Harry Potter 6th Book
The Half-Blood Prince

Memorable Harry Potter Quotes
The Half-Blood Prince - Harry Potter 6th Book

Spoken both like your mother and father's son and Sirius's true godson! (Dumbledore to Harry, p. 77)

Draco, Draco, You are not a killer. (Dumbledore to Draco as he confronts him in the tower, p. 585)

But you've been too busy saving the Wizarding world...Well...I can't say I'm surprised. I knew this would happen in the end. I knew you wouldn't be happy unless you were hunting Voldemort. Maybe that's why I like you so much. (Ginny to Harry when he breaks up with her, p. 647)

Harry Potter Book Report
The Half-Blood Prince - Harry Potter 6th Book

The Harry Potter 6th book takes a turn from the customary Potter beginnings at the Dursley home. Instead we watch Cornelius Fudge meet with the British Prime Minister of the Muggles to tell him about Voldemort's return and Fudge's removal from office. Rufus scrimgeour has taken his place.

Next we move to a very secretive meeting between Narcissa Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange, and Snape. Narcissa and Snape make an Unbreakable Vow that when the time comes, Snape will help Draco as he "attempts to fill the Dark Lord's wishes."

Finally, in the Harry Potter 6th book, we come across Harry staying at the Dursley's for yet another summer. He receives a note from Dumbledore explaining that he has been invited to spend the rest of the summer holiday at The Burrow and that he needs his help with something on the way. When Dumbledore arrives, Harry finds out that he has been given Sirius's house and with the house, Kreacher the house elf. Harry accompanies Dumbledore to a place called Budleight Babberton. There they go to the home of Horace Slughorn. Slughorn used to be a professor at Hogwarts and Dumbledore has come to persuade him to return to the job. It seems that Dumbledore thinks Harry can help because Slughorn had a soft spot for Harry's mom. They convince him to return. Dumbledore also tells Harry that he will be giving him private lessons throughout the school year.

Harry stays at the burrow for the remainder of the summer. While there he learns that the oldest Weasley, Bill, is going to marry Fleur Delacour so she is staying there as well and the Weasley women do NOT like her. Hermione also comes to stay. Harry, Ron, and Hermione receive their O.W.L.s and all do pretty well.

Still more happens before the school year actually begins in the Harry Potter 6th book. Harry becomes suspicious of Draco when he follows him to Borgin and Burkes, a known Dark Wizard Establishment. They all visit Fred and George's shop which is doing extremely well. On the Hogwarts Express, Harry is asked to join Professor Slughorn for lunch in his car and to his dismay quickly learns that Slughorn is a bit of a snob. He likes knowing people with connections and does a lot of name dropping. He assembles what he calls "the Slug Club" every year with the best, well-known, and richest students. Harry is disgusted to be asked and decides he will never attend another meeting.

Some changes have taken place in the teaching staff in the Harry Potter 6th book as well as changes in Harry, Ron, and Hermione's subjects. They've all dropped Care of Magical Creatures and Hagrid is pretty upset with them over it. Snape has finally gotten himself the D.A.D.A position and Slughorn is teaching potions. Because Harry thought Snape wouldn't let him proceed in potions, he hadn't picked up the book so he ends up having to borrow an old copy from the closet. In this old copy he finds that the previous owner has scribbled, crossed out, and added to many of the potions. Harry begins to follow the book's advice, much to Hermione’s dismay, and becomes the star of the class. The book is labeled "property of the half-blood prince."

Harry's lessons with Dumbledore begin. Each time they meet, Harry is shown a different memory pertaining to Tom Riddle, the young Voldemort. Harry learns the story of how Tom's mother and father met, how he was conceived, how he was abandoned, and what became of the Riddle family. Dumbledore is also sporting a severely injured hand but refuses to tell Harry how it happened.

So the school year in the Harry Potter 6th book continues. Harry is Quidditch captain. Ron makes the team as keeper. Harry's suspicions about Malfoy being up to no good grow as Malfoy acts stranger and stranger. Katie Bell is attacked with a deadly locket and Harry blames Malfoy. Ron and Hermione don't seem as convinced. Relationships are springing up everywhere. For some reason Harry finds himself very agitated by Ginny's romance with Dean, while Hermione backs off coolly as Ron and Lavender heat up the Gryffindor Tower. Harry overhears Snape and Malfoy discussing the Unbreakable Vow and Slughorn continues to try and pin Harry down for one of his Slug Club meetings. The Ministry is trying to convince Harry to be a sort of poster boy for them showing support of their tactics to lead the wizarding world to believe everybody is safe and being well protected. Harry refuses. Apparition Lessons begin for the 6th years during which they have some strange experiences with trying to move their bodies from one place to another telepathically.

Harry's sessions with Dumbledore continue. He learns about Tom's time in the orphanage, before Dumbledore found him and brought him to Hogwarts. Tom was a mean spirited child who was not surprised when he found out he had magical powers and only wanted to know more about how he could become the best wizard possible. Dumbledore shows Harry a memory of Slughorn and Tom but it seems tampered with. Dumbledore asks Harry to persuade Slughorn to give him the real memory. Harry ignores this task because the first time he tries Slughorn is so defensive and then begins evading him thereafter. Harry feels guilty but doesn’t know what to do about it. He further learns that Tom, once he was on the way to becoming Voldemort, came back to Hogwarts to ask Dumbledore if he could teach D.A.D.A. Dumbledore declined and from that point forward the job seemed to have been cursed. No D.A.D.A teacher makes it past one year in the position. They also view various memories of Tom when he worked for Borgin and Burkes collecting dark artifacts. Seems that he kills certain witches and wizards in order to secure different objects of value.

Towards the end of the Harry Potter 6th book, Harry finally figures out a way to get the memory from Slughorn. Under the pretense of sending off Hagrid's big spider friend, Aragog, who has died, Harry takes his good luck potion, Felix Felicis, and then proceeds to get Slughorn totally drunk. He retrieves the memory and hurries to Dumbledore's office to give it to him. They go into the memory to find that Tom was asking Slughorn strange questions about Horcruxes. Although it's a forbidden subject, Slughorn tells Tom that a Horcrux is an object used to contain a piece of your soul. If someone wanted they could split their soul in two pieces in order to achieve everlasting life. But to do this they would have to kill another person. Tom wanted to know if it was possible to do it not just once, but seven different times. Dumbledore then explains to Harry that he believes Tom did just that - split his soul into seven different pieces and hid each piece within a meaningful object. They are:

• Tom Riddle's Diary - destroyed by Harry in year 2.
  
• Marvolo's Ring - destroyed by Dumbledore over the summer.
  
• Slytherin Locket from old lady Hepzibah
  
• Hufflepuff's Cup from old lady Hepzibah
  
• Something of Ravenclaw's (unknown)
  
• Something of Gryffindor (unknown)
  
• Possibly Nagini, the Snake

In the meantime Harry realizes that he has fallen for Ginny but is scared of what Ron will do about it. After an especially excited Quidditch match which Gryffindor wins, Harry kisses Ginny in front of everyone but Ron seems to let it go and Harry is elated.

The Harry Potter 6th book begins to come to a close. Dumbledore figures out the location of another Horcrux so he and Harry set off to retrieve it. He tells Harry that no matter what, Harry must do exactly as he asks. Harry agrees. They travel to the cave over the sea that Tom used to take the orphans to when he wanted to scare them. They travel across a lake filled with dead bodies. In the center they find a basin filled with a bright green liquid. At the bottom is the locket. Dumbledore realizes he has to drink it in order to get to the locket out but he knows there will be consequences. He drinks it and begins shouting things like "KILL ME" and whimpering that he's in pain. Harry doesn’t know what to do other than make him keep going. Dumbledore finishes the liquid, they get the locket and make their way out of the cave. When they return to Hogsmeade they find out that the Dark Mark is flying over Hogwarts which means the school is under attack by Voldemort. They hurry to the tower. Dumbledore and Draco have a showdown but not before Dumbledore freezes Harry and throws his invisibility cloak over him so he can't move or be seen. Draco says he must kill Dumbledore but he can't seem to do it. In one awful moment Snape turns up. He faces Dumbledore with a look of hatred. Dumbledore mumbles "Severus, please" so Snape kills him and then flees the castle with the other Death Eaters.

While the castle is under attack Bill Weasley is bit by Fenir Greyback, the werewolf, and is half turned himself. Fleur never leaves his side and earns the respect of Mrs. Weasley for it. Harry retrieves the locket from Dumbledore's fallen body only to find a note from an R.A.B. which describes how he already found and destroyed the Horcrux.

The book ends with Dumbledore's funeral. Ron and Hermione seem to have finally found each other in the midst of the tragedy. Harry realizes that he must break up with Ginny because Voldemort will hurt her if he finds out that Harry cares for her at all. Harry decides he will not return to Hogwarts but instead, go out and find the remaining Horcruxes like Dumbledore would have wanted. But first, he will return to the Dursley's because Dumbledore asked him to do so, for just one more summer.

Harry Potter Book Review
The Half-Blood Prince - Harry Potter 6th Book

Dumbledore dies. Dumbledore dies. Dumbledore dies. I was heartbroken. I was devastated. Even now, two years later, I still feel the sting of this magnificent wizard's death. I was also furious. I have always been on the fence about Snape and I just couldn't believe that he was the one to actually do the horrible deed. Even so, I felt like Dumbledore's words, "Severus, please" could have been a plea to go through with it. Perhaps it was all part of the plan. I'm not sure but I know that even if it is part of the plan, I can't help but hate Snape. So good job Rowling. I'm sure that is her intent.

And since Snape was actually the half-blood prince, I felt Harry's pain and betrayal more acutely than ever. Harry has already lost too much and now this - at the hand of a man whom he despises. To have Snape be the half-blood prince who has been like a secret friend to Harry all year long really must've ripped him apart.

The Harry Potter 6th book is filled with teenage angst as the group forms and destroys various romantic relationships. As I have always done, I held my breath and rooted for Ron and Hermione to end up together in the end. Seems like they are going to finally stop fighting the inevitable and just go for it. Again, this part of Harry's life is sad because he finally finds his soul mate in Ginny only to have to give her up. But his reasons are noble and valid. I'm sure we haven't seen the last of their relationship yet.

I was surprised to find myself feeling pity for Draco Malfoy. He couldn't help who his parents were or that their betrayal of Voldemort will probably end up costing him his life. In a way, he's fulfilling his destiny same as Harry. I knew he'd never follow through with killing Dumbledore. I think it possible that he may be saved, in other words turn good, by the end of the series. Not his dad though. He's bad through and through.

Hagrid was sorely missed since the trio didn't take Care of Magical Creatures this year. Seems as the series wears on, we see less and less of some of the important characters like Hagrid, Professor McGonagall, Lupin, Fred and George, and Dobby. I realize that in a book with so much depth and such a long way to travel this can't be helped.

I want to end by mentioning the very beginning. I thought this first chapter "The Other Minister" was the most clever yet. From day one, Rowling's ability to create a world of wizards that is so believable I've actually looked around at the faces on the street from time to time wondering, has captivated my attention. She covers even the smallest detail so that it just seems as though a whole other world could really exist parallel to ours. This chapter solidifies her genius as a writer. The explanations of how the problems of the wizarding world are affecting the muggle world are fantastic. For example, the Dementors breeding is causing all the mist. Or a supposed hurricane that was actually an uproar of Death Eaters and Giants. The best part was the knowledge that each muggle Prime Minister had a moment when they were introduced to the Minister of Magic making them think they were losing their minds. Ingenious.

...Harry Potter Potions Book

Why? Harry has struggled with Snape, the Potions Master, his whole career at Hogwarts. In the Harry Potter 6th book, when Slughorn takes over and at the same time Harry finds an old Potions Book owned by "the half-blood prince," his luck in this class starts changing. The half-blood prince makes Harry a potions star and eventually leads to Harry gaining Slughorn's trust enough to get the memory Dumbledore needs to complete his history on Tom Riddle!

Harry Potter Trivia
The Half-Blood Prince - Harry Potter 6th Book

1. What does Harry win from Slughorn by following the Prince's potions ?
   Felix Felicis

2. Which subject does Hermione receive an "E" instead of an "O" in?
   Defense Against the Dark Arts

3. Who gives Tom Riddle the fatal information about how to create a Horcurx?
   Professor Slughorn

Harry Potter Spells
The Half-Blood Prince - Harry Potter 6th Book

"Levicorpus" - a nonverbal spell that hoists the object upside by their ankle.

"Sectumsempra" - inflicts a slash wound as though made by a sword in opponents chest.

"Aguamenti" - fills a container with water.

Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher
The Half-Blood Prince - Harry Potter 6th Book

Professor Snape finally gets the position!

And What About Lord Voldemort?
The Half-Blood Prince - Harry Potter 6th Book

The Harry Potter 6th book is really the story of Tom Riddle becoming Voldemort. Through memories that Dumbledore has obtained from various places, he and Harry put together a pretty extensive look into the Tom's past. Again, as in book 5, Voldemort's presence is acutely felt in every nook and cranny of the book. From Ron asking if anybody they know dies every time Hermione opens the Daily Prophet to Malfoy's year long attempts to kill Dumbledore on Voldemort's orders, everyone is acting or reacting to the Dark Lord's return.

Harry Potter Information Tidbit
The Half-Blood Prince - Harry Potter 6th Book

Before the Harry Potter 6th book release date, many people in the UK tried to place bets on which character would die in this book but the bookies put a hold on betting on this particular subject because they feared there was an insider leak which would skew the outcome.

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