Harry Potter - Half Blood Prince discussion *** SPOILER WARNING ***

[Larry_OHF]

<font color=skyblue>I would really like to hear what the cast thinks about this ending! I am sure none of them knew where movie six would end up until they got their copies to read this weekend. Do any of you think that the cast are freaking out as much as the fans?

~"What? She killed me off? I die in that one?!! Noooooo!!!!!"

~"I get to "snog" throughout the entire first half of the movie! Coool!"</font>

[Ivelliis]

I just had a thought *gasp*

Hogwarts Headmasters are still in the school (think portraits in the Headmasters office), and they act as they were when they were alive, but in 2D, and can only stay in the "picture world".

Maybe we'll see Dumbledore back like this?

[Aragorn1]

His picture was already there when Harry was in there at the end of the book, just before the minister for magic came, IIRC

[Larry_OHF]

<font color=skyblue>Oh yes,,,the picture of Dumbledore appeared in there while Harry was in there. He was asleep at the desk in the pic.

I can easily see Harry sneaking into that office every once in a while to talk to the portrait for advice on how to do this or that.

I read an interview this morning somewhere that said that DD had to be taken out of the story, or else Harry would not have been able to succeed against V. alone. It was a necessary evil to take him out...

I wonder who else will die before this thing is complete? Who else will we lose, if she can so easily take DD out of the scene?</font>

[Larry_OHF]

<font color=skyblue>Oh crap! I just ran into a minor spoiler right from the author's mouth in an interview about book seven. It is what is "NOT" going to be in book seven that is the spoiler. Read on if you desire.</font>
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MA: You said that during the writing of book six something caused you fiendish glee. Do you remember what that was? JKR: Oh, god. [Long silence as Jo thinks.] What was it? It wasn't really vindictive [laughter] – that was more of a figure of speech. I know what I've enjoyed writing – you know Luna's commentary during the Quidditch match? [Laughter.] It was that. I really enjoyed doing that. Actually I really enjoyed doing that. You know, that was the last Quidditch match. I knew as I wrote it that it was the last time I was going to be doing a Quidditch match. To be honest with you, Quidditch matches have been the bane of my life in the Harry Potter books. They are necessary in that people expect Harry to play Quidditch, but there is a limit to how many ways you can have them play Quidditch together and for something new to happen. And then I had this moment of blinding inspiration. I thought, Luna’s going to commentate, and that was just a gift. It’s the kind of commentary I’d do on a sports match because I'm — [laughs]. Anyway yeah, it was that.

[Larry_OHF]

Originally posted by Ivelliis: I'm dying for some information on the final book. Release date, name, anything.

<font color=skyblue>
Here is another minor spoiler, right from Rowling's lips about book seven. I do this for you, man!</font>

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ES: When I signed onto IM [instant messenger] after the book came out, there were at least four or five people whose away messages were, "Give her hell from us, Peeves." Everybody loved that line. JKR: [Laughter] Awww. Well, Umbridge, she’s a pretty evil character. MA: She's still out and about in the world? JKR: She's still at the Ministry. MA: Are we going to see more of her? [Jo nods.] You say that with an evil nod. JKR: Yeah, it's too much fun to torture her not to have another little bit more before I finish

[Aelia Jusa]

Originally posted by Dron_Cah: Does anybody keep wondering how Harry could take on Voldemort? I was just thinking, he's really weak compared to most adult wizards, let alone Voldemort. I'm thinkoing he must get a lot more powerful in the next book, and that Mr. D's death may be something that really drives him to become so.

Well Dumbledore said that if they can destroy all the horcruxes then Voldemort will be a weak shell of a man with only a seventh of his soul left. Possibly Harry and friends will find and destroy the horcruxes before they have to face Voldemort.

I have to say I didn't like it as much as book 5, or 4 for that matter. I found the despair and hopelessness increasingly felt by Harry in book 5, where he was so isolated and everything was going wrong, very compelling reading. And book 4 had the regular peaks of the triwizard rounds to look forward to. With this one, Harry was too happy! He had people to confide in and there wasn't a great deal of sustained suspense that was present in the books 4 and 5.

[Link]

Dumledore also said that Voldemort would still be a formidable wizard, Aelia The upcoming face-off between the two antagonists will be most interesting, I reckon.

[Spelca]

I also expect Harry will get some help from Malfoy. He did feel sorry for him at the end of this book, so he'll probably end up saving him...

[SixOfSpades]

Snape: Annoyingly, Rowling can still turn Snape any way she wants, we won't know which side he was REALLY on (if, indeed, he was on any side) until the very end of Book 7. His actions on the Astronomy tower were heinous indeed, but consider what choice he had: D was obviously a goner anyway, not killing him would have cost the Order their most valuable double agent, and then of course he was bound by the Vow. Then again, the very fact that he agreed to the Vow, before knowing the exact wording, pretty much proves that he was working for Voldemort all along.
But no matter which side he was really on, dollars to donuts says Harry's going to kill him.


D: I'm sure he will still talk to Harry through the pictures, but with a limitation: He cannot give help or information, only advice. (Which is also how McGonnagall gets around Harry's annoying silent treatment.) I am positive that he won't be coming back from the dead or anything: Not only was he killed pretty much three times, but resurrecting him is just too damned cliche. Besides, what we've seen in the whole Potter series is a cycle: Each time Harry reaches a new level of training to become ready for Voldemort, another layer of his protections is stripped away. Thus, it was actually necessary for D to die: So far, we've seen Harry learn how to fight: Now he needs to learn to fight. Not that I think Harry will defeat Voldemort in a duel; as has been previously said, it is love that will defeat Voldemort, not power. And it might not even be Harry: IIRC, Neville Longbottom is still in the running as being "The Chosen One." We might see a flashback to the end of Book I, when Harry, Ron & Hermione got Gryffindor to within spitting distance of the House Cup, but it was Neville who gave them the final push. (So, the final battle is the entire Order of the Phoenix against Voldemort, but the masterstroke is Neville dropping a cauldron of love potion on Voldemort's head from a balcony, right?)
Personally, I felt the events leading up to D's death were just too damn contrived, because he kept making a string of stupid mistakes: Is it wise to take the hope of the world into mortal peril without even reconnoitering first? Why did he have to take the Horcrux away, why couldn't he have destroyed it right there? Did the concept of dipping out some potion and simply dumping it out on the ground not even occur to him? Etc. But Rowling does sometimes make realism play second fiddle to serving the plot: Remember that the main thrust of ALL of Goblet of Fire was a secret plan to make Harry....wait for it....touch an object. It could have been ANY object! A rolled-up pair of socks in Harry's trunk would have done just as well, but noooo, they had to get involved in the most complicated, least reliable plan imaginable.

Hogwarts: Harry said he wasn't going back, and I can certainly see him abandoning his Herbology for some intense dueling practices with Mad-Eye Moody and the other Aurors, but if Rowling says he's taking his N.E.W.T.s, then I guess it's back to Hogwarts, then. Of course, the final battle would probably take place there, anyway.

Horcruxes: I doubt the little gold cup theory: Voldemort would only have that much attachment to some random object that Helga owned if he could get a complete set, something owned by all four of them. What I'm guessing is that one of the Horcruxes is being guarded by V himself (last place you'd look, isn't it?), and another is at Hogwarts: Given V's attachment to the place, at least one must be there, and that's not counting the one that ended up there. The possibility of the Sorting Hat occurred to me, but that hardly sems likely, given what we know of the Hat.

Death: This is not a prediction, because if Rowling actually did kill this person, Lord knows how many of her fans would be pissed, and rightly so. But here's my evaluation: Hermione must die. Think about it: For her entire Hogwarts career (and even previously), she has been out-Ravenclawing the entire House Ravenclaw every time she turns a corner. She's got her setup of Lessons, Studying, Homework and Exams down cold, and she's an obvious shoo-in for Head Girl next year, unless there's someone out there who got straight O's on her O.W.L.s. Also, whenever anyone is urging Harry and Ron not to do something stupid/brave, it's (practically) always Hermione. Those times when she does find herself doing something heroic, she usually got there through either peer pressure or sheer dumb luck. Therefore, she clearly belongs in Ravenclaw, and almost as clearly does not belong in Gryffindor. Yet the Sorting Hat put her in Gryffindor. Therefore, she's going to have to perform the ultimate act of bravery, one that can overcome all of her Ravenclaw tendencies and make her a true Gryffindor: She's got to sacrifice herself to save Harry and/or Ron.

[ 07-22-2005, 01:55 AM: Message edited by: SixOfSpades ]