  A plea for Snape to follow that 
last order of Dumbledore's.  And I am sure there is something in that 
escape scene that is significant, however my mind is still reeling 
from the shock of the scene before it.  Give me a couple days.  And 
another read.

My real problem with this line of thought is as follows:  If the 
above is true, then apparently neither Snape nor Dumbledore informed 
anyone of it.  Also, Dumbledore never told any of the other Order 
members why he trusted Snape so completely.  I am not sure this "He 
felt remorse for turning the Potters over to Voldemort" explanation 
works for me.  So, if Snape is the only one who knows the truth, then 
how will the truth ever be spread?  No one would believe Snape now.  
Who would he go to for help or explanations?  Those Order members 
would murder him on the spot. 

Moving on from this so as to give it more thought.

Interesting to see young Malfoy get some character development.  
*Loved* Dumbledore's conversation with him at the end.

There was an awful lot of Harry in this book.  Thankfully, I didn't 
find him nearly as annoying as I used to.

Shipping does nothing for me.  There was an extraordinary amount of 
it in this book.  I mean, even Lupin got shipped.  Kind of glad to 
see that one, truth be told.  Though Tonks was a surprise. 

Horcrux.  Hmmm.  I think I like it.  Though, I am somewhat surprised 
to see the concept so late in the game.  It certainly helps me 
understand the Diary incident in Chamber of Secrets, which I didn't 
really understand before.  Not sure how it fits with Voldemort's own 
ideas.  I will have to reread Goblet.  

Wow.  This certainly seems to set up a huge amount of story for the 
last book.  Some major threads left dangling here.  I need some more 
time to digest this.

Mindy- who also wonders if Dumbledore was already dying before Snape 
AK'd him.  He seemed pretty sickly, and he was asking quite 
insistently to see Snape ASAP before they went back to Hogwarts.  
Hmmmmmm.....