The author ever more philosophical; the plot ever more complex. I'm beginning to miss the simplicity of the story in the first book. I've preferred books one, two, and four to books three and five, so far.
Book six is a departure in that, for the first time, we, the readers, know more than Harry knows. Throughout the first five books the narrator has been inside Harry's head; we've seen only what Harry sees, known only what Harry knows, and heard only Harry's thoughts. The single exception was the first scene in book one in which the infant Harry was left on the Dursleys' doorstep. The movies have stayed true to this perspective: the only scenes that don't have Harry in them are Harry's dreams. There have been a couple of brief exceptions, but they're just snapshots, as when we see someone, presumable Barty Crouch Jr., standing outside Hogwart's on a rainy night early in the fourth movie.
Book six, however, starts with two chapters that don't involve Harry, and one of them contains a significant scene: Draco's mother asking Snape to protect Draco, and to kill whomever Draco has been told to kill, should Draco fail. I'm sure we're supposed to assume that Draco has been assigned the task of killing Harry, although since he passed up a chance to do so on the train, I suspect somebody else may be his target. Just have to wait and see.
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