I'm such a nerd; I've hardly been on these boards and I'm just drawn right to the Harry Potter. :rolleyes:
Here are my thoughts in no particular order. Feel free to disagree or ignore.
Snape: Not evil. Sorry, I'm not convinced. I don't see Dumbledore as the type to beg for his life; I do see him as the type to beg for Snape to follow through with a prearranged plan. Snape had to kill Dumbledore or else die, and while I'm sure Snape (well, Good!Snape) would happily die for Dumbledore, D didn't want it that way.
Dumbledore's death: Very upsetting, but not unexpected, I thought. Harry just doesn't have a lot of luck with father figures, has he?
I also felt Dumbledore's death was something of a symbol for the end of Harry's youth. While Dumbledore was alive, Harry was still a child and he was still a student. Then . . .
Ginny/Harry: No. No no no, no. I don't think I'd have minded it were it not so RANDOM. Harry goes through the first five books being more or less indifferent to Ginny, in the way any teenaged boy is indifferent to his friend's younger sibling. There's an affection, but no more than the one Harry feels for the rest of the Weasleys. And then all of a sudden Harry's all "Angreh beast! In mah belleh!" just out of NOWHERE.
Even so, it could have been redeemed, but JKR insisted on not letting us see them alone. They had long conversations by the lake, okay, but why don't we get to hear them? It's the "show, don't tell" principle, I guess.
Ron/Hermione: I don't mind. I've always seen more on the Ron/Hermy front than the H/Hr front. They're stuck, as Harry's friends, being in the background; they might as well be together.
Won Won/Lavender: The funny thing about this is that you see relationships like this in high school. At least, I do. Hah.
Tonks/Lupin: Oh, that Tonks. Who doesn't love her? Isn't she cool with that amazing power? Isn't she funny? Isn't it adorable how she's all clumsy? Aren't those cute "the Weird Sisters" shirts completely stylish? Weren't you worried when she was upset? Isn't it sweet how she loved Remus in spite of everything? Isn't that wonderful that they're dating now? Surely they'll live happily ever after!
I'm afraid I see Tonks as something of a Mary Sue. A lot of people disagree, and that's fine. She was a little more tolerable in this book, perhaps because she wasn't EVERYWHERE, but . . . I don't know. Reading her feels like reading an OFC in a fanfic. I'll shut up on that now.
Draco Malfoy: I'll admit, I've long since been a Draco fan. I'll spare you the essay (I seriously almost wrote one) but let's just say: "Way in over his head. The poor dear."
Fenrir Greyback: Huh? Metaphor for paedophilia what?
I'll stop now. Thanks for reading. Or not reading. Or whatever.
--Tessa, who doth babble.
