I loved, loved, loved the scene where Hermione convinces Harry and Ron to break the rules. She seems so excited, but it is probably about the complexity of the potion. It is a lovely character moment.

I am a little stumped by her admiration for Lockhart, though. She is usually so level-headed about that sort of thing, and sees through people like that. Also, I would think Hermione would be the first to dislike someone who so clearly did not know what they were talking about. Perhaps her character is still growing. I think perhaps the astuteness I am thinking about all shows up later. If so, that is a good sign of development of character.

A plot clue I noticed, which I have never noticed before:
Dumbledore comments that it is not a question of who did it, but how -- of course he knows that Voldemort is the culprit. He just needs to figure out how Voldemort is acting in Hogwarts.

Dobby ... Dobby, Dobby, Dobby...
Still annoying. I think Rowling is employing him as a suspense-creator, and all his cryptic hints work that way, I think, but it is overshadowed by his annoyingness (no, this is not my favourite book in the whole world). It is compounded by the revelation that he is the culprit behind the apparently sinister attempts to keep Harry from Hogwarts/kill him. It sets the plot back, in a way. I am not sure I am coherent right now.

The Duelling Club a lot. Mainly because of Snape's disdain for Lockhart (he really should bond with Harry over that). It struck me that expelliarmus is either a brilliant stroke of insight or a problem limiting the development of the world: the fact that it limits the complexity of the magic needed for a child to fight the bad guys is clearly a plus -- all you need is clearly a disarming charm and then later a stupefy -- no need to make it complicated; but that is also a weakness in that there is no need for her to make it more complicated. Hmmm. Again, I find I am incoherent.

I love the conspiracy nuts in Hufflepuff. They are such an excellent satirical sketch of the real kind. They take random facts that suit their idea and quietly disregard anything that contradicts it. Lovely.

And Dumbledore's office made me realise I want a revolving stone staircase and a phoenix.