thinking back to my pre-DH questions

I just went back and re-read my questions that I listed before DH came out.

I guess most of them were answered. Some of the ones from story lines earlier than HBP were not addressed, and I still wish we'd learned a bit more about Harry's parents. I thought we would.

My biggest disappointment, in terms of questions that were not answered is really one I didn't even list because I was so sure we'd been promised an answer to it already -- what happened at Godric's Hollow immediately following the death of Harry's parents up to the point we see Hagrid bringing Harry to Privet Drive? I thought we'd learn more about that.

And Pettigrew. If he had Voldemort's wand, where did he keep it while he was a rat pet of the Weasleys? And, back to my question about the prophecy, how exactly was he "chained these twelve years" and unable to help his master until the events in PoA transpired. I guess we'll never know -- I thought those words had some mysterious significance that we hadn't yet learned, but I guess not.

So, Dumbledore was a manipulative old so-and-so, and we're left with the fact that Harry is okay with that. Am I okay with it? I guess, seeing how it turned out -- it could have been a lot worse. He does seem sort of a puppetmaster, pulling strings to get just the right performance out of both Harry and Snape without telling either more than they need to know to play their own part. I wonder if Snape would have done the same if he'd known more -- or would he have let on something of the plan to Voldemort, even by accident?

I just re-read a bit of the scene in Chamber when Harry asks Dumbledore about being able to speak Parseltongue, and how he says that Voldemort left a bit of himself in Harry. Dumbledore confirms this quite honestly at this point, but later he neglects to mention this part of his theory to Harry. What would Harry have done differently if he'd have known all along?

Snape and Lily -- and Petunia. I didn't expect this, despite the fact that I did think "that awful boy" was probably Snape. And while reading DH, I thought maybe "the source we discussed" that told Snape the date they were moving Harry out of Privet Drive was Petunia, because (1) she knew the date but not the full plan (2) she seemed unable to meet Harry's eye but seemed to have something she was leaving unsaid, and I wondered if it was guilt at having given him away.

"Remember my last" takes on a bit of new meaning, as does Dumbledore's greeting to Petunia, "we have corresponded" in HBP. I always wondered if Petunia's problem was jealousy. She wanted to go along with Lily to Hogwarts. But I'm unclear -- is she trying to stamp out Harry's magical abilities again because of jealousy or has she now convinced herself that wizards are indeed freaks? Doe she secretly wish Dudley could go to Hogwarts or was she worried he would develop magical abilities and glad that he didn't?

Much more to come.