Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

[Mik 0]

I have guaranteed delivery from Amazon on Saturday or I get it for free.

 

Between that, my new iMac G5 and a cross country move, I have a busy two weeks coming up.

 

I have high hopes for this book - I hope it delivers. No reason to think that it won't - all the others have.

[Anakin Flair 0]

I'm getting my copy midnight tomorrow, after ordering it months ago. I am HYPED for this book.

[CBright7831 0]

According to a spoiler on the RT forums

Snape kills Dumbledore.

 

We shall see soon enough.

[Anakin Flair 0]

Well, if that's true, that would shock the hell out of me.

Guess I'll find out tomorrow night.

[Guest The Iron Yuppie]

I'll be buying my copy tomorrow, though I haven't preordered it (as I didn't have any trouble finding a low-priced copy of Order of the Phoenix, I doubt I will have too much trouble with Half-Blood Prince).

[Anakin Flair 0]

I'll save my theories untill after I read the book, but that just doesn't make sense in a lot of ways. Of course, in other ways, it makes perfect sense...

[LaParkaYourCar 0]

Well...I don't know if this is true, but here is a link to page 609 of HP and The HBP.  DO NOT CLICK THE LINK IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE SPOILED

 

I ordered the book, and found this by accident, as a matter of fact dont even look at the url when you roll over it.  It upset me to come across it, but now I want the book that much more.

 

 

DONT CLICK IF YOU DONT WANT A SPOILER ABOUT HP6

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

What's up with that music?? That's weird.

 

As far as the spoiler...wow...just wow....I'll have to see that to believe it.

[spiny norman 0]

I picked mine up this morning and am about 150 pages in.

 

It's quite good so far, but don't like the fact that I read that spoiler. I figured it was probably pure speculation so read it, but with what has occurred so far in the book it does look to be possible.

 

Definitely not going to click the link to page 609 (though my book only has 607 pages, so I have no idea how that works).

[Garth 0]

Reading it at the moment, just over two hundred pages in.

 

Wish I'd re-read the other books before I started this one, I feel it would have been for the best as my memory of some characters is a little shakey. I don't remember who Tonks is at all.

[Guest Deadbolt]

Tonks = clumsy auror who can change appearance at will, usually goes for bubblegum pink hair who does "nose tricks" at the dinner table.

[teke184 0]

Read the whole thing...

 

While it was very good, it had the distinct "Matrix Reloaded" feel where it wasn't trying to be a good book as much as a lead-in to the final book.

 

That made the final ending seem as if it was abrupt, as this was a true "to be continued" feel that Rowling only used once before, at the end of Goblet Of Fire.

[Vyce 0]

Let's assume that spoiler is true.

 

I'm calling it right here: SWERVE.

 

That's my theory. I don't think Rowling would have spent five books demonstrating a relationship between....well, the person dead, and the person who supposedly killed them, just to have all of that thrown out the window. I think it's all a swerve to fool Voldemort.

 

Either that, or it's kind of a shitty heel turn. But I'm hoping I'm proven right.

[Michrome 0]

I'm almost sure it will end up as a a swerve, but not the death itself. He's dead, but there's some kind of reason for it. They leave certain questions unanswered for book 7.

[Anakin Flair 0]

sort-a spoiler- I got to wonder if Rowling gave in to the pressures of the fans when she finally put Harry And Ginny together. Not that I'm complaining, as I like the pairing.

[Anakin Flair 0]

I picked mine up this morning and am about 150 pages in.

 

It's quite good so far, but don't like the fact that I read that spoiler. I figured it was probably pure speculation so read it, but with what has occurred so far in the book it does look to be possible.

 

Definitely not going to click the link to page 609 (though my book only has 607 pages, so I have no idea how that works).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

um... the book has 652 pages in it. You might want to return your copy and get one with the whole story in it.

[Guest The Iron Yuppie]

The US version has 652 pages. The one released in the UK and Australia has 607 due to a different typeset or font, I believe.

[Anakin Flair 0]

Oh. That I ddi not know.

 

After finishing the book, I have to say that it could only have benefited from being longer. The one thing that was sorely lacking in this book was develpoment of relationships- even Ron/Hermione seemed a bit rushed. And I don't like how Harry got together with Ginny, only to break it off for her own good (though I don't think she'll stand for that...)

 

Othta than that small compalint, this was an excellent book, and I am eagerly awaiting the last one. Of course, I'll probably be waiting untill 2007...

[Michrome 0]

Anyone else think the last book will be really long, seeing as it seems like he sure has a lot to do....

[The Robfather 0]

Harry giving Ginny the standard superhero speech--- I can't be with you for your own safety--- was lame. Still, it was nice to finally see this pairing, hopefully not the last either.

 

So, who thinks its possible that Harry

himself, could be the sixth Horcrux?

[teke184 0]

Oh. That I ddi not know.

 

After finishing the book, I have to say that it could only have benefited from being longer. The one thing that was sorely lacking in this book was develpoment of relationships- even Ron/Hermione seemed a bit rushed. And I don't like how Harry got together with Ginny, only to break it off for her own good (though I don't think she'll stand for that...)

 

Othta than that small compalint, this was an excellent book, and I am eagerly awaiting the last one. Of course, I'll probably be waiting untill 2007...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I think the idea behind it is that he can't be with her while Voldemort still lives... however, once he's gone, he won't feel that he's endangering her by being with her.

[teke184 0]

Anyone else think the last book will be really long, seeing as it seems like he sure has a lot to do....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Considering the rumors that Rowling may write an eighth book, this amount of plot being established in book 6 becomes more important.

 

 

Harry Potter's to-do list, as of the end of book 6:

 

1. Graduate from Hogwarts

2. Kill Voldemort

2a.

Destroy the remaining Horcruxes (Hufflepuff's cup, Slytherin's locket, etc.)

2b.

Discover who RAB is and recover the true version of Slytherin's locket

3.

Take down Draco and Snape for their parts in killing Dumbledore

4.

Help Lupin and the Weasley family take down Fenris Greyback for the damage he did to Bill Weasley

5. Take down Bellatrix LeStrange for her murder of Sirius at the end of Order Of The Phoenix

 

 

Of those, #1 will easily be accomplished but the rest all seem like they could be books to themselves. However, some combination of 3, 4, and 5 will probably be subplots to book seven.

 

 

Oh, and Robfather, I doubt your theory.

 

Horcruxes are objects that he had to intentionally enchant as part of his act of killing someone. Considering he was trying to kill Harry, I highly doubt that Harry ended up as a Horcrux, even by accident. If so, Voldemort wouldn't have been forced to release his posession of Harry at the end of Order Of The Phoenix.

 

The only reason I don't doubt it more fully is that someone made the observation that the Horcruxes, especially the ring, tended to exhibit a new flaw such as a crack after they were enchanted.

[Michrome 0]

I don't think killing Snape or graduating Hogwarts will be on that list.

 

For one, I don't think the Snape thing is as clear cut as you. It makes no sense for him to be bad. Why did he warn the Order in book 5 that Harry was going to the Department of Mysteries? Why did he give Harry fake truth syrup? I fully believe we will find out that Dumbledore needed to die for one reason or another, and when he said "please severus," he was begging Snape to kill him. One possible reason is he knew Snape would die if he did not (unbreakable thing). I think Snape will help Harry in the end.

 

Oh, and doesn't Harry say at the end of the book that even if Hogwarts is open, he's not going back?

[Vyce 0]

Wait, HP fans were clamoring for Ron / Hermione and Harry / Ginny? Really. Huh.

 

I'd much rather see Harry / Hermione. Or in the alternative, Harry / Parvati.

[The Robfather 0]

Actually, I think Snape is

still good. Remember the agrument he and Dumbledore had that Hagird overheard. I believe, for one thing, Snape made an unbreakable vow to Dumbledore many years ago. That is why Dumbledore trusted him so. I also believe Dumbledore may have wanted to give Snape ultimate cover... what better cover than to kill Dumbledore himself?

 

'.... there was revulsion and hatred etched in the harsh lines of his face.'

 

Revulsion and hatred for Dumbledore, or prehaps for what he had to do to maintain his cover?

 

It doesn't matter what pairings people wanted to see. The groundwork has been laid out starting in books one and two for R/Hr and H/G. There's a difference between fandom and actual canon. Not all shippers will be happy, but they'd be fooling themselves if something like Dacro/Ginny would ever happen.

[Guest The Iron Yuppie]

The idea that Harry himself contains (part of) Voldemort's soul has been around for a while with the Changeling Hypothesis-

Link

- which was written after OOTP was released. I think that HBP goes along way to suggesting that this theory is correct with the notion of the Horcruxes. Other moments within the previous books also point towards this conclusion (see for example, the scene in which Harry explains that Mr Weasley had been attacked in OOTP to Dumbeldore).

 

As for R.A.B. and Slytherin's locket, I'm fairly confident that Harry is already in possession of the locket and that R.A.B. is Regulus Black. In OOTP there is some reference to a heavy locket that no one was able to open when they were cleaning 12 Grimmauld Place - though this could be one of the items removed by Kreacher or stolen by Mundungus Fletcher.

 

With Snape, I'm leaning towards the idea that he has gone deep under cover, with only him and Dumbledore knowing this. The argument between Snape and Dumbledore suggests that Dumbledore was asking Snape to do something that he did not want to do - ie. killing him. This also may allow Draco Malfoy a chance at redemption - in the end, he couldn't kill Dumbledore, but he isn't going to be punished by Voldemort. Clearly, he was in a position that he did not want to be, and though still suffering from delusions of grandeur, in the end he was only motivated by wanting to protect himself and his family.

[Mik 0]

Holy fuck is all I have to say. As for teke's list...

 

1 isn't happening. 5 will be done by Neville, in my opinion and I think Harry can knock out the rest of them in a tidy 850 page book.

 

 

As for spoilers posted above...

Please, Severus, definitely was a plea to kill Dumbledore. She even made a point to show how his voice changed. He obviously wasn't afraid to die. He changed his voice for a reason.

 

And when my head scanned a list of names for R.A.B., Regulus Black was the only thing that stuck in my head. So, I hope you're right. I had no reason to think that, but I'll still be mightly proud of myself if it turns out to be right. However, that begs the question, how did HE know?

[Anakin Flair 0]

Damn. Now all of you got me thinking that perhaps Snape ISN'T evil.

 

Man, I can't wait for the next book....

[EricMM 0]

I've always found Snape to be bad, but not evil. He hates Harry because of Harry's father, which is wrong. But then again, Potter also hates him senselessly at this point, so it's not like he's a good person. And for that matter, Harry's father earned the hatred he got, it's not like Snape just decided to hate James for no reason.

 

That being said, Snape killing Dumbledore was obviously requested, if just to save Draco and Draco's family. Which is why Snape was so mad at Potter for calling him a coward, Snape is taking the wrath of the entire wizarding community on just to honor a promise to Dumbledore. Snape is a horrible person, but he's always done the "good" thing when it comes to overall Deatheaters vs. Order, he just badly wants to fail Harry for good.

 

I found it extremely ironic that Harry was no good at potions because he couldn't deal with Snape in any capacity, and just couldn't learn from him. That is, until, he was learning from Snape without realizing he was. He studied the Half-Blooded Princes notes, and really respected the Half-Blood Prince.

[teke184 0]

I found it extremely ironic that Harry was no good at potions because he couldn't deal with Snape in any capacity, and just couldn't learn from him.  That is, until, he was learning from Snape without realizing he was.  He studied the Half-Blooded Princes notes, and really respected the Half-Blood Prince.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

I think part of the problem was that the potions book in general apparently sucked and that almost NOBODY in Harry's class, save Hermione, ever got them right until Harry saw the "Half-Blood Prince"'s notes on how to get the potions to work correctly.

 

 

As much as I see your point, I think part of the problem was that Snape wasn't enlightening the students on these tips and tricks unless he was showing off.

 

Example- In Year One, he started showing his ass by asking about certain potions and potion components that weren't really known at the first-year level to make a point to Harry about how being "The Boy Who Lived" wasn't going to save his ass.

 

Specifically, two of the things mentioned off-hand in Year One, the bezoar and the Draught Of Eternal Death (not sure if that's the right name) both re-appeared in Potions class this year, with the bezoar being spefically mentioned in the Prince's book.

[LaParkaYourCar 0]

Actually, I think Snape is

still good. Remember the agrument he and Dumbledore had that Hagird overheard. I believe, for one thing, Snape made an unbreakable vow to Dumbledore many years ago. That is why Dumbledore trusted him so. I also believe Dumbledore may have wanted to give Snape ultimate cover... what better cover than to kill Dumbledore himself?

 

'.... there was revulsion and hatred etched in the harsh lines of his face.'

 

Revulsion and hatred for Dumbledore, or prehaps for what he had to do to maintain his cover?

 

It doesn't matter what pairings people wanted to see. The groundwork has been laid out starting in books one and two for R/Hr and H/G. There's a difference between fandom and actual canon. Not all shippers will be happy, but they'd be fooling themselves if something like Dacro/Ginny would ever happen.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I think the look of hatred was Snape rounding up all his hate in order to perform the Avada Kedavra, which requires extreme hate to do. Not that he hates Dumbledore, but any hate he possesses. Perhaps hate for Voldemort?

 

I loved this book, but I wish it was longer. I can't wait two more years for closure!