Congratulations on learning to read & knit at the same time. It's a great skill to master. I knit my way through book 6 as well. HBP is tied with POA as my favorite Harry Potter book. Sounds like you are enjoying it too.

It wasn't so much who died (if you think of all the archetypal hero stories ::cough cough:: Star Wars ::cough cough::, it just had to happen). It was who did the killing and who was SUPPOSED to do the killing that really shocked me.

I also didn't expect the romance to develop as quickly as it did!

What were the suprises for you?

I can't believe Hermione and Ron are STILL dragging this out, Beatrice and Benedict style. However, I'm very happy for Ginny, and it's been fun to 'see' them all mature. I can't wait for the next film, and to see what sort knitted items it will include.

I figured out right away who the Half Blood Prince was. It was kind of obvious (no offense to those people who didn't figure it out). I also knew who died (thank you, spoilers!). But the way the two were combined, that really surprised me. Since I really liked the murderer, I was upset. He just seemed like such a nice evil guy. Also, I want to know more about him. Why he is evil, why he and the Marauders didn't get along (was it just because he liked the Dark Arts?). I wonder if we'll find out in book 7?

Ah, yes ... knitting and reading. The ultimate multi-tasking experience. I've been doing it for a while, although I have to stick to straight stockinette on fairly large needles (anything over a size 5).

I will admit, however, that I have started getting books on CD from the library, so that I can listen while I knit. I loose my place less frequently that way.

As for "Half-Blood Prince", I agree with Melissa. It had to happen. Harry has to face Voldemort alone, and that couldn't happen as long as Dumbledore was alive. I was very surprised, though, by HOW it happened. I really didn't see that one coming.

The Book 6 CD is great ... it saved my sanity during our marathon drive back from vacation the weekend before last. Jim Dale, did a fantastic job reading it, and there wasn't a PEEP in the car during the last few chapters. Really wonderful.

I think there is more behind the story than what's on the surface. The murderer's motives may be completely different. Remember, the murderer merely deflected Harry's spells rather than use spells ON him, which would have been easy. Also, the murderer could have taken Harry to Voldemort...

Knitting and reading is the best way to multitask, in my opinion! No tough choices to make, that way.
I thought #6 was terrific!

I agree Melissa, I was very relieved that the death was one that made sense in terms of Harry's development and journey and wasn't just some big shock thrown in to make things more difficult like in a soap opera or something. I suspected who the HBP was, but had assumed that he was pure blood and ruled him out. And as for him committing the murder, I can't really say it was a surprise.

I was surprised by how sudden the Ginny thing came. And definitely surprised by Ron's romantic behavior. I'm thinking that if Harry and Ginny can be sensible (did anyone else have Spiderman 2 flashbacks?), then maybe Ron and Hermione will be so sensible as to never attempt to get together.

Plus, I'm thinking Harry will have to come back to Hogwarts at some point to teach Defense against the Dark Arts (at least we can be sure that the last teacher won't be coming back!!) and it does seem that all the Hogwarts teachers are single, doesn't it?

Food for thought:
http://www.dumbledoreisnotdead.com/

You're right, Jenny, in some ways 6 ended like 3, with big things going on involving other people, but no direct Harry/Voldemort showdown. As for the murderer not killing Harry, he did say he was to be saved for Voldemort, but of course, it does leave a glimmer of hope that the murder is more complicated than it looks. Still after teasing us for so long with is he bad or not, I think Rowling's given those of us who held out hope an opportunity to put all those what-ifs and well-he-has-tos aside and really hate the guy with Harry. Doesn't it feel a little better to be able to do that?

Desperate times call for desperate measures! I'm glad you finished the book--isn't it a relief knowing that no-one can accidentally give away the ending now?? Because that is quite an ending!

Dumbledore didn't say "NO, Severus!"...he said, "Severus...please" like he was asking Snape to kill him. Like it was part of the grand plan. DD also took great pains to make sure Harry did what he had to do NO MATTER WHAT. I think DD knew he was going to die that night and that Snape was the one that was going to do it.
I really can't wait to go back to read the rest of the books again even though I did that before 6 came out. Why can't I read the HP series 2-3 times a year?

I loved the book. I was trying to stretch it out too, reading only at dinner, but the last three chapters blew that one right out of the water.

I'm one of those that subscribes to the theory that Snape didn't kill Harry because he really is still good. One of the theories that I heard, that makes the most sense, is he killed Dumbledore because he was fufilling his promise, and Dumbledore had just drank that poison-perhaps he really was going to die from it (he said himself that Voldemort would want the person alive for awhile to ask them how they got there), so he asked Snape to kill him-he never actually said in the book "help me LIVE". In doing that, he would secure his position as a spy amongst the Death-Eaters, and would have helped Dumbledore die a less painful death, and fulfill the Unbreakable Vow thing.

Sorry I blathered on, but I was REALLY involved in this one :)

Well, I couldn't believe all the surprises!! And really you know who didn't even need to make a big appearance to make this a big page turner. I can't wait for the last book!!
I also am wondering the same thing the previous poster (jenn) wondered. I have always wanted to believe that Snape really is working undercover for the good guys:)

Oh, gosh. And I was expecting Sirius Black to come back in this book. I can't read the comments anymore!! (WHO killed somebody??!!) Must buy this book. I'm writing 'cause I read your sock post last week. I didn't send you a photo this weekend but I am a socker and my socks are done. Photo next week. Yay.

I liked this one much better than book 5. Having not read them all in rapid fire order (like chain smoking only with HP books), the angsty angry Harry just didn't seem very real, a little too sudden in Book 5.

I didn't try to figure out who the HBP was, but it wasn't very surprising in retrospect. The book made me feel better about Draco, who really talks much worse than he is.

I have a incredibly good plot-sense-o-meter and I still have trouble believing 100% that the evil-doer is evil. Because you see, in the end, a certain character must be proved to have put his faith in the right place.

She's done the whole plot twist of "trust" before. Lots. In which Harry trusts someone who he probably had no good reason to, other than instinct. And in this case, a certain someone also trusted in the evil-doer based on a few "elusive" facts. Next book!

That's my prediction. It was good. But just, how do you prop the book open while knitting?

I agree with Jenn. I believe that the HBP is fulfilling the unbreakable vow, securing his place as a double-agent with the death-eaters for the OOTP and was actually sparing DD from a very horrible death. DD did say "SEverus, please". I took it as a beg for mercy and ending of the pain. DD has always known what is coming ahead and I feel that his "teachings" for Harry in the book where a way of letting him in on the other side of the HBP so that he has that knowledge. He will inevitably have to come to terms with the fact that the HBP is NOT evil through and through.

As for Draco, I still can't stand him. He's a spoiled rotten, elitist, COWARD who wants to have the glory but has not stomach to do ANYTHING on his own. Nope, I still can't feel sorry for him. He's a loser.

So, has anyone heard any other comments as far as whether or not Harry, Hermione and Ron will be recast after GOF???? I can't imagine any other actors in those roles. The other roles don't phase me as much but those 3, they just 'are' the characters.

Well, I think it is a bit of a cop-out to make Snape the bad guy in killing Dumbledore. And if you take it at face value it kinda demeans Dumbledore's intelligence to have been so wrong about him. I like to think that because Dumbledore said "Please", he knew it was to happen and all part of a plan. Perhaps Snape isn't as bad as he appears...

Your work is so beautiful! I am a new knitter, and seem to have success with only the projects I knit in the round. Well, Congratulations on the reading and knitting, if I could do that I'd never sleep! And I hope you have fun on your trip here(Germany). The sun has finally started warming us up so hopefully you catch some of the good weather.

More food for thought:
http://www.livejournal.com/users/garlandgraves/3409.html

I really enjoyed this write up. It's more supposition on what Book 7 might be like than strictly an evaluation of Book 6.

I'm surprised so many of you were able to take the ending in stride. I was truly *horrified* as I read it, and have gone back to read the rest of the series straight through to figure out what I was missing. (I'm still as stranded after rereading.)

I'm still hoping that Dumbledore is going to pull a Gandalf-the-White and come back in book 7. Even more so with the pheonix rising in the flames of his grave at the end. With Sirius you could see how the death was acceptable, but Dumbledore is a different category altogether, and I don't think Harry's advanced enough to beat Voldemort on his own.

And I'm delighted that Ron and Hermione are together -- maybe they'll stop bickering?

Nice link Andrea. Very interesting and hopeful. But I think, even if there are a lot of clues about him possibly still being alive, Rowling certainly is telling us now that he's gone, just like she did with Sirius. And I just have to say that I really appreciate it. Sometimes dead is dead and it can't all be magic and twists and reversals. This book was a very 'what you see is what you get' kind of book: Draco and Snape looked bad from the start and what do you know they ended up doing bad things. Now we may find out more details later about why and what it all really means, but I like that she was fair with us as readers. I like that she keeps things surprising but isn't just playing with us, throwing us meaningless red herrings constantly. And I really like that we get to feel with Harry here and not be left again with an omniscient, Dumbledore-esque, we-know-more, he's-still-just-a-kid-who-can't-control-his-emotions kind of attitude to his feelings. It looks like he was really right this time and I'm sorta proud of him (and Rowling) for it. And as for this insulting Dumbledore, he made a big point of saying that he was fallible in this book, so I'm gonna hope he didn't make a mistake, that it is all a part of some bigger plan of his that will work out right in the end, but if it is a mistake, that's okay.

Knittingnurse, I think I read somewhere that the three kids have signed on to do OOTP, so I think they're probably in it the whole way. I too can't imagine anyone else in the roles. The kid actors were actually the ones who got me hooked on the story. I only started reading the books after the second film came out and I caught it on cable.

As for the knitting and reading, I used a big binder clip to hold the pages down and that scarf I'm knitting is a 270 stitches per row stockinette side-to-side scarf pattern, so I could get through four pages easy peesy before I even had to look down to turn and work in the other direction.

Where can you get the scarf & hat pattern at? I went to the Karabella site and they just have a pic of it (#235) but no information on how to get their patterns.

Thanks!

Where oh where did you get that glass or shiny head that the hat and scarf is on??? I need one for my yarn shop!

K. Anne, I've seen the pattern online at One Fine Yarn. Pat, that's a link to the designer's site. Her name is Alison too. Confused you there, didn't I? ;0) Go back to her site and see if you can find an email address there.

you know, i've gotten some interesting insights into the book, that i hadn't thought of before. and yes, the ending devastated me. i cried all the way through the last chapter and a half, and ended up until 430 in the morning. wow. and alison, i've been reading and knitting/crocheting since i was a teenager. shears make great book holders if you're reading a hardback. paperbacks are difficult unless they're the big ones. so my knitting reading is inevitably a hardbound book. you go girl!

Hi, I have no comments on HP as I haven't read any, but wanted to let you know that I've updated my blog again with pics of the Sockapalooza socks in progress. One down, one halfway there.

Thanks,
Wanda

I was so ANGRY with her about it. Because every time he relies on an adult, they die. And he's only a child. I've just gone through a divorce and my son is 11 and I'm sure I'm projecting young-child-sensibility on this.

I also thought he knew all along - every time Harry tried to tell him to not trust the "evil" guy, there was this long hesitation before he replied - I felt like he knew what had to happen and he knew he couldn't tell Harry what was going to happen.

I don't know if he's really dead or not, either. It seems too simple for him to be dead.

Yes, Patti, I totally agree it is very harsh that Harry's parent figures are all killed one after another. But actually that's one reason why I would be kind of annoyed if Dumbledore comes back. How could he do that to Harry after all the losses he's already suffered? He seems to leave Harry alone and in the dark a lot and this would be a real serious thing to put Harry through. If Dumbledore trusts Snape so much, why can't he ever trust Harry with even a part of his plans??

When I heard that someone important dies in the book, I was really worried that it would be one of his closest friends or maybe one of the Weasleys. I guess I had given up on him really having a parent figure and sort of imagined that at this point the worst thing that could happen would be for him to lose one of them and, on top of that, for him to feel that he was responsible.

Wow... I'm not the only one who thought that there was something more to Snape killing Dumbledore. I also figured it could have had something to do with Dumbledore's utter insistence on him keeping his cover, but I didn't pick up on the clues in the exact wording Dumbledore used in his pleadings with Snape.

I do really want to know 2 things that this book never got to. I had thought they wouldn't end up being addressed, but now I'm beginning to see how just MAYBE at least the first one could.

1) What exactly was it that made Dumbledore believe Snape so strongly. The answer Harry settled on doesn't seem nearly enough to me.

2) How exactly did Dumbledore hurt his hand so badly? He kept saying he'd tell Harry later, and he never did, and BUGGARS! I really want to know. I understand it likely had to do with the items he was collecting, but I wanted the story of it, not just having it vaguely alluded to.

I actually thought the HBP was going to be Voldemort--we did find out that we was a half-blood, at least. And I am another one of those that still likes to think that Snape is a well-concealed good guy. I think he & Dumbledore had some sort of pact that Snape would put him out of his misery if it ever came to that. Ah, that book went so fast! :) Another few agonizing years to wait . . . But, of course, we do get the next movie in November! Hooray!

I think the allusion to dumbledore's hand is that he burned it getting the signet ring. It was protected with spells and in order to get it, Dumbledore was hurt - much like at the end. I agree that there's more to the story of Snape - I also wonder about the conversation Hagrid overheard between Snape and Dumbledore where Snape told Dumbledore that he presumed too much - I think Dumbeldore knew that Snape needed to kill him and was urging him to follow through with it. All in all a good book - especially since it leaves the reader eager for the next installment!

Sara

Wasn't it just great? J.K. left so much room for events to come, it was almost a book between books, if that makes sense. I'm adoring Harry and Ginny, but am thoroughly peeved that Ron & hermione haven't hooked up yet. Oh well, there's always more books.

I disagree with the assumption of this being a "what you see is what you get" book, in the sense of the moralities of the characters.

For example, Draco has been following his parents' Death Eater example and had been leaning more and more towards the dark side/Voldemort, but in this book, though he goes through with all the preparations, he is unable to commit the evil thing he has been leading up to all book (or arguably all series). This may be a turning point for him.

This might make his story a bit like that of Sirius' brother, Regulus. I subscribe to the Regulus Black is RAB theory, which would show us a confirmed example of a Death Eater changing and doing the right thing in the end.

Also, I don't believe Snape is evil. Yes, he was a double agent -- we always knew that -- but he never crossed over to the other side. In his part as a double agent, he was forced into a position where he had to agree to Unbreakable Vow, which left very undesirable options. If Dumbledore lived, Draco would be killed by Death Eaters and Snape would die from the Vow; but if Dumbledore died, it would have to be at the hands of Draco or Snape. Dumbledore would never live if was at the expense of Draco and/or Snape, and Snape would never let Draco become a murderer. From all this (if any of this did make sense), I think Dumbledore being killed by Snape was inevitable, as was his running away at the end, as Snape still has Draco and himself to protect, something which Dumbledore wanted. So, I don't see any problems with Snape still being good. He had to be yelled at to do bad things (see Hagrid's recounting of Snape and Dumbledore's argument on p. 380. I think having your boss ask you to kill him qualifies as "overworked".)

Sorry to join the discussion late -- I just returned from vacation.

For a *really* good viewpoint on the "Big Death" at the end of the book, check out this site:
http://www.dumbledoreisnotdead.com

Now I can really see both sides of this debate.

It really made me think. Great discussion, BTW!

Yes, yes, YES!! So many good points in here. I'm having fun reading a discussion where spoilers aren't an issue. I think that Draco finally got fully developed as a character in book 6. He talks big, but in the end, he DID NOT kill Dumbledore, and in fact was ready to allow Dumbledore to help him and his family. I was impressed that we really got to see that the Malfoys truly love each other - Narcissa was obviously willing to do ANYTHING to secure Draco's safety, and didn't Draco say that the Death Eaters would hurt his family if he didn't go through with it? Given an option for safety for them and himself, he was going to take it. I think it's also EXTREMELY important to note that Harry SAW Draco lower his wand, and remarked on it later (I bet Dumbledore was glad of it too). I was very glad that Harry started to feel pity for Draco; the ability to feel an emotion like pity is what separates Harry from Voldemort!

I'm totally in the there-has-to-be-an-explanation camp for the whole Snape situation, too. I guess I'm just not willing to give up on anyone until they ABSOLUTELY prove me wrong. I really want to know what Dumbledore's reason was for trusting him; I don't believe that his being upset for setting Voldemort on the Potters could be the whole reason - that could certainly be faked. But I have enough faith in Dumbledore to believe he's right.

Oh jeez, I've rambled on and on here... It's just that, weeks after having finished the book, when I read stuff about the ending it still gets me just as hyper as when I'd just read it. Sorry for taking up so much space. ^_^;