I felt the same way, although I liked OotP because it seemed like Harry was finally going to be more than an observer in his own life.

Then HBP hit, and everybody dropped 50 IQ points and spent a year doing nothing. I started reading fanfiction to get the taste of the last two books out of my mouth.

 

Someone, I think Taure, said earlier in the thread that OotP was the transition from Hero's Journey!Harry to Everyman!Harry and that was my primary dissatisfaction with the late series. It's so much less fun reading about a kid who not only doesn't want to be special, but actually isn't aside from the necessary narrative points.

As far as quantifying that into a real facet I dislike, Harry bootlegging Snape's spells, of all people, in HBP was a real turn off. And the flight from Privet Drive irritated the crap outta me. They stuck Harry with someone incapable of protecting him, on a mode of transport he was unfamiliar with. Would've made way more sense to stick him with Moody, the strongest, on a broom. Harry out-flying Voldemort after Moody died would've been EPIC.

 

Right?
True stories about multi-million-dollar lottery winners who ended up in the poorhouse are a dime a dozen.

They waste money on dumb, gaudy, shit like gold plated panther statues. They buy overpowered sports cars they have no business owning, no need for, and not enough skill to drive safely. They purchase extravagant houses with a ton of acreage, without realizing it's not a one-time output of cash: You have to pay property taxes, lawn care for multiple acres, heating/cooling/electrical for a house with a zillion square feet and hundreds of light fixtures, insurance, and general upkeep.

And, of course, they invest in risky business deals, loan money to deadbeats, buy sports teams, and open franchises that never pan out...

Sotto voce: They marry gold-digging whores who wouldn't have looked at them twice when they were poor, and who only have to stay married to them for a little while in order to leave with half of their fortune or more...

Shit, these days they'd probably blow their winnings on micro transactions and trying to buy someone's love via OnlyFans donations.

People who suddenly come into a fortune are undoubtedly some of the worst at handling their money.
Then there are the ones who are smart enough to hand that responsibility over to a financial manager but, tragically, not smart enough to tell an honest/skilled one from a crooked/incompetent one.

Assuming someone poor will handle a fortune better than a rich person, because they'd appreciate it more, is like assuming someone who's never had a pet will take better care of a prize stallion than a race horse breeder.

If I won the lottery, I'd make sound investments, like buying a house with a library and secret passages, buying more lottery tickets, and anonymously sending a crate of fantasy-monster-inspired sex toys to the local retirement home.

You know, responsible spending.

 

I think Sirius death wasn't utilize enough, it should have lead to a some sort of character development, maybe Harry starting to become more active on how he is being prepare to the coming war, but instead he is becoming even more passive then in books 4 and 5.

 

Post-hypnotic suggestion or huge security hole?

 

That does sound kind of stupid. But it would be in line with the usual Hogwarts security. They did keep a gigantic dog from hell behind door a first year could open with a simple charm.

 

To be fair, Dumbledore explicitly told the Students that they would face a painful death by going there.

 

Most people upon seeing the dog also would not enter the room, and instead just close the door and turn around.

 

A super minor one - Harry's boggart should probably be Lord Voldemort. Especially after fourth year

 

Do they even bring boggarts back after that?

 

Didn't Molly get attacked by one in book five?

 

Yeah, but Harry never encountered one after the third task.

 

Harry wasn't afraid of Lord Voldemort.

 

I think he simply knew that Voldemort is more powerful. It may be fear but a rational one.

 

Death by Voldemort was easier than death by dementor.

 

I think that Dementors probably make him feel more helpless, he struggles more to successfully fight those than he does Voldemort.

 

Love Potions... Absolutely hated them and their depiction. JKR dropped the ball with that one. Making them illegal and highly regulated would have enriched the story more.

 

I'd agree on amorentia because sounds immensely dangerous.

I might give less powerful "love" potions a pass though depending on what they actually do. While I'm a bit iffy on secretly giving someone something, if it's more like "you notice the person a bit more" I'd probably give it a pass. I'm inclined to think that's the case given the way Hermione and Ginny reacted to Molly's stories about them in book 3.

I'd also wonder if love potions are the magical world's viagra. I can see couples taking it to spice up their sex life. There's also the issue of them probably being super hard to regulate. Unless there is an easy to control ingredient in them that's not used in other legal things I can't see it being possible. It's like trying to stop methamphetamine production by restricting pseudoephedrine sales, but you can't really stop it because it's such a useful drug.

 

That's true, but teenagers are idiots. We had to ponds at my school and we were reminded on a regular Basis to be careful. Still a surprising number of people managed to fall in. Same thing with annoying the horses and getting kicked.

While those weren't exactly gigantic hell hounds, the nurse at my school couldn't heal a cold or broken ribs within minutes .