Seamus is clearly unsure which stance to take; it's probably safe to assume he wanted to say something supportive when Harry thought he was gonna attack him (because Harry is always wrong and all that), then later on he seems to get defensive when Harry meets his eye after Luna's and Ernie's declarations of confidence.

The Slytherins seem to have a somewhat antiquated view on gender relations, which should surprise no-one. It's interesting how Pansy Parkinson mostly targets girls - Hermione, generally, but also Angelina Johnson during the Quidditch practice - whereas Malfoy mostly limits himself to the boys. And throughout the series, I don't believe there's a single female Slytherin who gets any amount of screentime other than Parkinson, who seems to be an extremely shallow, brainless idiot, and our lone exception Bellatrix who is a borderline psychopath. And Narcissa Black, I suppose. Further confirmation of the Death Eaters' misogyny, seeing how Rowling kind of missed her chance of distinguishing between Slytherins and Death Eaters in book seven, despite Snape and Slughorn being on the right side. Malfoy's extreme defensiveness about his mother in the previous book fits into this as well, though I found it interesting that Seamus reacted in a similarly exaggerated way in Monday's chapters. To some extent Ron does it too somewhere, but it doesn't really compare as those were actually serious insults which made an aggressive reaction more understandable.

Umbridge: Sadistic, bigoted, power-hungry, amoral and capable of selective blindness when it suits her. Real piece of work. What do you want to bet she was in Slytherin? Bringing our count to four Slytherin women, I suppose. She at least has a career and doesn't give any indication of adhering to that misogynist worldview. What do you know, I found a something positive about her... In some ways she mirrors McGonagall, come to think of it. Both are career women without husband and children (one assumes) in male-dominated chauvinistic wizarding Britain, and they are the respective right hands of the two most powerful men. And both have that clichéd connection to cats that so many old spinsters in literature have. Where McGonagall is tough but fair and rarely shows her softer side, Umbridge is all smiles and sweet words while relishing in backstabbing and subtle insults. So it's really quite appropriate that Umbridge's main opponent at the school, the one she really strugges with, is McGonagall rather than Dumbledore himself.

Dumbledore: As we said before, his strategy sucks. Of course it's Harry's fault for not going to him regardless, but he should have known that was what would happen.

Hermione and Ron: Isn't young love sweet. I love Hermione's reaction to Ron displaying emotional depth for once, as well as loyalty, when getting Percy's letter: her heart melts and she can't maintain her tough stance to force him to do his own homework.

Sirius: Does it count as a mid-life crisis if you've never really even had the chance to make it entirely out of adolescence? Either way, immensely irresponsible reaction to say the least, and showing he still doesn't get it. Proving Mrs. Weasley right to some extent, as well.

And lastly, Harry's survivor's guilt is still in full force, though combined in a really freaky way with jealousy about Cho. Is it any wonder his relationship with Cho is doomed? And what I've said before about Cho is confirmed - girl with potential, shame that circumstances end up making her look not so good.