Book 6!
this has been a long delayed post and i intentionally didn't make the title more descriptive because for me, there is only one Book 6 (and Book 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 for that matter. hehe)


  


July 16, at 7:30AM, I excitedly walked inside Powerbooks - ATC clutching my reservation slip dated Feb 27 on my hand. I expected the place to be jampacked, but imagine my disbelief at being directed to stand behind a girl whose line was already snaking through eight freaking bookshelves towards the counter. I looked to my right and saw 5 people (no, i'm not exaggerating) standing in front of the supposedly non-reserved books-only counter holding the very object of my obsession the past what? 4? 5 months?

I thought: this is not the way a tired, hungry, sleepless, over-excited girl (uhrm, woman) should be treated especially when it comes to Harry Potter books! I nearly cursed centralized airconditioning to oblivion (it was stuffy and hot inside the bookstore i swear!) while i watched in dazed amusement as a man lashed out at a staff for "punishing" those people who were buying reserved books. Honestly, their system sucks. How can it be that i am holding a slip of paper (that they gave me) proving that i paid 500 bucks to reserve my copy but they still feel the need to countercheck it with their list in the PC???

Well so anyway, by 9:30 I was already sitting in starbucks reading the first chapter of the book.

RIA, stop reading when you get to this part because you will most likely try to strangle me again just as you did when you read my post with the Book 6 Teasers. (But really, after all this time, how can you still NOT know that Sirius will die?! You've had my book for months!)




I finally finished the book Monday morning. I had to stop at Chapter 29 on Sunday night because I got a bad migraine from reading and crying. Hehe. Man, did i cry when Dumbledore died. I saved the chapter on the funeral hoping that reading it in a public place wouldn't make me cry as much. Later, i realized what a stupid idea that was because i couldn't stop my tears even when i was reading in the shuttle on the way to work. hahaha.

I have mixed (and biased) opinions on the book. You see, I liked Book 5 the least because Sirius' death overshadowed everything (can't help it, i love the guy). I've only read that book about 3 times. The last one out of necessity because I wanted to refresh my memory for Book 6. Anyway, Book 6 was actually good...but, because I also love Dumbledore (even more than Sirius, I think), I guess it would be yet another HP book that would take me a long time to read again. Heck, I was browsing the last chapters this morning and it still made my eyes water when I got to the Chapters discussing Dumbledore's death. hehehe.

So anyway, here are my thoughts on the book. and questions too. hehe.

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I remember reading in JK Rowling's website that there are chapters in Half Blood Prince that she originally intended for the earlier books but she decided against it...however, i really didn't see the point of the first few chapters of HBP (the muggle prime minister meeting with the minister of magic). Hehehe.

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I think Slughorn is a shady character. I don't know why.
I didn't like Fleur for Bill at first, but she seemed to have redeemed herself in the end, didn't she? :)

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And maybe this is a stupid question, but i just have to ask...if the dementors already walked out of Azkaban to join Lord Voldemort, who's guarding Azkaban now?

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Bellatrix and Narcissa (the bad people) are humans after all. :) I like that JK thought to portray them that way (in that chapter where Snape made the Unbreakable Vow)

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I was kinda frustrated that it still wasn't revealed what made Dumbledore trust Snape oh so unconditionally. And i would have liked to have known a little background about Dumbledore sana...how he became so powerful and all that.

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I wonder what JK thought when she chose the title for the book. Is there more to Snape being half blood and his mom's maiden last name being Prince? Would Snape being the Half Blood Prince have any significance at all in the last Book?

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What happened to Dumbledore's hand? He didn't have the chance to explain that to Harry in their meetings. Or did he? Did I miss it?

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I loved the tender moments between Dumbledore and Harry.
One when Harry admitted to Dumbledore that he is a "Dumbledore's man through and through"
And another when, after getting the (fake) Horcrux, a weak Dumbledore said he's not worried...because he's with Harry. (am sure there's more, but i couldn't remember them at the moment)

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I was intrigued by the conversation Hagrid overheard in the forest between Dumbledore and Snape. When Snape was said that Dumbledore took too much for granted and that maybe he didn't want to do "it" anymore and then Dumbledore said that Snape had to do "it" because he agreed to. Could they have been talking about the Unbreakable Vow? I'd like to believe that Dumbledore's death is all part of his "grand plan" and that Snape, for all his evil ways would redeem himself by dying in the last book for the sake of good.

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The one who found the real Locket Horcrux and replaced it with the fake one...R.A.B...could it be Regalus Black?

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I loved how the funeral was written. The merpeople and centaurs paying tribute... So solemn. And sad. Sniff. I still hope he will come back in Book 7.
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ohhhh...i can't wait to see how it all ends. and when that time comes, i know i'll be both happy and sad. happy that i've read another good book (i have faith the JK will not disappoint) and sad that it will be Harry's final journey. Some laugh when they hear us talk about the books as if the characters in it are real. I know not a lot of people understand, but to us HP lovers, Harry and Ron and Hermione and Dumbledore and Sirius and everybody else are as real to us as the people around us. And we can't help but share in their joys and sadness and triumph and pain.

I consider us lucky, for I think not all can have that gift of appreciation and enthusiasm for the books they read. :)