I tend to agree with everyone though that snape is still good and working for dd - the chapter at the beginning detailing his taking of the unbreakable vow with narcissus would be much to obvious otherwise.

I definetly hope that the finaly hourcux isn't harry though as that would pretty much require him dying at the end of the series which isn't the direction I hope things take.

I'm still a bit confused though about the hbp thing, I could swear I remember reading that harry finally discounted it as being his dad because the book was 50 years old - wouldn't that also discount snape though b/c he was at school at the same time? (or am I misrembering some direct reference to snape having to buy used books or something like that)??

... looks like their be trying to fill the Defense Against the Dark Arts position again (that is if the school reopens).

I thought that the book Snape used was a hand me down from his mother (Eileen Prince)... and since he was proud of mother being a full-blood, he took the moniker "Half-Blood Prince" and labeled his book with the same phrase.

If Harry had cast Avada Kedavra on Snape when he was trying to chase him down, would Snape have been able to parry it? I thought that spell was unblockable. If he didn't have to power to kill him he could of at least knocked him out with it. I agree that All signs point to Snape still being on DDs side.

I hope Neville gets to lay a smackdown in the next book. He's good with plants, maybe he can lead an army of ents :-)

why did Dumbledore immobilize Harry? He could have easily taken out Malfoy.

Also, I see the last book being entirely dark and faster paced. For the same reason SilentBob said, this will be a bit dissapointing. Without the usual Hogwarts routine the 7th book is going to so out of place compared to the other books.

I too think Snape is possibly still good. I can also see Malfoy, being ridiculed for not finishing the job and being affected by Dumbledores goodness to end up helping Harry. My ideal ending for Harry would him becoming a teacher and eventually Headmaster of Hogwarts, with Ron and Hermione also becoming teachers there -- definately won't happen though.

I'm assuming it was so that Harry wouldn't interfere when Snape did what he had to do.

Interesting theory but I don't see how that could work. In the first book Dumbledore says on page 299 "Your mother died to save you.If there is one thing Voldemort cannot understand it is love... Quirrell, full of hatred, greed, and ambition, sharing his soul with Vouldemort, could not touch you for this reason. It was agony to touch a person marked by something so good."
Hopefully, there is a certain degree of logic maintained in these stories. If Quirrell couldn't touch Harry because of the protection of his Mother's love I don't see how a slice of Mr. Evil's soul could exist in Harry concurrently with his Mother's love. It defies logic (within the context of the story). So the way I see it, Harry couldn't possibly be a horcrux.

I think helping Harry from the grave could be as simple as a needed item or bit of information being buried with DD. DD need not come "alive," in any form or fashion to assist Harry. He could have left something behind, that with him being buried at Hogwart's, will assist.

I just finished this book tonight and while I enjoyed it overall, have to agree with whoever said it left an empty feeling. There was good character build up, some great scenes, but something left me unsatified.

Part of it is that the tone never matched the writing in my opinion. This was supposed to be a dangerous time, people living in fear, but I never felt that come out of the writing. At school, the children can enjoy some peace, but there should have still been a sense of danger and it never occured for me.

Also, while I can understand leaving behind some of the everyday practices that we are now familiar with, I did want some areas expanded more. Snape always wanted the DADA jobs, and got it, and ... we get barely anything out of the trio's experiences in his class. For him to be the HBP, and Harry to rely on so much of his knowledge, there should have been more interaction between the two. As someone else mentioned, I have a feeling we are yet to find out just how powerful Snape is, and just how knowledgable he is.

I was also disappointed by the big reveals in the book. Snape was my obvious choice for the HBP once the book was loaned to Harry. As for Dumbledore being the death, the chapter titles gave that away. My wife finished first and made a comment about Harry possibly not returning which confirmed my suspicions of DD's death (DD not being around was the only reason I could see Harry staying away from his home).

I also think Snape is on DD's side and helped DD plan the attack. In fact, DD may have known that leaving when he and Harry did would spark the beginning of the plan unfolding. He was very quick to silence Harry and get to the cave. He may have known that night was the night things would happen (possibly already knowing about the cave and its defenses, the need for Harry and the potion's possible effects).

I think I know what it is that made Dumbledore trust Snape so much.

I think Snape was in love with Lily Potter. When he found out he was responsible for her death, he was overcome by grief and guilt.

The books have all made several references to how much everyone loved Lily. I mean everyone. Slughorn fawned over her. I think even Sirius and Lupin have mentioned how everyone loved her.

I also remember an interview where JK was talking about one of her favorite scenes from the Prisoner movie where Lupin and Harry are talking on the bridge and Lupin talks about how he knew Lily and how she was there for him when no one else was. Those lines are not in the book and JK said that scene forshadowed something that would happen in the last two books. Lupin seemed to almost have had feelings for Lily in that scene.

Also, the fact that James ended up marrying Lily only probably increased Snape's hatred of James.

In addition, in Book 6 Harry makes what I felt was an odd comment at the end in the hospital wing. After Lupin stated how much Snape hated James, Harry says that Snape also did not think much of Lily because he called her a Mudblood once. It's a small comment that seems out of place unless JK is setting something up for the next book.

If Dumbledore were to somehow know of Snape's love for Lily, he might have seen something in Snape's behavior that made him trust him. Maybe Snape was going to kill himself for what he had done or something.

Anyone agree/disagree?

Phoenix Lament

As for the tone not reflecting the writing, I don't know what else Jo could have done. There were 2 attacks at Hogwarts before the ruckus and there was constant mention of peoples' family members getting hurt and the resulting withdrawl of students from the school. Just because it didn't affect the trio + 1 permanently (Ron did get cured), doesn't necessarilly mean it wasn't dangerous.

Does anyone else see a similarity between Snape's situation, assuming he is still working for Dumbledore, and Holden's, in the comic Sleeper by Ed Brubaker? Both are working undercover for the enemy. For both of them, only one person knows the truth to their true mission. In Snape's case, Dumbledore is dead, and in Holden's case, the only man who knows the truth about him, Lynch, is in a coma. Leaving both Snape and Holden "Out In the Cold" to borrow a title from Sleeper. I'm not saying that Rowlings is ripping off Sleeper, I just thought it was interesting how similar both Snape and Holden's situations were.

It's a definite possibility, but I hope she never goes there. I'd hate to see my favourite character's motivation for such a life-changing and dangerous decision to defect and become a spy for the good side at great personal risk be because he 'lurved some girl'. It's such a cliché and I'd hate to see Snape reduced to something so trite.

Plus, it just makes Snape seem like an even bigger loser; being in love with some chick who'd never in a million years feel the same way about him and who happens to marry his arch nemesis. He's a big enough loser without adding a whole nother layer of wretchedness on an already shitty and pathetic life.

I was lucky enough to not have the book spoiled for me by websites or people talking about it. I enjoyed the book a great deal, but I can honestly say that knowing it was Dumbledore that dies would have tainted that enjoyment.

Book 7 is going to be amazing, I hope. It also, I hope again, should be the longest of the series. She has a lot of questions and loose ends to tie up before the final confrontation with Voldemort.

I'm also leaning with othres that Harry is somehow a horcrux. It would make sense. In book 1, the sorting hat wanted to place him in Slytheran saying he would do well there. As I understand it, your house placement seems to follow what your parents and/or sibblings were in. Both James and Lily were in Gryffendor. Also, Harry is able to speak parseltounge. And then add in the fact that Harry was able at one time to feel/sense and hear thoughts of Voldemort when he was weakened.

I too think that Snape is still on the side of DD. We have the argument in the forest taking place. And the fact that when Snape does kill DD, DD doesn't pleade or beg for his life. He simply says Severous, Please. I think that Snape was forced into the Unbreakable Vow to keep up pretenses. I think in that meeting in the beginning, he was fishing for info on what the mission was. And was reluctant to make the Unbreakable Vow, but did so to placate Belletrix.

In the end of the book, when Harry was running aftre Snape. I feel that Snape was showing his true loyalty. He could have easily stopped and/or killed Harry. However, all that he did was deflect Harry's curses and offer him veiled help. He told Harry to shut his mouth a number of times. Could that be a key to defeating Voldemort? Harry's mastery of spells via not speaking?

I also think that Draco will redeem himself and come to the aid of Harry. We know that Lucious is in prison and on Voldemorts short list because of the failure with the diary. Also, with Draco not being able to kill DD, he has to be in fear. Which is why I think Snape hurried them out of the tower.

If Draco doesn't aid Harry in some way, he will be one of the most boring characters in the book with nothing at all interesting about him.

I don't believe that Dumbledore is coming back. He is dead. But don't forget that his portrait is hanging in Hogwarts now. So he may be able to help Harry that way.

Yes, the evidence still points heavily at Snape being on the good side. It will be interesting if we find out why. The Lily argument does have some weight, IMO. It would be kind of cool if Snape got Draco to be a double-agent too. They could both pretend to be death-eaters, while still working for the OOTP.

- Snape still is working for DD. I wouldn't be surprised if he had made an Unbreakable Vow with DD to do as he asked. The fact that DD just said "Serevous, please" and that he forced Harry to watch the scene helplessly only confirms that the stage had to be set for the final showdown. As mentioned before, Snape could have easily disposed of Harry during the chase at the end. He said to leave him for the Dark Lord as a ruse so the other Death Eaters wouldn't bother with him.

- House Elves. I think both Dobby and Kreacher have a large role to still play. Kreacher, possibly to help with Harry finding the R.A.B horcrux, and Hobby, as the ever loyal servant. When I saw the initials, I also thought of Black.

- As far as Sirius is concerned, I know JKR has always said "the dead remain dead", but we never saw a body. I'm still not convinced he's gone.

- I was a little irritated by the Lupin/Tonks love story. Unless this gives us something significant for book 7 I didn't understand the reasoning for the side story.

- Ginny and Harry. The end seemed kind of Spiderman like - "I can't be with you because the enemies will find you." DD said that love is the only thing that separates them from evil... he should use his feelings for Ginny, Ron, and Hermione in that regard.

-Bill. Anyone else think Bill might have a larger role in Book 7 now that he may or may not be a werewolf?

- Longbottom's going to have to be a protagonist in Book 7. With virtually no role in Book 6, I hope JKR is setting him up for something good in the future.

This is from an interview with JK:

: Was Dumbledore planning to die?

JKR: [Pause.] Do you think that's going to be the big theory?

MA & ES: Yes. It’ll be a big theory.

JKR: [Pause.] Well, I don't want to shoot that one down. [A little laughter.] I have to give people hope.

MA: It goes back to the question of whether Snape is a double-double-double-triple-

JKR: [Laughs] Double-double-quadruple-to-the-power-of - yeah.

MA: …whether this had been planned, and since Dumbledore had this knowledge of Draco the whole year, had they had a discussion that said, "Should this happen, you have to act as if it is entirely your intention to just walk forward and kill me, because if you don't, Draco will die, the Unbreakable Vow, you'll die," and so on —

JKR: No, I see that, and yeah, I follow your line there. I can't — I mean, obviously, there are lines of speculation I don't want to shut down. Generally speaking, I shut down those lines of speculation that are plain unprofitable. Even with the shippers. God bless them, but they had a lot of fun with it. It's when people get really off the wall — it's when people devote hours of their time to proving that Snape is a vampire that I feel it's time to step in, because there's really nothing in the canon that supports that.

ES: It's when you look for those things —

JKR: Yeah, it's after the 15th rereading when you have spots in front of your eyes that you start seeing clues about Snape being the Lord of Darkness. So, there are things I shut down just because I think, well, don't waste your time, there's better stuff to be debating, and even if it's wrong, it will probably lead you somewhere interesting. That's my rough theory anyway.