Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince-SPOILERS!!!!

[Greatwyrm]

I like the idea of Harry being the last horcrux and I think there's reasonable evidence to support it. At various earlier times, Dumbledore discusses Harry's scar, ability to speak Parseltoung, and see Voledmort's thoughts. The recurring explanation is that when he attacked Harry's parents, he left a portion of himself in Harry. Dumbledore also believed the snake Nagini was a horcrux, saying it would be dangerous, but possible, to make a living creature into one.

I think Dumbledore wasn't pleading for his life, but asking Snape to kill him to both protect Snape's undercover position and to give Draco a chance at redemption. As rotten as Draco is, he was being blackmailed into the whole thing, through threats to his parents.

I like Harry's slow descent into the Dark Side, similar to Luke Skywalker in some of the fiction after RotJ. Hary is becoming more and more comfortable with using the Dark Arts. Sure, it's when the chips are down in a big fight, but he repeatedly tries Snape's slashing spell and Crucio against Snape.

I do think Snape was trying to tip off Harry about what he needed to be able to do to defeat Voldemort. Harry may have a lot of raw power, but you can't inherit experience. Snape could have dropped Harry at any moment and isn't in the habit of doing anything out of the goodness of his heart. Instead, he comes right out and tells Harry what he needs to learn.

I think I actually could buy Snape's remorse. Maybe he always had a thing for Lily? In Snape's memory, she was the one who told off James for dangling Snape upside down. They could have both had a gift for potions. For all his hatred for James and his crew, we really never hear Snape trash Lily or really even talk about her at all. The knowledge that what he told Voldemort led to Lily's death could have been too much for Snape.

Idle speculation for book 7:

--Harry sets off on a vigilante quest. The Ministry, who he's already told off, think he's trying to help Voledmort and come after him, probably led by Percy Weasly.

--Absolutely everything hits the fan at the Dursley residence after Harry turns 17. One or more Dursleys held hostage or killed.

--Neville, despite himself, grows into being a real bad motha (shut yo' mouth) (just, talkin' 'bout Neville).

--Grawp will meet a very unpleasant end, trying to protect Hagrid from another giant.

--Dumbledore will not be out of the picture, literally. He'll show up regularly in various portraits, offering his opinions, just as other former headmasters do.

--No matter what evidence of Snape's true nature surfaces, Harry will kill him.

 

[Desdichado]

I'm also kinda miffed that Lupin didn't come out of the closet like I expected he would.

I've seen a fair amount of that online, but I don't know where the expectation came from. I haven't seen even a tiny hint of it to blow up into a full-blown prediction, but all over the place I'm hearing people complain that a Lupin/Sirius Black gay relationship didn't materialize. I mean, what are the foundations for this speculation?

 

[Desdichado]

I like the idea of Harry being the last horcrux and I think there's reasonable evidence to support it. At various earlier times, Dumbledore discusses Harry's scar, ability to speak Parseltoung, and see Voledmort's thoughts. The recurring explanation is that when he attacked Harry's parents, he left a portion of himself in Harry. Dumbledore also believed the snake Nagini was a horcrux, saying it would be dangerous, but possible, to make a living creature into one.

I don't think it makes any sense, though. Voldemort was clearly going to the Potter residence to kill Harry. Unless you want to posit some kind of accidental horcrux creation (and I've seen folks posit just that, but frankly I think it's unlikely to the point of being absurd) I don't see how it came about.

A key piece of evidence--which we're still missing, by the way--is the momentary flash of triumph on Dumbledore's face when Harry describes Voldemort getting out from under the protection that Harry obviously had against him. That would surely help clear up exactly what the nature of the obvious bond of some kind between the two of them is.

--Neville, despite himself, grows into being a real bad motha (shut yo' mouth) (just, talkin' 'bout Neville).

Nice one.

--No matter what evidence of Snape's true nature surfaces, Harry will kill him.

I have a funny feeling that Harry isn't going to kill anyone. He'll defeat Voldemort, but the Big V will die because of his own pride and/or foolishness, I think. Themes like forgiveness, mercy, compassion, etc. are central to the entire series. As are themes like corruption, guilt and whatnot from acts of violence.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

Actually, it's implied, but not stated that Quirrel has been the DADA teacher before and is returning.

I stopped by a bookstore on lunch to see if I could figure out just what was said. Hagrid says that Quirrel took a year off to get experience and then came back. Quirrel introduces himself as the DADA teacher, but doesn't say "new" or anything. He isn't introduced by Dumbledore at the first dinner, which is a break from the other books. I couldn't find the first reference to DADA teachers lasting only one year - it probably happens later in the book.

So all we know for sure, unless someone can find a better reference, is that Quirrel was at Hogwarts, left for a year, then came back as the DADA teacher. What he taught before is up in the air, though its plausible he took the year off to get experience in hopes of becoming good enough to become DADA teacher, or getting Voldemort stuck on his head helped him with getting the post.

 

[Uzumaki]

I've seen a fair amount of that online, but I don't know where the expectation came from. I haven't seen even a tiny hint of it to blow up into a full-blown prediction, but all over the place I'm hearing people complain that a Lupin/Sirius Black gay relationship didn't materialize. I mean, what are the foundations for this speculation?

I'm not active in the HP online community, but, I dunno, it just struck me that they'd be involved. Maybe it's the combination of history they share; both being "closeted" about other things, Lupin's a werewolf, and Sirius on the run; and both being dog-type Animagi. Just what I thought, but I guess I was wrong. Oh well.

 

[stevelabny]

I'm coming down on the Snape-still-ain't-evil side.

Dumbledore's pleas reeked of begging Snape to continue playing the villian.
Hopefully he can do something to prove his worth in book 7 to help make up for how lame he looked in the OotP flashbacks. The fact that we still have no idea why Dumbus trusted Snape means it will have to be discussed in book 7, and is therefore important. If it has anthing to do with an unrequited love for Lily, it is incredibly silly that we STILL know nothing about her.

Book 7 better be LOOOONG. There's way too much stuff to do.

Now there's THREE people on the evil side that will either take a bullet for the good guys or cross over. Draco has proven to NOT be evil, just a jerk and possibly a coward. Snape is definitely up to something. And Wormtail still owes Harry and Ron, and if he doesn't take a bullet for Ron in book 7, I will be extremely ticked off.

I would LOVE to see one of the good guys join Voldemort to balance the scale, but absolutely none of them have been pointed in that direction.

The tedious flashbacks were sure a long, complicated way to say "Voldermort has split his sould into 7 pieces, in order to defeat him, we must first destroy the other six pieces." Would have been better served to trim these down in favor of something else.

Ron and Hermione were all but absent from OotP and here their relationship seems to take a giant step backwards. Or at least we ignore the subtle progress the two of them have made in favor of making everything brutally obvious so the nimrods who kept thinking Hermione would wind up with Harry could buy a clue.
Seeing Hermione playing stupid make-Ron-jealous games was just bizarre. I know she is prone to crying fits when upset, but she has never shown signs of being this ridiculous.
As much as I missed them in the last book, they were really irritating in this book. Not sure why they've become lame secondary characters instead of relevant important pieces of the story.
Harry and Ginny got their big kiss, while Ron and Hermione looked like idiots. Whatever.

And don't even get me started on the continued lack of importance given to Neville and Trevor.

But hey, let's shoe-horn in a relationship between Tonks and Lupin. That won't be too out-of-place and forced.

There was less comedy in this book than the others, the pacing continues to be wonky, and the best line went to Fleur? (what the? you KNOW you did something wrong when the best line goes to a 5th-string character)

RAB is most probably Regulus, as it gives us a clue to check the house, to check Mundungus, etc etc.

The last two Horcruxes? I've always said I thought there was more of a connection between Voldemort and Harry, but I don't think this one makes sense with Death Eaters trying to kill Harry.

 

[Desdichado]

There was less comedy in this book than the others, the pacing continues to be wonky, and the best line went to Fleur? (what the? you KNOW you did something wrong when the best line goes to a 5th-string character)

What good line did Fleur have? I personally liked Harry's response to Snape, when Snape was trying to remind him how to address a professor.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

I don't think it makes any sense, though. Voldemort was clearly going to the Potter residence to kill Harry. Unless you want to posit some kind of accidental horcrux creation (and I've seen folks posit just that, but frankly I think it's unlikely to the point of being absurd) I don't see how it came about.

I think, given the information we have now, that you're right. However, I could see a circumstance arising from a combination of factors that could lead to it occuring in a manner that Voldemort did not anticipate.

 

[stevelabny]

"I am good-looking enough for the both of us I theenk! All these scars show is zat my husband is brave!"

This is a stand up and cheer kinda line.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

I thought there were a lot of good lines. Harry's reiteration of being a Dumbledore man, through and through, at the funeral, was another stand up and cheer kind of moment.

Overall, I liked this better than OoTP. I thought that Harry (in particular) was beginning to understand things far better than in the past. He was making connections, asking better questions. He was clearly showing that he had leadership skills beyond merely being "the boy who lived." He was showing he was more than the result of a freak occurence.