Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, released on 16 July 2005, is the penultimate of the seven novels from British author 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 sequel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.[1]
Plot
As Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters commit crimes in both the magical and Muggle worlds, Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge is replaced by Rufus Scrimgeour. In the second chapter, Professor Snape, appearing to have rejoined the Death Eaters and Lord Voldemort, is visited by Narcissa Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange. A terrified Narcissa tells Snape that her son Draco has received orders from Lord Voldemort, and asks Snape to make an Unbreakable Vow with her to protect her son and do the job for him, should Draco fail. Snape agrees, and the vow is sealed.
Harry Potter accompanies Albus Dumbledore on a trip to persuade retired Hogwarts professor Horace Slughorn to return to Hogwarts to fill in the vacant spot in the teaching staff. Harry notices that one of Dumbledore's hands is withered and burnt black, and that he is wearing a ring with a distinctively-marked stone. Harry spends the remaining holiday at The Burrow with the Weasleys and Hermione, where they receive their O.W.L. results. To become Aurors, Harry and Ron must take N.E.W.T. level Potions, but their O.W.L.s in the subject are too low to enrol in Snape's Potions class.
At Hogwarts, Snape is unexpectedly announced as the new Defence Against the Dark Arts instructor, with Slughorn becoming the Potions teacher. Harry and Ron’s O.W.L.s are good enough to enrol in Slughorn’s class, which has lower standards, but neither had purchased a textbook, so Slughorn lends them old Potions textbooks. Harry's book has notes and corrections scribbled all over the pages. Harry discovers that these corrections yield better results than the textbook's instructions, and that the book is inscribed as having previously belonged to the "Half-Blood Prince". As the year continues, Ron dates Lavender Brown but eventually realises his feelings for Hermione and breaks up with Lavender. Harry realises that he has feelings (that are conflicting with his friendship with Ron) for Ginny, who has stopped pursuing him and is dating Dean Thomas.
During the school year at Hogwarts, Dumbledore privately tutors Harry, using his Pensieve to show Harry collected memories about Voldemort's past. Dumbledore asks Harry to retrieve a key memory from Slughorn that Slughorn has resisted providing, regarding Slughorn's conversation with a sixth-year Tom Riddle. After disappointing Dumbledore once by not getting the memory from Slughorn, Harry uses Felix Felicis potion (which bestows luck on its drinker) that he had been rewarded with for his newfound "skill" (derived almost entirely from written hints from the Half-Blood Prince) in potion making to gain the memory.
The series of memories reveals that to attain immortality, Voldemort splintered his soul (through committing murders) into six fragments attached to objects called Horcruxes, while leaving a seventh piece in his body. As long as any of the Horcruxes exist, Voldemort cannot be killed. Two Horcruxes have been destroyed: Tom Riddle's diary by Harry in the Chamber of Secrets[HP2] and Marvolo Gaunt's ring by Dumbledore (the ring Harry noticed on his hand earlier). The memories indicate that three other Horcruxes are most likely a locket formerly owned by Salazar Slytherin, a cup formerly owned by Helga Hufflepuff, and the snake Nagini; but the last of the six Horcruxes remains unidentified. Dumbledore speculates that it may be a possession of Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, as Tom Riddle would have wanted a possession of each of the founders of Hogwarts, his first and only real home.
After seeing Harry cast an unusual curse, "Sectumsempra" (a dark curse which leaves deep gashes) against Draco Malfoy, Snape attempts to repossess Harry's Potions book, but Harry gives him Ron's copy instead and hides his copy in the Room of Requirement, noting several other items hidden there over the years. He then distinguishes the cabinet that the book is in with an old bust wearing a wig and a strange looking tiara. Harry gets detention from Snape and misses the Quidditch finals, but Gryffindor wins the Cup with Ron and Ginny starring in the match. During the victory celebration, Harry spontaneously kisses Ginny and they begin dating with Ron's approval.
Dumbledore locates another Horcrux and asks Harry to accompany him to destroy it. They travel to a secret cave to retrieve Slytherin's locket. Harry and Dumbledore find the entrance, present a blood offering to a secret door, and row in a small boat across an Inferi-infested lake. To acquire the locket, Dumbledore must drink a mysterious potion. After drinking the potion, Dumbledore faints, and while attempting to minister to him, Harry provokes the inferi which attack him and Dumbledore. Harry retrieves the Horcrux and guides Dumbledore to safety in Hogsmeade, but as they arrive they see the Dark Mark hovering over the Astronomy Tower at Hogwarts and hurriedly return to the school.
Dumbledore and an Invisibility Cloaked Harry are confronted atop the tower by Draco Malfoy, and before Harry can reveal himself, Dumbledore immobilises Harry. Malfoy disarms Dumbledore, who sacrificed the time to defend himself to immobilise Harry. Draco admits that he was behind a series of attacks on Hogwarts students, and that Voldemort has ordered him to kill Dumbledore. Dumbledore offers Draco the chance to change sides, and promises to hide Draco and his mother where Voldemort will never find them. Draco cannot bring himself to kill the headmaster, even with the urging of fellow Death Eaters once they arrive. Snape arrives and kills Dumbledore. Harry, enraged and freed from immobility by Dumbledore's death, pursues Snape, who reveals that he is the "Half-Blood Prince" and duels Harry until he gets outside Hogwarts grounds and disapparates.
Harry recovers the locket from Dumbledore's body, only to discover it is a fake left by someone with the initials R. A. B. who had apparently stolen the real Horcrux and left a note about his opposition to Voldemort. The school year ends abruptly with Dumbledore's funeral. He is buried along with his wand beside the lake on Hogwarts's grounds. The fate of the school is uncertain, but Harry vows not to return to school and to hunt for the remaining Horcruxes. Harry breaks up with Ginny to keep her safe from danger during his quest, and Ron and Hermione pledge to accompany him.
Development
Prequels and sequel
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the sixth book in the Harry Potter series.[2] The first book in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was first published by Bloomsbury in 1997 with an initial print-run of 500 copies in hardback, three hundred of which were distributed to libraries.[3] By the end of 1997 the UK edition won a National Book Award and a gold medal in the 9 to 11 year-olds category of the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize.[4] The second book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was originally published in the UK on 2 July 1998 and in the US on 2 June 1999.[5][6] Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was then published a year later in the UK on 8 July 1999 and in the US on 8 September 1999.[5][6] Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was published on 8 July 2000 at the same time by Bloomsbury and Scholastic.[7] Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the longest novel in the Harry Potter series, was released 21 June 2003.[8] After the publishing of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the seventh and final novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was released 21 July 2007.[9] The book sold 11 million copies within 24 hours of its release: 2.7 million copies in the UK and 8.3 million in the US.[10]
Pre-release controversy
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.[11] 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;[12] Richard Stallman called for a boycott, requesting that the publisher issue an apology.[13] 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.[14] Commentary was also provided on the Raincoast website.[15]
Film
The film based on the sixth book was originally scheduled to be released on 21 November 2008, but was pushed back to 15 July 2009.[16][17] The screenplay was written by Steve Kloves, and David Yates directed the film.[18] The film is 153 minutes long, making it the second longest Harry Potter film of the series.[19]
Translations
Along with the rest of the books in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was translated into 67 languages.[20] A translation into Scots Gaelic is planned to be released by Bloomsbury in July 2009.[21]
Textual 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.[22] 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), [HP6]
References
External links
Learning to read music in Braille and play by ear helped me develop a damn good memory.
