Whoa! This has got to be the most intense discussion around this place in ages!

I finished the book yesterday (because I was home sick) and I won't have a chance to reread yet it because my dad and brother are fighting over it at the moment... it took me probably around five hours with a deliberate effort to read slowly - except the climax. I can't read climax's slowly!

I thought it was very interesting - and very good! Basically because of the reasons that have been said before - Harry matures so much. He realises that he's got to fight his own battles. I think his decision to break it up with Ginny reflects this - and I don't see it as "breaking up" but merely leaving the relationship for a little while. I don't think either of them are fooling themselves about how they feel about each other, and I doubt that's going to change. Yes, Harry was being "noble" from Ginny's perspective, but I also think there was something selfish in his decision. He doesn't want to be worrying about her when he's trying to save the world. It's a very human, and mature decision.

As for Snape... because we've been wrong about Snape for so long (Hands up who thought he was evil in the first one?) I'm a little cautious to put him in one category or the other.
He HAD to kill Dumbledore because of the Unbreakable Vow. He didn't have a choice. I think he took the vow to prove to Bellatrix and Narcissa that he was for Voldemort... and because of Malfoy. (handling of Malfoy in the book was good... after all, he's only human.)
Possibly Dumbledore knew this. As suggested, Dumbledore could have been pleading for Snape to end his misery.
Theoretically speaking... Dumbledore is an old man, and he's suffering. He's not afraid of death, as he has shown us, and he trusts Snape. Perhaps he would rather end his life at the hands of someone he trusts than any other way.

But I'm not ruling out the idea of Snape aligning himself to Voldemort, either.

I guessed that Dumbledore would die... mainly because he was old. The "dead hand" thing seemed to support that. It's sad, but I think I accept it - partly because Harry accepts it. (Shows that he's grown up.) Dumbledore lived a full live to the end, and while his end was rather horrible, we still don't know the full story surrounding it. It would have been worse if someone Harry's own age had been killed.
I never would have guessed that Snape was the half-blood prince, though! That one really surprised me!

I think the sixth Hocruxe is Harry's scar, because Voldemort definately left some of himself there. Or perhaps that's the seventh, as I doubt Voldemort would have attacked him without ensuring his own immortality first.
But you never can tell, with Harry Potter.

I think I've said enough for now... I'm not sure if the book is my favourite, but I think it's one of the best!

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oh my god! you are soooooooo observant! which page was about the heavy gold locket??? you could be right about that

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I totally forgot about the locket there!!! My brother stole that book from me... so I haven't had any time to look in it..

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It's on page 116 in the American version, I'm not sure about the Brittish version though. It just says "There was a musical box that emitted a faintly sinister, tinkling tune when wound, and they all had the sense to slam the lid shut; also a heavy locket that none of them could open, a number of ancient seals and, in a dusty box, an Order of Merlin, First Class, that had been awarded to Sirius's grandfather for "Services to the Ministry."

So it's very brief, but perhaps important.

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hmmm......that makes sense.

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ok here is my formal review of the book:

dumbledorel- i wasnt very shocked about his death, i heard this theory after the 5th book came out that dumbledore might sacrafice himself for harry, that seemed somewhat likely at the time and i knew someone else was going to die. i ran with it and i even made a list, who was the most likely to die, it came down to dumbledore, hermione, or ron... i am surprised however that dumbledore let hhis guard down. he is to trusting... i mean he was pleading to snape, he was stupid to trust him. a death eater never disowns 'his old ways' without dying...

snape- what a git... i was shocked that he did kill dumbledore, after five books of trusting dumbledore! i did have some sense that he was evil. and i agree herenya, he did make the unbreakable vow, he had to kill dumbledore or die himself, even if he did NOT want to, ke ws going to die... i hate snape and i want him to die a very painful death in the 7th book...

harry & ginny- eee! yay! i was very happy. i knew that they could get together but i didnt anticipate it... i thought it would be too weird but hey he kissed her (*laughs* ) i think that it was stupid that they broke up that soon... i mean come on ron dated lavendar longer than than they did... i want them to get back together again...

lupin & tonks- pssh, @ the beginning i was all forr believing that tonks was missing sirius... but whoo, her being inlove with lupin was a shocker! i screamed and almost fell off the couch when i read that (as like many other times during the book) i am glad that they are together tho...

hermione & ron- i am so mad at ron , he messed things up for hermione and him.

overall i loved this book, it was intense and fun to read, i screamed and cried more than i did in the 5th book :clap:

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Well, JK Rowling has cleared up a bunch of things in the interview that she did with Emerson and Melissa of http://www.mugglenet.com and http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org. I would suggest checking it if you want some information. Two parts have been posted already, and the last part will be posted tomorrow. They talk about R.A.B., shipping (I'd be forewarned if you're a Harry/Hermione fan, they're kind of... not nice to you) and some other interesting stuff. Yep.

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I'm so excited about this thread!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I totally agree with you!!! I am so happy for Tonks/ Lupin and Harry/Ginny!!!!
I love this book. I think is the best so far!!!!!!!

I completely agree...the 5th book wasn't one of my favorites. Don't get me wrong, I liked it (especially the parts in which Fred and George terrorized Umbridge) but I felt that Harry was a little TOO obnoxious, a little TOO misunderstood. I haven't entirely passed out of the angsty teenager phase myself, but I just couldn't identify with Harry as much in Book 5.

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Oh!That is a very good observation Tuaraquende!! I believe it!!!!There aren't a lot of other R.A.B's that I know of.

And thank you for clarifying the hocruxes, I wasn't totally sure......

Yay! Harry/Ginny shippers unite!!! I always knew that would happen. I think that they are perfect for each other. I was sad that they put their relationship on hold, but I think it was the right thing to do. I mean, Voldemort went after Ginny when she was just Ron's little sister... imagine what he would do now that she and Harry are in love!

Anyway, I couldn't be happier about Remus and Tonks, God love them. Also Bill and Fleur.

Anyone have any ideas on what might happen in the next book? I for one don't have any ideas (namely because all my predictions for this book were totally wrong ).

I think that this book was my favorite so far. I mean I was in tears for the last couple of chapters. The last few paragraphs had me all out bawling. "One last summer with Ron and Hermione" could that be foreshadowing Harry's death? Gosh I sure hope not! Especially now that he and Ginny are finally together.

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Dreams are illustrations... from the book your soul is writing about you.

I must say, I did not like the idea of Harry and Ginny bieng together. It just seems weird.....please don't kill me!!!!*hides*

First off, I want to just fawn over this piece of writing at the end here. I mean, J.K. Rowling's writings has taken wing and have SOARED immensely. I think this ending was the most heart warming endings of all the books, atleast for me. I always think the idea of your bestfriends beside you always and forever is the most content feeling anyone could have. It means even more since all three of them have had individual disputes with each other the entire year, and with the book ending like THAT, just makes me close the book with a grin and cannot wait for the next book.



That's a VERY good theory. And I like how it all checks out but it doesn't seem likely of JKR to do that...not as to how she specified as to how Regulus was killed since it WAS at the hands of Voldemort. And say that the Horcrux IS still in Number 12 Grimmauld Place, wouldn't Harry haven't recognized it ? Since it's very original in the design with the S on it. Sometimes a locket is just a locket. I don't mean to shoot down your theory, and personally I must say I'm cheering for it to happen since it's just pure brilliance if that were to be it. I'm just being realistic. And if that locket does come out to be a Horcrux, how on earth would Harry find it and destroy it when he wouldn't think of searching his own house for a part of his enemy to threaten his existence?

If this theory of yours does happen, all "I told you so" rights go to you, my friend !

Snape: I agree whole heartedly with Laerel Greenleaf's views on it. I don't believe that Snape is evil. Snape, may be Voldemort's most trusted servant, but he's not like any other Death Eater who throw caution to the wind. He has brains, and he himself, knows it. And the fact that he knows what he's doing without crawling around following Voldemort with his tail behind his legs, shows that he is capable of ANYTHING. Right now I'm still hoping that Snape will turn out to be a triple agent or something.... I've always been a fan of Snape, because I'm a fan of evil. Heck, even I love Voldemort. Sue me. And you know what? Without even either of these character, you wouldn't even HAVE a Harry Potter Series. Regardless however, Snape's a dead man walking. I mean everyone's now out to get him. Harry, Hagrid, Lupin, etc. And Voldemort's got no use of him now that he's out of Hogwarts and Dumbledore is gone. Pity...just...pity.

I was also discussing with a friend about the reason why Snape looked so angry when he went to kill Dumbledore. He had the Unbreakable Vow to protect, if not atleast Harry [I know, I know you're thinking "Pfft!"] but hear me out! Not because that it was extremely hard to kill Dumbledore but by doing this, he knew that his fate was sealed and he knew that Harry was in the room and Snape couldn't lie his way out of it. I still think Snape's going to pull a triple agent, I can feel it in my bones. From reading Chapter 2, I KNEW something was off, I could feel it.

Dumbledore: Oh c'mon the guy's on the front cover for goodness sakes, you all saw it coming, one way or another. Surprisingly, I did not cry at Dumbledore's death. And actually I shut the book after that chapter and just staggered out my bedroom looking for something to eat. I even had the crazy idea that Dumbledore had a Horcrux......chyah, like Dumbledore would kill anyone. *sigh*

Overall, I agree with Herenya about her views on Dumbledore. He is an old man and he's weary from all the years of worrying about Voldemort. I think he entrusted all his knowledge within Harry because he knew that he would not be able to withstand the ordeal of finding ALL the Horcruxes. Or perhaps even because of the grave news about Snape's Unbreakable Vow.

Draco: I've always liked Draco, but now I love him because he can prove that he's on the same level as Harry and can sometimes, atleast once, get the best of Harry. I think Draco getting the best of Harry on the train told Harry that he better watch it and just because he has an invisibility cloak and a Marauder's Map, he can still be outwitted. That Harry is not invincible with that cloak.


'Ships!:
Harry/Ginny Out of all honesty, I'm not a big fan of Harry/Ginny. It was much too subtle and almost to the point of cliche. I very much like Ginny's character but I started to have to tolerate her because of the relationship nonsense she's involved in. I rather see her as an independant woman. I personally felt almost angry at Ginny for her comment to Hermione about her not knowing anything about Quidditch. I sympathize with Hermione. Ginny, Ron, and Harry and almost every one else she knows loves Quidditch and are good at it. I think she feels a bit left out for not being that athletically coordinated and when Harry starts to get better at her in Potions she starts to feel even more defensive because he's intruding in on the one thing she's good at, her school work. And he's being better than her because of a book in which some other student scribbled notes about on it. I'd be angry about it too!

Tonks/Lupin? This was definitely a shock. I mean a huge shock! I mean, a huge, huge huge shock. But I found myself grinning when I was reading it. They just...made such an adorable couple. I can't wait to go out and read some fanfiction about them! *giggles hysterically*

Ron/Lavender - Bill/Fleur They're parallel. I mean how annoying can these two GET?! Fleur redeemed herself at the end. But Lavender. Argh! I think JKR just wrote the Ron/Lavender to humor us.


Okay! Quite a long post no? Alright, alright I'm going, I'm going. My, are we stingy!

*waddles off*

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about the romance in the book:

Harry and Ginny were okay. I'm glad they're together and they'll probably stay together after the war's over.

Bill and Fleur were amusing, though I admit I was impressed by Fleur's devotion to Bill at the end of the book.

A little overboard with Ron and Lavender... A little too descriptive....

As for Lupin and Tonks...
WHAT WAS ROWLING THINKING?????

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I agree with you. That last paragraph is very deep and JK Rowling has evolved as a writer. She is amazing



I don't understand why people are making such a big deal about Tonks and Lupin.I think there are one of the best couples in the story. I was surprised but not shocked about it. I understood Tonks very well in this book, I can totally relate to her. Lupin is such a sweet man, when he said that she deserved someone better, I was "Awwwww" *squeee* .

I agree with you, I thought it was very sweet. Though I'd already guessed that Tonks was in love with Lupin and that's why she was miserable *looks smug *

I don't belvie that Snape is evil. Partly because it goes agianst my theory that I've been saying since before book 5 that Snape will die to save Harry. I think Dumbledore must have had good enough reason to trust Snape and I don't want to start not trusting his judgement now. I think it was part of the plan that Snape might have to kill Dumbledore that that's what Dumbledore was pleading for. After all he's said about death not being the worst thing that can happen to someone and such like do you really think he would plead for his life? I think that's also why Snape reacted so angrily to Harry calling him a coward - what Snape did there (killing a friend, the only person who truely stuck up for him, because he knew he had to) was far more brave than anything Harry has done.

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