the half blood prince

BEAT

I was dissapointed in the book to be honest. I mean, I knew D. would have to die but I thought she atleast save it for a battle deserving of it. Like say harry's and Volds fight in book 7.

I havnt read all the pages here but has no one guessed that perhaps who we thought was Snape was not Snape? I mean the polyjuice potion was being used and we know his mother and aunt didnt want malfoy to die... couldnt someone else have pretended to be snape and kill dumbeldore to Frame Snape? I think Malfoys Aunt would have done that. I mean that little trip they took to his house in the beginning would have been the perfect way to get a piece of his hair and to freeze him and stuff him away somewhere. It seems like a perfect plot to me.
They did it with madeye, remember?

anyway, I waited 2 years for this book and all it lead to was the death of a great character that should have gone down in a bigger fight, I mean jaysus he was the most powerful wizard of all time how can they just knock him off like that.
I appreaciate all the back story and info she put in the book but it is a far cry from being the best book in the series.

Personally the 4th book is my favorite. The 5th would have been my fave if not for the death of Sirius, which I totally disagreed with. Dumbeldore I understand, but come on. She is just killing off everyone that could make it possible for an 8th book.
We know she is stopping at the 7th book so its possible a lot more of our faves will die in the next book...but man.

I mean you read these books for years waiting for the next chapter and become attached to the characters, I actually cried when D died as well as wen Sirius died. Probably wierd to some but I really love these books and the movies have made the characters even more real (even though they are not yes I know)

So anyway, I fully expect the last book to be twice as long, I mean if its the last one I hope she pulls out a masterpice that not only tells of Harrys last year in school but of thier lives after school and who ends up with who etc...

I finished reading this book in 12 hours and was glad when it was over with that cliffhanger of a crappy ending.

hussey

Latin beat! I think you are way off :

Poly juice potion - how would anyone know that james used snapes spells against him? and how harry had the HBP's potions book?? Just doesn't make sense that it could be someone else.

I don't think DD could have died in any other way - do you really think anyone could defeat him? LV didn't come close in the MoM!!

he died so harry could face and conquer LV on his own, also to save draco+snape (in my opinion) DD could have easily saved himself if he wanted.

also she reckons the last book won't be the same size as OotP, but she doesn't know yet

BEAT

hmmm I may agree with you on HBP, forgot about that little part that who else would know etc.. but I stand by my other remarks.

hussey

as I said just my opinion!

also she has hinted :

during an interview, she said ravenclaw will have it's day, and pointed to her nose, (in the you know what I mean look) - I have a sneaky feeling, this could be luna, she is the only ravenclaw we know much about, and she has been right on some things (mainly death related things), I dunno just something sneaky in the back of my mind.

I don't think harry is a horcrux either, just seems to far fetched, I mean for a horcrux to work I was under teh impression you had to kill someone, if he wanted to make a horcrux after HP's death ?

I also think the "gleam of triumph " in DD's eyes, is LV's way of saying he did make 6 horcrux's, and DD knows now how to kill him

again just my opinion

BlitzKrieg

enjoyed it...not my fav but its great fun to read.

on theories

the locket theory being in blacks home seems to be spot on. On Dumbledore dieing, i put my money on it being because of malfoy and not anything to do with harry. Think about it. It is very much in character for dumbledore to be willing to give his life for a studant. He knew about Snapes vow to protect him and i got the feeling it will be revealed that dumbledore was already dieing because of the 2 spells. I was thinking at one point that Harry's scar would be one of the horocruxes, would explain the link it has with voldemort.

now for my i wish there was moment.

i was convinced at one point that malfoy's plan for getting dumbledore/harry was going to be that he had himself bit to be a werewolf and was going to place himself for the kill. explained his disapearances on the map and why he seemed so ill. The actual revelation wasnt as exciting nor interesting as the previous books. i mean the closests seem like such a insert towards the end that it disapointed me.

*marie*

I think the polyjuice potion theory is interesting, it could have been used just on the final night.

After finishing the book, everyone I know has been like "What am I going to do now?" and dreading the loooong two years we have to wait till the next book. Then I just thought-what are we going to be like after book 7?Doesn't bear thinking about...we'll have to go back to reality I suppose!

The Lopper

Just read the whole series again from the beginning i guess. Or find a new author to read.

RobertOLeary

I was just thinking about what I posted earlier.

I still think Harry is one of the Horcruxes, seems to make sense to me. I can't see though, how Rowling is going to end the series, I doubt somehow that Harry is going to die, however good an ending it would be. Gotta keep the kids happy!

With regard to a horcrux being created with a murder I think that the intention to kill has the same effect, Voldemort used the spell but it reflected. He didn't kill Harry but his heart was in it. I thought that would be enough to split the soul.

Harry really has a lot ahead of him, he still has to master Occlumency and Non-Verbal Spells, we saw how Snape could fend him off so easily so he'll have to improve a long way to stand any chance. How he's going to learn all of this while not at school and with no Dumbledore is another question.

Hmmmm.

supersheep

To what Rob said:

Why would Voldemort make Harry a Horcrux when he wants to destroy him? I know he hasn't heard the prophecy, but I'd think that he still might want to finish him off - for example, the end of GoF. When would he have had the chance to make Harry into one? Not before he killed Lily and James, anyways, and he tried to kill Harry right after that. Unless he decided to make Harry a Horcrux with Lily or James' death (is that right grammatically?) and then kill him, which is just absurd... That's why I disagree with the 'Harry is a Horcrux' theory. Also, Harry first used an Unforgivable curse at the end of OotP - whn he's fighting Bellatrix, he gives her a bit of the ol' Crucio
Oh, and the Mugglenet interview, JKR very VERY strongly hints that Snape IS evil... Damn it! I wanted him to be good! That was such a good theory.

*Angel*

supersheep wrote:

Oh, and the Mugglenet interview, JKR very VERY strongly hints that Snape IS evil... Damn it! I wanted him to be good! That was such a good theory.

Did it occur to you that Rowling is trying to put us off the theory? He must be good, it has been said before in the books by Dumbledore that Snape thinks he is in debt to James cos he saved his life, he therefore tried to keep Harry alive so why would Snape kill Harry after trying to save his life? To me it doesn't make sense for Snape to be evil, and I'd be very very surprised if it turned out I was wrong.

Rew

supersheep wrote:

Oh, and the Mugglenet interview, JKR very VERY strongly hints that Snape IS evil... Damn it! I wanted him to be good! That was such a good theory.

I didnt think it did at all, if anythign it was the opposite.

doctor evil

I liked it, it was better than number five(can`t recall the name). How do you put up the black text to cover spoilers?.

Rhyme

doctor evil wrote:

How do you put up the black text to cover spoilers?.

Put your spoiler where the * is and remove the gaps.
[ spoiler ] * [ /spoiler ]

Am 240 pages in and enjoying this book, i have a fair idea who the 'big' character to die is though...

supersheep

*Angel* wrote:

Did it occur to you that Rowling is trying to put us off the theory? He must be good, it has been said before in the books by Dumbledore that Snape thinks he is in debt to James cos he saved his life, he therefore tried to keep Harry alive so why would Snape kill Harry after trying to save his life? To me it doesn't make sense for Snape to be evil, and I'd be very very surprised if it turned out I was wrong.

Aye, it did.

But the whole part of the interview about "immense brainpower does not protect you from emotional mistakes" (relating to Dumbledore) makes me think she's not. Of course, I could be totally wrong, and indeed I hope I am. Snape turning evil is just too clichéd for my tastes...

The Bollox

I just had a thought, Harry IS a horcrux. the thing about a Horcrux is that the maker's soul gets torn, right, and half of it goes into the object, place, thing that he decided upon. Well Harry has a lot of Voldemorts powers, he has Parsletongue for one thing, so I think that is Voldemorts soul inside Harry

bounty_hunter

There are a few problems with that theory though.

First of all, Voldemort is out to destroy Harry. This would mean that either he doesn't know Harry is a horcrux, in which case he has probably created another one anyway to add up to seven (which, including Harry, would actually make eight - assuming Dumbledore guessed correctly about there being seven). Or, there is some spell that will free the portion of soul from the horcrux and restore it to it's original body after the horcrux has been destroyed, making this the reason why Voldemort is out to kill Harry. If this is so, then for Voldemort to be fully destroyed, both of them must die.

supersheep

Marts wrote:

I just had a thought, Harry IS a horcrux. the thing about a Horcrux is that the maker's soul gets torn, right, and half of it goes into the object, place, thing that he decided upon. Well Harry has a lot of Voldemorts powers, he has Parsletongue for one thing, so I think that is Voldemorts soul inside Harry

But you have to make a thing a Horcrux, and why would Voldy make Harrya Horcrux when he's going to try to kill him a few seconds later (I'm assuming that the only chance Voldy has to make him one is at Godric's Hollow, with James'/Lily's death)? Nah, I think that Parselmouth and the like are in Harry for the reason Dumbledore explained, in Phoenix I think. Can't quite remember what it was, but it seemed like a good explanation at the time...

The Bollox

that's the thing, maybe Voldemort didn't mean to make one of harry, he must have been feeling great excitment and joy at overcoming the prophecy, or so he thought, and maybe that set off the horcrux thing

supersheep

Marts wrote:

that's the thing, maybe Voldemort didn't mean to make one of harry, he must have been feeling great excitment and joy at overcoming the prophecy, or so he thought, and maybe that set off the horcrux thing

I doubt a Horcurx is something you can make by accident...

*Angel*

Marts wrote:

I just had a thought, Harry IS a horcrux. the thing about a Horcrux is that the maker's soul gets torn, right, and half of it goes into the object, place, thing that he decided upon. Well Harry has a lot of Voldemorts powers, he has Parsletongue for one thing, so I think that is Voldemorts soul inside Harry

I just can't see it,

if he is that implies that Harry would have to be killed in order to destroy Voldermort, but imagine the outrage if Harry was killed, it won't happen, therefore Harry isn't a horcrux, imo of course

marshmallow

WOOH! I finished the book today!

I wasn't expecting Snape to be the half-blood prince!

Sleepy

LATIN BEAT wrote:

I was dissapointed in the book to be honest. I mean, I knew D. would have to die but I thought she atleast save it for a battle deserving of it. Like say harry's and Volds fight in book 7.

I havnt read all the pages here but has no one guessed that perhaps who we thought was Snape was not Snape? I mean the polyjuice potion was being used and we know his mother and aunt didnt want malfoy to die... couldnt someone else have pretended to be snape and kill dumbeldore to Frame Snape? I think Malfoys Aunt would have done that. I mean that little trip they took to his house in the beginning would have been the perfect way to get a piece of his hair and to freeze him and stuff him away somewhere. It seems like a perfect plot to me.
They did it with madeye, remember?

No way it could have been polyjuice, too much stuff only Snape couldn've known and besides who would've been the one taking the potion?

anyway, I waited 2 years for this book and all it lead to was the death of a great character that should have gone down in a bigger fight, I mean jaysus he was the most powerful wizard of all time how can they just knock him off like that.

Because he let them in order for Snape to survive and to give Harry the best chance at defeating Voldemort? Besides, having "the most powerful wizard in the world" at his side would make things too easy for Harry in the next book

Personally the 4th book is my favorite. The 5th would have been my fave if not for the death of Sirius, which I totally disagreed with. Dumbeldore I understand, but come on. She is just killing off everyone that could make it possible for an 8th book.
We know she is stopping at the 7th book so its possible a lot more of our faves will die in the next book...but man.

I mean you read these books for years waiting for the next chapter and become attached to the characters, I actually cried when D died as well as wen Sirius died. Probably wierd to some but I really love these books and the movies have made the characters even more real (even though they are not yes I know)

I think Sirius's death was necessary to turn Harry into the determined young man we see at the end of the HBP. He's now almost totally alone in the world without Sirius (who he saw as a father-figure) and Dumbledore (who he saw as a grandfather-figure). He's truly the orphan without any family left now and has experienced enough pain and hardship to be able to use Avada Kedavra on Voldemort and have the spell work for him (remember, the unforgiveable curses don't work without your heart behind them and without the emotions caused by their death's Harry would be simply too innocent to make it work).

So anyway, I fully expect the last book to be twice as long, I mean if its the last one I hope she pulls out a masterpice that not only tells of Harrys last year in school but of thier lives after school and who ends up with who etc...

I finished reading this book in 12 hours and was glad when it was over with that cliffhanger of a crappy ending.

JK Rowling has already said that the book won't be as long as OOTP, though she has said that there will be a prologue to let us know how everything works out in the end, Hermione and Ron getting married etc.

Have a look at the interview on mugglenet.com that I linked to.

Mr E

Just finished it last night (at 2:30 in the morning!). Really really enjoyed it, and it didn't feel 'padded' as previous posters said. I thought it was paced very well. One thing that struck me about the book is that if it is followed accurately, it will NOT make a nice family movie in 4 years time (or whenever it comes out). The climax sounds very bloody and violent, and guaranteed to upset younger viewers....

My theories on the last book:
-

R.A.B., pretty obvious, as stated by previous posters.

-

Snape as a triple agent - makes sense.... I think he will sacrifice himself to save Harry at the end of the next book.

-

There was a big emphasis at the start of the year on casting spells without speaking, and when it came to the crunch, thats how Snape got away (he was able to deflect all Harry's spells because he knew what they were as soon as Harry said the first syllable). Snape seemed angry at Harry at the end for using spoken spells (thats the impression I got, anyway). Unspoken spells will be important in the next book, I think....

-

People seem to have forgotten that Harry WILL be able to confide in Dumbledore in the next book. He is now sitting in a painting in his old office! I think Dumbledore will be able to tell Harry about Snapes true nature that way....

-

I think there is something suss about the new Minister of Magic. Can't quite put my finger on it, though....

-

About the Horcruxes... I don't think Harry is a Horcrux, but its definitely possible that his scar is (the fact that it tingles whenever LV is near is a good indication). Also the fact that one of the Horcruxes is a living thing (the snake) means that it is possible....

supersheep

Triple agent? Does that mean he's really working for Dumbledore but pretending to Voldemort to pretend to work for Dumbledore? Or is it the other way round? I'm confused...

shortys94

very good book and the first one i ever read, i cant see ure spoilers, should i be able to?

Mr E

Highlight them with your mouse......

bp

i wonder if Vold really trusts snape....he put Wormtail in snapes house (to spy possibly) and maybe he suggested to the sisters to get snape to make the unbreakable vow to ensure that Dum really got killed....why would he send a child to do something that he himself has never tried? Dum is the only person that Vold is afraid of!

bounty_hunter

bp wrote:

why would he send a child to do something that he himself has never tried? Dum is the only person that Vold is afraid of!

To punish him for his father's mistake, that was clearly pointed out in the book. He didn't believe that Malfoy could do it, and if he failed, it would give Voldemort an excuse to kill him. Not to mention all the horrible strain he had to suffer throughout the year before even attempting to kill Dumbledore.

shortys94

o yea thanks tmb:)

BlitzKrieg

on the new minister of magic point someone brought up...

take a point from goblet of fire and have it revealed that the minister of magic is voldemort in plyjuice disguise?