Syk3

It seemed like you enjoyed it, Dagger, and I'm glad to hear it. :) [QUOTE=Dagger][spoiler]One thing that particularly bothered me was Voldemort's noticeable absence, flashbacks aside. Don't get me wrong--I thought the parts about his childhood were by far some of the best segments in the book. However, this is the only installment of the HP series, as far as I remember, in which the man himself has not made an appearance. To me, that made the conflict between Death Eaters and Muggles & regular wizards seem less immediate and less real/urgent than it would have been if she at least gave us a glimpse of Voldemort orchestrating things from behind the scenes. It's far more compelling to see him interacting with other characters than to simply have people talk about him a lot, even though much was revealed about his background, and the concept of Horcruxes kicks ass in so many ways.[/spoiler][/quote][spoiler]Well, off the top of my head, he wasn't in Prisoner of Azkaban, was he? I really didn't mind his absense, myself, especially because of all of the scenes we saw from his background. The thing we have to keep in mind, though, is that it's clear that we'll be seeing quite a bit of him in the next book, so perhaps Rowling was trying to balance it out a bit. Get some background on him in this book.. and then go ahead with the final duel and whatever else in the next one.[/spoiler] [quote][spoiler]As for the romance--Lupin/Tonks felt [i]extremely[/i] contrived to me. I'm not objecting to this as a slash fangirl, haha--and it doesn't matter anyway, since Sirius has kicked the bucket--but I felt that both Lupin and Tonks were somewhat minimized as characters by being thrown together with virtually no real visible development of the relationship. I know many fans feel differently, but I would have appreciated an all or nothing approach to the whole romance thing--either spend a lot of time making the relationship believable and sympathetic, or leave it to the fanfic writers.[/spoiler][/quote][spoiler]I'm not sure if I really need to reply to this since I imagine that you'll be reading the other posts a little more in depth later on, but.. Rowling has mentioned that we'll be getting a lot more focus on Lupin in the next book, and I imagine in doing so, the relationship will be more fleshed out than the glimces we saw here. So in a sense, she's planting another one of her necessary seeds. I should also take the time to say that while many of you seemed to really enjoy the Fluer part at the end, I'm not really sure it sat well with me. I mean, she was saying all that, but when she said "I'm good-looking enough for the both of us," I thought that was pretty rediculous. :p But I'm a guy, so.. maybe I don't see it.[/spoiler] [quote][spoiler]I disliked both of them and felt that both were rather unnecessary--even though Sluggie did have a clear purpose in the story. I wouldn't have minded as much if one or both had at least been mentioned in passing or had cameos in previous books. In fairness, I loved the opening chapter with the Prime Minister--I thought it made for a nice change of pace and set things up well for how the war would impact the Muggle world. However, I was disappointed that she never really followed up on it.[/spoiler][/quote][spoiler]As you say, Slughorn did have a purpose in the story, and Scrimgeour was there for, if nothing else, to show that the Ministry was taking further precaution, but still had that irk of getting a guy with faulty aims. And as I mentioned before.. who knows what appearances will become important in the final book. I too liked the first chapter, which introduced the new minister, but I don't think Rowling wanted to put too much emphasis on the muggle world; the wizards had enough to deal with on their own. Was Scrimgeour mentioned before, though? You'd think she might have mentioned his name in a scene with aurors in a previous book.[/spoiler] [quote][spoiler]HBP has made me go from "I want to be a Malfoy fangirl, but I can't in good conscience support the canon version of the character" to "OMG DRACO 4-EVA!!!111!!!" With Sirius permanently gone and Lupin relegated to a pathetically tiny and almost insulting supporting role, Malfoy is by far my new favorite character in the series. I also love Narcissa.[/spoiler][/quote]This reminds me of something that I read from an interview with Rowling about Malfoy's character, haha, not to be saying anything about your reasoning. But anyway, she was saying how dissapointed she was about how many girls liked/loved Malfoy, because she was trying so hard to make him an evil character that people will hate. She went on to explain how sad it was that girls tended to do this, in spending their whole lives thinking that they could change a guy into who they wanted them to be. XD But again, not saying anything about you.

It's really hard for me to say how arcades are doing on a usual basis because, unfortunately for me, there aren't any arcades anywhere near where I live. You might say that this is a product of deminishing popularity, but really, my town sucks *** about choosing good stores/shops/etc. to set up. Just recently we got a GameStop about 10 minutes away, and that's likely the first video game shop to pop up within [i]45 minutes[/i] of where I live. Having said that, on the rare occasion that I do go to an arcade, I get all giddy and excited over one simple game: DDR. If the arcade doesn't have a DDR machine, a tend to just brush off the arcade and leave, but that's coming from a DDR freak, haha. The thing about a lot of games in the arcade is that they are available on home consoles with no quarter slots or limited lives, and if you don't go to arcades often anyway, you don't have to worry about losing your money because you might suck at a game and are just warming up to it. What the machines have to do, therefore, is present a very unique and rewarding experience that you simply can't get at home, and DDR does that better than any other game I know, mainly because it's first and foremost an arcade game. Of course, it helps to own the home version as well, because otherwise you're spending all that money to improve your skill when you could do it at home and have something to give back to the crowd if you end up getting one. :p Anyway.. to get back to the initial question, I'm probably not the best person to ask. I never got really into arcades when I was younger, don't go to arcades that often, and even now go mainly for DDR. But I will say that a unique experience is what they will have to keep in mind when competing with a game you can play infinitely without quarters and unlimited lives, and some just don't seem to cut it.

[QUOTE=Syk3]I have both [b]Family Guy[/b] bosxets, and I love them to death. lol Family Guy being my favorite show, I just had to buy the DVDs, which has in turn given back to me in laughter. Ah, how I love thee. I also have season one of [b]Malcom on the Middle[/b], which I used to watch quite a bit during the first few seasons, but I haven't watched anything on Fox in a while. Still a great show, though. If I see [b]The Critic[/b] anytime soon, I'll hopefully get it, because watching only a couple episodes has shown me how potentially funny it can be.[/QUOTE]This was my post the last time a similar thread came up, and rather than just say it all again, I'll add to it a bit.. I don't have any more TV box sets, but there are some that have caught my eye lately. In addition to [b]The Critic[/b], I would love to get the complete series of [b]Dilbert[/b] (a whoping one season.. so sad), and I did want to get [b]The Sopranos [/b]after becoming hooked when watching the first few episodes at my parents' friend's house, but each season is freaking $75 minimum! Plus I realized that there are five seasons out right now and still going strong, so I don't expect to get these any time soon, and if so.. I'll get them all very slowly, lol. I also realized that I forgot to mention any anime series that I own. But.. erm, seeing as there are so many, I'll leave you with a list lacking proper descriptions of each. Maybe if I get around to it, haha.. right. -[b]Angel Links[/b] -[b]Berserk[/b] -[b]Cowboy Bebop[/b] -[b]Fooly Cooly[/b] (OVA series) -[b]Hellsing[/b] -[b]Love Hina[/b] -[b]Neon Genesis Evangelion[/b] -[b]Noir[/b] -[b]Nurse Witch Komugi[/b] (OVA series) -[b]Outlaw Star[/b] -[b]RahXephon[/b] -[b]Rurouni Kenshin[/b] -[b]Samurai Deeper Kyo[/b] -[b]Serial Experiments Lain[/b] -[b]Trigun[/b] -[b]X[/b] I'm in the process of collecting [b]Samurai Champloo[/b] DVDs, and that shouldn't be completed until early next year according to the supposed dates. I also plan to buy [b]Paranoia Agent[/b] eventually.

I can see that there's already quite a big debate on this movie, and from skimming it, it seems to be dealing with the substance of an opinion based on past experience. I'll tell you right now that this post is coming from someone who read the book quite a few years ago, and loves the original movie. Having said that.. I'd rather not get into the debate, and just want to offer how I thought about it. ^_^ I can't say that I really loved the movie on the whole. I thought it was good; particularly the actors, and as such the acting, was something I enjoyed immensely.. except for Depp. It's just that I thought his performance was pretty strange, and by preference, didn't like it much. He had his moments, but for the most part, it seemed to me to be pretty lame, and at points I almost recognized similar lines from the original movie that seemed to me to be executed rather.. I dunno, mockingly. :/ The [spoiler]background for Wonka's father[/spoiler] seemed to me to not only be unnecessary, but pretty ridiculous and kind of stupid. It certainly didn't add anything to the story, and what it added to his character felt forced. The Oompa Loompas were another thing that I wasn't really feeling. I didn't like the fact that it was the same guy multiplied as many times as needed, and though that gave it more order, this and other computer affects made it feel less real to me. But I suppose that I say the same thing about a lot of movies these days, so oh well. The songs.. meh. I felt meh about the songs, and while I did like the technology tinge to them, overall they weren't my favorite. In general, I liked the Oompa Loompas and their appearances in the original better than I liked them here. Oh yeah, I feel it's appropriate to mention here that my mom actually dated one of the original Oompa Loompas. o.o; She told my brother and I on our way to see it the Friday it came out. So yeah, my fondest moments of the movie are from the beginning until right when they enter the factory. XD Needless to say, I didn't care for a lot of the chocolate factory scenes, due in part to Wonka and the Oompa Loompas. If they had combined the beginning of this with the middle and end of the original, I believe it would be perfect, haha. I know a lot of you are about ready to kill me now, so I'll just end with the fact that I thought the movie was worth seeing, but it didn't meet the expectations that I held and I just didn't care for some of it, which I've noted above. I'd give it a 6.9 on a scale of 10, compared to an 8 I may give the original, but those are just quick estimates.

[quote name='Morpheus][spoiler']But he knew Harry was the one that was supposed to destroy him. He wanted to kill Harry, but he knew that the prophecy said otherwise.[/spoiler][/quote][spoiler]In the book, it almost said word for word that Voldemort believed that he was fulfilling the prophecy by killing Harry because it said that one had to kill the other, lol. He would make the last horcrux after doing this because it was a memorable death. He had complete and utter confidence in what he set out to do, and if he had forseen it, he [i]wouldn't[/i] have gone. But if he [i]did[/i] forsee it, and [i]did[/i] go, there would be absolutely no point to make a temperary horcrux because he would have already had plenty. It's not like you need 7 to make the spell work; Voldemort was ambitious and saw 7 as a powerful number.[/spoiler] One of the things about making predictions is that you have to have substantial evidence to back up your claim.

I know Retribution will be glad to see this thread, lol, because it's taken me a long time to finally get the chance to get my artwork up here. I've been meaning to do it, don't get me wrong, but whenever I thought about putting it up, I was just too busy to do so. But here it is, and I hope you're all happy. :p Pretty much all of my artwork is already up on deviantArt, and seeing as they each have a description at the bottom as well, I think that'll be enormously easier for me to just give you links. I don't intend for this to be shameless plug for my site and expect to get comments there as well, but I'm lazy so you'll have to deal with it. XD I think it's pretty self-explanatory, but here is the set-up for the pictures: [b]Title[/b]: The name I gave the artwork [b]Theme[/b]: Message of picture [assigned by teacher] [b]Medium(s)[/b]: What I used to draw the piece [b]Dimensions[/b]: Height by width [b]Grade[/b]: When I drew it Now, I recently sent in these pictures in for AP Drawing evaluation, so I'm going to post 'em up in the order that I did for them, but not all at once to avoid overwhelming you. The first set (II) is concentration on a particular theme (silence), and the second set (III) is breadth over a wide range of various mediums. Other than that, there no real particular order.. like date or which I like best. Incidentally, I ended up getting a 3 (out of 5) on the entire collection, so I'm a little bummed out about that, making me even more hesitant about showing them to the OB community. I don't really think that I'll be doing much art in college, even though everyone who has seen them in person can't stop raving over them (it gets a little annoying after a while, to tell you the truth), the reason being that I like to take my time with projects: something that won't suit me well at the college level, I imagine. But I want to see some good, harsh critique on these; maybe not in the sense that I'll be going back and altering them, but that I'll keep them in mind when doing projects in the future. Don't feel intimidated, though.. I want to hear what you have to say. ^_^ Alright, enough chit chat, let's get this thing going. [url="http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/17545329/"]II-1[/url] [b]Title[/b]: Time is Slow [b]Theme[/b]: Silence [Simplistic Rotation] [b]Medium(s)[/b]: Acrylic [b]Dimensions[/b]: 18 1/8" by 17 5/8" [b]Grade[/b]: 12 [url="http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/14397819/"]II-2[/url] [b]Title[/b]: Quiet Boy [b]Theme[/b]: Silence [b]Medium(s)[/b]: Pencil [b]Dimensions[/b]: 9 1/2" by 13 7/8" [b]Grade[/b]: 11 [url="http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/17553587/"]II-3[/url] [b]Title[/b]: Control Anger [b]Theme[/b]: Silence [Anger] [b]Medium(s)[/b]: Pastel [b]Dimensions[/b]: 10" by 8" [b]Grade[/b]: 12 [url="http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/21053568/"]II-4[/url] [b]Title[/b]: Do You Know Me? [b]Theme[/b]: Silence [b]Medium(s)[/b]: Charcole [b]Dimensions[/b]: 18" by 14" [b]Grade[/b]: 12

Hmm, the pictures don't seem to be working for me, so you might want to re-check those links.

[QUOTE=ILStory][size=1][color=sienna]Awesome picture of [b]Spike[/b] from [b]Cowboy Bebop[/b] [size=2][i]right[/i][/size].[/color][/size] [b][color=sienna][size=1]Keep Up The Great Work.[/size][/color][/b][/QUOTE]Welcome to OB, IlStory! If you look around the Art forum, you may notice that we value high quality in our posts on these boards. In this case, that means to provide as much feedback as possible to benifit the artist in improving this and other pieces of artwork. Please read the sticky on constructive criticism, which explains such things as expanding on what you like, dislike, and think can be improved. You may also want to take a look at the general rules on the side bar. Thanks. :)

[quote name='Morpheus][spoiler']Maybe the boy was to be born of a griffindor.[/spoiler][/quote][spoiler]No. He was to be born of people who have thrice defied Voldemort. Even if he was of Gryffindor descent, Voldemort had no idea because he was going on the prophecy (which didn't mention it at all). Besides, I've already given evidence from a quote with Rowling that says Harry is not related to Gryffindor. So.. yeah.[/spoiler] [quote][spoiler]I'd say either James or Lily are #6. With Harry alive, he had to act fast as his power drained.[/spoiler][/QUOTE][spoiler]#6? [i]Horcrux?[/i] But they were dead, he killed them, he wouldn't want to do that to pieces that held part of his soul. o_o His power was never drained until he attacked Harry, which took a split second and he was "ripped from his body," and was less than a spirit, meaning he couldn't hold a wand, much less perform any sort of magic.[/spoiler]

[QUOTE=Morpheus]Here are some of my predictions: -The last line will be something to the tune of "it's gone" "what?" "my scar." -[spoiler]James and Harry are descendents of Griffindor. Voldemort dididn't want to kill Lilly because she was not in the bloodline. He wanted to eliminate it. He only killed her after she defended Harry. -I think(this is kind of out there) that it is possible that Hagrid gave Harry the scar as a sort of alert system. Whenever Dumbledore senses Voldemort is near, he makes Harry's scar hurt. Just a thought.[/spoiler][/QUOTE][spoiler]Heh, well.. I think you're going back a little further into the Harry Potter story, and overlooking information that we already know to be true. In the first few books, I might have agreed with you about the Gryffindor bloodline, because we didn't know why Voldemort was after Harry. But, if you recall, there was a prophecy made by Trelawny that said that there would be a boy born who would have the power to destroy him, and obviously Voldemort saw this as a threat. So that's why he went to kill him -- to stop the prophecy, not because of his bloodline or anything like that. Besides, how cliche would that have been? lol I believe that he killed James as well because he saw him as a threat, since James was a full-grown wizard who would do anything in his power to stop him. As for Hagrid giving Harry his scar, or rather, his scar occuring because of anything other than Voldemort's attack, I find that to be absolutely rediculous. How would Dumbledore create this alert system? Why wouldn't he have told Harry this before? How does Dumbledore know when Voldemort is feeling particularly strong or close? There's really nothing in the books to suggest this as far as I'm concerned.[/spoiler]

[quote name='Lunox][color=darkslateblue][spoiler] I was just wondering, that is Snape and Dumbledore are skilled in occlumency, could they have been secretly talking to each other during the long stare before Snape killed Dumbledore? I'm shooting in the dark here, because I haven't re-read OotP in a very long while, and I don't really know if they can mind-talk to each other.[/spoiler'][color=black][/quote][/color][/color] [color=darkslateblue][color=#000000][spoiler]Well, I'm not sure how long a stare it really was. It seemed to me that Snape just sort of went up to him with a strong hatred in his face, and Dumbledore was saying "Severus, please.." and then Snape killed him. So while I don't think they had a conversation in their heads, I do think it's entirely possible for Dumbledore to have repeatedly said to kill him. I'm guessing that they would have discussed this scenario earlier, and that along with the quick occlumency between them told Snape what he had to do. And considering how Snape has said that you have to be completely ready to use an unforgivable curse, that would explain why he had to have such a look of revulsion, so put himself in the mindset. Of course, this is all speculation.[/color][/color] [color=darkslateblue][color=#000000][/color][/color] [color=darkslateblue][color=#000000]And I have another theory that goes something like.. you know how Dumbledore always discredits Voldemore for not understanding the full picture, putting so much emphasis on death instead of love? Well, maybe that's how Snape convinced both that he's on their side, except that to explain it through love is much more full-proof, for lack of a better word. Voldemort would have been pleased if he had simply given an explanation, a good explanation, for each suspicion, but Dumbledore would have needed much more to trust him and take his trust for granted.[/spoiler][/color] [quote][spoiler]And yes, a fine guess indeed. I hope it is Regulus Black. And speaking of which, I love your prediction with the locket being one of the horcruxes. :D It would fit in nicely with Regulus being R.A.B. I'm also fond of the Harry being a horcrux thing (my friend actually started bouncing up and down while she was reading the part about the horcruxes and grabbed my arm shouting 'HARRY IS A HORCRUX! OMG!'), which would explain his scar, and possibly why the color of his eyes are important.[/spoiler][/quote][color=black]Heh, well, as much as I would have liked to come up with that prediction, I'm afraid that I read that somewhere (can't remember where), but it was indeed a great idea.[/color] [quote][spoiler]I do not think Dumbledore is a heir of Godric Gryffindor, but Harry. I don't really want him to be the heir of Gryffindor, but if I had to choose one character, I'd choose Harry. *would die of happiness if Neville was heir, even though it will probably never happen*[/spoiler][/quote][color=black]I guess I should show you the sorce of that prediction, which, unlike the other one, I did come up with.[/color] [color=#000000][quote=#]ES: Dumbledore is unrivaled in his knowledge of magic ? [/color] [color=#000000]JKR: Mmhm.[/color] [color=#000000]ES: Where did he learn it all?[/color] [color=#000000]JKR: I see him primarily as someone who would be self-taught. However, he in his time had access to superb teachers at Hogwarts, so he was educated in the same way that everyone else is educated. Dumbledore's family would be a profitable line of inquiry, more profitable than sweet wrappers.[/color] [color=#000000]MA: His family? [/color] [color=#000000]JKR: Family, yes.[/color] [color=#000000]MA: Should we talk about that a little more?[/color] [color=#000000]JKR: No. But you can! [Laughter.][/color] [color=#000000]MA: What about Harry's family ? his grandparents ? were they killed?[/color] [color=#000000]JKR: No. This takes us into more mundane territory. As a writer, it was more interesting, plot-wise, if Harry was completely alone. So I rather ruthlessly disposed of his entire family apart from Aunt Petunia. I mean, James and Lily are massively important to the plot, of course, but the grandparents? No. And, because I do like my backstory: Petunia and Lily's parents, normal Muggle death. James's parents were elderly, were getting on a little when he was born, which explains the only child, very pampered, had-him-late-in-life-so-he's-an-extra-treasure, as often happens, I think. They were old in wizarding terms, and they died. They succumbed to a wizarding illness. That's as far as it goes. There's nothing serious or sinister about those deaths. I just needed them out of the way so I killed them.[/color] [color=#000000]MA: That sort of shuts down Heir of Gryffindor [theories], as well.[/color] [color=#000000]JKR: [Pause.] Yeah. Well - yeah. [/color] [color=#000000]MA: Another one bites the dust.[/quote][/color] [quote][spoiler]And I think Snape had hatred for Gryffindors deep enough that he would never go out with Lily Evans, even if she offered. But it might explain James' serious hating of Snape and why he was such a jerk to him. James' saving of Snape's life really was just him being himself, it's extremely possible James really hated Snape.[/spoiler][/quote][color=black][spoiler]That's true that there's a lot against that couple, yeah.. I mean, not only does Snape hate Gryffindors, but he hates muggle-borns as well. According to Rowling, though, he has been loved by someone, and Lily has had other interests, so I was trying to put two and two together. Ah well.[/spoiler][/color] [color=black][quote name='R.J. Anderson, aka synaesthete7][spoiler']In which it is proposed that the basin full of potion that Harry and Dumbledore found in the cave was itself a horcrux, and that the locket lying in the bottom of said basin was merely a red herring, planted there by Dumbledore to prevent Harry realizing what was really going on. It is further proposed that Dumbledore had been aware of this horcrux and its nature for years, and had long ago come to the conclusion that in order to destroy it he would have to drink it, necessitating that someone kill him in order to complete the destruction of said horcrux. It is finally proposed that Dumbledore was keeping Snape in reserve for this very task of killing him, and that in Book Seven Snape will be proven to have been acting solely on Dumbledore's orders with a view to Voldemort's ultimate defeat, and is therefore not guilty of murder or betrayal (in this case, anyway).[/spoiler][/quote][/color] [color=#000000]Hmm.. that is an interesting theory, but there are a few holes, I think. [spoiler]First of all, Voldemort is very careful with his horcruxes; he wouldn't want them to fall into the wrong hands, much less be put in a position where it's more likely that it would be destroyed. And if he, Dumbledore, really did know about this for a long period of time, it wouldn't have taken as long to get to it, and he wouldn't have put Harry into such danger. But.. I suppose it would explain why Dumbledore would want to be killed. But how would he have gotten the locket under the substance, and why sign it R.A.B. to throw Harry off? Or.. eh, to put him in the direction of other horcruxes? I dunno, I'm just not that fond of it.[/spoiler][/color] [color=black][quote name='Ozymandius Jones][color=darkorange][spoiler]"Why did Dumbledore have to [i]drink[/i] it when he could've dumped it into the water?".[/spoiler'][/color][/quote][/color][color=#000000][spoiler]That would have been the magic of the substance, I think. If you tried to pour it out anywhere else except into your mouth, it wouldn't have poured out. *shrug*[/spoiler][/color] [/color]

I'm not really too sure if a thread like this will bring you ideas for your artwork.. Like sakurasuka was saying, you know your style and what you like to do much better than we could ever guess. Knowing that, I'd recommend doing some searches on Google, or something, if you're looking for inspiration in the category that you'd like. But I don't really see this topic going anyway. Good luck. ^_^

[quote name='Hobo Bob']its pretty good[/quote]Welcome to the forums, Hobo. In Art Studio, we value high-quality responses to art pieces that will help the artist improve, and I'm afraid that something like this won't cut it. As such, I'd like to direct you to [b][url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=32738]this thread[/b][/url] where it explains what is expected of you in terms of constructive criticism. Thanks.

[quote name='Umbra II][spoiler']Someone above said that snape could continue to be a double agent. Let me ask you something: If any one but Dumbledore knew about Snape being on their side, Voldemort would find out without a problem. Who is he going to report to, then? He has no excuse to go to Hogwarts anymore, being with Voldemort all the time. The only thing I can think of is that Snape is going to help Harry. Which brings me onto my next problem. without the 7th year of training, Harry doesn't stand a chance. I hope someone will convince him to go back to school, or at least bring the next level of books with him. But right now Harry doesn't stand a chance.[/spoiler][/quote][spoiler]Exactly, exactly. When we say he would be a double agent, we don't mean that he'll still be going to the Order and bringing information; no one would trust him and Volemort will have already known that he has shown his true colors to them. But by working for and by Voldemort, and maybe even dropping hints to Harry without Harry knowing it's him (and you know.. that's already sounding like it would have been a much better context for the Half-Blood Prince, but there ya go), he'll be able to ensure that Harry reaches his goal. And then maybe we'll find out that the reason Dumbledore trusted him was something that would suggest his loyalty to Harry or to killing Voldemort. Subtle clues that show him to actually be a good guy were things like his hand twitching when making the vow, and at Slughorn's party when he looked almost scared when seeing Malfoy. I have no doubt that Harry will continue to train, though I believe he has all the information he needs to take on Voldemort. He just has to perfect his technique, with things like Occlumency, Legilimency, and nonverbal spells. As for the relationships, I've already provided my views and shown you quotes from Rowling on such in my previous post.[/spoiler]

[quote name='DDG][font=Tahoma][color=#666666]One other thing that I kind of thought about...[spoiler]you know on the binding of the books how they put "Year 5" or "Year 4"? Well, if Harry isn't going to be attending his final year at Hogwartz, can they really put "Year 7" on the binding? I mean, he's not actually going to be attending school so...its not really his seventh year at Hogwartz.[/spoiler] *shrugs*[/color'][/font][/quote][spoiler]Well, yeah, but you could also say that the years aren't necessarily those of Hogwarts. Either way, it'll be the seventh year in the Harry Potter series, because each book is over the course of a single year. I know, it's all obvious stuff when looking at another direction.. but I thought I'd mention it. Who knows, maybe Harry will go back to school, at least for a little while.[/spoiler] I've actually been doing a little reading lately over the internet about the series on sites like MuggleNet and Lexicon, especially interviews with Rowling where she hints toward future events in the last installment. Aparently the two people who started the sites MuggleNet and The Leaky Cauldron were allowed to meet and interview J.K., which I will be referring to in this post and you can find [url="http://www.mugglenet.com/jkrinterview.shtml"]here[/url], not only providing a few predictions, but answering some interesting background information at the same time. Throughout the interview, it's important to note that Rowling referred to the entire series as simply one book. Here is what she had to say about including relationships in the novels, which I'm sure some of you are wondering about. [quote=J.K. Rowling]There's a theory - this applies to detective novels, and then Harry, which is not really a detective novel, but it feels like one sometimes ? that you should not have romantic intrigue in a detective book. Dorothy L. Sayers, who is queen of the genre said ? and then broke her own rule, but said ? that there is no place for romance in a detective story except that it can be useful to camouflage other people?s motives. That's true; it is a very useful trick. I've used that on [spoiler]Percy and I?ve used that to a degree on Tonks in this book, as a red herring.[/spoiler] But having said that, I disagree inasmuch as mine are very character-driven books, and it?s so important, therefore, that we see these characters fall in love, which is a necessary part of life. [spoiler]I really enjoyed writing the Ron/Lavender business, and the reason that was enjoyable was Ron up to this point has been quite immature compared to the other two and he kind of needed to make himself worthy of Hermione. Now, that didn't mean necessarily physical experience but he had to grow up emotionally and now he's taken a big step up. Because he's had the meaningless physical experience - let?s face it, his emotions were never deeply engaged with Lavender and he's realized that that is ultimately not what he wants, which takes him a huge emotional step forward.[/spoiler][/quote]Okay, I should say now that I am going to be using particular symbols by related information, in order to avoid continually noting that I find these to be connected in certain ways. Like what I have done below; for more information on Snape and my own predictions, look for the other dollar signs. Oh, and ES and MA are the ones who run the two sites. [quote=$][spoiler]ES: Was Dumbledore planning to die? JKR: [Pause.] Do you think that's going to be the big theory? MA & ES: Yes. It?ll be a big theory. JKR: [Pause.] Well, I don't want to shoot that one down. [A little laughter.] I have to give people hope. MA: It goes back to the question of whether Snape is a double-double-double-triple- JKR: [Laughs] Double-double-quadruple-to-the-power-of - yeah. MA: ?whether this had been planned, and since Dumbledore had this knowledge of Draco the whole year, had they had a discussion that said, "Should this happen, you have to act as if it is entirely your intention to just walk forward and kill me, because if you don't, Draco will die, the Unbreakable Vow, you'll die," and so on ? JKR: No, I see that, and yeah, I follow your line there. I can't ? I mean, obviously, there are lines of speculation I don't want to shut down. Generally speaking, I shut down those lines of speculation that are plain unprofitable. Even with the shippers. God bless them, but they had a lot of fun with it. It's when people get really off the wall ? it's when people devote hours of their time to proving that Snape is a vampire that I feel it's time to step in, because there's really nothing in the canon that supports that[/spoiler][/quote]Now I want to turn the attention toward things that we now know about what will be in book 7, and predictions that I believe have evidence to suggest such. What do we know? [spoiler]- By the end of the series we?ll ?have all the back story you'll need,? so any questions raised in the previous books will be answered (feel free to name as many of those as possible) - We will find out exactly why Rowling killed off Sirius (though how she?ll present this in context, I have no idea)[/spoiler] $ [spoiler]We will find out the specific reason why Dumbledore trusted Snape - Wormtail AKA Peter Pettigrew has a life debt to Harry - More about the hostility between Snape and Sirius will be explained - We'll find out what Snape's worst fear is, and it'll be important - We will find out exactly what Dudley saw when he was attacked by the dementors[/spoiler] @ [spoiler]We'll learn more about Harry's scar - We will learn more about Harry's relatives, including his grandparents (though Rowling says they aren't really important to the story) - We will find out what happened to Sirius's motorbike - It's very important in the plot that Harry has his mother's eyes ([/spoiler]@ [spoiler]or possibly simply that his eyes are green), and that Lily?s wand was very good for charms - The choice between what's right and what's easy will be a pillar of the plot - Harry's parents' profession will be a big part of the plot[/spoiler] * [spoiler]Something HUGE will be revealed about Lily Potter[/spoiler] * [spoiler]Voldemort was willing to, and had a reason to, let Lily live - No more major characters will be introduced[/spoiler] % [spoiler]There?s more to Petunia overhearing about dementors - Fawkes will have a big role (note that he also has connections to Dumbledore) - There will be no more Quidditch matches - A member of the order will be more properly introduced - Umbridge is further tortured in book 7 (thank God) - Dumbledore?s inner most desires and fears are important[/spoiler] # [spoiler]"You will know more about Dumbledore" - Grindelwald, the dark wizard noted to have been defeated by Dumbledore in 1945 on the chocolate frog card, may come into play - There is more to the locked room at the department of Mysteries[/spoiler] # [spoiler]Dumbledore's family is important[/spoiler] * [spoiler]Lily ?was a popular girl,? and had other romantic interests[/spoiler] * [spoiler]Snape has been loved by someone in the past -Voldemort may find out the full prophecy[/spoiler] & [spoiler]The "gleam of triumph" Dumbledore supposedly showed when Harry told him how Voldemort used his blood will be explained - There may have been others present the night Harry's parents were killed - We find out why some people turn into ghosts and some don?t (assuming that wasn?t the information in book 5) - Lupin will have an important role - The very last word in the last chapter is ?scar?[/spoiler] Predictions $ [spoiler]Snape is actually a good guy, if Rowling is presenting information that contradicts what his actions showed in HBP, having someone on the other side to ensure that Harry reached his goal[/spoiler] # [spoiler]Dumbledore is related to Godric Gryffindor, handed down his sword through generations[/spoiler] # [spoiler]If not, then maybe we find out more about Aberforth, Dumbledore's brother[/spoiler] @ [spoiler]Harry is a horcrux himself, explaining his connection to Voldemort through his scar[/spoiler] ^ [spoiler]R.A.B. is Regulus Black[/spoiler] ^ [spoiler]The heavy locket they found and couldn?t open in Black's house was a horcrux[/spoiler] @ [spoiler]Harry will die in order to kill Voldemort[/spoiler] % [spoiler]Lily was sent to Azkaban at one point[/spoiler] * [spoiler]Lily dated Snape before James, maybe because she felt sorry for him[/spoiler] & [spoiler]This will turn out to play a role in causing Voldemort?s downfall[/spoiler] ^ When told that they suspected R.A.B. to be Regulus Black, Rowling had this to say: [quote name='J.K. Rowling']Well, I think that would be, um, a fine guess.[/quote]

Alright, a few things.. First of all, cunimimi, I'd like to welcome you to OtakuBoards. Your first stop here should be the [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/rules.php?]rules[/url] (

First off, I know how important it is for you to jump into topics argue about something, Alex, but I'll just let you be. I understand it really has nothing to do with Harry Potter, so it's best not to fuel it further. :/ [quote name='Lore][spoiler']It kinda irked me that Harry was right about his obsessive Draco thing. I mean, okay, the Draco bit was brilliant, but the actual "entire book of Harry telling people things and no one believing him" has been done. *crooked smile* [/spoiler][/quote][spoiler]It's true that it's been done before, but.. I thought it was kind of showing Harry's character when he would jump to Draco or Snape being the ones behind it all because of how often they are on his case. This time, he actually had some information to go on, and in these times of uncertainty, refused to let them go. And really, how often is it that he actually gets it right? haha[/spoiler] [QUOTE][color=#6699cc][spoiler]I'm still waiting for a better reason why Dumbledore trusted Snape. I always thought he had some sort of unbelievable reason for it, and I find it hard to swallow that it was because Snape "repented" for telling Voldemort about the prophecy. Surely even someone as inclined as Dumbledore to believe the best in people would have a more solid reason than easily-faked remorse?[/spoiler][/quote][/color] [color=#6699cc][color=black][spoiler]Yeah, I remember Rowling dropping a hint that we will find out exactly why Dumbledore trusts (or trusted) Snape. I don't think that she would simply throw out the answer that he's a trusting man and all that, but rather delve into a [i]specific[/i] instance.[/spoiler][/color] [/color][QUOTE=Japan][color=navy]I've been thinking about the whole Dumbledore/Snape thing. [spoiler]Maybe Dumbledore trusting in Snape was suppose to be a defect and show that Dumbledore is still human and not some kind of god. He himself did say that he made mistakes from time to time. His trusting in Snape maybe showed that.[/spoiler] Just a thought.[/color][/QUOTE]Yeah, I was thinking about that, too. Or maybe we're just led to [i]think[/i] that might be the case. I can't believe we'll have to wait another two or three years to find all this out. >.o

I'm sorry I didn't catch this sooner, but we actually have a seperate Manga section where you can have all of your questions answered by people who should know what they're talking about. :p At least, you're more likely to find an answer than in Art.

[quote name='Shinmaru']And I find it a bit insulting that valid complaints are reduced down to me being unhappy about what happened to my favorite characters. If you disagree with me, then discuss it. That's why we're here. There's no need to make sweeping generalizations. I have no problem with you enjoying the book - hell, for $30 you should be enjoying it! I just didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would.[/quote]If you were referring to me, I was doing my best to discuss my disagreements with your points about the book. What I noticed when I read your post, though, was that it seemed to me to be largely negative, talking more about what you disliked than felt was enjoyable, so I hope you'll forgive me for interpreting that as meaning that you didn't really like the book. :/ I was never saying that you had to like the entire book unconditionally (even I had a few issues myself), but a few people seemed to have looked at particular points with.. well, a negative flair, lol. [QUOTE=Siren]...you're describing a love story that involves a werewolf, and that explores "the difficulties faced that the two finally believe they could overcome," and you don't see the Fan Fiction flavoring in that? Now, I've never laid a hand on any of the Harry Potter books for the sole reason that there are better authors out there...but I have read literature before, and I have read fan fiction before, and I can point to a wide variety of entries on Fanfiction.net that have that exact summary you gave for the love subplot. There's no fan fiction flavoring in the new novel? Unless you're not relating things well...there is a fan fiction flavoring. lol I suspect you'll disregard me because I've not read any of the Harry Potter books, but you're not going to really convince anyone by doing so. Seems to me that if you want to show that HBP in fact isn't some random HP lovefic written by HermiRonFan...you're going to have to come up with more than just "Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha...oh man."[/QUOTE]I "shrug off comments about how this new book seems like pure Fan Fiction" because had you read the book, you'd know that such claims are rather rediculous. Yes, you can point your finger to my specific example of werewolf loving all you want, because that's all you have to go on in your argument, but it was such a miniscule part of the book that it hardly seems fair to classify the entire thing as one big fan fiction. There will be romantic encounters throughout the series, and you seem quick to condemn them just because you think they might sound a little like fan fictions. I myself don't spend time reading fan fictions, but judging by your attempt to hold them in a negative light, I can tell you that despite the initial description, these sorts of things in Harry Potter work out well and realistically, lol. Summaries of subplots are hardly going to take you a long way. If you don't want to read Harry Potter, then fine, it's your loss, but honestly, please don't try to come back and support these claims without reading it first. Oooh, but I guess now I'm avoiding the question by saying that, right? :p

[color=black][size=2]Wow.. Holy crap. I just finished it, and.. I'm speechless, lol. I absolutely loved the book, I must admit. The emotion.. the character development.. the ongoing story line.. the flow.. It was enjoyable all around; the book being one of Rowling's favorites in the series is an understatement. The seeds planted in previous novels were absolutely perfect, as this book played on these ingenious devices in many creative ways. As soon as I read or listen to it through again, I'll be going back from the beginning. Of course, as you can see throughout the thread, not everyone is going to like the book, and I think that's really a shame, but ah well. All I ask is that people reading this do not take their dislike as fact, though I am surprised that there aren?t others voicing the opposition yet. [quote name='Lunox']Stunned. Frustrated. Angry. Dissappointed.[/quote]Oh boy, this will definitely be a fun read. Hope you can back it up, but I don't imagine you liked the last book, either. [quote]STUFF I HATED. Ok, this is my official bitch-time about how much Half-Blood Prince dissappointed me. It is possibly the worst or 2nd worst book in the series for me.[/quote]Let me guess, the other one was Order of the Phoenix? lol And yet you continued to read a story that was based heavily on the one you hated, such perseverance. ^_^ [quote][spoiler]Plot? What? What Plot? What is this Plot you talk about?: JK Rowling herself said that books 6 & 7 were like one book split into two. Good going, because now book 6 has the most watered down plot. Ever. If you asked me to give you the solid plot of Half-Blood Prince, it'd be a bunch of nonsense. Hey, ever notice the title? Harry Potter and the HALF-BLOOD PRINCE. The actual 'half-blood prince' played such a minor role in the plot (whatever that was) that it astounded me that JK Rowling didn't name this book 'Harry Potter and A Bunch of Stuff and a Rushed Ending'. Things didn't get into a good flow until near the end when Harry found out what horcruxes were and Dumbledore took him to get one of Tom Riddle's horcruxes.[/spoiler][/quote]Plot: [spoiler]Harry finds out about Voldemort's past in an attempt to figure out how to kill him once and for all (not to mention give us plenty of background information as readers); Voldemort and his forces have fully regained their terrorizing throne, and the magic community must take precautions to try to stop them; Malfoy has begun to work for Voldemort, and Harry, suspecting him, tries to find out what he's up to; Harry, as well as us as readers, must decide whether or not Snape is as trustworthy as Dumbledore believes; and of course, there are romances and Quidditch to worry about.[/spoiler] Hope that helped. Getting this late in the series, did you honestly suspect that the story would start anew from the beginning and come to a solid conclusion as if the book stands alone from the rest? Of course not. It seems that you are having trouble looking at the series as a continuous story, rather than individual stories all lined up in a row that somehow come together, and moving away from the controlled years at Hogwarts Harry had started it. The story isn't going to stay "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer?s/Philosopher's Stone" forever. In fact, damn it, think of this as all one book, split up into seven "parts," if you will. It's about Harry Potter fighting an evil in the form of Lord Voldemort which is the source of many of the hardships in his and other wizards' lives. [spoiler]I'll agree that the title of Half-Blood Prince left something to be desired at first glance, because honestly, the only time he appeared as such was in Harry's potions book. But once we get to the end, once we find out who he is, hasn't the story given us a huge insight into Snape? We see him around Death Eaters, promising to help Draco, and we have to wonder how reliable he is, even when Dumbledore trusts him so. We find out that he was the Death Eater who had overheard the prophecy and told Voldemort what it said. He had finally secured the Dark Arts post that he has wanted since the beginning of the book, and in leaving Potions, has ironically been helping Harry throughout the year in this subject, albeit unknowingly. And finally.. at the end, it is he who murders Dumbledore and shows his true colors. I wouldn't be surprised if Harry ends up killing him in the seventh book as something of a sub-boss before he takes on Mr. Bad-ass himself.[/spoiler] [quote][spoiler]Snape? Brilliant!, WASTED POTENTIAL!: If JK Rowling hadn't spent so much time elaborating on the entirely boring romance problems, maybe she could've elaborated on Snape's character instead of getting lazy and dumping it all into 'OOoOoOOo, Snape had the same background and blood-purity problems as Tom Riddle!'. Well, OoOooOo, JK Rowling, we're all SO impressed. And if JK Rowling is using this as some trick up her sleeve for the next book... Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Try and make it believable for readers in the first place, please.[/spoiler][/quote][spoiler]The elaboration on Snape fit, though. Even we didn't know whether or not to trust him. If she had given us every damn detail of his past and delved too much, it might not have been such a surprising outcome in the end. The romances were fine, in any case; it gave us a break from the death and destruction of Voldemort to know that other universal themes of life continued to flourish. Remember Dumbledore saying how important it was that Harry could love? Isn't that embodied in the way he felt for Ginny, as well as Ron and Hermione as friends whose well-being and happiness he cared about just as much? Whether you choose to acknowledge it or not, the theme of love is apparent and important in these novels, making these more than "entirely boring romance problems." And besides, they?re getting older and these things happen. I believe that Rowling was setting us up to suspect that Voldemort is the Half-Blood Prince, but wanted to surprise us with a different character that was still largely important to the book. And no, they don't have the exact same "blood problems." First of all, Snape is only a quarter blood wizard, not half, though since he got this from a particular parent, and wanted to keep that wizarding name, it makes sense that he called himself the Half-Blood Prince. And second of all, he does not descend from a famous person as Voldemort with his Slytherin blood had.[/spoiler] And yes, I am impressed. [quote][spoiler]REMUS/TONKS?! Romance in GENERAL.: The whole Remus/Tonks business. Disgusting. Not because I don't like the pairing (I really liked Tonks), but just the way that JK Rowling incorporated it into the book. What did it do? Nothing. Did Tonk's moping really do anything to affect the plot? No. Did ANY of this affect the plot? No. IS THERE A PLOT? Seriously, you're reading the book and every so often JK Rowling throws in some random line about Tonks moping, and then there's some random out of a cow's ass scene at the end where Tonks confesses her love for Lupin? WHAT. Jesus Christ.[/spoiler][/quote]It?s a side story, get over it. [spoiler] Before you knew what was really going on, it raised some mystery of perhaps a Black/Tonks pairing, or that something else was happening with Tonks, but all-in-all something to keep you thinking. In the end, it did touch upon love with a werewolf and the difficulties faced that the two finally believed that they could overcome, and it also helped develop both characters and keep them interesting. And you said it yourself: this is a two part with the next book, perhaps their romance will come into play later.[/spoiler] [quote][spoiler]Right, so I can understand the Ron/Hermione, which ultimately got on my nerves because it was being so overplayed. Harry and Ginny? Truthfully, I never wanted Harry to get together with anyone, but he had to, I'd pick Ginny. But JK Rowling did something and now I will never see the Harry/Ginny ship in a good light again.[/spoiler][/quote][spoiler]So really, you seem to have liked the pairing. Personally, Harry going for Ginny was something that was very unexpected for me, but was one of those tiny seeds planted in previous books that I mentioned before. It was shocking, but not altogether disappointing. As for Ron and Hermione, I think anyone could say that this was something that was slowly but surely being built up, and is, for this series, ideal. But who knows what could happen; the latter never exactly got together, in any case, and Harry and Ginny aren?t altogether finished.[/spoiler] [quote]I'm guessing FANFICTION WRITERS TOOK OVER JK ROWLING'S BRAIN.: One girl wondered if JK Rowling decided to take some rabid fangirl's version of HBP and publish it.[/quote]Ha. Ha ha. Ha.. Oh man. [quote][spoiler]LET'S FORGET ABOUT NEVILLE, LUPIN, AND OCCLUMENCY. False hopes and desires!: No, really! Since they seem so unimportant now. Didn't we read about 40 pages of Harry sitting through Occlumency lessons in OotP? And I can't believe JK Rowling promised all this shit like 'A great thing will be revealed about Lily Evans!'. What exactly was it? That she was good at potions?! OK! Gee, that was a revolution. And 'a lot more about Lupin will be revealed!'. WHAT?! All I learned was that Lupin is suffering, but JK Rowling decided to give him, what, 7 lines in the whole book?[/spoiler][/quote][spoiler]I was really hoping that Harry was going to use these teachings of occlumency to his advantage, but it seems as though he has given up in return for having a reason to hate Snape even more. And since we know whose side he?s on now, we can surmise that he probably didn?t put his best effort behind teaching it to Harry. As for Harry?s mom, Lupin, and even Occlumency, I have a feeling that these will come into play in the final installment of the series. If Harry really does not go back to Hogwarts, there will definitely be plenty of time to do so.[/spoiler] [quote][spoiler]Harry and Ginny's break-up scene: Wow. I can taste the cheese.[/spoiler][/quote]Um.. right. You?re going to say that because you?ve seen it before, right? Surely not because Rowling didn?t explain the reasoning enough for you. [quote name='Shinmaru]Yeah. [spoiler']While I was reading HBP I kept hoping that it would pick up eventually... 100 pages in... 200 pages in... 300 pages in, and so on. I was incredibly disappointed with how the Half-Blood Prince was almost inconsequential to the plot, except for the whole 'OMG HARRY TRICKED BY SNAPE!!1!!1' stuff. I frowned so badly when Snape spat out that he was the Half-Blood Prince lol. Snape was my #1 pick to be the Half-Blood Prince, but the actual revelation was just incredibly flat, I thought. There was so much build up to it, but the payoff didn't really do its job.[/spoiler][/quote][spoiler]When you said pick up, you mean the overall plot, right? In my opinion, I felt rather hooked from the beginning, but of course, knowing the characters and caring for them goes a long way. But still, it started off rather quickly and exciting.. setting the tone for what was obviously a tough time in both the wizarding and non-magical worlds, Death Eaters arguing and planning, Dumbledore taking Harry on important business, and Harry's suspicions of Malfoy which turned out to be true.. and there was always something going on to keep us satisfied. Finding out who was the Half-Blood Prince seemed to be for shock value more than anything. But actually using it for the title, as I have already discussed, worked fine with me.[/spoiler] [quote][spoiler]And then there was also what should have been a huge swerve with Snape being named Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher... but almost nothing was done with that, except the other teachers not being able to break through the spells blocking the Astronomy Tower because they haven't kept up with the Dark Arts or whatever the hell the explanation was. Even my mom, who didn't really have many bad things to say about the book after she finished it, did not like that very much at all. Blah.[/spoiler][/quote][spoiler]Well, perhaps Rowling could have explored Snape's new teaching assignment a little more in depth, but as for the spell in the Astronomy Tower, they were only speculating. A few of them believe that you had to have a Dark Mark on your arm in order to get through, which Snape did have, and would explain it just fine.[/spoiler] [quote][spoiler]Poor Neville. I like him, I wish he'd be developed a bit more, especially since he actually could have been an incredibly important figure. There has to be more to his character than 'Voldemort chose Harry over Neville'. But I guess that he'll be paired with Luna and that will be that. Whatever. I'll happily eat my words if he's developed more in the 7th book, though.[/spoiler][/quote][spoiler]I was hoping to get a little more from Neville too, to tell you the truth, but there's always hope in the 7th book. Rowling hinted that Neville would be an important side character who slowly finds out the truth of his parents' attackers and gets revenge, I think, but he doesn't have anything more to do with the prophecy. As you probably know by now, Voldemort has made Harry his equal by seeking him out based on the prophecy. If he had chosen Neville, and his mother had died to protect him, he would have those powers of Voldemort at his disposal, but also consider that a lot of what has saved Harry is based on his individual traits, whereas Neville is pretty clumsy. So just to clear that up.. he's not going to be the mysterious hero or anything like that. And on her site, Rowling has quashed any rumors of Neville/Luna romance, saying that they are completely different characters and aren't meant as anything more than friends.[/spoiler] [quote][spoiler]What did you think of Slughorn? I didn't care for him too much. He was mostly there to get a raging hard-on whenever Harry showed up. He felt much more like a plot device than a real character, honestly. A lot of my disappointment from him comes also comes from his addition to the staff putting Snape into Defense Against the Dark Arts and nothing really springing from that, either. Disappointment all around.I liked the addition of Umbridge better in the last novel. She was so much fun to hate. Slughorn didn't really inspire much in me other than annoyance.[/spoiler][/quote][spoiler]I thought Slughorn was a rather interesting character, in that he actually had particular favorites (which I had hoped would have been a way that we learned more about Lilly Potter), and knew famous wizards so well to be able to pick related students and help them out along the way. He was a very susceptible character to greed, it seemed like, though not necessarily by means of money. As for Snape being the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.. I'm sure many of us believed that he would be granted this.. "treat" eventually. And considering that Voldemort pretty much cursed the job since he was denied it all those years ago, and that Snape showed his true colors at the end, him finally getting it was fitting in a way. But like a mentioned before, I agree it could have been shown a little more.[/spoiler] [QUOTE=Queen Asuka][color=hotpink][size=1]I feel the same way as you, Roxie. I believe that [spoiler]the only reason that Snape actually killed Dumbledore is because of the Unbreakable Vow, and once he did, he knew he would have to scram. Of course, he's probably not going to be in the Order anymore, but we'll just have to see where that goes in book seven.[/spoiler] And I just wanted to say that I'm really disappointed in most of the posts that I've read here so far. It seems that everyone just wants to find something wrong with the book so that they can have something to bitch about. Even though I felt that the book did start off slow, I felt that a lot of this build-up was necessary, and when I did get to where I started putting everything together, the book was just as exciting as usual, if not more interesting than the others before it. I wish everyone would just quit complaining about this "dream book" that they imagined. Just because things didn't turn out so awesome for your favorite characters doesn't mean that the book was horribly written. I enjoyed the book thoroughly. I enjoyed watching the relationships bloom and fade, I enjoyed being so thoroughly pissed that [spoiler]I couldn't figure out what the hell Malfoy was up to[/spoiler], and I enjoyed [spoiler]the death of Dumbledore, as sad as it was, because it was so amazing all the same.[/spoiler] Quit picking the book apart and enjoy it for it is. It's a set-up for book seven, which I liked. I thought it was a nice change.[/size][/color][/QUOTE]I.. agree. Thank you for that, Asuka. [spoiler]And by the way, I really do wish it was a misunderstanding with Snape.. but I can't see any way around it. If he didn't want to break the Unbreakable Vow, then that's too bad. If it's him or Dumbledore, then it's not too hard to figure out who's more important. Surely Dumbledore wouldn't have wanted Snape to kill him to continue with the plan.... would he?[/spoiler] [/size][/color]

[QUOTE=Lix][size=1][color=slategray]Hmm... I don't know... [spoiler]If the half-blood prince isn't Voldemort, then how could it be Tom Riddle? If Tom was the half-blood prince, then Voldemort would be too. Since, obviously, they are the same person. Maybe J.K. Rowling was indicating something else from the book.[/spoiler] But, of course, we can't be sure until we read it for ourselves, now can we? I was discussing this with my older sister earlier, and she made a very good point: [spoiler]What if it's Dumbledore? Since the man is so mysterious, who would suspect? Plus, we know basically nothing about his past. It could also be a new character, or so she said, but I found that very hard to agree with. J.K. Rowling wouldn't conjure a completey new character and slap on the title "Half-Blood Prince." I definitely think it's someone we've seen from book one.[/spoiler][/color][/size][/QUOTE]Well, it's like I said; [spoiler]if it wasn't Voldemort doing the attacks in Chamber of Secrets according to Dobby, then obviously, in Rowling's mind, Tom Riddle and Voldemort are two different people in a way. Riddle was his.. well, human past, before he turned into this completely killing machine.[/spoiler] Do you see what I'm saying? [spoiler]Dumbledore is a possibility, and so, I believe, is a completely new character. Think about it. All of the titles so far deal with people or things that are introduced in each book, respectively. Sorcerer's/Philosopher's stone, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban, Goblet of Fire, Order of the Phoenix.. none were titles that take something from a previous book and slap it on this one. I'm not saying it will [i]definitely[/i] be a new person, as you can see from what I've told you before, but it's not out of the realm of possibility.[/spoiler]

[QUOTE=RX78]It definitely has a unique feel to it, i just wish you had more to show with it. But it is wellly drawn, keep it up. just show us some more please! :catgirl:[/QUOTE][QUOTE=kinshin_boy]hi ponzu, i love ur art and i am also new. i am known as kinshin_boy. i would love to see more of ur art if that is possible. if so please pm me.[/QUOTE]Both of you need to explain your likes and dislikes about ponzu's artwork in further detail, as constructive criticism is mandatory. So I ask that you look around at others' posts and read the Constructive Criticism sticky in the art forum, because otherwise your post is spam and, as far as we're concerned, worthless. :/

[size=2]Geeze, with all of this hype, those store employees would have to be pretty stupid to accidentally sell copies before the actual release date. Ah well, I?ll sleep better in my bed knowing that they have probably been fired. :) And have been put through various tortures, of course.[/size] [size=2]It will come as no surprise to those of you who know how big a fan I am that I will most definitely be there at midnight on Friday/Saturday to pick up my reserved copy, as I did with the last two from the series. The Harry Potter titles are really the only books that I have read for enjoyment since.. it must have been Goosebumps in elementary school. To prepare for the occasion, since I just got back from the beach last Saturday, I have watched the first three movies to sort of get a quick reminder in there, and I?m currently listening to the latest two books on tape. This is actually more of a re-reminder for me in anticipation for The Half-Blood Prince, because earlier this year when I found out when the book would be coming out I listened to all five books consecutively. And yes, that is how lazy I am, but it also helps because when we get a new Harry Potter book; I?m free to read while my brother listens the first time through. :p[/size] [size=2]In terms of Order of the Phoenix, I won?t deny the fact that Harry was a little angrier than usual. I believe that this helped to set a much darker tone in the book by showing it through a pessimistic view, and though it happened throughout the novel, I?m not going to go as far as to condemn the entire book for it. In fact, I feel that the Harry Potter series gets better and better overall as the story goes on, as the reader becomes more immersed in the environment, or at least as I did, lol.[/size] [size=2]It took me until about the third day to finish the fifth book after I got it at midnight. Now.. that was two years ago, and I admit that I am a pretty slow reader, but in response to your sister finishing it by morning, Dagger: :eek: I mean, how can you get your mind around the story and enjoy all the hard work put into it when you?re practically skimming it? Haha :p But as I said, I don?t consider myself a fast reader, so it?s difficult for me to comprehend, heh.[/size] [size=2]I?m also wondering who you all think is the person behind the title, Half-Blood Prince. Rowling has already confirmed that it isn?t Harry, Voldemort, and certainly not Hagrid; it?s obviously a guy, and he has wizard blood from only one parent; lastly, she has said that Chamber of Secrets was such a big clue that the book almost had this title. I did a little looking around on the internet earlier, and I found one site that brings up an excellent point for a possible candidate. [spoiler]If you recall in CoS, when Dobby was saying who would be terrorizing Hogwarts, he said it wasn?t ?he-who-must-not-be-named? but rather, we would find out later, Tom Riddle, before he had that title. If J.K. is going on the same sort of trick, then the rest would fit. Tom Riddle is both the heir of Slytherin and half blood, so maybe we?ll get more information about him and his background.[/spoiler] For a more detailed prediction, you can go [/size][url="http://www.mugglenet.com/editorials/theburrow/prash01.shtml"][size=2]here[/size][/url][size=2].[/size] [size=2]In closing, I must say that I have full faith in J.K. Rowling and her work, so I?m more interested in seeing what new events Harry is getting into than critiquing the book. It?s a much more enjoyable read that way. ^_^[/size]

[QUOTE=Vampire_Miyu285]awwww that's cute :D i can draw, just not that good :animeswea LOL[/QUOTE]I'm afraid that posts like this are unacceptable. In this forum, and in fact these entire boards, we value quality in member responses, specifically here being constructive criticism. Please read the thread on such in the main forum.

I'm sorry that I didn't get to this thread sooner. These types of topics are not allowed on OB, due to the fact that this is the purpose of the entire forum. So naturally, it would be best if you could simply answer the threads of others, since if they want one, they might as well make their own thread. ^_^ Oh, and no double posting either.