Oh, one more thing, I thought the the ending of this book packed all the punch that Sirius' death so painfully did not in OotP (and that I thought it was supposed to). Doubly odd since DDs death (when I was spoiled for it) didn't surprise me in the least, where the idea of Sirius going so soon took me aback (though him being such a prat in OofP took all the punch out of the actual event). Unfortunately, if DD was wrong about Snape he'll be just as much a victim of his own bloody-mindedness as Sirius (to carry the slang talk forward).

Trudy and Frank give me hope.

And I loved Dumbledorenail ...sadly loved, but loved none the less.

And I'm so completely with Frank on the concern about reasons for trust.

Clearly that is one of, if not the, biggest question left pending for HP7. Lots of pressure for a good/agreed upon payoff. Oddly, I'm much more interested in THAT resolution than I am in the great Harry/Voldy show down. Huh! I didn't realize that until just this minute. I'm way, way more interested in Snape's journey than in the big bad. Whaddya know?

eta: And YES! Sirius' death was very Hollywoodized, it seemed. "He's dead? Huh. Move along...nuthin' to see here." Whereas, the impact of DD's death was much more fully realized, despite the lack of surprise.

And YES! Sirius' death was very Hollywoodized, it seemed. "He's dead? Huh. Move along...nuthin' to see here."

And it seemed so pointless. We keep hearing how upset and angry Harry is about it, and this is the closest he's come to losing family he cares about since he's become aware of such things, but it keeps seeming like she's telling rather than showing.

On the other subject as much as I'd love for Lily to somehow be the reason for DDs trust in Snape (and given Plei's baby, I now want the title of book 7 to be "Harry Potter and the Man who Loved Princess Ticky-box"), I can't easily reconcile his lashing out at her as a "mudblood" when she was defending him with that whole scenario. I can still see a few ways Rowling can get there, but, as I said, her comments on Snape have always worried me. On the other hand, I just don't see why a true betrayer would be such an obvious villain for 6 books, but NOT be one for 6 books, if you get my meaning. How shocking would it have been if, say, MacGonnagal had been the secret Death Eater.

Do NOT click this link if you have not read HP6. If you have, click and laugh your ass off.

HP VI -- Frankenbuddha -- I totally understood Snape lashing out at Lily. I think that, if Snape loved Lily, it was unspoken. Then she witnessed him being humiliated and worse, intervened to "save" him. (To go back to BTVS -- "Halloween" I think, Xander was standing up to Bully Larry who was clearly going to beat Xander up. Buffy intervened and "saved" Xander. He was angry at her for doing so, because the beating was temporary but his reputation as a "sissy" would last much longer.) So Snape, in his wounded pride, lashed out at Lily by calling her the nastiest thing he could think of.

P-C, some of those were hilarious.

My favourite had to be the t /............... one.

Also? Have now seen several episodes of House.

House IS Snape.

Narrator - yeah, that's the one way I can see for it to work. But given that Snape was once a Death Eater for real, there had to have been some genuine prejudices in there somewhere. Although I can also see Snape being more interested in power and skills than with purity.

Hec, is your copy of Howl's Moving Castle by any chance a trade paperback? I've found hardcover available online and mass market PB locally, but I'm looking for a trade, if I can find it.

Not the trade, but the mass market PB. But it does have a very nice cover.

It looks like there isn't a trade edition of Howl's Moving Castle in the US or in the UK.

I still don't understand Snape calling Lily a "mudblood" when he is one himself!