Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

[louiselux]

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince:

Some things that struck me after reading:

Dumbledore wanted Snape to kill him and the pleading was for Snape to carry it through and not back down. I've seen various theories on this and they seem to make sense, along the lines of Dumbledore was already dying, not only did Snape made an Unbreakable Vow with Narcissa, he may have also made one with Dumbledore for this very eventuality-- Dumbledore seemed fully aware of what Draco was planning to do. Snape, a member of the Order, has now secured a place of trust within the Death Eaters close to Voldemort and has also saved Draco's life. So, I find it hard to believe he's truly joined Voldemort. Harry's obssessive nature came out very strongly in this book, I thought. The extent to which he focussed on Snape and Draco was more than a little unhealthy. Ahem.

How adorable that he actually very much liked the Half Blood Prince. Stuff a bezoar down their throats! It was the handwriting and the obsessive masses of notes that gave it away for me.

Dumbledore taking Harry to the cave-- that whole episode and Dumbledore's attitude seemed very odd and I got the impression there must be far more to it all than we were shown. It seemd such an odd thing for Dumbledore to do, to rely on Harry and also to put Harry in such danger.

I had absolutely no idea who RAB was until I read someone else's post: Regulus Black, which opens up whole new vistas of speculation.

I liked seeing Snape's house and his humble abode. Goodbye Snape Manor.

Tonks moping after Remus-- well, that was odd. Sweet, but with overtones of Tonks-pining-for-Remus-pining-for-Sirus. But hey, lover man Remus turned her hair pink again and let's face it Remus needed to get laid too.

Comments

[daegaer.livejournal.com]

Goodbye Snape Manor.

Thank God.

Tonks was a bit odd here. But let's hope for a week or two of happiness for her and Remus (where they both fantasize about Sirius in bed . . .). And I was happy to see Molly actually manage to get over her prejudices about women who get too close to "her" menfolk - Fleur hardly deserved having her nationality and prettiness held against her in quite such a way.

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

But let's hope for a week or two of happiness for her and Remus (where they both fantasize about Sirius in bed . . .).

That so needs to be written.

Really, Tonks losing her powers because Remus wouldn't love her back? That surpsied me-- I thought she was stronger than that.

Actaullly, all the women in the book had this teenage cat-fight 'he's mine you slaaag' thing going on, which was funny/annoying in equal parts. It's the psycho magical teenage soap opera come true!

[lovelyzelda.livejournal.com]

It was the handwriting and the obsessive masses of notes that gave it away for me.

After the reveal, I sat back and thought to myself, "Who else is good with potions, dumbass?"

I was also quite glad that Hermione completely agreed with my pre-reading thoughts, "What if it's a girl? Oh, right, prince." And I feel like less of an idiot since I was sort of right.

[akisawana.livejournal.com]

After the reveal, I sat back and thought to myself, "Who else is good with potions, dumbass?"
Harry's mother? I was kinda hoping the notes were written by her myself. We see lots of James but not much Lily, which is a pity, because I think she had far stronger magic and is a far better role model for Harry.

Harry's obssessive nature came out very strongly in this book, I thought. The extent to which he focussed on Snape and Draco was more than a little unhealthy. Ahem. How adorable that he actually very much liked the Half Blood Prince.
If Harry didn't look so much like his father, I'd wank greatly on the possiblity of him being the product of an affair. Come to think of it, Snape is the closest Harry has to a father, what with being the most consistent male influence in Harry's life. He certainly acts like Harry's father sometimes. The Father From Hell, yes, but in a "I didn't want him, I don't like him, but it's my *duty*" way.

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

Snape is like the anti-father figure, almost. But I think Dumbledore is also a very strong father figure too, far more than Sirius.

Lily's talent does sort of get ignored by Harry, but it's what everyone mentions about when they say anything about her, far more so than James. Maybe Harry gets a lot of his power from her, more than from James.

[akisawana.livejournal.com]

Maybe Harry gets a lot of his power from her, more than from James.
For some reason, I think that James would be more offensively powerful, because of the animagus thing, but that Lily would be more dangerous. Like Goku vs. Hakkai.

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

Someone said in the theory frenzy that is lj that it might be Eileen Prince's writing, thus explaining Hermione's opinion that it's girls writing.

[cygny.livejournal.com]

When will book 7 be out?! Heh, I hadn't given any thought yet to the Snape killing Dumbledore because Dumbledore wanted him to as well. I also thought it was strange that he would put Harry in such danger, I even thought he acted a bit strangely in all that scene anyway. As for RAB, I would definitely be interested to learn more about Regulus. It's true he had just been mentioned a few times in passing, but we never knew what really happened to him.

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

I agree - Dumbledore was very odd in that scene, sort of sad-- maybe he knew what was going to happen?

[odditycollector.livejournal.com]

It seemd such an odd thing for Dumbledore to do, to rely on Harry and also to put Harry in such danger.
*shrug* To rely on him maybe, but Dumbledore's been encouraging Harry to put himself in danger from the beginning. Sort of... training a replacement, I gathered.

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

That's true-- but the whole set up it just seemed even more bizarre than normal, I suppose.

[(Anonymous)]

True, but the whole book had kind of been leading up to him trusting Harry more. It seemed Dumbledore was even more tired and worn out in this book. Also, his almost losing his hand when he went to destroy the ring might have convinced Dumbledore that he needed help. And who better than the Chosen One?

I'm glad someone else saw it as Dumbledore pleading with Snape to kill him! I was talking about it with my mom (she's almost into Harry Potter more than I am)and she was siding with Harry. But later, when Harry catches up to Snape out in the field, it seemed to me like Snape was still trying to help him. Like when he told Harry to cast his spells nonverbally.

Of course I could've been reading things that way because I love Snape and hope he comes out alright. But I'm worried he's going to be the one to die in the next book.