I thought Tonks had so much potential that just got thrown aside all the time. Sigh. I'm all for dangerous/wrong love affairs, but... bah.

I love Mrs. Weasley, & was glad to see her kicking butt, but... of COURSE it was in defense of her child, right? I mean, obviously everyone in the battle was trying to defend their friends/girlfriends/children, etc. But the one moment (I think?) that we see Mrs. Weasley doing something violent like that--what was she doing for the rest of the battle?--was as her role as a mother... Which, yeah. Mothering is important, duh. I just wish she'd been more than the mama bear protecting her cubs @ the end, as I'm sure she has the potential to be!

I didn't think the kids' names were cheesy (altho' Albus Severus is an awful name), I guess just b/c I figure ppl here name kids after their parents & stuff all the time, even w/o a war. Heh.

Your point about the major characters & how caring about them renders the minor characters invisible--yeah, I definitely think it's something about the way Rowling has written the books that encourages that viewpoint.