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I am not convinced that Snape was doing anything other than what Dumbledore requested. I think Dumbledore was stalling Malfoy in the hope that anyone else would finish him off--he couldn't have wanted Malfoy to become a murderer. Before Snape killed him, he looked at Dumbledore with, what...repulsion and hatred? That might not have been directed at Dumbledore. Maybe Snape was raging at what he had to do. Then, when he really flipped out: "I AM NOT A COWARD!!!" Maybe he's not.

I hate to say it, but dang! I can't wait until the next book comes out!!!

I thought D might be the one who died. I was kind of expecting it. I had no idea who the HBP might be. She kept pointing toward Voldemort but she had said it wasn't him. I didn't guess Snape at ALL until he told Harry!

Now. Is D really dead? She was pretty blatant with the fire and phoenix stuff at the burial and his familiar has been a phoenix, maybe with good reason, for a long time. But she could also have just put that stuff in there to fuel speculation until the last book comes out and make us want it more to see. Is Snape really bad? I haven't thought so all along, I've trusted that D was right about him. I know he truly hates Harry but I didn't think he was a minion of V anymore. Did he and D set this up so that Snape would be totally accepted by V and the Death Eaters? Notice he wouldn't let Harry cast any of the death spells. Was he still trying to be D's man? And who is R.A.B.? And D made sure that Harry was going to be allowed back at the Dursleys way back at the beginning, maybe because he knew he wouldn't be around to take care of it?

This one was so much more enjoyable for me than the last one. It had a lot more of the spirit of the first books.

MAJOR SPOILERS

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There's a chance that Dumbledore isn't dead. We are dealing with magic here.

Things to keep in mind though:

1) Albus Dumbledore went through a lot of trouble to prepare Harry Potter to carry on the fight on his own. Those "extra lessons" were nothing other than background briefings.

2) Dumbledore did not have to immobilize Harry, sacrificing the time he could've used to defend himself from Draco. Harry was therefore made to stand still to be a witness to Dumbledore's death and Snape's treachery. Too neat, to easy to think that Snape who up to this point has been a trusted colleague of Dumbledore.

3) Snape had plenty of time to kill or even kidnap Harry. He didn't. In fact, he went out of his way to ensure that Harry would live to report his treachery.

4) Snape killing Dumbledore before Draco could do it (and Draco was conflicted over taking that last step) was too convenient. Falls into something Dumbledore would've asked Snape to do, to prevent Draco from being the one who did it.

5) Snape didn't kill Flitwick, only stunned him. Snape could've killed Flitwick, Hermione, and Luna without any risk to blowing his cover as a Death Eater, if that was indeed the case what he was.

That Snape is a mean, grumpy, vindictive, and bad excuse for a human being is without question. But there isn't any evidence that he is a killer. Yes, there is a body. Albus is, as far as we can tell, dead. But there is a chance that either he is still alive and his death has been faked, or his death was a planned gambit to save Draco, put Snape back into the Death Eaters, and to push the plot forward to the next stage, where Harry Potter must come out from underneath Albus Dumbledore's protective wing and actually go on the offensive against Voldemort.