The Half-Blood Prince

This one's going to be an out and out Harry Potter post. So those who are yet to finish Half Blood Prince or are inclined to start it soon, please stay away from the rest of the post.

HBP was an enjoyable read, which all the Potter books have been, containing the trademark elements of Rowling. This one started off slowly, but made up adequately towards the end.

I just finished the book...and it's a tragedy, again. I knew that Albus Dumbledore was gonna bite the dust, but the manner in which his end came was unbelievable! Bellatrix Lestrange killing Sirius Black is one thing and the wretched Severus Snape killing Dumbledore is outrageously another! Harry tried all through, to convince Dumbledore that Snape was still a Death Eater. But the Headmaster obstinately maintained that he trusted Snape, never for once giving a reason for his trust. Oh...he was so fatally wrong in trusting Snape! How could such an accomplished wizard, the greatest wizard of all times, have failed to notice the traitor lurking in one of his staff?! If Snape was good at Occlumency, Dumbledore was a master at Legilimency! And the most horrific part was Dumbledore pleading Snape to spare him, before the latter spelt the Avada Kedavra curse!

Now, Harry is truly an orphan. Voldemort killed everyone dear to Harry - his parents, Sirius and now Dumbledore! How can he single-handedly defeat Voldemort?! Who would help him now? A very heavy pall of gloom is down on me...and I'm feeling sick after reading such tragedy. It's not like any other story one reads...this one's just different. And only those who've loyally followed the series can understand what I'm talking about. I feel certain that those who read Harry Potter would be likely to hate Severus Snape more than they hate Lord Voldemort himself. The latter was a known enemy...Snape was a trusted friend. There's some speculation that Snape is still helping Dumbledore...that the death of Dumbledore is all part of a larger plan...plans could have been chalked out even without his demise. Either way, Dumbledore's death was unnecessary...I feel the Headmaster was responsible for his own death. No witch/wizard could have the nerve to kill Dumbledore, unless he himself wished so. True, Malfoy disarmed him at the Astronomy Tower...but during his long chat with Malfoy, before the other Death Eaters came storming, Dumbledore could have easily used the Summoning Charm, nonverbally, to get his wand back. Instead, he merely stood there, immoblizing Harry, waiting for his own death. The death of the greatest wizard that ever was or will ever be, is a loss that the wizarding community could never recover from.

The story has reached a stage where waiting for the next and last book has become tougher than waiting for any other book in the series was. I dunno what Harry means by saying that he wouldn't return to Hogwarts even if it does reopen next year. Perhaps he doesn't care anymore what happens to his life, his career...his only purpose in life is to kill Voldemort. But finding and destroying all the remaining Horcruxes and triumphing over the Dark Lord would require mighty efforts from Harry. He needs to master his defences against the Dark Arts, use of non-verbal spells and Occlumency. One thing puzzling all of us is who could 'R.A.B.' be? At first I thought it was Dumbledore and that perhaps one of the Horcruxes was Dumbledore himself...but no, that couldn't be the case. Who else could have gone that far into the Dark Lake and stolen the Horcrux? Who else could have faced death in an effort to make Voldemort mortal once again? Only the seventh book can answer all this and more. I wish Rowling would bring it out fast...and given that Harry is already devasted, hope she is merciful with what she makes Harry go through next. And Dumbledore, we love you, and will always miss you...

Still Inept

I feel I still haven't got the hang of blogging. It's supposed to be my personal diary, ain't it? One where I should be chronicling everything that happens in my life...everyday. But then, I miss out so many points that I ought to be recording. Did I mention, for instance, that I have already bought my new computer or that I've shifted into my new home? I mentioned both the things just in passing, but never when they actually happened. And on top of it, there's some time lag between every two of my consecutive posts. Is it really the lack of time, or am I so horrible at time management? Goodness knows. Yet, writing is one thing I love so much...my writing skills are very amateur...if I write at this pace, whenever would I improve?!

Just when we thought Mumbai has recovered from the blow it received a month back, we have dear Nature lashing out at another part of our world. Seemingly invincible America has been humbled by Katrina. And we have Bush giving out the usual lip service that politicians are known to be doing at such times...consoling New Orleans that the whole nation is with them...and all the while the irony being that the people who are supposed to be receiving his message, hear nothing of it, due to lack of electricity! By the way, anyone heard of whatever happened to the millions of dollars collected worldwide for the Tsunami victims? I learnt there was some goof up there too. I read on someone's blog a few days back, can't recollect whose, that while distributing the funds, victims were forced to convert to Christianity, failing which they would be denied the help...talk of inhumanity! The soul of humankind seems to be dying a slow, but certain, death.

Then, tomorrow comes Teacher's Day, in India. After parents, it's the responsibility of the teachers to instil values in children, to shape their future. All the teachers, well...almost all, in my life were really good and knowledgeable, and did have a soft corner for me. Except for that one in my school who had made it her mission in life to hurt me at every drop of a hat. I can't think of the reason that made her act so weird, to this day, nor can my closest friends, N & NL. But she used to just pounce on me at mere sight...reducing me to tears on so many occasions. The result - I loathed and loathed her! Nevertheless, she was my teacher, whether we liked each other or not...and I want to thank all my teachers, including her (she was excellent in English, my own pet subject, and I used to admire her so much for that), for everything that they ever taught me; I am sure I carry a tiny imprint of each of their teachings in my mind.

My Saahil's passport has been approved! Now we are just waiting for the passport to take physical form...it seems that takes a while. Thanks to the intervention of the college authorities, things have moved real fast and we've been spared the volatile temper of the consulate. Then, next month by this time, Saahil dearest would be enjoying his first international stay ever (AND he has promised to bring back lots of goodies for me!!)! Oh yes...Abhinav, though Saahil has been on domestic flights before, I'm going to remind him that the windows on international flights too, are not to be opened! ;)