[PTeppic]

Ace - Molly Weasley - yeah, very much the "Aliens" showdown with the power-lifter quote from Ridley... We shouldn't be surprised: she's also a former Gryffindor and has generally been forced to keep the home-fires burning whilst her family are out and in danger. And what mother would do less, one son dead, another still healing from serious injuries (in "Prince"), now seeing her daughter in danger...?

smaug - cloak: I didn't read it that it was impervious, just invisible, so if you KNEW someone was there, you could still blast them (could be wrong though)

smaug: Harry's bloodline - as highlighted in a number of books (usually referring to Weasley or Black lines) the number of "true-bloods" in Britain is sufficiently small and interconnected that most end up being related to everyone else, at least by marriage. Probably means he's related to Ginny too...

smaug: deaths - to be honest I thought most of the deaths were pretty interchangeable. Almost any of the Order/volunteers could have been lost during the first break out, and similarly during the various stages of the Hogwarts' show-down. They seemed almost random, were only really mentioned in passing and whilst the characters obviously cared, it was in the middle of a battle and we were being swept by, almost watching from the tour bus. I didn't feel any sympathy about them at all. (But it was c.6 hours into a non-stop read, having had a night of almost no sleep beforehand.) The Hogwarts' ones almost felt to be being reported, like a newspaper, rather than as an emotional part of the narrative. Hedwig was more the shock (and Harry didn't seem to get too upset either, apart from the initial shock), whilst I did feel for Dobby. It was the only death which had specific meaning and contact with the readership.

smaug: expelliarmus - two sides to that; we know Harry wouldn't want to kill, but, I think he'd already worked out he didn't need to. As long as he got A spell head-to-head with whatever Voldemort tried to do with the Elder Wand, it would backfire. It was always going to be the backfire, so using Voldemort against himself. A hair-dying charm would have done, though we know he's fond of expelliarmus in battle. Surely protego would have been quicker...being two syllables shorter?

kathryn: Severus - I half-missed the implication of naming Albus with the middle name Severus. I saw the subsequent dialogue, showing Harry's understanding and acceptance of Snape's role the whole time, but didn't twig the name till cooking tea tonight.