1 week to go. Final push, guys.

Necessity really is the mother of invention.

Life debt or just Wormtail feeling regret?

Note: no surprised exclamations that a wizard bothered to remember him or hs name.

And they said those lessons in sixth year were useless.
Not that they couldn't have been supplemented with some interesting magic, too. But the point stands.

Goblins: creatures so dickish even Hagrid doesn't like them.

Why is Hermione sobbing? It's just a dragon, woman, goddamn.

Not knowing when your Horcruxes die seems like a design flaw. Also, Voldemort's practicing some revisionist history already, since he didn't kill Dumbledore. You could say he ordered it but that's semantics.

lol
Also hilarious that Harry's reading Voldemort's thoughts. If only Harry'd known it was this easy: take one Horcrux, let Voldemort know he did so, follow along while Voldemort thinks about where the others are. Hell, he might even learn what the protections are. And Hermione wanted him to stop!

Burn.

Sudden Badass Neville is kind of disconcerting, even if it's welcome.

For all that's worth.

 

That does show that Harry becomes quite an accomplished occlumency practitioner, for all of Snape's bitchin.

 

Great plan, Hermione. It's not like you can just disapparate away, huh? Or that the three of you can defeat six mooks in a fight.

You gotta love Grindelwald.

There's no mention of Lucius in the scene after that. We know that Lucius survives, but this kind of makes it look like he was being burned alive while stunned.

Uh, no. Seriously, why didn't they ever research other ways of destroying a Horcrux? Just because Hermione said they were dangerous?

Ok, I have to admit that's pretty badass.

Just. Fucking. Apparate. This is the solution for like half the conflicts in this book. You're a fucking wizard, who cares when the dragon wants to land?

Gee, Voldemort, it's not like you bragged about being immortal. And it's not like Horcruxes are that big of a secret, since you found out about them in a school library. The same one that your enemies just happen to have constant access to. I don't think there are that many ways to become immortal. It's pretty surprising that half the population DOESN'T know that you made a Horcrux. Not to mention that you talked about it to your high school teacher, who has just come out of retirement and seems to favor your enemy.

How stupid can Voldemort be? Does he really think that he's the only one who can put 2+2 together?

Dark wizards have some seriously poor impulse control. Using the Cruciatus because you have an argument with a school boy? Dumb.

Considering that your parents were driven into insanity by the same curse that is used to torture you, Neville, you probably ought to take this a bit more seriously.

Wow Neville, isn't that just great? Turns out all you need to make your bullying grandmother proud of you is to act like a masochistic idiot. At this rate you WILL be your parents' son, in the sense that you too would suffer under the Cruciatus enough to turn catatonic. But your granny is proud of you, so that's alright. Don't you just love Augusta Longbottom, the witch who failed her Charms O.W.L yet acts all high and mighty?

 

Chapter 23: Malfoy Manor

But only fifty for him without his wand. Also, given the prices we see over the course of the series, 200K is a shed load of money. Especially when you take into account that it's literally all gold coins.

Why? Because they're both Dark wizards, so he's obviously going to come and ask about the Elder Wand, that prior to this Voldemort has never, as far as we know, given any thought to? And what are the odds that Dumbledore would die without the Wand passing to Voldemort himself, if you don't know about the schemes going on?

Why? Are they that hard up for good minions that Bellatrix, noted sadist and maniac, will stun rather than kill? Seems weird that so many people bitch about Harry not killing really - why should he? No-one else is, on page at least.

Ah, some excellent foreshadowing of Ron being able to mimic Parseltongue. *cough*

So you don't need to know where you're going to Apparate there - it really is just wishing really hard.

Chapter 24: The Wandmaker

So, did he pay more attention to Binns than he's given credit for, or is this a result of Bill's work?

Not specifically related to this quote, I suppose, but having read the whole series again, I'm struck by the fact that for all the study they put into magic, nobody really has any concrete ideas about some of the most fundamental aspects of their society. It's like the early pioneers of electricity delving into quantum physics. The part of me that likes magic being magical and mysterious is ok with this. The part of me that likes reasoned plotting and worldbuilding is outraged.

Two things to take away here. One, for all the crap slung at Pettigrew, Voldemort favours him enough to force his captive to make him a new wand, when he doesn't even think Lucius deserves one. Two, and most importantly, CUSTOM WAND! Is this the first fanon cliche we've seen actually confirmed in the text?

What, you mean like you telling a castle full of friends and foes that you were the master of the most powerful wand in the world, a few days later?

Chapter 25: Shell Cottage

Fucking finally.

Nope. C'mon, Bill, they're not hardcore nerds like you.

Chapter 26: Gringotts

Bullshit.

Quite a quick process then. I suppose it would be rude to ask why he doesn't make Harry a new wand, given that he's the Chosen One and all, and might want a wand a bit more reliable than his old school bully's? Hey ho.

Chapter 27: The Final Hiding Place

For a series that features liquid luck, a potion that can perfectly transform your body, a potion that can not just repair broken bones, but regrow them entirely, it's amazing that the most OP potion is actually a minor healing salve.

No duplicates now, I notice. Is it a one time thing, or proximity related? Same for the burning.

Chapter 28: The Missing Mirror

So, in GoF Sirius had no idea what the Dark Mark was (in its tattoo form). Here, Aberforth - presumably not under any special suspicion, given that he hasn't been locked up and the Death Eaters run a black market out of his pub - freely mentions it to them. I can believe that it's become more widely known since GoF, due to Dumbledore being able to tell the Order about Snape, but are the Death Eaters really OK with a fairly minor civilian knowing about it?

Chapter 29: The Lost Diadem

So...Death Eater propaganda = Muggles are stupid animals, but they still managed to drive wizards into complete secrecy despite how awesome we are? I mean, I get that Neville probably isn't giving all the detail that the Carrows go into, and that applying logic to insane bigotry is a self-defeating move, but this doesn't make much sense as...well, any sort of tactic, to be honest.

Hypocrite!

 

Actually, no. Or rather, it might be - but it was proven 'canon' in book four, when Fleur had a wand with a core from her own grandmother.