I would imagine so. Voldemort's own ellipses are just him building up tension and enjoying the sound of his own voice, though, I'd say. But in the descriptions, yeah - that and describing in details thoughts or events that take split seconds.

Works quite well, aye.

I hadn't realized we didn't know that for a fact yet, but how should we have... this can be the problem with rereading. And yeah, though Cedric evidently gets a fair bit of help as well. I like the comments somebody - Sirius? Moody? - made about how cheating has always been part of the tournament.

That's a good point... when in fact Winky is acting almost as a surrogate mother - she reminds me of Mammy in Gone with the Wind or Cal in To Kill a Mockingbird, more than of any British domestic servants in fiction that I can think of. She plays a far more important role than Hermione imagines at that point - but he still kicks her out. Which of course also explains why Hermione's attempts to comfort Winky backfire so spectacularly.

Snape threatens Harry with it during that one Potions class scene. So yeah, it's been established.

It has to do with the Horcruxes and with Harry's returning from the dead in book seven, but I don't remember the details either.

Indeed.

If it did act on orders, the orders must've been Fudge's, not Voldemort's. Voldemort will get control of the dementors soon, but not just yet. Fudge, on the other hand, evidently doesn't much regret what happened. It's not really clear if we're supposed to infer that it may not have been an accident.

Yeah. I wonder if Dumbledore was wise to do as he did. He seems to throw caution to the winds and try to bully Fudge into doing what has to be done, after he sees his star has fallen too far to get it done with more subtle means. The result is that Fudge not merely fails to act against Voldemort, but also gets resentful and tries to actively undermine Dumbledore. It seems like a big gamble... but perhaps it was worth making the gamble. Dumbledore is confident Fudge can't really cause him serious trouble, and thinks it's worth risking that for the small chance that he can still convince him. Really shouldn't have happened in front of an audience, though.

Good point, he might have noticed that...

Indeed. Especially because the Weasleys' status as Harry's adopted family becomes almost officially acknowledged here, first with the family visit thing and then with Mrs. Weasley's hug at the end. Makes his relationship with Ginny a bit creepy.

*lol* Even a broken clock is right twice a day?

Indeed. And it shows he's gotten over his jealousy enough to remember his admiration for Krum.

Hm, I don't know, I think Rowling's been planning the store thing for a while... and even with the twins' obvious financial acumen, that requires some serious starting funds to be realistic. Without the whole Bagman plotline they wouldn't have had enough money, either.