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Half-Blood Prince
I finished Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince last night (I spun it out for a week of evening reading pleasure) and thought I'd post some comments, thoughts, and theories.
I enjoyed the book, and rather more than the last one, because despite Dumbledore's death, this one doesn't seem as bleak in tone, possibly due to Harry coming out of his teenage sulk. I found the various crushes and pairings a bit annoying only in that they took up rather too much narrative for my liking, though I have no objections at all to any of them--they're JKR's characters to write as she likes. I did guess that Fleur would come through for Bill though; I thought there was more to her. I do hope we get a lot more of Ginny in the next book as I'd like to get to know her better and see her developed more.
Houses I don't think that Slytherin necessarily equals evil: Slughorn might enjoy living through his more successful pupils and basking in their reflected glory, but he's basically on the right side--as is Snape (more of that below). Also, we know that members of other houses can behave very badly too: Harry's father bullies Snape, the Hufflepuff who called the Quidditch game was very partisan and vicious, and Cormac McLaggen is a nasty piece of work and he's a Gryffindor. Then there's Harry himself. When Snape asks him about the potions book and calls Harry a liar and a cheat, he's quite right: Harry is both. Things are not therefore black and white--just as in RL.
Snape Ah, yes. After my initial shock (though I was expecting Dumbledore to be the one to die) I've gone back and reread some chapters. I don't think that what we and Harry see on the surface is the truth. In the first book, Snape seems bad but saves Harry's life. I noticed, even the first time I read chapter 2, that when Cissa asks Snape to vow to perform Draco's task if he can't, Snape's hand twitches as if he wants to pull it away. And when Malfoy finally confronts Dumbledore and can't do it, Dumbledore lets him (and us) know that he knew about it.
"I appreciate the difficulty of your position," said Dumbledore. "Why else do you think I have not confronted you before now? Because I knew that you would have been murdered if Lord Voldemort realised that I suspected you."The only way he'd know is if Snape told him; Harry had nothing but formless suspicions.
I think Dumbledore was dying at the start of the book from some injury that even his power could not heal. He is very insistent that Harry get him to Snape when he realises that his strength is failing.
When Snape appears on the tower, Dumbledore says his first name softly (to me a sign of friendship and closeness) and to Harry (we see everything through Harry's biased perceptions) it sounds like pleading. Perhaps it is, but I can't see Dumbledore pleading for his life. I think he's either telling Snape to do what he must, or perhaps absolving him because he knows Snape has no choice. Now, did the spell Snape actually says (Avada Kedavra) kill Dumbledore, or did Snape use something unspoken and much more merciful? Possibly Snape also did something that will allow Dumbledore to wield some power after death. Unspoken spells get a lot of mention for, I'm sure, good reason. I do think that Dumbledore really is dead though. Firstly, Snape was bound to kill him, and secondly, he's in his portrait in (now) McGonagall's study. I do wonder how much of him is there.
And finally, as Snape is escaping and parrying Harry's spells, he in effect tells Harry to learn to keep his mouth shut and his mind closed, excellent advice that Dumbledore wanted him to teach Harry.
I do like that many of the characters are so complex: Harry does shameful things (lying and cheating) and Snape, although he protects Harry and gives him advice, picks on him in class and makes his life as miserable as possible. But you don't have to like a weapon to know that it must be kept safe and in good working order.
And besides, Dumbledore trusts Snape and I don't think he's at all stupid and gullible, even if Malfoy does.
Malfoy We see a little more depth to him when he can't kill Dumbledore and obviously is deeply troubled well before that. Myrtle tells Harry that "he's sensitive, people bully him too,and he feels lonely and hasn't got anyone to talk to, and he's not afraid to show his feelings and cry." I guessed it was Malfoy straight away, but it was inevitable that Harry wouldn't have any sympathy for him though he must have remembered what Myrtle said. Yes, Malfoy attacked Harry when he came in, but though Dumbledore says that Harry has a power Voldemort hasn't--that of love--I don't think there's much danger of him redeeming Voldemort or Malfoy by the power of lurve. :-)
Professor Trelawney She seems so ineffectual apart from the prophecy 15 or so years before, but here she does predict disaster coming to the lightning-struck tower. I think she has powers she hasn't yet really accessed and we'll hear more from her.
RAB and names Snape called himself the half-blood prince after his mother Eileen Prince (interesting that he has a Muggle father like Voldemort), but there's another prince. I do love the way JKR plays with Latin (occlumens and legilimens and most spells) and other people have already mentioned Regulus Black as being RAB, but I don't think anyone I know has noticed yet that Regulus is Latin for 'prince'. For that matter, Sirius had a very appropriate name too. :-)
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I wonder whether JKR studied Latin? You can do an O level in Latin over here (now called a GCSE), I did one, it would be nice if she did too.
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Slytherin is not evil - IMHO it's ambitious
Oh, I like that! I was trying to think of what the common factor was--cunning didn't seem to fit the bill--and I think you've nailed it.
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I'm wondering whether someone who had stolen something of Voldemort's would really leave a note with their initials on. It seems either incredibly brave or incredibly foolish. So I suspect that RAB may stand for something else. Given that even Dumbledore needed Harry's help to deal with the potion, there can't be many who would have had the power to take the locket. Could it be some sort of trap laid by Voldemort himself, guessing that Dumbledore would be searching for his Horcruxes?
As for Snape, coming into this book I thought that in the end he would be revealed to be on the side of good. It seemed more likely that Dumbledore's judgement of him would be correct than that Harry's would. But now, I can't really see how JKR can have left that option still open. Unless Snape knew that if Dumbledore survived Voldemort would kill Malfoy, and though himself compelled by his Unbreakable Vow? But why agree to swearing the Unbreakable Vow in the first place, since he's intelligent enough to see how things might turn out? Would pity for Malfoy and his mother really rate higher than loyalty to Dumbledore?
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'Regulus; is literally 'little ruler'. [looks it up] According to my Latin dictionary:I believe from my Latin days that 'princeps' was 'chief'. [looks that up too] Hmm, not quite:although it undoubtedly become our 'prince'.
You have a very good point about RAB; two people were needed to get the necklace though the boat would carry only one adult wizard. Hmm, I wonder if Regulus and a dog (Sirius) could get round that one. The whole RAB thing is a puzzle and I hope we don't have to wait two more years to find out.
Yes, at first I thought that Snape really had turned for some of those reasons, but Dumbledore was insistent and almost desperate that Harry fetch Snape and Snape only on their return. He was dying (he was very weak and clutching at his chest with his withered hand) and I think he and Snape had cooked something up between them much earlier. Perhaps dead, he will more powerful than Voldemort imagines, like Obi Wan Kenobi, or at least able to find out more and perhaps relay it though his portrait or other means. There is more here than is on the surface. Perhaps Dumbledore was already dying at the start of the book because of the injury shown in his hand; it may be a slowly-spreading thing that would eventually kill him, and Snape knew that. Dumbledore certainly trusted him enough to tell him this. Now I think of it, several things he said in the cave could imply that he was dying: his blood was not worth as much as Harry's, and he drank the potion because he is "much older, much cleverer, and much less valuable."
I'm just going by clues in the story, but then again that could be a double or even triple-bluff. :-P
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That could be explained by Snape being the great expert when it comes to potions. So if anyone could undo the effect on Dumbledore it would be him.
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I suppose it'll be a couple of years before we find out whose theory is right. :-)
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One more thought, not really connected to any of the above. JKR's plots are very ingenious, but there are sometimes some rough edges. I thought there was one when Dumbledore told Malfoy that he had known all along that he was trying to kill him, but hadn't exposed him as that would have led to Voldemort killing him. But that would mean that he was putting Malfoy's life above that of the other students who, as what happened to Katie Bell and Ron Weasley showed, were being put at considerable risk through Malfoy's efforts. Surely after what happened to Katie, if he really knew that Malfoy was responsible, he would have had to have taken action? To me it looks as though JKR was sacrificing plausibility for the needs of her plot.
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I've also seen that some people think Harry's scar might be another one.
I wish I didn't have to wait so long to find out.
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It occurs to me now that one of the things that make the Potter books such a major fandom is that they set up so many possible directions in which to go (and not incidentally, lots of fanfic possibilities as a result). The downside to that, though, is that whichever direction JKR does go, she's going to wind up leaving a lot of annoying loose ends.
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It's not necessarily true that each horcrux has the power to kill
True. It's just a pet theory of mine that Dumbledore was dying from the start, admittedly just going by a couple of things he says to Harry. It also makes sense of him knowing about Snape's vow and telling him to go ahead.
But hey, I could be completely wrong. I probably am. It's fun speculating though.
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I will quibble with one small thing, though:
Professor Trelawney She seems so ineffectual apart from the prophecy 15 or so years before, but here she does predict disaster coming to the lightning-struck tower. I think she has powers she hasn't yet really accessed and we'll hear more from her.
This still doesn't make her usefull, IMHO. Untill she gets her head out of her ...crystal ball, and figures out how to know when she's accurate and when she's not, I'd rather have Firenze at my back.
But I freely admit that's just me.
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