aka the Snape Chapter

single best thing she's ever written. she nailed one of the most complex characters in the history of epic fiction/kids lit/whatever in 15 pages. if your heat didn't break in that chapter, you've never lost someone because you're a dumbass. and then, to have to teach the perfect amalgamation of the person you will love forever and the person who took her away from you, and to have htat person be the son you never had, and the person you basically have to dedicate your life to...it's enough to drive someone batshit crazy.

an interesting subtheme throughout the book is how love for one person can save you. the malfoys are pretty much redeemed by the end of the book, mainly because they love each other and can't stand what voldy is doing to the other members of the family. then, of course, there's snape, who, while he would deny it to the end, clearly learned to love a lot more people while believing he only loved Lily, Harry and Dumbledore chief among them.