(no subject)
I just finished reading the Half Blood Prince, and all I can say is wow.
A couple of quick thoughts:
I wasn’t surprised by Dumbledore’s death, and I predicted that he was going to be the one who was going to die before I even started reading. After reading book 5 when there was a line about how Dumbledore was the only one who stood in Voldemort’s way, I know Dumbledore had to die since he can’t keep protecting Harry forever, and Harry will eventually have to go head to head with Voldemort.
I wouldn’t have guessed that the Half-Blood Prince was Snape, but once you think about it, it’s a “DUH!” kind of moment. Snape was the potions teacher afterall, so obviously he’s gonna be really good at potions. I was thinking that it was Voldemort, since he’s a half blood.
After this book, Snape confuses me even more. I don’t think he’s entirely evil, since Dumbledore isn’t stupid. I’m not really sure what to make out of him, but I think in the end he’ll be back on the good side.
I really liked how everything seemed to tie together and make sense, especially with all the references to book two. There were a lot of “ah ha!” moments.
The part when Harry and Dumbledore are off retrieving the locket is rushed over way too quickly, and J.K. Rowling doesn’t do a very good job of explaining why certain things are the way they are. Pretty much her only explanation is “Dumbledore just knows”. He may be a really powerful wizard, but he’s not omniscient.
What was up with the little Harry x Ginny towards the end of the book? That was pretty random, since it was pretty out of the blue that Harry finally decides he likes Ginny. It seems he’d be pining over it more. And they’re together for all of three chapters at the end and there’s no romance and then Harry is like “Oh, we got to break up, blah, blah,blah.” Lame. J.K. Rowling can’t write romance. At least she didn’t put Hermione and Ron together. I was really worried that she would. Let’s hope she doesn’t get them together in book 7.
Predictions for book 7:
I am almost certain that the initials R.A.B. that was one the note from the locket is Regulus Black. In the end when Hermione was doing research on wizards with the initials R.A.B. the only famous wizard with the initials she could find had nothing to do with Voldemort. The note is addressed “To The Dark Lord”, which only the Death Eaters refer to him as. Regulus was a Death Eater, who according to Sirius's was killed on orders from Voldemort. But we can assume that Sirius was in prison at the time, so whatever word he got of his brother’s death was probably second hand. So perhaps Regulus isn’t dead afterall.
I STILL don’t think Sirius is dead. Cedric- body. Dumbledore- body. Sirius-no body. I bet he’s going to play a vital role in the next book.
I bet one of the horcuxes is Harry’s scar. I’ve been thinking for awhile that Harry is going to die, and I still haven’t changed my mind. Harry is really turning out to be a Messiah figure- especially with the names they’ve been calling him, such as “The Chosen One”. I wouldn’t be surprised if he sacrificed himself to save everyone, much like Jesus.