I hope I'm right about this...

[dianora]

*takes the plunge*

Happy birthday, violaswamp! I hope this birthday was just as exciting as the last, even if you didn't get to graduate and go to dances and finally read the long awaited fifth installment of a certain series

Comments

Love

[prettyveela]

Your layout. :)

Veela

[alisina]

Hello! Haven't spoken to you in quite some time

[dianora]

Oh, I definitely agree. Umbridge was just sort of ridiculous the second time, wasn't she? She was still a very compelling villain, though, and I love that JKR introduced bad guys who aren't exactly pure evil, but who are still manipulative and oppressive and sadistic. It's not just good versus evil, Harry versus Voldemort anymore...there's also ignorance and weakness, which are neither good nor evil but still play into the epic battle. And I actually think that that's a lot of what the fifth book was about, the good people learning to deal with the fact that your average person isn't necessarily going to support or even acknowledge their efforts to fight evil. Now that the Ministry has acknowledged Voldemort's return, I think the focus is going to shift to fighting with the Death Eaters and Voldemort himself. There will still be people like Umbridge and Fudge who don't exactly help the cause, but I think the real struggle with them is over by the end of the fifth book -- and that, like you said, is when we're brutally confronted with

[violaswamp]

Yes, you're right, and thank you!

It's funny you say that about Ginny--I liked her at first but when I've re-read bits and pieces of OotP (haven't read the whole thing a second time yet) I've found her more annoying this time around and even a bit Mary Sue-ish. *shrugs*