Mischief Managed... Not!
I believe there is a small mistake in the movie script of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

The error is when Professor Lupin says "Mischief managed"to the Marauder's Map,just after saying goodbye to Harry at the end of the movie.

In the book, Harry finds Lupin packing in his office, and Lupin says,"I saw you coming,"pointing to the map. On the next page, Lupin says to Harry:

"I am no longer your teacher,so I don't feel guilty about giving you back this as well.It's no use to me and I daresay you, Ron and Hermione will find uses for it." (PoA pg. 424/309)

But he doesn't work the map in Harry's presence.

However, in the movie, at the end of this scene, Lupin points his wand at the Marauder's Map and says, "Mischief managed."

Very cute way to wrap up the scene. But there's a problem. We know that Fred and George stole the map from Filch:

We let off a Dungbomb in the corridor and it upset him for some reason. So he hauled us off to his office and started threatening us with the usual, detention, disembowelment, and we couldn't help noticing a drawer in one of his filing cabinets marked Confiscated and Highly Dangerous." ... "George caused a diversion by dropping another Dungbomb. I whipped the drawer open and grabbed this. It's not as bad as it sounds, you know," said George. "We don't reckon Filch ever found out how to work it. He probably suspected what it was though, or he wouldn't have confiscated it." "And you know how to work it?" "Oh yes," said Fred, smirking. "This little beauty's taught us more than all the teachers in this school." (PoA pg. 191/143)

Fred and George had no connection with the original marauders, James, Sirius, Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. So, Fred and George would have had no way of knowing the original incantations used to operate the map.

I believe it's only logical to assume that Fred and George must have figured out how to use the map by trial and error. However, it's very unlikely they would have come up with the exact incantations the marauders used, instead, it's more likely that they came up with something close to the original incantations,and the map understood their rule-breaking intentions.

Now,Lupin,being one of the original marauders,knows the "real",original incantations that work the map.In addition,he would have no way of knowing what Fred and George's versions of the incantations were (and hence the versions Harry uses because Fred and George told Harry),because Harry never uses the map in front of Lupin.

"I solemnly swear I'm up to no good"and"Mischief managed" are the incantations that Fred and George made up.So, it doesn't make logical sense for Lupin to say "Mischief managed" to the map at the end of the movie!

Foreshadowings in Prisoner of Azkaban

In an interview released around the time of the theatrical premiere of Prisoner of Azkaban, an interview which is also on the Prisoner of Azkaban DVD, J.K. Rowling said:

"Alfonso [Cuaron] had very good intuition about what would and wouldn't work. He's put things in the film that, without knowing it, foreshadow things that are going to happen in the final two books. So, I really got goosebumps when I saw a couple of those things and I thought people are going to look back on the film and think those were put in deliberately as clues."

For fans of J.K.'s Harry Potter mystery, divining what these foreshadowings are could very well lend an important insight into what will be happening in Harry's future.

It's not easy taking notes in a dark theatre, but now that we have Prisoner of Azkaban on DVD, it's easier to delve deeper into the movie to try and find out exactly which parts of the movie that J.K. was referring to.

By referring closely to the DVD, I've found four moments in the movie that, while still keeping within the spirit of the story, do not appear in J.K.'s Prisoner of Azkaban book. That means that while OK'ed by J.K., these things were added to

1.If Snape Didn't Fulfill The Unbreakable Vow,Why Isn't He Dead?
There are three unanswered aspects to this question.

First,do unbreakable vows have a time limit?It's unlikely they do,because you'd think it would have to be stated when the vow was made,and no such time limit was set.
But if they don't have time limits,then it's sort of hard to enforce an unbreakable vow,isn't it?
"Hey!You didn't fulfill your promise!" "No wait! I just haven't gotten around to it,you can't kill me yet!"
Second,I believe if you re-read all of chapter 2, you'll see that the exact details of Draco's task are never spoken outloud in that scene,we only learn of the details later.
If the exact nature of what Snape's promising to do are not spoken exactly,but possibly only an understanding between the parties,what promise is he held to,exactly?Can he be held to details of a vow that weren't expressly stated?Am I watching too many lawyer shows on TV?
One of Draco's main tasks was to fix the vanishing cabinet so he could sneak his Death Eater pals into Hogwarts.Perhaps that's what Snape vowed to help with, and in that case,Draco suceeeded, so Snape's off the hook.
Third,this unanswerable question is based on the assumption that Dumbledore isn't really dead,so Snape didn't kill him,so he didn't fulfill the vow.
But what if the person you made the vow with thinks you fulfilled it?The world,including Narcissa and Bellatrix and you,possibly, up until you read this site!)thinks that Dumbledore is dead.So does that fulfill Snape's vow?
This one is possibly unanswerable until we can either dig out some more clues buried elsewhere in the book, or possibly we won't know until book 7.

2. Doesn't Dumbledore's Portrait Mean That He's Dead?

Does it state anywhere in a Harry Potter book that you have to be dead to be on the wall in the headmaster's office?I can't prove this,but I think it's just more likely the only requirement is you have to be a former headmaster,and it just so happens all of the former headmasters previous to Dumbledore are currently dead.
The book says:
...a new portrait had joined the ranks of the dead headmasters and headmistresses of Hogwarts umbledore was slumbering in a golden frame above his desk,his half-moon spectacles perched upon his crooked nose, looking peaceful and untroubled.(HBP pg 626/584)
Yes,we see it says Dumbledore joined the ranks of the dead headmasters.But that doesn't necessarily mean he is dead,it just means the others of the ranks he was joining were dead.
2a.If Dumbledore Is Alive, Where Is Umbridge's Portrait?
So,you may say,if all the portraits on the wall in the headmaster's office aren't necessarily dead, then where's the portrait of Dolores Jane Umbridge? She was temporarily headmistress last year.
First of all,we don't know there's not a portrait of Umbridge.It's never been mentioned,but it's never been mentioned there isn't one,either.
But,some have asked, the event of the death of the headmaster is surely what triggers the creation of the new portrait.

Unfortunately,we just don't know enough about this. For example,it's possible that you may have actually had to have worked in the office to be honored there. That would leave the toad-lady out,since she was locked out of the headmaster's office during her tenure.Or,perhaps,it is a declaration by the Hogwarts board of governers which creates the portrait,in which case,Umbridge wouldn't have one because the ministry appointed her.
Of course,it's also possible that Dolores is so hated, that the other portraits got together and banned her portrait to a closet someplace...

3. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
And speaking of Umbridge...
Everyone who was everyone in the Wizarding world showed up for Dumbledore's funeral,including Dolores! Weren't you a bit shocked to see her there?
She could have been there out of respect,but we know she wouldn't mean it,and as she must surely be way down on the Ministry ladder right now,who would sh

Dumbledore Is Not Dead!

I was Ccught up in the roller coaster of J.K.'s marvelous and fantastic mysteries, Snape's betrayal and the death of Dumbledore caught me completely by surprise. Dumbledore was dead, and on top of that, Snape had done it.

My brand-new copy of Half-Blood Prince became as tear-stained as one of Hagrid's notes, and I remained upset about it all the rest of the day.

But after sleeping on it, the next day I realized that there were important clues about Snape and Dumbledore that I had missed. And the more I looked back, the more clues I found, realizing that they had been there all along.

And all of the clues point to two possibilities, that Dumbledore's not really dead, or at the very least, that Snape's not really a Death Eater, and he killed Dumbledore because Dumbledore ordered him to, as part of a grand plan.

I've created this web site for Harry Potter fans who were just as upset as I was upon first reading the new book, to help them understand and feel better about the mysterious "death" of Dumbledore. Think of this site as Half-Blood Prince therapy.

While of course only J.K. knows for sure, at least we can comfort ourselves with the possiblity that there's more going on at the end of Half-Blood Prince than meets the eye.

I don't think finding these clues is wishful thinking. We know J.K. intentionally hides many clues in her books, daring her readers to be what our friends at Wizarding World Press call "HP Sleuths", uncovering the details of the mystery she so masterfully weaves into the fabric of the Harry Potter books.

If you need more convincing that J.K. hides clues in her books, take a look at this non-Dumbledore-death-related example, which uses actual quotes from the book as we will be doing throughout this website (page numbers from US edition/UK edition):

This left Harry, Ron and Hermione to share a table with Ernie. They chose one nearest a gold-colored cauldron that was emitting one of the most seductive scents Harry had ever inhaled: Somehow it reminded him simultaneously of treacle tart, the woody smell of a broomstick handle, and something flowery he thought he might have smelled at the Burrow. (HBP pg 183/174)

"You recognized it, I suppose, by its distinctive mother-of-pearl sheen?" "And the steam rising in characteristic spirals," said Hermione enthusiastically, "and it's supposed to smell differently to each of us, according to what attracts us.." (HBP pg 185/176)

"Hang on," a voice said to Harry's left ear and he caught a sudden waft of that flowery smell he had picked up in Slughorn's dungeon. He looked around and saw that Ginny had joined them. (HBP pg 192/182)

There, in the span of approximately nine pages, J.K. has laid out clues that Harry likes Ginny, and we know now that in the course of the book he does come to that conclusion.

On this site we'll discuss the various clues all throughout Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince that will help us get through the tragedy at the end of the book.

And while we do this, we will be declaring our love and admiration for Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, and stand together with Harry in declaring that we're "Dumbledore's man" (or woman), never giving up on him, and never forgetting what he means to Harry, Hogwarts and us.

As Harry so poignantly reminded us upon Scrimgeour's insistance that Dumbledore was dead:

"Such loyalty is admirable, or course," said Scrimgeour, who seemed to be restraining his irritation with difficulty, "but Dumbledore is gone, Harry. He's gone." "He will only be gone from the school when none here are loyal to him," said Harry, smiling in spite of himself. (HBP pg 648/604)

These are some of the excellent clues contained in the pages of Harry Pottter and the Half-Blood Prince which support the possibility that Dumbledore is not really dead, or at least Snape killed Dumbledore on Dumbledore's orders, and that everything that happened that night was planned w