Whew! I finished. And am really late for bed. But!
The pacing was a bit odd for my taste. There were things happening, but there was also page after page (after page!) of "Malfoy's up to something." "Er, yeah, okay, Harry." "No, but seriously. Malfoy's up to something. Also, I don't trust that Snape guy. He's shifty." "Yeah, uh-huh, just like the last five years, right? Okay, whatever." "Hey, Malfoy's up to something." "So, how's that homework coming?" I mean, sure, he was up to something, but all that obsessing didn't help at all! Also, did Dumbledore really need Slug's memory before they could do anything? Ah well.
The Remus/Tonks was nice (although I'm a die-hard Sirius/Remus fan, I don't think the two are mutually exclusive) except I felt kind of cheated. It's hard to be very heart-warmed (and I wanted to be, because it was heart-warming) off of half a page out of nowhere. Oh, and also? Waaaaah! Not entirely shocking, and it does make structural sense -- the books have become gradually less safe, so if there's only going to be one more it makes sense that that last parental figure be taken away. Still, NNNOOOOOO! Albus! Sniff.
So, who's the half-blood prince?
Silly Jesse. I have not read a single page of the last 2 HP novels and can tell you that. You are not spoiled enough.
Answer surmised from spoils:
Snape.
Right? Am I right?
You know, it's funny. For about half the book, I was absolutely certain it was
Voldemort.
Like, smacking my head, 'Of course!' certain. And then it wasn't, and my head was sore.
Bwah!
Tonks was in that group of Witches and Wizards who showed up at the Dursleys to escort Harry to the OOTP hq, otherwise known as the ancestral home of the Black family.
So, she was introduced at the very beginning of OOTP. (Okay, I am totally up on this because I decided to reread OOTP prior to rereading HBP.)
And she showed up off and on to make pig noses and amuse the Trio & Weasleys. But she didn't particularly distinguish herself as a character, so it's not surprising people might have forgotten her.
You mean
Harry isn't the half blood prince extra space to throw people off
?
Gaaaah! Gaaaaaah!
Fay said everything I would want to. She and I share a brain about HBP.
I guessed fairly early on that Snape was the Half-Blood Prince, and as soon as he turned up in Dumbledore's office at the end I knew he was going to kill Dumbledore, and do so because he had promised D. he would do so. Which means that both Dumbledore and Snape made sacrifices because of love and loyalty. This is going to be key in defeating Voldemort, just you watch.
And like Fay said, this book strengthens the notion that Snape joined the Order of the Phoenix because he was devastated at causing Lily's death. (Yes, I AM a Severus/Lily 'shipper. They are my OTP.)
I really, really liked the book. I need to re-read it, right now.
Still don't have the book. Better avoid here for a while!
