[NYCT1981]

Here we go..... this is the thread for us who have finished reading Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.

My overall feeling is that it was great. I was sad, sad, sad about Dumbledore. I also don't think Snape is really a deatheater. There are a lot of reasons why I think he is good and that Dumbledore asked him to do it. One of the reasons : in the office, right before Snape kills him, Dumbledore says "Severus, please"... pleading. huh? Dumbledore isn't afraid to die, why would he be pleading for ANYTHING? he's not a pleading kind of guy, unless maybe he was pleading with Snape to do what he asked him to do... anyway, it looks like a lot of the fans on the internet agree that Snape is still good. I dont think Rowling would let Dumbledore go down as an old fool who got tricked by some pasty looking guy.

but then, i guess it could be that maybe Dumbledore is kind of an old fool who foolishly tries to see the best in people... we shall find out in book 7!!

oh yeah, and I knew there was going to be a lot of romance in this book.

[miss_elisha]

I'm with you! I cried! I also think that Dumbledore realized that Harry had to complete his journey on his own, and with Dumbledore there Harry would have always sort of taken a secondary role, if only in his own head. Dumbledore took himself out of the story so that Harry could make his own decisions, carry out his destiny, and learn that he had it in him all along.

I'm really glad Harry and Ginny got together, and I have a feeling they'll stay together no matter what Harry says. After all, he's still going to have Ron and Hermione around, I imagine it'll be pretty tough to get rid of Ginny. Now if Ron and Hermione will just start "snogging" and get it over with...

[Betani]

Would Dumbledore really have wanted Snape to use an unforgivable curse, though? That's the only niggling doubt I have about that.

Anyone else think that Harry is the Gryffondor horcrux?

[skinnyjeans]

Read it...Loved it. I was pleased with all the info that we got, but two years! That's a long time to wait for the next book. I guess we can always hope for sooner. Harry certainly seemed a lot more take charge in this book. And although he indicated that he didn't want to go back to Hogwarts I hope he does. Certainly needs to learn more before he faces Voldemort (if he is going to live) Maybe he will return, but with more freedom to come and go?

I thought for a minute that Harry might be a horcrux. But that is generally bad planning with Voldemort trying to kill him all the time. Plus, supposed to use inanimate objects.

I agree that Ginny might be harder to get rid of then Harry thinks. Especially since she seemed to be expecting him to be "noble" and didn't get too upset. More like whatever you say, but we're still going out.

[KO]

Hi
I totally Agree Ginny isn't going AnyWhere! as for Dumbledore I'm sad but I was thinking today in my grey little cube. . .Dumbledore's Patronus is the phoenix he had Fawkes. Perhaps he's only dead for the meantime. I know total wishful thinking but I'm grasping here!
-Kierie

[miss_elisha]

I think Harry's going to end up at Hogwart's, probably as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Whether he comes back next year is open to debate. But whether the school will even be open is still open for debate. But Hermione, at least, will insist they all go back to finish their N.E.W.T.s.

And as for Voldemort having bad planning... it wouldn't be the first time. But Harry being the Gryffindor horcrux would have to mean that Harry is descended from Godric Gryffindor, and I don't think that's the case--the Sorting Hat wouldn't have suggested Slytherin if he had been an ancestral Gryffindor. I'm not so worried about the inanimate object objection--after all, Voldemort used Nagini, and it could have been another part of his plan to have Harry at his side, alive as a great accomplice, or as an Inferius as a trophy.

[tikanique]

I don't think Harry is a Horcrux. I hope that if he doesn't go back to school then he will at least spend a good deal of the summer learning from Lupin and Tonks cause his skills need some work, man some serious work. I feel so bad for Snape. I think he got ticked when Harry called him a coward because he had just done the bravest of things in killing Dumbledore. I also wonder if there is forgiveness for that curse if the person that used it did it out of love, not hate.

Come on book 7 come on!

Tiki.

[paperclippy]

Well, since finishing the book I have been rabidly searching for explanations of everything, and I collected a few interesting theories (sorry, all my links are from LiveJournal!):

this is about who RAB is, why Snape is not really evil, etc

this one brings up a possible reason Dumbledore trusted Snape so much

this one is more about Snape, etc

There are all sorts of wacky ideas . . . one is that the potion Dumbledore drank was the horcrux, not the locket itself, which is why he had to be killed. I find that one a little too far-fetched, personally, though I would buy that the potion was killing Dumbledore and he wanted Snape to kill him so that Harry wouldn't be responsible for his murder. The idea of Harry being the horcrux is possible, but I have trouble believing that JKR is going to kill Harry in the end.

What bothered me about this book was that there was no beginning, middle, and end, so to speak. There was no fight with Voldemort, there was no victory (even a costly one like in OOTP). I was left feeling depressed and completely unsatisfied. However, I think despite that this is the best and most intriguing book yet.

I think for me, the most difficult to read scene was not Dumbledore's death, which I had suspected before opening the book, but the scene where Harry has to force-feed Dumbledore the potion. First of all, it was really hard to see Dumbledore vulnerable, and second, I can't imagine what Harry must have been going through, forcing DD to drink the stuff even though it was obviously causing him incredibly pain and suffering.

One thing that I thought was weird was how much Harry called DD "sir." I dunno, I thought he called him "Professor" more often in the previous books . . .

[AmberM]

I agree...I think Dumbledore is dead and that Snape killed him upon Dumbledore's orders...just as Harry almost did while trying to get the Horcrux. It really suprises me though that Dumbledore never told Harry how he hurt his hand. I wonder if he left some memories for Harry to see in the Pensieve.
Now Harry is going to have to find the locket (either in Sirius's house or where ever Mundungus took it after he stole it or maybe Kreacher may still have it...he was hording the items from the Black family). I think Harry will return to Hogwarts because the books are all about his 7 years at school. I wonder if one of the Horcrux's are in Hogwarts and he has to find it?? Voldemort put them in places where something significant happened in his life and Hogwarts was very important to him.
I also agree that Snape was/is in love with Lily and that's what helped him change his heart since it was his fault she died. Dumbledore isn't usually wrong and he would NEVER beg for his life so I think he was clearly telling Snape to kill him. He probably would have died from the potion anyway. The phoenix being his patronus is very interesting though...of course isn't Hermione's patronus a seal or something? It may not have any bearing at all I guess.
The effects Bill will have from the werewolf bite should prove interesting in the next book too. I also wonder if Snape's potions book will play a part in the next book since it is still in the room of requirement. All questions we have a long time before we'll get answered. She says she won't even start the book until the end of the year *sigh*

Just my two cents.
Amber

[NYCT1981]

I LOVE this theory that Snape loved Lily (btw, mugglenet has a really good forum with a lot of really bright people with great theories... i am starting to get waay too excited for the next book!). This whole theme of love being more powerful than anything else will surely come up with Snape.

I did have a thought that could be really off... Slughorn went on and on (and ON) about Lily being so wonderful at potions. I guess Harry didn't get that from her (he stinks! lol) Or maybe Lily really wasn't that great at Potions and Snape helped her? Or maybe they were both great, so that gave them a connection. Any way, there is something here. Rowling said we would learn something huge about Lily in this book -- maybe it was the potions thing? or maybe Rowling put off the "huge" thing to book 7.

I want to see Snape's patronus!

[paperclippy]

I really want to believe all these theories about Snape, but there is one thing that makes me uncertain -- the fact that JKR has said in interviews that Snape is not as nice as we think he is, and in one interview someone asked if Snape would fall in love with someone, and she said "Who would want Snape to be in love with them? What a horrible thought!"

I think it would make perfect sense for Snape to be in love with Lily (he admired her for her potion-making skill!), and it would explain EVERYTHING really, but I am stuck on what JKR has said in interviews. Maybe he is evil after all.

[NYCT1981]

ahh but JKR said in a NEW interview...

MA: OK, big big big book six question. Is Snape evil?

JKR: [Almost laughing] Well, you've read the book, what do you think?

ES: She's trying to make you say it categorically.

MA: Well, there are conspiracy theorists, and there are people who will claim -

JKR: Cling to some desperate hope [laughter] -

ES: Yes!

MA: Yes!

I am clinging.

[tikanique]

When she was asked if Snape would fall in love, JKR didn't say he was incapable, she said who would WANT him in love. That's an entirely different answer than saying Snape isn't capable of the emotion. I still can't see Dumbledore being THAT far wrong.

Tiki.

[paperclippy]

Man, you guys, I am SO confused! It's good to hear about the new interview though, I will cling too!

Here is one thing that I never thought of before all this Snape business but which I have been thinking about almost nonstop for the past day or so: when Voldemort went to kill the Potters, he did not (originally) intend to kill Lily. We know this because he told her to "step aside" and then killed her when she wouldn't. WHY would he tell her to step aside? What possible gain could there be for Voldemort by leaving Lily alive? We know he has little (if any) regard for human life. Why not just kill her the second he saw her?

If you buy the Snape/Lily theory, then the first thing that comes to mind is that Snape begged Voldemort not to kill her. This WOULD make sense, except (a) I can't imagine Snape begging for anything, (b) I can't imagine Voldemort wanting to keep around a Death Eater who begs for the life of an enemy, and (c) what on earth could possibly make Voldemort listen to him? Isn't it a bizarre scenario to try to imagine that? "Uh, excuse me master, I know I told you about that prophecy and all, but would you mind, maybe, not killing the mother? For me?" "Oh, well, if it's that important to you, I guess I could give her the chance to escape. But if she says no that's her problem."

Can I just say that I LOVE the way JKR left so many loose ends and open questions with this book? I am loving all the theorizing, and I am so glad that we were left with plenty to theorize about (and of course it increases the anticipation for the last book).

[KO]

I thought Dubmledore hurt his hand getting the Ring horcrux?