Our latest contest winner is Becky, who correctly answered our "How Fast Can Harry Find Himself in Trouble?" question. Becky, a Sly gal, will be receiving two skeins of truly Slytherin green Wakiki yarn by Crystal Palace. Good job, Becky!
Another question, perhaps a little easier, will be coming this week. Stay tuned...
I had a few thoughts after re-reading Half-Blood Prince.
1. Is Dumbledore setting up his own death? I was just a tad-bit hysterical at finishing H-B P and found a LOT of comfort in the website Dumbledore Is Not Dead (now called "Beyond Hogwarts") when the book was first released. Even after J.K. assured us all he IS dead, I've gone back to that site to remind myself that maybe Snape isn't, oh, I don't know, the scum of the earth and there is some crucial reason to Dumbledore's death.
I realize, Dumbledore had to go, he was the last adult protecting Harry from his inevitable final meeting with Voldemort. There's no one left in Harry's life who he might look to for guidance; I get it, Dumbledore couldn't be in the seventh book (though maybe, just maybe, he is... just maybe).
But did Dumbledore mean to die? On my last reading, H-B P seemed littered with signs he was putting all the pieces into place, giving Harry all the necessary tools for Harry and the Order to carry on after he was gone. (Of course, now I can't find any of them easily, but they're there, I swear it! ;-)
2. Is there a chance the final showdown, we'll call it, between Harry and Voldemort happens at Hogwarts and not Godric's Hollow? Or that Hogwarts will play a bigger role than any of us, or I, at least, expected? In "Lord Voldemort's Request", Dumbledore says,
"'Voldemort was, I believe, more attached to this school than he ever has been to a person. Hogwarts was where he had been happiest; the first and only place he had felt at home.'
Harry felt slightly uncomfortable at these words, for this was exactly how he felt about Hogwarts too.
'Secondly, the castle is a stronghold of ancient magic... he [Voldemort] may have felt that there were mysteries still to be penetrated.'" ( H-B P American edition, p 431)
I can't help but think that, even though Harry won't be going back to school, he will end up back at Hogwarts in Book 7.
3. Even if, and I really hope this is true, Snape IS on the side of the Order, is he a "good guy"? I have some sympathy for him after what J.K. revealed of his youth in OotP, but I can't bring myself to like him even a little. Yes, I love Alan Rickman, and it's hard to hate him in the movie, but when I read OotP and H-B P, I'm reminded of what a small, petty, nasty character Snape is, not only to Harry, but to almost everyone- Neville, Hermione, Ron. Can all that cruelty be part of his double-agent role?
Just some questions/concerns/comments. Getting to the end of Book 6 suddenly made the release of Deathly Hollows seem so much more crucial and, therefore, so much farther away. When will the 21st of July get here?!
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3 comments:
Nr 1.
I thought so too, Dumbledore knew or planned the whole thing! And my god, I cried probably just as much as Hagrid, luckily I was home alone :)
And about Snape, I think it is obvius , Voldemort must have put a curse on the job he wanted to have but didn't get thanks to Dumbledore. Is the english phrase: defense against dark forces or what ?
I really hope he still is on the "right side" it isn't his fault the job was cursed.
I have read all books in swedish but I don't think I can wait for the translation this time :)
Love the audiobooks, you can have Harry Potter with you everywhere you go even when you go to sleep. But be warned, you can't imagine the strange dreams you get for listening to Harry Potter when you sleep...
You know, I really do *want* to be sympathetic to Snape. I want him to turn out good. When I read about how James and his little band treated him, I get angry at them and think they were all bullies and jerks. But that was years ago and Snape hasn't gotten over it. And that's what bothers me so about Snape. And that he takes it all out on Harry who isn't James. It doesn't seem to me that all Snape's harassing of Harry could be only a front for his double-agent role. As a double agent he could have acted indifferently Harry and his friends, he could grade them harder than others, But he wouldn't have to be cruel to them. That just is so childish. He doesn't act like a grown-up should act. So, like you, I just can't seem to like him either.
Remember that Snape was forced into a binding promise to take over the task given to Draco Malfoy, even though he didn't want to make the promise. That task turned out to be killing Dumbledore. Yes, I think Snape has a part to play - and I'm wondering if Harry's aunt (his mother's sister after all) doesn't have a role to play too...
Booked my copy, got my cloak out of the wardrobe, all ready for launch night... But at the same time I'm dreading it!
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