Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince--SPOILER ALERT!!!

me | July 17, 2005 | grellis

[grellis]

THIS THREAD IS INTENDED FOR READERS THAT HAVE COMPLETED THE BOOK! If you have not yet read the book, consider yourself warned: There will be spoilers on this thread.

For my fellow FReepers who have no intention of reading the book but would like to discuss the more controversial issues related to the work, I am asking you as politely as I can: DO NOT HIJACK THIS THREAD. We are all members of this forum and as such, it is not up to me to disallow anyone from participating in the discussion. That is why I am asking you--please do not hijack this thread. If you would like to discuss the more controversial aspects of the book, maybe you could start your own thread and ping us over there. If we are interested, we'll come.

[jdm]

Okay, but please.... NO SPOILERS!!!!!! :)

[grellis]

I have to refer back to the earlier thread, I have forgotten who else is finished reading it. Please feel free to ping other FReepers who may be interested in the discussion.

[tiredoflaundry]

Thanks for the "ping". I thought this book was great!

[mware]

Perhaps Rowlings is a FREEPER. On page 102 they show the grading system of Hogwarts.

The lowest grade you can get is a T for Troll

[jdm]

How long did it take to read the book? Just curious. I am a slow reader, so I usually don't read anything, expect for articles in Weekly Standard, National Review, listen to talk radio, etc.

How would you rate the book on a scale of 1 to 10?

[grellis]

So, who saw it coming??! I was close. I thought that the HBP would be Snape's child.

What do we know about the professors, really?

[tiredoflaundry]

omg Snape........ I'm still not sure ,argh!!!!!!!!

[jdm]

My goodness; you guys are FAST readers. The book has only been out for 44 hours!!!! Glad you can read that fast; it would take me a few months to get through a book.

[tiredoflaundry]

LOL.

[backinthefold]

omg Snape........ I'm still not sure ,argh!!!!!!!!

I am still shocked over that turn...

 

 

[grellis]

Altogether, I'd say 8 hours total. I had to read fast. My nearly 8-year old has read all of the books, but I insist on reading them first so I know ahead of time what he'll be exposed to and what we'll be discussing.

It's kind of tough for me to rate the book. Teenagers are portrayed accurately. Teenagers are, for lack of a better word, annoying. A conundrum. I found the use of the pensieve as a bit of a crutch for Rowling. Before each trip into the pensieve, I was reminded of how much I dislike "dream sequences" in literature and in movies or tv shows. They are, IMO, an all-too-convenient shortcut in story progression.

I like the set-up for the final book.

[tiredoflaundry]

I don't know..... DD & Snape argued...Did DD make Snape swear to carry it out???????? I'm not sure!

[Mr. K]

And when they said Hermoine was HIS SISTER~!!! who'da thunk it?

[grellis]

I am not convinced that Snape was doing anything other than what Dumbledore requested. I think Dumbledore was stalling Malfoy in the hope that anyone else would finish him off--he couldn't have wanted Malfoy to become a murderer. Before Snape killed him, he looked at Dumbledore with, what...repulsion and hatred? That might not have been directed at Dumbledore. Maybe Snape was raging at what he had to do. Then, when he really flipped out: "I AM NOT A COWARD!!!" Maybe he's not.

I hate to say it, but dang! I can't wait until the next book comes out!!!

[Gardener]

I thought D might be the one who died. I was kind of expecting it. I had no idea who the HBP might be. She kept pointing toward Voldemort but she had said it wasn't him. I didn't guess Snape at ALL until he told Harry!

Now. Is D really dead? She was pretty blatant with the fire and phoenix stuff at the burial and his familiar has been a phoenix, maybe with good reason, for a long time. But she could also have just put that stuff in there to fuel speculation until the last book comes out and make us want it more to see. Is Snape really bad? I haven't thought so all along, I've trusted that D was right about him. I know he truly hates Harry but I didn't think he was a minion of V anymore. Did he and D set this up so that Snape would be totally accepted by V and the Death Eaters? Notice he wouldn't let Harry cast any of the death spells. Was he still trying to be D's man? And who is R.A.B.? And D made sure that Harry was going to be allowed back at the Dursleys way back at the beginning, maybe because he knew he wouldn't be around to take care of it?

This one was so much more enjoyable for me than the last one. It had a lot more of the spirit of the first books.

[grellis]

And when they said Hermoine was HIS SISTER

ROTF!!!

[tiredoflaundry]

I hate to say it, but dang! I can't wait until the next book comes out!!!

I know I have a ton of new questions!!!!!

[Gardener]

All posting at the same time! Glad I'm not the only one who is wondering about the whole setup!

[grellis]

At least there was no allegory to any current event--at least, not that I picked up on. But then, I was reading pretty fast.

[backinthefold]

Did DD make Snape swear to carry it out????????

 

I belive so, I was surprised to read when, after killing Dumbledore(did he "think" a spell before saying one allowed?) He didnt kill Harry?? He had the perfect opportunity to do it, and he didnt, Snape was just firm about not being a "coward"

 

Also....I did some research in OOTP, I think I know who RAB is and where the locket is :)

[Gardener]

What is OOTP please?

[tiredoflaundry]

R.A.B.?

I have a hunch it has something to do with Regulas(sp)Black , Sirius's younger brother.

[backinthefold]

Order Of The Phoenix :)

[tiredoflaundry]

PINGUS MAXIMA!

[grellis]

I'm going to be combing through the other books (all currently lent out, waaah) to find any reference to RAB. It'll probably be someone who hasn't been introduced yet.

As for DD, I wasn't sure he was dead until his portrait was on the wall in his office. That convinced me, for some reason. I have to admit, when Fawkes began singing, my eyes suddenly developed a plumbing problem. I'll miss that bird.

[backinthefold]

I have a hunch it has something to do with Regulas(sp)Black , Sirius's younger brother.

Ding Ding Ding... thats my guess. When they were claning out the house on Grimauld Place in the last book, they came across a locket they they could not open

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[retrokitten]

POTTER PING!!! This thread already contains MAJOR SPOILERS!! So click at your own risk!

[SandyInSeattle]

Who besides me caught the error with Hermione's birthday?

In POA her birthday is in September. In this book, she takes her apparation test, which puts her birthday during the school year.

[tiredoflaundry]

kitten did ya finish the book??????

[backinthefold]

claning

 

yeesh.... cleaning

[SandyInSeattle]

I have a hunch it has something to do with Regulas(sp)Black , Sirius's younger brother.

That's my guess as well. I wonder if Kreacher has the locket...?

[tiredoflaundry]

I wonder if Kreacher has the locket...?

OMG yes........ he collected stuff......

[SandyInSeattle]

I don't know..... DD & Snape argued...Did DD make Snape swear to carry it out???????? I'm not sure!

I'm open to the possibility that the whole thing was a setup between Snape and Dumbledore. I guess I'll find out in a couple of years!

[Gardener]

I had forgotten that.

[retrokitten]

Thanks for the heads up!

I knew Snape was bad, but I never saw that coming.

Did anyone else catch on page 485 when Slughorn says (paraphrased), "I'm sorry about your friend Rupert" when he was talking about Ron? I thought he was just being absent minded and Harry would correct him, but he didn't. So I have to think it's an editing error, especially consider the ACTOR who plays Ron is named Rupert Grint.

[Gardener]

Slughorn didn't have Ron's name right throughout the book. He wasn't in his field of view so he didn't care to properly learn Ron's name I think.

[tiredoflaundry]

I saw that !!! I thought woooohooooo first printing boo boo!!!

[retrokitten]

Yes, I finished this morning. My husband had to work all day yesterday so I had the whole day to read. He is not a reader and the fact that I have a nose in a book means nothing to him, he will just start talking. I can be obviously ignoring him to the point of obnoxiousness and he keeps talking. LOL I got to somewhere in the mid 400's and just had to go to sleep.

[coconutt2000]

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MAJOR SPOILERS

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There's a chance that Dumbledore isn't dead. We are dealing with magic here.

Things to keep in mind though:

1) Albus Dumbledore went through a lot of trouble to prepare Harry Potter to carry on the fight on his own. Those "extra lessons" were nothing other than background briefings.

2) Dumbledore did not have to immobilize Harry, sacrificing the time he could've used to defend himself from Draco. Harry was therefore made to stand still to be a witness to Dumbledore's death and Snape's treachery. Too neat, to easy to think that Snape who up to this point has been a trusted colleague of Dumbledore.

3) Snape had plenty of time to kill or even kidnap Harry. He didn't. In fact, he went out of his way to ensure that Harry would live to report his treachery.

4) Snape killing Dumbledore before Draco could do it (and Draco was conflicted over taking that last step) was too convenient. Falls into something Dumbledore would've asked Snape to do, to prevent Draco from being the one who did it.

5) Snape didn't kill Flitwick, only stunned him. Snape could've killed Flitwick, Hermione, and Luna without any risk to blowing his cover as a Death Eater, if that was indeed the case what he was.

That Snape is a mean, grumpy, vindictive, and bad excuse for a human being is without question. But there isn't any evidence that he is a killer. Yes, there is a body. Albus is, as far as we can tell, dead. But there is a chance that either he is still alive and his death has been faked, or his death was a planned gambit to save Draco, put Snape back into the Death Eaters, and to push the plot forward to the next stage, where Harry Potter must come out from underneath Albus Dumbledore's protective wing and actually go on the offensive against Voldemort.

[tiredoflaundry]

The only reason I finished the book so fast was my rotten teenagers woke me up @ 1:30 this morning with their tomfoolery... I couldn't go back to sleep. So I read, & read. So.. I'm so tired right now I'm punchy! LOL!

[retrokitten]

Good point. It might have been more obvious if he called him "Don" or something. It was just too weird that he called him the name of the actor that plays him in the movies.

Oh! That reminds me. We saw "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" this afternoon and there is a very short preview for "Goblet of Fire".

[SandyInSeattle]

Good theory.

I do think Dumbledore is dead because he's now a portrait in the Headmaster's office. But I'm open to Snape having set it up with him.

[grellis]

Regulus Black!!! I KNEW there was something familiar about the initials but couldn't stop thinking of the name Rubeus--and I knew Hagrid didn't have anything to do with it!

[retrokitten]

So.. I'm so tired right now I'm punchy! LOL!

Sometimes that can be fun. LOL!!

SandyinSeattle pointed out the Regulus Black connection. It didn't occur to me at all, but I am about as observant as a rock.

Okay, I am going to be the first to admit it- I cried a little when Dumbledore died. I was telling my husband about it and I started tearing up again. Then I started laughing at myself for crying over a character in a book, so I looked like I was just sobbing and that just made me laugh more. LOL

[backinthefold]

I agree 100% with all of that, Dumbledore was so open with everything in this book, and allowing Harry to share the info with Ron and Hermione

 

The only way for Voldemort to die is by Harry hand, and Harry must stand on his own 2 feet to do it. I was wondering why Dumbledore went to Privet Drive in the begining of the book, now I know why, he knew he may have to die...

 

But then again, he is now in a picture on the wall, so he is still around...

 

[tiredoflaundry]

I cried also...... I will admit

[SandyInSeattle]

On a happier note, the visual I got of the mead glasses tapping the Dursleys upside the head was priceless. I reread that passage several times!

[grellis]

I don't think the Rupert/Ronald gaffe was an accident but maybe sly on Rowling's part. I caught the error but I figured Harry didn't correct Slug because he was drunk...wasn't he?

I read it too fast!

[retrokitten]

I'm going with the assumption he is dead. He could have very well set up all of those things, but he couldn't have faked the Phoenix's lament. JKR has also said, "When you are dead, you are dead. There is no coming back, not even in the wizarding world." I would absolutely love it if he were still alive, but I don't think that is the case here.