1. Neville Longbottom: Neville’s character had been becoming more and more important in the previous books, only to fizzle out in this one. JKR tried to make up for lost time by including Neville in the final battle between the Death Eaters and the Order, but since the battle wasn’t really narrated until after the Death, we still have no idea what was going on.
2. Luna Lovegood, the Ghosts, the Veil, and the Dept. of Mysteries: I don’t understand how Harry could avoid this “conversation starter” with Luna for an entire year. Surely, he was a wee-bit curious about how Luna and he could hear mysterious, faceless voices coming from the other side of a deadly object. Just a little? And why didn’t Harry ask about the whole Ghost-thing again, huh?
3. The Creeveys, Cho Chang, the Other D.A. Members: I still can’t fathom that the only D.A. members who had sizeable roles in Book Six where Harry, Hermione, Ron, Luna, Neville, Ginny, Dean, and Zacharias Smith. There were like, ten other people involved with the club, and now…have they disappeared?
4. The Graduates: What about Lee Jordan, Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet, and the rest? Weren’t these people friends with the Weasley twins? So what gives?
5. Viktor Krum: Surely there is more to this character. There’s no reason he should have been in Britain during Book Six, however.
6. Mad-Eye Moody, Charlie Weasley, Firenze: What are these important members of the Order up to? Is Charlie recruiting many Romanians to the Order? Is Moody hunting Death Eaters like in old times? Sadly, I’m not sure that any ink was devoted to these important characters, with the exception of Firenze, who was mentioned in passing.
7. And what about that rumor that “something HUGE will be revealed about Lily Potter.” What was it, that she was good at Potions?

1. The Disappearances of Florean Fortescue and Mr. Ollivander: Sure this is an interesting premise, but what was its point? Yes, it proved that the times were dark, but…I was interested in some sort of resolution to this mystery.
2. The Slug Club: It randomly disappeared after Harry questioned Slughorn about Horcruxes, and it seemed a bit surreal to me.
3. Cormac McLaggen: A pointless character if there ever was one. Really, he had no point except to attempt (weakly) to revive Quidditch. He just had no point, considering he is characterized almost identically to Zacharias Smith.
4. The Inferi: When they were first introduced, I assumed that particular corpses would be used to trick people into doing things, such as a False-Sirius or a Fake-Ollivander running around, or maybe I assumed that one of the characters in the book was actually an Inferi and that they had already, unbeknownst to the reader, been killed. I was naturally disappointed to learn that they lived in a lake in a cave and could be easily warded off with a bite of fire.
5. Chapter Titles: ‘An Excess of Phlegm’? ‘The Lightning-Struck Tower’? I actually saw the leaked titles before the book was released and I refused to believe them. Luckily, only a few were disappointing.
6. Rufus Scrimgeour: This one disappointed me the most. Because he wasn’t a large part like Fudge, I didn’t understand it, and I got the distinct impression he was some weird political message about Guantanamo Bay. He might not have been, but I didn’t buy into his character, nor did I understand why Harry was so opposed to this guy. I mean, he seemed nice enough until Harry gave him lip. And after months of imagining a noble, lion-like character, I was disappointed to notice his poorly developed character traits. If the ‘Draw Character X’ contest were open now, I would draw a stick figure with glasses and mane, because I just don’t care about this pointless character. I mean, come on, either make him menacing or benevolent.

1. The Voldemort Back-story: This was an absolutely critical point to the story and JKR nailed it. Everyone expected that the focus would be on Snape, or Lily Potter, and having this much information about Voldemort revealed before Book Seven was a well-thought out treat. His mother’s rough family life, and his orphanage days, as well as his relationship to Dumbledore all chillingly remained me of the “Is Your Son a Serial Killer?” segment on Dr. Phil. It made perfect sense to me, and it made Lord Voldemort scary in ways that physical appearance never could.
2. Fleur Delacour: Briefly, I really did like how Fleur’s character became very, very serious in the ending scenes of the novel.
3. Horcruxes: I have always wondered about that Diary and how it worked. This is a very, very interesting explanation of just how Voldemort stayed alive, which I would have never believed until JKR poignantly explained it. Everything about Voldemort’s fishy status as non-human makes sense now. I only wonder if the younger fans will be able to grasp this. I am not too keen on the “gotta-catch-em-all” nature of the Horcruxes, though.
4. Professor Slughorn: It’s interesting, my friends and I were just saying that a “good Slytherin” would be an interesting character to add to the picture. I found Slughorn very amusing as well as competent, and I think that having him as Head of Slytherin will be very good, assuming Hogwarts is open next year.
5. Draco Malfoy’s Dilemma: I loved it. This, to me, was the final step in plunging Harry into adulthood. His childhood rivalry suddenly became very, almost chillingly mature as Draco became a hit-man of sorts. It is sad, in a way, that this rivalry has become suddenly deadly. The pity that everyone now feels for Draco Malfoy after Dumbledore treated him so kindly was just a fantastic twist to the series.
6. The Snape Mystery: Right after I read Snape’s vicious “Avada Kedavra!” I thought, “Well, at least we know what side Snape is on.” The more I thought about it, however, the less sense this conclusion made. The protection he gave Harry in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, the years of spywork he did for Dumbledore, Dumbledore’s absolute certainty of Snape’s nature, the protection he offered the kids from the werewolf in the Third Movie…none of it adds up—yet.
7. Remus and Tonks: Ha! A couple that the rabid Shippers didn’t see coming! I was thrilled to find an adult coupling that actually made sense. I thought it was perfectly sensible, if slightly random.
8. The Half-Blood Prince: It wasn’t as important as I thought, but I didn’t guess who it really was. It was a great mystery resolved at the end of the book. When Harry used Sectumsempra against Draco, my mind froze, and I, thinking he had actually killed Draco, sat in utter disbelief for minutes until I realized Harry had only caused serious bleeding.
9. The R. A. B. Mystery: I was so excited when I read this. I knew that this was the new mystery that would keep us fans busy well into the release of Book Seven. We will be discussing this like mad, although I know many of us have reached a conclusion already—see my next column for details. Holy Pearls! This one is good.
10. Fenrir Greyback: This is my absolute favorite new character in Book Six. I have formed a terrifying image of a man in my mind who looks so monstrous that his transformation is minimal. A vicious character who mauls children in revenge, is the villain I find most terrifying. It is my male testosterone that is now telling me how AWESOME his fights are going to be in book seven. Guys, this dude is going to rock our world. And what a name! Fenrir, the terrifying wolf from the bowels of Hell, eventually killed the Chief God Odin, and was later slain by his son Thor.