Harry Potter and the Competent Editor

[chanaleh]

I finished Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince last night. Would have been sooner, but I didn't get through rereading Order of the Phoenix until Sunday night.

Then I promptly jumped online and proceeded to read three days' worth of other people's comments, spoilers, analyses, and general nattering. :-)

So, rather than go back and comment everywhere that I read interesting things, I'm just going to write up a few of my thoughts and reactions here.


I. Dumbledore. Aaaaaugh!

A. Yes, yes, there was going to be a significant death and "everyone knew" AD was likely to get it, to allow Harry's hero quest to come to its full mythic fruition. (And, as someone pointed out, JKR wouldn't have wanted to slam us with that in Book 7. This way we get to stew about it for two years, and then she gets to come up with some clever way of ameliorating the loss before the end.)

B. Gandalf, anyone? Hey, he came back... So, yeah, the temptation to say "Oh, this was faked!" is great, but -- not so convincing. I think what clinched the reality of the death for me, even before the Tomb, was when McGonagall takes Harry to the headmaster's office and AD's portrait is already installed there, slumbering peacefully. That got me almost as much as anything.

C. Which isn't to say that there wasn't more to AD's death than met our/Harry's eyes. The showdown with Snape: ... Well, I'll get into that in a minute.

D. Which also isn't to say that AD will be any less of a presence in Book 7. It needn't even be as a ghost ("Master Kenobi!"); the portrait right away is a clear indicator that AD's consciousness will remain on hand to advise, and help in the limited way that portraits apparently can. (It's also been asked before whether the ability to move between one's own portraits might extend to the Chocolate Frog cards... Harry and Ron could have Dumbledore in their pockets at all times! No wonder Dumbledore "doesn't care what they do as long as they don't take him off the Chocolate Frog cards"!)

(added) E. Reading this (which is, so to speak, dead-on) just reminded me: I picked up so much Aslan in the entire sacrifice-of-Dumbledore scene. His words to Snape, but more especially to Draco.

II. The Horcrux (and R.A.B.).

A. Wow. I've been thinking for years that the Founders were going to come into greater mythic play before the end, and this is certainly pointing in that direction. I so very much wonder what Harry will find/learn when he finally goes to Godric [Gryffindor]'s Hollow. (Now that he can Apparate, you know.) Exposition galore, I hope.

B. Is it a coincidence that Horcrux sounds like Horace [Slughorn]?

C. Okay, so, the locket.

1. What, oh what was that potion all about? I grasp its logistical function, of course, but -- what was AD experiencing in the drinking of it? Simply "pain" seems an inadequate answer. Was he reliving past horrors, like with dementors? Also, once they got back to Hogsmeade/Hogwarts, what did AD want Snape to do to help him? Granted he's the potions master (literally), but what would he have known about this particular case?

2. The fact that Harry pulls a switched locket off AD's dead body does not mean, to me, that the locket had been switched in Voldemort's cave. Surely in the amount of time that Harry was not near AD's body, someone in the know could have come in, taken the real Slytherin locket that they had recovered, and planted the fake with the note on AD's body. -- OTOH, the note was addressed To the Dark Lord, which suggests it was meant to be found in the locket's original secured location. OTOH -- that could still be a ruse to throw Harry (and us) off the scent...

3. "R.A.B.": "Everyone" is buzzing that this "HAS to be" Regulus Black, Sirius's former-Death-Eater brother who was killed immediately after defecting. It doesn't have to be anyone we've already seen. It's an appealing theory, but I'm reserving judgment. Granted, though, that "heavy locket" that "no one could open" that they had found in Grimmauld Place, the previous Christmas, seems a fruitful connection to make.

4. Multiple Horcruxes. Brilliant.
4'. AD thought Nagini might be one of them. But if living creatures can be Horcruxes, who else might be? Someone else suggested: Harry himself?

III. Snape.

A. I accidentally got the spoiler that the HBP was Snape early on (reading hp_lexicon_jr's notes chapter by chapter, but missing the admonition that Ch. 11 "contains spoilers beyond this chapter". D'oh!).

B. Still, I liked that Eileen Prince turned out to be Mama Snape. I actually really liked Merope Gaunt, come to think of it, and the whole construction of Voldemort's origins we got to see this time.

C. I am totally willing to buy the Snape-was-in-love-with-Lily thing. Not sure it would have been enough to bring Snape back from the Death Eater camp ("Oh No, you mean it was Lily I just betrayed? Remorse!!"), but it seems to me there is a narrative angle yet to be covered there, anyway.

D. Dumbledore was not betrayed or misled; he definitely still has some inside knowledge on Snape that we don't. I am convinced it will all come clear next book.

IV. Relationships.

A. I am admittedly gratified that my certainty of Harry/Ginny has been borne out. (Also Ron/Hermione, but they haven't exactly started "Going Out" yet.) The James/Lily parallels are a bit inescapable. Some people cry "Oh, no, but Harry/Ginny is so obvious! Too heavy-handed!" To them I say: Yeah, that's exactly why it is the only possible outcome. This is ultimately children's lit, people. The romantic ends have to tie up neatly.

B. I'm not so thrilled with the way it was all written out, though. Very third-person. If Harry's really falling for Ginny, there should have been more there. As much as I've been waiting for this, it left me almost as cold as the Ron/Lavender thing, where it was like, two or three glances exchanged and suddenly they're sucking face all over the castle.

C. On the whole, a lot of the soap-opera threads in this book reminded me a whole lot of the small amount of fanfic I've read. I don't know if that's bad or good. :-)

(added) D. Bill/Fleur: I was gagging right along with the Weasleys at the beginning, but I admit Fleur's response to Bill at the end was pretty admirable.
D'. Tonks/Remus: Yeah, I didn't see that coming. I thought someone else had changed places with her, maybe, and that was why she was so "not herself" the whole book... I also concur with all the slashfic wailing that Remus seems underwhelmed at the prospect of hooking up with Tonks, and his demurral is not just pro forma.
D''. So what did Tonks's four-legged Patronus change into? A wolf, is that the idea? Or a dog (as in Sirius has somehow now become her Patronus)? Did any of you pick up, BTW, that the members of the Order communicate with each other via their Patronuses? JKR says so!

IV. Overall series notes, questions, predictions.

A. The Chamber of Secrets has got to come back into play. Note that "Secrets" is plural, which suggests to me that the Basilisk is not the only secret it contains. (I read a really nice essay a week or two ago analyzing the resemblance to an Egyptian temple of Thoth and the legend of an emerald tablet. This isn't it, but might be similar.) Giant monkeyish statue of Slytherin; yes, he built the thing, but are the other founders involved in it anywhere?
(added) A'. What's with the caved-in passage behind the fourth-floor mirror? Fred and George mention it in PoA, when they first give Harry the Marauder's Map, as having become unusable sometime last winter (i.e., during CoS). (However, they also name it specifically in the context of passages that lead/led into Hogsmeade.) It's mentioned again about once per book after that. I am curious.

B. What is the connection of Godric Gryffindor to the Potters, Evanses, Weasleys, and/or Dumbledore? I don't think we've heard anywhere (yet!) that Gryffindor himself had red hair, but obviously red/gold are his theme colors, and the red-hair connection among the others looms large. (Speaking of which, there's the Conspiracy Theory of Ron's secret identity that I just read about last night, which I find very interesting.) Speaking of relics of Gryffindor's: AD points out the sword, but there is also the Sorting Hat itself (it actually says it was Gryffindor's hat, in one of its songs), and it's not hard to assert that red-and-gold immortal Fawkes also belonged to GG.
B'. Yes, the Evanses can't be descended from Gryffindor because they are of course Muggles... OR ARE THEY? (Dun-dun-dunnn!) Seriously, I wonder if there isn't more than meets the eye there, as well. As of Book 5, Petunia certainly knows more about the wizarding world than she's ever been prepared to admit.

C. Neville. I have been convinced for several books that the reason Neville is such a gimp is that he has (unbeknownst to him) grown up with a serious Memory Charm in place, sealing off knowledge about his parents (either their fall or their previous lives) to protect him (either from internal pain or external danger, i.e. Voldemort). Memory Charms impair general memory functioning; think about Bertha Jorkins, think about all the Muggles at the World Cup.
C'. The way JKR keeps harping on Mimbulus mimbletonia, what significance or special powers might it (or Stinksap) turn out to have?

D. Cats. There is more to them than meets the eye, and I don't think it's just that Crookshanks is "part Kneazle" as people have so gleefully pointed out. Mrs. Norris has some kind of weird psychic link to Filch, and Mrs. Figg's cats are certainly sentient agents as well. And how could Crookshanks tell right off the bat that Scabbers was the enemy?
D'. invisible__girl pointed out a striking similarity of description between Crookshanks and Mundungus Fletcher (bandy-legged, ginger-haired... and Dung is certainly enough a crook!) -- although we do see them in the same place so it's not Yet Another case of Animagic (and anyway Crookshanks is way more dependable than Mundungus, they can't be genuinely co-identified).

E. Going back to Book 5, the Department of Mysteries: Like the Chamber of Secrets, the name alone is enough to shout "Hi, major plot points still lurking here!" Specifically, the Death Room and the archway. I am convinced that there is more to Sirius's "fall" than meets the eye. But then, the Time Room? And the Brain Room? (What happened to Ron when the brain attached itself him, anyway?)
E'. What are all those silver instruments in AD's office? (They weren't there in Armando Dippet's time. Will they still be there now McGonagall is headmistress?) Betcha some of them have to do with time travel, at least as much as the Pensieve does (viewing past events).

(added) F. Oh, I almost forgot: Speaking of those Chocolate Frog cards, remember how Dumbledore's starts off? "Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Professor Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945...” Yeah, SO famous that Grindelwald's name has not ONCE been subsequently mentioned or explained in the 6 intervening years of Harry's magical life. Conspicuous by omission? I say there's a total World War II tie-in looming somewhere. Assuming that Harry was born in 1980, and counting backwards 50 years from CoS, the original opening of the Chamber of Secrets (and the flashback of AD we see in Riddle's diary) was in 1942...

Ohhhh, yeah, I can't wait for the final volume.

Meanwhile, I shall begin my second reading of Book 6. :-)

Comments

[fes42.livejournal.com]

RE: II C1 - Just thought of this, as Snape is the Potions master could he have made the potion in the basin for Voldemort that Dumbledore drank? Snape no=ot knowing what it is to hide. Or perhaps the man who took the locket first, his brother was as good as potions as Snape?

IV D - Never remembered the sorting hat was Gryffindor's. AND it can talk. Hmmmm.......

IV C - I think Neville's grandmother is just over protective enough to do that. But how can that help Harry? Or maybe Neville's parents knew where a Horcrux is? It's an interesting point but I am not sure how it helps the story.

I also like the idea that part of Voldemort is in Harry, but then they will both die in the last book and that'll just piss me off.

[bluebythebook.livejournal.com]

Re: Neville's parents

I've theorized for some time, along with some others in the CoS forums at Muggle Net, that St. Mungo's is a much more sinister place than meets the eye. We saw glimpses of that in OotP. I think Neville's parents are under an Imperius Curse [by a DE working there on the inside] because they know so much about the Defense Against the Dark Arts -- they were too valuable to completely destroy. Otherwise, their condition does not make sense. Bellatrix has had no remorse about killing people in the past? Why *just* leave them insane? There has got to be more going on in that place... and after all, we know that Lucius was a major financial contributor to St. Mungo's...

That's just a brief summary of the theory.

[memerath.livejournal.com]

I finished last night too. You summed up a lot of my thoughts quite nicely.

1B-The portrait also made me misty because it did really mean he was dead.
1D-I very much like the idea of Pocket Dumbledores, thank you for cheering me up. :)

IIC2-I have read theories (hi ursamajor! that he wanted Snape to kill him because he was in too much pain to go on. I'm not sure about this. Snape had a look of "revulsion and hate" on his face when he came upon Dumbledore and I'm not convinced S. didn't kill D. just because he could.

IIC4-Harry a Horcrux? Too horrible to think about because that would mean in order to destory Voldemort entirely, Harry would have to...urgh.

IVB-Totally agree there was too much ineffective telling instead of showing. I have read better H/G fanfic, and I've read, um, very very little fanfic, like one or two stories. It's too bad her writing fell so flat with that whole storyline because I like H/G in theory. Just not how it was written. And I was pissed Ron and Hermione STILL weren't together!

Eeep, meeting, more comments later. :)

[clauclauclaudia]

I'm not the only one to say this, but "revulsion and hate" come close to describing Harry's reaction at himself feeding the poison potion to Dumbledore. I think the best interpretation of that description is Snape is killing AD unwillingly under silent orders from Dumbledore himself. That's what the gazing right before he kills him is about.

[awfief.livejournal.com]

hrm. did I miss that in your review? That's a good explanation of that. . . and explains why silent spells were so played up in the book -- yes, they were referred to at the end when Harry was trying to get Snape/Malfoy, but that's the only other explanation of what happened with Snape/Dumbledore that I believe, other than the mercy killing. . . which may really just be the same thing, but you gave a method to it. Thanx.

[awfief.livejournal.com]

IIC4-Harry a Horcrux? Too horrible to think about because that would mean in order to destory Voldemort entirely, Harry would have to...urgh.

Have his appendix removed? Seriously, how cool would it be for that to happen as Harry falls ill after the 2nd to last Horcrux, and then having Voldy surgically removed? Or tonsils. . .anyway, not likely, but would be cute.

[memerath.livejournal.com]

A Voldemortectomy...heehee!

[greenlily.livejournal.com]

glee Thanks for sharing. Thanks particularly for pointing me to knight2king.net, where I suspect I shall be wasting quite a bit of time. (and yes, I like the secret identity theory too)

[cmouse.livejournal.com]

Seconded on knight2king.net. :)

[cmouse.livejournal.com]

>Also, once they got back to Hogsmeade/Hogwarts, what did AD want Snape to do to help him?

My theory on that is that either: 1) He trusted Snape. Remember, Snape is very good at potions. 2) He knew he was dieing and wanted Snape to finish him off. I think that AD knew the vow Snape had made, and that he wanted Snape to kill him so he could become one of Voldemort's trusted inner circle and perhaps help in the final battle. AD knew his time was coming anyways - I think he knew that the entire book. That's why he was doing such risky things.

[bluebythebook.livejournal.com]

I agree. If you read carefully, it sounds like some Legilimens action occurred in those last moments before Snape used the Killing Curse. AD knew he was toast, and that Snape killing him would definitely ensure our Half-Blood Prince much more clout in Voldie's inner circle. How on Earth Snape will convince the Order he's still on their side is beyond me though...

[cmouse.livejournal.com]

I think Snape is supposed to go it alone from now. I don't think the Order knows that Snape is still on their side. McGonagall wasn't faking her emotion at the end of the book.

[bluebythebook.livejournal.com]

True. At some point, I think Harry or a member of the Order will meet again with Snape, and some argument will ensue about his allegiance[s]. That's when I expect Snape to reveal his true intentions.

[bluebythebook.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I was cited. *blush* Yeah, something weird has to be going on with Mundungus and Crooksie. If she was Mundungus' in the past, why didn't he steal her at Grimmauld Place? Gah, so many places this could go! And the description seems too obvious to have been an oversight. JKR usually does not [*cough*Mark Evans*cough*] leave clues without utilizing them at some point.

I'm also very happy that the Founders will play a role. I've always felt Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw houses are unfairly left out of the fun. In an interview last week, JKR said that "Ravenclaw will have their day. *taps nose*" This was from a television interview, according to TLC, so who knows what the nose tap means.

I'll continue my comments below...

[mattblum.livejournal.com]

I very much doubt whether Dumbledore will come back. Yes, Gandalf came back, but you never actually saw him die, and if all those wizards were certain Dumbledore was dead, I'm pretty sure he's dead. Plus, I think it would be a monumental copout on Rowling's part for him to come back.

I think it's a complete coincidence that "horcrux" sounds like "Horace." There's been speculation, which I tend to believe, that Rowling created the word as a combination of the French word "dehors" (outside) and "crux," meaning, sort of, essence.

I'm almost certain that Harry's wrong about Snape, and that Dumbledore wanted Snape to kill him because he knew he was going to die anyway, and that that way Snape could fulfill the Vow Dumbledore knew he'd made. The fact that Snape not only avoids killing Harry on his way out of Hogwarts, but also stops Harry from using an Unforgivable Curse, tells me that he's still on the right side. And Harry seems to have forgotten that Snape helped save him from Quirrell's attempt to knock him off his broom back in Book 1.

I'd be pretty surprised if "R.A.B." turns out to be anyone other than Regulus Black. The fact that neither Harry nor Hermione thought of him is a bit odd, but I think that, if it weren't going to turn out to be him, Rowling would've had them think of him but then figure out a reason why that couldn't be right. And then there's that locket, which I remember thinking when reading Book 5 seemed like a loose end. When I reread Book 5 and re-encountered the locket, I remember saying to myself "Now, that's odd. She never got back to that locket." Her plotting's been pretty tight in the last few books, so I'd be pretty surprised to find out that that wasn't Slytherin's locket.

I'm not sure you're right about the Chamber of Secrets coming back into play. I mean, yes, "Secrets" is plural, but, really, "Chamber of Secret" would just sound silly.

As for the possibility of Harry being a horcrux, I very much doubt it. First of all, if he is, that would mean he would have to die in order for Voldemort to die. That seems a highly unlikely ending for the series. Plus, the prophecy states that "...either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives." That really doesn't sound like both of them are going to die, but rather one or the other.

I'm starting to go on way too long for a comment on someone else's post. Sorry about that. I'll stop now.

[halleyscomet.livejournal.com]

"...either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives."

Makes perfect sense to me, if the prophesy is about Nevill and not Harry, which is MY pet theory.

Keep in mind, in Order of the Phoenix, we got a LOT of examples of Dumbledore screwing up, and some admissions on his part as to the scope of his errors. I think it's in perfect keeping with the characters, the portrayed arrogance of Wizardry and the overall books for Nevill to be the real subject of the prophesy.

Think about it, you have two kids who could match. One has a scar and dead parents while the other has mentally shattered parents and no physical scar. Which one would any of us assume was the subject of the prophesy?

Keep in mind all the problems that would have been avoided all together if there had been decent communication between the "Good Guys" and Dumbledore wasn't trying to keep Harry in the dark.

I'd wager Dumbledore knew Neville was the one destined to kill Voldermort, and set up Harry as "The chosen one" to shield Neville. The fact that Voldermort lost his body when trying to kill Harry made setting Harry up as a decoy obvious, and almost unavoidable. Due to the circumstances, it would have been HARDER to let people know who the real subject of the prophesy was, than to mislead them.

From Dumbledore's point of view, it was a perfect set up, and even if Harry ended up dead, the real "savior" was safely hidden.

[mattblum.livejournal.com]

You raise some interesting points.

However, I'm pretty sure you're wrong, as I've explained in part of my post on the book here.

[halleyscomet.livejournal.com]

A few quick points about the "Prophesy is about Neville" theory based on the entry you linked to

Harry has been marked by Voldemort, but Neville has not.

It can be argued that Neville is just as marked as Harry, by what was done to his parents. The actions of Voldermort and his parents significantly altered the lives of both Neville and Potter, changing numerous aspects of their lives. It has been argued that what was done to Neville was "marking" Neville just as much as the scar on Potter's forehead. The fact that Voldemort went out of his way to have them killed is proof enough that he considered them a threat, capable of destroying him, so the whole "As his equal" applies to both of them.

the prophecy in the Department of Mysteries was supposed to only be retrievable by those it was about

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Neville WITH Potter when the prophesy was retrieved? How hard and fast are the rules about "retrieving"? Does the person the prophesy is about HAVE to be the one physically lifting the prophesy from storage?

And who set up the "Only the person it's about" magic anyway? How do we know it wasn't some clerk who cast the spell, and was thus operating under the assumption that the prophesy was about Potter, and as a result, made it so only Potter could retrieve it?

Would a better description be, "The person who put the prophesy in the vault thought it was about Potter, so he cast the protection spell so only Potter could retrieve it."

As a side note, I'd like to mention the fact that I concluded Neville was the "Real Hero" in some way about half way through "Sorcerer's Stone." JKR is far too transparent with her foreshadowing (It is a young adult book after all) and Neville was being set up as a possible alternate from the beginning. When Dumbledore announced that it COULD have been about EITHER of them at first, I knew I was right. KJR doesn't toss things like that around, it's a major plot point. IT cemented what I'd been suspecting all along.

Regardless, we'll all know when the last book comes out.

[mattblum.livejournal.com]

I just realized I hadn't responded to this. J.K. Rowling herself has pretty much responded to this as well, and it seems as though your conclusions, while not that wild, are largely incorrect.

[(Anonymous)]

Interesting. I finally consider writing some fanfic, and a theme that would have been one of my central plot points is struck down by Ms. Rowling herself!

I have to say, giving nice, neat answers to all these questions is killing off a lot of speculation, tipping the plot hand in ways I wouldn't do if I were the author.

{SPOILER AHEAD}

Oh well. It's not like Rowling leaves much in doubt. For example, we know by the end of Book 1 that Dubmledore is going to die sometime during the series, and by the time you finish Chapter 2 of book 6, you know that he'll not only die by the end of the book, but who will kill him.

[memerath.livejournal.com]

IVC. I wanted more Neville. She tantalized us with the idea of him having hidden talents in the last book and then didn't go back to it at all in this one, highly disappointing.

[imaginaryalice.livejournal.com]

i agree. hopefully he'll have his day in 7 ;)

[clauclauclaudia]

Thank you for the link to the Ron=Dumbledore explanation. I've heard that idea floating around but, as I'm not really part of online Harry Potter fandom, hadn't seen it fleshed out before.

To me, the most compelling bit is "In the last chapter of PS/SS, Dumbledore tells Harry that he lost his taste for Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans after eating a vomit flavored bean in his youth. There is one problem with this... Bertie Bott was born in 1935." Yowza. If we can trust the Wizards of the Coast and JKR's careful editing of the cards.

The maroon pun, though, that's just too much.

But if Ron is Albus Dumbledore, who's Aberforth?

[greenlily.livejournal.com]

Percy. Can't you just picture him secretly practicing inappropriate charms on a goat in his Ministry office after hours with all the lights off?

:)

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

*snork* Poor Percy. I wonder what ever happened with Penelope Clearwater? Got sick of him spending every waking hour at the Ministry, I'll wager...

[teddywolf.livejournal.com]

I sincerely doubt Harry's scar (or Harry's anything) is a Horcrux. Voldemort was trying to kill Harry at the time, not trying to bond part of his soul into him.

[clauclauclaudia]

Ah yes, this reminds me of another reply point I wanted to make. You've basically said it, but to be perfectly clear... there has to be a death to create the Horcrux. James and Lily's deaths wouldn't have been the ones, because if Harry were Voldemort's Horcrux why would he try to kill him? Unless Voldemort could sneakily bootstrap his own (near)-death into a Horcrux creation moment, there's no way he could do this.

[dpolicar]

I have to say, here... I read the first couple of books because they were lying around the house, and they were all right, and I've enjoyed the movies. But I've been getting a real kick reading all my friends' posts carrying on and on about the books. It's nice to see a book get this much attention. I could wish it was a more serious book, but still.

[imaginaryalice.livejournal.com]

i'm curious what books you consider serious? i'm not mad or anything, just curious ;)

[dpolicar]

Yeah, that wasn't the most polite comment I've ever made... sorry.

And it's not that I have another book in mind, or anything like that... among other things, I haven't read the last few HP books, so of course I'm not entitled to a direct opinion about its "seriousness".

But OK... since you asked, I guess what I'm responding to is the kinds of comments I'm seeing about it. They are articulate and insightful and clearly show a lot of intelligent and careful thought, but they focus almost entirely on plot, and on character mostly where that clarifies plot. The impression I get is of a "good read" kinda book -- an adventure/young-adult story that is well paced and keeps you interested in what's going to happen next, but doesn't provide much in the way of rich characterization, textured settings, etc.

[imaginaryalice.livejournal.com]

mmmmm...actually lack of characterization was one of the issues i had with it too when i started reading the Potter books so i hear you (and in fact my biggest complaint is the constant parade of new characters instead of building on the ones already introduced - something that didn't happen nearly as much this book i am pleased to say). textured settings i dunno (i think i've been spoiled by the movies so it's hard to imagine the places themselves differently from how they were on screen) but for rich characters i submit Snape. in my opinion he is easily the most three dimensional character and has been from the beginning. some of my other favorites (Draco, Ginny and Lupin come to mind) are much more in depth in fanfic and the like than they ever are in the actual books but Snape - and Harry - are as multifacted in "reality" as they are in my imagination.

[besamim.livejournal.com]

A comment on IV. A. above, "Relationships." I honestly did not see Harry-and-Ginny coming. Yes, in the second book (I think) we learn Ginny has a crush on him but she was still quite young then and there's nothing about the matter afterwards.

I had expected--and I'm sure I wasn't the only one--Harry and Luna to get together. Recall that the two of them can magically see things that others can't. They both have been almost universally shunned, mocked and thought unstable. Also, Luna did Harry and his reputation a huge favour by arranging that exclusive interview, believing him when few others did. And most importantly for my now-incorrect theory, the first thing that begins to lift Harry out of his grief and self-absorption at the end of Book 5 is an encounter with Luna and his realization that he genuinely feels empathy with her.

Hmph. I rather liked Luna's character (certainly more fleshed-out than Ginny), but now that Harry's ruled out the possibility of romantic entanglements until he's completed his mission (and isn't even returning to school), I think we'll see less of her, or Ginny for that matter.

[muchabstracted.livejournal.com]

C. I am totally willing to buy the Snape-was-in-love-with-Lily thing. Not sure it would have been enough to bring Snape back from the Death Eater camp ("Oh No, you mean it was Lily I just betrayed? Remorse!!"), but it seems to me there is a narrative angle yet to be covered there, anyway.

Given JKR's use of love in the Remus/Tonks plot -- where Tonks turned out to be suffering, not from survivor's guilt or anything war-related, but from Unrequited Love... I fully believe that she would see Snape being in love with Lily as a reason for Snape to totally change sides. It's simplistic and unlikely, but so was Tonks in this book. *grumbles*