Kristen and I will get the book midnight tonight. Below we’ll begin to post our thoughts as we are reading. Add your comments below!
Beware of Spoilers!
I thought I would bump this thread up a bit.
Search This Classical Life:
categories:
in the middle of:
read in 2016:
Paterson, The Great Gilly Hopkins
Sloan, Ajax Penumbra 1969
Mandel, Station Eleven
Elliot, Shadow of the Almighty
Shakespeare, As You Like It
Bolz-Weber, Accidental Saintsarchives:
No real surprises, expect for the almost light tone of the first 550 pages.
Has anyone noticed anything in any previous book that might give a clue to the identity of R.A.B.?
Finished at 4:03a, felt a mixture of emotions. I really thought the writing was subpar in comparison to the others (I caught several typos, too!) and I was tired of the romance, but I am glad things are progressing towards the climax of book seven.
On RAB — I think it’s Regulus Black
or two people R and B, as it took two people to get the locket out (with the poison, etc.)I changed my mind. Definitely Regulus Black (or someone we’ve never heard of, which is unlikely.)Pingback: TulipGirl
Yes, I think you’re probably right on the R.B., Kristen. We know he was a death eater, who left V and was then killed within days. But enough time to have done the deed.
His middle name is never given, to my recollection, so there’s no way to confirm it.
I wasn’t surprised Snape was a Death Eater. I was just surprised that he managed to fly under Dumbledore’s radar for so long, even after he was helping Draco, etc.
I just want to know how it all ends up in book seven.
Did anyone else want to cry during the last chapter?
So, Dumbledore it was. I agree with Sora that it’ll be Ron who bites the dust in book 7. Especially thinking of the foreshadowing from Philsopher’s Stone, Harry will set out with his friend’s to tackle Voldemort, who has *no* real friends. Ron’s choice to sacrifice himself for Harry — what greater love is this? — will contribute to Voldemort’s final downfall. It has to be something along these lines. Harry has to kill Voldemort with love, somehow. JKR seems to cast doubt on the nature of prophecy. That don’t come to pass on their own power, but through the power they have on the listeners. Therefore, it *doesn’t* have to be Harry who kills Voldemort. Voldemort wants to kill Harry because he believes in the prophecy; Harry wants to kill Voldemort because of what he’s done to James, Lily, Sirius, Cedric, and now Dumbledore. In the middle of the final fight, with all the Horcruces destroyed, Ron will jump infront of the killing curse and destroy Voldemort.
Oh, I don’t know. This is all so interesting, though.
I liked this one better than the 5th, which was too drawn out and grouchy, IMO. Very sad at the end. The only thing I’m dying to know is WHY did Dumbledore trust Snape so much? It can’t be as simple as Snape’s convincing regret. Did Dumbledore know the whole time and this is all part of his plan? Why don’t they just ask his portrait, which is now hanging in his office? :) Hmmmm….
So fun to talk about it!! Thanks.
Must…not…read…spoilers… (I accidentally caught a glimpse of one, and I hope it doesn’t say what I think it does…)
I caught a few typos too, but overall I liked it much better than Order of the Phoenix. We definitely agree with the Regulus Black theory – in OotP, when they were cleaning out one of the rooms, it mentioned a heavy locket none of them could open. Which means, probably, that either Mundungus or Kreacher has taken it.
The theory making its way through my group of friends is that Snape is still loyal to Dumbledore and that he killed him at his request. Puts the line, “Severus…please.” in a whole different light, doesn’t it?
Harry needs to take on Voldemort on his own and he wouldn’t have done it with Dumbledore around. Dumbledore’s death was necessary to save the world.
Oooh oooh oooh – the library e-mailed me that they had a copy for me TODAY! I’m in chapter 6 and having fun. Maybe I’ll put the kids to bed a little early tonight…
Liza
I finnnnnallly get to read this thread! I finished at 2 am this morning, and have to be out the door by 8:30. *yawn*
I liked it. I’m glad, Kristen, that I read that you weren’t as thrilled with this one. It lowered the bar a little, and so I think I enjoyed it more.
I’m just glad that Harry finally gets to grow up and face his future…with a little more understanding of what will happen. (Anyone else have recurring memories of Aslan while reading? It’s always the mentor who dies to allow the hero to become the hero.)
Bekah: of course, the mentor had to die. It made sense to me, too; unfortunately, I’ve read too many people who don’t seem to get it.
I think the tomb scene reminded me of Aslan most. Though, I don’t think he’ll come back, but I suppose that’s what his portrait is form.
I wonder: how knowledgable are the persons in the portraits. Does the Dumbledore in his picture have the same thoughts as the real Dumbledore? Can he retell everything that was happening up until his death? Can he continue to teach Harry or lead the Order? How does one get a portrait? Sirius’ mother is still hounding everyone, but Harry can’t talk to his folks?
I don’t see how she’s going to fit everything into the seventh book. After that, she needs to have a marathon Q&A session to answer all the *hows* and *whys*.
I read an interview in which she said that the portraits were more like an echo of the person. For example, Mrs. Black’s portrait just said things that were catchphrases during her life, not coming up with anything new. However, the portraits in the headmaster’s office may be different, I don’t know.
i think snape is good…in doing what he did, i think he carried out two “unbreakable vows”…
1. he promised draco’s mother that he would do what draco couldn’t….and he did…
2. and i think this one is a vow he made with dumbledore a long time ago that he would not let voldemort or any of his followers defeat him (or something along those lines)….
i also think that in the end, its going to have to be snape and harry working together…i can’t see any other way at all….and ron won’t die…
I don’t think Ron will die, either. It’s too redundant (I’m thinking of the first book). The Snape premise is an interesting one, since I’m not convinced he’s totally evil. Maybe I read too many kids’ fantasy books, but I’m seeing echos of Madeleine L’Engle’s Wrinkle in Time series, which also dealt with overcoming evil with love. Maybe only love will be able to reduce and eliminate Voldemort. Although I find that a bit anticlimactic myself. But yeah, there’s a lot to squeeze into the next book.
Sorry, Ron’s as good as dead. Well, maybe not. That would *definitely* mess up the tidy love relationships going on. Notice, each of the “good” guys is partnered with a “good” girl. Harry:Ginny, Ron:Hermione, and Neville:Luna. Though, I hear the last is least likely.
I’m totally convinced that Snape is the most faithful follower of Dumbledore there is. Even moreso than Harry.
I am more and more convinced that either Snape or Draco will be the dead ones in the next book. Or maybe both.
I trust Snape. I don’t think that Ron will die – I think that it will be Hagrid, in a sacrificial way.
All the snogging was quite funny!
I finally get to read these too, but I’m a little late in the game (I only finished in the wee hours of Saturday morning). I wasn’t as sad as I thought I’d be (or as Jonathan thought I should be) because I thought it would be Dumbledore too. I don’t think Ron will die in the next one either. He just has to get together with Hermoine. And once Voldemort is dead, Harry can hook up with Ginny (I hate to be anti-intellectual, but did that remind anyone else of Spiderman?). Why did I enjoy the teenage romance so much? While it was very different to have that element than in past books, it’s very true of being a teenager: nothing seems more important than that crush, not even gaining the secret that could destroy evil forever.
I like the Snape theory too, that he was obeying Dumbledore in killing him. Even though I really dislike Snape. Because I think that Snape would have killed Harry too when he had the chance there at the end. Or at least not giving him wizarding advice while battling him. It seemed almost older brotherly, not emphatic hatred.
I’ve heard another theory about the Dumbledore/Snape incidents, offered by my pastor: that Snape and Dumbledore partook of the big cauldron of Polyjuice Potion Slughorn had already prepared and were posing as one another. Part of the reason for this would be Snape’s attempt to get out of the Unbreakable Vow and make the ultimate sacrifice for the Order. Plausible, but it would sure take great acting on both of their parts while they were shown relating to Harry.
I want these to circulate enough that JK Rowling comments about them on her website in the “Rumours” section!!
Brad,
I respect your pastor and all, but he’s WAY off… way too far fetched and PolyJuice has already been overdone in the series.
I don’t know. I really struggle with any interpretation that doesn’t have Dumbledore facing death willingly. It would be completely out-of-character for him. I think this is Dumbledore’s version of “You meant it for evil, I meant it for good.” Voldemort wanted Dumbledore out of the picture, and he mananged to find a situation that will help the Order immensely.
I think Dumbledore realized his fraility and he had to die in that situation to save Harry. This is also why he couldn’t use any other magic, because he was already casting a charm over Harry to keep him from moving and revealing himself.
My true hope is that Snape is redeemed. Even if he truly meant evil in killing Dumbledore that somehow he will be redeemed. I don’t think he’ll return to the Order and help actively. In the end it has to be Harry alone or just the trio alone. It can’t be Snape or the Weasley’s or the ‘adult’ members of the Order. I lean towards it being the trio. My hope for Snape is that when he’s in the path between the trio and Voldemort, that he continues to teach them int he process and in the end, lay down his life when he sees that Harry has done it, Harry has finally learned to keep his lips and mind closed.
My current predictions regarding book 7: Voldemort discovers Harry’s plan, and fearing Harry as the only one who can defeat him, places Death Eaters around the Horcruxes (with the plan to modify the memories of the DeathEaters once he has ‘finished Harry’). The trio defeat (though don’t kill?) all the once guarding until they get to Snape. Snape finds a more powerful Potter who can finally cast spells with closed lips and mind, and bows out telling him the final clue to defeat Voldemort.
I don’t know how it will be resolved. Voldemort must die; everything is leading towards his death, but Harry doesn’t (or can’t) fight the way Voldemort does, with unforgiveable curses.
Though, it was a creative idea. Crabbe and Goyle had been using the potion through HBP. I think that was it, though.
Harry and Ron used it in Chamber of Secrets.
Barty Crouch Jr. used it in Goblet of Fire.
Crabbe and Goyle used it in HBP…
Plus, you have to drink it every hour, or something like that. And Dumbledore didn’t. At least, we didn’t see him, so if he did, it would have been serious cheating on Rowling’s part.
I know, I’m with y’all…after coming back to earth from Potterland a day after I finished, I embraced the idea that Harry needs to go it alone, and that it is really now an opportunity for Harry to complete his training and “show his stuff.” After all, JK Rowling said someone would die, not pretend to. We’ve been calling this {and everyone knows they’ve thought it too} the “Obi-Wan parallel.” Now, Harry has to complete his training as a wizard without his mentor until he comes of age. Though it’s been more than strongly implied that Harry’s caliber or “natural talent” is much lower than that of a Dumbledore, Voldemort, or even Hermione, that rather he has been protected by very strong secondary causes (his mother’s love and the phoenix feather in his wand, for examples). I’m just bittersweetly excited about finding out what’s going to happen next. This has been really fun, everyone. Thanks, Mike & Kristen!
Does anyone else get wildly curious about the details that are never explained? It’s driving me nuts not knowing what the potion was that was protecting the fake-locket-Horcrux!
I think Snape, in the end, is a “good guy.” I thought, too, that perhaps he and Dumbledore had an arrangement about Snape’s killing him. Remember how insistant he was to see Snape in particular before they even got back to Hogwarts? (And yes, I nearly cried during the last chapter, too. I probably didn’t because I was the one reading at that point.)
I think Snape will die for Harry.
I don’t think Ron will die. Three’s a crowd, and it’s probably Harry that will die (or will be saved by Snape), because Ron and Hermione are a couple.
Snape is such an intriguing character.
I was pleased to see that Rowling has gotten over her all caps habit.
I just read the previous discussion you started. Maybe the red signifies Ginny. She’s the only other person besides Harry to have been “possessed” by Voldy. Ginny is also intriguing.
Sorry I’m late jumping in on this. We read it out loud so we didn’t finish until Saturday.
I think when Harry shows up at the Weasley’s for the wedding next summer, and Hermione and Ron agree to go with him to find the horcruxes, that Ginny might decide to go, too. Even if she doesn’t, I don’t think Harry will be travelling alone. He needs his friends more that ever now.
I think Dumbledore either lied to Harry when he said the horcrux draught wouldn’t kill him, or he didn’t realize it until afterwards. I think Dumbledore was slowly dying, and knew it, so when Snape showed up, he begged for him to kill him, as had been previously planned. I don’t think that Dumbledore made Snape make an unbreakable vow, though– it wouldn’t be like him. He just made him promise to do it, in order to fulfill the other unbreakable vow with Malfoy’s mom, and to keep him at Voldemort’s side as the best secret agent ever. If anything’s Snape is Dumbledore’s man through and through. That’s why he got so mad when Harry called him a coward.
I also think Snape will have to die…although possibly Harry, as the griffindor Red Lion, will, too, though I would really cry then…
Hey, what about this idea that Harry is one of the Horcruxes? After all, Voldemort murdered his mother and father right there, maybe the scar signifies that Harry is one of the keepers of Voldemort’s soul and V. doesn’t even know it??? Dunno, just a thought I heard buzzing around.
Hmmm…that’s really interesting and frightening, but it could be an explanation of why Harry can speak parseltongue and is “linked” to Voldemort’s thoughts, and V’s to HP’s. You think Dumbledore might’ve thought the same thing and warned Harry (though maybe Occlumency lessons were something of a warning of such). I’d think the outlook would be much bleaker if Harry’s a Horcrux. It would spell certain doom and mean both would have to die if Voldemort was never to return again.
I don’t think Harry is a horcrux. Horcruxes are very intentional and can’t be made accidentally.
I was on the treadmill yesterday with a copy of the Entertainment Weekly with a Harry article in it (which in turn made me run very fast because I was so excited). Anyways, this article referred to a statement that Rowling made that there was more to Aunt Petunia than meets the eye. I’m intrigued. Will Aunt Petunia have an unexpected role in Book 7? Has she been repressing her witch powers? Is this the reason why Dumbledore was so insistient on Harry returning to stay with the Dursleys? Any thoughts?
I’ve heard and am intrigued by the Petunia thing as well. Maybe she will inadvertently use witchcraft in trying to protect Dudley and/or Harry. She is definitely a conflicted character with more than meet the eye beneath her surface… (like when she stood up and defended Harry when the dementors showed up and got Harry and Dudley.)
Remember in Chapter 3 (Will and Won’t) “Aunt Petunia, however, was oddly flushed.” Also, am wondering about the significance of all Dumbledore’s rantings in The Cave as he was drinking the potion to get to the non-Horcrux.
Laura Leigh- I thought Harry’s giving up Ginny was the low point of the book because it was a scene straight out of Spiderman (both took place at funerals, both heroes gave up their girls to keep them from being targets), but I really don’t see any other way it could be done…
I think too that Snape is a good guy.
I was relieved that Harry’s dark mood was put to rest in this book. I’m glad that Rowling made it part of the series though because we needed to see growth in Harry’s character as well as his wizarding skills. He definitely has a much more mature attitude now.
Harry’s decision not to return to Hogwarts was the saddest part for me. I guess instead of studying to be an auror, he’ll be some sort of super-auror since he’ll be going after Voldy himself instead of just the death eaters.
Why Greek? Why Latin?
Classical Christian schools value the ancient languages as a core component of the school curriculum, and Veritas is no different.
One of the first questions asked by a parent new to the school or the philosophy of Classical education is: Why Greek? Why Latin? Are these languages of any use to students living in 21st century America?
The answer is resounding YES! Greek and Latin are great use to a student living in 21st century America. They are especially of use to Christians living in our present world. The uses of Greek and Latin are varied, and I’d like to focus on a handful at this time.
First, what is the benefit of studying any language at all? Studying a foreign tongue helps students to fully understand their own language. This is especially true of Greek and Latin, which are no longer spoken. By studying fixed languages that are no longer prone to grammatical evoluation, students are able to analyze words and phrases without fear of changes in meaning. This provides a quality control group for students to observe how then such ideas are rendered best into English and form ideas of how English works, which continues to change slowly as it is handed down from generation to generation.
Greek and Latin work well together because they are so similar (both being part of the Indo-European language family), yet they are still unique. This allows the learner to triangulate his studies and compare all three languages against each other. As the speakers of Greek and Latin lived close together in both time and space, their writings help students to understand the culture of the Greeks and Romans, especially as they relate to each other.
Studying Greek and Latin also helps students improve English vocabulary. The earliest speakers of English actually spoke a language that resembles modern-day German more than English. In the years since then, what we call Old English has been influence by Greek and Latin, and the result is what we speak today. The original Germanic influences are still evident in the core grammatical components of our language: I, was, were, etc … However, the majority of our vocabulary comes from Greek and Latin. This is a result of the Norman invasion, the influence of Greek and Latin in the early and medieval church, and the revival of Greek and Latin during the renaissance.
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