HBP: Chapter Thirty

[amanuensis1]

Warning: Do not post any comments here if you have read beyond chapter 30 of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

This is the discussion post for Chapter 30 of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (and for all chapters prior to chapter 30). SPOILERS are expected to be contained in these comments for all of these chapters--though not for

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[nosinabook]

*closes book*

*heavy sigh*

Well I was right about the identity of the HBP...but man, what a ride.

The Dumbledore bits were incredible, and so many questions finally answered...but I guess they had to be, and perhaps we should have predicted as we read that Dumbledore would die, since he gave up every bit of information and moved on to the 'realm of shaded speculation.'

The fact that Dumbledore was wrong about Snape (and that Snape was, at the time, the one who left forever and also the one who overheard the prophecy) had been speculated by Moon and I but I would never have guessed that Snape would be the one to kill Dumbledore. But then, Snape had to kill Dumbledore cos of the vow; he knew though, what that was going to mean. So the question remains, what about the vow, if anything, did Dumbledore know, and did that affect what happened on the Astronomy tower? What exactly was it that Snape said to Dumbledore to convince him so utterly of Snape's integrity? How much did Dumbledore orchestrate? More answers, and more questions...

The flashbacks to the convos was brilliant, moon...I agree totally. And best line in the books so far, with out a doubt is "I am not worried Harry," said Dumbledore, his voice a little stronger despite the freezing water, "I am here with you." Best. Line. EVAR. Harry truly is Dumbledore's equal, at least in Dumbledore's eyes. He can draw strength from that in the battle to come.

Frankly, the shipping bored me. Tonks and Lupin was just meh and poorly timed in light of the tragic death of Dumbledore, as was Tonks' pink hair at the funeral. Tacky. The rest was just dumb, though Fleur ended up to be less of a twat than I pegged her for.

I pity Draco. He, like so many before him, finally realises what price he has paid to be a Death Eater. I think, not unlike Regulus, Draco realised too late what he was getting into. Was R.A.B. Regulus Black, and will Draco follow further in Regulus' footsteps?

I look forward to a new Hogwarts-free style, less formulaic. I thought there would be more 'war' than there was; I guess she is saving that for the final book.

The wait for book seven begins....now.