Harry Potter!

[gothikmaus]

I finished it today at work (thanks isiscolo for that link) and I must say it's my favourite book of the series so far.

A few comments, in no particular order:

• Snape: throughout most of the book I thought he was going to die. At first I thought it would be Lupin, because of a series of totally innocent and unrelated LJ posts I had interpreted in the wrong way. I'd seen a post in lupin_snape that started with "THIS HAS THE BIGGEST SPOILER OF HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE!" and instantly thought "Fuck! It's either Snape or Lupin going this time." I also thought I saw a post with "how could JKR do that!" but I can't find it anywhere now, so that was probably my imagination. Then a fic post in pervy_werewolf that said "Lots of angst" and I was sure it was going to be Remus the one to die. But then, as I read on, I was more and more convinced it would be Snape because: a) Remus was nowhere to be seen, just mentioned here and there and b) what with all those allusions regarding Snape and death? If you break an Unbreakable Vow, you die; no DADA teacher lasted more than a year after Voldemort's last visit to Dumbledore etc. It may be a little too obvious, but I was still worried. And in chapter 29 I was totally expecting Snape to step between Draco and Dumbledore and die. When he said "Avada Kedavra" I couldn't believe my eyes! But I'm glad both he and Remus are still alive. And of course I believe he did that because he was following Dumbledore's orders. I mean, JKR can't be that mean.
  
  Also in Spinner's End there's no mention of Snape being greasy. But I found it quite funny that, as soon as Harry PoV is back, so is the greasiness.
  
  
• The Half-Blood Prince: months ago I thought it may be Lupin, because JKR said in an interview that Lupin was a half-blood. But I wasn't really convinced. Then when Harry got the Potions book I was sure it was Snape, because who else would know that much about Potions and all those tricky little curses? When we found out the book had been printed 50 years before Harry's time I suspected the Prince might be Tom Riddle, but JKR had said he wasn't. So I assumed that maybe the book had been Riddle's and Snape had got it second hand because he couldn't afford a new one.
  
  
• Tonks/Remus: a lot of people thought it was rushed and pointless, but I found them really sweet. What can I say, I have a soft spot for unrequited love and "I'm too old/poor/dangerous for you, you deserve better" kind of scenes. Also Tonks/Remus is one of the few het pairing I enjoy, along with Snape/Lily. And Lily being very good at Potions? Mmh, do I smell bunnies?
  
  
• Snogging: I swear I'd never seen the word "snog" repeated so many times in a book. Everyone was snogging everyone! It was like reading a PG-13 fic, yay!
  
  
• Voldemort's memories: I think Dumbledore showed them to Harry for more than one reason. To help him find the Horcruxes, yes, but also to better understand what made Voldemort the thing he's become and how different from him Harry is, even if their past histories are quite similar. Also, reading the last chapter, it occurred to me that he may have shown him those memories to make him understand that Snape isn't really evil, after all. Because yes, like Harry pointed out, there are similarities between Snape and Voldemort, but there must be something there that, if interpreted the right way, will open Harry's eyes. But of course Harry will be blind and want revenge. Perhaps Hermione will be able to see.
  

Well, that's it for the moment. I've read some wonderful comments and theories and added a few to my memories if you're interested. I'm particularly excited about Regulus and the locker at Grimmauld Place and the possibility that Mundungus may have smuggled it.

And now, let's wait for the fanfic and fanart to start flowing. I've just read a wonderful Snape/Lupin fic by arionrhod that took my breath away. Aww.