Hbp - What Did You Think?, Spoilers within Options

[Imogen]

I finished at 4 am and was absolutely thrilled with the whole thing. The books seem to have picked up their magic again after such a shock with book 5.

The H/Gness was perfect, and what's the betting that's going to be resumed in Book 7 at the end - or at least we know the potential is there. And such Harryish reasons for breaking things off. Loved the impromptu kiss in the common room as well, and him wrestling with how Ron was going to react. Totally fantastic to finally see that all happening in the flesh.

As for Snape - my jaw just about dropped! The book obviously belonged to someone slightly dodgy because Hermione kept warning about it all the way through, and it seemed possible it might be Snape (who's obviously adept at potions), but I couldn't work out how he could be the HBP, until I was finally told at the end. We all knew Dumbledore was going to go, but not like that. I never thought Snape would kill him - I honestly thought it would happen with Voldemort.

It certainly looks like Snape has reverted to the dark side, exposing the order. But part of me has to wonder if this is a double bluff on JKR's part. We still don't know why Dumbledore trusted him so much. There's some unfinished business here.

The soul dividing thing makes a lot of sense and provides a nice focus for that last book. The hubby (who has now nabbed my copy) is wondering whether a piece of V's soul might be inside Harry himself. Which would be an interesting twist. I'm looking forward to that last book and seeing how everything wraps up.

Loads of other thoughts are buzzing R/Hness - arguments and that lovely scene at the funeral -, Remus and Tonks, Bill and Fleur (Go Fleur after Bill was bitten, but I loved the Phlegm nickname!) Malfoy and what's going to happen to him now. He couldn't kill Dumbledore, so how is he going to cope as a Death Eater (assuming Voldemort accepts him to take his father's place now), how is Harry finally going to learn to block Snape out of his thoughts.

In a word WOW! Great book. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

Imogen

[Jerry]

Ok, let's try to put in into facts:

The horcruxes that we are absolutely sure that were destroyed are:

1) The Diary - and that's destroyed
2) The Ring - and that's destroyed, as well

The horcrux that we are absolutely sure that still exists is:

3) Voldemort's own soul, inside his body

Dumbledore's speculated horcruxes:

4) Slytherin's locket

5) Hufflepuff's Cup

6) Nagini

7) ?

People's speculated horcruxes (as to what #7 is):

Harry's Scar / Dumbledore himself

I personally don't think that Harry's scar is a horcrux, currently. The reason for that is because I do believe that Dumbledore was a horcrux. My attempted explanation is that we saw how weakened Dumbledore became from drinking the potion and from other effects (in other words, whatever happened to make him into the horcrux, according to my theory). He ended up dying. If Harry's scar is a horcrux, wouldn't it give him unbearable agony every waking moment? Think about it. A part of an absolutely emotionless creature is part of himself - a being full of emotion and love. I don't think that Harry would last too long if that were the case.

As for Nagini, I agree with Dumbledore. Nagini is a horcrux, and a pretty useful one at that. The same goes for the locket.

Regarding the Sorting Hat, I don't think it's a horcrux, simply because of the disdain that the 'Diary Riddle' showed towards it in CoS, when Fawkes swept the Hat into Harry's hands. "This is what Dumbledore sends his defender?" he sneered. (Or something to that extent.) Which brings me to my next point. I'm almost sure that Voldemort did not use a Gryffindor-related item as a horcurx (the sorting hat included; thanks Andrew for pointing that out), even if that means I'm saying Dumbledore was wrong.

I don't think Hufflepuff's cup was was used as a horcrux, either. I don't know why. It's just a gut feeling I have that Voldemort wouldn't want anything that didn't relate to Slytherin, even if it had immense magical powers, and even if, again, that means that Dumbledore was mistaken. I know that it had vanished, together with the locket, but I don't think it was used as a horcrux.

Now, that presents us with a bit of a dilemma. We've lost a potential horcrux. But, after reading Book 2 cover to cover again, I think I've found another horcrux. Ginny.

QUOTE

If I say it myself, Harry, I've always been able to charm the people I needed. So Ginny poured out her soul to me, and her soul happened to be exactly what I wanted.... I grew stronger and stronger on a diet of her deepest fears, her darkets secrets. I grew powerful, far more powerful than little Miss Weasley. Powerful enough to start feeding Miss Weasley a few of my secrets to start pouring a little of my soul back into her...

The diary is gone, yes. But who says that the fragment of the soul that was injected into Ginny is?

(I can think of two refutations to this:

1) When the diary was destroyed, whatever it caused was erased, including the fragment of Voldemort's soul that was incorporated into Ginny from the diary.

2) The diary was a horcux, not the original soul. And the original soul can be split, not an existing horcrux.

But neither of the aforementioned refutations satisfy me, because maybe Voldemort's horcrux was so powerful was that it, in itself, could split, and even if the source (diary) was gone, the fragment that split into Ginny remained, becoming a new, totally separate horcrux.)

Just some thoughts.