Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on July 16

**Lotuslander** · 07-18-2005, 04:24 PM

This is what I didn't like.

Not enough Luna and Neville and I was really hoping for the back story on Aunt Petunia after the build up in Order of The Phoenix.

Harry's speech to Ginny did sound like Spiderman's to Kirsten Dunst in the first Spiderman.

Very little happens until the last few chapters.

Does everybody have to pair up, aren't there some witches and wizards who are quite content to be single.

Lord Voldemort doesn't show up at all.

I did like Slughorn, Peter Ustinov would be perfect for the part if he were still alive.

The best part of the book for me was Draco, and how JK fleshed him out.

The werewolf Renfir, who has a taste for blood not only on the full moon. Chilling.

If anyone would like send me some crystallized pineapple I'd be happy to introduce you to some of my more connected friends.

**haejin** · 07-18-2005, 07:34 PM

I got my book today!

Now I'm off to read it.

**EXlurker** · 07-18-2005, 11:16 PM

Originally Posted by mom2

Good points, but

Click to see Spoiler:
I like the idea of Sirius' brother repenting of his deeds and embarking on a way to stop Voldy. I know it said he was weak, but even the weak can be strong when the will is there.

I don't believe there is a horcrux in Dumbledore's body now. I think Snape somehow stopped it from destroying any more tissue when it was expelled from the ring.

Seven places:
1. Voldy's original body: destroyed by HP
2. Ring: destroyed by DD
3. Locket: destroyed by RAB
4. Diary: destroyed by HP in CoS
5. Hufflepuff's goblets: at large
6.
7.

I agree with you mom2.

Click to see Spoiler:
I don't think the horcrux is in Dumbledore's body. J.K once said that it wasn't the shape of Harry's scar that is significant or important. My theory is that the last piece of Voldemort's soul or horcrux is in Harry's scar. I think he will probably die in book 7 killing Voldemort.

I also agree that R.A.B is Sirus' brother. Regulus A(?) Black.

**saltyj** · 07-19-2005, 12:29 AM

Click to see Spoiler:
As for Dumbledore dying, I was sort of shocked. When I heard someone else was dying in this book, I expected it to be between Lupin, Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Dumbledore. But to see it played out that like...just, wow. Hopefully he had passed on all the information to Harry that he had known, all the information Harry needs to find the last few Horcruxes. I nearly cried, I'll admit it. (blush) Dumbledore was easily a favorite character, and you sort of expected him to stay around just because he was so smart and resourceful. He became a necessity to Harry, and to yank that away from him...well, we'll see what happens.

As for Snape, well, I was really starting to hope that he was on the good side. Dumbledore being so convinced about him, no matter how nasty he could be, it made me hope that Snape was good. But within the first couple chapters of the book, I realized that I was wrong, obviously. I never expected him to be the Half-Blood Prince, but I should have guessed with it being Potions that he was so good at. There were many hints, I just never picked up on them.

So, on to Malfoy. It was not surprising when I read that Voldemort had given him a task to do. In this book, he went from being a simple bully and Dark Arts fanboy to a real tool being used by Voldemort. Scary stuff. I'm pretty sure had Snape been prevented from getting up to the tower, Dumbledore would have lived. Malfoy didn't have the guts to kill Dumbledore.

Hermione and Ron as a couple is seeming more like a real possibility instead of just a concept being hinted at. I've known since book four that Ron liked Hermione, it was just the other side of it that wasn't fully revealed until this book. I thought it was a nice touch to add the backstabbing, because real teenagers do stuff like that. I now officially love the word "snogging".

Harry becoming Captain of the Quidditch team wasn't a surprise. The fact that he got an Outstanding in Defense Against the Dark Arts was not surprising either.

I loved the fact that they learned to Apparate. Very useful, and very cool.

I loved the Harry and Ginny thing. I was hoping he would start to like her. It was sad that they had to break up, but it was certainly necessary. I agree with whoever said it reminded them of the Spiderman speech. Totally cheesy.

I don't know about the idea of Harry not going back to Hogwarts. Maybe he's right about needing to just go and search out the Horcruxes, but I would think that another year of study could help him learn some more. Ah, what the heck, leave school! Good idea. Seriously.

There are still questions to be answered in the next book, and I can't wait to read the last one.

**kyrjar** · 07-19-2005, 02:15 AM

I enjoyed the book very much, it set up the final book and tied many things together nicely. Specifically:

Click to see Spoiler:
I believe that Malfoy, Wormtail and Snape will all betray Voldemort in the final book. I believe that Dumbledore was begging Snape to kill him -- it sets Snape up to be V's most trusted right hand man (and perhaps gets rid of the horcrux that may have been inside DD's hand). My guess is that Snape did the unbreakable vow with DD and that is why DD trusted him. I never expected half blood prince to be Snape -- tho clearly the evidence was there -- so it was the perfect title and a great mystery. I believe Harry was correct that the hbp is not evil, tho I am confused by Snape's uncontrollable hatred of Harry (whatever happened with his father was ages ago and more important issues abound).

I believe that Dumbledore may put in an appearance as a ghost, since he could do it and he had a need to do it -- to defeat Voldmort. (Set up where Harry asked about ghosts in relation to Sirius). I wonder if DD passed any of his great powers to Harry. It was clear in Goblet of Fire that Harry is the key to defeating V not only because of the scar link, but also because V used Harry's own blood for his resurrection.

Malfoy wasn't doing the dark stuff because he wanted to, but was threatened. Malfoy's relationship with Moaning Myrtle was surprising, but also rather touching. That DD allowed Malfoy to keep working against him, merely because to stop Malfoy would mean Malfoy's certain death was also touching.

The necklace is clearly the briefly mentioned one that would not open in the Black house from Order of the Phoenix so I think RAB is Regulus Black, and I think that Mundungus probably stole it (tho Kreacher having it is also a possibility). I found it interesting that Mundungus was eyeing the later-to-be stolen goblet and asking if it were pure silver in the Phoenix book.

I loved the Dursleys finally being told off. Thought that Voldemort's history was fascinating, in his early love of torture, cleverness and in the parallels to Harry's life.

Hermione and Ron and Harry and Ginny are clearly couples for the last book. I love how JKR slowly set these relationships in motion over the course of the books. I also love not just the consistency of the characters but also the growth. Harry was a true leader with confidence who could hold his temper immeasurably better in this book and he could see thru authority figures and hold his ground.

I think Harry may end up going back to Hogwarts to find the final horcruxes.

**Glitternerfball** · 07-19-2005, 09:52 AM

Originally Posted by EXlurker

Click to see Spoiler:
I don't think the horcrux is in Dumbledore's body. J.K once said that it wasn't the shape of Harry's scar that is significant or important. My theory is that the last piece of Voldemort's soul or horcrux is in Harry's scar. I think he will probably die in book 7 killing Voldemort.

I also agree that R.A.B is Sirus' brother. Regulus A(?) Black.

I agree on the

Click to see Spoiler:
scar part, because that would certainly lend itself to the rumor that the last sentence of the series is Hermione saying "Harry, your scar, it's gone"

**momof2dogs** · 07-19-2005, 12:54 PM

Kyrjar, I like your predictions!

Click to see Spoiler:
Totally agree re Snape, Malfoy and Dumbledore. As far as Snape's continued hatred of Harry and James, it's another reason why I think Snape may have loved Lily Potter from afar. I think all the talk about how good she was at Potions was a clue. Maybe she had help from Snape or maybe it's just something they had in common. She was also one of the few people kind to Snape. That's why I think he was truly remorseful after telling Voldemort the prophecy and why Dumbledore believed in his repentance. It's also why he continues to hate James so much - in Snape's eyes, he was unworthy of Lily.

**TellTaleOrange** · 07-19-2005, 02:10 PM

Click to see Spoiler:

Seven places:
1. Voldy's original body: destroyed by HP
2. Ring: destroyed by DD
3. Locket: Assumed to be destroyed by RAB
4. Diary: destroyed by HP in CoS
5. Hufflepuff's goblets: at large
6. Nagini
7. My guess is Harry.It's my sheet of paper theory. My guess is that when a soul is split it is split in half. Therefore the more times you split a soul the harder it is to repeat the process. (kind of like folding a piece of paper.)So when Voldy tried to split his soul for the 6th time Everything went bust and the soul split into Harry. So, my guess is that Harry actually has 1.6% of Voldemort's soul and Harry actually destroyed Half of it with the Diary or the Horcrux I think was created first.

Loved the book btw. I think she is setting her self up for an encyclopedia book 7 though.

**kit_kat91** · 07-19-2005, 04:06 PM

Yea I agree with you telltaleorange that the next book will probably be very long.But I dont think any of us will mind

**glennajo** · 07-19-2005, 04:19 PM

I definitely won't mind!

I feel (like others here) that the end of HBP was rather rushed, but overall it is definitely my favorite. JK is going to have to make the next book really long in order to tie up all of the loose ends left in HBP.

I don't think I can wait two years to find out the ending. Hopefully JKR kicks it into high gear and gets this next one done early!

Thread: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on July 16

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