# Harry Potter 6: Any idea when? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 1, 2004, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-6-any-idea-when/248011 "2004-06-01T03:27:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-6-any-idea-when/248011/21 "2004-06-29T15:39:55Z")
Someone on another forum I post to came up with an idea that since Rowling says it could have been in CoS, it refers to a founding member of Hogwarts (Slytherin’s relations with them in that book was important) and it struck me… perhaps the Half-Blood Prince was Godric Gryffindor. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-6-any-idea-when/248011/22 "2004-06-29T15:41:41Z")
> [@Mystery Dog](#): > > Just a theory: Maybe Harry is the Half-Blood Prince? We know he’s a half-blood, and maybe the plot will revolve around whether he’s some sort of magical royalty. Um… but Harry isn’t half-blood. His mother and father were both wizards. His mother may have been a half-blood, but he isn’t. After all, Draco only calls Hermione a ‘mudblood’. If Harry was half blood, the slur would be used on him as well, I gather. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-6-any-idea-when/248011/23 "2004-06-29T15:49:16Z")
Hagrid’s half-giant. That makes him a half-blood, yes? ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-6-any-idea-when/248011/24 "2004-06-29T15:56:03Z")
I’d assume so… but I’m not sure many would consider him princely or like royalty in any way ;). ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-6-any-idea-when/248011/25 "2004-06-29T15:58:14Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > Um… but Harry isn’t half-blood. His mother and father were both wizards. His mother may have been a half-blood, but he isn’t. After all, Draco only calls Hermione a ‘mudblood’. If Harry was half blood, the slur would be used on him as well, I gather. IIRC, one of the Black paintings in book 5 calls Harry a half-blood. Or it’s Bellatrix. And Harry shoots back that so’s Voldy. ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-6-any-idea-when/248011/26 "2004-06-29T16:10:09Z")
> [@](#): > > Someone on another forum I post to came up with an idea that since Rowling says it could have been in CoS, it refers to a founding member of Hogwarts (Slytherin’s relations with them in that book was important) and it struck me… perhaps the Half-Blood Prince was Godric Gryffindor. That’s what my girlfriend thinks. Her reasoning: > [@](#): > > Because > > a) “prince” is kind of a funny word for the way wizarding society is set up > > b) it kind of has to be someone who was important in Chamber of Secrets, if she was considering putting this part of the “mythology” (which is what I think it is) in that book - of course she could have left the person out of the book entirely > > c) there is some kind of link between Harry and Gryffindor, which helped him defeat Riddle in the Chamber > > d) Gryffindor’s sword was really cool, and also looked kind of pricey > > e) we don’t know for sure that the founders were all purebloods, but we do know there was a fight between S and G over letting in others > > f) at first I thought it could be Dumbledore, and that maybe he and Harry are both heirs of Gryf. Plus I think we are going to learn something legendary and cool about D. But then I thought, why not Gryf. himself? > > g) I think Harry is the heir of Gryf. > > h) it could be relevant to bring back something from Gryf. if his heir is going to have to fight the heir of Slyth. > > i) the thing in the title is always something quasi-legendary that Harry learns about in the course of the book, but the thing itself never turns out to be the thing Harry has to actually deal with or fight against (even in CoS, he had to go into the Chamber but Riddle was really the big problem). So maybe he learns about his descent from Gryf., which we all thought he should have learned about in CoS. > > j) if Hogwarts was built on a Celtic site, maybe Gryf. was descended from a witch/wizard and some kind of Celtic royalty, like a chieftain or something. Making him a warrior, a leader, and a wizard. Rowling says on her site that Harry isn’t the HBP, and that she was thinking about making this the title for Book Two, but then moved some significant stuff from there to Book Six. That explains some of what my girlfriend is talking about above. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-6-any-idea-when/248011/27 "2004-06-29T16:41:30Z")
I agree with most of that. I think it’d be easy to add in a few things here and there in CoS to refer to Gryffindor as the Half-Blood Prince and Harry was carrying on the tradition. Good point in that GG was REALLY for letting half-bloods in. IIRC, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw both backed GG, but GG was the leader of that block. And the fact that it was a long time ago, perhaps some whiches and wizards had royal titles. ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-6-any-idea-when/248011/28 "2004-06-29T16:45:29Z")
My girlfriend _also_ poses to me the following, completely speculative question: If Godric Gryffindor could animagus himself into a phoenix, could he live forever? Interesting thought, to say the least. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-6-any-idea-when/248011/29 "2004-06-29T16:49:27Z")
**Gadarene** suggested that Harry Potter is the heir of Gryffindor. Someone else is the heir of Slytherin (I don’t think we’ve been told who this is, have we?), so perhaps there will be a battle between the two, which is nicely symmetrical. ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-6-any-idea-when/248011/30 "2004-06-29T16:58:38Z")
According to Dumbledore, Voldemort is the last remaining heir of Slytherin. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-6-any-idea-when/248011/31 "2004-06-29T17:03:58Z")
> [@](#): > > Um… but Harry isn’t half-blood. Maybe half means half pureblood and half mudblood. However, since it seems that Ms. Rowling already said the title doesn’t refer to Harry, that speculation is pointless. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-6-any-idea-when/248011/32 "2004-06-29T22:19:22Z")
> [@Brutus](#): > > Latest I heard was Autumn Solstice. That’s what a friend of mine read too. In that case I expect it to be out _next_ year…maybe I’ve been thinking about delays in PC games too much 😛 OTOH, book 5 was predicted to have been released a full year before it actually was, so. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Eyed\_Stranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/919ad9/32.png) [@Green\_Eyed\_Stranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Eyed_Stranger)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-6-any-idea-when/248011/33 "2004-06-29T22:38:47Z")
One thing I keep comming back to is that, although people say that there’s no royalty in Harry Potter, we’ve know about the Bloody Baron since the first book. Given the Bloody Baron’s name, book six’s title takes on a slightly different twist. Take care GES ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-6-any-idea-when/248011/34 "2004-06-29T22:52:27Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > Um… but Harry isn’t half-blood. His mother and father were both wizards. His mother may have been a half-blood, but he isn’t. After all, Draco only calls Hermione a ‘mudblood’. If Harry was half blood, the slur would be used on him as well, I gather. IIRC harrys mother _was_ what Malfoy would call a mudblood. Making him not part of a pure wizard line. So “son of a mudblood” maybe. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-6-any-idea-when/248011/35 "2004-06-29T23:00:17Z")
Rowling says on her site (in English only, other languages are not yet updated) that the Prince in the title is neither Harry nor Voldemort. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-6-any-idea-when/248011/36 "2004-06-29T23:09:25Z")
The canonical answer for when volume X will be out is ‘Next Tuesday’. But seriously, I expect it to be out next summer. As for the identity of the prince, well isn’t Draco known as the prince of Slytherin? Suppose he weren’t actually Lucius’s son? ---
**Author:** ![Marvel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marvel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvel)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-6-any-idea-when/248011/37 "2004-06-29T23:15:38Z")
In one of the stories I;ve read about the Book 6 title, J.K. Rolwing said she found on e of the gueses, “Harry Potter and the Pillar of Storgé,” to be someone insulting and even laughable. Um, why? “Storge” means the love an animal has for its young, and while I don’t see how it applies to HP, I also don’t see why it would be insulting or WAY wrong either. Any ideas? Patty ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2004, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-6-any-idea-when/248011/38 "2004-06-30T02:04:53Z")
> [@Shoshana](#): > > Rowling says on her site (in English only, other languages are not yet updated) that the Prince in the title is neither Harry nor Voldemort. It’s true that no wizard royalty have been mentioned as yet . . . One explanation might be that the “Half-Blood Prince” is a prince from a **muggle** royal family (possibly a fictional family from a fictional country, like Ruritania) – and it turns out one of his parents was a witch or wizard. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2004, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-6-any-idea-when/248011/39 "2004-06-30T02:09:05Z")
> [@Marvel](#): > > “Storge” means the love an animal has for its young . . . 😕 In what language? I can’t find it in the Encarta online dictionary. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2004, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-6-any-idea-when/248011/40 "2004-06-30T02:29:26Z")
The Potter family used to live in Godric’s Hollow. I don’t know if that is significant to Gadarene’s theory. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-6-any-idea-when/248011.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-6-any-idea-when/248011.md?page=3)