Missive from the Field
HP:DH Chapters 1-6
So basically I have been saying since the end of GoF that Voldie just needs a different wand, but that doesn't seem to do the trick, does it? I hate to nitpick, but it seems weird that they've had Ollivander in captivity for months and only now got around to asking him about the only thing they captured him for. Sad to be introduced to the Muggle Studies professor only to see her snuff it! Madam Burbage, we hardly knew ye!
One of my favorite scenes from the series is the scene in OotP, just before the dementors attack, when Harry and Dudley are walking back home together. They're insulting each other, they're arguing, but they're walking back home together. As a power struggle it always seemed kind of half-hearted, and I just loved the image of them just going along together, no screaming, no punching, no running, just kind of hanging out, sniping at one another without any serious rancor. They're essentially brothers and they just can't change that. It was nice to see a little bit of that again as Dudley realizes that this fixture in his life is really going away for good this time. But then, I'm a fan of many unpopular characters--what do I know?
Also, even the Dursleys realize that Kingsley Shacklebolt is just basically the bomb. Well done, Dursleys.
I love hearing about Dumbledore's past. Also, MORE ABOUT GRINDELWALD PLZ THX. How can Harry have gone through six years of History of Magic and never heard about it? Did Binns die before 1945, so he doesn't know it happened? What? This is another one of those things that I am disproportionately interested in, but seriously. Backstory is everything.
I'm not sure if I believe that Moody is dead, but I was sure that Hagrid was, and oh, George! That's gross! Grow your hair out, man! This may sound bizarre, but I was much, much more shocked that Snape would cast a Sectumsempra at George's head than I was that he would kill Dumbledore. Killing Dumbledore can (for the next twenty chapters or so) always be rationalized in a dozen ways. Actively trying to split open a former student's head is an act of such unavoidable evil that it really took my breath away.
Fleur's dad is Hercule Poirot! Awesome!
Then Chapter Seven opens with the name "Gregorovich" and I, collector of minor character names, go, "Oh no...."
I am now resolved to finish the book today--or at least early tomorrow. I've done this before; there are going to be obituaries and headlines by tomorrow, if not today, and I'm just too tired of working so hard to keep myself from running across things too soon. Which is going to make a long and rather preachy post someday, but not now. Either way: spoilers under the cut, I'm not reading comments until I'm done, etc. etc., and it is going to be so interesting to look back at my predictions and wonder what in the world I was thinking.
So basically I have been saying since the end of GoF that Voldie just needs a different wand, but that doesn't seem to do the trick, does it? I hate to nitpick, but it seems weird that they've had Ollivander in captivity for months and only now got around to asking him about the only thing they captured him for. Sad to be introduced to the Muggle Studies professor only to see her snuff it! Madam Burbage, we hardly knew ye!
One of my favorite scenes from the series is the scene in OotP, just before the dementors attack, when Harry and Dudley are walking back home together. They're insulting each other, they're arguing, but they're walking back home together. As a power struggle it always seemed kind of half-hearted, and I just loved the image of them just going along together, no screaming, no punching, no running, just kind of hanging out, sniping at one another without any serious rancor. They're essentially brothers and they just can't change that. It was nice to see a little bit of that again as Dudley realizes that this fixture in his life is really going away for good this time. But then, I'm a fan of many unpopular characters--what do I know?
Also, even the Dursleys realize that Kingsley Shacklebolt is just basically the bomb. Well done, Dursleys.
I love hearing about Dumbledore's past. Also, MORE ABOUT GRINDELWALD PLZ THX. How can Harry have gone through six years of History of Magic and never heard about it? Did Binns die before 1945, so he doesn't know it happened? What? This is another one of those things that I am disproportionately interested in, but seriously. Backstory is everything.
I'm not sure if I believe that Moody is dead, but I was sure that Hagrid was, and oh, George! That's gross! Grow your hair out, man! This may sound bizarre, but I was much, much more shocked that Snape would cast a Sectumsempra at George's head than I was that he would kill Dumbledore. Killing Dumbledore can (for the next twenty chapters or so) always be rationalized in a dozen ways. Actively trying to split open a former student's head is an act of such unavoidable evil that it really took my breath away.
Fleur's dad is Hercule Poirot! Awesome!
Then Chapter Seven opens with the name "Gregorovich" and I, collector of minor character names, go, "Oh no...."
I am now resolved to finish the book today--or at least early tomorrow. I've done this before; there are going to be obituaries and headlines by tomorrow, if not today, and I'm just too tired of working so hard to keep myself from running across things too soon. Which is going to make a long and rather preachy post someday, but not now. Either way: spoilers under the cut, I'm not reading comments until I'm done, etc. etc., and it is going to be so interesting to look back at my predictions and wonder what in the world I was thinking.