Harry - he actually tells Ron and Hermione about the prophecy (Because Dumbledore told him he should - would he have done it otherwise?) (pg. 96-97)

O.W.L.S.

• Harry - thought he wasn't going to be able to become an Auror because he only got an "E" in 'Potions' and Snape wouldn't let anyone take his Advanced Potions class unless they got an 'O'.
• Hermione - ten 'O's and 1 'E' (in "Defense against the Dark Arts") - She wasn't happy.
• Ron - Seven 'E's (Including 'Potions') - Did better than Fred and George.

Ginny got a purple Pygmy Puff ("Arnold") during their trip for school supplies.

Back to School

Harry gets a little too much attention - "The Chosen One" - his friends find it semi-amusing.

Harry shared a carriage on the Hogwarts Express with Luna Lovegood and Neville Longbottom - even though some 'fangirls' want him to sit with them.

He also gets caught, by Draco, spying on the Slytherins on the train and is late getting to Hogwarts. And got detention for not being in his robes. Usual start to a Harry Hogwarts year.

Oops... Snape finally got to teach 'Defense against the Dark Arts' - so Harry was able to take Advanced Potions with Slughorn. So his dream of being an Auror isn't quite gone.

That book that Slughorn loaned to Harry belonging to the "Half Blood Prince" isn't quite what it seems. As we find out later when we find out who the "Half Blood Prince" was (Snape - whose mother was a "Prince"). But the potion directions in it work better than the original.

Not a mention of Hermione's birthday! If she hadn't taken the test for the Apparating license - we might never have known she was seventeen.

We 'meet' a Vampire at one of Slughorn's parties - "Sanguini the Vampire"

Remus Lupin was a spy among the werewolves. Why didn't Voldemort find out? Especially if Snape was feeding him info from the 'Order of the Phoenix'

We find out how wizards learn to apparate on page 384.

Who is R.A.B. ? My guess? Regulus Black. He took the "Horcruxe" and was killed by Voldemort or one of the other Death Eaters - but did Voldemort get it back or is it hidden in 12 Grimmauld Place? One of the 4 missing parts of Voldemort's soul?

How does the Ministry detect underage magic? They can't tell who did it... just that it happened. So why did they stomp all over Harry? They ignore any under-age magic if it occurs in a wizarding home. But since Harry lived with muggles...

Draco's big project... to get Death Eaters into Hogwarts (He repaired that magic cabinet) and kill Dumbledore (or help them kill Dumbledore?)

Too bad all of the 'Time turners' were destroyed -- so no rescue of Dumbledore this time around. But what happened to the one Hermione used in their third year? (And can a time turner be used to stop time? Can someone sneak in and rescue Dumbledore without anyone noticing?)

Lots of tidbits about Tom Riddle as we go along... his character, his childhood... right from the beginning he isn't a nice person.

Will Lucius Malfoy escape from Azkaban?

Would Snape have ever thought of killing Dumbledore if it weren't for that 'Unbreakable Bond' ? And it's obvious to Harry, Dumbledore, and Snape that Draco isn't a killer...

Will Harry really not go back to Hogwarts if it opens up the following year? It isn't really clear. And will he, Ron, and Hermione go after Voldemort by themselves? Or will the Order of the Phoenix help them out? (I don't think so... only Harry knows what Dumbledore had planned and he doesn't seem to be in any hurry to tell anyone except Hermione and Ron)

Not too thrilled with the whole "Harry tells Ginny he can't be her boyfriend" thing. I don't think he's being fair to her. But he's being over-protective like always... And I bet she still helps them out. Whether Harry wants her to or not.

I don't think anyone should be surprised at the Ron/Hermione pairing. We've known that was coming for a while... But the whole Tonks/Remus Lupin thing... almost out of the blue.

• The major issue - the death of Dumbledore... he's alive in my fic series (after Harry deals with Voldemort). I would need to find a way to 'bring him back' that isn't too outlandish (See comments about the time turner above as one possibility. Or maybe Snape and Dumbledore faked everyone out...)
• The Harry/Ginny romance - easily dealt with... we just don't have them get back together after Voldemort is dead.
• Bill's injuries... plenty of time for them to be dealt with before he shows up in my series. Just need to throw in a mention of Fleur somehow...
• The whole 7th Year issue... hmmm... easy to fix if Dumbledore isn't really dead.