Well, except for the UK version, which has what I take to be a nod to Snape.
Is Dumbleydore the HBP? Is Libaleus Borage? Snape? I know we’ve had a bunch of interesting tangents lately in various threads on where the series might be going, but surely this is fodder for discussion. There is apparently more that the Pensieve has to show Harry. Apparently we’ll be seeing a lot more hard-core Dumbledore action. And as we all know, Harry is stuck taking advanced Potions if he wants to be an Auror, which probably means much more time Snape, who himself apparently has quite a lot of secrets to still be spilt.
We also got these (very minor) spoilers (surely nothing more than one will learn from the dustjacket, if even that, and the only actual concrete spoiler is one we already knew!) from a scholastic editor:
There is to be a new Minister for Magic. We learn much more about Voldemort. No information revealed on whether Snape will be the Half-Blood Prince. HBP will be an intense book, but with light-hearted moments.
I’ve already typed up my list of seemingly important facts on Voldemort (that seem to die his immorality TO something to do with his utter lack of love Could Dumbledore have put Harry in a loveless home on purpose? Could the old man be even colder than we’d thought? ) but it’s safe to say that there will be plenty that even the best sleuth cannot predict.
I just assumed that a potion would be a major plot point. I think that if Snape were a prince of anything, he’d be lording it over people and reminding them every five minutes.
Of course, I get the impression our author doesn’t like princes very much – royalty is never mentioned in the fifth book, without it being either part of a mean joke, or a reference to someone evil (purebloods as “nature’s nobility,” “the ancient and noble House of Black,” the Blacks as “practically royalty,” “Weasley is our King,” “you were not a pampered little prince”). So it’s possible it’d be Snape.
I still think it’s going to be a new character, Lupin, or Godric Gryffindor.
Someone on another message board suggested the Weasleys as a kind of “Arthurian Greek chorus” – commenting and foreshadowing the rest of the series through comedy. They do it a lot. Maybe the whole “Weasley is Our King” contains foreshadowing as well.
To look at it in a straigtforward way: why WOULDN’T Dumbledore be the HBP? I mean, he’s right there on the cover of a book called “Harry Potter and the HBP.” So what do we have on the two american covers? Harry Potter and Dumbledore. We know the British think we are stupid, so that’s exactly the sort of straightforward up front cover they’d make to dumb it down for us.
The only real problem is that it doesn’t quite square with the teaser description of the HBP that we have (doesn’t give anything away, just describes what the HBP looks like):
(He) looked rather like an old lion. There were streaks of grey in his mane of tawny hair and his bushy eyebrows; he had keen yellowish eyes behind a pair of wire-rimmed spectacles and a certain rangy, loping grace even though he walked with a slight limp.
Why do people think the Half Blood Prince is an existing character? I think that’s an outside shot at this point. It’s more likely that it’s a new character.
Nobody knows if that refers to the Half-Blood Prince or not – all we know is that the desription is taken from the book. If it refers to an existing character, the only character described so far with “streaks of grey in…tawny hair” is Remus Lupin – and so far he has neither limp, nor glasses (no descriptions of his eyebrows or even eye colour, though most of the fans draw him with yellow, wolf-like eyes).
I’ve heard one theory that it’s a description of Godric Gryffindor, and that the description (probably in a Pesnsieve) is meant to link him to a descendent.
Hmmm. If we stick with the assumption that the artist draws the illustration from events/themes in the work, I would say that we have at least 2 distinct major themes here.
The USA cover (which I prefer) show an eerie, other-worldly greenish glow–it is supsensful yet tranquil. DD and HP are intent on the Pensieve, but the action has not occurred yet.
The UK cover is bold and energetic, with DD and HP obviously fighting off some deadly threat together. (why DD has a bent wand is beyond me).
So, either we have the beginnings of a major plot point (the US cover) with the action depicted via the UK cover or we have a whole lot going on in book 6. I hope it’s both.
I really like the adult cover–but see no need for it. I enjoy these books as much as my kids! However, the worn, well-used potions book adds another dimension to the speculation about the events in book 6.
Just wondering, why does the UK have different ones for children and adults? Did only the adults get the Cho/Harry kiss or something? And none of the UK has the little illustrations at the chapter headings, right?
Cover looks cool! I loved seeing all the huge midnight-blue books on the subways and beaches when it first came out and acid-green is nice too.
I’ve seen adult versions of the books here in the states too. I assumed it was for those that were embarrassed to be seen reading “kid’s” books, but still wanted to have the story.
Isn’t it just so they can sell even more copies to those fans who’ve just gotta have 'em all?
Actually I usually prefer, and usually buy, the UK “adult” covers and the same goes for this one, so I guess it probably is just marketing to adults who don’t want to be seen as reading a kids book. I always feel there’s something a little off about the US covers, although I can’t put into words what it is. They’re not bad as such, I just don’t like something about them.
Still, they’re certainly a lot better than the US covers for the Discworld and His Dark Materials series.
Meh, for all we know, it might be. I don’t care; I just want the damn book! FWIW, I think the HBP is Godric Gryffindor. Anyways, anyone up for a midnight party on July 15??
nothing came with it. I got that quote off her website when it first came up.
The context was a game. You had to open the door to “The Room of Requirement” (it changes all the time, and is currently closed) on her website. It was dark inside. You found the switch, and there was a room full of dozens of bubble-gum wrappers, and a dartboard. You 713, and the dartboard opened revealing a Gringotts’ safe. Then you had to plug in a number (apparently random), and the safe opened. A piece of paper popped out, with that quote. The “He” was pencilled in.
She never explained anything about it. To be honest, nobody even knows for sure if it’s a quote from the next book, but since it came out right after she announced the title, it seems like a safe bet.
I don’t think Dumbledore is the HBP. We haven’t had any indication that there is any modern-day wizarding royalty, and surely somebody would have mentioned it by now if there were. My money is still on Godric, with Salazar as a close runner-up.
It’s not like the front cover of the book has to depict the title character / object, after all. If that were the general rule, the Prisoner of Azkaban would be Buckbeak, and the Order of the Phoenix would be … a bunch of doors and candles.
Yay, it looks like we get more Pensieve scenes. (Unless JKR has been leading us a massive double-bluff, and that birdbath-like thing is actually the Pillar of Storge :D) And Harry’s in Advanced Potions! I wonder if he did get that Outstanding after all, or if McGonagall blackmailed Snape into letting him in.
By the way, did anyone else notice that according to JKR’s web site, today (March 10th) is Remus Lupin’s birthday! Too cool!
:: is a geek right alongside Hamish. And a shameless lycanthrope-fangirl ::
More pensieve, huh? Okay, can’t help it, gotta speculate.
When Snape is teaching Harry occlumency, he removes multiple memories from his head and into the pensieve. We only see the youthful embarrassment ones before Harrry’s look in the pensieve is interrupted. What other memories did Snape hide? Is that how he can fool Voldemort who always knows when someone is lying–some combination of removing his thoughts about his betrayal of V and an advanced potion?
A bonus reason for liking the series is that it is a common cultural experience I can do–not getting that anywhere else right now. So, I’m gonna be a geek too. If that’s okay.
) but it’s safe to say that there will be plenty that even the best sleuth cannot predict.