Somewhat incoherent response to HBP, posted WAY after I should be asleep, because as usual, I can't.

Er, yeah. Do I have to say SPOILERS?



Hm.

I'm not sure what to think. I don't like change, generally-- it'll take a little while to adjust to all this. It's easier now I see that the Wolfstar folks aren't giving up their ship-- while I don't think it's canon-compliant anymore, I'll still be able to read fanfics about it from people stubborner than I am.

Anyway, what I DID like, in no particular order:

Fleur/Bill. WOOT. I was really worried about that earlier on-- I liked Fleur in GoF, and I liked her more after reading Fraternisation, so I really didn't want to get shot down on that. OMG she was awesome. "Do you think Bill will not love me anymore?" indeed. And "I'm pretty enough for both of us" really cracked me up.

Getting to actually get to know Dumbledore. I really liked that he got proper page space, that we saw him at a variety of times, etc. And that scene at the end, with Malfoy-- that was just amazing, somehow, my respect for him went up even more. To quote Hagrid-- "Great man, Dumbledore, great man."

The Penseive scenes were really intriguing; I liked them as a way of telling the story. And, actually, young Riddle is WAY scarier than his adult counterpart, IMO.

The Patronus clue, which I did catch (partly thanks to After the Rain). I'm not thrilled about the ship it was for, but I thought that was a really neat little hint, and also rather sweet. I didn't realize until later that her former Patronus wasn't necessarily a form relating to the "boyfriend who didn't last" that she joined the Order with, but other than that, I managed to keep canon and fanon separated fairly well.

The little hints about the werewolves. If this does not provoke a sudden surge of Remus'-work-among-the-werewolves fics, I am going to be seriously annoyed. And the resemblances to 'Oblivious' were pretty cool-- I really need to get around to reading the rest of that.

That cave at the end. That was scary. Nice.

R.A.B. That had better be Regulus...

Horace Slughorn. Not the most admirable or impressive character in the world, but I've definitely got a soft spot for him.

No mention of PurebloodHufflepuff!Emma Dobbs... or FanaticalDeathEaterSupporter!Malcolm... or a dark-haired, even-featured, charming-yet-ruthless Graham. I now have more material for them, too-- both for potential third-year stuff, and for their little Historical Society. (and for Malcolm's mildly unhealthy interest in the Dark Arts. Horcraxes would... intrigue him. I must have him find out about them at some point).

Oh, that reminds me-- I liked our little glimpse of the magical and muggle ministries. I also liked the idea that maybe the wizards are doing something useful and essential with their magic.

I'm sure I'm missing something, but... well. I should probably be in bed anyway. Maybe I'll even managed to sleep for once.