Omorka&#39;s Lair

I knew who the Half-Blood Prince was by chapter 10, but it was obvious, wasn't it?

You keep using that word... :-p But I don't normally analyze books as I read them.

Like I said in my post, it felt like there was something missing. I think it was the filler material. This was almost all main-plotline stuff, with the other scenes thrown in almost as an afterthought. It kept the secondary and tertiary characters from playing as much of a role as they had in previous books, which for me seriously detracted from the atmosphere. Also, the fighting has become increasingly unconvincing lately. The students-fight-Death-Eaters stuff hurts my suspension of disbelief, even with the Felix potion thrown in(best use of the placebo effect EVER, though).

But that was bound to happen as the series progressed. I did like the Voldemort/Dumbledore exposition. It's obviously setup for the next book, cause if we're not gonna see Hogwarts we'll probably start seeing more of Voldemort. I hope JKR can pull that off.

The hot teen angst drama seemed a bit over the top, and it wasn't as funny as the normal filler. Hopefully most of it will go away.

I think Snape is still a good guy. It made sense for him to kill Dumbledore, since Snape's role is obviously more important. Plus we spent the last couple books setting him up as a sympathetic character. Nice to see Draco waver, too.

Did you catch the typo? :-p

Any idea who R.A.B. is?

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What is the point of reading a book if you're not analyzing it?

Well, you didn't think there was much filler, and

ziactrice felt that this was mostly filler, and I thought it was about the same amount as normal (with the exception of OotP, which needed a blue pencil so badly I could scream), so we obviously all disagree on what parts are filler and what parts aren't.

Snape is not a "good guy." No one who could have made the "I see no difference" comment to Hermione is "good". However, I do think he understands that Voldemort must be defeated, and I do think he is still in the service of that knowledge (and of Dumbledore) - but no one else will believe him until he finally betrays Voldemort. I'm also interested in seeing whether Draco becomes Snape or becomes Lucius II in the end - he was almost absent from the second half of OotP, after being so interesting in GoF, and it was a relief to me to see Rowling trying to make him, if not sympathetic, at least rounder. (Ditto with Dudley, by the way - nice to see that Rowling recognized that the Dursleys have abused him as surely as they have Harry, just not as obviously.)

The shipping has been going on for several books - it's just that they're all sixteen now, and it has spilled over into their day-to-day interactions much more. OBHWF isn't the ship I was sailing on, but I never really thought Rowling would actually let mine out of the port explicitly in canon, and thank the gods she didn't go with (plain) Harry/Hermione, because that would have sucked. A lot. And the next book is likely to be Harry unattached and his now-pair-bonded best friends, and not very many other people around (although I'll be surprised if Neville, in particular, and Ginny and Luna for good measure, don't end up being around quite a bit), so it probably won't be as noticeable. But expect at least some angst.

The vast majority of the Death Eaters are people like Crabbe and Goyle - say, their parents. They're not necessarily very competent, with a few exceptions like Bellatrix and Rosier. (And then there's Avery, who got another name-drop. She's toying with us, I swear.) I have no problem with a highly motivated and fairly intelligent group of students, especially ones led and taught by Harry and Hermione, twice holding their own with them until help arrives. At least, no more than I do Harry managing to hold off the Basilisk with no assistance other than Fawkes and the Sorting Hat. (Did I mention that the bad guys aren't that competent? "Oh, phoenix tears - I forgot." This is one reason I don't think Snape's loyalties really lie there; I don't think he could handle really working for someone who was obviously not as competent as he is.)

My copy has at least two spelling errors and a misplaced period. I assume you mean the early, somewhat humorous one?

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I was just pleased that Harry wasn't nearly the insufferable twit he was in book 5... (Yeah, he still had his moments, but OotP really hits you over the head with it.)

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ziactrice's Wheel of Time comparison is one I found myself making as well...

Re: Snape...look the other book I'm reading is one of the Song of Ice and Fire ones, in which good and evil are almost null concepts. Snape's a good guy, okay? :-p

The Death Eaters are certainly better at striking from the shadows than open fights, but I don't buy that they're incompetent. Voldemort himself is consistently portrayed as being one of the *most* competent wizards alive, and if the Slugworth memory was any indication, so were a number of his best Death Eaters. What this looks like to me is Shounen Action Syndrome, in which children become unnaturally skilled at an unnatural rate.

I wonder if the Death Eaters have terrorist training camps?

*Two* spelling errors? I only saw the "site" one near the beginning.

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Oh hell, I missed the "minor" part of the spoilers cut. Hope I didn't ruin it for anyone...

(All spoilers are major for me) :-(

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I'll grant that "The Potions Master Formerly Known as Prince" did hesitate before taking the third part of the vow, and that he is likely still carrying on for the Order.

I don't quite buy the explanation for Tonks decline, nor that there wouldn't have been any Slug Club meetings after Christmas.

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Speaking as a high-school teacher, Twit!Harry from OotP, and, for that matter, Whiny!Anikin from SWEp2, strike me as fair portrayals of certain types of gifted male teenagers. While I don't think either of them makes enjoyable company, neither one seemed too out of place, and Harry even had the excuse that he was, understandably, depressed. (I'd've been depressed, too, under those circumstances.)

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Voldemort? Competent? Are we reading the same books here? Ol' Snake-Eyes is powerful, certainly, but he's not particularly competent - in fact, he makes about half of the mistakes in the Evil Overlords' Handbook in the first four books. I mean, look at his most visible henchmen:

Quirrell, in SS - major dumbass, although he was playing up his incompetence so that no one would guess what he was after. Voldy-as-hat doesn't do any better, FWIW.

Lucius Malfoy, CoS and following - did okay at planting Riddle's diary, but has utterly failed at playing it cool since then, which lost him his house-elf, his reputation, and now his freedom. We haven't seen him do much magic, but I suspect we'd see more if he were, say, better than Draco.

Peter Pettigrew, PoA and following - actually one of Voldy's most competent henchbeings, although no one gives him any credit; the fact that the other Death Eaters think he's an incompetent and mistreat him is going to bite him on the ass, since he owes his life to Harry. Still, cringing and unpleasant.

Barty Crouch, Junior, GoF - the most competent Death Eater we've seen yet. Still got caught and got his soul sucked out by a Dementor.

Narcissa Malfoy, GoF and following - whiny, no evidence of any great magical skills, loves her son too much to make a good Death Eater anyway.

Crabbe Sr. and Goyle Sr., GoF and following - showing no signs of being any more than the toadying lumps their sons are.

Bellatrix Lestrange, GoF and following - fairly magically competent, but way overconfident and showing signs of being Not All There.

The strong impression I've been getting, as it happens, is that most magical inhabitants of the Potterverse must have cheated terribly on their OWLs and never taken their NEWTs. The instructors at Hogwarts are generally pretty competent, but most others - including some of the Aurors - just freakin' suck. At least at DADA - although perhaps that's not surprising, since a number of the people who were any good at it were obvious targets in the previous wizarding war. This may be a result of attrition - which would explain why the kids are better than the adults, not having been picked off in numbers yet.

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Yeah, Tonks was one of the major red herrings that bit me. "OMFG, she's been Imperiused and is working for the Death Eaters against her will!" Nope, turns out she's just pining for the love of a good ~~bisexual~~ werewolf. Dang.

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Enh, I think I caught it in time, and I'm guessing the majority of the people who read my journal and are at all interested in the series have either finished today or are assiduously avoiding any spoilers at all (waves in the direction of

bibulb, who now has our copy). I was just trying not to be tacky and leave something around that would give away a major plot point. No biggie.

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Oh, and as for R.A.B. - I'm about 95% sure that (a) I know who it is, and that (b) we've actually seen the real locket before. I'm about 70% sure I know where the locket is. Being a detail person is great fun with Rowling. :)

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Has there been any Tonks slash? Seems like it would be a natural, since she can shapeshift...

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Huh. And I just re-read the entire series in prep for this one, and RAB isn't ringing a bell...

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Other minor bits (might as well voice them here rather than start any other threads...)

No signficant use of the Creevy bros. in this one.

No real explanation for the lift of Harry's lifetime Quidditch ban.

The giant half-brother really didn't serve any purpose. (Will he get properly used in Book 7? Likely, if he was all but ignored in this one.)

The whole bit about the Weasley clock all pointing at Mortal Peril seems a bit overblown. Charlie, Percy, Fred & George weren't up to anything particularly risky, nor were they the most obvious targets. (Nor Molly, for that matter.)

Hey, what do you know? The one-year span for DADA teachers is still holding...

Do you really think the finale will be set other than Hogwarts? I know she's been distancing the story lines from the ritual for quite some time. (Sometimes skipping feasts, sortings, and this time Christmas and Halloween...) Suppose she has to if he has to find 4 artifacts in the span of one book.

Harry still doesn't hold a chance against Snape in a one-on-one. And I'm not sure anything he could learn over the summer would prepare him to.

more if I think of it. Still digesting bits myself...

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starcat-jewel.livejournal.com

Or, in my case, are unlikely to read the books and therefore don't find spoilers to be any major deal. In fact, sometimes having read them helps when I'm trying to sound reasonably intelligent in certain conversations. :)

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I've seen one Tonks/Ginny story, and a couple of Tonks-impersonates-Draco-to-get-whoever-he's-banging stories, but surprisingly little fic for her, considering.

Although now I'm going to have to write a Tonks-impersonating-Sirius/Lupin fic, just because you gave me the idea . . . :p

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Yeah, the Creevys got one throw-away mention in this one just so we remember that they're there.

Given that neither Umbridge or Fudge are still in power, I see no reason for the ban to have remained in place, any more than the various Educational Decrees did; Dumbledore would have rescinded it as far as Hogwarts sports go as soon as Umbridge was recalled by the Ministry. (It might still be standing with respect to professional Quidditch, but I think the likelihood that Harry will want to go pro at the end of all this is minuscule.)

With the hint about "giant involvement" back at the beginning of the book, and both Madame Maxime and Grawp making an appearance at the end, I suspect there will be something more to the giants' storyline before the end of book 7. I'll be rather surprised if it's particulaly prominent.

All of the Weasleys except for Percy, Ron and Ginny are official members of the Order of the Phoenix. I bet the clock would point to "Mortal Peril" for any member of the Order. Similarly, Percy is a member of the Ministry. And Ron and Ginny are Close Personal Friends of Target #1 With a ~~Bullet~~ Lightning Bolt.

I noticed that the "DADA Curse" is still holding strong. (I'm disappointed that we didn't get to see more of the way Snape teaches the class, although I'm delighted that he's still trying to teach Harry as he's dueling with him at the end, at least until he forgets that it's Harry and not James taunting him and Completely Loses His Shit again.) I think technically it's "more than two years in a row," though, isn't it? I thought Quirrell taught for two years, just not consecutively. (I could be misremembering, and I don't have my copy of SS to hand at the moment.) So now the question is: who will teach it next year?

I suspect most of Book 7 will take place outside of Hogwarts, but if we don't ever see the place at all I'll be surprised. I rather suspect that the Grand Showdown will take place at Hogwarts itself, although I suppose Godric's Hollow would also be dramatically appropriate - as would Privet Drive, for that matter. (Rowling has promised in an interview that someone will attempt to perform magic late in life at some point in the series. As we haven't seen this so far, this implies to me that either Filch has something in him that he'll give to protect the school, or that something else will happen to Dudley and Petunia will try to do something about it magically.)

No, Snape is still better than Harry. Which is why I don't think Harry will ever actually have to fight Snape; dear Severus was handicapping himself in this fight until he CLHS (see above).

I want to see the story of this book written from Draco's POV . . . or at least get to interview Moping Myrtle . . .

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Tease. :-p

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