Harry Potter and the Half.... SPOILERS

Yes, I think Black is a good guess.  I still think Snape is a good guy.  Dumbledore knew about the unbreakable thing and new Snape may have to kill him - plus he knew he was dying from the poison anyway.  Now Snape can continue to be a spy.

Jessica

Certainly with Dumbledore that is true - he can speak through the painting in his office.  I still think Sirius Black will come back because his "death" was so murky.  I like the idea of the last book taking place over more than a year.  He says he is not going back to Hogwarts, so why not? 

I thought it was very interesting that Harry learned he only had the powers he has because Voldemort passed them on to him (like parseltongue and reading V's mind).  So basically he is a plain,average wizard.

Jessica

I thought the most brilliant part of this book was how she SET YOU UP in the first five.  EVERY book the kids are CONVINCED Snape is the bad guy.  She even has you convinced that Snape is the bad guy.  And every book, Snape isn't the bad guy.  Dang.  So by the time you get to this book you are totally conditioned to think, despite the first chapter, that Snape cannot POSSIBLY be the bad guy.  No matter what the kids think, he's never ACTUALLY the bad guy.  Then WHAM!  Sucker punch

But I like Jessica's theory....maybe he ISN'T the bad guy.....

Snape's still a good guy...

Dumbledore knew he was going to die by Snape's hand...the argument in the forest with DB and Snape was Dumbledore convincing Snape he has to do it.  Dumbledore referenced death a couple of times before drinking the potion ("you're much more valuable than me", "it doesn't kill you immediately".  Dumbledore stalled Malfoy from killing him, knowing that Snape was coming (sparing Malfoy really).  Dumbledore "pleaded" with Snape in his final moments (both do that Legillemens/Occlumency (sp?))...not to spare him, but to kill him.  Snape was mighty PO'd when leaving and Harry kept calling him a coward.  Snape's now off the hook with his promise with Narcissa/Belatrix and Voldemort's gotta be totally thinking Snape's on his side.

It continues to bother me at how inefficient the Auror's are at catching a single Death Eater.  Aurors are like top dogs in school...smartest, best, brightest, etc.  Death Eaters are sometimes intelligent, but are cast more as deranged and incompetent (ie order of the phoenix prophesy room fiasco)

JKR might pull a Lord of the Rings with Dumbledore, but how lame would that be.  Maybe its gonna be more like Star Wars Return of the Jedi where Vader turns on the emperor.  (ie Snape hits V-man in the back when he's not looking, Harry finishes him off).  Harry's gotta get his crap together.  If I were Voldemore, the day after he turn's 17, it'd be butt kicking time.  Voldemort and the death eaters would make short work of the threesome.  The only things that stickout in my mind as for how Harry's gonna pull it off is either this "love magic", and the multiple references to "As long as someone believes in Dumbledore, he'll never be gone"

Last thought - whoever cast Alan Rickman as Snape deserves a whole heck of a lot more cash than what he's making.  Brilliant casting call...he's perfect.

Good insight Jeff.  I'll be curious to see how JKR pulls it all together in the next book.

When I read this book, I hadn't realized how much I missed in the other 5 books.  It's tempting to go back and reread the series to see what happens, but I have too many other books on my list to actually reread them.

I read this book (like all of them) out loud to my kids.  It's our tradition.  I actually started getting teary-eyed at the part where Harry is reflecting on what Dumbledore has meant to him, after Dumbledore is killed.  (Then again, I cry at sappy movies, even if I don't want to.)

I can't decide if Snape is really good, or really bad.  Did he kill Dumbledore cause he had to (The Unbreakable Vow?) or because he wanted to (cause he secretly hated him all along and is really on Voldemort's side?)  - guess we'll find out in the next book.  One of the reasons I like Snape is that he's been a mixture - not all his motivations are pure, he is a complicated character with lots of different driving forces.  We have Dumbledore, who is purely good and Voldemort, who is purely evil - Snape is somewhere in the murky middle and straddles that good/evil line.

I liked this book.  I hated the 5th book, I just got so sick of Harry whining on through the whole book that I was glad when it was over.  I thought this one had a good mixture of humor and I thought the plot moved forward pretty well.  Although her writing about Harry's emotions about Ginny, "... the beast in his chest...", left a lot to be desired, my kids just fell all over themselves laughing whenever she'd go off writing something like that.  Also, I thought it was totally out of Ron's character to be having public make out sessions - tacky and just doesn't seem like Ron.  Not tacky that he was kissing Lavender, but that he seemed to be completely oblivious to spectators. 

I'm still bummed that Dumbledore was killed though - he was definitely one of the characters I liked the best.

I had the same thought.  Neville has always been just on the outside of everything.  I also think Regulus Black is the RAB.  Oh well...I guess it'll be another 2 years before we know.