I loved the bit where Harry remembers Dumbledore's words too. That other thing seemed familiar but I thought it was more something I'd read in FF. Although you could be right. It could be that I remember it from Spidey 2.

What killed me was "Dumledore's man, through and through" both when it made Dumbledore tear up and when Harry repeated it at the end.

Not that I didn't eat it up, sumi. I just, you know, wanted her to know that I know.

I also really liked that moment at the funeral when Ginny got fierce instead of teary and Harry noticed and knew what it meant and admired it.

I'm with y'all on the Spidey 2-ness of the "We can't be together" speech. Though I have seen that about a million times elsewhere too.

Two other references that occurred to me were the: 24-ness of the Snape scene at the end. It seemed like he was going all Jack with the doing bad things for the right reasons.

Could be wishful thinking on my part there.

And: the LOTR-ness of the dead bodies under the water in the cave.

Must confess that my least favorite scene was the entire cave section.

Then again, I was 22 hours into it and perhaps not at my discerning best. Must reread.

Beyond these things that sort of took me out of the story, I loved it a lot.

Could be wishful thinking on my part there.

I definitely think that Snape was following Dumbledore's orders. There was that moment that Hagrid (I think) overheard DD telling SS to do something that SS didn't want to do. I bet that thing was killing DD if the situation was needed. It paralleled DD asked HP to force him to drink in the cave. There was also SS's reaction to being called a coward. SS always seemed to respect DD and DD was the only person to completely trust SS. Killing him must've been really emotionally difficult to do. Poor Snape. He's now completely alone. He needs a hug.

As I was plowing through, I kept startling myself by laughing outloud, or shouting "NO!", or offering a big "HUH!"

I was worried after Pheonix. I didn't love it so much. Prince has completely won me back to the fold.

Wordy McWord.

My favourite HP book so far. Man. Man. So many things I enjoyed. Really looking forward to the discussion. In the interim, there's HPB_Chapters over at LJ, for anyone who wants to post a chapter-by-chapter review, or just read other people's thoughts.

I think Jilli is going to love this book.

eta I totally, totally, totally agree with Melponene. Yes. For this reason I spent the last 3 chapters of the book crying like a baby. I had the whole horrified 'OMG, Draco's supposed to kill DUMBLEDORE, not Harry! OMG! They're arguing because Dumbledore's telling Snape he may have to kill him, and Snape is all 'no way', and now Hagrid's overheard bits and the trio are going to just think that Snape's Eeeevil, and he's not, he's not, he's a heroic unappreciated woobie martyr guy!' thing a little earlier on, and once I'd decided that nothing else in the book contradicted it, and now I'm totally aboard the Snape Is Still Loyal To Dumbledore train. Now with added tragedy. It's so fucking GREEK, man.

HP VI -- I had the some of the same thoughts as Melpomene ** I assumed that Snape was acting with Dumbledore's knowledge if not under his orders. The situation was hopeless -- Dumbledore was going to be killed anyway. Snape doing the killing would have protected Snape and made him helpful in defeating Voldemort. Also, if that Unbreakable Vow really is unbreakable, then Snape had no choice at that point -- he had to kill Dumbledore. I think Snape told Dumbledore of the vow earlier, so Dumbledore knew what was going to happen.

Also, I wonder if Dumbledore was dying? Was the badly injured hand just not healing (like Bill's injuries) or was it a symptom of a poison that was killing Dumbledore?

Other random thoughts -- I liked how Luna and Neville came when called. Sad to see that the other DA members did not -- but then they weren't at the Ministry last year, so they may have been more reluctant to confront the Deatheaters.

I liked the lucky potion story, but doesn't it raise the question that Harry et al should carry that Lucky potion with them in the event they run into Voldemort or any more Death Eaters? I understand it can't be taken every day, but a shot before certain combat sounds like a good idea.

I got a bit of the Spider-Man 2 vibe in Harry-Ginny's last conversation, but didn't mind that it was in HP VI as well. If it was the right thing to do, then JK Rowling should do it regardless of what movie may be out at the time or the year before. **

Fay--I am as one with you in this.

Poor Snape, with his great nobility and sacrifice which no one can see. Just about killed me. I also loved the way the Harry/Dumbledore relationship played out. When Dumbledore said he was all right because "I'm with you," after the cave scene, that's when the tears began for me.

Lupin/Tonks? So PERFECT.

I think that Dumbledore was already dying from the poison. Ok, thinking back this is how I think it went down:

Chapter 2 Snape makes the Unbreakable Vow to Narcissa. Dumbledore knows about it later on so I'm certain that Snape told him. If DD had found out the plan to kill him another way, he wouldn't have trusted Snape. So DD knew that Draco or Snape were to kill him. He prepared Harry all year for his death. He told Harry about the Horcruxes, repeatedly mentioned that he wasn't afraid to die and that he wasn't important in the grand scheme of things. Snape killing him prevented Draco from fracturing his soul and now Voldemorte wouldn't dream that Snape is working against him. To sacrifice yourself for others is an act of love. Voldemorte wouldn't understand that DD would choose to die for an unimportant like Draco. It leaves Snape with an opening to cripple Voldie during the Voldie/Harry showdown.

Another point in the Snape is good is when battling Harry. Harry kept trying to curse Snape and Snape only blocked them. He never attacked Harry when it would have been an ideal time to do it. He even gave Harry pointers until Harry called him a coward