Okay, here goes:
Snape is a bastard on the side of the angels. I think it's extremely telling that Dumbledore doesn't reveal the full reason why he trusts Snape so completely, despite his overall policy of telling Harry what he needs to know this year, unlike last year. Also, do you really think Dumbledore would plead for his life? He was dying already from the effects of that potion, and was weakened all year from the after-effects of the Horcrux. Snape's Avada Kedavra solved a few problems- it got Malfoy (sort of) out of his mess, it let Snape stay with the Death Eaters, and it prevented Snape's own death from the Unbreakable Oath. Finally, even as he was running away from Hogwarts and Harry was trying to curse him, all he did was block the curses. Harry was clearly outclassed; Snape could have hit him at any time, but he didn't even immobilize him.
I found it sadly ironic that Snape-as-Half-Blood-Prince was a better Potions teacher than Snape himself. A continuing theme in the book is people letting their hatred and preconceptions get in the way of clear thinking- Harry and Snape are both guilty of it, and it prevents Snape from teaching Harry properly even when he wants to.
I think Snape had a crush on Lily. Maybe they collaberated on weird potions together.
I'm totally buying the RAB = Regulus Black, the unopenable locket = Horcrux, and Mundungus pawned it off theory. But what do you guys think of Harry or his scar being an accidental Horcrux?
Finally, finally, Draco gets some depth. It's made pretty clear that Tom Riddle was a sociopath from childhood, but Malfoy is more of a petty bully. But in this book we see him kept out of the Slug Club not just
despite his name but
because of it, a huge change from the treatment he usually gets. We also get a hint of how his life at Hogwarts is like a distorted mirror of Harry's: Like Harry, he has two unbelievably faithful friends in Crabbe and Goyle. They're not the brightest bulbs, but they agreed to Polyjuice themselves into little girls for him, and that's a sacrifice. Also like Harry, he has a mentor and quasi-father figure in Snape just like Harry found one in Dumbledore. It's like he and Harry have been running on parallel tracks all these years, but we only get glimpses of Malfoy's path. I don't know if Malfoy will be redeemed somehow, but it's nice that Rowling made him scared and smart and more real than before.
Another nice piece of irony pointed out on LJ- Malfoy's whole plan was pieced together from things the Good Guys did before. The cabinet, the Polyjuice Potion, the signalling coins- it's all there.
I don't really like Ginny that much for some reason. Maybe I was turned off by her impassioned defense of "snogging." Seems there better things to get pissed off about. But while I saw some textual support for that pairing, Remus and Tonks took me totally by surprise. I still think Fleur's a bit of a snot, but she's not awful, clearly, so I hope she gets along with her in-laws from now on. :)
Harry will go back to Hogwarts for at least some time, if not necessarily to study. The Horcruxes are mostly founders' objects, it's emphasized that Harry and Tom Riddle were both happiest at the school, and it would just make the structure of the 7th book too different from the others if there was no school at all. I do think, however, that the Quidditch and House Cups will be nonexistent or of practically no significance. They've become less and less important in each book, and by the end of this one the rubies were spilling out of the Gryffindor hourglass. Not to mention the Sorting Hat urging the unification of the houses. I think we're finally going to see that hat's wish come true, at least to some extent, in the final battle against Voldemort.
And finally, I think the dead will play an important part in Book 7. Maybe Harry will visit the magical underworld, or maybe there will be a seance of some kind, but we're going to see Dumbledore, Sirius, and the others again. Doesn't the wise old wizard always come back from death to give his young protegee advice?
Wow, that was long. And I didn't even go into my theory on the importance of socks. :P
Updated On: 7/19/05 at 02:30 AM
...Harry was able to disapparate with Dumbledore too, so it doesn't seem prohibitively difficult...
), just really spunky. Also I don't think it was out of nowhere. Well it was for Harry, but Ginny has liked him since day one. .jpg?format=auto&width=300)
