Early Saturday morning, I was in a queue at the bookstore, eager to
get my hands on my very own copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood
Prince. Fifteen minutes into the book, and I knew the LONG two-year
wait was worth it. Two days after finishing the book, I am still at a
loss for words!
This is the only book in the series, besides the fourth one, that
starts off away from number 4, Privet Drive. It begins with the Muggle
Prime Minister receiving a sudden visit from his ’magic’ counterpart,
Cornelius Fudge. Fudge, however has been sacked from his post as
Minister of Magic because of the incident that had occurred at the end
of Harry, Ron and Hermione’s fifth year. You-know-who had actually
turned up at the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry of Magic with
all the Death Eaters who had broken out from Azkaban earlier that year
and tried to steal the prophecy made about himself and Harry Potter.
In the midst of all the confusion, dueling and deflected spells flying
all around, the prophecy is destroyed and Harry also loses the closest
thing to a parent he has ever known, Sirius Black.
Later that night Harry learns from Dumbledore of the prophecy that
further links himself and Lord Voldemort: ’’And the Dark Lord will mark
him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not . . .
And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live
while the other survives . . .’’ This disturbing prophecy forms the
core of HP6.
HP6 is much lighter than OOTP even though it is only now that the
wizarding world is REALLY at war. Everyday The Daily Prophet bears
tidings of deaths and arrests. Meanwhile, life goes on at Hogwarts,
which is now protected by highly accomplished Aurors, Secrecy Sensors
and all sorts of defensive spells. Lessons get tougher and tougher as
the trio enter their NEWT years with Harry aiming to become an Auror.
During his first Potions lessons Harry receives a Potions textbook
that has the words ’’This book is the Property of the Half-Blood
Prince’’ scribbled on the back cover. The so called ’’Prince’’ helps
Harry in his potions lessons all year long with the useful hints, tips
and spells he has scribble d for himself on the pages of the textbook.
Occasional private lessons with Dumbledore take Harry on journeys that
help him learn about Tom Riddle a.k.a Lord Voldemort’s youth. A lot of
questions are raised in the early chapters of the book, keeping the
reader hanging on to every word for any sort of clue that can answer
their several questions. Why is Dumbledore’s hand black and burnt? Why
did Voldemort kill Harry’s parents? Who is Tom Marvolo Riddle? What
was Malfoy talking to Mr. Burgin about in Knockturn Alley? What are
the Horcruxes Professor Slughorn refuses to talk about?
Though in the end, the revealing of the identity of the Half-Blood
Prince is shocking, it is overshadowed by other, more grave events. I
was rather surprised that the title of the book had so little to do
with the story. The plot of all the previous books had a lot to do
with the title. This book also seemed to lack a theme. For instance,
Sorcerer’s Stone was about the sorcerer’s stone, Chamber of Secrets
was about the basilisk, Prisoner Of Azkaban was about Sirius Black and
so on but HP6 is not about any one thing in particular.
JKR has once again woven her web of magic. And kids and adults alike
are caught in it. Its time, once again to begin the looooooooooooooong
wait for HP7