Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince: preliminary commentary

[cygna_hime]

OMG SPOILERIFIC!!! SPOILERS FOR EVERY IMPORTANT PLOT/CHARACTER POINT BEHIND THE CUTS!!!!

Comments

[etrangere]

YES ! I knew someone else would think RAB is Regulus *goes off to actually read your post*

[etrangere]

All right, overall agree a lot with your feelings about the plot, the ships, and the backstory

I knew Snape had to be the Half Blood Prince from the moment we read the name within the chapter, that was pretty obvious. And a brillant move to make Harry teach from Snape indeed. Beautiful irony.

And I adore JKR for doing this with Draco, she actually finally made me enjoy reading about that character, by going through what was the only thing I ever found interesting in him, his connection witht he Blacks and with Snape.

I may be the only one who honestly, truly believes that Dumbledore was requesting Snape kill him
Goodness isn't that the most obvious thing of it all ? If JKR wanted to have Snape turn traitor, she would have done it in book 7, not there.

[cygna_hime]

Mwahaha! I feel vindicated!

This is really the only interesting Draco I've ever seen. I want so much to see fic about his conversations with Moaning Myrtle. That's got to be #2 on the 'Best Things We Didn't See' in my book. (#1, of course, is Regulus stealing and destroying the locket.)

I'm seeing people running around, though, saying, "See? Snape is evil! See?" I don't know how to explain to them that what Harry thinks happened isn't necessarily right.

[artyartie]

Oh, I'm so, so glad you're done! I looked at my f-list and was thrilled to see you'd finished. And from there

[kiraya]

Mmmmmmm, you make me think dangerous, very interesting thoughts... I'm almost tempted to brave the treacherous rapids of the Harry Potter fandom now, instead of just dipping my toes in. :P

I may be the only one who honestly, truly believes that Dumbledore was requesting Snape kill him, but I do. The kind of man Dumbledore was would do that. He was probably dying anyway, and he...he wanted Snape to do it, so Draco wouldn't have to.

I never, ever would have thought of that in a million years, but... damn. It makes so much sense, really. Same, as I said previously, with the Regulus theory. You, my dear, are a genius. ^..^

I do hope J.K. does more with Draco in the next book, though, because... well, I love what she did with him in this one, and it'd be a waste if she abandoned him now. With the addition of little things like his hesitation to kill Dumbledore and his crying in the bathroom, she's changed him from a straight-up antagonist into much more of a grey character. I really want to see where she takes him from here...

[cygna_hime]

*bows* Not a genius, just obsessively devoted to the grey areas of character. And Regulus.

The HP fandom scares me. I'm going to start with the genfic outskirts, where it's marginally safe.

Surely Harry will run into Snape and Draco again! Otherwise, it's...untidy. He has to be forced to see that these people he's hated aren't as bad as he thinks they are. He's been forced to deal with them (Snape especially) every year so far. Surely JKR won't break that pattern?

If she does, I will just have to fic it myself.

[kiraya]

He has to be forced to see that these people he's hated aren't as bad as he thinks they are.

Yes, yes, yes! There's no question that, for Snape at least, Harry's been even more unfairly prejudiced since learning about the whole messy relationship between him and Sirius and James... and I'm sure Dumbledore's death hasn't made him any more rational about the man. I really want to see how she sorts it out between those two. And Draco... the more I read of him, the more I start to think that a part of him's only really doing all this Dark wizard stuff because it's expected of him.

Surely JKR won't break that pattern? If she does, I will just have to fic it myself.

Hear, hear!

[cygna_hime]

With Harry and Snape, it's like...they both have this wall put up between them, that keeps them from being logical about each other. With Snape, it's his desire to see Harry as James Junior, mediocre and arrogant. Harry's, though, is I think more dangerous. He has always refused to see Snape as anything but evil and untrustworthy. That refusal has been doing harm all six books. That refusal got Sirius killed, and now Harry will certainly not think of what Snape did in the terms that lead me to think of it as the lesser of two evils.

They have *got* to meet. Harry has *got* to get smacked upside the head with Snape and Draco not being unmitigated evil. Draco, I think, didn't know what he was truly being groomed to become until this book, and now he knows, I think he'll never become it. He can't. He doesn't have it in him, the way Regulus, perhaps, didn't have it in him to do the last thing Voldemort ordered of him. Harry *must* see that.

The fic, it is calling me...

[ayasugi_san]

Adding my name to the list of people who were desperately trying to recall Regulus's middle name at the sight of R.A.B. It actually took a little while for that to sink in (right around the time when they mentioned not being able to find an R.A.B.), but after that

[trede]

What I believe: Lupin and Sirius were in love, which is why Tonks was so upset at every mention of Sirius after his death. She saw that her chance for Lupin was open, but she was overcome with guilt knowing how much the two 'Rauders were in love. Lupin, meanwhile, is bisexual, and he's now turning to Tonks for comfort. Tonks knows she can never replace Sirius in Remus' heart, but she vows to be there for him anyway.

:D

*hides*

[ayasugi_san]

I thought part of the romance read a bit like fanfic
Which part? I thought all of the romance read like a fanfic, just fanfic of differing qualities. A lot of it came too quickly to digest completely the first time through. Though, it's better than all of them coming during the huge climax and conclusion; that would have been far too out-of-place to be forgiven.

No matter which side he's on, you gotta admit that Snape's one amazing actor.

Not going to throw tomatoes (not that interested in pairings), but I will watch them fly. It's a special bonus show that comes free with the release.

[ayasugi_san]

Yeah, the whole Ron/Hermione situation reminds me of that CCS fanfic I keep ranting about. At least in HBP, there's more going on. That's what really distinguishes it from most romance fic; the world doesn't stop just because they're mad at each other.