Dumbass. Considering he was that obsessive, he would have been spoiled when he read the last two chapter titles - anyone with any sort of memory for Potter trivia would figure it out in a second."The Phoenix's Lament" followed by "The White Tomb"? "Albus" as in Dumbledore's name, means "white", and who the hell else in a white tomb is Fawke's gonna be lamenting? After avoiding spoilers for months, I wasn't too pleased to have the big surprise hand-delivered before the first chapter.... <_< But then I remember a 13-year-old kid hanging himself after the original Battlestar Galactica was cancelled, and that didn't draw a fraction of the overboards that HP does.
I think it's a hoot that so many people think Snape's a big villian now. I don't know how much more obvious she could have made it that Snape had told Dumbledore about the vow and he had told Snape to do whatever it took to keep Draco from being the one who killed him.