Just finished - am in shock

[Fweegal]

I hope she's in it a fair bit. She's one of my fav characters.

[Stumpy]

I think she was one of the characters tho that improved in my mind after the film!

[Fweegal]

Same. No one but Maggie Smith could have filled that role.

[crystallised_pineapple]

me too, i loved her in the film... i think she should be in the next book quite a biot i mean she would be able to help harry a lot.

hmm if the school stays open who do you think gryffindors new head of house will be?

[Snow_Crystal]

Viggo Mortensen dressed like Aragorn!!!! Kidding - sorry that's got to stop now - this is HP we're talking about!!

I think it should be Madam Hooch! I like her and she's a strong character.

[Phinea Rogue]

OMG! Sorry to jump into the thread like this, I haven't read all the posts yet...

But I've just finished reading it. Well, I had my suspicions as to what will happen, mostly due to the reviews I was getting on my fanfic. They didn't tell anything, there were no spoilers, but reading between the lines, I've aquired this feeling that Snape's not going to end well. And then I saw something about Dumbledore, put it together and... I expected him to kill Dumbledore and yet it still came as a shock. I that Snape is the Half-Blood Prince after seeing the HBP's handwriting, Snape has the same handwriting when he writes his O.W.L.s exams on DADA. So... one of my wishes came true (Snape being the HBP), but... him killing Dumbledore? I can hardly breathe, THAT is a shock! I was actually shaking while reading it and then I've decided to take a whole pill for my heart beat (I'm taking them to put my pulse back into normal) to somehow still my heart. I'm fine now (JKR, you've nearly killed me, you evil thing!!! hehe...).

Now I have two theories about Snape:

1. He is truly evil and he's VERY evil, all the time he's been at Voldie's side, fooling even such a great wizard as Dumbledore is... was... (if he did, than I still like him for his ability to fool him, what an actor!). The reason why I think is that that when Dumbledore drinks that green potion at the Horcrux, he obviously sees or remembers horrible things. What if Snape had taken the Horcrux and put there something horrible for Dumbledore to see, possibly his future betrayal... That's why Dumbledore sounded so frightened when Snape went to kill him.

2. Snape isn't evil, he was either acting on Dumbledore's orders (Dumbledore would be willing to sacrifice himself so that Snape might keep his cover) or he was behaving like a Slytherin - saving his own skin first or Draco's skin (because if he failed to protect him, he would have died). Would someone as wise as Dumbledore trust Snape only because Snape said that he was sorry for what he had done? There has to be more to it... or am I being too optimistic again?

I'm not yet ready to comment on other things... But I liked the book a lot, though some parts felt like a badly written fanfiction, sorry. All those romances, why suddenly? And all that snogging... Although I liked reading about Voldemort's youth, I felt that it was written a bit superficially.

Dumbledore's death and funeral reminded me of something, I just don't know yet what it is. King Arthur maybe? And something from Gormenghast...

[crystallised_pineapple]

i'm so confused about snape... it seems so sudden him killing DD and all the little things point to his innocence, but he killed DD he must be bad!!

Phinea Rouge i agree DD funeral was really depressing yet i felt like i had heard about it before... i duno maybe it was just because it was so upsetting....

[b.scheller]

I unfortunetly, wasn't able to read the book until this Friday. My sister had pre-ordered it, and for some reason she's called the dibs on all the books.

I started reading it at 7pm on friday, for two hours took a break...read it today, took a break at 8pm (to see wedding crashers) and just finished it.

i must say, like most of the books in the past. I found myself dripping at the end of the book. Although, i was a little dissapointed that this book had been in fact shorter then the past two huge books, it was an important part of the saga.

I enjoyed it immensely, and I must say, its the first book I've ever read in a span of actual 24 hours.

[annachie]

My copy hasn't arrived yet but should be here, in my hands from the mail within the hour...

However, as a busy mom of 4,

Dad to 8, but having had plaster put on a foot the night before I had the perfect excuse to lie on the couch all day and read

[Fweegal]

The day it came out I sat in Stephen's Green in Dublin, one of the nicest parks in the world, in blazing sunshine and read the entire thing. It took 7 hours, but it was one of the most pleasant days I've had in a while.

And got some good colour as a result of my exertions!

[thestral]

i love days like that just sitting sleeping, reading or messing around in parks. when i was in paris a couple of weeks ago i enjoyed just sitting in parks in the sunshine sleeping or talking shite more than visiting all the famous things like the eiffel tower, which wasn't really all that great.

[selene]

me too, although i rather spend time in my reading tree than in a park
i know, i'm 21 and i have a reading tree wich i asualy climb barefooted (it's easyer)
lucky that i only work part-time, lots of dozing time

[thestral]

i'd love to have reading tree....*sigh for the lost innocence of the world*. but it's so hard to find the perfect tree in the perfect place. i would prefer a tree to a park as well. that's why i plan to live in the countryside rather than the city. i prefer the quiet, peace and beauty of the countryside

[Scarlet Lioness]

I live in a coastal area sorta quiet sorta not...but I love it in the summer read in the garden with a big glass of coke with ice...

[Dutchess42]

Sometimes I think there's something seriously wrong with me.

I am a writer myself (former member of SFWA, published in short mystery and Fantasy) so I know perfectly well what fiction is and what the rules of Fantasy, and particularly hero-quests are. So I knew DD had to die because Harry had to be in the deepest kind of trouble in the last book.

As soon as Snape made the unbreakable vow I knew it was he who would do the deed.

Still, at the end I couldn't hold back my tears! Rowling is just TOO GOOD. She has the reader really feeling what Harry is feeling.

And it didn't help that Hagrid was bawling his eyes out and that the Phoenix was singing a lament either.

Okay. I'm a total wuss.