Harry Potter: Do not read this if you haven't finished the book

[Lambchops]

Well, what did you all think?

I think it is up to the usual standard but hasn't Harry become really angry? I got a bit depressed at the constant blows Harry had to suffer and I didn't predict the death accurately.

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Eurgh, Gary Oldman is reason enough for killing Sirius! Now Sean Pertwee on the other hand.....

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i thought the book was excellant. the thing with putunia was the whole blood ties thing. whilst harry considers privet drive his home (however bad it is), he and the dursleys are protected from voldemorts dark magic. petunia sealed the magic when she took harry in, if she breaks it, then it leaves the dursleys also open to voldemort. thats the impression i got anyway.

Spoiler
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Finished it at midnight last night. I thought Petunia's howler was deliberately misleading, and took it to be fron Lily as it said 'remember my last' ie she could have adjured Petunia to look after Harry.

Thought this book had a slow start but revved up when they got to Hogwarts. Umbridge was splendidly vile, and Snape became more understandable when the Pensieve showed what a miserable time he'd always had. Harry's anger is surely a natural development considering his age, hormones, and situation. Glad he didn't cop off with Chang as I think he should save himself for Ginny.

Neville is becoming a favourite charactor - interesting that it could have been him who was Voldemort's mortal foe, and theoretically would have been if Voldemort had chosen to attack him
instead.

As for Sirius dying, my dp read this thread and told me, the b**tard!! Actually don't mind too much as he was coming over a bit more as a hothead. Think he'll turn up again somehow, maybe with HP visiting the world of the dead or something (tho' that's a bit Pullman-esqe)

Am now going to ban dp from reading mumsnet!

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Way too long. She should have trimmed down the 1st 300 pages. They were too repetitive - Harry angry and misunderstood, Sirius bitter and grim, Mrs Weasley's dialogue ALL IN CAPITALS to show how angry she was...yawn, get on with the plot!

Umbridge was suitably pantomimic as the villain of the piece - JK's baddies are so wonderfully unsubtle. Nice to see Ron, Neville and Ginny having something a bit more meaty to do.

Couldn't care less about Sirius dying, he wasn't that sympathetic as a character - was much more worried she was going to kill off Hagrid.

Poor Harry - he's going to need major therapy to recover from all this - JK must really hate him to inflict so much upon the poor lad. But when is he going to learn? I mean, not to tell Dumbledore about his dreams, his scar etc you'd think he'd have figured about by this stage in the saga that that would have been the sensible thing to do.

In terms of plot development, this book doesn't actually tell you much more anyway. I'd already guessed that some prophecy must have meant Voldemort wanted to kill Harry as a baby. I don't think Dumbledore's revelation was worth waiting 760 pages for.

Having said that, roll on number 6 only please make it shorter!

Oh yes, and Pam Ferris for Umbridge, and Maureen Lipman as Trelawny.

bea - know what you mean about your dh

Was anyone else hoping that the great revelation might have been that Voldemort was really Harry's father - although not sure how JK would have explained that to some of her younger readers... I have to admit that I was hoping for a Luke Skywalker/Darth Vader "You're not my father!!" moment. Would have been much more interesting than what we actually got!

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I've been thinking about this one... With Sirius' mirror, I think it was forgotten about to show that Harry is just human and not infallible. Rather like the way Snape's memory show James Potter to be arrogant and not the heroic character Harry had built him up to be. Maybe it will serve to teach Harry to stop and think before he does things.

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I don't think the mirror was forgotten at all. I think Harry chose not to use it, because he was a fraid that if he told Sirius all that was going on, then Sirius would fly to his aid, and be captured. So he didn't tell him.

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I thought he'd forgotten about it because he found it in his trunk at the end, still wrapped up and thought "what's this?"

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I was wandering about the prophecy. It doesn't make much sense. If Voldemort had not heard about the prophecy, then he would not have tried to kill Harry, hence giving him the scar and transferring his powers to him, giving him the power to oppose him. So if Trelawny had not made the prophecy which then got partially told to Voldemort, then nothing would have happened. So it was the foretelling of the events that actually made them happen, as opposed to the events happening anyway, and being prophesied correctly. Phew!

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What does the bit in Dumbeldore's office mean 'in essence divided' with the two wispy snakes?

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I thought that as Voldemort and Harry can both speak Parsletongue and have connections to snakes, and considering the prophecy, that perhaps the reason one has to die is that the are essential split, two havles of the same, metaphysically. Does that make any sense??

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What page is that on?

OK, SoupDragon - that's really cool - you have to tell how to do it!

You highlight it, copy it (Ctrl +Insert) and then paste it (Alt +Insert)! It's what I did when stealing it from elsewhere....

Does anyone else think it rather odd that none of the parents have taken their kids out of Hogwarts? Every term there is mayhem, death and destruction and no-one thinks, 'I think I'd better send my little ones to the local comp, safer there.'

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I don't think they have a lot of choice when it comes to schools. I get the feeling that there is one school per country, and you can only go to your own nationality school. It also seems that you won't be allowed to do magic if you don't go throguh the school (because they take away your wand if you are expelled). So I suppose they don't have much choice.

Mind you - maybe this is normal everyday stuff, for those living in a fantastical magical society?

I think Harry definitely forgot the mirror, Oakmaiden. He went to such trouble to contact Sirius through the floo network and all the time he just had to look in the poxy mirror!

As for the prophesy, Lilimum, you could argue that Voldemort learning about the prophesy only made him go after the Potters sooner rather than later and his attempt on Harry was inevitable. Anyway, the prophesy did come to pass and there was no way Trelawny could have known the powerful protection Harry's mother would use.

I always wondered why Dumbledore put up with Trelawny so at least that got cleared up.

OH NO!! I FORGOT MY SPOILER LINE!! DON'T LOOK DOWN!! SORRY!!

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Well, I finally finished the book today. Like Lilymum I thought that the big story from Dumbledore was going to reveal that Voldemort was Harry's father but then realised that would be way to much like star wars.

Was annoyed that it was Sirius who died, although he didn't really seem to die just seemed to disappear to another place and can't get back, maybe Harry will see him again. I've never really thought of Sirius as a main character in relation to Harry, Dumbledore the Weasleys etc.

there did seem to be a lot of loose ends though. Gawp seemed to be forgotton at the end, we didn't find out how they got on with their OWLS and I felt she could have done a bit more with the story about Snape, maybe there will be more in the next book, which hopefully won't be another 3 year wait.

I did enjoy it though but could have done with being a teensy bit shorter, my wrists hurt from trying to hold the book up it's so heavy after a while, lol

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I agree it could have done with being shorter or issued in three separate volumes. It was difficult to hold, especially when lying down in bed - difficult to find a comfrotable way to lie down.

I enjoyed it but I don't feel desperate to get hold of the next one which I have when I've finished the previous ones.

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I wasn't expecting to find out their OWL results until the next book judging by the time scales the books seem to span. If the results come out the same sort of time as GCSEs it will be at the start of the next book

I think there are a few things being set up for the remaining books and that tey've not really been forgotten. I bet Gawp crops up in the next one and yes, maybe Sirius isn't really dead. I thought Sirius was building up to becoming a main character in this book & was disappointed that he was killed off.

I think the story about Snape has changed the way Harry sees him and it may well be built on in the next books. I certainly felt sorry for Snape so it's changed my view of him.

With the prophecy, Lilymum, that's how prophecies work I say this from a lifetime of reading fantasy type books... Whether Voldemort had heard the prohecy or not, he may still have gone after the Potters (they'd escaped 3 times already, a 4th attack wasn't that unlikely) and chances are that Harry would have been there and been "got" anyway.

Good job my 7 day old dd2 sleeps alot! Finished it yesterday and thought it was fab, although I cried alot (hormones have kicked in) mainly at the hospital bit with the sweet wrapper! I loved the the whole hospital bit, the stroppy witch on reception etc, and I loved the firework spelling poo and the poster in the common room when it was running down and just shouting single words. Still think book 4 is the best though.

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Sorry to keep going on about the prophecy BUT! I do understand the bit about Voldemort and Harry being the only ones able to take the prophecy off the shelf at the Department of Mysteries, but anyone could smash them while they were on the shelves and hear the message that came out - Harry and the gang did with their wands to provide a distraction. So why didn't Voldemort just get his Death Eaters to smash it with their wands, listen to it, then report back to him? Is the whole prophecy thing just a bit of a clunky plot device?

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Phew, just finished!

Took me a long time to "get into" this one- the others I wasn't able to put down from the beginning. Did anyone else feel that this book was written with an eye to how it would look on screen, rather than a storybook, or is that me being cynical? All the way through I almost expected stage directions to be written in!

lilibet, Lupin told him that his father had improved with age!

Definitely Maureen Lipman as Trelawney, but not convinced about Pam Ferris.. Umbridge is described as short with a flat face... can't think of anyone fitting that description.

Hope we don't have to wait another 3 years for the next one. (Anyone else wondering whether they'll be able to keep up the momentum for 7 films?! )