Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

- As for the PoA movie being a good predictor of things to come . . . one thing that was prominent in book 3 and absent from movie 3 was the tension between Ron/Harry and Hermione.  Ron wasn't speaking to Hermione for a good portion of the book becuase of Crookshanks' pursuit of Scabbers, and Harry was angry at Hermione for telling McGonagall about the present of the Firebolt and threatening to tell her about the Marauders' Map.  If I recall, this tension amongst the threesome wasn't really a part of the movie at all.  Perhaps their group dynamic and close friendship foreshadows the importance the friendship of the trio will take on in fighting Voldemort in DH.  Moreover, the lack of tension between Ron and Hermione in the PoA movie makes the idea of their budding relationship a lot more plausible seeing as my major criticism of them as a couple is that they argue all the time.  There's also what Betzi said about Lily's eyes.  Harry's resemblance to Lily was stressed in the movie; his resemblance to James is stressed in the book.  Perhaps Harry's resemblance to his mother will come to help him more than his resemblance to his father in DH.  Without having recently watched the movie, that's about all I've got.

- Question: Are there other ways to kill a wizard?  We've heard-- and seen-- a lot of Avada Kedavra-ing, but is this the only spell that will kill a wizard?  When Harry, Lupin, Sirius and crew are in the Shrieking Shack, Harry contemplates killing Black: "A boiling hate erupted in Harry's chest, leaving no place for fear.  For this first time in his life, he wanted his wand back in his hand, not to defend himself, but to attack . . . to kill."  The unforgivable curses are introduced by Moody in the fourth book; furthermore, it's made clear that you can't simply say the words and cause death, so how exactly does Harry intend to kill Black?  The same question occurs to me when Black and Lupin are poised to kill Pettigrew.  Right before Harry jumps in front of Pettigrew, Lupin says, "You should have realized . . . if Voldemort didnt' kill you, we would.  Good-bye, Peter."  Do they intend to perform the Avada Kedavra curse on him?  How can they?  First of all, like I said before, I recall that you can't just say the words "avada kedavra" and produce murder; I recall Moody saying that there must be a powerful bit of dark magic behind any unforgiveable curse (which is why Harry is unable to use one on Voldemort and then Malfoy in subsequent books).  Would Lupin and Sirius have been capable of producing an avada kedavra?  I guess in addition to wondering if there's another way to kill a wizard, I'm looking for more information about how the avada kedavra curse works.  Moreover, even if Lupin and Siruis could have produced the avada kedavra, would they?  Wouldn't that basically be suicide?  They'd be sent to Azkaban themselves for using an unforgivable curse.  And yet, they are BOTH willing to do it.  If it were a suicide mission, why would Lupin jump in and hurtle himself onto the tracks, so to speak?  Sirius is already a dead man.  It makes more sense, rationally, for him to perform an unforgivable curse.  So, do they have another way, or are they just so consumed by revenge that they don't even care?

- I go back to a point I made before that Harry is going to have to toe a tricky line between good and evil in order to defeat Voldemort in DH.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Dumbledore's fatal flaw was that he was too trusting and too noble.  He is too trusting in that he's too willing to believe that people are good at heart.  He has a pattern of believing in people and giving them second chances, and while some of them have worked out (Hagrid, Lupin, Sirius), others have been fatal (Snape, Voldemort himself when he was Tom Riddle).  He's too noble in that it's pointed out again and again that Dumbledore has the same strength that Voldemort does, but he chooses not to use the dark powers he does.  In order to defeat Voldemort, not only will Harry have to make shrewder choices, but I'm betting it will involve finding a balance between good and dark magic and being willing to cross a line that Dumbledore was not willing to cross.  If Harry intends to defeat Voldemort once and for all, he will have to kill him.  I don't see another way.  And that will involve tapping in to a dark magic that he's thus far avoided.  I'm so interested to see how this affects Harry in DH.

- I am no longer convinced that McGonagall may be evil as I have seen no evidence of it in CoS or PoA.  I now think that JKR just wanted to keep the possibilities open in SS.  It was so early in the series, and all the characters were new; the "hints" I picked up on that McGonagall may be on the side of evil were likely present because JKR just didn't want to give too much away in the first book.  I think it's far more likely that JKR just didn't want to give away so early who was on what side.

- I do, however, think that someone close to Harry will betray him in DH.  Something new has to develop in DH, and I think the likeliest candidate from my point of view is that a close friend will betray him, and I do mean a friend.  Someone his own age.  His own parents suffered betrayal at the hands of their trusted friend Pettigrew; furthermore, PoA makes it clear that no one was trusted.  When Pettigrew asks Lupin, "Wouldn't Sirius have told you they'd changed the plan?", Lupin replies, "Not if he thought I was the spy, Peter . . . I assume that's why you didn't tell me Sirius?"  Sirius replies, "Forgive me, Remus," and Lupin responds, "Not at all, Padfoot, old friend . . . and will you, in turn, forgive me for believing you were the spy?"  These four-- James, Lupin, Sirius and Pettigrew-- were the closest of friends, yet they didn't trust one another in the darkest of times.  Aside from Draco and his cronies, Harry hasn't yet begun to entertain the idea that one of his own peers could join the dark side and betray him, but I think they're reaching an age now where that's a real possibility.  The "kids" at Hogwarts are getting old enough now to take sides, and it will be interesting to see where they fall in DH.

- I can't bring myself to think that Harry will die.  I just can't.  I do, however, think that one of the trio will die, and JKR's outburst only strengthens that opinion.  I would think that she would be just as upset at killing any one of them.  My bet is on Ron.  Ron has always been in Harry's shadow; he's never been quite as strong at magic as Harry or Hermione, and he's never really had his turn in the spotlight.  This makes him just a little bit like Peter Pettigrew, who was never as strong as James, Lupin and Sirius.  When given the opportunity to latch on to what seemed like a larger greatness in Voldemort, Pettigrew sold the Potters for his own life.  When Pettigrew points out that Voldemort would have killed him if he hadn't turned the Potters over, Sirius responds very vehemently, "Then you should have died! . . . died rather than betray your friends, as we would have done for you!"  My theory is that Ron will be presented with a similar choice, but being nobler and braver than Pettigrew he WILL choose to die in order to save Harry, and thus, he WILL get his final moment in the spotlight.  After all, Ron already proved in the chess game in CoS that he'll sacrifice himself for the greater good.