Half-blood Prince Spoilers!

[42]

I meant to post this earlier: http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/books/07/20/harrypotter.readers.ap/index.html

Apparently, Half-blood Prince's ending is causing emotional distress for some readers. What did they think this was--some kid's book?

[fuzzyoctopus]

What amuses me is www.somethingawful.com.

Last time when OOtP came out they posted the title of their website as "HERMIONE DIES" for a few days.  Well, this time unfortunately they picked "DUMBLEDORE DIES", because they didn't think he would.

That part isn't amusing, just kind of bad luck.  The hate mail they're receiving about how they completely ruined people's lives forever is the amusing part.

[Reigheena]

A few thoughts as I've been thinking over the book in the week after finishing it...

Snape
I 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.

Horcruxes
Or 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 series

What 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?

[Maxwell]

Hey all, its Sminja back from the grave posting on TFOs account....anyways, how about that note in the locket from R.A.B.? I think I know who that is...remember how they talk about Sirius Black's brother earlier in the book (Regulus B lack)?

[Oldie Black Witch]

This is the only interview she's given that's based on the assumption that you've read the book. All kinds of goodies and hints in here.

http://www.mugglenet.com/jkrinterview.shtml

I'm still clinging to the hope that Snape redeems himself even after reading this.

[Akeyata]

okay, I'm confused.  Why is everyone so obsessed with Snape being ultimately good?  He'll probably end up being good, but just because Dumbledore trusted him so much doesn't necessarily mean he was right.  He said that he's usually right but when he's wrong he's spectacularly wrong.  
My mom brought up that this isn't really a kids book, but then it doesn't have to be.  who's reading this book?  children yes, but they didn't start with book 6 did they?  these are long books and the kids would probably be 10 or 11 before they start the series and it would take them a while to get to this one.  So yeah, it's a little old for an elementary school-aged kid, but unless they're reading them out of order, they're not the ones reading them.  
And I have no idea what she's going to do about anything in the next book--after this one, I don't really know what to expect.  I wouldn't have thought she would kill Harry, but you never know.  Hermione might figure a way out of it, but we could all be wrong and he's not a horcrux after all.  I'm completely stymied.

[Chimera]

I think it's great that she's taking a year off to give Mackenzie, her new baby, "a whole year of 'me' time," but that means it will be a while before book seven comes out, since she hasn't written it yet. Good for her, bad for me.  :-/

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

actually, yes, kids are reading it, and they may take a while to get here, but kids who are young NOW are starting to read the series. And it's not going to take them as long to get to book 6 as the others who had to wait for her to write them. YOu're getting a lot of little kids reading this book, however you put it.
Some kids can handle it, some kids can't. Parents need to know their kids well enough to know if they can.

as for snape: I think he's good. Because Dumbledore would have to be just insanely stupid to have trusted him in light of all the contrary evidence. Dumbledore makes mistakes, yes, he didn't know how Malfoy was going to carry off his plan, for example. But this is more than a mistake, this is a basic flaw in his way of thinking. Are you prepared to believe that about Dumbledore? It kind of goes against all the definition of his character.

man, I was still hoping for a Tonks-Harry hookup. Don't give me the age difference argument crap, especially if you don't have a problem with that for Tonks-Lupin.

Why Harry needed to pull a Spider-Man is beyond me though. He needs to not let Ginny follow him but casually just accepts Hermione and Ron? Whatever.

Just for my 2bits, snape had no choice but to kill Dumbledore. If he didn't do it, he would have died. That includes deception. Which then proves that he hadn't killed Dumbledore. Which leaves us with them BOTH dead anyway, since any one of the wizards there on the tower could have easily disposed of Dumbledore in his current condition. If Snape had attacked the other Death Eaters, the four of them together would have overpowered him, I'm sure, then finished off Dumbledore. At least this way, Snape managed to save himself and be some potential future use.

More evidence? Not just the shaking of his hand and hesitance to take the oath at the beginning, but he's actually giving Harry duelling tips at the end. Re-read the scene in that light.

[42]

man, I was still hoping for a Tonks-Harry hookup. Don't give me the age difference argument crap, especially if you don't have a problem with that for Tonks-Lupin.

Just what has you so fascinated with Tonks?

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

she rocks so hard.

[Chimera]

Why Harry needed to pull a Spider-Man is beyond me though. He needs to not let Ginny follow him but casually just accepts Hermione and Ron? Whatever.

Yeah. I mentioned it earlier on, but that is exactly how I felt. Get off your high and oh-so-noble horse, Harry--Ginny can take care of herself. And if you accept Ron and Hermione without a thought, you should certainly let Ginny come along.

Perhaps it says something about Harry's character, though, that will become important in the next book.

[42]

See, there is a pattern of Voldemorte systematically isolating Harry. Killing his parents, Sirius, and Dumbledore. It makes sense that Harry will start to distance himself from other people in his life. Ginny is just a start. I think he will also isolate himself from Ron and Hermione, he just hasn't told them yet. Harry has kind of already started to distacne himself from those two.

[stacer]

I finally finished it tonight. I'm split--I was expecting Snape to turn around and be bad, but I think there are some definite clues that he's not really wanting to do this, but that he was bound by the unbreakable vow.

I nearly cried after finishing it this afternoon. I was depressed all afternoon after finishing, that's for sure. I'm SO SAD about Dumbledore!

As far as it "not being a kids' book"--this series was always designed to grow with its original readers, that it would become more mature as its original readers grew up. Well, it's missed that time period. But so few series are like this, spanning two reading age groups. The Alice series does this--starts in the middle readers and finishes in the teen section. At any rate, this is right on target for a teen audience of an age with Harry, give or take a year or two.

[Fellfrosch]

Just read it, and I'm pleased to say that I predicted everything correctly (except for the Horcrux being a fake). I still hold out in my belief that Snape is good, if only because he's the most interesting character modern fiction has produced in a long, long time, but I guess we'll have to see. Harry being a Horcrux seems pretty obvious to me, I'm surprised there's even debate on the issue.

Ginny: leaving her was stupid but expected, because Harry still has to learn the Final Lesson and use the power of love--which he can't do in book 7 if he's already with the woman he loves. He has to turn her away now so he can get back with her later under appropriately dramatic circumstances.

Fleur: thoroughly annoying character, top to bottom. That whole scene in the hospital was pure cheese, especially Tonks begging Lupin to love her, but nothing was as lame as her poorly-accented determination to stand by her man. I really loved this book, but I hated virtually everything about that scene.

Hogwarts: The school will not be closed, and Harry will be the final DADA teacher. Trust me.

Dumbledore: Sure he's dead, but the portrait of him is already hanging on the wall, specifically for the purpose of lending counsel and experience when necessary. Which is the main role he plays in the books anyway, so no big loss.

Snape: Good but horribly flawed, as always. He will redeem himself, possibly facilitating Harry's ability to kill Voldemort without dying. The fact that he is the Half-Blood Prince was pretty boring, though--I hope something comes of that in book 7, because it was all sound and fury in this one.

[Archon]

I don't see what everyone's problem is that Harry left Ginny. For one thing, she is a couple years younger than the rest of them, which means she hasn't had as much magical experience as the rest of them, so she would be less likely to be able to fend for herself when compared to Ron or Hermione. For another thing, Ron and Hermione have been through much more with Harry than Ginny has, as far as the previous conflicts in the book go. This further shows that they can handle themselves better than she can, and it also shows that they work well as a team, whereas Ginny is less definite in that area. Furthermore, since they have faced danger together multiple times already, they are, not comfortable, but at least accepting of the fact that one of them may be seriously hurt. Harry has not become accepting of this in Ginny's case, and Ron probably hasn't either. Therefore, her being with the group would probably be more of a liability than an asset.