PixyJunket

Also, I don't think anybody has brought this up yet.. but did Harry's last meeting with Malfoy really hint that he may become more of a force to be reckoned with in the next books? Up to now he's really just been more or less a little bully.. but I'm really starting to think that he's going to dig deeper and might actually be something that Harry might have to pay closer attention to, as opposed to being a side annoyance to all the other stuff going on.

hotaru_san

I'm not sure about that.

I think Harry's response to him may be more important....now that Voldie and the Death Eaters are back, lil' Malfoy seems like less of a threat.

Either way, it should be interesting to see how the children of Death Eaters will be treated in the next book.

sherm42

As for Kreacher telling where the headquarters of the Order are, Dumbledore specifically states that Kreacher was unable to give any real information because he is magically bound to obey Sirius and not to reveal what they considered to be important information. Kreacher was only able to give small bits of info that didn't seem important that would be used against Harry. Such as the fact that Harry considered Sirius to be his family.

sherm42

My wife and I were discussing who should be cast in the role of Professor Umbridge when/if they get to filming Order of the Phoenix.

My choice: Judi Dench

PixyJunket

Sherm, that's great.. very good.

hotaru_san

even though she's not British...

sherm42

Kathy Bates would be good, but I just can't picture her with an English accent.

silentbob007

I believe that since Dumbledore is the secret keeper of the location of the headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix, no one can learn of its location unless he tells them. This is why Harry had to be shown the letter from Dumbledore before he could see the house. Thus, Kreacher would not be able to give the location away, but he could divulge other tidbits ....

Tom Banjo

Yeah, that's who I was picturing the whole time, too. Although now I think Judi Dench might be better.

Hobgoblin

Judi Dench does not look EVIL enough to be Umbridge.

Hemulen

What about Helen Mirren?

Kal-El

Too tall. Umbridge was short and chubby.

Hero

I'm with you PalmerJoss. Not only did i feel the book was too long, the driving force of this book was a bit lame.

He-who-let-the-boy-live's sole purpose in the book was to obtain the prophesy? why not just kidnap Trelawney? i mean, it was a spy that SAW trelawney talk to dumbledore about the prophecy... Dumble knew what V wanted, why not get Harry to destroy it and end this pointless rat race? all those manning your post, all that work seemed to have been useless...

Book 4 really left me with a feeling that big things were going to happen. All that was killed w/ umbridge and the ministry. Plus harry was an ass through and through which made reading 500/780 pages fustrating.

I'm disappointed in Cho, which sucks b/c JKR made her really hot in the other books. i wanted kristin kreuk to play Cho Chang as well.. sigh.. thanks a lot jkr

all the characters all seem very static which was also annoying. i'm disappointed that B.L. (iforgot how to spell her name) escaped w/ V. I wanted Neville to rip her limbs off.

J.K.R. has a good sense of humor though I must admit. that was a pro for the book.

sherm42

For Trelawney, I felt that Voldemort was simply not able to get to her. She lives deep inside the castle and we all know that Hogwarts is a very well protected school. It's unlikely that Voldemort could get to her without an all out physical attack by him and the Death Eaters on the school itself. In addition, Dumbledore seemed very eager to let her stay in the castle after she was fired. Maybe he didn't want her to leave, in case she was taken by Voldemort.

As for the book, it seems to me that the series is a paralell to World War 2. References to a second war coming, Centaurs represent people who stood by and did nothing as others were persecuted because they felt it was not their problem, The Ministry represents governments in Europe who refused to believe that Hitler was a threat. Who knows, maybe the next book will have the Ministry trying to appease Voldemort and his followers.

While this book didn't have a central theme(a chamber, a stone, a tournament), I did feel that it was important to the overall story arc and it really did have some great character development.

Nefarious

I think they end up together. I think Rowling left a clue in OOTP.

I believe it occurs when Harry is plotting to get into Umbridge's office to use the fire the first time. Hermione is saying no and then Ron says it's his choice. It says something about Harry deja vu'ing back to Mr. & Mrs. Weasley in the kitchen at Order's headquarters.

I think she's slowly building their relationship.

Ron's dad's love for muggles.
Hermione & Ginny are close like sisters.
Hermione telling Ron to ask her first next time and not as a safety.
Ron gets steamed anytime he thinks she interested in Viktor or anyone else.
They bicker like a young couple developing

Nefarious

If I recall, when she goes weird on Harry in book 3...she has no clue what she said or did. If she's clueless when she actually does do a prophecy because some spirit takes hold or what have you...then she would be useless to Voldemort.

I think Dumbledore had her stay just to spite Umbridge.

Hero

.. on the locked door

.. on the arch

that's it for now

hgar78

just finished last night...my thoughts:

first, anyone else curious how neville's and harry's parents twarted V 3 times? has it been said and i just forgot?

also, anyone else believe that harry is also dumbledore's equal? (or eventual equal). that by the time he's done training and working a little that he'll be the one the wizarding community admires so much and who they look to for answers. possibly be the next hogwarts headmaster? perhaps that's also why D has put so much love and attention his way, because he recognizes it in him?

as for many thinking harry'll be the next DatDA teacher--i don't think that'll happen at all. D made it clear that he never wanted to burden harry with the truth since he had so much else to deal with so i don't think he'd ignore the huge weigh that the position would require and appoint harry. plus he's still a student. he'll probably incourage them continuing with the DA but i think that'll be that. i don't think that the possibility of harry becoming the teacher after hogwarts is outta the question but i don't think it'll happen until post-training.

ginny and harry an eventual couple? i think it's a big possibility. (ron's hated her other choices but i think he'd be fine with harry). also, i don't think it's a stretch to think he and hermione might end up together eventually. just have to wait and see...

i really thought going into the book that hagrid was the one who was to die. then when he started getting injuries and being absent most of the book, i really thought it'd be him. i was sad to see that it was sirius but i think i would have cried had it been hagrid.

i was really expecting an explanation about that veil, too! anyone else?

hgar78

i don't know about you, but at that age, i was the worst to those who i loved the most! i had mood swings like that and i took it out on my parents big time! i am often ashamed of how i acted during my "growing pains" years because i was unbearable to those around me but they took it because of their love for me. i think this is exactly what's happening to harry. (plus JKR has teenage children that are probably at this stage now to allow her first-hand experience!)

as for those angry that umbridge got off scot-free, i don't think that'll happen. i think she'll be present in the next book to finish up that storyline. D isn't the type to punish those like her, i think it's enough for him that she was embarrassed and ejected from the school. who knows how the ministry will deal with her when it's reveled that she sent the dementors, tried to do the C-curse to a student, and attacked mcgonagall so mercilessly. i think she'll get what she deserves in the end. maybe trelawney'll have a go at her.

CloudsMountain

This has crossed my mind, though, I think that Harry will be stronger in some ways, else Dumbledore would be able to kill Voldemort. It would be cool to see Harry as Headmaster though, I think that'd be much more fitting than an Auror.

For some reason, I'd rather see Harry and Hermione together than any other way. But sadly, because of all the clues, I think it's leaning toward Ron and Hermione. Unless, of course....Ron dies...?

jjamesc

I just looked this part up in Chamber of Secrets. Turns out that it was Ron who made the statement, much to my surprise as I too was thinkinkg that Hagrid had said it. Here is the quote that deals with this, when the kids are at Hagrid's hut and Ron is burping up the slugs:

"It's a discusting thing to call someone," said Ron, wiping his sweaty brow with a shaking hand. "Dirty blood, see. Common blood. It's ridiculous. Most wizards these days are half-blood anyway. If we hadn't married Muggles we'd've died out."

J

CloudsMountain

Good eye, jjamesc. I think this became confusing because Hagrid was the one to explain it in the movie, but Ron explained it in the book.

Another thing that differs between the book and the movie. At the end of Chamber of Secrets, when Hermione is fully cured and she runs back into the great hall to meet up with Harry and Ron, in the movie she hugs Harry but then shakes Ron's hand. Apparently something different happened in the book, because they mentioned in the commentary that they changed something. (I don't have CoS with me at the moment)

But, I thought that the commentary said that they did this to build up the future romantic scene between Harry and Hermione. ??? But, as of yet, I haven't read any of this in the books.

Blade

Well, I think the prophesy was a bit of a McGuffin, or put another way...it was just an excuse for moving the story along, and it was the characters and what their actions revealed that was the important thing.

I thought the book did a wonderful job at showing just how insidious evil can be. Without doing much of anything, Voldermort nearly got Dumbledore thrown into Azkaban, and Hogwarts was started down the road of being turned into a useless institution (practically speaking).

As for Trelawnly, I think the more interesting question is how do those little prophesy things get made? And was one created for Trelawnly's second prediction? I think this scene could also be interpreted to mean that because she doesn't think of Harry romantically, she felt comfortable hugging him, but since she's emotionally conflicted about Ron, she only shook his hand...and since the movies are based on the books, I think it has to be seen this way as they will (likely) be diverging dramatically from the books otherwise when Ron and Hermione get together.

------------------------------------

Does anyone else find Snape's actions a little ironic? He was bullied by Harry's dad when they went to school, but now, as a teacher, he supports a student (Malfoy) who bullies other students. I'm finding Snape to be a more and more interesting character and look forward to seeing how Rowling develops him in the remaining two books.

Easy

He doesn't just support a student bully he is a bully himself. He picks on anyone in Griffindor any chance he gets - but particularly Harry and Neville. Funny he should pick on the two kids who had the potential to become Voldemort's nemesis.

CloudsMountain

I think, while Snape is hard on Harry, I think it's because he feels a bit intimidated by him. That and the fact that he had a rough past with Harry's father.

Snape is actually one of my favorite characters. I was hoping that he and Harry would become closer through Occlumency lessons, though that didn't happen.

I hope that we find out why exactly Dumbledore trusts Snape so much.