Expectations and ramblings
Jul. 18th, 2005 11:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
brabbel123Well, now the time for the next Harry Potter book has finally come - I got my copy early in the morning and plan on starting to read it... er... right after writing this entry, actually *g* - and with it to write down some of my expectations... just to see if any of my predictions came true afterwards...
JKR said once that Sirius won't remain the single victim - such is the way of war... So who's going to be killed off this time? I wouldn't mind reading a well thought through death scene of one of my favourite characters, but since Sirius' death definitely doesn't fall in this category I'm reasonably wary of who she might decide to kill off next. In my opinion it would make the most sense to kill off Dumbledore. He's the shining beacon in the dark - *but* he is old and has already fought his battles. It's actually a shame the wizarding world can't come up with anybody to share the load on his shoulders. I think that in every generation there's a set of enemies: Dumbledore had to defeat Grindelwald, and Harry is set to fight Voldemort. As harsh as it may sound, Dumbledore's time is over. He can't do much more than offer Harry all the knowledge and abilities he needs to get rid off Voldemort, and hold Voldemort off for as long as it takes Harry to acquire the needed skills. And let's not forget that he's already started to make mistakes by not keeping Harry in the information loop, by leaving Harry with the Dursleys, by letting Death Eaters into the school etc. And quite frankly, what better way than to end the penultimate book with the wizarding world in chaos after the loss of their leader?
My other bet rests on Remus, what with his being a werewolf and Voldemort giving Wormtail that silver hand. Actually, that is the only scenario I really would hate to see happening. Killing off Remus as well would practically destroy this series of books for me, so I really, really hope she won't go in this direction!
I'd love to get more of an explanation of why Dumbledore trusts Snape. It was quite clear in OotP that Snape didn't follow his orders in teaching Harry the needed skills in Occlumency - more so, he used those lessons to fuel Harry's anger and frustration and, dare I say, he did everything he could to open the boy up to Voldemort's intrusion even more. So, where does he stand? He *did* save Harry from Quirrell which would suggest that Snape is really on the side of light, but his actions in OotP show another more sinister side. I really like Snape because I think he as a character has so much potential. I always enjoy those shadier characters, who are much more than what is obvious on the outside. But who's he really fooling here? Is he that good an actor to fool Dumbledore for 15+ years? Of course, that would mean he's really acting on his childhood grudges which wouldn't reflect to well on him as well - but it'd be better than being a Death Eater... in some ways at least.
And what about Draco? Is he going to grow a personality instead of simply parotting his father's teachings? Of course, it would be too obvious a cliché for him to suddenly have an epiphany and turn to Dumbledore and Harry with many excuses and confessions of how wrong he was to act the way he has for the last 5 years. Right now I don't really see a way for him to redeem himself, he's well on his way to become the first in another generation of Death Eaters.
I'm definitely not looking forward to any romance. Not that the Harry/Cho-romance in OotP was particularly badly handled - except that I pitied Harry and was angry that nobody had the decency to tell him that Cho wasn't interested in him but only in the stories he could tell her of Cedric - and of course, children of that age start to experiment with their blossoming romantic feelings, it's part of growing up after all... but that's not what I want to read in this series of books. At least it shouldn't be the main focus and take the spotlight of the struggle between good and evil and all its nuances. Quite frankly, I don't care who gets together with whom, as long as it's plausible and doesn't lead to snogging scenes on every other page.
But quite frankly, what I'd like to read about most, is how Harry deals with Sirius' death. I'd be seriously disappointed if the mourning process were skipped or not really dealt with. Death is a part of life, as is the "survivor's" guilt and grief. To have Harry go back to business without further ado would certainly nullify any hint of the paternal relationship he so longed to have with his godfather. Granted, he didn't have much time to get to know Sirius - *but* Sirius was the first one to take up some kind of parental role in his life, the only adult he felt he could turn to with his problems. I don't want to read about a Harry that's only moping around, tears in his eyes and broken voice whenever there's talk about Sirius. But I'd hate to see that Sirius's death didn't have any impact on him. And I would love to see some other adult trying to step into the hole Sirius's death left. Perhaps Remus?
Well, that leaves the story: Now the ministry is dealt with and finally acknowledges Voldemort's return, the light side can turn to rallying all their forces against the dark lord. I don't expect a large fight up until the end with the possible death of Dumbledore (quite frankly, I'm actually counting on his death - it would just fit in with the story to have Harry take up the reins in book 7), sneak attacks, a killing spree here and there, but nothing the Order can really fight against.
Generally speaking, I hope very much that "Half Blood Prince" is going to be a better book than OotP, a book where the characters recover their likable traits, get further developed and where the action is set at a reasonably high pace and not dragged out quite as much as in book 5. And *please* spare me Grawp, the most useless character (and Hagrid's recounting the most boring chapter) of the entire series.
So, I'm off to read now... *g*
JKR said once that Sirius won't remain the single victim - such is the way of war... So who's going to be killed off this time? I wouldn't mind reading a well thought through death scene of one of my favourite characters, but since Sirius' death definitely doesn't fall in this category I'm reasonably wary of who she might decide to kill off next. In my opinion it would make the most sense to kill off Dumbledore. He's the shining beacon in the dark - *but* he is old and has already fought his battles. It's actually a shame the wizarding world can't come up with anybody to share the load on his shoulders. I think that in every generation there's a set of enemies: Dumbledore had to defeat Grindelwald, and Harry is set to fight Voldemort. As harsh as it may sound, Dumbledore's time is over. He can't do much more than offer Harry all the knowledge and abilities he needs to get rid off Voldemort, and hold Voldemort off for as long as it takes Harry to acquire the needed skills. And let's not forget that he's already started to make mistakes by not keeping Harry in the information loop, by leaving Harry with the Dursleys, by letting Death Eaters into the school etc. And quite frankly, what better way than to end the penultimate book with the wizarding world in chaos after the loss of their leader?
My other bet rests on Remus, what with his being a werewolf and Voldemort giving Wormtail that silver hand. Actually, that is the only scenario I really would hate to see happening. Killing off Remus as well would practically destroy this series of books for me, so I really, really hope she won't go in this direction!
I'd love to get more of an explanation of why Dumbledore trusts Snape. It was quite clear in OotP that Snape didn't follow his orders in teaching Harry the needed skills in Occlumency - more so, he used those lessons to fuel Harry's anger and frustration and, dare I say, he did everything he could to open the boy up to Voldemort's intrusion even more. So, where does he stand? He *did* save Harry from Quirrell which would suggest that Snape is really on the side of light, but his actions in OotP show another more sinister side. I really like Snape because I think he as a character has so much potential. I always enjoy those shadier characters, who are much more than what is obvious on the outside. But who's he really fooling here? Is he that good an actor to fool Dumbledore for 15+ years? Of course, that would mean he's really acting on his childhood grudges which wouldn't reflect to well on him as well - but it'd be better than being a Death Eater... in some ways at least.
And what about Draco? Is he going to grow a personality instead of simply parotting his father's teachings? Of course, it would be too obvious a cliché for him to suddenly have an epiphany and turn to Dumbledore and Harry with many excuses and confessions of how wrong he was to act the way he has for the last 5 years. Right now I don't really see a way for him to redeem himself, he's well on his way to become the first in another generation of Death Eaters.
I'm definitely not looking forward to any romance. Not that the Harry/Cho-romance in OotP was particularly badly handled - except that I pitied Harry and was angry that nobody had the decency to tell him that Cho wasn't interested in him but only in the stories he could tell her of Cedric - and of course, children of that age start to experiment with their blossoming romantic feelings, it's part of growing up after all... but that's not what I want to read in this series of books. At least it shouldn't be the main focus and take the spotlight of the struggle between good and evil and all its nuances. Quite frankly, I don't care who gets together with whom, as long as it's plausible and doesn't lead to snogging scenes on every other page.
But quite frankly, what I'd like to read about most, is how Harry deals with Sirius' death. I'd be seriously disappointed if the mourning process were skipped or not really dealt with. Death is a part of life, as is the "survivor's" guilt and grief. To have Harry go back to business without further ado would certainly nullify any hint of the paternal relationship he so longed to have with his godfather. Granted, he didn't have much time to get to know Sirius - *but* Sirius was the first one to take up some kind of parental role in his life, the only adult he felt he could turn to with his problems. I don't want to read about a Harry that's only moping around, tears in his eyes and broken voice whenever there's talk about Sirius. But I'd hate to see that Sirius's death didn't have any impact on him. And I would love to see some other adult trying to step into the hole Sirius's death left. Perhaps Remus?
Well, that leaves the story: Now the ministry is dealt with and finally acknowledges Voldemort's return, the light side can turn to rallying all their forces against the dark lord. I don't expect a large fight up until the end with the possible death of Dumbledore (quite frankly, I'm actually counting on his death - it would just fit in with the story to have Harry take up the reins in book 7), sneak attacks, a killing spree here and there, but nothing the Order can really fight against.
Generally speaking, I hope very much that "Half Blood Prince" is going to be a better book than OotP, a book where the characters recover their likable traits, get further developed and where the action is set at a reasonably high pace and not dragged out quite as much as in book 5. And *please* spare me Grawp, the most useless character (and Hagrid's recounting the most boring chapter) of the entire series.
So, I'm off to read now... *g*
