72 days...

[sarahmichelef]

Finished reading Half Blood Prince this evening while I was simmering soup - it was actually only the second time I'd read it. 

• I agree with rufinia that McGonagall is not the spy.  It might be Filch; it might be someone we haven't even thought of yet.
• Snape... I think Dumbledore was right - I think that Dumbledore and Snape had an agreement that S would not let Malfoy kill D.  So S could make the unbreakable vow with Narcissa and still remain true to his role as ... well, Sivellus.
• I think Dumbledore is really and truly dead, but I don't think that he's done influencing events.  He's not going to come back as a ghost, though.  I don't know how it will work.  Also, we haven't seen the last of Fawkes.  He has to play a role in the final battle - his tail feathers are in Harry & Voldemort's wands, for pete's sake!
• How was it not obvious to me on the first reading that R.A.B. is most likely Regulus Black?  Does anybody know off the top of their heads if we know his middle initial?  I will pull OotP off the shelf later and double-check myself.
• The mystery Horcrux (the cup, the locket, something from Gryffendor or Hufflepuff, the diary, the ring, and ???)... I don't know if I buy that Nagini's the seventh Horcrux.  I've also heard the theory that Harry himself is the Horcrux... which would present interesting twists - "neither can live while the other survives".  If H is a horcrux, then they're both gonna die (or I guess H could keep that one part of V within himself, but I don't see Harry as he is at the end of HBP doing that - but obviously he will do a lot of growing up in the next book).
  
• Despite all of this, we have to remember that these are CHILDREN'S BOOKS.  And so I think a lot of people are probably overthinking things.

Comments

[evilnicola.livejournal.com]

Thought just occurred to me:

If we do know Regulus' middle name, it's on the Black tapestry, in OOP. I'd go look myself, but I need to go to sleep for my fricken exams in the morning

[alphasarah.livejournal.com]

Ayup, I checked after I posted last night. It's not. It's just "Regulus Black".

[peregrinning.livejournal.com]

Regulus Black's middle name was confirmed as Arcturus, but that confirmation was withdrawn.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulus_Black

Quoting from what I consider a confirmation that RAB is Regulus Black:
"Support for the theory that Regulus Black is R.A.B. has been gathered from the translation of Half-Blood Prince to other languages. In the Dutch translation of the novel, Regulus Black is called Regulus Zwarts and the initials in the locket are R.A.Z. In the Norwegian edition, Regulus Black is called Regulus Svaart, and the initials R.A.S. are in the locket, while in the Finnish translation, Regulus Black is called Regulus Musta, and the initials are R.A.M. These make the theory that R.A.B. is Sirius's brother quite plausible."
http://www.regulusblack.com/

I think the mystery Horcrux is an object we have already been introduced to. I also think we're going to be given a trail from Horcrux to Horcrux, probably starting with either Kreacher, Dumbledore's brother, or Mundungus, and being "disarmed" by the Weasley brother who is good at curses, that will allow much of the book to focus on the last horcruxes and the final encounter with Voldemort.

We should remember that these are children's books, but we should also remember that the books have been "growing up" with the protagonist, so they are no longer 11-year-olds' books. I think JK Rowling's tendencies towards red herrings, plot twists, well-planned foreshadowings, conservation of characters, and a love of surprises, make the "overthinking" quite reasonable (and quite fun).

[laurakc.livejournal.com]

It's been awhile for me, so remind me: spy? I don't remember a spy. Why do you think there's a spy, other than Snape, who's clearly a double agent?

[alphasarah.livejournal.com]

There has been an argument made, and I can't point you to any links right now, that there must be a spy w/in Hogwarts. The logical first assumption at the end of HBP is that it's Snape, but if we believe that Dumbledore was right about him, then it can't be. There's an essay floating around the net that makes the argument for it being McGonagall, but I'm not persuaded. I'm inclined towards either Filch or some heretofore minor character.

[childsplay7.livejournal.com]

Remember JK also said herself in the interview with the leaky cauldron that these books were never happy - "after all they open with a double murder".

[childsplay7.livejournal.com]

BTW: if you go to JK's site and read the interveiw she give some stuff away - sorta.

[marajade648.livejournal.com]

How'd you get there? did you skip 5? 5 is pretty annoying. I'm about 1/2 way thorugh. I'll be mad if they cut the few good parts of the book from the the movie.
Snape is good. It would make no sense for him not to be. I think the whole hes good at occulemency means he's some how tricking Voldy. My thought is Mrs. Norris is the spy. She's an animagus possibly a relative of Filch's.
Things that will come back in 7:
The mirror Sirus gave Harry
Wormtail's hand
Neville and the prophecy

[alphasarah.livejournal.com]

No, I've just been reading really, really fast. I was way less enamored of 5 this time around than I was the first 2 times I read it. It was way less dark than I remembered it being, that's for sure.

I like the Mrs. Norris theory.
The mirror will definitely come back. Question is, who will have it? Presumably it's still at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place (the ownership of which is still somewhat up in the air - and somehow I had convinced myself that the house issue was resolved in HBP, I don't know why.)
I think that Harry will tell Neville the contents of the prophecy. In any case, Neville will join H, H, and R on their quest for the remaining Horcruxes.

I need an HP icon.