Lots of interesting ideas there, Hera. The Snape theory is sort of plausible... But I don't know... At any rate, you never can tell what will happen with Rowling. I think it's so horrible that the horcrus turned out not to be there at all, and that essentially the whole thing was a waste. Dumbledore's death was so elegant, the end so elegaic... It reminded me a lot of Gandalf in Moria in a way. Of course, the whole betrayal element really makes things painful. It would be nice to think that still, somehow, Dumbledore was right about Snape. You hate to think that a lot of what happened could have been prevented if the headmaster hadn't been so dim. You tend to think of Dumbledore as almost infallible. But in any case, his insistence on mercy and seeing the best in people is bound to have repurcussions in the seventh book. Maybe Malfoy won't end up being a Death Eater after all; he showed a surprising level of hesitation. I've never seen his so human. Anyway, I liked this book a lot better than the fifth. Really good.
Erin