The HBP Rebellion - SPOILERS!

[Nerweniel]

Aloha, everyone.

Because well, a lot of people were and are hell dissappointed in HBP, my darling big sister, Meredith, aka one of your Deputy Headmistresses , came up with this wonderful idea, yesterday in the board chat. I just copy the message, hope you're in!

"Okay, now that we know that fans all over the world were disappointed by HBP, my friends and I would like to invite you all to join The Order of the Disillusioned, Disgusted, and Disheartened Fans. What does that mean, you ask. It means we're starting a letter writing campaign. However, because just letters would be easy to ignore or to shrug aside and assume they came from anti-witchcraft nuts, we're going to go one better. We were going to have everyone send their books back to JKR with a letter, but decided that costs would be prohibitive. I mean, is it really worth the shipping? No. So instead, we're going to ask you to send in the dust jacket of your book with a letter stating why you were disappointed with this book.

If you're interested copy this entire post into your journal or any message boards and fan forums you may belong to, email it to your friends, print it out and tack it up in your office, and more importantly spread the message by word of mouth. Any HP fan you know anywhere on Earth, tell them what's going on and get them to participate.

Some things we suggest you remember to mention in your letter:

*how out of character EVERY SINGLE character in the book was
*how the whole book felt like JKR didn't even write it, but rather was a very long very bad fanfic
*the way she glossed over important matters like deaths and disappearances (did they even look for Ollivander???) and spent chapters on things that didn't matter
*all those ships that came out of nowhere (did she spend 2 years reading fanfic and 2 days writing the book?) I mean, Filch/Pince??? EW!
*the fact that none of the information she promised us was in there, and instead she spent chapters telling us backstory of Voldemort that we knew after GoF and didn't really need to read in detail
*the way Draco was suddenly and inexplicably more clever and tallented than ever before, that he was the one who figured out how to get Death Eaters into Hogwarts and put two people under Imperius(WTF?)
*that 4 Death Eaters were able to outbattle half the Order along with the Hogwarts professors
*that she kept building up to things that never went anywhere (like, what happened to the long interesting story of how Albus hurt his hand?)
*the fact that even Quidditch was lame this year
*where was any mention of the events of OoTP besides a few tiny referrences to Sirius dying
*if Albus was gone so much why did it take them half the year to figure it out and why didn't we see more of Minerva running the school in his place (actually, where was she all bloody year? in previous books her role had been growing, now she might as well not have been there at all)
*where was the sense of fear and forboding, no one seemed to care at all that they were in the middle of a scary war, they should have been especially scared after the only wizard Voldemort ever feared was gone
*even the Hogsmeade weekend was lame and how did Harry still have permission to go if the person who signed his permission slip had died
*why weren't they ever in class except for Potions?
*how lame was the fact that the mysterious HBP turned out to be writing in a book that later turned out to belong to Snape and why didn't Remus just tell Harry that when he asked at Christmas
*(now we're getting to the most important things) the fact that Albus would never ever in a million years have fallen for a story as flimsy as the one they claim Snape gave him
*that the big dramatic ending was not so dramatic and only served to make a lot of people cry because she was torturing the most beloved character in the books needlessly, why did it have to take 12 goblets of potion why not 3? and why couldn't they scoop it up and dump it out, who knew they were drinking it?
*definitely tell her that you think the manner in which Albus died was completely unworthy of him, he should have died a noble death in a battle not a quiet easy one at the hand of the dirtiest traitor of all time when he was in a weakened condition
*why did no one seem to care that Albus had died? where was the emotional reaction? why were the first words out of Molly's mouth about a tiara? even Minerva who had the only true reaction had a subdued one
*the funeral was lame, it should have been a much bigger deal and how DARE Umbridge show up there

You can probably all think of dozens of other things to complain about, so include anything that you were upset by. The main point is to get across our utter disbelief and shocked disappointment that this was the true next installment of HP, the way we're all disillusioned about her creative genius, and the fact that while we may read book 7 we won't be standing in line at midnight for it and some of us will be reading it only to see how lame the much awaited ending is going to be. Whatever you think you need to say to get across the point that you were a loyal and devoted fan and now you're just disillusioned, disgusted, and disheartened, say it.

Okay, here's the most important part. We don't want the letters and dust jackets to go trickling in over the space of months, we want them to arrive loads at a time to really make a statement. So, this is the plan, from now till 1 August start collecting up your friends and co-workers and even enemies to participate. Then, between 1 August and 16 August start sending off your dust jackets with the letter either attached or written inside the jacket. This way, within a month of the over hyped release, hopefully thousands of these will be pouring in. The address to send them to can be found on JKR's website if you're not too disgusted to go there (I'm afraid to post it). Send them to her care of the Christopher Little Agency.

Thanks for you participation and we hope taking some action makes you feel just a little bit better the way it does for us."

Love,

Lies

[NR]

I agree with the points above....and would like to add a couple...

* what happened to Kreacher/Dobby?
* why has JKR started saving the resolution to all subplots for the last couple of chapters - e.g. the explanation for Tonks's mood - and why did no one care about it?
* why has she stopped building suspense and threat?
* what happened to the necklace that injured Katie Bell? Surely that was the Slytherin one and even if Snape nicked it they shouldn't have expected to find it in the basin in the cave
* given that Harry has survived encounters with Voldemort and various death eaters why did Dumbledore freeze him? If Harry had been able to move he could have helped
* why did Harry waste his time with verbal spells after spending the whole year learning about non-verbal ones?

i.e. what a cop-out that book was....but she will have made another fortune out of it and (sad to say) book 7 too.

[Herzele]

That definitely sounds like a very, very good idea !!

[Mellypoo622]

This is a brilliant idea! I wish I still had my cover! It was annoying me so I took it off the book. Stupid me, left it on the couch and found the dog chewing it to bits an hour later.
I'd also like to add.....

*Start Rant*

*Why were we left with so many questions the whole book only to find out that they were stupid pointless things (Example, All book I wondered what Molly would do to try and tear Bill and Fluer apart but then all of a sudden shes hugging her. And, like Nerweniel we found out why Dumbledore's hand was burnt but there was not a big story to it like we waited for the whole book)
* There was no lead up to the ships. It was kind of like "Hmm let's throw these people together" Harry and Ginny? (No offense to the shippers, it's not the relationship that bothers me but the way it happened) Where did that come from? We hadn't even seen much of Ginny since COS!
*If the castle was so safely guarded why could someone just easily get in through the room of requirements.
*What happened to Harry being so mad at Dumbledore end of book 5. I'm glad he wasn't mad at him in this book(The show of Harry's loyalty to Dumbledore was my favorite part of the book), but I feel like there is something missing there.

*End Rant (For Now)*

[mugglemin]

I find this idea mildly odd...so you didn't like this book as much as the others...that's too bad.

If you are going to do this I think you need to look at the whole book from a neutral perspective - which is very hard for us to do, of course - and construct your criticism from this angle. I noticed that your points were quite heavily tinted with ADMM shippy-type issues - Why do you have a problem with all the ships that occoured in this book? Isn't this a nod from JK to all her fans who ship those characters? It's not the first time I've heard of Pince and Filch either. But step back a minute. Are you annoyed about these ships because they didn't include ADMM?

Why was there so little Minerva? Come on girls, you write too, you know how plots and characters work - why stuff Minerva in if there was nothing for her to do? We must try not to get too caught up in what we've been WANTING her to do, get too caught up in a ship that may be entirely inferred by us.

Before you do anything like this, step back and breath for a bit. We are fortunate that JK Rowling gives out lots of extra info on the books and characters that she can't fit in on her website and in interviews. Take a trip to Madam Scoops. No doubt there will be lots of information coming out from all her recent interviews. And then remember, there's one more book left...it's not the end. If the last book is as dissappointing as this one, then rant away...but wait till you know as much as you can before you strike the hand that feeds us all.

mugs.x

[Alesia]

I have to agree with mugginmin on this one. Christy and I were talking about it.

All I ask you is to really consider whether or not you would do this to one of us? How much different is this then a flame?

JK has said she knew some of what she had to do was going to make people angry, well here we are, angry.

I totally agree that it seems like HBP was stripped of all subplots and yes I wish there had been more but I think JK did a really really bad job at managing our expectations with this book. She has said she will answer a set of questions with the last two books. We assumed it meant we would get some of the answers now and some of the answers in the next book. Unfortunately to our disappointment we are getting the majority of our answers in the next book (we hope) not this one. We did get some answers but not all of what we wanted.

I believe she is watching the forums and will know how upset people are. We have to trust her that the laundry list of things she said she would tell us she will.

(One of the things I thought didn't get answered and did was the manifestation of magic in an older person - did you see Hadgrid used is pink umbrella twice to do magic - I think that is it.)

Do what you want but I won't be sending mine. Christy had a great idea that we put together some questions and then send it to her (via the publisher) and see if we can get them on the FAQ. What did you think of that?

Just my two cents.
bonnie

[amandahleigh]

I don't know about going to that extreme (besides, I like my book jacket, lol!) But I do want some questions answered, and I was disapointed in the book.

*that 4 Death Eaters were able to outbattle half the Order along with the Hogwarts professors

That was one of the things that bugged me most, and here I forgot to mention it before!

There are HOW MANY kids and students in the school, all aware that SOMEthing is going on?! Well, why didn't the students, or at least the 5,6, and 7 yr students from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff do something, and the other teachers too? Couldn't someone have been sent to get help? A few death eaters kicked the butts of a bunch of adults, some teachers, an Auror, all in the Order, and the obviously talented DA members that were there, and that's that? We're supposed to accept THAT?!

*sigh*

[Nerweniel]

I think I should clarify something ... I do respect all your opinions and hey, no-one's forced to participate ;D, but it's not that I personally dislike the ships she introduced or anything. I can't speak for Meredith, who wrote this text, but I think she feels this way too .

I think Harry/Ginny is cute, Ron/Hermione is "duh" ;D, Remus/Tonks is really quite aaaaw, and Bill/Fleur is okayish... (even Pince/Filch is sort of acceptable to me... member of the Old Lady Smut Brigade forever !)... but it's the way these ships just seemed to appear out of thin air.

Like for example Harry/Ginny... or Ron/Lavender... I mean, it just happened, there was nothing said about it in, say, OotP, but now, with this book which only started two weeks later, suddenly they were there. Same with Remus/Tonks... I adore it, but why didn't we hear something, or notice something, about it in OotP, when we saw rather much of especially Tonks.

Well... it's just, I don't know . But anyways ;D.

Love,

Lies

[Catwoman99]

Here's my 2 cents about the ships:

Think about it this way....the kids are teenagers and, despite the subjects taught, they are essentially in high school, or secondary school or whatever it's called in Europe. I remember back in high school that people would get together and breakup on a whim. Suddenly this guy was going with that girl and no one had any idea that they liked eachother....then a week later, they break up. In Ron and Lavender's case, I think Ginny's teasing comments got to Ron and here was a girl who was interested in him so he just went for it. I also think he was in denial about his feelings for Hermione and was trying to forget them. For Harry and Ginny, well he already knew that she had liked him at one point so that planted something in his subconscious I think. Then one day he just looked at her in a different light and found that he was developing feelings for her. Believe me, that happens. In high school, seemingly overnight, I found that I had feelings for my best friend's boyfriend. We had been good friends and I even helped get them together. So, feelings can change in an instant, especially in high school. And as for Remus and Tonks...well they aren't the main characters, so why should JK go into how Tonks fell for Remus. They work closely together in the Order and they probably comforted each other after Sirius' death. Perhaps in book 7, she'll have Tonks tell Hermione or Ginny about it. Loads of stuff happens in the background of these books that we have no idea about. That is where fan fiction comes in.

Just my opinion,
April :-)
Co-Headmistress

BTW, my best friend's boyfriend eventually became my husband....and she's still my best friend.

[Rikki]

Of course it is right not to do something harsh. After all, it's JKR's book and she can do what she wants. Perhaps it's just that we got our expectations way too high so she couldn't meet them. But on the other hand, the book didn't really feel like a HP book. The writing style differed, at least partly, some of the characters were ooc and well... most of the time at school was about someone snogging somebody else. Ok, I know it's like this at that age but still... Sometimes the book just felt like one huge fanfic. I don't have anything against any of the ships. Ron/Hermione had been quite obvious from the previous books, Harry and Ginny - well, ok. And Bill and Fleur don't really matter to me, so I don't care. Tonks and Lupin were rather cute.

But what really bugged me about the book was that we didn't get any answers but even more questions. That whole arm story wasn't properly explained, Albus' reasons for trusting Snape were more than fishy. I believe JKR will have to do a lot of explaining in book 7.

Nonethless I think we should let her know that we were disappointed in the book and perhaps give her the reasons. Critic is ok as long as it's constructive.

Love, Rikki

[NR]

Yes I agree it's a bit harsh to write to JK to complain (and it won't do a bit of good!) so I'm not going to. And yes she's entitled to write what she wants - and yes teenagers fall in and out of love on a whim...but that last one shouldn't apply in fiction. Fiction isn't real life. Characters have to have motives. She's been building up to the Ron/Hermione link for ages...but the Harry/Ginny one is very intense and very quick - he's been hankering over Cho for a while - how come he's just noticed Ginny? From what I can remember he didn't particularly "notice" her he just started daydreaming about her.

I don't object to big story questions/answers being left hanging - even if this book does have an "Empire Strikes Back" feel to it....but I have to agree that the characters just don't feel the same as in previous books - even allowing for hormones/age increase.

I think tension could have been generated from the Malfoy thing and that would have made the book more enjoyable. I mean where was the "danger" - Ron is almost poisoned (and wasn't that a bit haphazard if it was an attempt to poison Dumbledore?) but Harry fixes it pronto - Katie Bell is "cursed" by a necklace that again was a bit unlikely to reach Dumbledore - he would have been too suspicious of it. Okay in those cases you can blame Malfoy's ineptitude for choosing those methods but.... Any danger was quickly overcome.

I have to agree that in terms of the writing style, the plot construction, the subplot handling, etc, it just doesn't match up to the earlier books.

It must be hard to maintain consistency over a lot of books - particularly with "rests" in between. Interestingly she's reported to have written the first 4 back to back.... Plus she's got married and had kids - so she's writing from a different "mental" place.

And it seems most kids enjoyed it and she could argue that's who she's aiming at...though that's not where the money comes from!

[NR]

For what it's worth...here's my prediction...based on the "prophecy" (although that's a bit insane because apparently Voldemort made it happen...bit of a chicken and egg thing going on!).

The prophecy reckons that neither can live while the other survives....but they're both currently alive...after a fashion. If Voldemort beats Harry then presumably he'll become fully alive...although wouldn't he need to put his soul back together to achieve that?

Okay I'm talking myself out of my own prediction here!

If the prophecy says neither can live while the other survives you could say that means Harry is not truly alive either....so I reckon if Harry beats Voldemort he (Harry) will lose his magic powers and become a squib.

If you notice there was a lot of talk about Squibs in book 6 and we've previously established that Harry would have done well in Slytherin and speaks parsletongue because Voldemort transferred some of his powers to Harry...what if he transferred them all?

I'd hate that outcome but that's my prediction....oh, and isn't it a bit late in the day for this whole splitting souls thing to come to light....? So Harry has to spend the whole of book 7 looking for 4 of the pesky things...and hasn't that kind of thing happened ad nauseum in a million other kids fantasy books? (e.g. Wolf Brother, etc). Ho hum.

[NR]

Oh and....was the whole Half-Blood Prince/Potions book purely designed to put the spotlight on Snape...and then he kills Dumbledore....?

I suppose it reminds us that he has an interest in the dark arts - the spell that cuts up the "enemy" is about as nasty as it gets....was that supposed to foreshadow the murder...?

The title of the book - The Half Blood Prince...well I suppose, as it's Snape, the main thing is that he's in the spotlight as he's finally about to come clean about his loyalties....but you would just think that it would be more significant to the on-going plot of the book. So it's a book about Snape...how often does he feature before the end?

Sorry I'm still wibbling about this - in book 1 we had closure when Quirrel was killed, the Philospher's Stone was "saved" (then destroyed). In book 2 the Chamber was "made safe" with the killing of the basilisk and the destruction of the diary. In book 3 we had closure where Black was revealed to be innocent...in book 4 the Triwizard Tournament was finished and obviously Voldemort returned....each of those were "self-contained" though obviously they left certain elements hanging over for the next book.

Book 5 - what happened? can anyone remember? We were led to believe that Voldemort was trying to get into a room in the ministry of magic (and that took 700 pages?!) and at the end we find out he's after a prophecy...I suppose we got closure because the prophecy was destroyed but Dumbledore knew the content..

But with Half Blood Prince...what was the story? I guess it was about Voldemort taking steps to kill Dumbledore...so I suppose there's closure because he succeeded. Maybe I should check out the other threads at this point!! (and maybe I shouldn't have taken just 24 hours to read the book!!)

I think with 5 & 6 they lost the "self contained adventure" element. it's as if 1-4 were part of another series and 5, 6 & 7 will be like the 3 books of the Lord of the Rings...part of a whole that's divided for ease of printing rather than because of plot arcs.

[RMR]

While I agree that this is not Rowling's finest Harry Potter novel, I do think that people are being a bit unfair. For example, this quote from a previous post:

* definitely tell her [Rowling] that you think the manner in which Albus died was completely unworthy of him, he should have died a noble death in a battle not a quiet easy one at the hand of the dirtiest traitor of all time when he was in a weakened condition

While I was reading the scene in which Dumbledore dies, it seemed clear to me that Dumbledore was asking Snape to kill him. Why else would he say, "Severus, please..." Does anyone really believe that Dumbledore would beg for his life? No, he was begging Snape to kill him. Because he knew that Snape would die if he broke the Unbreakable Curse? Maybe. Because Snape has a big role to play in Harry's defeat of Voldemort in Book 7? Almost definitely.

Literary critcism is a wonderful thing, but not when it's doled out by people who have not fully thought their criticism through.

[punurple]

Have you considered the thought that maybe doing such a thing would be very insulting to JKR, and seeing as she is the one that is writing the book, wouldn't absolutely be a good idea? Who are we to tell the author that she got everything wrong and that this is how it should be done? There is only so much that she can include in the book.

Personally, I think that it is a terrible idea. If you hate the book so much, why stay within the Harry Potter fandom? Obviously there is something keeping you here.

Just because the book did not live up to everyone's standards (and it isn't. do you know how many people have read/are reading/will read this book?) does not mean it is the end of the world.

punurple

[NR]

Taking the last post....it's not that it doesn't live up to our standards...it's that it doesn't live up to JKR's standards!

I might just borrow book 7!

I can't see sales dipping - even if the quality dips - because people will want to know what happens between H & V... if we're keeping our end of the bargain I'd prefer if JKR kept her end by returning to the quality of her earlier books. But she'll get the money regardless.

[Rikki]

Yeah, but I think that's exactly why we should tell her that we weren't truly happy with the book. It's not just throwing some rant at her but give her something to think about.

Love, Rikki

[griseldalafey]

Hi everyone,

It seems I’m one of the few people who liked HBP. It’s not my favorite book (that’s still POA YAY) but I thought it was good. I was a bit surprised by the general dissapointment. First of all, I’d like to say something about the reasons why this wasn’t a good book.

how out of character EVERY SINGLE character in the book was
I think that’s exagerated. Every single character? Come on! Characters had changed in this book, of course they had. They are all a year older. Characters have developed. And there is something else (something I’m afraid I will repeat a few times) JKR is the author of the book. All the characters are HER characters. She created them. She can’t make her own characters act out of character.
Take Minerva. Her reaction after Albus’ death, her hesitency to keep the school open, I think we all felt dissapointed by that. That’s not the Minerva how we see her and how we write her.
But maybe the Minerva we see and write is not the character JKR intented her to be. You have every right not to like that, but you can’t accuse JKR of making her OOC

how the whole book felt like JKR didn't even write it, but rather was a very long very bad fanfic
A lot of people don’t like the book. You have every right to feel that way. But accusing an author of not writing the book is a serious insult and in this case completely uncalled for in my opinion.

the way she glossed over important matters like deaths and disappearances (did they even look for Ollivander???) and spent chapters on things that didn’t matter.
Again a difference of opinion. You thought these things weren’t importent, but JKR obviously thought they were. So she put them in her book.
Also, they probably looked for Ollivander, JKR just didn’t mention it. Writting is all about cutting. You leave out the things that are not strictly necesarry to the plot. You have to, otherwise your book would have 2000 pages.

all those ships that came out of nowhere (did she spend 2 years reading fanfic and 2 days writing the book?) I mean, Filch/Pince??? EW!
I made a long post in my LJ about HBP (of course I did ) There I also adressed the ships. I’ll copy&paste that part here.
Harry/ Ginny. In tOotP Ginny's character develops a lot whereas it is made clear that the relationship between Harry and Cho isn't working out, because Cho is not the sort of girl Harry needs. I remember reading the scene were Ginny tells Harry 'You're not the only one who was possessed by Voldemort.' and thinking, wow, she'd be good for Harry. Also, there was something starting in tOotP. Harry liked this new Ginny. Only platonic, but he did like her. JKR writes things like 'Harry got Ginny's eye and grinned'. This gradually grows in HBP. First it was Harry, Ron and Hermione, now Ginny is a part of the group too. When they return at Hogwarts Harry realizes that he'll miss hanging out with Ginny. I don't think the relationship between them is sudden or hurried at all.

Bill/ Fleur. Started in GoF, Fleur waving at Bill, not minding his long hair and continued in tOotP were Fred or George mentions that Bill is giving Fleur a lot of private lessons. No surprises there.

Ron/ Lavender. Imagine: All your life you've felt like a side-kick. Everyone is always more famous, more talented and more noticed then you. And by the time you've accomplished something it's no big deal, because people have done it before you. You're insecure. You have a bit of a crush on your best friend but can't work it out. Your other best friend already had a relationship. Your younger sister is the Gryfindor hottie. You haven't kissed yet. Then your friend and you walk in on your sister while she's kissing a guy of your year. And then she tells you, in front of your mate, that you're just sad because you haven't kissed anyone yet. Her exact words are, "The best kiss you ever had is from Auntie Muriel, I bet you keep her picture under your pillow!" Then there's this girl who you've always found girlish, but who does show a lot of interest in you. Not in your famous friend, but in you. And she thinks that every minute not kissing you is a waste minute.
Yeah, I'm not surprised Ron and Lavendel got a snog-relationship. Which, from Rons POV was all it was.

Filch/Pince Either there's nothing between them, after all it was just a joke between Harry and Ginny (and them standing next to each other does not imply much) Or it's JKR's wink to all the weird pairings made up in the fandom.

Lupin/Tonks I saw this one coming. The reason is one that'll only convince me and no one else, but still. A friend of me reads Harry Potter too, but she's not a shipper... at all. She's actually a bit of an anti-shipper. If a couple pairs up, in a book of a movie or something, she's often saying "how can that happen, that doesn't make any sense." But after tOotP she said: "I hope Lupin and Tonks will become a couple, he deserves it." Because it was her who said it, it convinced me that it could happen. (Needless to say that she didn't see AD/MM happen)

the way Draco was suddenly and inexplicably more clever and tallented than ever before, that he was the one who figured out how to get Death Eaters into Hogwarts and put two people under Imperius(WTF?)
Draco always was clever. He also used Dark Magic. It’s like Dumbledore said, ‘Voldemort had powers I will never posses’. ‘Only because you’re too noble to use them’. Draco used dark, powerful magic. A sort of magic that can make a wizard extremely powerful. But also a sort of magic that a wizard with the right values will never use, even if that makes him less powerful.

that she kept building up to things that never went anywhere (like, what happened to the long interesting story of how Albus hurt his hand?)
Albus hurt his hand while retrieving the horcrux. But Albus couldn’t tell Harry about those horcruxes until Harry had seen Slughorns memory. Saying that it was a long and interesting story was Albus way of avoiding to tell the story.

if Albus was gone so much why did it take them half the year to figure it out and why didn't we see more of Minerva running the school in his place (actually, where was she all bloody year? in previous books her role had been growing, now she might as well not have been there at all)
The book his about Harry Potter. And the war against Voldemort. And Harry’s task in that war. I’d love it if the books were written from Albus’ or Minerva’s POV the fact is that they are not. That makes Minerva a side character, as much as I like her. When she isn’t needed in the plot, she’s not in the book. Which is a shame, because she is a very interesting character, but I can’t blame JKR for doing this. She’s writing about Harry Potter.

where was the sense of fear and forboding, no one seemed to care at all that they were in the middle of a scary war, they should have been especially scared after the only wizard Voldemort ever feared was gone
I think the dread of the war was certainly present. Think of the visit to Diagon Alley and the Daily Prophet reports. On the other hand, Hogwarts was a relatively safe place, the war seemed a bit further away. And also, even in a time of war, life goes on. Normal, mundane life. Not every second is spend dreading.


even the Hogsmeade weekend was lame and how did Harry still have permission to go if the person who signed his permission slip had died
Because the fact that Sirius died didn’t change the fact that he gave his permission to go. Also, Harry is almost an adult, only one year to go. As far as I know there was no other guardian appointed. (but it’s possible I forgot about it) Why cancel his permission for one year? That would have made less sense.

why weren't they ever in class except for Potions?
Because the classes weren’t important to the plot. Only Potions was, because that’s were Harry used the Prince’s book.

(now we're getting to the most important things) the fact that Albus would never ever in a million years have fallen for a story as flimsy as the one they claim Snape gave him
It might be that more happened. JKR states in her interview on Mugglenet that there’s more to Dumbledore. We don’t know anything yet and there’s still a lot to find out about him (yay!)

that the big dramatic ending was not so dramatic and only served to make a lot of people cry because she was torturing the most beloved character in the books needlessly, why did it have to take 12 goblets of potion why not 3
I admit, I didn’t like that scene either. I thought it was pretty heavy. But that’s because I’m a sissy. Again, it’s JKR’s book, her plot, her characters. She had every right to do so.

definitely tell her that you think the manner in which Albus died was completely unworthy of him, he should have died a noble death in a battle not a quiet easy one at the hand of the dirtiest traitor of all time when he was in a weakened condition
I think the way Albus died showed more the man he was then the wizard he was. I think that’s a good thing. Also, why should Albus have to die a noble death in a battle? Because you think so? JKR obviously thought something else. Also, I don’t think this death was unworthy of him. No one knows Albus better then JKR. She created him. And she has stated she is fond of his character. She knows what she’s doing and it’s her book, so she can do it.

why did no one seem to care that Albus had died? where was the emotional reaction? why were the first words out of Molly's mouth about a tiara? even Minerva who had the only true reaction had a subdued one
I don’t think there was room. It’s a book. There’s a limit to the pages. You can’t fit in every emotion, every though, every word. I think there was enough sadness there. Also, Molly was very worried about her son who had almost died too. Her reaction isn’t that strange.

the funeral was lame, it should have been a much bigger deal and how DARE Umbridge show up there.
Umbridge was there because she’s an interesting character. And that’s what makes a book good, interesting characters. She is vile, no doubt about it, but she does make a good story. I think there’ll be more Umbridge to come.

I think from the perspective of an AD/MM the book wasn’t good. There was very little Minerva and she acted differently then we wanted her to act. Also, I think HBP makes clear that AD/MM isn’t canon.

The romance between AD/MM is something we guessed from the books and build our fandom around. It’s been two years since tOotP, all that time we have lived in our happy fanfic world were things went just the way we wanted…

Because we were the ones writing it. And when you write you can make anything happen, go as far as your imagination goes.

But now it’s canon-time. JKR (who owns the characters we’ve been playing with) published another book. She has moved on with the story. She made choices we probably wouldn’t have made. But they are HER characters, HER book, HER creation. She has every right to do it.

JKR didn’t change, she didn’t do things differently all of a sudden. She did what she has been doing for the past 15 years. She wrote a wonderful book.

There may be parts you don’t like. You have every right to. You have every right to hate the whole book. But you do not have the right to be angry at JKR for doing things her way.

JKR is not an AD/MM shipper. She doesn’t write her books from that perspective. She writes Harry Potter. And in doing that I think she’s doing better then ever.

--------------------------------------------

I don’t want to start a big argument. Or a small one. I know I’m taking a risk by posting this, but in this case, I’m willing to take that risk. Because I think this idea and some of the things that have been said are unfair towards JKR.

It’s nothing personal, and please, please don’t take this personal. I like all of you. But I don’t like this idea. That’s a big difference.

Love,
Griselda.

[Sola]

First off all, I don't take anything insulting , but I didn't really like the book.

Yes, we should not be overly harsh with stating what we think about HBP to JKR. But still, I agree that we should let her know that we didn't enjouy the book that much.
I also tend to say, the characters where very Ooc. Throu I understand your point, how can she write her own characters out of caracter. But at least she didn't come along explaining changes in those persons like she used to in book I -V. OIn OotP it might have ended up that HP is OoC because of his ranting against his friends. But it didn't turn out that way, at least not for me, because I felt it rather good explained.
This just as example

So , like you see, I don't have the same view, but I still don't think you have taken any risk whith saying what you think. Noone should rather shut up than say what s/he thinks. And I feel no insult or anything from you only because you have a diffrent opinion.
You explained your point, have been polite, and therefore noone can or should complain

Anyway...moody really looks scarry you know

Sola

[Alesia]

Griselda,

I have to say I respect your opinions and willingness to state them in this forum.

I didn't like HBP when I first read it, but the more I think about it and the more I go back and reread snippets of it I begin to like it a little more.

I agree with you on most of your points and although the format of this book was different (which I think caused some of our angst) it does do what she wanted it to do - set us up for book 7.

My only point of disagreement with you is the AD/MM ship not being canon. I continue to hold on to JK statement about married professors and not being able to tell us, so until book 7 is out or JK says so, I will remain an Ad/MM shipper. ;D

But I guess we will agree to disagree. Thank you for your willingness to post your opinions.

Bonnie

[Orion's Guard]

Lol. I did like the book, but something said struck a nerve.

I totally agree about reading it and thinking about it being a bad fanfic. Some of the things that happened are huge fanfiction pet peeves of mine. Like bringing in another teacher to teach potions and having Snape do Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Another is Harry being made Quidditch Captain and not Katie Bell. Also, the rushed in and out romance between Harry and Ginny. Just small things that get on my nerves that made me feel like I was reading online.

[TheEmeraldRose]

I can see I'm very outnumbered in saying that I thought HBP was her best novel yet. As for the characters being OoC, I really don't see where you're getting that. If anything, Harry and Co. are just growing up and out of the childhood shells. They're finally becoming the adults they need to be in order to win their war.

After reading this post, I'm starting to believe either three things that are to blame for the majority of the people on this site disliking this book:

1. You've spent way too much time in fandom and were expecting HBP to be something similar to what you've read here.

2. You're too upset about Dumbledore's death to fully accept the book as a whole. (This is the most probable answer, I think, as this website is based around that character.)

3. Your "ship" didn't happen in the book, or it was shot down.

All in all, I agree with punurple in that you should reconsider what you have planned with the dust jackets. We wouldn't have Harry Potter without JK Rowling, and I think it'd be quite an insult to the author of the books you all claim to adore (aside from HBP, that is). You also need to remember that she has had this storyline planned for years before you were able to read it.

[mugglemin]

Hey,

I saw this on Leakey and thought it was vaguely related to this thread. Quite interesting.

Potter fan one: "So, who do you 'ship'?"
Potter fan two: [blank expression] "Ship?"

We at Leaky have gotten many emails about the phenomena in the fandom of 'shipping' (which is the 'relationshipping' or rooting for romantic pairings of characters in the Harry Potter novels). Many discussions about this take place on various fan sites and in fan-fiction as well. Today, the San Francisco Chronicle takes a look at this, in particular the post-HBP fallout between those that 'ship' Harry/Ginny versus the followers of Harry/Hermione.

Readers will remember a few weeks ago, our own Melissa and Emerson of MuggleNet conducted an interview with author J.K. Rowling. During that interview, the topic of shipping came up, with the word 'delusional' used at one point, and in the interview it became apparent that one ship was errm, sunk. Despite apologies and clarifications of the use of that word 'delusional' in regards to followers of one particular ship, there was an uproar by a small portion of fans over that portion of the interview. One fan quoted in this article notes that she felt the use of the word 'delusional' lacked tact, saying "I think it was just carelessness and was not meant maliciously."

Both Emerson and Melissa were asked about this outpouring of emotion which did include hateful emails, threats, and much anger towards even JKR.

Anelli, 25, who works as a journalist when she isn't overseeing the Leaky Cauldron, says that most abuse came from a small faction of vociferous fans. "They've lost the ability to divorce themselves between what J.K. Rowling is doing and what they'd like to see happen, and they've taken their disappointment and projected it onto her," she says. "I can totally understand how you could be upset if your preference didn't happen, but I can't understand or tolerate that people who claim to be her fans can be so mean to her."
...

"I was surprised," says Spartz, 18, of the furious response. "But in hindsight, I shouldn't have been. I forgot how emotionally invested these 'shippers get. I knew they weren't going to be happy ... but I did not see it generating this much hate." He adds, "Romance in the books is the most prominent source of debate in the online fandom, where many of the fans border on obsessive, but casual readers will never understand what the big deal is."

[foci]

I'm halfway through my second reading of HBP and started to read it again - for my mum who doesn't speak English but couldn't wait to hear the story, so my sister and I are taking turns with translating HBP like telling a bedtime story. Mad, eh?

HBP is not the "worst" HP book, if you can call any of them "worst". It's 4th on my list of the 6 books, POA in a 1st place for perfect notes in all departments (plot, characterization, lenght, humour - everything just fits together, that book is a gem), OOTP in 2nd place, mainly for superb characterization and wicked humour, GOF made it to a 3rd place - the English version is so much better than any other translation!

I think HBP is mainly okay and a well-written book, with the exception of the following points:

1. at certain points, the lack of emotional descriptions is striking (especially after OOTP)
a, Harry reacting to Sirius' death - imho, that's the lamest moment of the book
b, Harry is named Quidditch captain - no reactions, again
c, not going into lenghts about Harry/Ginny

2. less humour - but Jo was bound to lose some lines with Binns gone and Trelawney wandering around in the castle. And the books are getting darker...

3. I'm disappointed that some spells and other magical stuff weren't properly explained (like apparition)

On a very personal note, I care more about the teacher's life than the kids, so learning so little about them was a bit disappointing and made the Won-Won stuff look boring.

And the fact that I've read several plotlines of the book in fanfics didn't help much, but of course, JKR is faced with the difficulty that she has to describe things from Harry's POV and can't just leave out the Voldie stuff, or the lessons as many fanfic authors do.