Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search This article is about the novel. For the film, see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film). For the video game, see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game). Harry Potter books Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Author J. K. Rowling Illustrators Jason Cockcroft (UK) Mary GrandPré (US) Genre Fantasy Publishers Bloomsbury (UK) Scholastic (US) Raincoast (Canada) Released 16 July 2005 Book no. Six Sales ~65 million Story timeline 1996-1997 Chapters 30 Pages 607 (UK) 652 (US) Preceded by Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Followed by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, released on 16 July 2005, is the penultimate of the seven novels from British author J. K. Rowling's popular Harry Potter series. Set during Harry Potter's sixth year at Hogwarts, the novel explores Lord Voldemort's past, and Harry's preparations for the final battle amidst emerging romantic relationships and the emotional confusions and conflict resolutions characteristic of mid-adolescence. The book sold nine million copies in the first 24 hours after its release, a record at the time which was eventually broken by its sequel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.[1] Contents [hide] 1 Plot 2 Development 2.1 Prequels and sequel 2.2 Pre-release controversy 2.2.1 Right to read controversy 3 Film 4 Translations 4.1 Textual changes 5 References 6 External links Plot This article may be too long to comfortably read and navigate. Please consider splitting content into sub-articles and using this article for a summary of the key points of the subject. As Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters commit crimes in both the magical and Muggle worlds, Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge is replaced by Rufus Scrimgeour. Professor Snape, appearing to have rejoined the Death Eaters and Lord Voldemort, is visited by Narcissa Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange. A terrified Narcissa tells Snape that her son Draco has received orders from Lord Voldemort, and asks Snape to make an Unbreakable Vow to protect her son, and complete the task for him should he fail. Snape agrees, and the vow is sealed. Harry Potter accompanies Albus Dumbledore on a trip to persuade retired Hogwarts professor Horace Slughorn to return to Hogwarts to fill in the vacant spot in the teaching staff. Harry notices that one of Dumbledore's hands is withered and burnt black, and that he is wearing a ring with a distinctively-marked stone. Harry spends the remaining holiday at The Burrow with the Weasleys and Hermione, where they receive their O.W.L. results. Harry and Ron must take N.E.W.T. level Potions to become Aurors, but their O.W.L.s in the subject are too low to enrol in Snape's Potions class. At Hogwarts, Snape is named the new Defence Against the Dark Arts instructor, with Slughorn becoming the Potions teacher. Slughorn's requirements are lower than Snape's, so Harry and Ron are able to enrol in his class; they have not, however, purchased textbooks. Slughorn loans them copies until they do; Harry's book has notes and corrections scribbled all over the pages and these corrections yield better results than the textbook's instructions (winning him a vial of Felix Felicis, a potion that infuses luck, on his first day in class). His book is inscribed as having previously belonged to the "Half-Blood Prince". Romantic subplots are a major theme of the novel. Ron's brother Bill Weasley is engaged to Fleur Delacour, of whom his mother disapproves. Auror Nymphadora Tonks makes comments suggesting she may have harbored unrequited love for her now-slain cousin Sirius Black. However, it is eventually revealed that she has fallen for Remus Lupin, and remains besotted despite his protests that he is unworthy of her. They marry over the summer, as revealed in the early chapters of the next book. Ron and Ginny both gain membership on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, which Harry now captains, as Keeper and Chaser respectively. This puts Harry in frequent contact with Ginny, who for a long time harbored an unrequited attraction to him. Now, however, she is dating Dean Thomas—unexpectedly conjuring up feelings of jealousy in Harry. This is exacerbated when Dean also gains membership on the team, replacing original member Katie Bell who was almost killed while attempting to deliver a cursed necklace under the influence of the Imperius Curse. Furthermore, Ron is displeased with the idea of his younger sister dating anybody, forcing Harry to ignore his attraction for the sake of loyalty. After a blazing row with Ginny in which Ron's dating inexperience is made clear, Ron then takes up with Lavender Brown, creating a divide between him and Hermione (whose unresolved sexual tension have been an ongoing plot thread for several years). This rift is only mended when he accidentally consumes a love potion attracting him to Romilda Vane, and then poisoned mead which almost kills him. During the school year at Hogwarts, Dumbledore privately tutors Harry, using his Pensieve to show Harry collected memories about Voldemort's past. Dumbledore asks Harry to retrieve a key memory from Slughorn that Slughorn has resisted providing, regarding Slughorn's conversation with a sixth-year Tom Riddle. After disappointing Dumbledore once by not getting the memory from Slughorn, Harry uses his vial of Felix Felicis to gain the memory. The series of memories reveals that Voldemort splintered his soul (through committing murders) into six fragments attached to objects called Horcruxes, while leaving a seventh piece in his body in order to achieve immortality. As long as any of the Horcruxes exist, Voldemort cannot be killed. Two Horcruxes have been destroyed--Tom Riddle's diary by Harry in the Chamber of Secrets[HP2], and Marvolo Gaunt's ring by Dumbledore. Three of the remaining Horcruxes are a locket formerly owned by Salazar Slytherin, a cup formerly owned by Helga Hufflepuff, and the snake Nagini. Dumbledore speculates that the sixth unidentified Horcrux may be something associated with Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, as Riddle would have wanted something from each of the houses of Hogwarts, which he regarded as his only home. After seeing Harry cast an unusual curse, "Sectumsempra" (a dark curse which leaves deep gashes) against Draco Malfoy, Snape attempts to repossess the Half-Blood Prince's Potions book, but Harry gives him Ron's copy instead and hides his copy in the Room of Requirement, distinguishing his hiding spot with an old bust wearing a wig and a strange-looking tiara whose significance is not revealed until the next book. Harry gets detention from Snape and misses the Quidditch finals, but Gryffindor wins the Cup with Ron and Ginny starring in the match. During the victory celebration, Harry spontaneously kisses Ginny, and with Ron's grudging approval they begin dating. Dumbledore locates another Horcrux and asks Harry to accompany him to destroy it. They travel to a secret cave to retrieve a locket. After drinking the potion, Dumbledore faints subsequent to drinking the potion from a goblet in which the Horcrux was concealed. Harry retrieves the Horcrux and guides Dumbledore to safety in Hogsmeade, but as they arrive they see the Dark Mark hovering over the Astronomy Tower at Hogwarts and hurry back to the school. Dumbledore and an invisible Harry are confronted atop the tower by Draco Malfoy, and before Harry can reveal himself, Dumbledore immobilises Harry just before Malfoy disarms him. Draco admits that he was behind the attacks on Hogwarts students (Katie Bell's cursing and Ron's poisoning), with both objects intended for Dumbledore, whom Voldemort had ordered Draco to kill. Dumbledore offers Draco asylum and protection from the Death Eaters, and Draco cannot bring himself to carry out his orders, even with the urging of fellow Death Eaters once they arrive. Instead, to fulfill his Unbreakable Vow, Snape kills Dumbledore. Harry, enraged and freed from immobility by Dumbledore's death, pursues Snape, who reveals that he is the Half-Blood Prince, and fends off Harry's attacks until he can get outside Hogwarts grounds and Disapparate. Harry recovers the locket from Dumbledore's body, only to discover it is a fake left by someone with the initials R. A. B. who had apparently stolen the real Horcrux and left a note about his opposition to Voldemort. The school year ends abruptly with Dumbledore's funeral. He and his personal wand are buried in a white tomb beside the lake on Hogwarts's grounds. The fate of the school is uncertain, but Harry vows not to return to school and to hunt for the remaining Horcruxes. Harry breaks up with Ginny to keep her safe from danger during his quest, and Ron and Hermione pledge to accompany him. Development Potter fans wait in lines outside a Borders for the midnight release of the book Prequels and sequel Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the sixth book in the Harry Potter series.[2] The first book in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was first published by Bloomsbury in 1997 with an initial print-run of 500 copies in hardback, three hundred of which were distributed to libraries.[3] By the end of 1997 the UK edition won a National Book Award and a gold medal in the 9 to 11 year-olds category of the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize.[4] The second book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was originally published in the UK on 2 July 1998 and in the US on 2 June 1999.[5][6] Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was then published a year later in the UK on 8 July 1999 and in the US on 8 September 1999.[5][6] Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was published on 8 July 2000 at the same time by Bloomsbury and Scholastic.[7] Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the longest novel in the Harry Potter series, was released 21 June 2003.[8] After the publishing of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the seventh and final novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was released 21 July 2007.[9] The book sold 11 million copies within 24 hours of its release: 2.7 million copies in the UK and 8.3 million in the US.[10] Pre-release controversy The record-breaking publication of Half-Blood Prince was accompanied by controversy. In May 2005 bookmakers in the UK suspended bets on which main character would die in the book amid fears of insider knowledge. A number of high value bets were made on the death of Albus Dumbledore, many coming from the town of Bungay where, it was believed, the books were being printed at the time. Betting was later reopened.[11] Other controversies included the right to read Potter books inadvertently sold before the release date, environmental concerns over the source of the paper used in the printing of millions of books, and fan reactions to the plot developments and revelations of the novel. Right to read controversy In early July 2005, a Real Canadian Superstore in Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada, accidentally sold fourteen copies of The Half-Blood Prince before the authorised release date. The Canadian publisher, Raincoast Books, obtained an injunction from the Supreme Court of British Columbia prohibiting the purchasers from reading the books before the official release date or from discussing the contents. Purchasers were offered a Harry Potter T-shirt and an autographed copy of the book if they returned their copies before 16 July. On 15 July, less than twelve hours before the book went on sale in the Eastern time zone, Raincoast warned The Globe and Mail newspaper that publishing a review from a Canada-based writer at midnight, as the paper had promised, would be seen as a violation of the trade secret injunction. The injunction sparked a number of news articles alleging that the injunction had restricted fundamental rights. Canadian law professor Michael Geist posted commentary on his blog;[12] Richard Stallman called for a boycott, requesting that the publisher issue an apology.[13] The Globe and Mail published a review from two UK-based writers in its 16 July edition and posted the Canadian writer's review on its website at 9 a.m. that morning.[14] Commentary was also provided on the Raincoast website.[15] Film Main article: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film) The film based on the sixth book was originally scheduled to be released on 21 November 2008, but was pushed back to 15 July 2009.[16][17] The screenplay was written by Steve Kloves, and David Yates directed the film.[18] The film is 153 minutes long, making it the third longest Harry Potter film of the series.[19] Translations Along with the rest of the books in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was translated into 67 languages.[20] A translation into Scots Gaelic is planned to be released by Bloomsbury in July 2009.[21] Textual changes As with Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the United States version of the novel has slightly changed text from the British version. One particular section has been remarked upon, where the alteration makes the nature of Dumbledore's offer to Draco Malfoy before Snape kills Dumbledore in the Half-Blood Prince explicit. The reason for the editing of the following text has not been explained on the author's webpage, but the British edition is more ambiguous. The text can be found in chapter 27, "The Lightning-Struck Tower". The U.S. text was changed to match the UK version with the publication of the paperback edition.[22] The parts added in the United States version have been highlighted in bold, below: "[...] He told me to do it or he'll kill me. I've got no choice." "He cannot kill you if you are already dead. Come over to the right side Draco, and we can hide you more completely than you can possibly imagine. What is more, I can send members of the Order to your mother tonight to hide her likewise. Nobody would be surprised that you had died in your attempt to kill me — forgive me, but Lord Voldemort probably expects it. Nor would the Death Eaters be surprised that we had captured and killed your mother — it is what they would do themselves, after all. Your father is safe at the moment in Azkaban [...]" —(U.S. Edition p. 591)(CND Edition p. 552), [HP6] References ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6912529.stm ^ "Harry Potter Books". MuggleNet.com. 1999-2009. http://www.mugglenet.com/books/index.shtml. Retrieved on 2009-05-29. ^ Elisco, Lester (2000-2009). "The Phenomenon of Harry Potter". TomFolio.com. http://www.tomfolio.com/PublisherInfo/HarryPotter.asp. Retrieved on 22 January 2009. ^ Knapp, N.F. (2003). "In Defense of Harry Potter: An Apologia". School Libraries Worldwide (International Association of School Librarianship) 9 (1): 78-91. http://www.iasl-online.org/files/jan03-knapp.pdf. Retrieved on 14 May 2009. ^ a b "A Potter timeline for muggles". Toronto Star. 14 July 2007. http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/235354. Retrieved on 27 September 2008. ^ a b "Harry Potter: Meet J.K. Rowling". Scholastic Inc. http://www.scholastic.com/harrypotter/books/author/index.htm. Retrieved on 27 September 2008. ^ "Speed-reading after lights out". Guardian News and Media Limited. 19 July 2000. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2000/jul/19/jkjoannekathleenrowling. Retrieved on 27 September 2008. ^ "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - Book Review". Wolfpack Productions. 2003. http://www.wolfpackproductions.com/harrypotter/book5review.htm. Retrieved on 2009-06-11. ^ "Rowling unveils last Potter date". BBC. 1 February 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6320733.stm. Retrieved on 27 September 2008. ^ "Harry Potter finale sales hit 11 m". BBC. 23 July 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6912529.stm. Retrieved on 20 August 2008. ^ "Bets reopen on Dumbledore death" from the BBC ^ "The Harry Potter Injunction" by Michael Geist ^ "Don't Buy Harry Potter Books" by Richard Stallman ^ "Much Ado As Harry Potter Hits the Shelves" by The Globe and Mail ^ http://www.raincoast.com/harrypotter/injunction-commentary.html Raincoast.com Retrieved on 04-24-07 ^ "Coming Sooner: Harry Potter Changes Release Date". TVGuide.com. http://movies.tvguide.com/Movie-News/Harry-Potter-Changes-1005104.aspx. Retrieved on 2009-04-15. ^ "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince". http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/harry-potter-half-blood-prince-moves/story.aspx?guid={F4F52B7F-D1B1-4DC0-BF8A-AD0D9252BE7A}&dist=hppr. ^ "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince". IMDb. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0417741/. ^ "Half-Blood Prince Runtime confirmed by several sources" ^ Flood, Alison (2008-06-17). "Potter tops 400 million sales". theBookseller.com. The Bookseller. http://www.thebookseller.com/news/61161-page.html. Retrieved on 2008-09-12. ^ "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone: Scottish-Gaelic Edition: J. K. Rowling: Amazon.co.uk: Books". Amazon.co.uk. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Harry-Potter-Philosophers-Stone-Scottish-Gaelic/dp/158234681X. Retrieved on 2008-12-12. ^ "Differences between US and UK editions". HP=Lexicon. http://www.hp-lexicon.org/about/books/hbp/changes_hbp.html. Retrieved on 2007-05-08. External links Wikinews has related news: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince released The Wikibook Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter has a page on the topic of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on Harry Potter Wiki, an external wiki [hide]v • d • eThe Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling Philosopher's Stone Film • Soundtrack • Game Chamber of Secrets Film • Soundtrack • Game Prisoner of Azkaban Film • Soundtrack • Game Goblet of Fire Film • Soundtrack • Game Order of the Phoenix Film • Soundtrack • Game Half-Blood Prince Film • Soundtrack • Game Deathly Hallows Films Characters Harry Potter · Ron Weasley · Hermione Granger · Lord Voldemort · Albus Dumbledore · Severus Snape · Rubeus Hagrid · Draco Malfoy · Hogwarts staff · Order of the Phoenix · Dumbledore's Army · Death Eaters · Supporting characters Universe Magic · Chronology · Places · Hogwarts · Ministry of Magic · Quidditch · Magical creatures · Muggle · Spells · Magical objects · Horcrux Related Film series · Cast members · Fandom · Influences and analogues · Legal disputes · Parodies · Politics · Religious debates · Translation Spin-off canon Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them · Quidditch Through the Ages · The Tales of Beedle the Bard · Prequel Other games Quidditch World Cup · Lego · Lego Creator · Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 · Action figures · Trading Card Game Category · Portal · Related topics Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Potter_and_the_Half-Blood_Prince" Categories: 2005 novels | British Book Awards | Harry Potter books | Novels by J. 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