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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - Discussion *Spoiler Alert*

Ice said:
Ok - I've started a new topic for the discussion of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. This way those who haven't read the book yet can avoid any spoilers :)
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Your so kind! :D I'm on page 60 ;)

Jennifer said:
Well, I've finished it. I won't spoil it for anyone, in case a raving type hunts me down... But it's better than the fifth one. And I may be really stupid but I didn't guess any of what happened.
Now I just have to wait about a decade for the next one..
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I heard that this is the last book she is going to do so yes you probably may have to wait a decade for if she does another book! :D
 
JK Rowling said on her official site that she planned to take a number of months off to spend time with her children. I don't anticipate her even putting pen to paper until well into the new year. And if she gets writers' block again, that could push everything back.
 
Apparating

Just finished the book, loved it. I was just wondering one thing--if Dumbledore's enchantments went poof! at his death, then why did the Death Eaters have to run outside the school to appararate? I thought maybe the enchantments were older and more permanent than Dumbledore, but remember when Harry and Dumbledore were flying into the school, Dumbledore was hastily cancelling some of them--and also, he temporarily cancelled the ones in the Great Hall while the students had their classes.

I would think that upon Dumbledore's death, a whole lot of enchantments and such suddenly shutting off would cause all kinds of problems!

Anyway, as I said, I love the way the series is headed. The next book is gonna be one meaty read.
 
K-Dawn said:
Sorry, I didn't want to read nine pages worth of stuff right now so I don't know what's already been said.

Anyway, does anyone else feel sorry for Malfoy after reading hbp? Not just because Harry almost kills him or because Harry catches him crying in the bathroom, but because it seems like the only reason he's on the dark side is because of his parents. They are pushing him to do something that he really doesn't want to do. He was supposed to kill Dumbledore but he couldn't; Snape had to do it like he promised. I think Malfoy really could be good if he hadn't been born into a pro-Voldemort family.
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I thought so too but then he was the one that let the death eaters into Hogwards. Dumbledore would be safe if it wasn't for him.
 
*~EMMER~* said:
I thought this one wasnt as well written as the others. I prefered the mad, shouting harry to dumblodores golden boy who is always perfect and has the perfect girlfriend and the quidditch captain and the teachers pet i mean come on, there was loads of action in the first 5 books, this one was fairly boring apart from the horcruxs. Even dumbledores death was boring. It was malfoy first and you could see him weakening, becuase he didnt want to kill DD. then the deatheaters come out and they are all telling him to kill him. and to be honest i still thought he wouldnt do it. the snape comes out, walks over to him and POP hes gone. it was poorly written. you had no idea it was going to happen then and it suddenly did. She could have drawn it out longer so that you were fearing for DD life. Or some sort of bigger impact later on harry like with sirius when he shouts at everyone.
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I think the book wasn't boring...it was sad!
I don't think I would've been able to stand it if Dumbledore was dying longer( :( If I started crying at the drinking potion part, what do you think would happen if Dubledore was dying longer? At the end of the book , I would be swimming in my tears.
Well we all have different opinions. :)
 
Can someone PLEASE answer this(and give a good explanation)
Why did Snape make the Unbreakable Vow and why did he kill Dumbledore???
I know that Dumbledore is a very powerful wizard and he wouldn't trust Snape without a good reason, but then why did he plead??? I thought the pleading part ruined the whole dying effect. If he trusted Snape, why would Snape kill him???
I think about this every single day so can someone PLEASE answer. :( :( :( :(
 
Hadn't thought of the implications of DD's death on security at Hogwarts and Grimmaud Place! That's a whole new can of worms: is McGonagall up to the task of recasting those spells? Who would? Moody?

Harry is definitely going to begin his next adventure at GP: comes of age, he gets the "keys to the house" and he needs to look for RAB horacrux, and that two-way mirror should definitely provide some surprises and perhaps an appearance for Sirius after all ...

As for Snape, I think the explanation has been offered in several posts, but here's another try: Snape turned away from Voldemort and cast his allegience to DD because Voldemort killed Lily Potter. He knows Harry and Voldemort are tied together by the prophecy, which stays his hand from attempting to kill Harry during entirety of their relationship. The Vow is pretty much straightforward: with Bellatrix LeStrange there, he has no choice but to go through with it or lose all credibility with Voldemort and any chance at helping get revenge on Voldemort. That need for revenge may override loyalty to DD; don't know ...

What we also don't know is how independently he came to this decision: had DD divulged some secret about his health or is the Order of the Phoenix basically sworn somehow to hold the mission against Voldemort higher than the lives of any member? If that were an Unbreakable Vow, too, he certainly had no choice but to kill DD. DD's pleading is not clear, but Snape was really in no position to hesitate. It's very possible the pleading was somehow for Harry's benefit.
 
Oberon said:
Hadn't thought of the implications of DD's death on security at Hogwarts and Grimmaud Place! That's a whole new can of worms: is McGonagall up to the task of recasting those spells? Who would? Moody?
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I think that Hogwarts is ok, I remember from one of Hermione's Hogwarts a History talks that Hogwarts is protected by tons of ancient spells (from the pre-Dumbledore era) that protect apparation ect. ect. but, if Dumbeldore temporarily lifted them, and all his other spells that he had casted died with him then maybe the temporary lift also died with him. Meaning that the old enchantments were returned from his overriding. Also someone asked then why did the Death Eaters run from Hogwarts grounds to apperate, even if the enchantments were still removed after Dumbledore's death, they had no way of knowing this.

Oberon said:
The Vow is pretty much straightforward: with Bellatrix LeStrange there, he has no choice but to go through with it or lose all credibility with Voldemort and any chance at helping get revenge on Voldemort. That need for revenge may override loyalty to DD; don't know ...
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I like this theory alot, this also fits with the theory that Lily was good at potions because of Snape's assistance. (I think that Lily's natural talent was charms, although if she is as smart and intelligent as everyone makes her up to be, she would have gotten the hang of anything pretty quickly).

Oberon said:
It's very possible the pleading was somehow for Harry's benefit.
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I would love to know why you think the pleading was for Harry's benefit. What lesson did he learn from this besides iniciating a deeper hate for Snape? If your theory about the Unbreakable Vow to Dumbledore is true, why were all the other members of the order so passionately angry with Snape's actions?
 
h_carnahan said:
I would love to know why you think the pleading was for Harry's benefit. What lesson did he learn from this besides inciting a deeper hatred for Snape? If your theory about the Unbreakable Vow to Dumbledore is true, why were all the other members of the order so passionately angry with Snape's actions?
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I reread the last part and have to agree (and disagree with myself) that the pleading was strictly for Snape, DD was prolly dying from whatever it was he drank and he wanted Snape to finish the job. Not sure I'd say everyone was angry with Snape, tho. Hagrid found it hard to believe Snape did it ... (I haven't read through the funeral, however, so I'll get back to this.) It's possible know one was aware of DD's UV with Snape, if there was one.

The descriptions of Snape loathing Harry are tricky to interpret: is he just BAD? or does he not have much faith that Harry can get the Job done? He seems justified in the latter ... Harry seems to be vulnerable to Legilimency or however that is spelled. Snape knew what spell Harry was going to invoke before he did it. Harry must get better! He needs to learn how to cast spells without speaking and get the occlumency (sp?) to block others from reading him. Neither Snape nor DD have prepared him for this, or so it seems.

If Snape is not on Harry's side, I can't begin to believe Harry has much chance of stopping the Death Eaters, save to die and take Voldemort with him. That is just not a satisfactory end to this series.
 
Triniti said:
Can someone PLEASE answer this(and give a good explanation)
Why did Snape make the Unbreakable Vow and why did he kill Dumbledore???
I know that Dumbledore is a very powerful wizard and he wouldn't trust Snape without a good reason, but then why did he plead??? I thought the pleading part ruined the whole dying effect. If he trusted Snape, why would Snape kill him???
I think about this every single day so can someone PLEASE answer. :( :( :( :(
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Someone else has said somewhere (and I thought it was a very good point) that the argument between Snape and DD in the forest which Hagrid overheard was actually Snape saying he didn't want to go through with the unbreakable vow and DD saying he had to. Snape is the Order's greatest weapon because Voldemort trusts Snape, so DD was prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice. I think he felt ready to hand over to Harry anyway "I feel safe, I'm with you" etc. So when he was pleading with Snape, he was actually saying "kill me".

(Loving your signature Oberon - that's cool! :p )
 
Oberon said:
If Snape is not on Harry's side, I can't begin to believe Harry has much chance of stopping the Death Eaters, save to die and take Voldemort with him. That is just not a satisfactory end to this series.
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I can agree with that. Snape is a twisted person, and while we all knew that last book, I don't think anyone realized just how twisted he is until now. I sort of feel bad for Snape. Why did Snape reveal that he was the Half Blood Prince, that sort of came out of nowhere and it seems like something that he would want to gloat on for a long period of time not just spit in Harry's face.

Why is Wormtail living with Snape??? This really threw me off. Another thing, I can't remember and don't have the opportunity to reread the book right now, but did Draco run off with the Death Eaters? If he did, why did they not shun him out? Draco said that his family will now be killed because Snape executed Dumbledore not Draco, even though Dumbledore is dead?
 
Yeah, Draco's with the Death Eaters. Who knows what will happen to him. Snape swore to protect him, so if Voldemort moves to kill Draco, I'm guessing Snape will have to interfere.

I think Snape is truly loyal to Voldemort. Why else would he make the Vow? He is regarded higher than the other Death Eaters, so he could've easily come up with a good excuse not to make the Vow and still look good in front of Voldemort. He could've said: "I won't do anything without my master's permission," if he was really for the Order, or else: "This is Draco's test. I can't interfere."

I think Wormtail might be living with him because Voldemort arranged it. It didn't appear as though Wormtail had a home until then. Although even then it looked like Wormtail was Snape's servant, which is another possibility.
 
It seems like one of the great mysteries of the series is whether or not Snape is good or bad. Rowling has a lot to fit in the last book. I do not know how she can possibly tie up all the loose ends in one final book.

As far as the HBP goes I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I will not compare it against the previous 5 books as I thought they were all good and each book just built on the previous.
 
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