I was also right about one of the deaths. Good choice to pick one of a pair of interchangeable characters. Also nice to see a pair of redemptions, one comic, one very sad. I can't say I particularly liked the coda, not on first reading anyway. In fact I think I felt my teeth rotting from the sweetness as I read it.

Having got to page 289 I'm pleased to say I was right about everything except Regulus' middle name, which I guessed was Alphard (after his uncle) rather than Arcturus. The locket was indeed the one 'which none of them could open' that they found at Grimmauld Place in Order of the Phoenix, it certainly was saved from the rubbish sack by Kreacher and it was, as predicted, subsequently nicked by Mundungus Fletcher.

Talking of Order of the Phoenix, JKR obviously wanted to avoid writing another book with a long slow start. Deathly Hallows positively explodes with action early on. I haven't been so beset by so many catastrophes in such a short time since I first watched Buffy episode 5.20, Spiral, where Buffs' plan to hide from Glory goes awry in successively more dreadful ways.

Still room for some humour though. Uncle Vernon obviously still reads the Daily Mail, as his suspicions that Harry wants to get his hands on the equity in 4 Privet Drive show. Interesting, btw, to see that Rowling avoids the easy option of showing the Dursleys as Muggle racists. You'd've thought a black wizard would be a Mail reader's worst nightmare.

Which none of them could open

After re-reading all the Harry Potter books in preparation for July 21st, and not reading any spoilers at all, I've worked out where the real Horcrux locket is, and who swapped it for the fake.

But it occurs to me that, if it's not uncommon for wizards to have two Muggle parents, but it's quite rare for wizarding parents to have a Squib, then the wizarding population should long ago have outnumbered the Muggles, particularly as Squibs are still part of wizarding society. I'm surprised that there are any pure-blood Muggles left at all, in fact.

Nice to see, by the way, that, when Snape talks about Wormtail, he starts channelling Saruman talking about Wormtongue. 'He has taken to listening at doors lately' recalls 'Worm has been very hungry lately.'

Doctor Who spin-offs no. 6

Round The Vaughn

Much loved sixties radio show featuring well-spoken straight man Tobias Vaughn and famous characters Cyber-Julian and Cyber-Sandy ('He's fully cybernetic, and I've been converted.' 'Converted.') Music from Scottish singing quartet the Frazer Hines Four.

Doctor Who spin-offs no. 5

Kindagarten

Social experiment where young kids spend a year in a closed environment with wind chimes and lots of Swiss cheese plants, exposed to periodic rants from Simon Rouse.

Doctor Who spin-offs no. 4

Drahvin Miss Daisy

Tender flashbackathon where Jessica Tandy gradually opens up to chauffeur Morgan Freeman, confiding that she is, in truth, Maaga, who escaped from the doomed planet just in time and has been in hiding on Earth ever since. Freeman's sympathy enables her to ultimately come to terms with all the evil deeds she committed back in Galaxy Four.

I've assembled myself a tape of blocking songs. My new neighbours are mostly very quiet, but occasionally they put gangsta rap on, and I'm not sitting listening to that while I'm trying to read.

So a group of songs are required which have enough authority to cover up the noise coming through the wall, but which aren't so noisy as to be irritate me themselves.

Radio Prague - OMD (melodic distortion to help me get the right volume level)
The Shouty Track - Lemon Jelly (the blocking song where all other blocking songs begin. It was with this that I used to signal to my Polish upstairs neighbours that I had had enough thumping on my ceiling for one afternoon)
Aphrodite - Paris and Sharp (nice bit of trance with wonderful tuneful bangy bit at the end)
The Private Psychedelic Reel - Chemical Brothers
Trance Shapes - Robert Miles (the track that first showed me the virtues of trance)
Sploosh! - Ozric Tentacles
Hey Boy, Hey Girl - Chemical Brothers (vocals for a change)
Walking Distance - Buzzcocks (guitarry instrumental)
Waterfall - Atlantic Ocean
To The Shock Of Miss Louise - Thomas Newman (nothing says 'Please stop playing gangsta rap now' like a bit of steam organ)
Late For The Train - Buzzcocks (drum-tastic train imitation to round things off)