Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Publishing Facts and Information:
UK Book Info
- First British Printing: July 16, 2005
- Pages (paperback): 608
- Price (Hardcover): £16.99
US Book Info
- First U.S. Printing: July 16, 2005
- Pages: 652
- Price (Hardcover): $25.95
- Book Colors:
Outside: Black and Purple
Inside: Green
Title Writing: Purple
Dedications (US):
To Mackenzie,
My Beautiful Daughter,
I dedicate
her ink-and-paper twin.
Summaries from the back of the books
(from back of UK book)
It is Harry Potters sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As Voldemort’s sinister forces amass and a spirit of gloom and fear sweeps the lane, it becomes more and more clear to Harry that he will soon have to confront his destiny. But is he up to the challenges ahead of him?
(from back of US book)
The war against Voldemort is not going well; even Muggle governments are noticing. ron scans the obituary pages of the Daily Prophey, looking for familiar names. Dumbledore is absent from Hogwarts for long stretches of time, and the Order of the Phoenix has already suffered losses.
And yet …
As in all wars, life goes on. The Weasley twins expand their business. Sicth-year students learn to Apparate – and lose a few eyebrows in the process. Teenagers flirt and fight and fall in love. Classes are never straightforward, though Harry recieves some extraordinary help from the mysterious Half-Blood Prince.
So it’s the home front that takes center stage in the multilayered sixth installment of the story of Harry Potter. Here at Hogwarts, Harry will search for the full and complex story of the boy who became Lord Voldemort – and thereby find what may be his only vulnerability.
Chapters:
- The Other Minister
- Spinner’s End
- Will and Won’t
- Horace Slughorn
- An Excess of Phlegm
- Draco’s Detour
- The Slug Club
- Snape Victorious
- The Half-Blood Prince
- The House of Guant
- Hermione’s Helping Hand
- Silver and Opals
- The Secret Riddle
- Felix Felicis
- The Unbreakable Vow
- A Very Frosty Christmas
- A Sluggish Memory
- Birthday Surprises
- Elf Tails
- Lord Voldemort’s Room
- The Unknowable Room
- After the Burial
- Horcruxes
- Sectusempra
- The Seer Overheard
- The Cave
- The Lightning-Struck Tower
- Flight of the Prince
- The Phoenix Lament
- The White Thomb
Awards and Recognitions:
Plot Summary: Contains Spoilers
Short Summary:
Harry goes back to Hogwarts after getting picked up by Dumbledore at Privet Drive. There is a new potions teacher, Slughorn, and Snape is the new DADA teacher. Dumbledore keeps disappearing for periods at a time, and he has a very injured hand. The whole year, Harry receives lessons from Dumbledore, each one regarding a memory of Voldemort’s horrible past. In the end, it comes down to Harry and Dumbledore to find one of Voldemort’s 7 Horcrux (something that contains part of your soul, so you cannot die). They enter a cave far away, where they find it. Dumbledore becomes very ill, and when they return t Hogwarts, they find it to be inhabited by Death Eaters fighting Order of the Phoenix members. Snape kills Dumbledore after Malfoy (now a death eater) could not. Harry says that he will probably not return to Hogwarts next year so he could find the Horcrux. Ron and Hermione insist to come along, though Harry says that he should probably do it alone.
Long Summary:
The book starts off in the office of the Prime Minister of the U.K. Ex-Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge and starts talking to the minister, saying that the sinister Dark Lord Voldemort of the wizarding world has returned. (the U.K. minister seams to know about the wizarding world) He also mentions several murders that have happened; the Bones (Amelia Bones -Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement was murdered by Voldemort) and Vance (Emmeline Vance- was in the Order of the Phoenix). Then, he mentions Dementors and giants both working for Voldemort. Fudge then says he has been sacked as Minister of Magic, and that a wizard called Rufus Scrimgeour was now minister.
The next chapter goes far away to sisters Bellatrix Lestrange and Narcissa Malfoy on a street called Spinner’s End. They enter the house of Severus Snape, where Wormtail also is. Bellatrix tells Snape she does not trust him because he was never there for the dark lord. Snape responds saying that he was at Hogwarts when the dark lord fell, which was where Voldemort told him to stay. He then said he did not attempt to find him because he believed he was dead. Snape then says that it was him who led the murder of Emmeline Vance, and it helped dispose of Sirius Black. They then start to talk about some plan that Voldemort has planned for Draco Malfoy, and Narcissa (his mother) wants Snape to protect him. Then Bellatrix puts an Unbreakable Vow on Snape that will make him always protect Draco Malfoy.
We then go in Harry’s room showing newspaper clippings; all saying that Harry is the chosen one (the only one who can kill Voldemort). There is a paper about safety things that you should do to be safe in the wizarding world.
Harry then wakes up and reads a not from Dumbledore, saying that he will come and get him on Friday at 11 p.m. Dumbledore arrives, and Harry realizes that Dumbledore’s hand is severely injured. Dumbledore tells Harry he will tell him what happens later, and that Harry has inherited all of Sirius’s things- including Kreacher. Dumbledore summons Kreacher, who is very upset to be Harry’s house-elf now. Harry sends Kreacher to Hogwarts to work in the kitchens. Harry also inherits Buckbeak, but leaves him to Hagrid (Buckbeak is now called witherwings). Dumbledore explains to the Dursley’s that Harry will only have to return to their house for 1 more summer because of the coming of his age. They leave (Harry side apparates with Dumbledore).
They both arrive in Budleigh Babberton, where Dumbledore tries to convince a retired teacher (Horace Slughorn) to come and be the new teacher at Hogwarts. He refuses, but while Dumbledore steps away for a minute, Harry convinces Slughorn to come to Hogwarts. Slughorn says that Harry’s mother was a wonderful student, and how he liked her very much even though she was in Gryffindor (along with James, Sirius, and Remus). Slughorn used to be head of Slytherin. Slughorn has a club at Hogwarts called the slug club, which is full of students who are close to or related to famous or important witches and wizards.
They leave Slughorn’s house, and Dumbledore warns Harry that Slughorn will try and get Harry into the Slug club. Dumbledore then apparates Harry and himself to the burrow. They arrive at the burrow, but before entering Dumbledore tells Harry he will be giving him private lessons that year, and warns Harry to keep his invisibility cloak with him at all times.
Harry goes into the burrow to find Mrs. Weasley and an upset-looking Tonks. Tonks leaves and Mrs. Weasley openly invites Harry inside. She tells Harry that Mr. Weasley had been promoted to the head of the office for the detection and confiscation of counterfeit defense spells and protective objects; a new office made by Rufus Scrimgeour. Mr. Weasley comes home, and then Harry goes to bed.
Harry is awoken the next morning by Ron and Hermione. Ginny walks in and she and Hermione start complaining about somebody, saying that she is so annoying and getting on her nerves. Harry thinks that she is talking about Mrs. Weasley, but is soon informed that it is Fleur Delacour they are complaining about; Bill Weasley’s fiance; calling her Phlegm. They are also talking about how Mrs. Weasley has been having Tonks over recently; hoping Bill will fall for her instead of Fleur. Ginny goes downstairs and Harry tells Hermione and Ron that Dumbledore is giving him private lessons.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione eagerly wait at the burrow for their O.W.L.’s leters. Their letters arrive, Harry and Ron both received 7 o.w.l.s, where Hermione received 11 o.w.l.’s. During their stay at the burrow, they discuss many things about Voldemort. Some of such is Igor Karkaroff’s body was found with the dark mark over it. They also talk about Florean Fortescue, owner of the ice cream parlor in Diagon Alley, was dragged off by death eaters, along with the mysterious disappearance of Ollivander.
The Weasleys decided to go into Diagon Alley the next day to get their books (and Harry has been made quidditch captain). They arrive at the Leaky Cauldron, where they are joined by Hagrid. They go into Diagon Alley, where they find that many things have been boarded up. They head off to the dress shop where they see Lucius and Draco Malfoy. Mrs. Malfoy tries to touch Draco’s left arm, but he backs away, and they leave the store.
They then go off to Fred and George’s shop. It is truly impressive. While here, they see Draco Malfoy sneak away from his mother and go down to Diagon Alley. Harry, Ron, and Hermione sneak away and follow him under the invisibility cloak. Malfoy enters Borgin and Burkes. He is giving Borgin something to keep in the shop, saying that he has to help him fix it, or he’s send somebody names Fenir Greyback on him. Hermione goes inside (after Malfoy leaves) and gets kicked out of the store. They go back to the burrow, and Harry thinks Malfoy is a death eater that has been branded with the dark mark.
They arrive at Kings cross station, where Harry tells Mr. Weasley about Malfoy in Knockturn Alley. He then gets on the train, and it leaves. He meets up with Neville and Luna and get a compartment. Ron and Hermione return, but then a girl came in saying she has letters for Harry and Neville; letters from Slughorn asking them to join him in his compartment.
They join Slughorn, to find that they aren’t the only ones there. Everybody in there had some famous relative except for Ginny; who Slughorn had seen done a good hex in the train. The meeting ends and Harry tries to sneak into Malfoy’s cabin to see what he is up to. They discuss Slughorn’s compartment and the people in it, where Malfoy starts to look envious. Malfoy mentions perhaps not coming back to Hogwarts next year. Everybody leaves the compartment, and Malfoy, thinking he saw something, stuns Harry, breaking his nose and leaving him on the train. Tonks entered the train looking gloomy and takes Harry up to the castle.
Snape meets Harry at the Hogwarts gates and takes him into the school. Dumbledore makes his speech saying that Slughorn is the new potions teacher, and that Snape is the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.
The students choose their NEWT classes, Harry and Ron taking Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts (DADA), Herbology, Transfiguration, and Potions. They attend their first DADA class, then move on to Slughorn’s class.
Slughorn takes a liking to Hermione because she answered every question correctly. Also, the student who does their potion the best that day in class would receive a small bottle of Felix Felicis (luck potion). Harry and Ron borrow books (because they didn’t know they would be taking potions) and Harry gets a book with writing in it. The writing gives a different set of directions then the actual book does. Harry follow the directions, and wins the bottle. At the front of the book it states, “This is the property of the Half-Blood Prince”.
Harry attends his first class with Dumbledore. During this, they enter the pensive into the memory of Bob Ogden (A ministry of magic worker). In the memory, Ogden visits the house of Marvolo Gaunt. He tells Marvolo Gaunt that his son, Morfin Gaunt, had caused trouble with a muggle and was sentenced to a hearing in from the of the Ministry of Magic. Marvolo starts to speak Parseltongue to his son. Marvolo’s Daughter, Merope Gaunt, came out and her father called her a dirty squib. Marvolo yells at Ogden, telling him they are Salazar Slytherin’s last living descendents, showing him a ring and locket of Slytherin’s.
Outside the Gaunt’s house, a handsome muggle man named Tom comes up with his girlfriend outside the Gaunt’s house. He says that the people in the house are crazy. Merope looks at him with affection, and Marvolo calls his daughter a blood traitor for even looking at the muggle.
They leave the pensive, and Dumbledore explains Marvolo was Voldemort’ grandfather, and Merope was his mother. He also says that Merope and Tom ran away together and had Voldemort. Merope had put Tom under a love potion so he would fall in love with her, and after he took her off the potion and told him she was a witch, he left her. Marvolo and Morfin were sent to Azkaban, and Marvolo died shortly after getting out.
Over the next few weeks there have been more dementor attacks and Stan Shunpike was arrested for having speaking of secret death eater plans (knowing Stan he was just trying to make himself look important). The trio goes down to the quidditch team for tryouts. Harry chooses 3 chasers; Katie Bell, Demelza Robins, and Ginny Weasley. He also chooses two beaters; Jimmy Peakes and Ritchie Coote, and Ron for keeper (much to a bratty Gryffindor Cormac McLaggen’s dismay). They go to visit Hagrid (who is upset with them) who says that Aragog is dying. Harry experiments with the prince’s spells, some of which were very useful.
They go to Hogsmeade the next weekend where Harry sees Mundungus selling some of Sirius’s old things. They are on their way back to the castle, when Katie Bell and her friend are fighting over a package. The package rips, and Katie flies into the air, screams, and falls to the ground. Harry runs to get Hagrid, and Hagrid takes her up to the castle. Harry grabs the cursed necklace with his scarf and runs up to the castle with Hagrid and Katie. Harry tells McGonagall that he suspects that Malfoy bought it in Borgin and Burkes and gave it to Katie (who seamed to be under the imperius curse). McGonagall says this could not be true, because Malfoy had detention with her that day. Katie is sent to St. Mungo’s. Harry arrives at his 2nd Dumbledore class. In this memory, it shows Burke of Borgin and Burkes talking about a locket of Salazar Slytherin’s that a girl sold to him for only 10 galleons. The girl (Merope Gaunt) was pregnant and happy for the money. After this memory, the enter the memory of Dumbledore when he goes to the orphanage of Tom Riddle to take him to Hogwarts. He tells Riddle he’s a wizard and tells him all about Hogwarts. The caretaker of the orphanage, Mrs. Cole, says Riddle was an odd boy who could make strange things happen. They exit the pensive, where Dumbledore points out how Tom did not like to be the same as others, and how he had never wanted or needed a friend. He also mentioned Tom liked to collected trophies.
The next day in Herbology, Harry gets invited to Slughorn’s Christmas party and has to fin d a date. Harry also replaces Katie on the Gryffindor quidditch team with Dean Thomas. After practice, Harry and Ron walk in on Ginny and Dean kissing. Ginny yells at Ron, saying that he is immature.
Before the next quidditch match, Hermione blames Harry for putting Felix Felicis in Ron’s drink to make him lucky for the match. They win the match, and Hermione says it was only because he made Ron lucky. Harry then says he only pretended to put it in so Ron would think he was lucky. Hermione and Ron then get in an argument. They go to the party after the match, where Ron and Lavender Brown are kissing in the corner. Ron and Hermione then start to ignore each other.
One day in the library, Hermione warns Harry not to take any kind of food or drink from anybody, because many girls are trying to sneak a love potion in them. Harry finally asks Luna Lovegood to go to the dance as friends. Hermione says she is going with Cormac McLaggen (a boy who Ron despises of for almost beating him for the potion of keeper) to the dance (to make Ron jealous and get back at him for being with Lavender).
Harry and Luna go down to Slughorn’s party, where they see Hermione trying to avoid McLaggen. They see many people; including vampires and Professor Trelawney. They also see Malfoy getting dragged by Filch for trying to sneak into the party.
Malfoy looked ill and then Professor Snape took Malfoy into the hall. Harry, of course, followed under his invisibility cloak. Malfoy says he had nothing to do with Katie’s accident, and Snape says he cannot afford mistakes. Snape then says that Malfoy’s Auntie Bellatrix had been teaching him occlumency (for Snape couldn’t read Malfoy’s thoughts). Snape tells Draco he is trying to protect and help him.
They arrive at the burrow for Christmas. The whole Weasley family joined by Lupin, Fleur, and Harry were there! Harry tells Mr. Weasley what he overheard and Lupin interrupts saying that it’s not their business to know, but Dumbledore’s. Lupin says that he has been working with other werewolves as a spy for Dumbledore, because most of the werewolves are on Voldemort’s side. He says that Fenir Greyback is the head of the werewolves and is vicious, trying to kill people as a werewolf. He specializes in children, taking them from their parents and raising them to hate wizards. He said it was Greyback who bit him. He asks Lupin if he knows who the half-blood prince is, but he says no. Harry looks at his potions book, and the publication date was nearly 50 years ago. Harry asks Lupin the next day about Tonks’s patronus, and he says that patronus’s can change due to emotions. (Mrs. Weasley seams to blame Lupin for Tonks not being there for Christmas). Surprisingly, Percy arrives for Christmas with Rufus Scrimgeour. Scrimgeour takes Harry outside to talk to him. Scrimgeour tries to get Harry to tell him about the prophecy, but he doesn’t, saying its confidential business. He tries to get Harry to make everybody think Harry’s working for the ministry, to get up people’s hopes. Harry obviously declines. All of the children go back to Hogwarts a few days later.
Harry tells Hermione everything about Snape and Malfoy; along with the information of Greyback and Lupin. Hermione says that Greyback was the man Malfoy threatened to put on Borgin in Knockturn Alley. While back at school, Hogwarts posts sign ups for apparition lessons.
Harry goes to his 3rd lesson with Dumbledore. Dumbledore says that the minister tried to get him to have Harry as a ministry spokes man, too, but he said no. Also, the minister has tried to have Dumbledore followed when he let Hogwarts, but had to jinx the man who was following him. He tells Dumbledore about Snape and Malfoy, but Dumbledore seams to agree with Mr. Weasley and Lupin.
Before they enter a memory, however, Dumbledore says that Tom Riddle was sorted into Slytherin and that the staff all seamed to favor him, being a poor little orphan. Dumbledore also says that he learned he was Slytherin’s descendent very soon after going into Hogwarts. Dumbledore says that Tom always tried to charm Dumbledore, but was never able to, seeing Dumbledore knew too much about Tom (Tom told Dumbledore in the orphanage he could make people hurt it he wanted to). Tom also gathered a small group of friends in Hogwarts. Some of them became the first death eaters. Dumbledore said Tom had looked through old records of his family on his father’s side and never found them, which was when he took on the name Lord Voldemort, because he didn’t want his muggle father’s name. Tom searched for his mother’s side, and found it under ea list of Slytherin’s descendents.
They enter the first memory, which was of Morfin Gaunt. In the Gaunt house, Tom Riddle (as a teenager) came to the door. Morfin thought he was Tom Riddle senior, then understood him as somebody else after he spoke Parseltongue. He says Tom Riddle senior had returned. The memory ended, because Morfin could not remember any more. The next thing Morfin remembered was waking up the next day without his Slytherin ring.
The next day, Tom Riddle senior and his parents were found dead in their house. The Ministry of Magic thought Morfin had done it, as he admitted to doing it (Voldemort had altered his memory to say he had done it). Morfin was taken to Azkaban and died there. Dumbledore says that they could not find out if the underage wizard Tom Riddle had done the magic, because there was another wizard in the area (Morfin) so they would be unable to see who did the magic. The second memory was the memory of Slughorn. In this memory, Voldemort and others were in the Slug club at Hogwarts. Voldemort asks Slughorn if the DADA teacher was retiring. Then, all of a sudden, the memory seams to fade and all you can see is white smoke, and the voice of Slughorn saying “You’ll go wrong, boy, mark my words.” The memory goes back to normal, and everybody in the club leaves except for Tom Riddle. Tom Riddle asks Slughorn to tell him about Horcruxes. Then the same fog came over and then Slughorn says “I don’t know anything about Horcruxes and I wouldn’t tell you if I did!”
They leave the memory, and Dumbledore says the reason it went like that was because Slughorn had changed the memory so he would not look bad. Dumbledore gives Harry the task of getting Slughorn to reveal the true memory to him, saying that it is the most important memory they can get.
The next day in potions class, they have to make a hard potion. The Prince did not have any information on how to do this potion, but just to shove a bezoar down their throats. He went into the cupboard and took out a bezoar, and got full credit for the potion. After class, Harry asks Slughorn about the memory, but Slughorn replies saying that he doesn’t know anything about Horcrux.
They attend their apparition lessons in the great hall (Dumbledore removed the no apparating in Hogwarts spells so they could practice). He stands behind Malfoy who tells Crabbe and Goyle that it is taking much longer than he had planed, and he won’t tell his friends what he is doing. They practice apparition, but nobody seamed to have mastered it (or even gotten close).
Harry goes up to his dormitory to get the marauder’s map to see where Malfoy is going. Unfortunately, he is just in the Slytherin common room. However, sometimes Crabbe and Goyle were alone, and Malfoy could not be found on the map. Harry started to get mad that he could not find Malfoy anywhere at sometimes, wondering where he had gone to. On Ron’s birthday, he accidentally takes a candy (which were meant from Harry) that had a love potion in them. He immediately falls in love with Romilda Vane (A Gryffindor girl who likes Harry). Harry takes Ron directly to Slughorn. Slughorn gives him an antidote, which makes him better. Slughorn then gives Harry and Ron a drink. Ron drinks it, then rises into the air, falls, and crumbles. Harry runs over, grabs a bezoar, and shoves it down Ron’s throat, making him limp, but breathing.
Ron is rushed to the hospital wing. Harry, Hermione, Hagrid, Ginny, Fred, and George (who were in Hogsmeade looking into buying Zonko’s) are sitting with him in the hospital. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley come in, so Harry, Hagrid, and Hermione leave Ron to his family. On their way out, Hagrid accidentally lets it slip that Dumbledore is angry with Snape. He said he’d overheard Dumbledore getting mad at Snape for trying to back out of something, saying he didn’t want to do it anymore.
Harry and Hermione go up to the common room, where Cormac McLaggen is waiting for Harry. He asks if he would be playing keeper in the next match, since Ron was sick, and Harry said yes.
The next quidditch game came, and McLaggen kept giving everybody commands. Luna Lovegood was the commentator for that match. McLaggen grabbed one of the beater’s bats and swing a bludger, hitting Harry in the head and making them loose the match.
That night in the hospital wing, Harry thought of an idea of how to find out where Malfoy is going. Harry calls to Kreacher, and all of the sudden Kreacher and Dobby both appear. Harry gives them a job to follow Malfoy around. Ron and Harry leave, to find that Ginny and Dean had a fight because Dean was laughing that Harry got hurt. Harry gets a note Luna delivered saying that he had another Dumbledore meeting to go to.
Harry goes to Dumbledore’s to find Professor Trelawney there. She leaves, and Dumbledore informs Harry she is still upset about Firenze being there. Dumbledore asks Harry if he got the memory, and he says no.
Dumbledore starts to tell Harry that after Voldemort graduated from Hogwarts he started working at Borgin and Burkes. Dumbledore also states that he wanted to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts, but Dippett (the old headmaster) turned him down saying he was too young, and to reapply in a few years. While working at Borgin and Burkes, his job was to go to people’s houses and try and get them to give up their treasures to the store to sell. They then enter the memory of Hokey, a house elf who worked for Hepzibah Smith. While at this house, Tom Riddle comes to visit Hepzibah. Hepzibah tells Hokey to bring out her most valuable treasures, and she does. She first shows him a cup with a badger on it, which belonged to Helga Hufflepuff (Hepzibah says she is a descendent). The second item was a golden locket with a serpent s on it (the same locket that Merope gaunt sold to Borgin).
They leave the memory and Dumbledore says that Hepzibah Smith died two days later. The ministry accused Hokey of putting poison in her drink, and Hokey said she did (but it was obviously Tom Riddle who killed her, and altered Hokey’s memory). After Hepzibah died, her family realized the cup and locket had gone missing (Voldemort took them).
They enter a second memory of Dumbledore’s. This memory is 10 years after Hokey’s and here Tom Riddle asked Dumbledore for a job at Hogwarts. Tom asks Dumbledore not to call him Tom anymore, but Dumbledore says he will always know him as Tom. Dumbledore declines the job, and tells Tom he knows the rumors of what he has been doing, and about his death eaters. They leave the memory, and Dumbledore says they had never been able to keep a Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers for more than a year after that (Voldemort cursed the position).
Ron keeps complaining about Lavender, and hoping that she will dump him. That night, Kreacher and Dobby appear and tell Harry Malfoy has been going to the 7th floor a lot a disappearing (the Room of Requirement). Harry thinks that Malfoy is using polyjuice potion to Crabbe and Goyle into other people so he could go upstairs (that’s why he goes to the dungeons with different people).
The next day in the newspaper, it says that Mundungus was arrested and sent to Azkaban for impersonating an inferius (dead person being used for dark magic by an evil wizard- inferi) to try and rob a house. Harry goes up to the room of requirement under his invisibility cloak, but does not manage to get in. In Snape’s class, he tells them that inferius are corpses that had been reanimated by Dark Wizard’s spells, and it is not alive, but can do the work for a dark wizard. Harry and Ron go into the boy’s bathroom, where Moaning Myrtle said she was waiting for somebody. While Ron and Hermione go for apparition lessons (Harry not being old enough) tries to get into the room of requirement. While there, he sees Tonks. She asks him if he received mail from anybody in the order lately, and he says no. Tonks leaves, and Ron and Hermione return, saying they both apparated.
They receive a note from Hagrid, saying that Aragog died, and there would be a funeral for him that night. Harry goes to potions that afternoon, and notices that Malfoy is looking thinner and sicker. They got to choose the potion they wanted to make that day, and Harry made a potion that made you happy, so that he could try and get the memory from Slughorn after class. He meets Ron and Hermione in the hall after they took their apparition test. Hermione passed, however Ron failed because he left half an eyebrow behind.
Harry takes some Felix Felicis and goes down to Hagrid’s. On his way down, he sees Slughorn, who insists to bring him to Aragog so he could get acromantula venom from him. They arrive at Hagrid’s and go outside to where Aragog is going to be buried. Slughorn pretended to be saying a burial and got Aragog’s venom. Hagrid and Slughorn both got drunk in Hagrid’s hut. Harry then made Slughorn feel guilty to get the memory. Slughorn gave Harry the memory and told him not to think of him as bad after he sees it.
Harry returns to the castle where he finds that Dumbledore is in his office from Nearly-Headless Nick. He goes to see Dumbledore and they enter Slughorn’s memory. In the memory, the beginning is the same as before. Then, Tom Riddle goes up to Slughorn after the meeting. Tom asks Slughorn what Horcrux are, and he says that a Horcrux is the word used for an object in which a person has concealed part of their soul. He says that you split your soul and hide part of it in an object outside your body. Then, even if one body is attacked or destroyed, you cannot die, because part of the soul remains earthbound and undamaged. He said in order to do it, you must commit murder, for killing rips the soul apart. He says that you can rip your soul into 7 pieces.
Dumbledore says that he had expected this for 4 years, ever since Riddle’s diary. He explains that his diary was a Horcrux used for both damage and as a safeguard for Voldemort’s life. He says that Voldemort could have 6 Horcruxes, for 1 was in his body. He also says there are only 4 left, for the diary was 1 (which Harry destroyed) and Tom Riddle’s ring was another (which Dumbledore destroyed). He said that he was very ill after getting the ring, and that Snape helped him return to health, only to remain with a hurt hand. Dumbledore things that the other 4 Horcrux are the locket of Slytherin, the cup of Gryffindor, and things of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. Dumbledore thinks that he wanted to come back to Hogwarts to find something of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw’s. Dumbledore doesn’t think Voldemort got both of these for a Horcrux, maybe not either. He also thinks 1 of the Horcrux is his snake, Nagini. That means that if he didn’t get something of Gryffindor or Raveclaw’s, then 1 Horcrux is missing. Dumbledore admits that when he is away from Hogwarts that is what he was looking for more Horcrux.
Dumbledore says that if he finds another one, Harry can come with him to destroy it. Dumbledore also says he does not think that Voldemort can tell when one of his Horcrux is being destroyed. Dumbledore says that without his Horcrux, Voldemort can be killed. Dumbledore says that what makes Harry powerful is love, and Voldemort thinking Harry is the only one who can destroy him, made Harry the only person who can destroy him. Harry leaves Dumbledore’s office. The next day, Ron tells Harry that he and Lavender broke up. Hermione also informs them that Ginny and Dean also broke up. They return to the common room to find Katie out of St. Mungo’s.
While checking one day to see where Malfoy was, Harry listened outside the bathroom where Myrtle had been that one day. He could hear Malfoy inside crying inside. Harry went inside and Malfoy and him start to duel. Malfoy attempts to do Crucio, but Harry then does Sectusempra, a spell in the Prince’s potions book. Malfoy falls down bleeding to death, as though somebody slashed him with a sword. Snape comes running in and did a spell to shut Malfoy’s wounds. Snape takes Malfoy to the hospital wing, comes back and asks Harry where he learned that spell. Snape tells Harry to go and get all of his books. Harry grabs them, and takes Ron’s potions book instead of his, throwing his copy in the Room of Requirement. Snape takes out Ron’s potions book (Harry pretending it was his) and asks why it has the name Roonil Wazlib (Ron’s name with one of Fred and George’s joke quills) in it. Snape gives Harry detention for every Saturday until the end of the term (which means he could not play in the quidditch finals).
Harry goes to Snape’s detention, where he has to sort out files of other Hogwarts mischief makers. Harry left the detention a few hours later to the common room to find that Gryffindor had won and received the quidditch cup! Harry runs in and Harry and Ginny kiss (Ron looks up in an approving way).
Harry and Ginny start going out, and Ron and Hermione seem to get a long much more than usual. Hermione continued going about her usual story about the prince being bad. Hermione finds an article about Eileen Prince, who was captain of the Hogwarts gobstones team a long time ago. Hermione thinks that she could be the half blood prince (it says her father was a wizard with the surname of Prince, and her mother was a muggle, making her a half blood).
Harry gets a letter from Dumbledore, saying to come to his office as quickly as possible. On his way, he sees Professor Trelawney coming out of the Room of Requirement. She responds saying that she didn’t know any students knew about the room. She said that when she got inside, there was somebody already in it. She thought it was a male whooping gleefully, as though celebrating. She said she asked who was there, and then the room went all dark. The next thing she was being thrown out of the room. They both go to see Dumbledore.
Trelawney goes on about a story of when she was first interviewed for the job as Divination teacher. She said that she was not doing very well, and then they were rudely interrupted by Severus Snape (she did not know she performed the prophecy). Harry then learns that it was Snape who first told Voldemort about the prophecy (the only half he did hear before being caught). Therefore, it was Snape’s (and Wormtail’s) fault that his parents were dead.
Harry leaves Trelawney downstairs and runs up to Dumbledore’s office. Dumbledore then says that he promised Harry that he could come with him. Dumbledore asks Harry what is wrong and he replies Snape. Harry gets mad at Dumbledore for letting him teach at Hogwarts. Dumbledore responds saying that at that time Snape had been bad, and that he did not know that it was the Potters that the prophecy was made about. Harry gets mad, saying that the people that Snape always hate end up dead (his parents and Sirius).
Harry asks how Dumbledore is sure that Snape is good, and Dumbledore responds saying that he trusts Snape completely. Harry tells Dumbledore what Professor Trelawney heard, and Dumbledore says that he always leaves the school with good protection when he leaves.
Dumbledore once again asks Harry if he wants to go with him tonight, and Harry says yes. Dumbledore says he will take him only on one condition; that he will obey every command Dumbledore gives him; even if it is to run and leave Dumbledore behind.
Harry goes back to the common room to get his invisibility cloak and gives Hermione and Ron the last of felix felicis; saying to use it if anything bad happens. Harry then runs off to the entrance hall to meet Dumbledore. They walk to Hogsmeade towards the Hog’s head, then Apparate towards the cave (near a town where Tom Riddle’s orphanage took the orphanage for trips- Tom took a few kids to the cave and tortured them) where Dumbledore thinks the next Horcrux is in.
They enter water and begin to swim to the cave. Dumbledore says that it was definitely the cave, because it had signs of magic in it. Dumbledore finds a concealed wall in the cave and enters through it. They need blood to pass, so Dumbledore cut his injured hand and they got in. They see the Horcrux on an island in the middle of the lake surrounded, in the water, by inferi. They get on a boat to cross the lake.
Dumbledore says that if the inferi start to attack, then to use fire, for they fear light. They arrive at the island in the middle. Dumbledore cannot reach the Horcrux at the bottom of the bowl filled with potion. Dumbledore says the only way to get the Horcrux is to drink the potion. Much to his dismay, Harry agrees. Dumbledore says that it will be Harry’s job to make sure that he keeps drinking, for the potion will probably cause him (Dumbledore) pain and make him want to leave.
Dumbledore starts to drink the potion, which did not affect him at first. After a few drinks he started to say that he didn’t want the drink anymore. Harry makes Dumbledore drink the whole thing (though Dumbledore keeps saying that he doesn’t want it). Dumbledore drinks the whole thing, then asks for water. Harry goes to get Dumbledore water from the lake, when an inferi grabs his wrist. More inferi started to attack Harry. Dumbledore gets up from his unconscious state, and creates a fire, sending the inferi away. Dumbledore grabs the locket Horcrux, gets in the boat with Harry, and starts to paddle out of the lake. They escape the cave and Harry apparates the both of them back to Hogsmeade.
They arrive at Hogsmeade, where Dumbledore says that he needs Snape. Madam Rosmerta tells them the dark mark was over a tower at Hogwarts, and Harry borrows Rosmerta’s brooms and Harry and Dumbledore fly back to Hogwarts. They arrive at the school, and Dumbledore tells Harry to run and get Snape. Getting ready to leave the tower, Draco Malfoy runs in (Harry invisible by his cloak) and disarms Dumbledore. Dumbledore does a spell in his mind and Harry is immobilized.
Malfoy says that there are death eaters at Hogwarts, and that he planned to kill Dumbledore. Dumbledore says that he knew all year that Malfoy had hurt hurting Ron and Katie, and had attempted for both of those gifs to be for him (Dumbledore). Meanwhile, downstairs Order of the Phoenix members were dueling the death eaters. Malfoy says he got the death eaters in through a vanishing cabinet that had a pair in Borgin and Burkes, so the death eaters could get in one and come out the other.
Dumbledore says that he knew it was Malfoy the entire time (about Katie and Ron being injured). Dumbledore then finds out that Madam Rosmerta was under the imperius curse to give Katie the necklace. Malfoy also says that one of Dumbledore’s people had died, but they just sent the dark mark into the sky to get Dumbledore to come up to the castle faster.
Dumbledore offers Draco to come over to the good side, and that he would protect his family so that Voldemort wouldn’t kill them. Some of the death eaters come up to where Dumbledore and Harry are (though they still can’t see Harry). Snape comes up, and they tell him that Malfoy doesn’t seem able to kill Dumbledore. Dumbledore is whispering Snape’s name, and then said, “Severus, please” Snape raises his wand and does the Avaka Kedavra curse, killing Dumbledore.
As the death eaters are leaving the tower, Harry pulls off his cloak and starts attacking them; including Fenir Greyback. Harry finds Ginny in combat with a death eater, and Harry fights him off. Harry starts to run after Snape and Malfoy. Harry catches up with Snape. Harry tries to attack Snape, but every curse flies off of him. Snape says that Harry should learn to keep his mind closed so Snape could not know what spell he was performing.
A death eater tries to use an unforgivable curse on Harry, but Snape tells him not to, and that Harry should be left for the dark lord. Harry gets up and tries to do Sectusempra on Snape, but Snape once again rejects the curse. Same then says not to use his spells against him, saying that he was the Half-Blood Prince. Buckbeak comes over, and the death eaters flee Hogwarts.
Hagrid comes to get Harry and takes him up to the castle. Harry tells Hagrid that Snape killed Dumbledore, and Hagrid went into great shock. Harry and Hagrid go to Dumbledore’s body. On the floor, next to his body, was the locket Horcrux. The locket was not the same locket Harry had remembered from the Horcrux. Inside the locket, however, was a little note that read:
To the Dark Lord
I know I will be dead long before you read this
But I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret.
I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can.
I face death in the hope that when you meet your match,
You will be mortal once more.
R.A.B
Harry realized that this was not the real Horcrux. Ginny comes over and takes Harry away from Dumbledore’s body. Ginny takes Harry to the hospital wing on McGonagall’s orders. Ginny said that nobody had died, and it was Bill’s body on the ground, but he was alive. She said that Greyback attacked him in his human form, and that he looked very messed up. She also said Madam Pomphrey said he would never look the same again. Ginny also said that Neville and Flitwick were hurt badly, but they were live. Also, a death eater was killed after being hit by killing curse that another death eater had been firing around the room.
Lupin says that Bill will probably not be a full werewolf, but have some werewolf qualities. Ginny tells that that Dumbledore is dead, and Lupin started to lose control, sitting in his chair with his hands over his face. Harry tells them how it happened, and everybody is very surprised to hear about Snape. Harry tells them what he told Dumbledore to make him believe he had gone good (about turning in the prophecy to Voldemort). Lupin gets upset and said that Snape hated James, and he would have wanted him dead.
Out in the darkness, they could hear a phoenix singing. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Fleur come into the hospital. Fleur says that she still wants to marry Bill, even though he could be a werewolf. All of the sudden, Tonks starts crying at starts talking to Lupin, saying that Fleur does not care that Bill could be a werewolf, so why would she (Tonks). Lupin replies saying that it is different and that Bill would not be a full werewolf. Lupin also says that he is too old, too poor, and too dangerous to be with Tonks.
McGonagall takes Harry off to Professor Dumbledore’s old office, now hers (she had become headmistress). She asks what Dumbledore and Harry were doing that night, but he say s that he cannot tell her, and that it was private. McGonagall, other heads of houses (along with Slughorn for Slytherin), and Hagrid discussed the school staying opened. They are not sure. They also all agreed to send the students home after Dumbledore’s funeral. Harry tells Ron and Hermione about the fake Horcrux.
Pretty much everybody appears to be going to Dumbledore’s funeral; The Beaxbatons carriage had arrives with Madam Maxine, and pretty much the entire ministry of magic. Hermione tells Harry that she found out something about the Half-Blood Prince. She says that she found an article about Eileen Prince marrying Tobias Snape, and that they had a son; Severus. Hermione explained Snape would have been proud to be ½ Prince, compared to his muggle father.
They attend Dumbledore’s where they see a bunch of familiar people; including Kingsley Shacklebolt, Mad-Eye Moody, Tonks who’s hair was no long dark but once again pink, Lupin (who appeared to be holding hands with Tonks), Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Fleur, Fred, George, Madam Maxine, Rita Skeeter, Umbridge (who didn’t look like she wanted to be there), Fudge, Grawp (who Hagrid had dressed up to look nice) and many other people. For the ceremony, the mermaids in the lake sang a song of grief, and Hagrid brought Dumbledore’s body up the aisle towards the front and placed Dumbledore’s body on a table. Harry could see in the forest that the centaurs had come to pay their respects to Dumbledore (out of wizard’s view, though).
After the man at the front was done talking, white flames seamed to rise around Dumbledore’s body. Harry thought he saw a phoenix leave Dumbledore’s body. They, the flames were replaced by a white tomb.
Harry breaks up with Ginny, saying that now the first people Voldemort will go after are the people that Harry cares about the most (Ginny). Ginny accepts it, not upset, because she excepted Harry’s reason. Harry leaves the funeral after it is over to have a walk alone around the lake. While here, Scrimgeour approaches Harry asking him where he and Dumbledore went. Harry replies saying that he won’t tell anybody. Harry also replies saying that even though Dumbledore is gone, he is still “Dumbledore’s man through and through.”
Harry says that even if Hogwarts does reopen, he would not come back. Harry says that he might go back to Godric’s Hollow, for he thinks something is waiting for him there. He also thinks he will go and visit his parent’s graves. Ron and Hermione insist that they will come with him, but Harry declines. Hermione then says “You said to us once before, that there was a time to turn back if we wanted to. We’ve had that time, haven’t we?”
|