"Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" out tomorrow!

[Kuciwalker]

Spoiler:

Publishers will bug her until she gives in. Everyone who makes a big series like this ends up at least doing a prequel or a big collection of short stories (ick). And it's so that the normal people don't notice we're having a normal conversation.

[Kloreep]

Originally posted by JohnT
A question:

What book was it that made you "get" this series?

Seeing as I am a young'n who read the first book when it came out and was approximately the same age as Harry, the first one. That said, if I began reading them now I don't think either the first or second would have made me a fan.

Originally posted by JohnT
Reason why I ask is because I read the first one this weekend, and while it was a nice, kind of charming book, I just don't see what the fuss is about. However, it really seems more of an introduction into the world of HP rather than the beginning of an apparently long, fairly convoluted plot (if what I'm reading in these spoiler boxes is any measure.) Perhaps the really good stuff begins in book 2?

Book 2? Err, no. Not in my opinion anyway. I never liked the second one much.

The third is much better than either of the first two, and things really begin moving with the fourth which is also much better than its predecessors; things finally start getting darker, for one thing. I'd say that either of those might be where you "get" it if you make it that far.

Originally posted by reismark

Spoiler:

3) Wouldn't the power of Harry's love (eww... I didn't mean that the way it sounds) be tempered somewhat by having one-seventh of Voldemort's soul stuck within him? Seriously, Voldemort's inability to physically touch Harry prior to the end of Goblet and ineffectively possess Harry in Phoenix doesn't jive with this idea.

4) As someone already mentioned, the point of the Horcrux is to keep the thing alive and viable. It's illogical to think Voldemort was planning to use the body of Harry as the Horcrux itself. (In fact, Dumbledore says that "to confide a part of your soul to something that can think and move for itself is obviously a very risky business".)

Besides, when has Dumbledore ever been wrong? (And don't use Snape killing him as an example of that.)

Spoiler:

On point 3, it's hard to say exactly how living Horcruxes work, much less how it would interact with the power of Harry's love. As with everything magical, Rowling could say it works pretty much however she wants it to.

On point 4, remember that Voldemort wasn't exactly planning to fall when he went to kill Harry. So no, of course he wasn't planning on using him as a Horcrux. We don't know how long the window of opportunity to make a Horcrux is; do you have to do it within seconds of the murder? A day? Or does the tear in the soul stay there forever, ready for a fragment to be ripped off whenever? So long as Voldemort had time to return elsewhere to an item he wanted to use, he was probably planning to kill the Potters and then do the actual Horcrux work elsewhere. But then that plan would have fallen through. If he was desperate to set up one more Horcrux before dying (and was able to do so) then Harry could have been the most convenient thing on hand.

[Imran Siddiqui]

I just finished it tonight .

I went on Friday evening to the B&N with a few friends. I got their really early so was able to check my (and my friends') names off so we'd be in the group of the first 50 people to buy the book at 12:01 (I'm a hero to my friends now).

So I got it at like 12:05 AM and in the bag was a rubber braclet (like the "Livestrong" yellow Lance Armstrong one). But this one was green and had an owl next to 'July 16, 2005'. I've been wearing it for the last two days .

Spoiler:

WOW! I had a feeling Dumbledore would die, but not like that! Snape did him in, but there is some leeway in there to believe that Snape was doing what Dumbledore wanted. When Dumbledore said "Severus, please", he may have been pleading to put aside his feelings and do what needed to be done.

Though there may be a third option with Snape. Snape was cured, but giving him the DADA position gave him too much temptation and returned him to his old ways. Though I have a feeling that one way or another, Snape will be redeemed.

And SNAPE, being the Half-Blood Prince? Of all the predictions, I don't think ANY mentioned Snape!

Btw, in most of my predicitions after OotP, I was correct. On romances, Harry ended up with Ginny, though now there may be no more romance for young Harry (of course, Ginny, headstrong like Lily Potter might not take no for an answer and accompany Harry, Ron, and Hermione). Harry-Luna looks ridiculous now, looking back. Ron and Hermione look like a given. And when I said earlier this thread that Dumbledore would probably die at the end to set up a cliffhanger like ending... yep. I wish I was this good at other things .

My prediction is Harry WILL die at the end of the 7th book. Take it to the bank. The story is a tragedy and the main character will have to go. Harry has left Ginny behind already, leaving no one for him by Ron and Hermione, and Ron and Hermione will get together, leaving Harry as the one by himself. Harry will make the ultimate sacrifice to kill Voldemort. He will do what is right, instead of what is easy.

On the Horcrux being Harry, I'm not sure. Perhaps it could be. Dumbledore is never wrong, yes, but he never said Voldemort would NEVER do it. It just said it would be risky and we have seen if it was Harry, then it was risky. That would also explain why Harry could see what the Dark Lord was seeing in OotP.

What an amazing ending though. R.H.B will be interesting though and if that is Black's brother or not, we'll have to see.

[GePap]

Originally posted by Verto

Spoiler:

It makes a lot of sense, actually; if Voldemort kills Harry, who cares if he loses a bit of his life, since no one can then seriously oppose him. If, on the other hand, Harry confronts and bests Voldemort, he will always have that last part to fall back on.

Spoiler:

It still makes no sense- Why would Voldemort put a piece of his soul in a boy who might get killed randomly, specially when Voldemort was utterly incapacitated and his followers hated Harry's guts?

No, I think this is way overthinking the matter. The idea that Harry dies at the end of these books is silly. This is a story for all ages- killing a protagonist after 7 books is not going to happen, not in a line of books like this.

I would bet 10 bucks that, NO, Harry is NOT Hoxcrux (spll-whatever) and that the 7th book will be Harry anhd his friends finding and detroying all the bits of Voldemort.

[GePap]

Spoiler:

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui


My prediction is Harry WILL die at the end of the 7th book. Take it to the bank. The story is a tragedy and the main character will have to go. Harry has left Ginny behind already, leaving no one for him by Ron and Hermione, and Ron and Hermione will get together, leaving Harry as the one by himself. Harry will make the ultimate sacrifice to kill Voldemort. He will do what is right, instead of what is easy.

Spoiler:

Harry Potter is not a tragedy. Its a coming of age story. Harry is meant to evoke something in the young reader- the love of parents, the need of friends. Why do you think Dumbledore makes sure Harry shares with Ron and Herminone? Why do you think Rowling has them tell Harry they will be by him? Harry is alone in one sense, but never alone in the other-that is Dumbledore's point when it comes to love- what makes Voldermort and Harry different is that Harry, even when parentless, is never alone, while Voldermort always was alone and it warped him.

You can take your deposit back because Harry won't die. Again, the prophesy states one lives, one dies. If it stated: one can;t perish without the other or something like that, maybe, but Dumbledore would not be setting Harry up for a suicide mission. It would also undermine his notion that love is stronger than Magic- if Harry must die, it means that love was able to overcome magic, but only with its own demise.

Harry Potter is as likely to die at the end of his tale as Rambo is of getting killed by the bad guys.

Spoiler:

On the Horcrux being Harry, I'm not sure. Perhaps it could be. Dumbledore is never wrong, yes, but he never said Voldemort would NEVER do it. It just said it would be risky and we have seen if it was Harry, then it was risky. That would also explain why Harry could see what the Dark Lord was seeing in OotP.

What an amazing ending though. R.H.B will be interesting though and if that is Black's brother or not, we'll have to see.

[/SPOILER]

Spoiler:

If Dumbledore has done sucha good job in figuring out where the Hoxcruxes were, why on earth would he be so incompetent as he developed his theory to miss the one sitting under his nose for 16 years? Come on people, think

[Verto]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
I just finished it tonight .

I went on Friday evening to the B&N with a few friends. I got their really early so was able to check my (and my friends') names off so we'd be in the group of the first 50 people to buy the book at 12:01 (I'm a hero to my friends now).

So I got it at like 12:05 AM and in the bag was a rubber braclet (like the "Livestrong" yellow Lance Armstrong one). But this one was green and had an owl next to 'July 16, 2005'. I've been wearing it for the last two days .

I got the green bracelet as well (totally unexpected, and totally cool), but B&N also handed out a Scholastic HP poster to everyone as they left the line. It's pretty cool, like a collage of each book's cover. They also gave out Harry Potter glasses.

While I was there, I also picked up Monopoly: Batman edition.

All in all, a productive weekend

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by GePap

Spoiler:

Harry Potter is not a tragedy. Its a coming of age story. Harry is meant to evoke something in the young reader- the love of parents, the need of friends. Why do you think Dumbledore makes sure Harry shares with Ron and Herminone? Why do you think Rowling has them tell Harry they will be by him? Harry is alone in one sense, but never alone in the other-that is Dumbledore's point when it comes to love- what makes Voldermort and Harry different is that Harry, even when parentless, is never alone, while Voldermort always was alone and it warped him.

You can take your deposit back because Harry won't die. Again, the prophesy states one lives, one dies. If it stated: one can;t perish without the other or something like that, maybe, but Dumbledore would not be setting Harry up for a suicide mission. It would also undermine his notion that love is stronger than Magic- if Harry must die, it means that love was able to overcome magic, but only with its own demise.

Harry Potter is as likely to die at the end of his tale as Rambo is of getting killed by the bad guys.

Spoiler:

I'm not taking the deposit back. Harry WILL die. He simply cannot live after his fight with Voldemort. The prophecy only says that one cannot live while the other survives. It doesn't say that both cannot die. Harry has Ron and Hermione as friends, but the only people who were parents to him since learning of magic, Sirius and Dumbledore, have been killed off. And when he kills Voldemort, what then? How can he continue on a 'normal' life? The alternative to death is a Frodo like existance where he just retreats from the world.

It's not about love overcoming other magic or friendship. It's about doing what is right over what is easy, and that indicates to me that Harry sacrifices himself to do what is right.

And remember, Rowling loves the big surprise at the tail end of her novels. This one also will be the suprise at the end of the SERIES. And the suprises have gotten bolder:

PS/SS - Quirell being possessed by Voldemort
CoS - Ginny being possessed by Voldemort through a books horcrux
PoA - Sirius being a good guy and Scabbers being Peter Pettigrew, a bad guy
GoF - Diggory dies, Voldemort comes back to full power and the Death Eaters return
OotP - Sirius dies
HBP - Dumbledore dies

What can be bigger than Dumbledore dying but Harry dying? Unless there is an "I am your father" moment (I HIGHLY doubt that, though). I don't think that Snape actually being a good guy would qualify however (neither would Draco saving Harry)... it isn't BIG enough of a shock

Spoiler:

If Dumbledore has done sucha good job in figuring out where the Hoxcruxes were, why on earth would he be so incompetent as he developed his theory to miss the one sitting under his nose for 16 years? Come on people, think

Spoiler:

What the... ?

In Dumbledore's theory where did you get the notion that he knew what all the horcruxes were? Obviously he didn't an he admitted it. He had an idea of what they were based on his past, but the last one, he had no clue whatsoever. So it easily could have been infront of him.

Remember Dumbledore's words, since he is cleverer than most people, his mistakes end up being huger

B&N also handed out a Scholastic HP poster to everyone as they left the line. It's pretty cool, like a collage of each book's cover. They also gave out Harry Potter glasses.

Oh yeah, I got them too . Got that as we registered our names.

[Az]

My opinion on the book:

[Drake Tungsten]

Spoiler:

So now that I know what happens, I don't need to read the book, right?

[Az]

Spoiler:

You don't have to read the book, but it has nothing to do with already knowing what happens. That's just the icing on the cake

[Drake Tungsten]

Spoiler:

Awesome.

[Kuciwalker]

Spoiler:

No, I think this is way overthinking the matter. The idea that Harry dies at the end of these books is silly. This is a story for all ages- killing a protagonist after 7 books is not going to happen, not in a line of books like this.

I agree.

[SpencerH]

Originally posted by Immortal Wombat
Yesterday was the 16th

My computer lied to me!

The point of my post remains true though, my copy may have been delivered on friday afternoon (I normally get my mail late afternoons). Its also possible that the USPS made a special delivery saturday morning but somehow I doubt it.

Before the happy event I was rueing the fact that I thought my pre-ordered copy would come later in the week while I could have picked up the book locally saturday morning (almost anywhere).

[Spiffor]

Just ordered it per amazon.de

Not that I'll read it (I haven't read any HP book, but did read all the spoilers ), but it's a nice gift

[SpencerH]

Spoiler:

Nice one Guy

RAG -> Regulus Black.

I wonder if he is definitely dead. That Kreacher is Harrys would suggest yes, but I wonder.

Snape is not a deatheater. I think the fight with Harry proves that. Harry cant touch him but Snape does not retaliate. That fact seems very strange given that Snape has just taken the drastic step of killing Dumbledore (against Voldemorts wishes that Malfoy do it).

One has to wonder why Dumbledore felt he had to sacrifice his life? Even weakened he had to know that he could have defeated Malfoy and the other deatheaters. Throughout the book, I repeatedly thought that the wound from the ring-Horcrux was killing him. I think he knew that he was dying. He told Snape that he was going to have to kill him (the argument in the woods) and thats why he wanted Harry to get Snape rather than madame Pomfrey. At the end, Dumbledore was pleading with Snape to kill him not to spare him. I think that his death was indeed a 'sacrifice' that will have some magical benefit.

Snape loved Lily. He was helping her and thats why she was so good at potions. Her death is what turned him against Voldemort.

Harry will go back to school. Harry is not a Horcrux and he will not die, c'est impossible.

The last Horcrux will be the tapestry in the Blacks house (or perhaps it will be the clue to the last one).

One has to wonder how Harry will be able to collect four horcrux when collecting 2 has killed Dumbledore!