Opening Scenes – The opening scenes of the movie really didn’t impress me a whole lot. The only bits that I didn’t like of the opening was the Harry/Dumbledore photoshoot in the Ministry of Magic and the whole train station stuff. The photoshoot was just a really odd way to open up the film, especially as it looked like they shoved it in the beginning at the last minute. Did not like that at all; it shouldn’t have been in the film to begin with. Everything with the train station was all right and rather humorous, but I prefer the way the book opened up with Dumbledore coming to the Dursley’s house more. I thought that opening scene was just okay – I don’t like it a whole lot, but I don’t hate it either. Everything else with the opening scenes (especially the bridge collapsing) were just great, in my opinion!

Spinner’s End – I would’ve liked it if they would have done this scene when it is dark out like in the book. I liked the whole rainy weather they had going on, but it just seemed weird with Bellatrix and Narcissa running through the muggle streets in the middle of the day with a stray person or whatever wandering about that they were trying not to be seen by. The look on Peter Pettigrew’s face when Snape kicked him out of the room was just priceless and all of Snape’s lines were said perfectly. I really giggled to myself when Bellatrix started picking things up around the room; I really could see her doing that. Alan Rickman and Helena Bonham Carter were both just brilliant in that scene! And that brings me to…

Narcissa Malfoy – Oh dear. I am so not a fan of Helen McCrory as Narcissa. She doesn’t look how I pictured Draco Malfoy’s mother to look like at all, and she didn’t really look as if she was really worried for her son like a mother would. And what is up with her hair in the film? The black and blonde hair was just horrible! The Malfoys are all blonde. Sorry, but maybe they totally missed that completely OBVIOUS part of how she was supposed to look.

Pace of the Beginning – I really think that they went a little too quick with the pace at the beginning of the film. For me, it just seemed they were rushing the beginning to get to the good, action stuff. Honestly, I understand why they did that, but it won’t hurt anyone to slow down the pace a little bit. I mean, people have already paid to see the film and are already comfortable in their seats.

Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes – haha! I loved the shop! It was bright, things were whizzing about all over the place, and they kept the Weasley twins’ “theme song” from Order of the Phoenix. I was really impressed with everything about the shop, and the quick conversation between Ron and the twins was just great. Plus, Cormac McLaggen was in that scene, so more bonus points for that! Though, once again, this was a scene that was rushed a bit. Really wished that we had more time in the shop.

WWW to Knockturn Alley Transition – I actually liked this better than what the book had. It was nice to see a quick look at the streets of Diagon Alley once again and get a look at Ollivander’s shop being completely deserted before Ron sees Narcissa and Draco heading down to Knockturn Alley. It just shows that dark times are getting darker and everyone should be on their guard 24/7.

Knockturn Alley and Borgin & Burkes – Yes, they did give this dark place a makeover. And you know what? I prefer this new Knockturn Alley over what we had to live with for Chamber of Secrets, as well as the new look of Borgin & Burkes. The entire scenes with wandering through the streets and climbing up to the rooftop to see what was going on with Draco & Company, I thought, was better than the book. I just thought it was a little strange seeing the WANTED! posters there. Do you really think people lurking down there would want to turn in Death Eaters that have escaped from Azkaban? No, I didn’t think so either.

The Hogwarts Express/Luggage Security – I really enjoyed the Hogwarts Express scenes. I thought it was a little odd with the coach that all the Slytherins were in was just one giant compartment compared to the rest of the coaches and their little, separate compartments. However, I can live with that. Not really that big of a deal. The Harry/Draco scene near the end was brilliant. Loved that so much! And I preferred having Luna finding Harry (it was hilarious!) than Tonks, even though I’m a huge Tonks fan, and then showing up seeing Filch complain about Lucius Malfoy’s cane. Loved the Harry/Draco lines there as well.

Snape as Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher – I’m pleased that they announced this, but I really would’ve loved to see how he made his version of the classroom creepy. It would’ve been great seeing the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom go from this ugly pink and cat haven thing to a dark and creepy place.

Laughing at the First Years/Potions Class – bwahaha. I loved it when Harry and Ron were laughing at the first years. It was just so great. I really wished that McGonagall would’ve mentioned something to them about how stupid they looked being late for their first Transfiguration lesson when they were mere eleven year olds. However, Maggie Smith did a wonderful job there. And I liked the transition from there to Potions class. One thing I wasn’t very pleased about was that there were way too many kids in that class. Only a few got in that class/chose to take it. Why add more? Anyway, loved the scene and the bit where Harry and Ron were fighting over which textbook they got was just brilliant!

Quidditch Tryouts/Match: The tryouts were just awesome! I really enjoyed watching that on the screen on how Cormac and Ron tried out for the team. I wish the transition from the previous scene to that was a lot better though. And the match should’ve been longer. I loved how they did this “comedy” Quidditch. It was so vicious and it made me want to see more than just the minute or so we got to see.

Cormac McLaggen – Of course, I just have to say something about Freddie Stroma’s portrayal of Cormac. HE WAS EVERYTHING I WAS EXPECTING TO GET OUT OF HIM! He’s absolutely charming, handsome, and his voice is just – it gave me chills, alright! This honestly shows that Hermione has no brains when it comes to hot guys (but that is okay, she’s better with Ron anyway). I really do wish he was in the film more, though. We barely got to see him really.

Lavender/Ron/Hermione – I am totally proud with how they did this. Everything was just perfect and the acting was astounding. In the books, we can tell that she was jealous of Ron and Lavender but wow. I totally felt for her (and throughout the films I never really was a huge fan of Emma’s portrayal of Hermione) and wanted to charm birds to attack Ron too. I know I’m skipping ahead here, but that scene in the Hospital Wing was MADE OF WIN! And Lavender’s reaction in the scene we see her next in the Great Hall was just hilarious.

Tom Riddle/Memories/Pensieve/Horcruxes – Both Tom Riddle’s in this film, I thought, were PERFECT. I wish that the older Tom Riddle in the film was more handsome as I didn’t find him very attractive like the way he sounds in the books. However, brilliant job from both of them, especially Hero Fiennes-Tiffin. I enjoyed the transitions in and out of the memories and I liked the new look of the pensieve. How the pensieve looked in the film was always how I thought it should look (plus it’s just cool how easy it looks to move it around, lol). I really was glad that the House of Gaunt stuff wasn’t there. I really thought that memory in the book was really boring. Dumbledore just mentioning Riddle’s mother and how he found the ring was just good enough for me. I do, however, wish they would’ve put in the memory with Hepzibah Smith, Hufflepuff’s cup, and the locket (they could’ve done that easily if they took out that photoshoot thing and got rid of that train station nonsense).

Draco Malfoy/Room of Requirement – I simply loved the scenes where we got to see what Draco was up to. It just wouldn’t be right if they didn’t show what was going on and the whole Vanishing Cabinets plot would’ve been lost completely. Tom Felton shows off his acting abilities in this film and made me easily feel so sorry for Draco because of it. I was even rooting for him to succeed with the cabinet tasks! lmao.

Slughorn’s Christmas Party/Spying on Snape and Draco – Oh my God! This was one of my many favorite scenes. Simply because of Hermione running away from Cormac, Cormac vomiting on Snape’s shoes, and the way Snape talked to Harry when giving him Dumbledore’s little message. And I enjoyed how they did the whole thing with Harry eavesdropping on Snape and Draco’s rather loud conversation.

Christmas at the Burrow – So this is when I start really ranting about how much I really disliked this scene. It was a great action scene, but we all know that this is not in the book. Moreover, it really would never happen with the characters and their personalities. Yes, good action scene for a film, but I didn’t enjoy it very much. They probably just stuck that there to fill in the gap as they didn’t have a new Minister of Magic casted as they were lazy so concerned with burning down the Burrow. Plus, it is wintertime. And where is the snow at the Burrow? Hmm?

Remus/Tonks – Okay, I am sort of saddened with people saying that they really didn’t like how their relationship changed in this one. Yeah, Tonks is supposed to be all depressed and everything and Remus is trying to avoid her and all that, but it just wouldn’t be right having nothing happen between them and then suddenly in the Deathly Hallows films they’re all happy and married and are having a baby in the middle of it all.

Love Potion – Some of the best acting I’ve ever seen in a Harry Potter film. Everything was just perfect, and Rupert was simply hilarious playing Ron in this film! Kudos!

Fighting in the Loo/Sectumsempra – Again, really superb acting on Tom and Dan’s part. I loved every moment of this scene, though I do wish that Draco’s cuts were deeper and looked harder to heal. When Snape healed Draco’s wounds, it just seemed too easy for him (not just because he’s the Half-Blood Prince either).

Harry/Ginny – Although I adored how Jo wrote this up in the book, I liked the film adaption as well. And the little hints from Hermione to Harry were brilliant as well as it just informed Harry that people do notice things when they are paying enough attention (and Harry does the same for her when it comes to Ron). I enjoyed the Room of Requirement scene with Harry and Ginny, but I do wish that first kiss of theirs was longer than what it was. But I do have to admit, some of their relaionship bits *cough*GinnyfeedingHarry*cough* were a bit odd.

Felix Felicis/Aragog’s Funeral/Goldfish/Getting the Memory – Everything with the liquid luck potion was HANDS DOWN the best part of the entire film when it comes to comedy. Dan did an excellent job at it, and eventually Jim and Robbie when they get on screen. Everything was just hilarious with some of the lines that were said and actions that were done. Seeing the dead Aragog was a little sad to see. The giant spider we saw in Chamber of Secrets seemed to look as if Aragog was tiny in this one. I understand that be probably shrunk a bit, but he was just a tad bit too small for me. And in Hagrid’s hut, lol. So much giggling from me. I loved how Slughorn went on about Francis the goldfish that Lily gave to him and how that ended up with Harry getting the memory. It was random, but it actually made some sense! Oh, I almost forgot! “And pincers. Tsk, tsk, tsk (finger motions).” Honestly, I nearly wet myself when that line was said, lmfao!

Dumbledore’s Quick Chat with Snape – I liked how this was added into the film. We didn’t get this in the book, but I think that it made Snape a little more mysterious and made the viewers question which side he really was on (more particularly toward the end of the film).

Astronomy Tower/Cave – I wasn’t really a big fan of Dumbledore being able to apparate within Hogwarts with Harry. I, personally, didn’t think that should’ve happened, but it worked out all right, really. In addition, Dumbledore’s explanation worked too as he is a very powerful wizard. The cave scene was everything I wanted and more. The Inferi were amazing, but the fake Horcrux locket was just too small for me and there was really nothing Slytherin-like about it (but I’m just picky about details like that). However, it was a great scene and I was very pleased with it.

The Death Eaters Are In Hogwarts (DUNDUNDUN!) – Loved it. Absolutely loved it, though I wish that there was some sort of battle in there. Hexing the few “Aurors” that were there just wasn’t enough, and then you had the teachers out there patrolling the courtyard, etc. I wanted a battle scene, but I guess then being sneaky (though Bellatrix had her fun trashing the place, lmao) works out fine too.

Astronomy Tower Again/Dumbledore’s Death – Hmm. I really wish they would’ve followed the book more on this one. Harry just wouldn’t go hide and do nothing about it really, even if it was on Dumbledore’s orders. Oh well, I wasn’t really worried about that as long as the main plot there got through - which I think it did. And the bit where Snape is on the same level as Harry and his wordless “Shh!” message was just lovely, lol. Again, it made you wonder about him and who he really was loyal too. Dumbledore’s death made me cry both times I saw the film. And I was actually sort of glad that they didn’t include the funeral. (GASP!) It just really wasn’t that necessary to me to have that in there as seeing Dumbledore die and fall right of the Astronomy Tower was enough. … Though, they should’ve at least mentioned somewhere about Dumbledore being buried at Hogwarts just to set it up for the final films (though I’m sure they’ll mention where Dumbledore’s grave is somehow in the next film).

Snape Revealing He’s the Half-Blood Prince – It just seemed sort of rushed (even if he was running away after killing Dumbledore). And there was no “DON’T CALL ME A COWARD!” line, which I think should’ve been in there.

Back to Dumbledore – The whole wand thing was really sweet. I think that was much better (and it was quicker!) than having the funeral. I loved the Harry/Ginny moment there, but I never really was a fan of Dan and his fake crying. It didn’t seem real enough to me. *shrugs* Anyway, lovely scene. Just being picky again.

Last Dumbledore’s Office Scene – The whole thing with Harry picking up Dumbledore’s wand was really touching. I just wish that he wasn’t such a butt to McGonagall and ignored her “If you need someone to talk to…” bit. Honestly, I understand he’s hurting, but she was close to Dumbledore too you know.

The Ending/Good-bye Fawkes – I thought the ending was sweet, actually. Especially with Fawkes “singing” and flying away. I’m going to miss that phoenix! *sniff* Really loved the last scene, as I said. However, I wasn’t very fond of the very last line that was said (“I never realized how beautiful this place was.”) as it seemed a little too cheesy. Again, me being picky. lol.