Yes. This, I think, makes these rather unique for children's books and makes the characters seem more human. Often times they're reacting with half information or faulty information in that crisis, given communication barriers in the relationships with other characters.



I still disagree here. Don't want to go far down that path, but with Dumbledore being (self proclaimed) accomplished at Occlumency, he should have been able to protect himself from that earlier on and provided some guidance before this point. This scene should definitely be a red flag to him with the severity of Harry's reaction and the dream, as it was. Assigning him lessons with Snape is a questionable call though, once he's seen that impact. He should be able to tell that Harry doesn't like or trust him, despite Dumbledore's assurances that he is trustworthy.




It would be agonizing to be bundled up with the Weasleys after being party to the attack. They all handle it well, once Mr. Weasley is in the clear, but I think I would feel guilty and frightened about it if I were in Harry's shoes. Ginny's reactions were well played, as you mentioned. It is incredible that he would not remember, but I don't think he's seeing her much beyond Ron's little sister at this point. That starts to change near the end and with the collapse of his "relationship" with Cho.




Agree on both counts with Sirius. I wish we got some more screen time with him in GoF. He's getting more and more interesting as a character, up until... It would have been nice to have him around longer.




I think the differences between the Twins are a fun part of them as characters and this (as you've pointed out) does show them as distinct individuals. Fred is usually out in front, as he was in this case, right or wrong. This will be interesting to discuss in the Deathly Hallows thread.



He has some of the best one-liners about the kids in the series, including that one.



I'm with you on this one. I understand it wasn't widely publicized, but how can he be that snowed in with the Ministry? It takes quite a bit for him to turn around, even at the last minute.



Probably a bit of both. Doubt he would want anyone to see his Mom like that either. He is intensely proud of his parents though, as indicated by his brawl with Malfoy and the goons outside of potions class when they mentioned something around the subject of St. Mungos and insanity. Can't remember the quote. Neville is one of my favorite child characters in the series, mostly because of the change he's undergoing from the DA on. Love that he keeps the gum wrapper too.

Another great scene from St. Mungos is the Mr. Weasley's experiment with stitches and the reaction from Mrs. Weasley.




The movie definitely does not do this justice, but I still think it's a horribly unfair way of teaching Harry (who already thinks Snape is out to get him). Granted, Harry never improves because he doesn't bother learning or trying to do so. You would think that seeing these memories would soften Snape to Harry, but all of that is undone with the later shield charm and trip into the pensieve. Then it's Harry's turn to sympathize with Snape and that doesn't last long either. Their relationship is much more 3 dimensional in the books.



A lot of Snape's early reactions are like this, once you've had his revelations from Deathly Hallows. Those put new color into just about everything he does in the series, especially with Harry, but even his treatment of Hermoine. I get the feeling now and then that he dislikes her because of her attachment to Harry, but that he also compares her to Lily at times as well. I love that aspect of his character and you can really pick up on it in rereads.