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Description edit
In the sixth installment in the series the war against Voldemort is not going well; even the Muggles have been affected. Dumbledore is absent from Hogwarts for long stretches of time, and the Order of the Phoenix has already suffered losses, and yet...as with all disappointments, life goes on.... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Summary edit
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. In the second chapter, Professor Snape, appearing to have rejoined the Death Eaters and Lord Voldemort, is visited by Narcissa Malfoy... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)
Characters edit
- Harry James Potter: The sixteen year old protagonist of the story who is loyal and kind-hearted. He is known in the Wizarding World as 'The Boy Who Lived' and, in this book, he is also known as 'The Chosen One'. He is entering his 6th year at Hogwarts school for Witchcraft and Wizardry. His potions book is a used copy which has been scribbled in profusely by "The Half-Blood Prince." He is in Griffyndor.
- Ronald Billius Weasley: Harry's best friend who wants to play Quidditch this year. He is also in the Griffyndor house.
- Hermione Jean Granger: A highly intellectual Muggle-born witch, Hermione is another one of Harry's best friends and often acts as the voice of reason for him and Ron. She is also entering her 6th year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She has curly brown hair and brown eyes. She is in Gryffindor.
- Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore: Headmaster of Hogwarts
- Severus Snape: Dislikes Potter, trusted by Albus, head of Slytherin
- Ginevra 'Ginny' Molly Weasley: Ron's bold younger sister who is one year younger than the trio. She is entering her fifth year at Hogwarts. By the final book, a more mature Ginny pleasantly surprises us with her capable demeanor, common sense and passion. She becomes the fitting life-partner to our hero.
- Draco Malfoy: one of the people Harry hates, son of Lucius malfoy. In the Slytherin house at Hogwarts.
- Lord Voldemort: Also known as "He-who-must-not-be-named" and "You-Know-Who" or "the Dark Lord", he is a dark wizard and the main antagonist of the series. His very name strikes fear into the hearts of many witches and wizards. His real name is "Tom Marvolo Riddle". He is an evil lord who seeks for power. Voldemort's sinister forces/followers called Death Eaters have affected the Muggle world and creatures such as acromantula, dementors and giants have taken his side. He was a little boy with an obsession of murder and great power. He wanted to be the greatest wizard of all time.
- Katie Bell: She is one of the members of the Gryffindor Quidditch team and is also the person who recieves the necklace which was meant for Dumbledore.
- Rufus Scrimgeour: The new appointed Minister of Magic in this book.
- Luna Lovegood: She is Harry's friend, who is often called "Loony Lovegood" by those who consider her to be a bit crazy. She can be very awkward around her peers and is often seen talking about "Crumple-Horned Snorkacks". Her father publishes a magazine known as "The Quibbler", which more often than not contains several conspiracy theories and articles about creatures that do not exist. Is known to speak of "Racspurts" and wears very scary glasses to see them.
- Molly Weasley: She is Ron's mother and is very protective of all her children and makes Harry one of her own. Is also a very good cook.
- Arthur Weasley: Ron's father, who works at the Ministry of Magic in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office. He is very interested in the muggle world and constantly strives for witches and wizards to accept and be tolerant of muggles.
- Minerva McGonagall: She is the Transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts and is also the Head of Gryffindor House.
- Horace Slughorn: New teacher at Hogwarts
- Remus Lupin: Harry's ex-"Defense Against the Dark Arts" teacher.
- Nymphadora Tonks: The youngest member of the Order of the Phoenix, Tonks is a Metamorphmagi, which means she can change her appearance at will.
- Rubeus Hagrid: Care of Magical Creatures teacher. half giant.
- Neville Longbottom: Pure-blood Gryffindor student in Harry's year, described as round-faced and "short and plump and blond and is scared of bullies such as Crabbe and Goyle. Throughout the series he is often portrayed as a bumbling, disorganised character and a rather mediocre student, though he is highly gifted at Herbology. He is often teased and hexed by other students, such as Draco Malfoy, Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe. His parents, Frank and Alice Longbottom, were prominent Aurors and Order of the Phoenix members until they were tortured and permanently incapacitated by a group of Death Eaters led by Bellatrix Lestrange; Neville was subsequently raised by his paternal grandmother, Augusta. Neville plays a minor role in the first four books, but Rowling wanted him to perform an act of bravery in Philosopher's Stone, in which Neville "finds true moral courage in standing up to his closest friends — the people who are on his side" towards the climax. According to Rowling, Order of the Phoenix "was a real turning point for Neville" due to the bigger role he played therein. His magical abilities improve dramatically during D.A. meetings, and Harry comes to understand him on a deeper level after he and his friends learn about the fate of Neville's parents at St Mungo's. Neville participates in the battle in the Department of Mysteries, in which he accidentally breaks the prophecy about Harry and Voldemort. Dumbledore, to whom it was originally made, explains that it concerned "the Chosen One", a wizard who would have the power to vanquish Voldemort and who would be born "as the seventh month dies" to "parents who have defied the Dark Lord thrice"; thus could refer to either Neville, who was born on 30 July 1980, or Harry, who was born a day later.
- Bellatrix Lestrange: A dark wizard and very devoted death eater
- Lucius Malfoy: This Death Eater is Draco Malfoy's father and is married to Narcissa Malfoy, whose sister is Bellatrix Lestrange. Ex-owner of Dobby and has tried, like all other Death Eaters, to kill Harry on several occasions.
Quotes edit
-
“Let us step into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.”
Albus Dumbledore -
“Don't count your owls before they are delivered.”
Albus Dumbledore -
“Let us not deprive Molly any longer of the chance to deplore how thin you are.”
Albus Dumbledore -
“Does anyone really know what You-Know-Who would or wouldn't do?”
Harry Potter -
“People find it far easier to forgive others for being wrong than being right.”
Albus Dumbledore via Hermione Granger -
“Once again, you show all the sensitivity of a blunt axe.”
Nearly Headless Nick (Referring to Ron) -
“The Dark Arts are many, varied, ever-changing, and eternal. Fighting them is like fighting a many-headed monster, which, each time a neck is severed, sprouts a head even fiercer and cleverer than before. You are fighting that which is unfixed, mutating, indestructible.”
Severus Snape -
“Hissy, hissy, little snakey, Slither on the floor, You be good to Morfin Or he'll nail you to the door.”
Morfin Gaunt -
“Oh, come and stir my cauldron, And if you do it right,I'll boil you up some hot strong love To keep you warm tonight.”
A Cauldron Full of Hot, Strong Love by Celestina Warbeck -
“Oh, my poor heart, where has it gone? It's left me for a spell... and now you've torn it quite apart I'll thank you to give back my heart!”
You Charmed the Heart Right Out of Me by Celestina Warbeck -
“When there's strife and when there's trouble Call on Peevsie, he'll make double!”
Peeves -
“Greatness inspires envy, envy engenders spite, spite spawns lies.”
Voldemort -
“Age is foolish and forgetful when it underestimates youth.”
Albus Dumbledore -
“There is nothing to be feared from a body, any more than there is anything to be feared from the darkness. It is unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness, nothing more.”
Albus Dumbledore -
“Harry: "It's going to be all right, sir. We're nearly there. . . . I can Apparate us both back. . . Don't worry."Dumbledore: "I am not worried, Harry. I am with you."”
Harry and Dumbledore -
“Killing is not nearly as easy as the innocent believe. . . .”
Albus Dumbledore -
“Why are you worrying about You-Know-Who?You should be worrying about U-No-Poo --The Constipation Sensation That's Gripping the Nation!”
Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes -
“" That's three Galleons, nine Sickles, and a Knut," said Fred, examining the many boxes in Ron's arms. " Cough up" "I'm your brother!" "And that's our stuff you're nicking. Three Galleons, nine Sickles. I'll knock off the Knut" "But I haven't got three Galleons, nine Sickles!" "You'd better put it back then, and mind you put it on the right shelves."”
Fred and Ron Weasley -
“Perfect deliberation, divination, and desperation or whatever the hell it is.”
Ron Weasley -
“Dumbledore would have been happier than anybody to think that there was a little more love in the world.”
Minerva McGonagall -
“"He accused me of being 'Dumbledore's man through and through.'" "How very rude of him." "I told him I was." Dumbledore opened his mouth to speak and then closed it again. Behind Harry, Fawkes the phoenix let out a low, soft, musical cry. To Harry’s intense embarrassment, he suddenly realized that Dumbledore's bright blue eyes looked rather watery. "I am very touched, Harry."”
Harry and Dumbledore -
“He's certainly got a body and is walking and talking and killing, so I suppose, for the purposes of our discussion, yes, he's alive.”
-
“But she wants you...And after all Remus, young and whole men do not necessarily remain so.”
Arthur Weasley -
“But he understood at last what Dumbledore had been trying to tell him. It was, he thought, the difference between being dragged into the arena to face a battle to the death and walking into the arena with your head held high. Some people, perhaps, would say that there was little to choose between the two ways, but Dumbledore knew — and so do I, thought Harry, with a rush of fierce pride, and so did my parents — that there was all the difference in the world.”
J.K Rowling -
“"It was cruel," said Dumbledore softly, "that you and Sirius had such a short time together. A brutal ending to what should have been a long and happy relationship."”
Albus Dumbledore -
“"Just because you've got the emotional range of a teaspoon doesn't mean we all have."”
Hermione Granger to Ron Weasley -
“"I don't think you should be an Auror, Harry," said Luna unexpectedly... "The Aurors are a part of the Rotfang Conspiracy, I thought everyone knew that. They're working to bring down the Ministry of Magic from within using a combination of Dark Magic and gum disease."”
Luna Lovegood -
“"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good... or Malfoy is anyway."”
Harry Potter
Setting & Locations edit
Modern-day England.
- Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry: The school in which wizards and witches are taught to use magic.
- The Burrow: The Weasley's home.
- Hogsmeade: A village that the students go to during the school year. It is one of the only all wizard villages in Britain besides Diagon Alley.
- Diagon Alley: The shopping centre where Hogwart's students get their school supplies needed for their year at Hogwarts.
- Number 12, Grimmauld Place: The headquarters of the Order of the Phoneix.
- A Cave: The place where Voldemort hid his Horcrux.
- The Orphanage: Voldemort's childhood home. Placed there by his Mother shortly before she died.
Organizations edit
- The Order of The Phoenix: A secret organization working to prevent the rise of Lord Voldemort organised by Professor Dumbledore
- Gryffindor: One of the four Houses of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, founded by Godric Gryffindor. Its emblematic animal is the lion and its colours are scarlet and gold. Minerva McGonagall is the most recent Head of House. Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, also known as "Nearly Headless Nick", is the house ghost. The particular characteristics of students who are sorted into Gryffindor tend to be courage and chivalry, of which the lion is the symbol. Some Gryffindor students are: Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ronald Weasley, and Ginny Weasley.
- Slytherin: One of the four Houses at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and is traditionally home to students who exhibit traits such as cunning and ambition. Its emblematic animal is the snake and its colours are green and silver. Founded by Salazar Slytherin, the house is comprised mostly of pure-blood students, due to its founder's mistrust of muggle-born witches and wizards. The house has a negative reputation, with many claiming that it is the source of most Dark Wizards in Britain, notably Tom Marvolo Riddle, a.k.a. Lord Voldemort, as well as many of his Death Eaters. Some Slytherin students are: Draco Malfoy, Goyle and Vincent Crabbe.
- Hufflepuff: One of the four Houses of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Its founder was the medieval witch Helga Hufflepuff. The current Head of Hufflepuff House is Pomona Sprout. The Fat Friar is the house's patron ghost. Hufflepuff is the most inclusive among the four houses, valuing hard work, patience, friendship and fair play rather than a particular aptitude in its members. Its emblematic animal is the badger, and yellow and black are its colours. Some Hufflepuff students are: Hannah Abbot, Ernie Macmillan, and Zacharias Smith.
- Ravenclaw: One of the four Houses of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, founded by Rowena Ravenclaw. The current Head of House is Filius Flitwick. Members of this house are characterised by their intelligence and eagerness to learn. Its house colours are blue and bronze, and its symbol is the eagle. The house ghost, who in life was the daughter of the house's founder Rowena Ravenclaw, is the Grey Lady. Some Ravenclaw Students are: Luna Lovegood and Padma Patil.
- Death Eaters: Lord Voldemort's group of followers. Some death eaters include: Lucius Malfoy, Fenier Greyback, and the Carrows.
First Sentence edit
It was nearing midnight and the Prime Minister was sitting alone in his office, reading a long memo that was slipping through his brain without leaving the slightest trace of meaning behind.
Table of Contents edit
1. The Other Minister
2. Spinner's End
3. Will and Won't
4. Horace Slughorn
5. An Excess of Phlegm
6. Draco's Detour
7. The Slug Club
8. Snape Victorious
9. The Half-Blood Prince
10. The House of Gaunt
11. Hermione's Helping Hand
12. Silver and Opals
13. The Secret Riddle
14. Felix Felicis
15. The Unbreakable Vow
16. A Very Frosty Christmas
17. A Sluggish Memory
18. Birthday Suprises
19. Elf Tails
20. Lord Voldermort's Request
21. The Unknowable Room
22. After the Burial
23. Horcruxes
24. Sectumsempera
25. The Seer Overhead
26. The Cave
27. The Lightning-Struck Tower
28. Flight over the Prince
29. The Phoenix Lament
30. The White Tomb
Glossary edit
- Muggle: It is a term for a human who does not exhibit magical talents.
- Mudblood: Often used by those who are prejudiced against muggles and muggle-borns, this word is a derogatory term for a witch or wizard who is muggle-born.
- Azkaban: It is a prison fortress where wizarding criminals are sent. The prison is guarded constantly by the fearsome dementors, creatures who literally suck every happy thought and memory out of their victims.
- Death Eater: A Death Eater is a witch or wizard who is a follower of Lord Voldemort.
- Animagi: They are witches and wizards who can turn themselves into animals at will. It is required to register as an animagus (which is the singular term for animagi) with the Ministry of Magic, but many witches and wizards are illegally unregistered, such as Rita Skeeter and Peter Pettigrew.
- Squib: A squib is a non-magical person who is born to at least one magical parent. Squibs are, in essence, the antithesis of Muggle-born wizards and witches. They are rare and are looked upon with some degree of disdain by some witches and wizards, particularly pure-bloods.
- Quidditch: It is a wizarding game played on broomsticks. Each team has 7 players: 3 chasers, 2 beaters, 1 keeper, and a seeker. The beaters are responsible for hitting bludgers away from their teammates or at the opposing team. The chasers are charged with the task of scoring points with the quaffle. The seeker has perhaps the most important job of his or her team; he or she must catch the golden snitch, a tiny and fast golden ball. The catching of this ball ends the game and adds 150 points to the team of the seeker who catches it. The team with the most points wins.
- Felix Felicis: A potion that, when drunk, makes the drinker extremely lucky. It is Latin for the luck of the lucky.
- Mullion: A vertical support structure between adjacent windows.
- Plinth: The base upon which a column stands.
- Trundle: Describe this term.
- Restive
- Phial
- Gormless: British term meaning simple, unintelligent.
- Clamber
- Accio: Summoning Charm
- Aguamenti: Charm that produces jets of water from the caster wand.
- Alohomora: Charm used to open and/or unlock doors, but can be bewitched so that this spell has no effect.
- Anapneo: Charm that clears the target's airway, if blocked.
- Avada Kedavra: The Killing Curse.
- Avis: This charm creates a flock of birds from the caster's wand. When coupled with Oppugno, it can be used offensively.
- Sectumsempra: Sectumsempra is a Dark Arts curse invented by Severus Snape (under his alias of "The Half-Blood Prince") for the use against his enemies, and it soon became one of his specialities. When uttered, its effect is the equivalent of an invisible sword, slashing the target repeatedly. The injuries appear to follow the movements of the caster's wand, and thus inflicts the most damage if cast with rapid waving movements. It works best on living targets and has no noticeable effect on inanimate objects or dead ones, such as Inferi, other than slashing them pointlessly. Sometimes the slashing cuts are continual, or it could be one cut.
- Horcrux: A Horcrux is a very powerful object in which a Dark wizard or witch has hidden a fragment of his or her soul for the purpose of attaining immortality. Creating a single Horcrux allows one to gain the ability to resurrect themselves if their body is destroyed, but the more horcruxes one creates, the closer one is to achieving true immortality.
Themes & Symbolism edit
- The Importance of Friendship: TRUST & LOVE.
- The Power of Self-Sacrifice: LOVE.
- Trust: BELIEF
- Watching: watchful
- Names: Describe this theme.
- Duplicity
- The Half-Blood Prince’s Potions Book
- Dumbledore’s Pensieve
- Merope’s Locket
Series & Lists edit
This is book 6 of 7 in Harry Potter. (standard series)
Preceded by Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and followed by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
This is book 83 of 26 in Top selling 100 books 1998-2010 (Guardian). (authoritative list)
Preceded by To Kill a Mockingbird, and followed by The Summons.
This is book 8 of 195 in Shelfari Most Popular (June 2011). (authoritative list)
Preceded by Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and followed by New Moon.
This is book 8 of 194 in Shelfari Most Popular (December 2010). (authoritative list)
Preceded by Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and followed by Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
This is book 83 of 95 in Estrela do Mar. (community list)
Preceded by The Snow Spider.
This book is in Best fantasy books. (community list)
This is book 7 of 195 in Shelfari Most Popular (June 2010). (authoritative list)
Preceded by Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and followed by Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
This is book 7 of 11 in Harry Potter Universe. (universe)
Preceded by Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and followed by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
This is book 8 of 195 in Shelfari Most Popular (December 2011). (authoritative list)
Preceded by Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and followed by New Moon.
First Edition edit
Original Language: English
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Country: United Kingdom
Publication Date: 16 July 2005
ISBN: 0747581088
Page Count: 652
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Country: United Kingdom
Publication Date: 16 July 2005
ISBN: 0747581088
Page Count: 652
Awards edit
- Quill Award (2005: Book of the Year)
- Quill Award (2005: Children's Chapter Book/Middle Grade)
- Teen Read Awards (2010: Best Book to Flick, #1)
- ALA Best Book for Young Adults (2006, #1)
Notes for Parents edit
Reading Level: Young AdultsAs the series progresses and the characters age, the books are less and less aimed at younger children. The violence is more violent, the mood darker, the consequences greater.
Subjects edit
- Books › Teens › Literature & Fiction
- Books › Teens › Authors, A-Z › ( R )
Popular Tags
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Links to Supplemental Material edit
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: The dust jacket art for the deluxe edition.
Movie Connections edit
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Books with Additional Background Information edit
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