Halfway through The Half-Blood Prince

Well, I officially have HP Book 6 in my possession. Yes, I am on p. 324 already, does anyone have a problem with that? And, since I'm the only one I know who's been able to read non-stop since they got the book, I had to vent off some steam/predictions somewhere. So I figured cyberspace is as good a place as any. If you want something non-Book 6 related, read my previous post. If you want something non-HP related, you may have to wait awhile. (wink, wink)
I'm gonna list the spoilers in order by chapters. Must get theories out of my head before they kill me.
***Spoilers for 6th book***
First of all, the book's interesting, because unlike previous books in the series, there have been 2 English "versions" of the books: one using British slang, the other replacing certain words (line for queue, What's up for Wotcher) with English slang. But now! Hermione and Ron are snogging the same in the US as in Britian!

Chapter 4: Oh, I will not gloat, but I so called the whole using dead body thing (aka the Inferi) in my previous post. SO GREAT. Lily and James, I tell you, they're gonna be back.

Chapter 7: Tonks' new patronus and Snape's remark to it makes me think it's gotta be Sirius' animagus form: the black dog.

Chapter 8: Holy crap. Snape's DADA teacher. What the frick. I don't know what to do with this.

Chapter 12: Mundungus is the one who put the curse on Katie Bell, maybe?

Chapter 10, 13: The penseive is a brilliant device for Rowling to give the readers the backstory they need to understand the bigger picture. I love this, bc it's like the more Harry hears of Vold's story, the more power he understands, the more he can "defeat" him (although defeat is not the right word for me here). In other words, "story" has magical powers. Oh yes, narrative! Also, this tactic of Dumbledore proves his belief in the importance of past choices and circumstances. It's so great to see the difference b/w Harry and Tom when they were 11. Oh, and the whole thing with Vold. liking to keep trophies of ppl he's taken advantage of. I feel that this could be a huge weakness on his part in th future.

Chapter 14: Ok, at this pt. I'm completely convinced that Ginny is using an obsessive love potion with Harry. Also, I love Luna. She makes me happy.

On Stan Shunpike: this "mysterious Death-Eater" situation is tres interesting. It totally makes me think of the contemporary search for terrorists. This whole Wizard War, I feel, greatly parallels our own world's "war on terror." I must watch for any political commentary made by Rowling.

Chapter 2, 10, 13, 15: I don't believe that Snape is evil. Too easy. Most likey, he's playing both sides to see who ends up on top. But, certain things make me think he's fighting for the good guys. After Harry sees the second memory in the Penseive, Dumbledore goes on about how Voldy only ever trusted himself, that he believes himself set-apart. Snape, I think, uses this knowledge to his advantage when he confronts Bellatrix Lestrange in chapter 2. He comes off as Voldy's "most trusted advisor," which means that he could be making up information to give to Bella and her sister. Also, he tells Bella and Narcissa that he knows Draco's plan, but at the end of ch. 15 Snape's trying to get Draco to tell him what "the plan" is. Also, this Unbreakable vow thing has something to do with vampires. (cue roll of the eyes from reader) Draco looks sallow at Slughorn's party, so he's gotta be a vampire. Rowling uses the same description of Draco as he did the friggin vampire who was at the party. Then, maybe Snape is immuned to dying if he breaks the Unbreakable Vow, bc if he's a vamp he's already dead. Or, since the vow was made while Snape didn't know the plan, it makes the vow invalid?? But, I'm telling you. Something with vampires. It's gonna be big. It's coming.