Kal-El

I'd hold off on those predictions a tad guys. We don't even know if Harry survives the last book.

FreshOne

Actually thats exactly what he says, I don't have the book with me right now, but I remember it clearly. In Chamber of Secrets, after Malfoy calls Hermione a mudblood, she doesn't understand what that means and Hagrid explains it to her and Harry (obviously Ron knew what it meant since he tried to curse Malfoy and ended up puking slugs). While Hagrid explained it he said no one was a "pure" blood anymore, since wizards had to mix with muggles to avoid extinction. I believe he said something like "no one is more than a quarter blood these days". I can't remember how much of his speech made the movie either, which kind of screwed the whole scene up cuz Hermione already knew what mudblood meant and she was bawling. Anyway, thats the explanation of the whole pureblood thing. I think the distinction is important because it makes the prejudice of the death eaters and others more ridiculous since they themselves aren't really even "pure". Another interesting note, Voldi is a half breed which he condemns much like Hitler had brown hair and brown eyes. I'm sure there are and will me more similarities and parallels since I think it's one of the more important themes of the series.

hotaru_san

Yeah, although we found out about Fred and George's scores at the end of PoA.


Kal, I know that J. K. said that he might not survive, but making predictions doesn't hurt anything either way and I think it's entertaining.

I honestly don't think she'll kill him off, but I could wrong. But it's still entertaining to guess at what she might have in mind for Harry and the rest of the group.

Blade

I really need to get out my other books. I remember the trial, but I thought the parents were gone before V's last attack. Absolutely.

Freshone, I'd have to read the book again to be sure about your second point, but all I was trying to say was that most (or all) people were mixed blood vs. half blood as you said in your post. It's a minor point, but living in Hawaii, there's a lot of mixed blood racial background here, and we also have terms for people who are half of one race and half of another ("hapa") which isn't really used for people who are 1/4 of one thing and 3/4 of another.

I really need to get the other books out and reread them again. I'm getting old and my memory seems to be going on me.

CloudsMountain

As far as predictions go, I think there's more a chance that Dumbledore will die than Harry. I was actually afraid that that would happen when Dumbledore and V-Voldemort *shudders* fought in the Ministry. It made me uncomfortable when it said that Dumbledore sounded scared at one point.

I think Dumbledore knows in a way that there's a good chance that he'll die, since Harry has to be the one to kill Voldemort. But, I really hope Dumbledore doesn't die. I really like him a lot, obviously.

Mr. Cornell

Bleh, I posted my response to the mudblood question in the old non-open thread.

It seems clear to me that Harry can't die, since he is destined (according to that prophecy) to fight with Voldemort until one or the other dies, and somehow I can't see J.K. Rowling killing Harry off and letting Voldemort rule the world forever since these technically *ARE* children's books and as such ultimately require a happy ending.

With regard to the pureblood families, these are the families we know for sure are pureblood right now: Fudge, Crouch, Black, Malfoy, Weasly, Lestrange, Nigellus, Snape, Longbottom.

Of these families, the Crouch and Black bloodlines are now terminated, since the last of these families died without generating any offspring. The Lestranges obviously have no offspring, having been in Azkaban until the most recent book. We also have no idea if Cornelius Fudge has any kids, or if he is even married. The Potter bloodline was pureblood until James married Lily, or so we are led to believe by Snape's Worst Memory(tm). Severus Snape of course is pureblood, again based on his Worst Memory. Poor Neville is also a pureblood, something which as been mentioned several times in several books.

CloudsMountain

I hate to bring this up, but I was just seeing what everyone thought about Harry's relationship with Hermione. I've been secretly hoping that they hook up, but that has yet to be eluded to in the novels. I was kinda glad that Harry's date with Cho fell through, but it seems that Hermione is hung up on Viktor.

Ron seems to have more of an interest (romantically) in Hermione than does Harry. Ron got mad at Hermione when she went to the ball with Viktor, but it just doesn't seem right if they ended up together.

I know Rowling can't ignore the fact that Hermione and Harry are being paired off together, and I doubt she'd do anything with it until the next or final book, I was just seeing who thought they should end up together or if they should keep pursuing other romantic interests.

hotaru_san

I don't think that Harry and Hermione have any romantic feelings for each other- it's Ron and Hermione that seem interested in each other. Hermione also acts frustrated with Ron when he doesn't show an interest in her (like when he complained about his choices on who to ask to the Yule Ball). I don't think that Hermione has any romantic feelings for Krum, I think she just sees him as a friend.

I used to be against the idea of Harry and Ginny getting together, but now that it's been shown that she actually has a personality, I would like to see them get together.

I'm glad that Cho made such an ass of herself, hopefully we won't here much more from her.

goLUCKY

Personally, I loved Dumbldore knocking everyone out and escaping, when the Ministry of Magic was goning to arrest him for his "Army". I thought it was a perfect example of his power.

I'll totally miss the Weasly twins. They played a hugh role in this book, and I hope that they show up from time to time. Their leaving is a very memorible one.

I seemed to notice that Ron seems to want Harry and Ginny to become a couple.

PalmerJoss

Am I alone in feeling disappointment with the book? I thought it was much too long, almost like there was no editing on the book. I didn't like Harry at all throughout the entire book--it was almost a completely different character than what we've seen. And yes, I know he's 15 and going through the usual "growing pains" but I've never met a child that age who suddenly did a 180 like Harry did between Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix. I also didn't care a bit when Sirius died, who had been my favorite character up until now. I just hope J.K. Rowling can get her ****** together for the next book, because after finishing OOTP I just couldn't care less about the next book.

CloudsMountain

I really enjoyed OOTP, it's second only to Goblet of Fire in my opinion. Though it was long, it went very fast, so I didn't mind.

I don't really understand why Harry was so irritable. I thought he stepped out of line when he started getting mad at Dumbledore, and then Hagrid. But, maybe there's some relevance in the future. We'll just have to see, I guess.

I didn't like seeing Sirius die (especially since I'm a big Gary Oldman fan, and I hate seeing him get a fairly small part in the movies). But, there's gotta be some reason he died, because there were plenty of other dispensible characters.

hotaru_san

Harry went through a lot at the end of Goblet, witnessed a death, the return of Lord Thingy , found out that the "bad guy" had been helping get through the tournement....he went from being at the center of the action to hearing basically no news. That seems like enough to puch any kid over the end, especially one of that age.

I didn't like Harry through the whole book either, but when I think about myself at that age I'm not thrilled with a lot of the choices I made, and his choices are a whole lot more important than mine.

He's been through so many times of most people at school hating him (thinking he's the heir of Slytherin, thinking he's stealing Cedric's glory, thinking he's insane). In addition to that, he's famous for living when his parents died- that combination could hardly make for a well-adjusted child. It was a tough year for him in a lot of ways and I think he learned a lot. I think that the point of Sirius's death may have been to jolt Harry out of this teenage self-pitious funk and make him have a more grown up understanding of the world. It may have taken the death of my favorite character and the breaking of the majority of Dumbledore's belonging, but I hope that book 6-7 Harry will be more mature thanks to his experiences.

Hobgoblin

My gripe is that Umbridge gets away scot free without a scratch in the end. After building her up to be supremely hateable, the author lets us down by letting her go free.

She sends dementors after Harry and then tries to do an unforgivable curse (cruciatus) on him, for which she should be getting jail terms in Azkaban. Will be interesting to see if that happens in the next book.

Tom Banjo

Speaking of the the cruciatus curse, does anyone think that in the next book there will be some repurcussions from Harry using the spell?

hotaru_san

I don't know. He didn't get in trouble when Fudge arrived and he hasn't admitted it to anyone. But the fact that he tried should probably mean something to him and may become an issue in the next book.

I was upset that he tried it, but I couldn't blame him. I'm glad that he didn't try avada kadavra on her, it was also nice that it didn't work- the fact that his anger was not the type that would allow him to use the curse effectively was good to know. I think it was important to show that as upset as he was, he's still a good person and even though he tried to do something "bad" he was too good to pull it off.

Hobgoblin, I wasn't upset that she got away without being hurt. Hopefully she'll always have a fear of anything that sounds like a horse and all the trouble everyone caused for her was very funny. I think it's important to show that most of the characters may enjoy picking on their enemies, but they are still nice people...and it's not like Azkaban would probably be doing well with the dementors on Lord Thingy's side, having her there might even turn her to the death eaters since she's already so messed up.

Abranut

Rowling was hinting at this like crazy toward the end of this book. It's only a matter of time before these two get busy.

Hobgoblin

Hagrid's character has become very irritating in this book. His fondness for monstrous creatures used to be amusing but now it has become annoying. Dragging an unwilling giant to the forest and tying him up was the last straw. I wish Rowling had killed off Hagrid rather than Sirius.

hotaru_san

I'm pretty sure that the point of the death was for Harry to learn a lesson- the lesson of not bringing home gaints did not need to be taught to Harry. Hagrid's death probably would have been his own fault.

Harry risked his life because he thought he was rescuing the closest thing to a family member he had. Hagrid also risked his life for family. This is a man who seems to need family, he treats Dumbledore like a respected father or grandfather and seems to enjoy spending time with the trio and may seem them as a bit of an extended family. He hasn't had much contact with giants and probably has a desire to learn more about that part of his family, with his mother gone, his half brother was the closest he could get. I admit that he was being stupid, but his brother did turn out to have some good in him.

PixyJunket

Harry & Ginny! Harry & Ginny!!

Man, I've always thought they should hook up since book 2. When I was reading OotP, the inital parts with Stank Ho really annoyed me, espically when they kissed. What's with this girl?! "Ooh no my boyfriend died I need dick ooooooh Harry *snuggle snuggle*".. grr.. glad Harry kicked her to the curb.

Really enjoyed the book, but maybe not as much as 3 and 4. I was really getting irritated that my favorite character had appeared in 2 pages in the entire first half of the book. Of course he only appeared in a few more until THE VERY END, but everytime he did show up he took care of bidness like he should. Dumbledore rocks.

Sirius' mirror at the end was almost a tear-jerker, but I do agree that as reader's we were not attached to Sirius enough to have a huge impact on us, in fact, when Hermione was hit with that purple flame spell I freaked out a lot more.

There are still some unexplained things though.. we are still unclear as to what happened with Snape, and I'm hoping he as a character, and the background as to why Dumbledore puts much faith in his is a big point in the next books. We still have unexplained things about Hagrid from the first book too. I have a feeling I'll want to re-read the series (again).. and hopefully I can pick up on more things that were opened but never detailed upon in the early books.

ricwhite

I really don't know why so many people think Harry and Ginny will become romantically involved. I guess for many it stems from the fact that Ginny had a pre-teen crush on Harry which, by the way, is long over. Ginny has not shown any signs of extreme attaction toward Harry since that time.

As for Harry . . . He has never shown any kind of interest in Ginny. That's not to say that it won't happen, but there are very few "clues" to this thus far. So since there is little evidence for this, I guess it's just "hopeful thinking"????

Also, some people have suggested that Harry and Hermione will be romatically involved. I have never seen any sign of this at all. They are good friends, and I guess it's possible that can turn into romance, but it surely is not evident at this point. Even J.K. Rowling suggested such when a reporter suggested that Hermione and Harry might become involved. Rowling got a really confused look on her face and said "really?" And then suggested that Ron and Hermione is more likely.

hotaru_san

She has hinted at the possibly of Ron and Hermione, but I haven't read anything to suggest Hermione and Harry would get together.

As far as Harry and Ginny, yes she doesn't have a crush on him, but that seemed like a pretty childish crush considering her age and the fact that she was too shy around him to really get to know him. Now she talks to him and has shown that she really has an interesting personality.

I'd just be happy to see him with someone who really cares about him as a person and not as "The Boy Who Lived." He's already like a part of Ginny's family and she doesn't turn on him like most of the school. Whether he ends up with her or not, I'm just glad he's not with Cho.

Hobgoblin

Also, Lucius Malfoy knew thru Kreacher where Sirius was hiding and that the order of the phoenix was assembling at Grimmauld place. So why did not he tip off Fudge?

Also I think that Percy will go so far opposed against the good guys, in the end his massive ego will not allow him to acknowledge his mistakes. He will have no choice but to join you-know-who.

What happened to Marietta in the end? Was she cured? Was she wearing the hat at the train station to hide her face? It was very satisfying that she had got what she deserved. Just like what happened to Rita Skeeter was very satisfying in Goblet. If only Umbridge had gotten something similar...

hotaru_san

There's still twwo books left for Umbridge to get what she deserves.

I'm not sure what to think about Percy. It does seem unlike him to admit that he was wrong.

I don't know about Marietta, it seems like Madam Pomfrey should have been able to eventually cure her, but Hermione is pretty talented so there could have been lasting effects.

I'm sure Lucius had his reasons...maybe because Black was with the order and not with the Death Eaters...maybe Kreacher was not able to give out the address of Grimmauld Place.

CloudsMountain

I doubt that Kreacher gave the full whereabouts of Sirius. Kreacher was very loyal to Mrs. Black, so I doubt he'd want to let the Death Eaters into the place. But, I may have missed something.

I think Percy is gonna do whatever Fudge tells him to do, though it would be interesting to see him become a Death Eater.

I hope that Harry continues with the D.A. next semester, though I hope Cho and Marietta stay the heck away.

I keep suspecting that Neville has a big part to play in the future. He started off as just a forgettable friend, but now is becoming one of the stronger characters in the story. I think the D.A. is helping him (and everyone) out in a very good way.

PixyJunket

Please, before this book came out I had to be one of three people that thought this!! But seriously, I think it's a possibility.. Ginny's personality REALLY developed in this book and it's becoming quite clear that's she's the kind of chick that takes charge and takes what she wants. Now that Harry threw Stank Ho to the curb, Ginny's probably hiding in the grass waiting for her chance to strike.. oh yes.