Spy game

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Chapter 19

Some plot moments you just see coming. Some also have a little unexpected twist, which keep you reading.

• Saw it coming: Ron wants to break up with Lavender. Didn't see it coming: He's trying to weasel out of the relationship by pretending to be asleep. smh
• Saw it coming: Hermione is worried. Didn't see it coming: So much so that she's being unusually quiet. 😲
• Saw it all coming: McLaggen is a one-man wrecking crew against his own team, especially his captain. Know-it-alls are destined to fail. 🅵
• For sure saw it all coming as soon as he showed up: Hagrid can't keep a secret and can't stop talking about it. 🙊

Then there are the full-blown, magic-wand-waving plot twists that apparate the story forward. Every chapter does this. I had just about given up on a way for Harry to keep tabs on Malfoy. Those mangy little house elves actually have a greater purpose.

Satisfaction comes in knowing that Kreacher has to obey Harry even though he doesn't want to. And more satisfaction comes in knowing that Harry has closed every possible loophole (at least it appears that way) Kreacher could use to disobey. Dobby, however, needs no convincing to do his master's will.

Theories abound about what Malfoy and Snape are up to. I'm going with Harry's theory in regards to Malfoy. No doubt he is up to evil. My trust in Snape, however, has not wavered. I'm sticking with the loyal-to-Dumbledore theory. I might be proven wrong, but this is fiction and I have nothing actually at stake.

This does mean more frustrating scenes with house elves fighting, Kreacher saying rude things and Dobby literally beating himself up. But that's the price you pay for a clever plot twist.

Both sides in this war of good magic and evil magic are deep into the spy game now. Who can we trust?

Those are the plot moments we don't get to see coming.

Love is in the mist

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Chapter 14

Hermione loves that Harry is learning the traits of a young and psychopathic Voldemort. As she says, Harry just might discover some of the Dark Lord's weaknesses. But that's a competition for another day.

We learn in this chapter that competition definitely brings out something in people. Not sure it's always the best. In fact I'm sure it's not.

However, the Quidditch match did bring out the best of the Gryffindor team in its domination of the Slytherins. Nice motivational technique by Harry. Ron, of course, would succumb to the placebo trick. I wouldn't be surprised, though, if Ron's confidence disappears before the next match. It doesn't take much to send Ron into spiraling self-pity. Harry might have to slip the mickey for real next time.

The true competition in this chapter concerns hormones and snogging.

Hermione likes Ron, and Ron likes Hermione. But neither will admit it or do anything about it. This relationship has your typical rom-com plot written all over it. Ron's fling with Lavender Brown will end as quickly as it began. Will Ron and Hermione be snogging in the final scene? Grab the tissues.

While the Ron-Hermione match is no secret to Harry, he suddenly has a big secret. His gut quite literally tells him that he has special feelings for Ginny. He is denying it, of course, and I'm quite sure he will continue to do so for quite some time. Even when he admits it to himself, he won't want anybody to know. Harry has to have a secret to carry around of some kind or else he wouldn't be Harry.

So where does all of this teenage angst lead in the cold, misty air of Hogwarts? Will love potions be slipped into pumpkin juice? Will love spells be cast?