First, I don't think I've done something like this for the blog before. I usually just blather happily and heartily recommend the experience: book or movie. Or heartily don't recommend the experience. But I'm inspired to take it a little deeper this time, especially since as a publishing phenomena one should study Rowling.
Second, I do like the series but I'm not obessed with the series. I have other obsessions *wink*. Seriously, I have no desire to write fanfiction of it, don't want to marry any of the characters--Alan Rickman and Gary Oldman not withstanding--it's just plain fun.
Third, there will be spoilers. If you really hate them, check out this op-ed on the state of American comics instead: http://www.tcj.com/269/e_own1.html.
Initial observations: I finished the book in one day, before my typical bedtime. Read it faster than I have wrote this blog, actually. It is a much leaner book as other critics have said. Rowling has complained about "Goblet" needing editing, but I found "Pheonix" needed it more. I got lost in the big climatic battle between Dumbledore's Army and the Death Eaters which results in Siris's death. Those scenes should have been the clearest.
I also cheated by listening on the fandom's yelling. Whatever evils the fundamentals lay at Harry Potter's feet, having bad mannered fans isn't one of them. I didn't see any flame wars, though the hate mail might be directed right at Rowling. Course, I also stopped looking after a while. If the fans aren't behaving now... *shrug*. So I knew what the book was going to end with, just not how we got there.
Since the book was tighter, it's climax built steadily into one punch, followed by a second one: the murder of Dumbledore by Snape and Snape's defection to the Death Eaters. Granted some readers are making the two events one and the same, but I separate them because of Harry and Snape's interaction.
Now focusing on what we know. Rowling often uses a first chapter to show things in the enemy's camp while the rest of the book is from Harry's POV. In "Goblet of Fire," we saw Voldemort, Wormtail and Voldemort's pet snake kill a Muggle. I don't have a copy of "Order of the Pheonix" to check. In "Prince" we follow Draco's mother and aunt to Snape's house. Draco's mother and Snape go under the Unbreakable Vow with the sole purpose of Snape helping or doing whatever Voldemort has ordered of Draco, whichever came first to keep Draco alive. You get the feeling that Draco is being set up for a suicide run, especially the way his mother is carrying on.
We also learn that Snape has accounted himself to Voldemort and Voldemort is using him as a double agent. Well that's what Dumbledore is using him for, so the real question becomes which side is Snape truly on? A question compounded by the fact that Dumbledore refuses to say why he believes Snape's repenting after Voldemort's fall was genuine. He refuses to tell Harry and the other members of the Order of the Pheonix and fellow teachers like McGongall.
At that chapter, readers are not told what task Draco has been given. His mother and aunt are convinced it will be the death of him. There's no guarantee that Snape will succeed, but it would be closer to a fair fight. And after taking the Unbreakable Vow, if Snape doesn't fulfill his end, the spell will kill him. So why take it? Possibly Snape does like Draco, as much as he can like anyone. Equally possible is it gives Draco's aunt--who really doesn't trust Snape as a Death Eater and thinks he's tricking Voldemort--a damn he's gonna do it tale for the rest of the Death Eaters.
From there, Harry's story unfolds: the school work, the romances, the Quidditch, lessons with Dumbledore exploring Voldemort's past, and Harry's obsession with what Draco is plotting. Harry finds a potions textbook that had notes written in it from someone calling himself the Half-Blood Prince. The altered spells earn him wows from the new Potions master, but alarm Hermoine. She thinks its A) cheating and B) something's wrong with anyone hiding behind titles and creating increasingly nasty jinxes and hexes. She has a point, after all Tom Riddle did the same to become Lord Voldemort. Levicorpus is rather harmless, Harry accidently uses it to pull Ron up into the air by one leg. Lupin says that hex was a popular one while his generation was in school, and in "Pheonix" the readers and Harry saw Snape's memory of being jerked around like that by James Potter, Siris Black, Lupin, and Pettigrew with Lily as a witness. Sectumsempra almost killed Draco, saved by Snape, and unnerves Harry enough to stop trusting the book.
Slughorn, the new Potions professor, taught Lily Evans, Harry's mother, and was constantly amazed by her talents. Snape finally gets the Defense Against the Dark Arts post, which Harry discovers was cursed since Dumbledore refused to give it to Voldemort years ago. The curse still holds by the end of "Prince" as well.
No one really believes Harry's theory that Draco is a Death Eater, even when events look bad. A cursed necklace injures a student and Ron is poisoned by a bottle of mead intended for someone else. Harry overhears an argument between Draco and Snape. Snape keeps insisting that Draco let him help, but Draco refuses saying Snape wants all the glory.
Dumbledore refuses to explain his faith in Snape to Harry numerous times. Hagrid reports overhearing an argument between Snape and Dumbledore. Hagrid didn't know what about, but heard Snape saying Dumbledore takes too much for granted and maybe he doesn't want to do it any more. Dumbledore said to Snape he had agreed to do it and that was all ther was to it. Also Dumbledore said something about Snape making investigations in his house, in Slytherin. The almost last straw for Harry is Professor Trelawney's drunken revelation that Snape overheard the prophecy about Voldemort and the one who would defeat him given to Dumbledore. Harry concludes correctly that Snape told Voldemort what he had overheard of the prophecy and pretty much set-up his parents to be murdered. As if Harry needs another reason to hate Snape.
But Dumbledore's affirmation of Snape needs a closer study. ADD QUOTE HERE
It was the stressing that Lily had a chance to walk away but love wouldn't let her that got my attention. For a while I thought that we were getting a new version of the attack on Harry. Reviewing the "Prisoner of Akazban" showed that I was in error. It's not shown on the movie very well, but when the Dementors make Harry relive his memory of the attack, he recalls his mother's pleas with Voldemort.
Now why would Lily, a Muggle born witch, the very thing Voldemort hates as much as he hates what he is--a wizard from a witch and a Muggle--be given a chance to walk away from interfering in Voldemort killing Harry? James, a pure blooded wizard wasn't given that opportunity.
To help with my analysis: http://blogs.salon.com/0001092/stories/2003/06/24/harryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenixChapter28.html
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/harrypotter5/section11.rhtml
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/harrypotter5/section10.rhtml
Read Free!
The BookWorm
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