Damn, I think you're right - that wasn't a prologue, was it, it was actually Chapter 1. So maybe I should look to GoF as the turning point - I suppose that makes more sense, what with it being the first Death-of-Friend book. But we still went and had that whole Harry-spending-Summer-at-the-Dursleys-and-being-miserable chapter, with lots of Harry-Dursleys interaction, whereas here, not so much.

I think that JKR loves misdirection, and that she has shown that in every single book in the series.

Abso-fucking-lutely. It's her MO, and she's really fucking good at it. In every book, she's able to make someone (Snape, I forget the patsy in book 2, Sirius Black, etc.) look villainous from every angle but the right one. And when everything's explained, everything makes sense, because we see most things from Harry's POV.

I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if, in book 7, we discovered that Voldemort's been good all this time.

Okay, maybe I would be.

friend of mine works in a library at the U of Alaska in Ketchikan; the chancellor there decided they no longer needed a library and had them get rid of more than half their collection.

t ignores HPB talk (since I still haven't read it) to boggle at this

People are stupid.

People are stupid.

Can't believe I got so sucked into the HBP thing that I forgot to comment. That about blew my mind. 'Cause, yes, let's teach our students that they should blindly believe everything they find via Google is valid academic research.

::facepalm::

Voldemort won't be redeemed. He's too evil, even as a little kid. That eleven-year-old boy creeped me out in his converstation with Dumbledore. (BTW, I loved DD's purple velvet outfit here, as well as Harry's comment of "Nice suit, sir." Can't wait to see Gambon wearing it in the movie!)

On the other hand, Ketchikan is a very small town. I have no idea how big the university is there, but interlibrary loan has to be a bitca.

A man tries to buy the new Harry Potter at Blockbuster. No, really. It's hilarious. And depressing.

HBP:

I, honestly, don't think I'll be terribly happy, whichever way Snape turns out. I'm just tired of the direct, misdirect. However, if he's a good guy, if Dumbledore didn't leave amazingly compelling evidence for Harry to find, which he does find within the first, say 1/3 of the next book, I'm going to be right pissy. That's just poor planning.

I've been intrigued, since I first read it, of the phrasing of the prophecy "Neither can live while the other survives", which I read a little more broadly. Neither of them can have a whole/happy life, as long as the other one is still around. They deny that of each other. Which matches perfectly, IMO, with the idea of a little bit of Voldemort living in Harry, which, I think, happened by accident.

What else, what else...

The shooting down of Remus/Sirius made me too sad to be happy about Remus/Tonks, who are both kickass characters (and Remus the biggest woobie in the world), and I rightfully should be gleeful.

I was rather chuffed as soon as they explained that it was a love-potion Harry was smelling, as the description just screamed Ginny to me.

I really really hope that it doesn't end up being Harry alone vs. Voldemort. The power of love/friendship is too strong in the series for that, IMO.

I'm trying to figure out how the magical creatures fit into it, in the big, final battle. Because they have to, right?

Harry defeats Voldemort with a BlastEnded Skrewt that has been given lots of cheap beer and chili cheese fries.

I really hope they do. I hope something comes of the centaurs and the giants.

Mind you, I'm still faintly hoping that Neville will come into his own in the last book. And I haven't given up all hope that maybe, just maybe Neville might kill Voldemort. But I think it's phenomenally unlikely.