Title: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Writer: J.K. Rowling
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 38 Soho Square, London
Edition: First Edition
Published in: 2005 Contents The book starts with a visit of Cornelius Fudge, the old Minister of Magic, to the Prime Minister. This visit introduces the reader into the story. Here we learn what happened before the book starts. After this introduction Fudge introduces the Prime Minister to the new Minister of Magic: Rufus Scrimgeour. Miles away also Serverus Snape has an unpleasant visit. Narcissa Malfoy, mother of Draco Malfoy tells that Draco has some kind of job that must be fixed for “you know who” at the wizards school Hogwarts. Narcissa is afraid that Draco will not be able to handle the job and ask Snape, who is professor at Hogwarts, to keep an eye on Draco, Snape agrees. And than finally about Harry: This year Harry gets his hands on a special potions book, the previews owner, who calls himself Half-Blood Prince has written useful tips in the book which help Harry become the best potions student in his class. He also learns from Headmaster Albus Dumbledore about “you know who’s past and about horcrux. When they want to kill “you know who” he needs to destroy al the horcrux that “you know who” created. One day Harry and Dumbledore go out to destroy one, but the find is a fake one. On the way to the horcrux Dumbledore get weakened a lot. Back at school the dark mark hangs above the school, which means that someone is killed in order of “you know who”. Then they find Draco Malfoy and he says he is going to kill Dumbledore, but Dumbledore says that he wouldn’t and he is right, Malfoy hasn’t the courage to kill his Headmaster. But then Snape appears and he and finish the job for Malfoy. After this he tells Harry that he is the Half-Blood Prince and escapes. Characters
Charters from the title - Harry James Potter Also known as “the boy who lived” but this is an all known story. Like every 16 year old Harry has a lot of worry’s, like school, love, himself and everyone else. But a few of Harry’s worries are a bit bigger than the one most 16 year old has to challenge. In book 5 Harry learns about a prophecy which had told that Harry should kill “you know who” or he will be killed by “you know who”. In this book Harry will learn more about the pas and future of himself and “you know who”. Except of his love life the charter is not really growing in this book.
- The half blood prince/Serverus Snape The charter Snape who we know from the previous books appears in this book in two roles. We start with the Snape we already knew, Professor Snape. Long ago Snape was a death eater, but short before the fall of his “dark lord” he turned to the good side and became potions master (teacher) at Hogwarts. But in the beginning of the book this seems to be al different. It seems that he never turned to the good side but was just send to Hogwarts to spy Dumbledore, after the fall of his lord he hasn’t a choice and stays at the wizards school. But after the re-rise of his Lord J.K. let us believe he is under dark control again. Then we have the Half-Blood Prince, the Half-Blood Prince is the nickname of an old Hogwarts student who wrote very useful information in his potions book. Harry gets hands on the book and the tips that the Half-Blood Prince gives him makes Harry the most successful Potion-student in his class. Harry and Ron enjoy the great help of the Half-Blood Prince but Hermione is very sceptic about it. When Snape finally reveals his hidden identity as the Half-Blood Prince Hermione seems to be right. Other charters that has some kind of importance - You know who You know who is the most horrible figure in magical history; he can be seen as the perfect combination between George W. Bush and Joseph Stalin. His real name is V… Vo… oh never mind. 16 years ago the dark lord terrorised the wizard community till he heard about a prophecy which told about a boy who he should kill or the boy would kill him. Lucky enough for you know who the boy who named Harry Potter was just a baby. But you know who was not able to kill the baby and died himself. But you know who secured his life in a number of horcrux and he was able to life on like a shadow. In the 4th book he rises in a human body. And is now trying to kill the Harry to finish the prophecy. You know who does not appear in the story, the only time we see him in person is in the pensive of Albus Dumbledore. A pensive is a special object in which you can see remembrances. Time From a given date in the 2nd book we are able to calculate that this book plays in school year 96/97. The fact that the story plays very recent makes the story very recognizable when we find connections to the muggle-world (see as place). But the wizards where not that modern that the muggles where in 1996 and 1997. I give for example the totally out of date politic system which rules the wizard-world. The story of Harry Potter is a timeless one, but the deference between the old-fashioned wizard-world and the modern muggle-world that we know gives the story an extra attitude. It gives the reader the opportunity to dream away about a kind of romantic past which has never existed. Place The book plays in the UK, meanly at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry which lays in Scotland. Hogwarts is part of an other world, a magical wizard-world that exists beside the Muggle-world. The muggle world is the non-magical world, in fact it is the world we live in. Alright back to the UK, we can see that the story plays around this group of island in the fact that the wizards behave very English, you can even say that the wizard-community is even more English than the English them self. As an example Harry’s school Hogwarts seems to be a very special magical school, but it is also a typically English Boarding School. Point of view The story is told from Harry’s perspective. So we know how Harry things and feels about the things going on. Most of the time this give understanding for Harry’s thoughts.
Title More details at charters. Why did Rowling choose to place Snape in the title? Snape has an important role in the book by killing Dumbledore. I believe Rowling want to give extra attention to the end of Dumbledore and the consequences of this brutal kill to the plot. Motto The book is about good and evil. Harry (good) has to fight you know who (evil). I don’t believe there is a deep hidden Motto in the book and just think that the most important objective of the book is, is to enjoy it’s readers. Opinion The book was not that bad to read, it was sometimes even enjoyable. But as a Potterbook it is miles away from my expecting grades. What I missed in this part was the fairytale, the jokes and the details that make the other Potterbooks that huge success. I had more the idea that the book was written just in order of the plot and Rowling kept lot of great details away.