# Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 16, 2005, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-and-the-half-blood-prince-spoilers/312818 "2005-07-16T10:52:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![GraphicsGal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e0b2c6/32.png) [@GraphicsGal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GraphicsGal)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-and-the-half-blood-prince-spoilers/312818/241 "2005-07-19T00:36:05Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > \<\\> > > Harry knows how Snape was tormented and mocked–and has even felt empathy for him. So, why doesn’t that stick? Snape is an ass, but that seems to be all Harry sees. Too bad–and I think this may well be Harry’s lesson in the end. To see the good in others, even when it is not packaged nicely. > > And why the heck doesn’t Harry EVER think about how his mother may have influenced him? (mother of 2 sons here getting pissy about this one…). > > Extraneous side note: WHO was James Potter? A pure blood, but who is he and why do we never hear about his family? I think that if Snape showed _any_ kindness toward Harry, that would be the crack that Harry needs to…I don’t know…internalize the shades of gray about Snape. Harry was really ripe for it after he saw what James Potter did to Snape in the penseive. I was disappointed no opening appeared that would have allowed Harry to acknowledge that James had been a jerk to Snape, somehow letting Snape know that Harry is NOT James reincarnated. Harry has youth and inexperience as excuses for not believing that Snape is trustworthy. Snape , OTOH, just can’t imagine (apparently) that Harry is not a carbon copy of James, showing a serious lack of depth or permanent interpersonal damage…like you said, he’s a big jerk. I can’t understand why no one has told Harry more about his folks, nor why Harry isn’t quizzing everyone who knew them for details about their lives. I guess it goes with the whole modesty/humility thing, but it makes Harry very passive about some really important information. Along those same lines, I am also not believing there were no belongings to be passed on to Harry except the Invisibility Cloak. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-and-the-half-blood-prince-spoilers/312818/242 "2005-07-19T00:50:36Z")
Didn’t he also inherit a house in Godric’s hollow + contents. Not to mention a vault full of gold. Dumbledore passed on a magic item that was particularly useful to Harry at school, but surely that’s not all that is coming to him. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-and-the-half-blood-prince-spoilers/312818/243 "2005-07-19T00:53:17Z")
> [@anu-la1979](#): > > Am I the only one wincing and picturing Daniel Radcliffe woodenly emoting “passion for a female” AS I’m reading the love scenes? Or Rupert Grint doing his gulpy thing? I’m sure they’ll hire Hayden Christensen to give them a few pointers. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-and-the-half-blood-prince-spoilers/312818/244 "2005-07-19T01:04:46Z")
> [@Peter Morris](#): > > Didn’t he also inherit a house in Godric’s hollow + contents. Not to mention a vault full of gold. AFAIK, the house in Godric’s Hollow was destroyed - I went and hunted it down in the [Harry Potter Lexicon](http://www.hp-lexicon.org/wizworld/places/godrics_hollow.html) and saw: > [@](#): > > On the evening of October 31, Voldemort attacked the Potters in Godric’s Hollow. This was just before midnight. Hagrid arrived shortly after the attack and rescued the infant Harry from the ruins of the cottage. So I imagine that he didn’t inherit a house there, there not being a house left. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-and-the-half-blood-prince-spoilers/312818/245 "2005-07-19T01:31:25Z")
Actually, I think that the reason that Sirius had to die is at the very end of the book: > [@](#): > > And Harry saw very clearly as he sat there under the hot sun how people who cared about him had stood in front of him one by one, his mother, his father, his godfather, and finally Dumbledore, all determined to protect him; but now that was over. He could not let anybody else stand between him and Voldemort; he must abandon for ever the illusion he ought to have lost at the age of one: that the shelter of a parent’s arms meant that nothing could hurt him. There was no waking from his nightmare, no comforting whisper in the dark that he was safe really, that it was all in his imagination; the last and greatest of his protectors had died and he was more alone than he had ever been before. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-and-the-half-blood-prince-spoilers/312818/246 "2005-07-19T02:07:20Z")
i got a wierd vibe from the scene of tom’s mum with her father and brother. i finally figured out what it was. it made me think about that horrific xfiles with the peacock family. the one they rarely show… i’ll bet if tom’s mum hadn’t run off with riddle and died… that gene pool would have gotten even smaller. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-and-the-half-blood-prince-spoilers/312818/247 "2005-07-19T02:18:55Z")
> [@MixieArmadillo](#): > > PS–any speculation as to what happened to Olivander? Anyone but me think he’s significant enough to make a surprise comeback in the next book? I’m thinking that he went into hiding because the Death Eaters were trying to recruit him. After his comment about how Voldemort accomplished “great things. Terrible things, but still great,” or however it went, I figure that he must be a Slytherin. I’m also thinking that Zonko might be another guy who has fled. Having the #1 source of illicit goods for Hogwarts as a Death Eater would be a huge asset to Voldemort. Zonko knows this, so he’s laying low. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-and-the-half-blood-prince-spoilers/312818/248 "2005-07-19T02:44:05Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Wait, when was it said that Regulus drank some kind of potion? I’m sure I read that somewhere, but darned if I can find it now. I hope I’m not remembering some bit of fan fiction or something :o Still, think it’s likely that Regulus had a hand in hiding the locket, which why he knew where it was and how to get it. ---
**Author:** ![bmoak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@bmoak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmoak)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-and-the-half-blood-prince-spoilers/312818/249 "2005-07-19T03:32:54Z")
> [@rocking chair](#): > > i got a wierd vibe from the scene of tom’s mum with her father and brother. i finally figured out what it was. > > it made me think about that horrific xfiles with the peacock family. the one they rarely show… > > i’ll bet if tom’s mum hadn’t run off with riddle and died… that gene pool would have gotten even smaller. Actually, I thought Rowling was channeling H.P. Lovecraft, specifically the Dunwich Horror. Just replace the Gaunts with “Wizard” Whately, son Wilbur and daughter Lavinia. ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-and-the-half-blood-prince-spoilers/312818/250 "2005-07-19T03:43:18Z")
I just finished it… My favorite part of the book was when Harry and Dumbledore were in the pensive watching Dumbledore have his conversation with Tom Riddle. You really learn the stuff that D is made of in that part but you also learn more about Voldemort than maybe we ever had before. I was incredibly upset after it was over though, I pretty much knew Voldemort was done. The first thing that sent off flags for me was when Dumbledore gave Snape his position of DADA teacher. I had two thoughts. My first thought was boy, Dumbledore really wants Harry to be an Auror but that seemed a bit simple. I knew something else was up. Then after the scene between Voldemort and D, it all fell into place. D explains how noone since then has held the position more than a year (confirming what the students always say). This seems like a good way of Dumbledore telling everyone that Snape will no longer be with us at the end of the year - for one reason or another. He, of course, can’t die because he’s the only member of the order with close ties to Voldemort. We can all figure out the scene this sets up for book seven between Harry and Snape, can’t we. I hope they throw in a bit of a twist. I’m not gonna lie, I didn’t figure out who the half blood prince was until Snape saw what Harry did to Draco in the washroom. I felt pretty stupid - of course it’d be him. He was the potions teacher after all. It seems somewhat logical that RAB is Regulus Black. He was a death eater and was killed because he deserted. (I’m pretty sure he’s dead, it’s a big book, I don’t want to go searching for the exact quote). Are we to assume that he’s living or simply that he managed to at least find one of the Horcruxes before he died? A friend of mine owes me $20. I called the Ginny/Harry thing right from the beginning (I think book one but maybe two). It seems ridiculous to stop seeing one another though, Harry still cares about her so obviously Voldemort would still use her and I figure he probably will still use her (I have a horrible feeling she’s a gonner and that would make me sad, I’m a softie). At the very least, I’m pretty sure she’s gonna play a big part in the seventh. It’s a shame. Throughout the book, Dumbledore slowly became my favorite character. He’s one of the most truly good characters in any fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-and-the-half-blood-prince-spoilers/312818/251 "2005-07-19T03:47:02Z")
Tangential question: if the Dementors have left Azkaban and joined up with Voldemort, what exactly is keeping Lucius in there? Certainly not a houself-esque sense of guilt and self-punishment, that’s for sure. ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-and-the-half-blood-prince-spoilers/312818/252 "2005-07-19T04:03:32Z")
I was thinking the same thing but I just ended up assuming there must be some wizard guards there as well. The Dementors just make things all the more miserable. ---
**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:** [July 19, 2005, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-and-the-half-blood-prince-spoilers/312818/253 "2005-07-19T04:06:27Z")
Sausage Creature: > [@](#): > > Tangential question: if the Dementors have left Azkaban and joined up with Voldemort, what exactly is keeping Lucius in there? Certainly not a houself-esque sense of guilt and self-punishment, that’s for sure. They probably have Aurors standing guard. ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-and-the-half-blood-prince-spoilers/312818/254 "2005-07-19T05:17:26Z")
Just finished it an hour ago \ :eek: ☹☹☹ FTR, here are my predictions from the, uhm, predicitions thread we had last week: > [@](#): > > Ron and Hermoine will begin a tentative romance. Noticed that Harry saw flashes of Mr. and Mrs. Weasley between them in one scene. Cute. Bingo! Very, very tentative at this point though. > [@](#): > > I think that the people on the back of the US book are Ron, Hermoine, and Ginny. Bingo (although I haven’t seen a definitive source for this, but it looks like Ginny.) > [@](#): > > Malfoy will die. Draco, that is. You heard me. I’ve noticed he didn’t really have much to do in the last book and Harry has lots more potent enemies now. I think he’ll snuff it as a result of betraying Harry somehow and die at the hands of someone who’s after Harry; either Narcissa or Lucius will die in the aftermath. Harry just lost Sirius and I don’t know if Rowling will take out one of the good guys again–if they do, bye bye Neville or Dumbledore. BZZZT! and Bingo again. Draco had been sort of laying low the last book, he was almost killed in this one, and his parents did figure in the plot, but not like I thought. And I could have done with more Neville and/or Luna too. And of course Yoda has to die for the Force to make itself known for the hero–but the way Mrs. Weasley was being talked up in the first half of the book, I thought it would be her. > [@](#): > > If a Weasley is lost, Percy (whose reaction to the big upheaval at the Ministry in the last chapters we never got) will come back to the family. Well, he did, but he was just being a little sneak. And oh yeah, it seems that Potterverse vampires have no trouble with sunlight; maybe it was snowing when he visited at Christmas, but Scrimgeour was there in the front row at Dumbledore’s funeral on that beautiful summer day. > [@](#): > > Luna and Harry will become better and better friends as Hermoine grows closer to Ron. Romance, well, not yet, but she has courage and honesty and they’ve both seen death of parents and seem otherwise connected. Uh, hey, I meant Ginny when I wrote Luna, honestly–\–oh hell. BZZZT. > [@](#): > > Even though she deserved it and more, Harry’s failed attempt to use the unforgiveable Crucio curse on Bellatrix will somehow rebound on him. Well, guess all’s fair in wartime, but he was never able to deliver it in the final battle here either, kept getting interrupted. > [@](#): > > The Guardian on the Edge of Forever–whoops! the Arch of Death or whatever is is a gateway to the dead; I’m pretty sure that Harry, probably with Luna, will try to talk to Sirius (who is totally dead) through it. BZZZT! Dead is dead. > [@](#): > > Trelawney will move on and Firenze will stay. I think Rowling will keep the tradition of having the DADA teacher a totally new character. BZZZT! Bingo! Bingo! > [@](#): > > The destruction of the statue fountain in the Ministry is symbolic and means that the wizarding world will make more of an attempt to reach out to non-human magical sentients, like the elves, goblins, centaurs, etc. Bingo! Unfortunately, Voldy’s part of the wizarding world too and he’s reached out to the goblins, at least. Nice to see the centaurs and the merfolk at the funeral. And the whole Aragog subplot made it clear that even Hagrid’s going to have a rough time making it all work. The wizards have dissed the other magical creatures for too long. Loved Dobby and Kreacher working together, though. Anyway… I reluctantly agree that Dumbledore asked Snape to finish him off; the odd second chapter of the vow with Narcissa, where we saw something that Harry never got an inkling of, initially led me to believe with Harry that Snape is just total evil; but it makes more sense in the overall story for Dumbledore to have been right about him. Perhaps it was an odd version of the spell, but Dumbledore is dead. Totally. Perhaps he and Snape could have fooled Harry but all the other witches and wizards and ministers and centaurs would have noticed something was up. As for the portraits, they seem to contain the personalities of the people in them but they can’t affect the outer world, only observe it; they can carry messages but not objects from place to place and I guess if people ignore their advice, all they can do is call them names like the Blacks do. Their souls aren’t there because then I think they’d be a form of ghost, and after what we learned about ghosts this book…but we have no inkling of any afterlife the wizards believe in. There probably is a Valhalla-like heaven and soulless hell for them. Lots of snogging but no sex, please, we’re British? 😃 In those matters the wizarding world seems pretty old-fashioned; Merope got Tom Sr. to marry her when she could have just drugged and shagged him, and we never see any of the couples sneaking off to the Room of Requirement or anything…then again, children’s book, I know. Then again, Ginny says her friends ask her about Harry’s chest… Loved the Tony Blair cameo in the first chapter, I always enjoy seeing the two worlds interact. Kingsley Shacklebolt as the private sec, terrific! Would have liked to have seen more of the Order at work; Tonks and Lupin were totally out of left field for me, although I like Remus a lot and hope he’s finally happy. I don’t think Harry or any part of him is a Horcrux, sorry. The replaced locket was another surprise and yes, I think the one in the Black house is it (wherever it is now, Fletcher will have to remember who he sold it to). Agree that RAB is most likely Regulus Black. As for the theoretical Gryffindor artifact, I don’t share Dumbledore’s confidence that the sword on his wall is either the only artifact or is not a Horcrux. Harry might–might—be wrong about Snape, but he did finally start to feel something for Draco, which is a huge step for him. American edition, p. 640: > [@](#): > > Harry did not believe that Malfoy would have killed Dumbledore. He despised Malfoy still for his infatuation with the Dark Arts, but now the tiniest drop of pity mingled with his dislike. Where, Harry wondered, was Malfoy now, and what was Voldemort making him do under threat of killing him and his parents? Draco is still a kid. Harry’s an adult. And after this book I can believe it. Terrific and heart-wrenching stuff. And never mind Michael Gambon, poor Robbie Coltrane! ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-and-the-half-blood-prince-spoilers/312818/255 "2005-07-19T05:36:58Z")
I think that Dumbledore definitely has to be dead… his picture is on the wall. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-and-the-half-blood-prince-spoilers/312818/256 "2005-07-19T05:54:12Z")
> [@Little Bird](#): > > I think Harry is the last Horcrux. When they mentioned V-man wanted to make the last one after killing Harry it just made sense. V-dog went “Wait, this isn’t working and I don’t have my last Horcrux!” He did it to Harry and that’s why they have the link–V-boy’s soul is in Harry. Also would fulfill **ISiddiqui** ’s prediction that Harry must die at the end–he will figure out he’s the Horcrux and that the only way to kill V-guy is to die himself. > > Yes? No? > Anyway, Snape was doing what Dumbledore wanted to keep Draco from being evil. Ginny and Harry will get some more loving in the next book. Harry’s death will bond Ron and Hermione together as more than friends. [del]Sirius[/del] Dumbledore will come back from the dead and [del]sex me up[/del] help Harry out somehow. BINGO!! ---
**Author:** ![Pythian\_Habenero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a6a055/32.png) [@Pythian\_Habenero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pythian_Habenero)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-and-the-half-blood-prince-spoilers/312818/257 "2005-07-19T06:20:38Z")
I just felt as though the whole book were saying, loudly, amidst furtive glances, “SNAPE IS EVIL. REALLY. I’M NOT KIDDING AROUND, YOU KNOW. EVIL. UH-HUH. YUP.” I like the “Dumbledore begging to be killed” idea. IMO, bringing people back from the dead would cheapen it all tremendously. So no, Dumbledore’s death was for good. And may I just say that I will be very disappointed if the next book does not delve deeply into Snape’s character. I mean, come on. So many things happened in Book 6 that we don’t get to see… I’m afraid Book 7 might not be long enough to answer all the questions 6 raised. ---
**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:** [July 19, 2005, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-and-the-half-blood-prince-spoilers/312818/258 "2005-07-19T06:38:58Z")
Given that both Voldemort and Snape are half-bloods, how does this change our views of the Death Eaters? ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-and-the-half-blood-prince-spoilers/312818/259 "2005-07-19T06:46:11Z")
What, the fact that they are hypocrites? 😉 I don’t think it changes too much. ---
**Author:** ![spectrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc29f/32.png) [@spectrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spectrum)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-and-the-half-blood-prince-spoilers/312818/260 "2005-07-19T07:29:29Z")
I just finished the book, as well. Wonderful book (though there are some spelling errors and typos in these first editions, tsk tsk). I hate the stup[id spoiler tag in a thread already labelled as spoiler-heavy, but here are my three predictions for Book 7: Harry Potter and the End of Trees: 1. Harry will return to Hogwarts for Year 7, while still fighting to destroy Voldemort’s soul. It was carefully established that Voldemort loves Hogwarts, cherished his time there. The final confrontation will take place at the school… and, in fact, I think Hogwarts itself may be the missing Horcrux. 2. Harry will be convinced to come back by Headmistress McGonagall (sp bad) who will offer him the chance to truly forge a Dumbledore’s Army as the Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts. 3. Snape is not evil. He was acting under orders from Dumbledore to maintain his cover at all costs. In the end, Snape will save Harry’s life, allowing Harry to kill Voldemort, or something along those lines. Draco’s not evil, either. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-and-the-half-blood-prince-spoilers/312818.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-and-the-half-blood-prince-spoilers/312818.md?page=14)