Young Writers Society

Warning: If you wish to look on, then beware of my spoiling of the new Harry Potter book, 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'. *waves big sign that says 'Turn Back Now!'* Some of you may be currently unlocking his secretes as we speak; I however has done so and will speak positionally about the new book. Enjoy!

Hello all! I've tackled the book that I thought would ruin the series, but instead I have collected my remains in complete awe. Never have I read a book so smooth in my life. This is by far, in my mind the best book of it's series. I will be going into further details later on. Go go over quickly, a book that contains 654 pages is perfectly sized for a night's reading. Some titles of chapters remain in the 'too much info' catagory. Like usual. This book nicely wraps up all corks and confusion, and braces for the last and final book. Never, has any book kept me up past 3 in the morning; I went to bed at 6 in the morning.

So yes, as you might have heard, read, or seen; our miracle man has left the room. The star-shaped, powerfully fragile, acid-pop eating Dumby is dead. Get your crying over with now, because he's not coming back like how most people will think. Albus was the mentor character that unhinges in the story to let the final decent occur without aid, as Harry plans to destroy all the pieces of Tom's soul. While, it may have not been seen in the first couple books, as they were geared for a younger audience, it now makes sense as the story line matures. I was afraid however, that Rowling might bust the ending with this absence of Merlin's Equal. I knew it had to be either 5th or 6th book that he had to die, as his death in the 7th would be too natural, and end on a good-bad term. Harry wins, but Albus dies. No. 6th book was perfectly placed, as she would have had a hard time writing the 6th book if Albus died in the 5th. Now, Harry can fulfill his role in the ambittion to kill the Dark Lord, alone. Find anything catchy there? Harry's resemblence to Tom Riddle will hopefully be enacted in the 7th book. Just like Tom, Harry will operate alone, as in without help. But. Yes, the trio might have a hand in it, as that is what seperates Harry from Tom. Love. His love for his friends makes Harry different from Tom, but I think there will be enough mirroring of characteristics between the two characters. May Albus Dumbledore's spirit sing upon his departure of the material realm...

Severus... *I hissed that*. Yea! You have to love that guy. Remember the first few chapters? How Snape continued to spout his little tale to the two female Death Eaters? Malfoy's mother and Trixy (the one who killed Sirius). How ironic that he was right all along. And the clever Half-Blood Prince was just amazing. I was wondering with all the comotion with Malfoy and internal-relationship problems between (Harry, Hermy, Ron, Ginny, Dean, Cho, Krum, Lupin, Tonks, Fleur, and Bill), how the half-blood prince was going to happen. Sectumsempra! Sorry, but Harry getting back at Malfoy for that broken nose was great! So. Now that you all hate Snape; let me enlighten you. It's not over! Albus' Trust won't airily fly away. I think Severus has a huge hand in the fall of the Dark Lord in the 7th book. It only seemed right for him to kill Albus, as it was already getting heated for Snape to play the double-role. Trixy already had suspicions. But Severus may die, but I'm not sure. I expect our Prince to take one for the team in the last book, as the Albus sacrifice will be worth it.

Adventure, adventure! Wow. What a way to lead to the 7th book. A possible lack of Hogwarts as Harry continues his destiny. A further difference to Tom may I add; Tom couldn't get away from Howarts. Harry Hunting is my guess. He becomes a Ministry-free Auror (aka. The Lone Shieriff). I'm expecting it to be fun. Rowling does offer quite a cliff-hanger, with many possibilities. Will there be a Hogwarts? Does Albus come back? Does Sirius? How will the Fantastic 3 stay together? Rowling amazes me. Over-all, this book was and will always be a great hit. I love my Fantastic 3 and their adventures against the Dark Lord. I sound like a nerd, but Ginny is hot!!! She always was.

My best wishes, Acid Pops!

~BS

I'm still extremely depressed. I think I'm going to reread parts of it because I read it so quickly the first time. *heaves a sigh*

But all my predictions came true! I had pretty much decided about Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Bill, Fleur, Remus, and Tonks. *gives self pat on the back*

But I was surprised at Snape. I was extremely inclined to get over my initial dislike and go ahead and trust him because of Dumbledore. I guess my mindset was sort of Hermione-ish, even though he is a bit of a scumbag. But now I'm kind of confused. I'm not sure if he really did turn back or not... augh. I really need to go back and reread.

I liked the book a lot. One of, if not, the best of the seris. To the point too. No annoying waflle (not saying I don't like long books mind). I got it yesterday, at about 1pm, because that's when I woke up and mum had already bought three copies (well, one for each kid in the family, otherwise we would have murdered each other. We figured out this tactic for the 5th, so we have three hard backed copies of that too) and I finished it by 11:30pm, with breaks for lunch, dinner, the toilet and Doctor Who only. Which is probably why I didn't sleep at all last night, not tired enough from reading in bed all day.

I KNOW WHO R.A.B IS!!! *does happy dance* YAY!!! I figured it out. All by my little self. Ever since I read the book it was niggling at me that I new the name that fit the initials ... at least I think it does well enough ... and the fact of probably have known Voldemort and desserted then a few minutes ago it clicked ... want me to tell you my guess?
Remulus Black.
Beats me what his middle name is though ... so it might not be a perfect fit. But still ... Sirius' little brother, was a Death-Eater, desserted, was killed. Maybe managed to get a spot of revenge first, or maybe didn't die at all ... anyway, he HAS to be in it somewhere, he keeps being brought up in conversations and J.K. Rowling does like everything to have its uses ... like me. I'm obsessive like that.


Yep. Dumbledore had to go, and it was pulled off well. Sometimes deaths just don't ... fit. But that did. So all is well ... she was killing off all Harry's "protectors" you realise, from Harry's thoughts at the end. He couldn't go on to fight Voldemort in book 7 with Sirius, Dumbledore or his parents popping up to bail him out with some great protective thingy. Hagrid is still there ... but he's never actually been there in the thick of things at the end of the books, has he? Neither has Lupin (ok, he was in a bit of the scuffle in book 3, but he was a werewolf and tried to kill Harry, not help him). So they'll probably be ok, not certain though.

If you ask me, Dumbledore's not coming back. But Sirius ... I'm not certin either way. Because ... well, the death left a bit of string loose, and I suppose it wouldn't muck the 'no protectors past this point' if they brought him back after the major battle ... but tecnically, he's dead. And there isn't supposed to be anything you can do to cure that, so I've been told.

And she mastered the Snape factor marvelously. I mean, if he went bad in the first few books, it wouldn't be much of a surprise, and we wouls all go "yeah, saw that coming. He's bad through and through ... Harry knew it, Harry was right." but then he won our doubt, or mine at least, by keeping his nose reasonably clean (few smudges admittedly for hating Harry and all other Gryffindores and for basically being a git though). Harry even trusted him just a touch in the 5th book, just enough to yell at him about Sirius being in trouble. And then, bang! he was a traitor all along. Yay. That was kind of fun. Well, it was. But yeah, he's got SOMETHING important in the next thing. Even if it's just to continue his let's-be-a-git streak, which has now extended to 6 books. Quite an achievement.
I didn't see Snape as the Half-Blood Prince coming though. I don't know why ... maybe if I'd had a hint about him being half-blood (or remembered it if I got the hint) then I might have figured it out. But I doubt it. Anyway, I try not to get too guessy about books. Except for stuff like the R.A.B stuff, which is niggling and you KNOW will continue too unless you hunt the sercet down and kill it throughaly dead.

... and Malfoy was doing exactly what Harry thought all along. Interesting stratergy for fooling the audience. I mean, sure, I knew he was up to something because of that bit in the beginning but well, since when have Harry's hunches about major plot morphing thingies proved 100% correct? (or at least 97.3%, which is still an A)




Um ... yeah, ignore my weirdness and bad spelling (which proably would have been bad anyway, but while there's an excuse...) , the last time I slept was yesterday ... right now I'm trying to keep myself awake on caffine until the time is reasonable enought that I won't wake up too early. Like 2am, which has happenind this other time I didn't sleep and the slep too early the next night. I spent from 2am onwards awake ... again. So as I don't want a repeat of that, you'll all have to put up with my sleep-depraved weirdness.

I figured Regulus Black straight away too.

But then I remembered JKR likes to screw with our minds, so I doubt it's that simple...

There were so many hints about Snape throughout the book, too...from the very fact that a DADA teacher has never stayed for more than a year since Voldemort was rejected.

I figured Regulus Black straight away too.

*mutters to self* Just take away the victory why don't you
*grins* ignore me. I running low on caffine right now.

*shrugs* the snape thing always seemed like it could go either way. There were excuses from both angles pretty much all the time. Dumbledore fugured out the Defence against the dark arts job was curse too, remember? He could have been trying to keep Snape off thatparticualr job because he trusted Snape and wanted him to stay

R.A.B... I could have sworn I figued out who it was last night, but that was at something like 1 in the morning, and I didnt write it down and can't remember for the life of me. it being Rugulus could go either way, as JKR does love to "screw with out minds" as Jack so eloquently put it.

What's been bugging me, however, is the horcrux and the line from the prophecy "neither can live while the other survives.." The prophecy for a while now, and that horcrux makes me think.. (ok, I know, me thinking), but still... you can read that line to say either they both die, or just one does, but I think it's both. Becuase Dumbledore doesn't know what the last horcrux is, maybe it's Harry, and then the prophecy makes sense that way, but JKR, through Dumbleore, kept saying not to put too much stock in the prophecy.. but in mythology (er, what I've read rather, and it's a pitifully small amount) those prohpecys have a nasty tendency to come true, and never how they were expeted to.

And then, bang! he was a traitor all along.

Actually, I reckon he wasn't a traitor.
Notice the emphasive put on the 'Unbreakable Vow' (or whatever)? Also remember - 'do you vow to finish the job if Draco can't'.

If Snape hadn't killed Dumbledore, the vow would have killed him. He had (in his view) no choice.

Snape and his trust... Well. If you think about it, Snape is actually quite reliable. There was a part in the book where both Albus and Severus argued. Am I right about this? Can't remember as it went by so fast. You know, where Albus wanted Severus to 'do something'. I think that 'something' may have to do with Severus killing Albus. Of course! Severus didn't want to, as he was fighting Albus to hold back his plan. It all points to Albus knowing he was going to die. It was his plan. Why else did he give Harry all the tools to kill Tom? I mean, Albus could have taken someone more fitting on the last mission to capture a piece to Tom's soul. Well, no actually. Something about under-age magic going undetected, and only Albus' powers being recognised in the tavern. But I doubt Albus knew that, unless he already went there and found out what needed to be done. Since, he already knew where it was and all. Plus, why did Albus 'plead' to Severus? I doubt Albus was planning on Severus to pull him out, I mean it was only luck that Minerva thought to wake Severus during the fight. Albus knew it was a one way trip, and so made it more dramatic when he died. Yea, yea. Albus was weak in the first place, but like I said, he couldn't get out of it. Also! They heard Malfoy coming up the stairs, it would have been so simple for Albus to disarm Malfoy instead of freezing Harry. With Harry and Albus, they would have easily taken on the Death Eaters. Albus was planning to die, and with the 'trusted seed' planted in Severus, the trusted becomes the trusted. Even more, the Dark Lord will love Severus. I mean, after all, Severus was very talented in Occlomency (spll).

Yea! Malfoy is dead! He failed, so he is going to die! Well look at it, it was Severus who killed Albus in the end. And Severus would have done it anyways, without the diversion. I mean, Albus trusted Severus, and that would have made him blind to the possibilites. But why did Tom go and waste some time to plan Albus' death through Malfoy? Interesting. I mean, it's true, Malfoy failed and he is going to die. Why else did all those Death Eaters follow the rules so closely? Malfoy had to do it. Or he would die. Malfoy failed, and Severus was the one who ended up doing it. Albus also new this, because he planned it. Even if it wasn't Severus who did it, it would still plant the seed as Severus would have been awarded for his 'protecting' of Malfoy to do the job. Eaither way, Severus wins more trust, and Albus dies.

Let's talk about Harry's desire huh? Now that Albus is dead, it creates more ambition and retailation from Harry's point of view. Like they found out, it wasn't the prophecy that made Harry want to kill Tom, it was the fact that Tom killed Harry's parents, creating the enemy that stood out. In doind so, Tom created his own fate by killing. With the 'protectors' dying around Harry, it brings Tom's fate closer to completion. In a way, Harry becomes more powerful as his loved ones die. His constant love for them burns in his ambition to destroy Tom and his spliced souls. Fullfilling the destiny of the 'Chosen One' Harry becomes unstoppable in what's now the ending of the series. Momentum may seem to be on the Dark Side, but it is actually the other way around. Harry is now more of a threat then he ever was, and with Tom's weakness exposed, it's only a short time before we see Harry destroy the Dark One.

*cough* Who's the man? ah-huh. Who's the man?

~BS

And how does Dumbledore dying help Harry? Surely him being alive would be a lot more use (not to mention Harry wouldn't then also want revenge on Snape).

All that would happen would be that Snape would be slightly mroe favoured by Voldemort - but as Snape was already one of (if not THE) favourtie Death Eater... the death was in vain (especially seeing as Harry will now have loads of trouble finding the other soul fragments).

So, to summerise:

- Dumbledores death made life A LOT harder for Harry (and all the good guys for that matter)
- Dumbledores death (if you're theory is correct) makes it ever so slightly easiser for Snape to get information (which is less useful now, cos Dumbledore is dead).

Quite frankly, that theory makes no sense .

Hmmmm... So you are saying Albus was hoodwinked? By Severus? Naturally inccorrect. Albus dying makes it harder for Harry? How so? It's Harry that must destroy Tom, not Albus. With Albus dead, it makes the coast clear for Harry. Tom's plan, like Harry revealed in the end, is to target all of Harry's protectors, so that he can kill Harry in the end. But that is what exactely what Albus wanted. Once they were all gone, Harry will now be strong enough for Tom. With Albus dead, Tom will reap the reward of accomplishment, but be undermined by his sucesses. And Severus will indirectly help Harry defeat Tom. It's hard to see my young grass-hopper.

~BS

Eh. Don't know about Snape under Dumbledores orders. Good theory though. But ... I don't know. I'd rather he killed not under orders if it were up to me. I'd rather Dumbledore died becuase of a mistake on his behalf ... don't know why, but that's what I want. I'd rather Snape was a traitor all along .And I don't care about the vow, killing a supposed friend is still traitorous to me, for what ever reason. It's the Peter Petigrew thing again. He tried to weedle out of blame by saying Voldemort was threatening to kill him, but Sirius just told him he should have died to save James ... so there you go. Can't just say that doesn't apply to Snape now, can we? Plus, he entered into that vow far to quickly and without any real fight for him to be thinking "Hum ... don't really want to kill the leader of the Order, now do I? Might get into a bit of trouble with my side for that one, mightent I?" So, still a traitor to me. Anyway, now he's a murderer no matter what way you look at it.

BlueStone wrote:Hmmmm... So you are saying Albus was hoodwinked? By Severus? Naturally inccorrect.

Occlumency (or whatever it's called).

Albus dying makes it harder for Harry? How so?

Because losing his greatest teacher, who could have taught him some really useful spell as well as losing his greatest protector (always useful) and as Dumbledore was also full of extremely useful tidbits of info...

It's Harry that must destroy Tom, not Albus. With Albus dead, it makes the coast clear for Harry.

Doesn't mean Harry can't have help. Like with Rom or Hermione.

Tom's plan, like Harry revealed in the end, is to target all of Harry's protectors, so that he can kill Harry in the end. But that is what exactely what Albus wanted. Once they were all gone, Harry will now be strong enough for Tom.

Dumbledore's death does not strengthen Harry in any way. It does, in fact, weaken him (see above).

With Albus dead, Tom will reap the reward of accomplishment, but be undermined by his sucesses.

Voldemort wants to kill Harry himself. And after losing to him a couple of times, I doubt he underestimates him...

And Severus will indirectly help Harry defeat Tom.

I thought only Harry could kill Voldemort? If others can help him then it would have been best for Dumbledore to stay alive, don't you agree?

I'm still not sure about Snape. At first I figured he had to kill Albus because of the vow... But he could have refused to, which would kill him.

Surprise, surprise, we need another DADA teacher. Personally, I think Rowling could have had a lot more fun with that. Snape was finally teaching his dream class, and it would have been great to see his passion in it.

The only real shock I felt after Snape's announcement that he was the half-blood prince was because I was right! I had suspected him, but I set it aside. Oh, and I agree with the Regulus Black theory, although it does seem too obvious... But hey, I was right once, wasn't I?

Aww, poor Draco. I always loved the kid, and look what he was reduced to? I was afraid for a second that he'd be the one to die, after Harry's attack... But then, the final battle has to wait until the next book, I think. IF he isn't immediately killed by Voldy, that is. *cries at the thought*

Dumbledore had to die. We all saw it coming. I just wonder whether Harry's up to the task or not. I mean, he was pretty dang useless when they went to get the locket. All he did was tell Albus to keep drinking - and I think even Neville could've done that. He had to be saved by the dying headmaster... Personally, I have little hope for Harry. I was glad to see he's matured a bit, but I somehow doubt that he'll be able to build his powers enough to kill Voldy.

What's with all the romance in this book? Sheesh. And the whole Ginny/Harry thing... I'm sorry, but I find that highly unlikely and a bit wrong, lol. Of course, there were many wrong statements in HP... Leave it to me to find them. *laughs* Well, Hermione and Ron are gonna hook up in the 7th book, unless Rowling is doing a REALLY bad job at messing with us.

Did anyone else notice an annoying similarity between HBP and Chamber of Secrets? I know there were SUPPOSED to be similarities, to point out all the clues, but still. And I couldn't help laughing whenever "The Chosen One" was mentioned... I kept hearing Obi-Wan yelling, "You were the Chosen One!" *chuckles* I'm easily amused.

Man, o man, was this a treat! Got it opening day, and finished day after! Here's my rants and raves.

First off, I had no clue that Snape was the prince. Furthest thing ever from my mind. But, like always, now that I think of it, makes sense. I mean, com'on, "Just shove a bezore down their throat" is soo something he would say!

I'm still depressed that Dumbledore died. Gosh, why him? He was by far the best character that she created.

I loved the fact that Harry and Ginny got together. I laughed so much. Maybe this is me, though, as I've had a very similar experience that led to me meeting a very close friend of mine.

I had no idea that the "plan" was to kill Dumbeldore and not Harry. I was so shocked, but to tell the truth, I've been calling that Snape was a Death Eater since book one (and no, not specifically a death eater as that name wasn't revealed till Goblet of Fire). His betrayal wasn't unexpected; his identity was.

Now I know why I don't get books on opening day. My imagination goes further than the book release dates. WHERE'S NUMBER 7?




and how can their only be one book left?

Oh well.....at least I've got a coupon for Eldest special price on opening day! August 26th, here I come!

Hey Wandwaver!*ahem*

I knew at once Draco's mission was to kill Albus (I suspected Harry to, but quickly eliminated him, figuring the Dark Lord would've anted him). I too the moment Harry got that Advance Potions book, that the HBP was Severus (c'mon, potions! sectumsempra!). I also figured when I figured Draco had to kill him, that Dumbleydore was to die. As for Snape...Well he might still be good, I mean Albus trusted him SO much, and though the smartest of us make mistakes (which are caused by emotions... When did a scientist feel for the rat he was experimenting on?), but why did he freeze Harry? Not to get himself killed because of his rashness? Perhaps, but perhaps for him to get a clear undisturbed view of the events on the astronomy tower....