Plot holes and the like.

[Guest Alien Pirate Pixagi]

Many of you have likely already totally exhausted this subject, but I'd like to know what you personal opinions and the like on the last installment of the Harry Potter series.

In my opinion, the last book was disapointing. It simply appears to me that JK is just trying to cram everything into the last couple of books, which makes me fear for book 7. That, and it appears that she made up quite a few things on the fly.

The Horcruxes, while interesting, leave for at least one plot hole. While yes, they do explain how Voldemort managed to evade death the first time, it also sets the stage for him being completly immortal. I mean, he made 7 initially, yes? Well, if I was an evil magical warlord with the ability to prolonge my life by making horcruxes, I'd make a new one everytime I used one. And for all the information Rowling gave on them, it seems the only limitation would be in how many times one would want to kill a person. Therefore, unless Rowling offers another limitation, this means that she's making Voldemort stupid and shortsighted, when he's already shown to be neither.

Now, about the whole "Half-Blood Prince" thing. By making Snape proud that he is indeed a half-blood, Rowling is making Snapes apparent predjudices in his earlier years (he's shown in the books to have actually called Lily Evans a mudblood) make no sense. If he's proud of his mother's heritage, why be disparaging of a group of people with a similar background? Unless there's some uber-complexity going on there... It makes my head hurt...

Now, plot discrepencies aside, let's direct our attention to the overall writing style. Now, call me crazy, but it seemed to me that HBP was written in a completly differant style then the first 5 books, not to mention that there quite a few grammatical and spelling errors. The diaglogue was filled to the brim with British slang and terms. While I have no issues with British termanology, I find it odd that this book is filled with it while the previous books had scarce few.

Not only that, but while in previous books, Harry and his friends had a few crushes here and there, now it's like their hormones finally kicked in and decided to make up for years of lacking. It's like, BOOM! Everyone's got their tongues down eachother's throats! BOOM! Harry is suddenly head over heels for Ginny. HOW UNLIKELY IS THAT!?

So, what do you people think about this? Are there any other little odd bits you yourselves have noticed? Do you think I'm crazy? What are you opinions on this?

[polywolly]

Many of you have likely already totally exhausted this subject, but I'd like to know what you personal opinions and the like on the last installment of the Harry Potter series.

I, for one, am always happy to voice my opinion about anything Potter.

In my opinion, the last book was disappointing.

You are not alone. There are many of us who would rather pretend that whole thing never happened, but I'm afraid book 7 will be out before we can completely repress the memory.

It simply appears to me that JK is just trying to cram everything into the last couple of books, which makes me fear for book 7. That, and it appears that she made up quite a few things on the fly.

You aren't alone there either. But that is the nature of writing. Sometimes that happens with the best thought out plot. I think it was Steven King who said that sometimes things happen because they do. There isn't a nice, neat explanation with which a writer can tie everything up. Sometimes, just like in real life, there is no explanation, as much as we'd like to hear it.

The Horcruxes, while interesting, leave for at least one plot hole. While yes, they do explain how Voldemort managed to evade death the first time, it also sets the stage for him being completely immortal. I mean, he made 7 initially, yes? Well, if I was an evil magical warlord with the ability to prolong my life by making Horcruxes, I'd make a new one every time I used one. And for all the information Rowling gave on them, it seems the only limitation would be in how many times one would want to kill a person. Therefore, unless Rowling offers another limitation, this means that she's making Voldemort stupid and shortsighted, when he's already shown to be neither.

From what I remember--and it's been a while since I read this particular piece of work--Voldemort wanted the magic number 7 for his Horcrux collection. By asking that question, we get several others. Does Voldemort know that Dumbledore destroyed a Horcrux? Does Voldemort know that RAB (whoever the fuck HE is...) stole the locket and destroyed/hid it somewhere *cough*Grimmauld Place*/cough*? Does Voldemort like peanut butter, and if so, chunky or creamy?

I'll give JKR the benefit of the doubt for the Horcruxes. The principles of these mystical beauties might be explained entirely in book 7. Furthermore, Voldemort has his eye on world domination and muggle/half-blood extermination. He doesn't have the time or the man-power to baby-sit his wee soul pieces all hours of the day. One could suppose that he could hire a security guard, or cast a security spell on them all such as the one on the ring Dumbledore destroyed, but what are the qualities/limitations of such magic? So...many...questions...

I've rambled long enough that I've forgotten where I was going with this. The important part is that there are a lot of questions and very few answers. Why did a survivor such as Sirius die such an uneventful death at the hands of a drape? I guess it could be explained as the suddenness and the senselessness of death. I think the drape could have at least had big, pointy, poisonous fangs!!!

Now, about the whole "Half-Blood Prince" thing. By making Snape proud that he is indeed a half-blood, Rowling is making Snape’s apparent prejudices in his earlier years (he's shown in the books to have actually called Lily Evans a mudblood) make no sense. If he's proud of his mother's heritage, why be disparaging of a group of people with a similar background? Unless there's some uber-complexity going on there... It makes my head hurt...

Snape's mother was a Pure-blood. His father was a Muggle, thus making Snape a Half-blood. He gave himself the nickname of "Half-blood Prince" to tout the fact that he did have pure blood in his veins. He was not Muggle-born. He was not a Mudblood. He was a Half-blood, and I don't think that was a commonly used nickname either. I think it was just something he scribbled in his books to remind himself that, although he wasn't a pure-blood, he was darn close.

Now, plot discrepancies aside, let's direct our attention to the overall writing style. Now, call me crazy, but it seemed to me that HBP was written in a completely different style then the first 5 books, not to mention that there quite a few grammatical and spelling errors. The dialogue was filled to the brim with British slang and terms. While I have no issues with British terminology, I find it odd that this book is filled with it while the previous books had scarce few.

This was explained away by saying that the kids are growing up. That is true. In my personal opinion, I'm not a fan of JKR's writing style. I really like the story, but it wouldn't matter much to me who was writing it down.

Again, you aren't alone in thinking that this book deviated in part or entirely from the previous books. I didn't pay much mind to it, though, since I was trying to figure out that whole Horcrux thing. *reminds self to re-read book 6 without pretending it's fanfiction*

Not only that, but while in previous books, Harry and his friends had a few crushes here and there, now it's like their hormones finally kicked in and decided to make up for years of lacking. It's like, BOOM! Everyone's got their tongues down each other’s throats! BOOM! Harry is suddenly head over heels for Ginny. HOW UNLIKELY IS THAT!?

Well, I have to go back to "the kids are growing up". I remember that sort of hormonal shift. It could have been a bit more gradual, but since when has anything ever been gradual. What would compel an 11-year old kid to chase a crazy man down a forbidden corridor to protect a freakin' rock?! Yeah. I'd have said, "Screw this. I'm getting Dumbledore. He'll straighten this all right out...because I'm sure as hell not doing this all by myself, not after I just escaped that cupboard under the fucking stairs..."

My point is that Harry did not have a lot of time to delve into his personal feelings about Ginny what with teaching DA lessons, taking Occlumency lessons, and planning clandestine trips to the Dept of Mysteries. Then there was his godfather's death and the prospect of returning to the Dursley's. Besides, that stuff was going on. He did kiss Cho in book 5, remember? And wasn't it Roger Davies that was making out with his girlfriend at the next table? Harry just doesn't have a front row seat to the festivities all that often...except in fanfiction.

So, what do you people think about this? Are there any other little odd bits you yourselves have noticed? Do you think I'm crazy? What are you opinions on this?

You aren't crazy. You want answers, just like the rest of us, and there's nothing wrong with that. I'm trying to keep an open mind until book 7 comes out. If the questions I have swirling around in my head are not answered by the last page of that book, then I'll have to write a fic that explains them away with fact from the books and maybe something I made up in order to make the explanation plausible.

Of course, if Snape is dead at the end of book 7, I'll have an altogether different problem on my hands... *note to self - begin researching ancient spells/curses that pertain to raising the dead...*

[NightScribe]

Seeing as how I read the first five books in a marathon reading session the week before HBP came out, by the time I got to it, my brain was a bit mushy. And I'm the first to admit that I'm a selective kind of gal with what appeals to me in the books and what doesn't.

Voldemort's past/lineage? Don't care. Horcruxes, boring as hell, even though I know they're important. (Have you seen the fanbrat sites that discuss whether Harry is actually a horcrux? Yeesh.) I grew rather weary of the hook-ups and I'm sorry I just don't see Harry and Ginny together.

As for Snape, I have to agree with poly; he was proud of his pure-blood side and don't forget, Voldemort is half-blood, too, but a self-loathing one; explains why he wants to kill Muggles, other than the fact that he's a sociopath.

Maybe I'm imagining this (I'll have to read it again) but wasn't there something in HBP about the more you split your soul, the more dangerous it becomes? That anyone who did do it, would only do it once, but since Voldemort is so far off the deep end, he went with seven (the magical number thingy).

What I did like about book six were the darker angles. Spinner's End, the sectumsempra, the inferi and Draco realizing he's not the coldblooded bastard that his delectable father is.

Now that I think about it, I have to agree; there was an awful lot crammed into that book, a lot to process. I think I've read someplace that the horcrux thing came about later, that J.K. thought of them after she'd written a few books. Whether that's true or not, I don't know.

I'm really hoping that the seventh book doesn't suck. I'm concerned of it being a huge let-down. I'd love to see Lucius pull a Shawshank and bust out of prison and poly here's how I would deal with Snape's fate. Ready?

Snape helps Harry to defeat Voldemort and both survive. The Ministry recognizes that Snape was a good guy all along, he's awarded the Order of Merlin, first class and becomes the new headmaster of Hogwarts. Harry tries to be an Auror, but hates the bureaucratic bullshit, so he accepts the DADA position that Severus extends. Snape tells him that he'd like to be to Harry what Dumbledore was to him as a young man/teacher; a mentor and friend, it's the best way to honor Albus' memory. (I was actually going to write that in a fic that I've abandoned, but there you have it. Sappy, I know, but what the hell, why not?).

[sshspooky]

i found book 6 much better then book 5. book 6 was quite slow moving and more about setting things up for book 7, which is why i think a lot of people weren't as happy with it, however book 5 was much worse, with harry acting like a dumb 5 year old throughout the whole book, just to force the plot of having Sirius die.

[Hermione Malfoy]

What I loved about book 6: Snape was in it right from the start. Snape was D A D A professor; Snape was in the story a whole lot more; and Cho Chang was in it a whole lot less. And Harry and Ginny finally gotten over themselves and admitted to their feelings for each other... sorry but I see them together more than Hermione and Ron. Even after Snape did what he did Hermione's still on his side... you go girl!

What I hated about book 6: Hermione suddenly turned from clever, brainy know it all to someone a bit petulant and whiny... she just didn't fit with the Hermione in the first five books; Snape killed Dumbledore... I am one of those that live in hope. No Lucius Malfoy... *grumbles and groans*! More Lupin... sorry not a fan of the Werewolf; or his pet dog and Stag.

Overall I prefer Order of the Phoenix to Half-Blood Prince; but the way it's been going I am probably going to love Deathly Hallows a lot more than HBP... Especially as we're going to get the answers to several unanswered questions.