Book #140: Harry Potter and the Half-Blook Prince by J.K. Rowling

 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

J.K. Rowling

 Released: July 16th, 2005

My 6th book for 2026 was J.K. Rowling’s "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince".  

There will be ***SPOILERS***.  This is your warning.

[Blogger's Notes: I'm going to do this series a little bit different than I normally do.  My sister, Megan Perry, is a diehard Harry Potter fan.  Since she also does some blogging, I figured I would incorporate her thoughts on this one as well.  You can check her blog "Between The Pages" at Megan Perry Writes.

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Bryan Shades: I always forget how intense these books get.  This is only my second read-thru of the series.  I feel like I’ve given Goblet of Fire and Half-Blood Prince better looks this time.

The story starts with Harry being picked up by Dumbledore.  Something the movie entirely cuts out.  Do they have any idea how long I’ve waited for Dumbledore to tell off Uncle Vernon…oy.  We see the story alter a bit.  Harry and Hermione seem just at home at the Burrow as the rest of the Weasley family.  Malfoy is up to more sinister things this year, after taking a spot with Voldemort and the Death Eaters.  We see romantic roller coasters in the hearts and minds of Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny.  Ron faces the greater Quidditch competition.  Slughorn is the latest in a long line of returning or outlandish Hogwarts teachers.  We see some interesting things as Harry and Dumbledore learn about Horcruxes and track them down.  We see an astonishing death scene with Snape killing Dumbledore.  We conclude with Dumbledore’s funeral (featuring cameos from legendary characters of Hogwarts past, from Dolores Umbridge to Harry’s neighbor).  This precedes Harry’s decision to not return to Hogwarts next year, and instead venture out on his own, with Ron and Hermione swearing allegiance to him, to find the Horcruxes and destroy Voldemort once and for all.

This one’s an interesting one.  It took me over a month to read.  (Granted I may have slipped a few extra novels in between my reading time).  There is a lot of detail needed in order to set up Book 7.  This one hits the tone perfectly.

Dumbledore is absent at times as he is mysteriously away on random missions.  It feels odd knowing the head of the school might never return from his off-school grounds activities.

Lord Voldemort does not physically appear.  After his appearance at the Battle of the Department of Mysteries.  This sets an ominous tone as we do not know what to expect from an unpredictable villain.

Ron discovers love with Lavender Brown, and our characters develop feelings for one another.  Ginny really comes into her own here as her relationship with Harry begins.  Hermione shows mixed feelings between Ron and others.  Harry develops an obsessive crush on Ginny.  All these emotions play out around as our characters deal with the events of the book.

Slughorn plays a huge factor as his Felix potion saves many students who drink it from perishing in battle.  He is a Hogwarts legend, and takes even greater precedence when he replaces Snape as the head of Slytherin.

Dumbledore’s funeral signifies a huge momentum shift in the story.  Without him as a figure head, we truly have no idea of who is leading the other side.  Suddenly it becomes Harry’s responsibility to complete Dumbledore’s work and take down Voldemort once and for all.  But we could easily see Headmistress McGonagall take Dumbledore’s place.  Lupin seems capable.  Mad-Eye Moody.  But Harry Potter is the most logical choice.  His resume is impressive.  Let alone surviving Voldemort’s murderous attack on his parents, he has defeated him several other times in various battles.  

All in all, this is a stunning and thrilling chapter.  It’s no wonder the Harry Potter universe took off with even greater momentum following this book.  You are left with a sense of wanting…no…craving more.  You have to find out what happens.  This is an example of epic writing, and J.K. Rowling masterfully does this.  Getting us all pumped and ready for the concluding chapter as the Deathly Hallows await…

Megan Perry:

Here is what I learned.

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• To Mackenzie, my beautiful daughter, I dedicate her ink-and-paper twin.

• Cornelius Fudge arranges for the President to forget his call to the Prime Minister.

• Fudge warns the Prime Minister that wizards were involved in recent events.

• The Minister of Magic only reveals himself to the current Prime Minister.

• Azkaban is in the middle of the North Sea.

• Fudge has been fired as Minister of Magic.

• Rufus Scrimgeour is the new Minister of Magic.

• Snape lives at Spinner’s End.

• Snape allows Death Eaters to visit.

• Wormtail has been sent by Voldemort to assist Snape.

• Snape drinks Elf-made wine.

• Bellatrix does not trust Snape.

• Snape considered Quirrel to be a mediocre wizard.

• Emmaline Vance has been murdered.

• Snape makes an unbreakable vow to Narcissa with Bellatrix as the Bonder, to protect Draco.

• Scrimgrour was the previous Head of the Auror office in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

• The Dursleys grow agapanthus.

• Sirius left Harry everything in his will.

• Harry inherits some gold and 12 Grimmauld Place.

• Harry also inherits Kreacher and Buckbeak.

• Buckbeak has been rechristened Witherwings.

• In the wizarding world, children come of age at 17.

• Harry and Dumbledore apparate to the village of Budleigh Babberton.

• Dumbledore’s favorite flavor of jam is raspberry.

• Inferi are corpses bewitched to do a Dark wizard’s bidding.

• Horace Slughorn is an old friend of Dumbledore’s.

• He can turn into an arm chair.

• Slughorn has an Intruder Charm set on his house.

• Slughorn once taught Harry’s mother, Lily Evans.

• Slughorn was once the Head of Slytherin.

• Dirk Cresswell is now the Head of the Goblin Liaison Office.

• Barnabas Cuffe is the editor of the Daily Prophet.

• Ambrosius Flame and Ciceron Harless work for Honeydukes.

• Gwenog Jones is captain of the Holyhead Harpies.

• Slughorn agrees to become the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.

• Dumbledore has spiders in his hat.

• “Don’t count your owls before they are delivered.”

• Arthur Weasley has been promoted.

• Arthur’s dearest ambition is to find out how airplanes stay up.

• When alone together, Molly likes Arthur to call her “Mollywobbles”.

• Wizard can buy a Metamorph-Medal, which gives the owner a hundred thousand disguises for 10 Galleons.

• Fred and George own a flat in Diagon Alley.

• Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour are set to be married.

• Ginny calls Fleur “Phlegm”.

• Tonks blames herself for Sirius’ death.

• Mrs. Weasley uses “The Healer’s Helpmate” to heal minor injuries.

Dark Force Rules Page 42







Harry’s OWL Grades are:




Astronomy: A

Care of Magical Creatures: E

Charms: E

Defense Against the Dark Arts: O

Divination: P

Herbology: E

History of Magic: D

Potions: E

Transfiguration: E




• Igor Karkaroff’s body was found in a shack up north with the Dark Mark over it.
• Florean Fortescue who runs the ice cream shop in Diagon Ally has gone missing.
• Ollivander, the wand maker has also gone missing.
• Hay had beennamed Gryffindor Quidditch Captain.
• Quidditch Captains have equal status with prefects.
• Bill had the power to take gold from Harry’s vault.
• Narcissa Malfoy decides to get robes from Twilfitt and Tattings.
• Fred and George’s latest creation is the “U-No-Poo”, a constipation agent.
• Marketing advertisement: WHY ARE YOU WORRYING ABOUT YOU-KNOW-WHO! YOU SHOULD BE WORRYING ABOUT U-NO-POO — THE CONSTIPATION SENSATION THAT'S GRIPPING THE NATION!
• Fred and George have an assistant named Verity.
• Products at Fred & George’s shop p 118-125
• Neville has a new wand made of Cherry and Unicorn hair.
• Romilda Vane offers for Harry to sit with her and her friends on the train.
• Neville’s grandmother believes Harry has more backbone than the entire ministry of magic.
• Professor H.E.F. Slughorn invites Harry to tea.
• The Abapneo charm prevents choking.
• Malloy contemplates leaving Hogwarts before graduation next year.
• Malfoy knows how to paralyze people.
• Tonks is stationed in Hogsmeade.
• Professor Trelawney attends the start of term feast.
• There is a blanket ban on Weasleys’ Wizarding Wheezes.
• Professor Slughorn is the new Potions master.
• Professor Snape has been promoted to the new Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher.
• Neville’s grandmother is named Augusta.
• Augusta failed her Charms O.W.L.
• Katie Bell is the only remaining Gryffindor Quidditch player who joined Harry his first year.
• Harry is now captain of the Quidditch team.
• “Acid Pops” is Dumbledore’s new password to his office.
• Slughorn lends Harry a copy of “Advanced Potion-Making” that was once owned by the Half-Blood Prince.
• Humphrey Belcher believed the time was ripe for a cheese cauldron.
• Marvolo Gaunt claims to be the last descendant of Salazar Syltherin.
• His son Morfin faced a charge of using magic in front of a muggle on September 14th.
• Merope Gaunt was Voldemort’s mother.
• Tom Riddle Sr. Left Merope while she was pregnant with Voldemort.
• Dumbledore acquired Merope’s ring.
• Stan Shunpike of the Knight Bus was arrested on suspicion of Death Eater activity.
• The Patil twins’ parents want them to return home.
• Eloise Midgen withdrew from Hogwarts.
• Hannah Abbott’s mother was found dead.
• Cormac McLaggen is a Keeper.
• Hermione confunded McLaggen on his fifth penalty for badmouthing Ron and Ginny.
• Aragog is dying after getting ill over the summer.
• The Daily Prophet also produces an Evening Prophet.
• Crabbe has a shrunken head confiscated when he arrived at Hogwarts.
• Ron has developed feelings for Lavender Brown.
• Zonko’s Joke Shop in Hogsmeade has been boarded up.
• Katie Bell obtained the opal necklace from the girls bathroom at The Three Broomsticks.
• Dilligrout is the new Gryffindor common room password.
• Voldemort’s mother died shortly after his birth.
• Voldemort hung Billy Stubbs’ rabbit after an argument.
• Voldemort did something to Amy Benson and Dennis Bishop in a cave once as a child.  They were never the same after.
• Snargaluff Pods can be juiced.
• Harry ponders about Ron and Hermione pursuing a relationship together.
• Sheamus is upset at Harry choosing Dean over him for the Quidditch team.
• Ron has never snogged with anyone in his life.
• The best kiss Rob ever had was from his Aunt Muriel.
• Harry begins to develop feelings for Ginny.
• Harry pretends to give Ron the lucky potion before the game.
• Urquhart is the new Slytherin captain.
• Zacharias Smith is a Hufflepuff who has taken over announcing Quidditch games from the graduated Lee Jordan.
• Romilda Vane wants to go to Slughorn’s party with Harry.
• Hermione attacks Ron with birds from her spell.
• Hermione believes Filch is a poor example of a wizard.
• “Baubles” is the new Griffendor Common Room password.
• Harry invites Luna Lovegood to Slughorn’s party.
• Rufus Scrimgeour is a vampire.
• Luna believes Aurors are behind the “Rotfang Conspiracy”, where they are secretly taking out the Ministry of Magic with Dark Magic and Gum Disease.
• Fred’s left buttock has never been the same since Mr. Weasley punished him for attempting to set a 5-years-old Ron up with an unbreakable vow.
• Mrs. Weasley’s favorite singer is Celestina Warbeck.
• Snape made the Wolfsbane Potion to perfection every month Lupin taught at Hogwarts.
• Fenrir Greyback is the most savage werewolf alive today.
• “You never get it right, you people, do you? Either we've got Fudge, pretending everything's lovely while people get murdered right under his nose, or we've got you, chucking the wrong people into jail and trying to pretend you've got 'the Chosen One' working for you!"
• “Abstinence” is the new Gryffindor Common Room password.
• The Fat Lady and her friend Violet drank all the wine in the picture of the drunk monks, and is now hungover.
• Professor Slughorn manipulates his memories.
• Dumbledore has the ability to eliminate the Apparition restriction from the castle.
• Wilkie Twycross is the Ministry Apparition instructor. 
1. Fix your mind firmly upon the desired destination.
1. Focus your determination to occupy the visualized space! Let your yearning to enter it flood from your mind to every particle of your body!
1. Turn on the spot, feeling your way into nothingness, moving with deliberation!
• Susan Bones of Hufflepuff accidentally separated her body attempting apparition.  The teachers quickly restore her to full form.
• Ron’s birthday is March 1st.
• Ron develops a crush on Romilda Vane.
• Harry and Ron drink mead with Slughorn.
• Luna Lovegood is the new Quidditch commentator.
• The Langlock glues ones tongue to the roof of their mouth.
• Gurdyroots are really excellent for warding off Gulping Plimpies.
• Professor Trelawney and Firenze are not getting along as co-teachers.
• Voldemort once worked at Borgin and Burke’s.
• Voldemort wanted to remain at Hogwarts as a teacher post-graduation.
• Professor Dippet rejected his application on grounds that he was too young.
• Defense Aganst the Dark Arts was once taught by Professor Galatea Merrythought.
• Merrythought had taught at Hogwarts for over 50 years.
• Hokey the house elf once worked for the witch Hepzibah Smith.
• Smith was very old and very rich.
• Smith was a distant descendant of Helga Hufflepuff.
• "But nothing I have seen in the world has supported your famous pronouncements that love is more powerful than my kind of magic, Dumbledore."
• Nott, Rosier, Mulciber, and Dolohov were the original Death Eaters.
• They used to meet in the Hog’s Head.
• Hogwarts has never kept a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher for more than a year after Dumbledore turned down Voldemort.
• Ron says “I love you” first to Hermione.
• An Inferious is a corpse that has been reanimated by a Dark Wizard.
• A ghost is the imprint of a departed soul left upon the earth.
• Harry suspects Tonks was in love with Sirius.
• Aragog passed away in the Forbidden Forest.
• Harry dreams of using the Lucky potion to get with Ginny.
• Acromantula venom is very valuable.
• "Farewell, Aragog, king of arachnids, whose long and faithful friendship those who knew you won't forget! Though your body will decay, your spirit lingers on in the quiet, web-spun places of your forest home.  May your many-eyed descendants ever flourish and your human friends find solace for the loss they have sustained."
• Slughorn tests drinks for poison with house elves.
• Tapeworm is the new Gryffindor common room password.
• Slughorn enjoys crystallized pineapple.
• A Horcrux is an object in which a person has concealed part of their soul.
• Voldemort supposedly has 7 pieces of his own soul, 6 in Horcruxes, and 1 inside his new body.
• Voldemort’s Horcurxes include Tom Riddle’s diary, and the Marvolo ring, the Lockett, Helga Hufflepuff’s cup.  Possibly Nagini the basilisk.
• “He was in such a hurry to mutilate his own soul, he never paused to understand the incomparable power of a soul that is untarnished and whole."
• Ron and Lavendar break up.
• Dean and Ginny break up.
• Gryffindor has not come in last place in the Quidditch standings for 2 centuries. 
• Harry hits Malfoy with a Darks Arts charm.
• James and Sirius once doubled the size of Bertram Aubrey’s head.
• “Quid Agis” is the new Gryffindor password.
• Harry begins dating Ginny.
• Eileen Prince was once captain of the Hogwarts Gobstones team.
• Going to Hog’s Head is a good way of disguising anyone’s true destination.
• Rosemerta is under the Imperius Curse.
• Snape kills Dumbledore.
• Professor Snape is the Half-Blood Prince.
• The headmaster’s office adds a portrait every time a preceding head of school passes away.
• R.A.B. Discovered Voldermort’s secrets.
• Fawkes the Phoenix leaves Hogwarts.
• “And he knew, without knowing how he knew it, that the phoenix had gone, had left Hogwarts for good, just as Dumbledore had left the school, had left the world... had left Harry.”
• Eileen Prince was Snape’s mother.
• Hundreds of witches and wizards turn up to pay their last respects to Dumbledore.
• Harry breaks up with Ginny.
• Harry decides to not return to Hogwarts.
• Ron and Hermione swear an allegiance to Harry.

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Overall, if you’ve read the others, you cannot miss this one.  If you’ve never read the books, and start with this one, you will never truly understand the impact of the ending here.  Read them all in order, this one included.

Highest Recommendation.

On to Book #141: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling.

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Need to catch up?  See previous blog post: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.