HBP Thoughts
I'm just going to type this thoughts as I have them while I'm reading other posts so I won't forget them...(and I'm editing this post as I have new thoughts, so forgive me for it showing up on your flist more than once)
1- I think Harry is likely to be one of the horcruxes. I'm not sure if it was deliberate or inadvertent on Voldemort's part...but the more I think about it, the more I'm pretty certain it was deliberate. Maybe he didn't set out to kill Harry when he was little. Maybe he set out to instill a part of his soul in him...murdering James would provide the blood sacrifice necessary to do so (which might be why he told Lily she didn't have to die). It would have been the ultimate defense against the prophecy...believing that Harry was the one prophesied to kill him, by instilling part of his soul in Harry, he may have ensured that the only way Harry could ever kill him was for Harry to destroy himself in the process. It would explain the link between them (and that link existed BEFORE Voldemort took Harry's blood to restore himself to full power, as evidenced by Harry's "vision" at the beginning of book 4). It would explain Harry's parseltongue ability. It would explain his strength at defense against the dark arts, too, probably. Also, if it turns out that Harry is a descendant of Godric Gryffindor...then in Voldemort's mind, Harry would be a relic of the 4 founders. So, the remaining horcruxes would now would be the locket (Salazar's), the cup (Helga's), something of Rowena's, Nagini, and Harry (descended from Godric Gryffindor). As for why Lily's blood protection kicked in...it may be that the spell would have killed Harry...turned him into something like an inferi. In any case...it's interesting to think about. (Mr. Intel and Magnolia Mama have since pointed out that in CoS, Tom says he poured some of his soul into Ginny, so it looks likely that she will be a horcrux...don't know if that punctures my Harry theory, or if they might both be one).
2- I think Dumbledore was asking Snape to kill him to protect Malfoy...I think they had some kind of prearranged agreement, hence Snape entering the unbreakable vow to Narcissa
3- I think the phoenix Harry saw rising as Dumbledore's body was enveloped in flames will show up in book 7 and may actually be Dumbledore
4- I don't think H/G is sunk, and even if it is, I'm still glad it happened
5- I REALLY wish we'd had a chance to know what Dumbledore was seeing as he was drinking the potion.
6- Oh, and I was actually a little surprised by the development of Draco. I was thinking that Jo had indicated he wouldn't be redeemable in one of her interviews. Am I wrong, or did she pull a fast one on us, or will Draco turn out to be a ungrateful little git and wind up embracing his Deatherness with relish?
7- Rosmerta being the one that passed the necklace to Katie occurred to me pretty early on...but there was something at the end of the book that I didn't see coming but I'll have to look it up now and I'll post it when I remember it.
8- I'm willing to bet money that RAB is Regulus Black.
9- Something I wondered about. If Voldemort created the first horcrux while he was still at Hogwarts...his diary (and I think it likely that he did, rather than returning later to do it), who provided the blood sacrifice? Who did he murder in order to create it? Would Myrtle count? I tend not to think so, since it was the basilisk that killed Myrtle. Instead, I think maybe Tom killed someone else with his own hands...someone we haven't found out about yet. I think the bloody axe that Harry found in the Room of Requirement may have had something to do with it.
10- Oh, I also forgot to mention that I thought it was really cool that JKR named one of the character Demelza, because Demelza House Children's Hospital is the name of Dan Radcliffe's pet charity. It was also amusing to find Ron being called Rupert by Slughorn :)
11- Ooh, I just thought of something else. Ollivander is missing! Raise your hand if you think that Voldie kidnapped him to craft a special Sooper!Sekrit!Wand with ultra new powers guaranteed to wipe the floor with Harry?
more later...