Me too. Also, the 5th book introduced Umbridge; that alone made my liking of OotP drop. I was surprised how hard it was for me to make my way through sections in which she appeared.

I heard that too; there are almost certainly apprenticeships for Masteries, I bet. And that can't be the only option to specialize in a subject.

holy crap. Sacrifices Arc's Evan Rosier is batshit insane, but still really interesting in that I'm-not-sure-why-I-like-him kind of way. I honestly got more interested in the supporting characters (including the OCs) than Harry and Draco. ^^;