A few thoughts as I've been thinking over the book in the week after finishing it...
SnapeI think at the core, Snape is good. If he wasn't, then why would he alert the Order in book 5 that Harry was going after Voldemort in the Ministry of Magic? And thinking back on chapter 2, I have to wonder how much trust Voldemort has in Snape. After all, he has Wormtail (not very subtely) spying on Snape. And then we have Narcissa going to Snape. Why? She says that Voldemort trusts Snape a lot. Wait a minute. Something's not adding up there.
My theory? Well, Narcissa says that Draco is given the job of killing Dumbledore as a punishment to Lucius. Perhaps that's not all there is to it. Perhaps Voldemort played things just right so that Narcissa would go to Snape and put him under the Unbreakable Vow, thus FORCING Snape to the Dark Side.
Another thing I'm wondering. Why did Snape turn away from Voldemort before Voldemort fell? the only clue we have is that he regrets informing Voldemort of the prophecy when it turned out that he was going to kill the Potters because of it. Why? He and James were the bitterest of enemies! But wait a minute, Lily spoke in Snape's defense. Lily was good at potions. And she wasn't killed straight off by Voldemort even though she has stood up to him with her husband before, and she's a muggle-born, who the Dark Lord supposedly hates. I can definitely see a possibility of an attraction for her from Snape.
HorcruxesOr specifically, Harry as a Horcrux. This is a very interesting thought. It explains why Harry has his powers. And it throws in an interesting twist for when Harry tries to kill Voldemort, and then both realize that he still has a Horcrux alive. This would also mean that Harry would probably have to die in order for Voldemort to also finally kick the bucket.
But there's still something that doesn't quite sit right. If Voldemort can't possess Harry because of the love spell his mother put on him, then how can part of his soul be living in Harry ever since the attack?
Children's seriesWhat did they think this was--some kid's book?
I agree. I mean with book 4's dark graveyard scene, book 5's angst, and book 6's snogging, this can't be a series that kids would understand everything in. It makes me wonder how this series would be different if it wasn't so popular. I mean the editors wanted Rowling to take out the troll in the bathroom scene in book 1. Now they're fairly hands off. Don't you think they'd at least have taken out some of the above mentioned scenes if it wasn't so popular? What are your thoughts?