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RC0813 - great link!! Thanks.</p>
<p>Sorry, Reeses, I did not understand what you were getting at with your question. I subscribe to the theory that Dumbledore planned his own death (not just faking it) far enough in advance that Snape did not have to hesitate when taking the third vow near the start of the book. I like the idea that Albus knew he was already dying after drinking the potion and he saw a way to accomplish a number of things by having Snape administer the coup de grace in front of the Death Eaters. That also explains why he wanted Harry to bring him only to Snape rather than to Madame Pomfrey, as well as the argument between Dumbledore and Snape that was overheard by Hagrid. By doing it that way, he provides an unassailable cover for Snape, offers Malfoy a shot at redemption and gives Harry and the others the emotional kick in the pants they need when they take the fight to the enemy.</p>
<p>Faking his own death to protect himself from Voldemort just doesn’t seem to be Dumbledore’s style.</p>
<p>Others have noted Star Wars parallels with Dumbledore=Obiwan, Snape=Vader, Harry=Luke, Voldemort=Palpatine and so forth. There is obviously going to have to be another fight between Harry and Snape. Could we wind up with Voldemort ordering Snape to kill Harry (or vice versa), only to have it backfire? </p>
<p>If Dumbledore returns, I think it will either be limited to his portrait (which we have already seen in the headmaster’s office) or it will be because he somehow managed to use his own death to create a Horcrux. Under most circumstances, creating a Horcrux through one’s own death would be pointless, but not in this case. Dumbledore would never kill someone else for his own gain, but he certainly could be clever enough to use his own death for this added purpose.</p>
<p>as other’s have mentioned, the locket was mentioned in OotP, and maybe Harry will have to use the Black’s house elf (can’t think of name right now) to get to it, since Harry “owns” him now.</p>
<p>I thought the book was pretty flat… The first chapter was completely worthless, IMO, and I had to force myself through it. Also, too much relationship stuff. Why worry about a girlfriend when you have a world to save?</p>
<p>I’m still undecided on Snape. I hope he will repay Dumbledore’s trust in the 7th book… there is the possibility that he killed Dumbledore out of request if that situation came up, and that was possibly what they were arguing about earlier in the book.</p>
<p>Buckbeak will have to play a role again yes? Otherwise he wouldn’t be back.</p>
<p>Will the 2way mirror to talk to Sirius ever be used?</p>
<p>I have a bad feeling that Harry himself might be the last Horcrux. The “everyone sacrificed themselves for me (parents/DD/Sirius/possibly Snape depending) so I must now sacrifice myself to save everyone else” idea is kinda played out, IMO</p>
<p>How did Dumbledore hurt his hand? Perhaps making a horcrux so he could come back??? I thought there was a reason that Harry inherited the house and Black estate. If RAB is Regulus Black, and he stole the horcrux, then it could easily have been hidden in house - the locked locket???</p>
<p>Dumbledore hurt his hand while destroying the ring horcrux. We were never given a lot of details about it though.</p>
<p>But didn’t Harry notice the ring on a table in the headmaster’s office long after he observed Dumbledore’s injured hand? Perhaps he injured his hand <em>acquiring</em> the ring.</p>
<p>What if the locket (the fake one) is Dumbledore’s horcrux? What about that? He knows it would be safe with Harry.</p>
<p>I have a feeling that since Ron and Hermonie are supposed to go with Harry in the next book, they’re going to get hurt in one way or another. Everyone that has come into contact with a horcrux/a horcrux’s intended location so far has gotten hurt. Harry/Ginny and the diary, Dumbledore’s hand and the ring, Dumbledore’s overall health and the locket (well, the fake one anyway)…</p>
<p>About that ring… It is a little sketchy, but I do think that Dumbledore destroyed the horcrux part of it. There was a crack in it, and Dumbledore said himself that it was no longer a horcrux. However, just like what happened to him in the cave, he might have gotten hurt getting to it (like mootmom said) instead of just breaking the horcrux.</p>
<p>Dumbledore isn’t coming back - while I would love that to happen, her books aren’t fake like that. Once you’re dead, you’re dead - see the end of Book 5 with Sirius. Also, with all of the talk about fracturing your soul, I don’t think that Dumbledore would break himself in two to be immortal.</p>
<p>As for the mirror, Sirius didn’t have his with him when he went through the veil. </p>
<p>D. might have ruined his hand in the attempts to destroy the horcrux - could have taken quite a bit of time and cunning.</p>
<p>Question is whether RAB succeeded in destroying the other horcrux or only in stealing it.</p>
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Interesting idea. But it would only be safe if Harry knew what it was. Remember Tom Riddle’s diary horcrux?</p>
<p>I agree that D is indeed dead - he would not create a Horcrux because it is the ultimate defiance of nature. Also, the white tomb seems to lend an air of finality.</p>
<p>Harry cannot be Voldemort’s Horcrux, because a) Voldie was in NO shape to do anything after the killing curse aimed at the infant HP rebounded on him and b) as Dumbledore keeps saying, HP is a “pure soul.” When Voldie tried to possess him back in the Ministry of Magic, he couldn’t. </p>
<p>After further reflection and reading these comments, I tend to agree that Snape will, despite most appearances, probably prove to be loyal to the cause. It was enjoyable to see him in action in the Prince book as well as mindreading and offenseive/defensive spells, since we have mostly experienced him from HP’s point of view before Book 6. It just wouldn’t make sense if D were 100% wrong, when his trust for Snape was emphasized and underlined again and again.</p>
<p>As for the animals, Buckbeak may be Harry’s steed in Book 7, and Fawkes may take up with Harry.</p>
<p>I am worried about Harry - he has Ron and Hermione, but no replacement for Dumbledore. There is a very wide margin between Hp and Voldie still, perhaps not in terms of innate magical power, but in allies and knowledge. That leaves the door open for deus ex machina level interventions by Rowlings. How is she going to shore him up so that his victory is believable?.</p>
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With magic?</p>
<p>I thought the early chapter describing Snape’s home, the meeting with the two sisters, one of whom is Mrs. Malfoy, and his vow to protect Draco, was chilling and very well done–disturbingly convincing. Snape has never been likable and this reinforced all the negative images of him in earlier books, while overlooking the most significant positive–it’s hard to believe Dumbledore would have been wrong about him (though we should remember that Dumbledore was wrong about the Dursleys, since he had not realized how badly they would treat Harry and took too benign a view of them originally, though perhaps not later). The fact that D finally allowed Snape to be the DA teacher suggests that D knew something even more sinister than usual was going on and needed Snape in a position to combat it.</p>
<p>I agree with Elizabeth 22 and others that Snape’s love for Lily Evans Potter and his distress over being in some sense responsible for her death are the motivation for his coming over from the Dark Side and the reason that Dumbledore trusted him so completely; after all, D is a great believer in the power of love. I would like to think that Snape neer betrayed D’s trust and that Dumbledore was pleading with Snape at the end to kill him in accordance with an earlier agreement and that in the last book Snape will be the instrument that helps Harry overcome Voldemort. Snape clearly is an extraordinarily gifted wizard. (It occurred to me that perhaps Lily Evans wasn’t that good at potions, any more than Harry was, and that Snape had given her his potions book to use as her own because of his feelings toward her.)</p>
<p>I have sometimes wondered while reading the earlier books if Snape was destined to be the next headmaster, though now that the future of Hogwarts seems uncertain that seems even more unlikely than it used to. The ending was somehow unsatisfying–and that question of who RAB is and the whole new issue of splintering one’s soul both seemed glaringly unanswered–I like that theory about it being one of the Blacks. Sirius was complicated and somewhat flawed though always on the good side, so it’s possible that someone else in his family, though seemingly always on the bad side, had some streak of goodness and courage; it’s an intriguing family.</p>
<p>Snape alone being the Half-Blood Prince seems to have one little problem. Thinking back over the book again Harry looked at the date and thought that none of his father’s friends would have been in school at the time. Snape was in school with James Potter, he talked about being tormented by James. Does anyone else think that Snape had a second-hand spellbook that someone else, maybe Voldemort, used before him?</p>
<p>I think he had his mom’s spellbook - the President-of-the-Gobstones-Society mom. She was there at the right time. (I’m such a spoilsport.)</p>
<p>I do like the idea of Snape having given Lily the potions book. </p>
<p>Could Snape have feelings for Narcissa Malfoy? Seems like it, if you read the second chapter.</p>
<p>Very unsatisfying with the “other” Minister - wish we had seen at least some more of him. Also, very unsatisfying with the lack of discussion about the other deaths - very casually mentioned, but nothing else.</p>
<p>interesting point–very likely. So it may not even be Snape who was so gifted at potions, but Voldemort himself passing the extra information along.</p>
<p>Yes, it was Snape’s mother’s book originally.</p>
<p>BassDad, the reason there are many star wars parallels is simple: Rawling subscribes to the classic mythical hero pattern for Harry Potter. He has mysterious origins of a usually royal or accomplished nature, he has an elder guide, he has to quest, and many other typical occurences.</p>