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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, released on 16 July 2005, is the sixth of seven novels in J. K. Rowling's popular Harry Potter series. Set during Harry Potter's sixth year at Hogwarts, the novel explores Lord Voldemort's past, and Harry's preparations for the final battle amidst emerging romantic relationships and the emotional confusions and conflict resolutions characteristic of mid-adolescence.
The book sold nine million copies in the first 24 hours after its release, a record at the time which was eventually broken by its successor, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
Plot
As Voldemort and his Death Eaters openly wreak havoc throughout Britain, Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge has been forced to resign following public outcry over his mishandling the situation.
Discussion
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Quotations
Albus Dumbledore: (to Harry) Let us not deprive Molly any longer of the chance to deplore how thin you are.
Albus Dumbledore: Age is foolish and forgetful when it underestimates youth.
Albus Dumbledore: And now, Harry, let us step out into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.
Albus Dumbledore: I take my hat off to you— or I would, if I were not afraid of showering you in spiders.
Albus Dumbledore: It is the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness, nothing more.
Albus Dumbledore: Time is making fools of us again.
Encyclopedia
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, released on 16 July 2005, is the sixth of seven novels in J. K. Rowling's popular Harry Potter series. Set during Harry Potter's sixth year at Hogwarts, the novel explores Lord Voldemort's past, and Harry's preparations for the final battle amidst emerging romantic relationships and the emotional confusions and conflict resolutions characteristic of mid-adolescence.
The book sold nine million copies in the first 24 hours after its release, a record at the time which was eventually broken by its successor, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
Plot
As Voldemort and his Death Eaters openly wreak havoc throughout Britain, Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge has been forced to resign following public outcry over his mishandling the situation. Before he leaves office, he pays a visit to the Muggle Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to warn him that events occurring in the magical world are now having an effect on the Muggle world and that things are going pretty badly for the Ministry of Magic at present. The Prime Minister is then introduced to Fudge's successor, Rufus Scrimgeour. Meanwhile, at his home in Spinner's End, Severus Snape is sworn to an Unbreakable Vow by Draco Malfoy's mother Narcissa. Although her sister, Bellatrix Lestrange, distrusts Snape, he agrees to protect Draco during his task assigned by the Dark Lord, and complete the mission should Draco fail.
During the summer, Albus Dumbledore enlists Harry Potter's unwitting help to persuade retired professor Horace Slughorn to return to his old Hogwarts post. When Albus Dumbledore comes to collect Harry, an unsuspecting Harry is told that he has inherited all of Sirius Black's (his deceased godfather) possessions, including the house, Buckbeak, and his house-elf, Kreacher. Harry then spends the remaining holiday at The Burrow with the Weasleys and Hermione. To his family's dismay (especially Mrs Weasley and Ginny), Bill Weasley has become engaged to Fleur Delacour, the Beauxbatons champion in the Triwizard Tournament. Harry, Ron, and Hermione receive their O.W.L. results. Hermione receives top "Outstanding" marks in all her subjects with the exception of Defence Against the Dark Arts. To become Aurors, Harry and Ron must take N.E.W.T.-Level Potions as a prerequisite, but their grades in the subject are too low for Snape's advanced class, thus ending their career ambitions. However, Harry is very pleased (and secretly smug) to discover that he was the only one out of the three of them to get an "Outstanding" in Defence Against the Dark Arts. While in Diagon Alley, Harry, Ron and Hermione have an encounter with Draco Malfoy and his mother Narcissa in Madam Malkin's robe shop. Harry and Ron nearly start a duel with Draco, but Narcissa defuses the situtation by leaving with her son. Later, from Fred and George's joke shop, Harry, Ron and Hermione spot Draco, who had apparently given his mother the slip, and follow him. At Borgin & Burkes, a dark magic shop in Knockturn Alley, Draco threatens Mr Borgin about repairing one item and keeping another safe. Hermione goes in after to try to find out what he was reserving. Suspecting Draco may have replaced his imprisoned father as a Death Eater, Harry resolves to keep a close watch on him.
As school begins, Snape is unexpectedly announced as the new Defence Against the Dark Arts instructor while Slughorn replaces him as the Potions teacher. Slughorn only requires a minimum "E" grade (Exceeds Expectations) at O.W.L. to take his N.E.W.T.-level Potion classes, making Harry and Ron eligible for the class. On the first day of class, Slughorn lends them old Potions textbooks and potions ingredients to use. The previous owner of Harry's copy of Advanced Potion Making has scribbled notes all over the pages, making corrections on Libatius Borage's methods and making little annotations in the margins. Initially annoyed at the previous owner, Harry changes his mind when he discovers that the unknown owner's corrections yield better results than Libatius Borage's instructions. As a result, he is able to excel at the potion Slughorn has set them. As a reward for his success, Slughorn gives Harry a small bottle of Felix Felicis, a good-luck potion.
Ominous Death Eater attacks continue throughout the year. On the first Hogsmeade visit, Katie Bell, a Gryffindor student, is seriously injured while carrying a cursed necklace through Hogsmeade, apparently while under the Imperius Curse. In another incident, Ron accidentally drinks poisoned mead intended for Dumbledore. Harry reacts by administering the Bezoar he had submitted previously as an assignment to Slughorn. Hermione is so distraught over this that she and Ron, who were feuding mostly over Ron dating Lavender Brown and Hermione's relationship with Viktor Krum, reconcile; Ron soon breaks it off with Lavender. Meanwhile, Harry realises that he has feelings for Ginny, although she is now dating Dean Thomas.
Dumbledore privately tutors Harry using his Pensieve to view collected memories about Voldemort's past. Dumbledore speculates that Voldemort splintered his soul into six fragments called Horcruxes to attain immortality, while leaving a seventh piece in his body. Two Horcruxes have been destroyed (Tom Riddle's diary by Harry and Marvolo Gaunt's ring by Dumbledore).
When Harry finds Draco crying in a boys bathroom on the sixth floor, accompanied by Moaning Myrtle, they hurl curses at each other. Harry casts "Sectumsempra" inflicting huge gashes across Draco's body. Snape arrives and saves Draco. He attempts to re-possess the Half-Blood Prince's Potions book, but Harry hands him "Roonil Wazlib's" (or Ron's) copy. Harry receives detention, causing him to miss the Quidditch finals. Nonetheless, Gryffindor wins the Cup, and during the victory celebration, Harry's suppressed feelings for Ginny are revealed when he spontaneously kisses her; Ginny has just broken up with Dean Thomas, and she and Harry begin dating.
Harry reports Draco's suspicious behaviour to a seemingly unconcerned Dumbledore. He reassures Harry that he trusts Snape in keeping a lookout. Soon after, Harry learns from Professor Trelawney that it was Snape who passed a prophecy to Voldemort that ultimately led to James and Lily Potter's deaths. Enraged, Harry confronts Dumbledore, but the Professor affirms Snape's loyalty. Dumbledore, meanwhile, has located another Horcrux and asks Harry to accompany him in retrieving it. Distrusting Draco and Snape, Harry asks Ron, Hermione, Luna Lovegood, Neville Longbottom and Ginny to patrol the halls while he and Dumbledore are gone and gives them the remaining Felix Felicis potion for luck. Harry and Dumbledore apparate to a secret cave. They aim to retrieve the Horcrux (Salazar Slytherin's locket), by advancing past Voldemort's defences. Dumbledore had to drink a mysterious liquid in order to acquire the locket and is consequentially greatly weakened.
Returning to Hogsmeade, Harry and Dumbledore see Lord Voldemort's Dark Mark hovering over Hogwarts. They fly to the Astronomy Tower on borrowed broomsticks. Dumbledore is still very weak because of the mysterous liquid so he tells Harry to get Proffesor Snape ignoring Harry's request that he should get Madam Pomfrey. Suddenly Dumbledore's wand flew out of his hand when they heard a bang and the word,"Expelliarmus". Then then realised they have been ambushed by Draco Malfoy . Dumbledore paralyses Harry, who is under his Invisibility Cloak, just before Draco disarms Dumbledore. Draco admits he was behind the school attacks and has helped Death Eaters secretly enter Hogwarts via the pair of Vanishing Cabinets, although Dumbledore discerns that Voldemort has cursed the obviously frightened boy.
As members of the Order and the few from Dumbledore's Army battle Voldemort's followers in the castle below, Death Eaters appear in the tower and urge Draco to fulfil his mission—killing Dumbledore—but Draco hesitates. Snape arrives and a weakened Dumbledore entreats him with an ambiguous plea; Snape casts Avada Kedavra which hits Dumbledore squarely in the chest. The impact hurls his body over the tower wall. Upon Dumbledore's death, Harry is released from the paralysing spell. Harry pursues Snape and Draco, as their only way of escape would be to disapparate outside the boundaries of Hogwarts. Draco escapes as Snape duels Harry. During the duel, Snape reveals that he is the Half-Blood Prince. Harry appears to have been defeated, but suddenly Buckbeak's intervention causes Snape to start running away. Snape disapparates outside the school gates and escapes. Harry recovers the locket from Dumbledore's body, only to discover it is a fake. Inside is a note from someone with the initials R. A. B., who has apparently stolen the real Horcrux and left the fake one in its place.
The school year ends abruptly with Dumbledore's funeral. Professor McGonagall is appointed Hogwarts's interim headmistress and Professor Slughorn replaces Snape as the head of Slytherin House. Hogwarts is rumoured to close down due to the murder of Dumbledore. Harry decides to leave school in search for the remaining Horcruxes. Ron and Hermione vow to accompany him, while Harry seemingly ends his relationship with Ginny to protect her from Voldemort. The book concludes as Harry looks forward to Bill and Fleur's wedding and being comforted that "...there was still one last golden day of peace left to enjoy with Ron and Hermione."
Pre-release history
The record-breaking publication of Half-Blood Prince was accompanied by controversy. In May 2005 bookmakers in the UK suspended bets on which main character would die in the book amid fears of insider knowledge. A number of high value bets were made on the death of Albus Dumbledore, many coming from the town of Bungay where, it was believed, the books were being printed at the time. Betting was later reopened. Other controversies included the "right to read" Potter books inadvertently sold before the release date, environmental concerns over the source of the paper used in the printing of millions of books, and fan reactions to the plot developments and revelations of the novel.
Right to read controversy
In early July 2005, a Real Canadian Superstore in Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada, accidentally sold fourteen copies of The Half-Blood Prince before the authorised release date. The Canadian publisher, Raincoast Books, obtained an injunction from the Supreme Court of British Columbia prohibiting the purchasers from reading the books before the official release date or from discussing the contents. Purchasers were offered a Harry Potter T-shirt and an autographed copy of the book if they returned their copies before 16 July.
On 15 July, less than twelve hours before the book went on sale in the Eastern time zone, Raincoast warned The Globe and Mail newspaper that publishing a review from a Canada-based writer at midnight, as the paper had promised, would be seen as a violation of the trade secret injunction. The injunction sparked a number of news articles alleging that the injunction had restricted fundamental rights. Canadian law professor Michael Geist posted commentary on his blog; Richard Stallman called for a boycott, requesting that the publisher issue an apology. The Globe and Mail published a review from two UK-based writers in its 16 July edition and posted the Canadian writer's review on its website at 9 a.m. that morning. Commentary was also provided on the Raincoast website.
Spoilers
The plot detail "Snape kills Dumbledore," along with a list of chapter titles, were leaked on the Usenet group alt.fan.harrypotter as early as 14 July 2005 — two days before the official release date. Weeks earlier, betting patterns on the website "Blue Square" recorded an unusual surge in bets originating in a town where the book was being printed (as pointed out in the Guardian newspaper 24 May 2005).
Dedication
Rowling became pregnant with her third child during the writing of this book, and often joked about them racing each other into the world. For this reason, the book has this dedication:
- To Mackenzie,
- my beautiful daughter,
- I dedicate
- her ink and paper twin
Movie
The movie based on the sixth book was originally scheduled to be released on 21 November 2008, but was pushed back to 17 July 2009. The screenplay was written by Steve Kloves, and David Yates directed the film.
Text changes
As with Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the United States version of the novel has slightly changed text from the British version. One particular section has been remarked upon, where the alteration makes the nature of Dumbledore's offer to Draco Malfoy before Snape kills Dumbledore in the Half-Blood Prince explicit. The reason for the editing of the following text has not been explained on the author's webpage, but the British edition is more ambiguous. The text can be found in chapter 27, "The Lightning-Struck Tower". The U.S. text was changed to match the UK version with the publication of the paperback edition. The parts added in the United States version have been highlighted in bold, below:
"[…] He told me to do it or he'll kill me. I've got no choice."
"He cannot kill you if you are already dead. Come over to the right side Draco, and we can hide you more completely than you can possibly imagine. What is more, I can send members of the Order to your mother tonight to hide her likewise. Nobody would be surprised that you had died in your attempt to kill me — forgive me, but Lord Voldemort probably expects it. Nor would the Death Eaters be surprised that we had captured and killed your mother — it is what they would do themselves, after all. Your father is safe at the moment in Azkaban […]"
(U.S. Edition p. 591)(CND Edition p. 552)
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