Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince *SPOILERS*

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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince *SPOILERS*

Postby Kawaiikneko » Sat Jul 16, 2005 5:57 pm

... Well I started reading at 12:00 today and just finished it.... *takes a deep breath*

OMIGOSH!!! *cries* nooooooooooooooooooo!!!!

[spoiler="DO NOT READ BEFORE BOOK!! MAJOR END OF BOOK SPOILERS"]Dumbledore died and Snape betrayed! Uhhhh... I kinda figured Snape was the half-blood prince though, a little way into the book. I was convinced that Snape was gonna die by around chapter 20, but this was much much worse. T__T I wonder if we'll ever find out his true intentions. He seems like a very hurt man.
And Dumbledore dying... wow.... Its such a great great great storytelling move, but I can't help but hate it. Logically, it makes tons of sense from a storyline perspective, but.... gah! NO! The funeral scene was wonderful btw
I'm very curious about R.A.B. too.... Sucks about the thing being fake. That's what hit me the hardest about his death, that it could have been prevented.
On a lighter note, yay for the romances! I've been waiting for Harry and Ginny to hook up. About what Harry says at the end... that's all good and dandy and considerate for him, but I think Ginny will be more stubborn than that. We'll see. I'm not much of a shipper anyhow.
[/spoiler]

Let discussion begin.... I'm gonna go wallow in despair now.
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Postby Arnobius » Sat Jul 16, 2005 6:12 pm

I'm such an idiot. I haven't even read it yet, but I went straight to the spoilers.

(and no, I'm not blaming Kawaiineko... just myself).

Well, having spoiled it for myself, I'll give my pre-reading opinions--- which may be changed after reading it

[spoiler]Harry and Ginny doesn't seem plausible after book 5-- it indicated Ginny was over Harry.

Dumbledore dead? Well he gave out all his useful info in 5, so he became expendable, just like Sirius did before...[/spoiler]

So, does book 7 become "Hogwarts goes to Battle Royale"?
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Postby Kawaiikneko » Sat Jul 16, 2005 7:36 pm

ohhh I'm gonna have to say animeheretic.. that was rather stupid. ^^;

Anyway, after reeling in shock awhile, I reflected a bit (and played ddr and sat down and played through a few piano songs to keep my mind busy). Here's what I've sorta decided concerning Snape's.. ahem.

[spoiler="Do NOT read before reading the book. This is a very major spoiler including an exerpt from the book."]At the very end it seemed at first like Dumbledore was pleading for his life. Here's the exact quote from the book:

"Draco, do it or stand aside so one of us-" screeched the woman, but at that precise moment, the door to the ramparts burst open once more and there stood Snape, his wand clutched in his hand as his black eyes swept the scene, from Dumbledore slumped against the wall, to the four Death Eaters, including the enraged werewolf, and Malfoy.
"We've got a problem, Snape," said the lumpy Amycus, whose eyes and wand were fixed alike upon Dumbledore, "the boy doesn't seem able-"
But somebody else had spoken Snape's name, quite softly.
"Severus..."
The sound frightened Harry beyond anything he had experienced all evening. For the first time Dumbledore was pleading.
Snape said nothing, but walked forward and pushed Malfoy roughly out of the way. The three Death Eaters fell back without a word. Even the werewolf seemed cowed.
Snape gazed for a moment at Dumbledore, and there was revulsion and hatred etched in the harsh lines of his face.
"Severus... please..."
Severus raised his wand and pointed it directly at Dumbledore.
"Avada Kedavra!"

... Yeah. Anyway, at first it seemed like Dumbledore was begging for his life. But now I'm not so sure. JK Rowling did a good job making Sirius a "bad guy" until she revealed his true intentions, and I think this may be the same thing. I think Dumbledore was asking to be killed for the greater good, so that Snape wouldn't be exposed and Draco wouldn't be killed. Think about it, can anyone see Dumbledore pleading for his life? Even if it's Snape standing there, that's a bit much. Just before he had been talking pleasantly with people who could kill him any second. As for the hatred on Snape's face.... I think he rather hated Dumbledore for sacrificing himself and making him kill him. I also think that Dumbledore had this planned out ahead of time just in case, assuming Snape filled him in, becuase all he had to do was say Snape's name to ask him. Considering his outburst towards Harry... well I think thats understandable too. How would it feel to be called a coward after making yourself kill a friend because he had said it was for the greater good? Not to mention that Snape is a rather hurt character in the first place... well that's my take on it. It may just be a desperate attempt to redeem Snape, but I really don't see him as evil. [/spoiler]
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Postby the_lizardqueen » Sat Jul 16, 2005 9:50 pm

The book is currently sitting upstairs in the livingroom, waiting for me to open it for the first time. Why am I downstairs on the computer? I must be stark raving mad. Yup.

*covers her eyes and flees from the spoilers*
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Postby Lehn » Sat Jul 16, 2005 10:29 pm

Just finished it.

*hiss*
“Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience for the small ones; and when you have laboriously accomplished your daily task, go to sleep in peace. God is awake.â€
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Postby Kireihana » Sun Jul 17, 2005 2:39 am

Alright, I'm just a little past the middle of the book and haven't read the spoilers, but here's what I'm thinking so far:

[SPOILER=HBP]Lily is the half-blood prince? I know she's supposed to be all-muggle and she's a girl, but Hermione did say the handwriting looked like a girl's and Slughorn always goes on on how excellent Lily was at potions...[/SPOILER]

You guys who've already read the book are probably sniggering if my theory is wrong... guess I won't know till I've finished! Well it's 5:40 a.m. and I haven't gotten a lick of sleep, so it's back to reading...
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Postby Lehn » Sun Jul 17, 2005 8:11 am

[spoiler] Dumbledore totally took one for the team.

He wanted to take down Voldy no matter what --- in this book alone we saw him sacrifice the use of his hand and his health just to get closer to defeating him. He was willing to make any sacrifice for the name of good. Even his life. In all rationality, the idea of him asking Snape to off him isn't all that absurd --- killing Dumbledore by keeping to the unbreakable bond would/will rocket Snape to the highest ranks of a Death Eater, and will get him closer to to V then anyone has ever been. If it had been anyone else to kill him --- Draco or another Death Eater --- his death would've been pointless in furthering the cause. That why he kept pestering Draco to let him in on the secret --- only Snape could kill him, and him and Dumbledore must've been setting that idea into motion as soon as Draco was given his orders.


On a different note ---------------- Lupin and Tonks!!!! *swoon* About freaking time!!! [/spoiler]
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Postby Sage_Al-Kahira » Sun Jul 17, 2005 8:23 am

I don't think i should be here with all these spoilers because im getting the book today and well don't want to spoil it. But i did almost read the first spoiler. But stopped when it sad Dumbledore dies. I cried out "I CAN'T READ THIS" and jumped away from computer
Where is the Remaining Spring?
Where the waters run so swift.
Am I doomed to wonder? Forgotten? Alone?
Within this Mortal drift?


It'd be all like:
"Hey! You want to come over tonight?"
and they'd be all like:
"Sure! Where do you live?"
And we'd be all like:
"You know that Bio-dome out alittle west in the woods?"
And they'd be all like:
"...:shady: Yeah...?"
We'd say:
"There!"
Then they would slowly back away while we are all like:
:P
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Postby Kawaiikneko » Sun Jul 17, 2005 10:18 am

I agree lehn. Having just re-read the part with Snape, ONCE AGAIN, I'm more convinced than before. Also... lately Harry's judgment on who's right and wrong has been lacking XD

[spoiler="concerning Ginny"]I think this was a very plausible romance. Ginny was following up on Hermoine's advice to try to be herself and get over Harry, but never really got over him. I've been waiting for this pairing since Chamber of Secrets ^^ I knew it would be after Ginny had been through some other boys first though. And Tonks and Remus! WOOT~ I don't like people saying it was too sudden and that they wouldn't suddenly show they loved each other right after Sirius died... I've heard lots of complaining that they didn't mention Sirius enough. Well, we didn't see much of either Remus or Tonks and didn't get much time to hear them talk about Sirius, but just because we didn't see them talk about it doesn't mean they weren't thinking about it or talking about it when Harry wasn't around. I like the idea that they became closer through shared grief. <3

Also, even if Dumbledore "took one for the team" as I believe, I think it was stupid he didn't tell ANYONE. Now no one will trust Snape *sigh* What good will his high position with Voldemort do if he can't report to the Order? [/spoiler]
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Postby Kireihana » Sun Jul 17, 2005 12:50 pm

:sniffle: Alright, so my theory was wrong. Waaay wrong. But I was in no way expecting this...

[SPOILER=Snape]If Dumbledore did indeed have is reasons for allowing Snape to kill him (and I think you're right in that matter, Kawaiikneko), then I have no doubt that he knew what he was doing when he decided to keep the matter secret. Think about it. What good would come of the Order knowing of Snape's innocence? A false sense of security, most likely. Being now completely alienated from the Order, Snape can play his role as V's right-hand man all the more convincingly.

If you ask me, it is not Dumbledore who "took one for the team," so much as Snape. Pitiable guy.[/SPOILER]

And now, concerning the romances...

[SPOILER=romance in HBP]Harry and Ginny were sweet, but I was personally rooting for the Harry/Luna relationship... Luna is one of my new favorite characters and I was a little disappointed that her role seemed to be smaller than in the last book. But I think it's kind of obvious now that Harry and Ginny are in it for the long haul. She's altogether too much like Lily (and Harry of course resembles his father); it seems predictable that the pair will go on to become like a second Lily and James.

And of course, who was surprised by the Ron/Hermione turnout? :eyeroll: [/SPOILER]
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Postby Rachel » Sun Jul 17, 2005 1:15 pm

Why, why, why did I read that first spoiler? Why?! *goes off to cry and pray she reads the book soon*
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Postby Kireihana » Sun Jul 17, 2005 1:20 pm

Rachel wrote:Why, why, why did I read that first spoiler? Why?! *goes off to cry and pray she reads the book soon*


LOL, I feel for you. I ventured into this thread halfway through the book and saw the words

[SPOILER=the words I saw]Dumbledore... Snape... betrayed[/SPOILER]

and promptly skuttled on outta there. Luckily I hadn't read the whole sentence... and put it out of my mind before I was able to make any connections.
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Postby Arnobius » Sun Jul 17, 2005 1:51 pm

I hope it gets better, but right now, it just feels like the magic is gone for me...

Not like the first 4...
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Postby mitsuki lover » Sun Jul 17, 2005 2:06 pm

I have to wait for our library to get it so haven't read it as yet.
However the fact that Dumbledore dies at the end was one of the least
well kept secrets about the book.I think everyone was predicting just
before the release that he would be the one to bite the big one.So
I don't see why anyone should be surprised about it.
As far as Snape..remember in the last book he was told to go undercover,
so it doesn't seem hard to believe that he might look like he betrayed
Dumbledore.Whatever his reasons he had to look like he was on
Voldemort's side so as not to give away his real allegiance.So in order
to do that he would have to act in a manner that would be convincing.
IF Snape had not betrayed Dumbledore and killed him it is quite likely
that certain questions concerning his loyalty would be raised. :shake:
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Postby Kireihana » Sun Jul 17, 2005 2:20 pm

AnimeHeretic wrote:I hope it gets better, but right now, it just feels like the magic is gone for me...

Not like the first 4...


Wow, that is exactly how I feel. In fact, this is what I wrote in my blog:

I am both confused and disappointed... I didn't enjoy the book nearly as much as the previous ones. It seems since Book 5 the story has focused more on plot advancement (which is all well and good, considering she only has one book left in which to wrap it all up), but I missed the all Ron's wisecracks and Fred and George's antics and the Harry vs. Malfoy rivalry.

It was like the majority of the book was Dumbledore's imparting wisdom and shallow, ill-convincing teen hormones going wild, and I'm not going to say any more than that for the sake of those who haven't yet finished it. But I will say that it wasn't nearly as exciting as the previous books, nor as mysterious. Rowling pulled one major plot stunt, but the rest was unbearably predictable.

Snape is the only character left that still proves interesting to me... and Luna Lovegood too; I'm hoping there's more to her. Book 7 will no doubt expand upon... well, once again I'm not gonna spoil it. Don't get me wrong, I still love HP and thoroughly enjoyed Half Blood Prince, but I can't pretend I wasn't just slightly disappointed in the end.

And MitsukiLover, whether or not the events in HBP were predictable, you should probably still use the spoiler tags for your post. Some people might make the mistake of assuming it to be unspoilerized since it is not encoded.
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Postby Arnobius » Sun Jul 17, 2005 2:31 pm

In fairness to ML, the thread itself *does* warn of spoilers. I was firrmly aware of that when I checked this one and spoiled my suprises.

I agree the interaction magic is gone... Ron and Hermione are just cardboard right now. Heck when Hermione is first brought into this one, she comes off like a stereotypical jealous anime female with a big hammer...
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Postby Kawaiikneko » Sun Jul 17, 2005 3:08 pm

heh well I think Hermione was believable enough. Ron wasn't being very considerate now was he.. If I was Hermione I'd have smacked him (although hailing him with birds is good too)

Pasting in a few comments I found on devart that I thought summed up things really well:

[spoiler="quoting martiangirl"]Yes! I still believe as well! I posted this theory before, but I think Dumbledore gave prior orders to Snape to, if it came down to it, keep his cover as a Death Eater and continue his work no matter what (even if it meant killing Dumbledore). I just keep thinking back to the row Hagrid mentioned between Dumbledore and Snape. Perhaps Snape was having seond thoughts about keeping such a promise and Dumbledore was angry enough to remind him of his word (another Unbreakable Vow anyone?). Snape's loyalty to the Light could have meant having to sacrifice any indivdual lives (except of course Harry's). I doubt Dumbledore would plead for his own life since he was staring a bunch of Death Eater's in the face like it was nothing. So Dumbledore could defend against Malfoy and four others but would be killed so easily by Snape? Methinks something's amiss.[/spoiler]

[spoiler="quoting roquera"]That's prolly why Snape got so angry over Harry calling him a coward, because killing Dumbledore, the only person that trusted him, would've taken a lot of courage on his part.[/spoiler]

btw I have my mom reading the books now. WHAHAHAHA~

I also think that the books have become more plot-oriented than the first 4... like, at first it explained things about the classes and through circumstances leading up to the end Harry and his friends "solved the mysteries" (for lack of a better term). HBP seemed to be focusing a looot more on the relationships between characters instead of circumstances happening at the school. For instance, we only saw one Quidditch match, very few of the classes, and much less of the teachers.
[spoiler]I really wish we could have seen more of Snape's DADA classes! *cries* I was looking forward to that[/spoiler]
The first half of the book seemed to have the same stuff as the first few, but then it just kinda wasn't there anymore. I still LOVED it, but it was different. More serious maybe? It was definitely just leading into the 7th book, but while they're at war and the kids are older, I don't think the books were meant to have the same tone... you know?
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Postby TallasLint » Sun Jul 17, 2005 9:28 pm

Like some of you have said before, this most recent book almost seemed like a let-down. There's no real mistery about it, the whole book is fairly straightforward.

Also, I thought there was altogether too much romance. I mean, I can stand a little bit, but the world as they know it is collapsing around them, and all they can think about is who the're dating, it sometimes seemed.

But despite it's shortcomings (in my opinion), I think the book was very...informative...

[spoiler]I'm glad we finally found out why Voldemort survived, the horcruxes and all. But, I know it's a little early to be speculating about book Seven, but I think the last horcrux is Harry (or maybe more specifically, his scar...). It would explain their connection, Harry's parseltongue and the dreams and such, much better than the explination of a backfired curse.

It's also good that we learned more about Tom Riddle's past, from an unbiased source (unlike the diary)

Also, I was so sad when Dumbledore died. At first I completely believed that Snape was a double-double crosser, but I guess It does make sense that Dumbledore may have ordered Snape to do such a thing in case an event such as that arrived.[/spoiler]

My favorite part of the book though had to be Hermione's attack canaries. :lol:
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Postby Scribs » Mon Jul 18, 2005 1:24 pm

Firstly, I think the use of the spoiler codes in this thread is completely uncalled for. Anyone who doesn't want to know what happens at the end of a highly suspencefull book like this one has no logical reason to be in a thread with the word "spoilers" in the title. And if they are still reading this thread onto the second page, it would seem to me to be increadibly thick to expect not to read someting that could be defined as a spoiler. I have no official say, but I would suggest that from this point on all spoilers just be written normally, because IMHO the spoiler codes are rather annoying to read, and to type. I will use them for the rest of this post, so as to not get people annoyed at me, but from here on out, it seems kind of unneccesary.

[Spoiler] I think that this whole theory about Dumbledore asking Snape to kill him ahead of time seems kind of unlikely to me. What it looked like to me was that snape killed dumbledore because he was on the dark side. Dumbledore was pleading, because he realised that Snape had not been on his side all along and he was personally crushed that the person he had trusted against all the opposing evidence had actually been lying to him all this time. Dumbledore messed up big time and paid the price. I do however think that Snape does not want to kill or hurt Harry. I think this because of this passage here:

"You use my own spells against me, Potter? ... And you would turn my inventions against me like your filthy father would you? I dont think so...no!
Harry dived for his wand; Snape shot a hex at it and it flew feet away into the darkness and out of sight.
"Kill me then" panted Harry "Kill me like you killed him, you coward-"
"DON'T-" screamed Snape, and his face was suddenly demented, inhuman, as though he was in as much pain as the yelping howling dog stuck in the burning house behind them- "CALL ME COWARD"

this could be taken two ways, depending on who you think Harry is referring to when he says "him" (oh, those annoying pronouns.) If he means like dumbledore it could be that snape is regretfull about his killing Dumbledore. But, if it refers to Harry's father (the last person mentioned before the use of the pronoun) as I think he does, it could be that despite his hatred for James, Snape feels guilty about the death because James had once saved his life. If this is the case, it would explain why he has never tried to hurt potter, and even stopped other death eaters from hurting him. That is all I have to say about that at this preseant time. [/Spoiler]
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Postby Kawaiikneko » Mon Jul 18, 2005 2:40 pm

alright then, no more spoiler boxes...

I don't think he felt any regret for James' life... He told Harry he wasn't very appreciative of the way his life was saved by James anyhow. We really can't know until the next book, because considering the way Rowling writes (Harry's perspective and Harry's feelings) its kinda impossible to know. The way Harry sees it is that Snape is evil and kills Dumbledore mercilessly, but we don't know what Snape was really feeling. Personally, I think the hatred on his face was towards Dumbledore making him promise to kill him if the situation arose. I think the arguement he and Dumbledore had points to this conclusion.
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Postby Siren of Lyrics » Mon Jul 18, 2005 5:55 pm

Double post
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Postby Siren of Lyrics » Mon Jul 18, 2005 5:56 pm

After reading the last chapter of the 6th Harry Potter book, I believe that almost everyone was faced with the following question: Who is R.A.B.?

I've come up with what I believe is a feasible possibility. Or, rather, my sister and I came up with it together. (I got the last name to which Taslin added the first.)

I believe that R.A.B. stands for

[SPOILER=Prediction Concerning the Identity of R.A.B.]Regulus A. (we never learned his middle name) Black, Sirius's younger brother, who was killed by Death Eaters.

Here is the section in the 5th book where his name appears:

Sirius jabbed a finger at the very bottom of the tree, at the name Regulus Black. A date of death (some fifteen years previously) followed the date of birth.
"He was younger than me," said Sirius, "and a much better son, as I was constantly reminded."
"But he died," said Harry.
"Yeah," said Sirius. "Stupid idiot...he joined the Death Eaters."
"You're kidding!"
"Come on Harry, haven't you seen enough of this house to tell what kind of wizards my family were?" said Sirius testily.
"Were--were your parents Death Eaters as well?"
"No, no, but believe me, they thought Voldemort had the right idea, they were all for the purification of the Wizarding race and having purebloods in charge. They weren't alone either there were quite a few people, before Voldemort showed his true colors, who thought he had the right idea about things...They got cold feet when they saw what he was prepared to do to get power, though. But I bet my parents thought Regulus was a right little hero for joining up at first."
"Was he killed by an Auror?" Harry asked tentitively.
"Oh, no," said Sirius. "No, he was murdered by Voldemort. Or on Voldemort's orders, more likely, I doubt Regulus was ever important enough to be killed by Voldemort in person. From what I found out after he died, he got in so far, then panicked about what he was being asked to do and tried to back out. Well, you don't just hand in your resignation to Voldemort. It's a lifetime of service or death..."
[/Spoiler]

Well, what do you guys think?
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Postby Scribs » Wed Jul 20, 2005 12:52 pm

I don't think he felt any regret for James' life... He told Harry he wasn't very appreciative of the way his life was saved by James anyhow.


People can say things they don't really mean. Besides, we know that Snape has been lying to people (either the good side or the bad side, or both), so why do wwe implicitly believe that he told the truth here?

I believe that R.A.B. stands for Regulus A. (we never learned his middle name) Black, Sirius's younger brother, who was killed by Death Eaters.


Yes I too agree with this. also, when in book five Harry and company are cleaning sirius' house they find, among other things, a heavy locket that noone can open... Hmmmm... I wonder what that could be....
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Postby the_lizardqueen » Wed Jul 20, 2005 3:10 pm

[spoiler]
AURGH!!!!!! That EVIL MURDEROUS BACKSTABBING JERK!!!!!!!!

...Erm, sorry about the caps, but I'm kinda not happy right now. Y'know, from Prisoner of Azkaban on, Snape has been one of my favorite characters. Yup, he's rather dislikable and vengeful, but he also keeps the plot moving and I had truly been hoping he'd be redeemed in the end. And after reading OoTP, I actually sympathized with the guy. Needless to say, my hopes for him have dissapated drastically upon reading and finishing Half-Blood Prince. In my eyes, he's moved from being an anti-hero to an all out evil guy. Especially due to the way that he basically slaughtered Dumbledore..

Who knows, maybe this is an incredibly massive red-herring, maybe it was part of a larger plan, and maybe Rowling will dig up some justification for his actions. I'm not overly optimistic though. The only thing that makes up for Snape's betrayal somewhat was the unexpected human side to Draco. Frankly, I've been wishing Rowling would simply off Draco for the last few books. But I actually feel sorry for him now, and I'm interested to see what will happen to him in the next book.

I really did enjoy reading Half-Blood Prince. The final third of the book flew by and had me totally mesmerized, and the ending was very moving. I actually had tears in my eyes during the final chapters, when I wasn't busy yelling at Snape. It was also entertaining to see the characters navigating through the perils of teen dating. And the Remus and Tonks pairing was too adorable. I can also see the Harry and Ginny pairing developing a Peter Parker complex. And I was glad to see that Rowling hadn't let Luna dissapear, she's turning into one of my new faves.

I'm still trying to process the entire death of Dumbledore, it didn't totally shock me, but it did sadden me. And the Snape betrayal stunned me, even though Rowling was setting up for it throughout the book. I still can't figure out why Dumbledore wouldn't have picked up on it sooner..

I should stop now, before I start ranting about Snape again. I've already typed up an essay of a post. And I'm sure I'll think of more to speculate on in a bit, especially once I've actually read over everyone elses' posts :sweat:
[/spoiler]
Edit: I found this on the mugglenet forums. I love this theory!
Fuschia wrote:I have one theory that it was a part of Voldemort's soul Dumbledore consumed from that basin. Dumbledore had to be killed himself to destroy it.

Maybe Snape and Dumbledore had constructed a plan that involved Dumbledore sacrificing himself to destory the portion of Voldemort's soul. And Dumbledore was begging Snape to go through with it, hence Snape's revulsion, with himself.

*giddy*
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Postby Rachel » Wed Jul 20, 2005 5:39 pm

I just finished reading the book a little bit ago.

I wasn't really let down by the book at all. Except maybe for the Ron and Hermione thing, even after finishing it, I was still hoping for Harry and Hermione to get together. But after thinking about it for a while, Ginny and Harry make perfect sense. I like that phrase someone used earlier "Peter Parker complex."

I really hope that Snape was just acting on Dumbledore's orders to keep his cover no matter what, because I rather like Snape as a character. And I guess I just like to think the best of people, too.

Well, that's all I've to say for now.
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Postby Arnobius » Wed Jul 20, 2005 5:58 pm

I just finished reading it last night.

My view seems to go against the others, but it seems to me that Snape did betray Dumbledore and side with Voldemort... I think Dumbledore realized at the end he had misjudged Snape... I would say JK used the idea of hiding in plain sight... we all expected Snape to turn out good, or at least I did, so to see him do what he did seemed all the more tragic... I had read the spoilers first and STILL was hoping it wouldn't come out that way

I think Harry/Ginny seemed kind of lame, and the ending of that (I can't go out with you because you'll be targeted) made me think JK had gone to see Spiderman during a bout with Writer's Block (Does book 7 start with Harry delivering Pizza?)

I would have liked to see more classes and other elements of Hogwarts that made everything so charming.

I also liked how Fleur put Mrs Weasley and Ginny in their place: They thought she'd break up with Bill because of his injuries, and she showed them she wasn't as shallow as they thought...

Overall, I enjoyed reading it (which I could not say for Pheonix)
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Postby Scribs » Wed Jul 20, 2005 7:24 pm

The Dumbledore drinking Voldemort's soul thing, though a creative idea, sounds a bit far fetched to me.
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Postby Kawaiikneko » Wed Jul 20, 2005 9:06 pm

same here piloswine.

I'd also like to point out that JK has been planning these books for years, and didn't get her ideas from spiderman or fanfics. She knows what she's doing and she has it planned out already. No one needs influence when they have something so thoroughly planned out. I suspect the "cheesy" ending with harry and ginny may have a deeper part in the next book.

I stand by Snape being good *clings to my theory*
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Postby Rocketshipper » Wed Jul 20, 2005 9:20 pm

Just finished reading it today. Ron was a total jerk and he deserved to be attacked by Hermione's army of canarys!!! I hate him!

I'm also a little mad at JK for this who Snape thing. From the storie's standpoint it was a good move, and something none of us seemed to have expected, but still...Snape was one of my favorite characters precicely because he seemed to be so mean and yet was still a good guy. Now that's totally ruined. I agree that it's probably unlikely that Snape killed Dumbledore based on his orders; betrayle is more straightforward, but I don't think it's impossible. My theory is that it all had to do with the Unbreakable Vow, and it's something like this. I think it's obvious that Snape hesitated when Draco's mom asked him to make the 3rd part of the vow, but by then he couldn't back out without endangering his cover; he had to complete the vow. Because of that vow Snape HAD to kill Dumbledore if Draco failed, or else he'd die instead. Draco was unlikely to sucede and nothing would really be gained if Snape resisted the vow, dropped dead, and then the other Death Eaters just killed Dumbledore anyway. I think it's also possible that maybe Snape just didn't want to die. He made a mistake when he agreed to the vow, and faced the choice of killing Dumbledore to save his own life or breaking the vow and dieing himself. Maybe he just chose life because he was scared, maybe that's why he freaked out when Harry called him a coward. Anyway, no matter what the real reason behind Snape's actions are, betrayle or thought out plan or whatever, I hope JK reveals more of his past in the next book. I want to know how he became a Death Eater.
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Postby Kawaiikneko » Wed Jul 20, 2005 9:27 pm

I'd love to know Snape's history~ But since its from Harry's perspective, unless he sits down and listens to Snape I don't know how we'll find out... ahhhh I'm gonna go insane waiting for the last one >.<
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