NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

[stoney321]

HUGE
HBP
SPOILERS.

GO AWAY IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED!!!


Okay. I figured it would be Dumbledore. She set us up for that all book with the "teaching Harry everything he knows" bits. Thought it could be Malfoy, but I know she hates Malfoy and Snape (as their creator) and would want more of an emotional impact. Well... It worked. Cried. Not Obi-Wan screaming at burning Nugget-kin, but you know - sorow filled.

AND I FUCKING KNEW IT ABOUT SNAPE!! Greasy bastard. Thought she would go for the obvious with Fleur, glad she didn't. Harry/Ginny!!! I love that. Okay: JK Rowling TOTALLY knows about fanfiction and our likes in the ships. Remus/Tonks? Come on. Hints of Neville/Luna? She knows, dude. But why did she make my Ron slurp with that horrible girl??? *pets Hermione, knows it will work its way out*

I didn't see the not going to school in his 7th year coming. Am I thick? I thought maybe the Ministry would suggest to have Harry run the show in a way, alongside McGonagall or something.

PREDICTIONS:

*Dumbledore DRANK the horcruxes. Which is why it weakened him. Which is why he begged for Snape to kill him. Which means (dammit) that Snape is a double agent, but not how the Death Eaters imagine.
*One of the horcruxes is in HARRY. Which is why his head hurts. Which is why he wasn't killed. Which is why he is so important to Voldemort. Which is why they have a connection.

WHICH IS WHY ONLY ONE WILL SURVIVE.

Okay. I'm SO, SO sad by the funeral. Ron holding Hermione... Grawp patting Hagrid on his head... The centaurs and merpeople... UMBRIDGE.

She better write fast.

Comments

[julia-here.livejournal.com]

In about not-sufficient-time, Miss Perfect will be coming home with HBP, all read since she bought it at B&N's midnight release party.

She's sleep deprived, unmedicated (56mg Concerta is the difference between Miss Perfect and the Evil Bitch Monster from Hell) and I am going to go hide in my bedroom as soon as she's in the door.

I should read it, I suppose, but like Robert Jordan, J.J. Rowling writes books that make me have to take vicodin after I read them...

Julia, coward, and cranky old lady

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Harumph.

I enjoy the hell out of them. I could use a nap, however....

[slackerace.livejournal.com]

Okay, I am so not even into this fandom, but I have to ask...

You read the book before letting your children read it?

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Yep. they've been getting steadily darker, and my boy can be very sensitive to injustice. So, things like this, Where The Red Fern Grows, My Dog Skip, etc., I read ahead so when he gets to things that could upset him, I'm prepared to talk to him about it.

But.

He fell alseep on the drive home. I stayed up until 5am, and got through 3/4th of it. Finished it later this morning. He's working on his copy.

[mirasol.livejournal.com]

I liked it, but I thought that it was just a tad too well-stuffed.

I still believe that Snape didn't want to kill Dumbledore, but that he had to do it to a. secure his position with Voldy and b. save Draco from doing it. Yes, he's horrible and slimy and need serious styling advice but I want to believe that Dumbledore wasn't mistaken in trusting him.

JKR write fast? I'll believe it when I see it...

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Part of me thinks she WANTS us to think Snape isn't really bad, that we'll question it all (like I did above) but she HATES him. Draco, too.

And Dumbledore made a point of saying that when he makes mistakes, they are spectacularly bad. Tom Riddle was under his care, don't forget.

I, for one, loved this book. Plan on re-reading it tomorrow (if my husband can read that quickly.)

[bisi.livejournal.com]

Oh Stoney, not you too?
Was in the bookshop this morning getting my Saturday paper, there were piles of the book everywhere and noone was buying it. But my suburb has no culture.
Have you seen the alternative versions? http://books.guardian.co.uk/potter/page/0,13381,1521782,00.html

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Yep. Me, too. LOVE the HP books. They are such fun and take me back to the joy of reading I had as a kid.

Oooh! Thanks for the link! I see they have lots of versions. WHeee!

[tx-cronopio.livejournal.com]

Oh, that was a great link, what fun! Then I checked out your journal and friended you. Hope that's ok. Stoney can vouch for me, can't you, Stoney. Stoney?..... Um, Stoney...??

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

YES! Bisi wrote (what i think) is the best Mpreg EVER in Dovil's ficathon. It's the Gods Must Be Crazy as an mpreg with Spike and Angel.

Why are you still here? YOU MUST READ!! Me teenk yoo dere need to here de speek in her heed to get it. Yah.

[tx-cronopio.livejournal.com]

Me tink I already red it, while doin de lurkin sneeky ting in her journal! Yep, I liked!

[crayonbreakygal.livejournal.com]

Got the book today from Amazon. I so figured out all of that (except for the Snape bit) even before reading the book. Should be interesting. The postal carrier literally threw it on my steps. Bastard. He probably had delivered way too many of them. My son and I are fighting over who gets to read it first.

[julissak01.livejournal.com]

She better write fast.

DITTO. ::pulls herself together::

Waaaaaaah! *sniffs*

[anelith.livejournal.com]

Laura, why do you call poor Snape a greasy bastard when you KNOW he had to do it? Yes, of course Dumbledore asked him to do it, although my thinking is that he did so for other reasons. When I finished the book I actually felt more sorry for Snape than anyone else, even Harry.

I think the reason JKR is making Snape look so very bad in this book is that she's putting us through the same test that Harry's going through right now. A test of our faith in Dumbledore -- do we believe that he knew what he was doing when he trusted Snape?

As for all the romance going on, I actually (don't hit me!) don't care one way or the other about Harry/Ginny. I think it would have been just fine if Harry had reached the end of the series without any serious romantic attachment. After all, he'll be only 17 by then, and he will have had plenty to keep him occupied! Of course we all saw Ron/Hermione coming a mile off, and it's sweet. And the "slurping with that horrible girl" was just to make the inevitable with Hermione even sweeter. What have you got against Remus/Tonks? Other than the fact that Remus should still be pining for his one true love, Sirius? :-)

By the way, back to Ginny -- if I were her I'd kick Harry in the shins when I found out that Ron and Hermione were going to accompany him into adventure and exile from Hogwarts, after the noble speech about how he couldn't be with her anymore because she'd be used as a lever against him, etc., etc. Wouldn't Ron and Hermione be just as bad? Sheesh.

Really, my heart bleeds for Snape. I think the theme of this book is all about perception of Harry's enemies, Voldemort, Draco and Snape -- I think Harry's eventual fate will depend on how he can really understand them.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

As for Snape... I have serious issues with him. Dumbledore may trust him, but he's a BAD person. His treatment of Neville over the years, the abject humiliation... He's a teacher and his behavior to a group of his students (his humiliating comments in regards to Hermione's appearance, etc.) shouldn't be allowed. It's HORRIBLE and unfair and cruel.

That being said, I still think he's a double agent. That JK is throwing nails on the street to blow out our tires. I think Dumbledore knew EXACTLY what he was doing, that he DRANK the horcrux there, and the only way to destroy it was for him to die. So? Snape did it instead of letting Draco take that final step to the "dark side." Snape would have been given the same "do what I command" instruction from Dumbledore that Harry was given.

But. I still think Snape is a greasy bastard. And I LOVE to read about him because of it. RL? I'd fucking make his life a living hell.

As to Tonks/Remus? I have no issues with them loving each other, it just seemed VERY left field and put together all too fast. I squirm at the Remus/Sirius love, because if Sirius was in love with Lupin, why didn't he leave anything to his former paramour? I mean, Lupin seems like he can barely EAT, let alone dress in anything not old and ragged, and Sirius has all that money... Hmmm. I just don't buy any M/M relationships in this. It'd be like say Laura really had a thing for Nellie. BUT that's just me, and I don't get upset at others for thinking I'm a stupid vanilla/blind/bigoted whatever. I just don't think it's there, personally.

I like the GInny/Harry angle, and have since CoS, and like how it's been quietly building with a friendship, understanding, and then the need for something nice. But I totally agree that she needs to kick his ass if he lets R/Hr come along and not her.

What do you think about my theories of the horcruxes? Any theories yourself?

[anelith.livejournal.com]

Oh, I agree with you that Snape's a very twisted individual. He's been very cruel all through the books and we're not supposed to like him, not at all. However, I think the glimpses we've been given of his past are supposed to give us some idea of *why* he is the way he is. But I think you and I are in agreement that he was definitely doing what he was told in regards to Dumbledore and he hated to do it, and thus my pity for him.

As far as the horcrux being in the liquid that Dumbledore drank, while you may be right, I don't think it's a *necessary* theory to explain the actions of either Dumbledore or Snape. I think Dumbledore knew about Draco's mission thanks to Snape's double-agent reports, and probably knew all along what would be the final end. As you say, Snape did it instead of letting Draco take that final step to the "dark side." On Dumbledore's orders. The potion's inimical actions could be explained by its protective properties; I'm not sure it has to be anything as potent as a Horcrux. But it will be fascinating to see if you're right!

By the way, I'm mostly teasing about the Sirius/Lupin thing. I think the books are not slashy much; the movie was more so. In the books Sirius seemed much more romantic when speaking about his poor dead friend James, frankly!

;-)

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

We are in total agreeance about Snape/Dumbledore/orders. The more I think about it, the more I have to believe Dumbledore knew what he was doing, even though he did warn Harry that he was known to make mistakes. False trail? First chapter: also a false trail?

I searched a LOT of threads discussing HBP this weekend, trying to find anyone to talk about the horcruxes, etc. with, and ALL I found were H/D shippers saying how happy they were, and the R/S shippers happy, and I was all... buzuh? It amazes me how people just NEED there to be slash where I, frankly, cannot see it. Spike/Angel? Oh, yeah. Obi-Wan/Anakin? MM hmmm. Harry and frickin' Draco? You kidding me?

I worry about people who equate stalking with love. That's creepy.

Do you realize you are the only person who will discuss this with me? ANNE!! I miss you! *kicks your job when you aren't looking*

[anelith.livejournal.com]

I'm thinking of making a post soon on a couple of things, with a little bit about how stressed I am and why I've been posting even more infrequently than usual! This month has been HELL. And it's not even due (mostly) to the new job.

You know how much I love talking about this book with you? And I'm passing on all your comments to Ron, who just finished the book this morning. He passed up reading the PAPER to finish the book -- now that's true book love, for a news junkie like him!

*smooch*

[winterlive.livejournal.com]

*nonplussed*

I am SO confused, Stoney.

Snape's a bad guy? But I want him to be good! *cries* I think I was more affected by Snape being evil than Dumbledore's dying. But the minute the words left his mouth, Avada Kedavra! he was totally, 100% evil. He is not a double agent. I no longer have any belief. And Malfoy... okay, yeah, I knew that was coming, nice touch on the inability to kill. CAN WE REDEEM HIM NOW PLEASE! Stupid Rowling.

Harry better finish goddamn school, or I'll have a hairy canary. WHAT IS SHE TEACHING THE KIDS!?!? But then, perhaps the school will close, and I will not have to injure my brain. Cause there's no way Harry gets to run the show, there cannot be.

The Harry/Draco slash. Could it BE more thick on the ground? I do not think so. I think Snape almost stepped in it up there on the Astronomy tower. Yes, I do.

GRAWP YAYE!

I totally think R.A.B. took the Horcrux. And I have heard people speculate on who that is, and I'm so on the bandwagon for one of 'em. We'll find the last few Horcruxes in the last book.

OMG we must kill Umbridge by the end. TELL ME SHE DIES I HATE HER SO MUCH.

In conclusion, her ships rock the casbah, even if there are insufficient redemption/good + evil = dynamic duo arcs.

I LOVE STONEY!

[winterlive.livejournal.com]

Having read your comments with Anne:

H/D. Everywhere. Dude. I think it is unequivocally true that Harry does not in any way love Draco, nor vice versa - no, no, and oh, by the way, NO. But the link is there, the tie, the fixation. The OBSESSION. Unstoppable.

Plus Draco makes Crabbe and Goyle get up like eleven year old girls. You gotta know he and Harry both thought that was funny as hell - and it WAS. Harry has a MEAN streak, and Draco feeds right into it. OMG HARRY TRIED TO CRUCIO SNAPE! HOW COULD I FORGET! *flail*

[winterlive.livejournal.com]

I TAKE IT ALL BACK SEVERUS OMG I LOVE YOU FOREVER ELEVENTYONE!!

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

OMG! Found you through Winterlive who mentioned yout Harry as a horcrux suggestion! OMG!

Best. Thought. Ever.

Could JKR be so clever? I thinks not. But I'm thrilled that you are.
*friends you*

I'm making a HBP deepthoughts list, can I add this post?

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Hi! *waves*
I don't know if she's going in that route, but it's the first thing that popped into my head. WOULDN'T THAT BE AWESOME?? Okay, I totally need book 7 NOW, please.

You may do whatever you want with this post, of course. And welcome aboard! I'm a little loony, so no hard feelings if my crazy isn't your brand of crazy. :-D