HAPPY B-DAY MOM!! ^_^

Totally screwed up cutting my bangs after my shower. A bit shorter than how I usually cut it, ah well...am not much of a looker anyhoo.

Will talk about San Diego another day, but for now I must squee over the awesome-ness that is Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the sixth installment of J.K. Rowling's awesome series.

Wow. I loved reading this book. True, I was a bit surprised that the book was thinner than OotP, but after reading it, it seemed tHHP had a lot more going on. I mean, the story started picking up for me when the DA arrived at the Ministry of Magic in OotP. For tHHP, there was a lot going on from start to finish: Harry's private lessons with Dumbledore, his suspicions of Draco, and news of the war are just to name some of the main points of this year.

Some of the highlights for tHHP (for me that is):

Snape: "Coward, did you call me, Potter?" Hol.y. Crap. Which side is this guy on?!? I *love* Snape, one of my fav characters in the HP universe, but *dude.* This guy is the best damn spy ever. Despite what he did to Dumbledore, I still believe he is still an agent for good. Him being bad is just too...easy. I'd be extremely disappointed with Ms. (or is it Mrs. now?) Rowling if he is indeed, playing Dumbledore and is really spying for Voldy. And him being the Half-Blood Prince? Classic! I had a feeling when Harry picked up the Advanced Potions textbook with the Prince's notes. Kudos to those who guessed Snape waaay before the book came out.

Dumbledore/Harry: "I am not worried, Harry. I am with you." You *know* I don't mean that in a slasher way (ew, honestly...). After the events of Ootp, I was kind of disappointed in Dumbledore in the fact he didn't tell Harry the prophecy until it was much too late. I know it was because he wanted to protect him, but I still think he waited too long. And his treatment of Tom Riddle? Dear god man if he did more than just watch Tom's progress in Hogwarts, if he took more time with Tom, it might have prevented him from becoming the villain he is in the present time. It just seemed that Dumbledore kept himself at a distance from Tom at their first meeting in the orphanage. I don't think setting the dresser on fire helped matters either. Tom was intimidated for like, a second and then got excited because he knew that he could use that power for his own purposes. I guess what I'm trying to say is, if I were Dumbledore I would have tried to put more effort into Tom 'seeing the light,' or teaching him how to love since love is the one thing Dumbledore believes that is stronger than magic itself.

Anyway, I loved the Dumbledore and Harry dynamic here. See the quote? Throughout the series, no matter how dark it became, there was always the mentality (for most people anyway) of 'We're safe. Dumbledore's here. Everything's going to be ok.' And so after the ordeal in the cave, as Harry desperately tries to reassure himself and Dumbledore he can Apparate both of them to safety, Dumbledore, the wizard that even Voldemort wouldn't pick a fight with, says that he's not worried because *Harry's* with him...wow. I practically wibbled over that one. That, and Harry's admittance of being "Dumbledore's man, through and through" while Dumbledore is taken aback and tears up. Awwww~

And his death? I cried more in those last chapters than I did during Sirius' death. Sure, I'm annoyed with Dumbledore with his actions toward Tom and not telling the whole truth to Harry, but honestly, it's *Dumbledore.* Then again, my cousin and I found it odd that Dumbledore would plead for mercy. He seems the type to accept death, not run away from it. To have such complete faith in Snape for all those years, then doubt it in those last few moments? Or maybe he *was* too naive to try and see the good in everyone and realized much too late that he made a mistake. I think there's something more. Perhaps that look of revulsion and hatred on Snape's face was because of the action he *knew* he had to take, rather than towards Dumbledore himself. Maybe the plead was not for mercy, but for Snape to *do* it. I can totally see Dumbledore pulling an Obi-Wan and influencing things from the beyond. Or maybe I'm just in denial that Dumbledore's really dead and I need an excuse for Snape being more naughty than usual and is still really on the good side. After all, Dumbledore's portrait has shown up already in the Headmaster's office with the rest of the deceased Headmasters. ::sigh::

Harry's obsession with Draco: Harry, however, had never been less interested in Quidditch; he was rapidly becoming obsessed with Draco Malfoy. Nothing really needs to be said here. ::hears the Draco/Harry shippers squee and rejoice:: The ship is ALIVE! This pairing doesn't really rock my boat (although I pretty much enjoy any Harry slash pairing. I love Harry that much), but dude. Even Ron thought Harry was taking it too far. And obsessing over what Draco's doing over Quidditch? ::cackles:: That was too good...

Luna's Quiddith commentary: "...oh look, he's lost the Quaffle, Ginny took it from him, I do like her, she's very nice..." Hahaha, classic. "Loser's Lurgy". XD I wish she and Neville had more spotlight though.

Tom Riddle: The best for last. He owned this book. No question. Definitely my favorite parts of the book: when Harry goes into the Pensieve and learns the origins of Lord Voldemort. I love Tom Riddle. Voldemort sucks because he's...well Voldemort.

Oh gosh, there are so many other things to squee over(Remus/Tonks? Who saw *that* coming? Besides the random shippers in the fandom...I swear J.K. is peeking at some fanfiction). I know I'm missing a lot more, but it's getting late.

Just one more book, one more year. ::sniffsniff:: I still think Harry's going to die...