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[a_t_rain]

Bloody hell.

I've just read the whole thing and damn, I would never in a million years have believed it if you'd told me yesterday. I feel sort of stupid about guessing so many things wrong -- but my God, what a ride.

Will attempt to post something more coherent when I'm less sleep-deprived.


-- So 12 GP really is semi-entailed on one of Sirius' nastier relatives. (I still think this is an "oh dear, maths" moment for JKR, though, because I don't see any way Bellatrix can be older than Andromeda. Although I suppose Andromeda could be dead.)

-- Remus / Tonks. Thrilled, but not entirely surprised, that it happened -- this pairing has always felt right on an intuitive level for me, and I only started to doubt it when I began to get into shipping arguments and realized there wasn't a lot of nonintuitive evidence for it. But I am utterly and completely stunned that I managed to get Snape's reaction (and the fact that he picked up on it straightaway) spot-on.

Knocked flat by everything else about Snape (except possibly the implication that he had a bit of a crush on Narcissa). But I think he's in the position of a recovering drug addict who got put in the way of FAR too much temptation, rather than pure evil. And I'm sticking to that until Book Seven proves otherwise.

-- Regulus Black? So totally on the side of the angels. (And yes, I do think I've guessed R.A.B.'s identity correctly.)

Comments

[hannahmarder.livejournal.com]

You must have read all night - I've only just finished (15 minutes ago) and I must have got my copy five or so hours before you. So glad that I'm not the only person who's finished, so I can discuss.

You know, when I read the Lupin/Tonks moment at the end, I thought immediately of you. I spent most of the book convinced that Tonks was someone else under polyjuice, hence her failing to metamorphose and her new patronus.

The Snape fangirl in me is reeling - I just can't believe that he killed Dumbledore. Though like you, I'm reserving full judgement until the end of book 7. Much as I like Snape as a character (though not as a person), and have kept my fingers crossed for his redemption, I've always had a nasty feeling that something like this was coming. At least I was right about him being half-blooded. And I still hope he'll turn out right in the end.

Interesting that she put in two whole chapters of non-Harry POV. And R.A.B. - of course! I hadn't worked it out, but it makes perfect sense to me now.
Hannah

[lazy-neutrino.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed this, though more Lupin would have been nice. Delighted beyond belief to see Snape kill DD - I asked for that in January. Utter perfection. I think DD pleaded with Snape to do it to save Draco, but there you go.

[a-t-rain.livejournal.com]

I spent most of the book convinced that Tonks was someone else under polyjuice, hence her failing to metamorphose and her new patronus.

In the American edition, we get a picture of the Patronus, so I tumbled to it a lot sooner :) (Well, that, and Snape's snide remark about the Patronus sounded eerily like my own "I have never understood why a certain type of female always insists on picking the weakest cub in the litter" line from TPP. I read it and thought "My God, that can't possibly mean what I think it does, because it would be too big a coincidence" -- and then I logged on and saw theregoesyamum's comments to my last entry, and realized it DID. Which meant any chance I might have had of getting any sleep last night was shot.)

There were some spookily close echoes of Oblivious and The Glass Mountain, too. I have a smart f-list.

[hannahmarder.livejournal.com]

I thought of Oblivious too, that Greyback character is spookily like Kane. I thought the second chapter got quite close to my HATMF, which pleased me no end! The 12GP situation was very like your Interesting Little Legal Problem. I am impressed by the prescience of my f-list too.

[lazy-neutrino.livejournal.com]

I also thought of Oblivious, and 'Interesting Little Legal problem'. Very pleased with the book generally!

[hannahmarder.livejournal.com]

I was very pleased too! I've just been on FAP and there's a lot of people saying they're really disappointed, which surprised me. I suppose some of it is shipping related, but I thought it was a great book.

[jesspallas.livejournal.com]

*folds her hands behind her head and leans back in her chair*

What can I say? I'm gooooddd...;)

But seriously, I literally had to stop reading and jump up and down for five minutes when I read about Lupin's bite! Dear Gods, I was CLOSE!!!!!! In fact, you know, with a couple of name changes, I could take the flashback section of Oblivious and make it canon complient.... *wanders off thoughtfully* :)

[maple-clef.livejournal.com]

Yes, I did keep thinking about your writing regarding Grimmauld, Reg and R/T - has this convinced you to become a fortune teller, yet? ;)

[a-t-rain.livejournal.com]

Nah, I haven't made the list of things I guessed wrong about, yet :)

[tabby-abby.livejournal.com]

I never really thought Snape was on the completely "good side". I think the pensive scene in OotP shows that he was never able to forgive Sirius and James for what they did. That being said, Snape still could be redeemed in the end , maybe Malfoy.

[(Anonymous)]

My word. What a read. Not a disappointment, for sure.

I did get eerie flashes of fanfics every now and then - H/G for one, of course, but plenty of others - Death Eaters in the Castle, and so on.

The other thing is - no more Hogwarts. No more Snape Potions classes, or any other classes. Judging by the ending, and if I'm reading it correctly, it's going to be The Three going out there and doing what they have to do.

There goes all my fanfics in a heap of dust ... ah well.

Easleyweasley

[bradamant.livejournal.com]

Argh! LJ at my comment. I'm sure this recreation won't be as good.

I cheered a little for you when I read about the Orders "interesting legal problem" and also immediately jumped to that same conclusion about R.A.B's identity.

I was a bit bewildered by the RL/NT developments, and not just because it's not my preferred pairing. I felt like a lot of the romantic stuff in the book was coming out of left field--perhaps I have been 'spoiled,' a little, by reading fanfic which lavishes so much time and attention on various pairings so that we know every twist and turn of each person's thoughts. I really thought that there was going to be something more significant about Tonks's transformation, particularly when Harry encountered her that fateful evening--Polyjuice? Imperius? Something new? Their relationship was purely implied rather than stated up until the very, very end, and I feel like Rowling just sort of threw it in at the last second. I wonder why? I hope she does something more with it later on.

Most of all, I did like the Snape shockeroo. That's a shoe that I've been waiting to see drop for so long that I'd almost come to believe that it wouldn't; that it was one of those things the fans cared more about than the author.

[a-t-rain.livejournal.com]

I felt like a lot of the romantic stuff in the book was coming out of left field--perhaps I have been 'spoiled,' a little, by reading fanfic which lavishes so much time and attention on various pairings so that we know every twist and turn of each person's thoughts.

I was actually surprised that there was so much attention to pairings in this book -- I was expecting things to stay at OotP-level, with the odd bit of teenage awkwardness and the two-line reference to Bill / Fleur. I'm really surprised that Harry / Ginny got so much development, so early -- I thought there was a chance that it would happen in Book Seven, but not sooner.

[hannahmarder.livejournal.com]

I was very surprised about the number of pairings. As someone who constantly complains 'Harry Potter is not Mills and Boon,' I was a bit alarmed to see so many pages being devoted to shipping. Really, the characters' tangled love lives made up most of the subplot. Not in a bad way exactly; it was well written, quite funny and true to life, but it did come as a shock. And I too thought H/G wouldn't appear till book 7. Either way, there's a lot of very happy (and very unhappy) shippers out there today.

[snorkackcatcher]

Join the club. :) A lot of fan theories I've been sceptical of actually came up here - Snape as the HBP! - so I'm currently attempting to masticate my words. The Harry/Ginny stuff surprised me too, as did the way Ron and Hermione were behaving - those two did seem a bit, well, different in some way? Just growing up, perhaps.

[bradamant.livejournal.com]

There's more attention to romance in this book than in the the other five, but lots of fanfic makes romance its primary subject and goes on and on and on about Character A's feelings about having met Character B in a hallway, Character C's scruples about whether or not to tell Character D his/her feelings, etc. Since here we are stuck in Harry's head and the book seems to sweep by relatively quickly (or does it just feel like that based on how fast I read?) I felt like the H/G and RL/NT pairings really came about by fiat; it made me think of the old saw about "showing" rather than "telling." I've not seen many people who are happy about the romance--seems like people either object to the pairings outright or like the pairings and object to the writing.

The primary thing I keep thinking is "be careful what you wish for." Lots of us thought that we wanted more romance, but I'd say that that's not proven to be Rowling's strength as a writer...

[dizzy-chisel.livejournal.com]

[finished 15min ago, still reeling]

The primary thing I keep thinking is "be careful what you wish for." Lots of us thought that we wanted more romance, but I'd say that that's not proven to be Rowling's strength as a writer...

I agree. The R/L and R/H stuff was actually okay with me, but when it comes to Harry's feelings, I got major cringes. I know she could wriggle out of criticism by saying that this horribly Victorian Ginny-related "coiled creature" was jealousy, but heck, teenagers strongly feel attraction, sexual feelings. I couldn't help thinking, "why, this is the oddest rendering of a teenager experiencing sexual attraction I've read in a while".

[(Anonymous)]

Okay, since you seem to have this book pretty well figured out, DID H/G break up at the end? I've been rereading it, and I'm not sure; the internet has only made it worse. Help please.

[a-t-rain.livejournal.com]

I'm voting for "yes, but not permanently" -- i.e. Harry knows he's got other things to do first, but he'll be back. That's assuming Ginny doesn't track him down and demand to join him :)

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you!

[ilirien.livejournal.com]

Agreed - there's no way Ginny is going to let Harry get away with this. Noble and stupid, indeed!

[snorkackcatcher]

Regulus Black? So totally on the side of the angels. (And yes, I do think I've guessed R.A.B.'s identity correctly.)

::facepalm:: I really must be sleep deprived, because I couldn't think who the hell RAB might be. But you're right, of course, that makes perfect sense.

[maple-clef.livejournal.com]

Yep, I'm sure R.A.B. is Reg, too. What else was he up to before Voldie caught up with him? And that Patronus! I was stunned, and yes - I did remember your Snape's reaction and think - sure not!

All very interesting :)

[ani-bester.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad I read your fics. I used to be totally against Remus and Tonk and L* I think if your fics had not warned me to the idea, R/T woulda freaked me out.

I also though Tonk was a DE in disquise though . ..
Watch her really be one the seventh book ^^

[yma2.livejournal.com]

Well, the Horcux does seem to be in the Black household so it does suggest Regulus was the RAB. You were SO right about the Remus/Tonks thing. In fact, as I read it, I thought 'wow, I think I can hear AtR squeeing from here!) especially Tonks reactions. Shame about my R/S ship, but it's not entirely blown out of the water. So if you'll excuse my indulgence... And anyway, Remus/Tonks is a good ship. I like Remus/Tonks.

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

except possibly the implication that he had a bit of a crush on Narcissa
Much as Spinner’s End had me jumping for joy, I don’t think Snape ever had a crush on Narcissa. Rather I see Narcissa as a Black, and thereby possessed of a pathological turn for histrionics, who has read the magical equivalent of Georgette Heyer. Clutching at Snape’s ropes and weeping on his manly bosom is what a desperate grieving mother is supposed to do. I believe she’s genuinely desperate and grieving (that standing there looking “drowned” is ominous), but tearing that beautiful hair and so on is mere prelude to the main business – will Snape help? I wonder whether Bellatrix had not been there the conversation might have been a bit more frank, and not in fact have included the Unbreakable Vow.

And you're right, of course, there's not way an Up Yours to the Dark Lord on that scale isn't the work of a Black (though I wish it were little Amy Benson, nonetheless).

[a-t-rain.livejournal.com]

You may be right, but he's going to be carrying a torch for Narcissa in my world unless JKR says otherwise, as the idea fits rather well with the current WIP.

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

Ah, well that's perfectly reasonable! Look forward to reading it.