Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Hello friend!

I have brought you a new blog post today. Happy reading!

[WARNING: this contains MAJOR spoilers]

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the sixth and penultimate book in the Harry Potter series.  This book, which is considerably darker and grittier than the previous ones, is so enchanting it’s my absolute, undisputed favourite. It held me in thrall till the very end; I was literally flowing with the plot [ the plot is like a torrential river that swirls and whirls and drags you along with it.] I was drinking in every word! I was only 14 when I read it, so there were a few crucial things I missed, but I understand them better now. Half-Blood Prince reveals some very interesting [ a huge understatement] things about Voldemort’s past. Draco Malfoy, who was nothing but a prat in the earlier books, plays a crucial role in this book [ I almost feel sorry for him. Almost.] Oh, and Fudge has been sacked [ no surprise there, after he completely ignored the threat posed by Voldemort and his Death Eaters.] There’s a new, much more efficient Minister of Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour.

Harry Potter is spending his days at the Dursleys’ as usual, trying –and failing—to cope with Sirius’ death. However, he brightens up considerably when Dumbledore arrives to take him to the Burrow [ Harry’s second favourite building in the world, the first being Hogwarts]; on the way, they make a  detour to the temporary home of Horace Slughorn, former Potions teacher at Hogwarts. He is in hiding because the Death Eaters are trying to recruit him. Harry unwittingly persuades the geezer to come out of retirement and begin teaching again [ though the boy assumes he’s going to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts, as Snape teaches Potions.] [I forgot to mention Umbridge left the school in disgrace.] Harry and Dumbledore then proceed to the Burrow, where Hermione has already arrived. Dumbledore informs him that he will not be taking Occlumency lessons this year; instead, the Headmaster and the Chosen One will explore some areas that will help the latter to survive.  Meanwhile, Snape meets with Narcissa Malfoy [ you guessed right. She’s Draco’s mother] and her sister, Bellatrix Lestrange, one of Voldemort’s most enthusiastic and powerful followers. A hysterical Narcissa expresses her extreme concern that her sixteen-year-old son might not survive a dangerous mission given to him by Voldemort. Bellatrix, who feels that Voldemort’s trust in Snape is misplaced, feels that he will be of no help until he surprises her by making an Unbreakable Vow with Narcissa [ he promises to assist and protect Draco in his mission. If he breaks this promise, he’ll die.]

The next morning, Harry, Ron, and Hermione get their Ordinary Wizarding Level results [ these exams are very crucial in a wizard’s fifth year], along with a list of school supplies. When they journey to Diagon Alley along with Mr and Mrs Weasley [and Ginny, who’s now in her fifth year], Harry spots Draco and is instantly suspicious of him [ he’s walking faster than usual and keeps looking around furtively.] The trio follow him to Dark Arts supplier Borgin and Burkes. Harry believes him to be a Death Eater. On the Hogwarts Express, Harry discusses his suspicions of Draco’s allegiance with Voldemort with Ron and Hermione, but Ron dismisses this allegation and Hermione is doubtful due to the lack of evidence. Harry wears his Invisibility Cloak and hides in the same carriage that Draco is seated in. Draco’s vague [but boastful] comments suggest that he is, indeed, a Death Eater. Before Harry can find out something of real importance, Draco discovers him, restrains him and stamps on his face. Harry is worried because he can’t move, but Nymphadora Tonks shows up [she’s so awesome!] and escorts him back to the castle. During the opening feast, Dumbledore announces that Slughorn will be teaching Potions, and Snape will be teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts. Though Harry has never displayed extraordinary skill when it comes to Potions, he now excels in it, thanks to a book that once belonged to someone called the Half-Blood Prince, a mysterious former student who wrote numerous tips and spells in his Potions textbook. Slughorn is very impressed by what he believes to be “natural talent”; on the other hand, Hermione is suspicious of the Prince and repulsed by Harry’s cheating. During a class contest, Harry wins a bottle of Felix Felicis, otherwise known as Liquid Luck.

Dumbledore keeps his word. Believing that Harry needs to learn Voldemort’s past in order to gain an advantage in the upcoming battle, he schedules regular meetings with Harry in his office. Meanwhile, Ron and Hermione refuse to speak to each other after Ron starts dating a girl called Lavender Brown, who is also a sixth-year Gryffindor student. Dumbledore and Harry use the former’s Penseive [ a basin which contains a lot of shimmering silver stuff; this stuff is actually extracted memories. Memories can be collected and removed as per the user’s wish. One can also enter this basin.]  No one wishes to speak about Voldemort, so these memories have been painstakingly collected. Harry learns about Voldemort’s family and his evolution into a homicidal maniac obsessed with eternal life. He sees a memory involving Slughorn conversing with the young Tom Riddle [he had not discarded his identity at the time], which has clearly been tampered with. He is tasked with retrieving the true, unedited memory from Slughorn; this memory proves crucial in defeating Voldemort. Harry uses his Felix Felicis [and a little emotional blackmail] and successfully retrieves the memory. In this unedited version, Slughorn tells Riddle about Horcruxes, objects that can be used to house one’s soul [the soul is split into several parts. However, one must take a life in order to encase one’s soul in a Horcrux.] Voldemort has created six Horcruxes; making himself virtually immortal by placing a piece of his soul in each one, and keeping the seventh and last one within his body. Dumbledore declares that each Horcrux must be destroyed if Harry is truly serious about finishing Voldemort; two Horcruxes—Riddle’s diary [the one which possessed Ginny], and a ring belonging to Riddle’s grandfather, Marvolo Gaunt—have already been destroyed, but four others remain. Meanwhile, Harry begins developing guilty feelings for Ginny [he keeps reminding himself that she’s Ron’s sister.] After Ron is poisoned in an attempt on Dumbledore’s life, he reconciles with Hermione and breaks up with Lavender, much to Harry’s relief.

Following a wild Quidditch victory, Harry and Ginny act on their mutual feelings [Ron reluctantly gives them his consent.]  Near the end of the year, Harry and Dumbledore journey to a cave to retrieve a suspected Horcrux, Slytherin’s locket. Dumbledore discovers a secret passageway to a large, pitch black lake; the two of them cross the lake in a boat. The locket is cunningly placed at the bottom of a basin, and can only be reached by drinking the potion, the Drink of Despair, above it. Dumbledore orders Harry to give him the potion; Harry does so with several misgivings. The potion causes Dumbledore hallucinations and severe [ too soft a word for what he’s really going through, actually] pain. Though Dumbledore is greatly weakened, he manages to fight off several of Voldemort’s Inferi [ dead bodies that have been enchanted to make them move.] Seriously, Dumbledore is super amazing; no wonder even Voldemort is scared of him! They take the locket and return to Hogwarts, only to find that the Dark Mark has been placed over the Astronomy Tower. They rush to the Tower [Harry is under his Invisibility Cloak]. Dumbledore shoves Harry behind the door and places a Body-Bind Curse on him; Draco rushes in and Disarms Dumbledore [if Dumbledore hadn’t used his wand to restrain Harry, he’d have been able to defend himself, but he did it with zero regrets. Saving himself was not his priority.] It is revealed that Draco’s task was to dispose of Dumbledore, and that he was repairing the Vanishing Cabinet [ an ancient cabinet that can transport one anywhere they choose to go; this allowed a bunch of Death Eaters to infiltrate Hogwarts.] Though he insists he’ll kill Dumbledore without hesitation, his shaking hand gives him away [and rather ruins the effect of his sneering speech]. He’s unable to kill Dumbledore. After all, he’s only a sheltered, cosseted sixteen-year-old who was suddenly forced into the dangerous, stormy world of Dark Magic, and instructed to kill his Headmaster. Dumbledore kindly states that Draco can think of all this as a nightmare if he likes, and offers to help him; just as Draco lowers his wand a fraction of an inch, the Death Eaters who came through the Vanishing Cabinet burst in. As they argue over who gets to kill Dumbledore in Draco’s stead, Snape marches in. Dumbledore imploringly says, “Severus [Snape’s first name]… please…” and Snape kills him.  I will never, ever forget these two words. I was horrified; of all people—Dumbledore—I really wasn’t expecting this. “I won’t forgive you, you murdering snake!!!” is what I thought at the time. Harry can only watch in shock as Dumbledore falls backwards. Draco and the Death Eaters—including Snape—leave the Tower. Shaking off the Body-Bind Curse, Harry chases after Snape, determined to avenge Dumbledore’s death; he’s no match for Snape, who defeats him before departing with a parting shot—he is the Half-Blood Prince.

After Dumbledore’s funeral, Harry decides to break up with Ginny, saying it is too dangerous for her if their relationship continues. He discovers that the locket is a fake; it contains a note from someone known as “R.A.B”. Fighting back tears of rage and hatred, Harry resolves to destroy Voldemort before he can take the life of another precious person. Voldemort has left so many scars on him that won’t heal. He informs his friends that he won’t be returning to Hogwarts next year; instead, he’ll spend the entire fishing out Voldemort’s Horcruxes.  Ron and Hermione insist on joining him in his quest.

The book ends on this note. The climax was so horrible, wasn’t it?! If the reader can find Cedric, Sirius and Dumbledore’s deaths devastating, imagine the pain Harry must be going through. Still, he soldiers on resolutely, hiding his wounds and striving to get stronger. See you next time…

Thank you!

I hope you enjoyed my article!