Heh. Just caught the Homicide Harry Potter convo. Y'all are seriously off the hook. Ron could also be Mike Kellerman, in his "I worship fun," pre-Mahoney period.Mikey's also got insane brothers. Neville's gotta be Bayliss...besides Harry he's the only one with a rotten enough family life. Also, he looks like a hump at first, right? On some other forum, I did posit the theory that the end would come when the fans ended up arguing over whether some zap of Harry's wand was a clean shoot or not. They think I'm a mental patient. I love this place. Connie, if you love the elf queen, you'll love Kay Howard. Sumi, glad you have my back in the Kay love.(and I think KH is sexy, but I didn't mean that quite so porny.) "Magic makes you stupid." "Can I quote you on that?"

Mikey's also got insane brothers

So. very. true.

And he's got an insane brother on Journeyman too. Is that typecasting?

Once again, much has happened. The excursion to Godric's Hollow could have gone better. Turns out that there was something wrong with Batilda, something of the snake variety. Hermione saves Harry's ass and they both barely get away. That was a good bit there. I also got the full first hand view of the death of the Potters, but there really wasn't any new information there except that Voldemort doesn't like little kids much.

There was also the unexpected loss of Harry's wand. That's a huge blow and makes everything seem mighty bleak, especially after getting no closer to finding the sword after the trip to Godric's Hollow.

However, they now know that the thief was Grendelvald (it sounds like Voldemort will know this pretty soon too) and that he was a friend of Dumbledore's. That was a surprise as well. So was the letter that Dumbledore wrote about establishing wizard rule, although it sounds like the death of his sister changed him. There's a lot of interesting stuff going on, but it doesn't appear to be helping Harry very much.

You know, it's funny. As I think back about this section of the book, it works more as a mustery than a straight-ahead fantasy story, especially with all the little pieces she drops and picks up from previous books. I do love that the only time we really meet Grindelwald is on Dumbledore's Chocolate Frog card.

the realization that the lurkers support Harry in graffiti.

Oh yeah. So enjoying the recap and commentary. Dare I say, it's even better than re-reading the book myself.

As I think back about this section of the book, it works more as a mustery than a straight-ahead fantasy story, especially with all the little pieces she drops and picks up from previous books.

See, this is true of most of the series, actually - although granted I only really registered it after AJ Hall's Lust Over Pendle and her comments on JKR's writing. But just think about Goblet of Fire, with all its red herrings and the whodunnity stuff.

Some interesting stuff has happened in my last commute. Harry is still kinda upset that Dumbledore kept so much from him and has made it so hard to complete the task of destroying the horcruxes.

Harry and Hermione do a bit of traveling, and then something interesting happens. The doe patronus has to be Lilly's except for the problem of Lilly being dead. Not sure about how that works, but since there is a hint just a bit latter that there was somebody there is a real live person involved.

Then the doe leads Harry to the pond with the sword (where are sword flinging watery tarts when you need them) and Harry has to dive in to get it. Ron comes out of nowhere to save Harry, which I wasn't expecting. Here is where the clue to the patronus is dropped. There was someone there, I'm pretty sure it has to have been a person. Can someone choose the form of a patronus? There has been no hint that it is possible. Of course then there is the question of how they were found, but Ron found them so there may be a clue coming up. They are carrying Finnius around with them, so it could maybe be Snape but he didn't have the real sword. That brings up the question of who had the real sword, a true Gyriffindor? Not sure about this one. Maybe I'm totally off and it is a manifestation from his mother's protection and she is the true Gyriffindor. Don't know.

Then there is the whole matter of destroying the locket. I liked how evilly the locket tried to prey upon Ron's insecurities, Horcruxes are nasty things. That was a good bit.

I sat in my car until Ron actually smashed the locket, so I left off there. I'm looking forward to the story of how Ron found them, which I hope doesn't get skipped. Suddenly with Ron back, the sword found, and the locket destroyed makes everything less bleak. I'm looking forward to Harry breaking all the good news to Hermione who has slept through all the big events.

There was someone there, I'm pretty sure it has to have been a person. Can someone choose the form of a patronus?

okay this made me a little weepy.

Gud, remember how Tonks' petronus changed in the last book?

The doe will be a mystery for a while, but when JK tells you what it means...wow.

I also liked the inclusion of the British "white stag" legends. Interweaving things like pookas and boggarts but giving them a twist is one of my favorite Rowling tricks.