The Final Chapter of Professor Dumbledore
A Closer Look at the Characters in the Half-Blood Prince
Disclaimer: If for some bizarre reason, you have not yet read this series, please look away now as this blog most certainly contains spoilers.
For ease of navigation and to make this a more enjoyable read, this blog has been split into different sections. First, I discuss J. K. Rowling and a summary of the sixth book in this series. Usually this is then followed by my top funniest moments, darkest moments and top five quotes. However, I felt it was really important at this point to look a little closer at the characters and so a lot of the focus of this blog is on the characters. Finally, as always, I end with Harry’s growth in this book and my rating and review of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
Getting to know the author
Joanne Rowling was born in the UK. “I lived for books,” Jo says, growing up surrounded by books. Jo wanted to become a writer from an early age. She wrote her first book, about a rabbit, at the age of six and titled the book ‘Rabbit’. At only eleven years old, she wrote her first novel about cursed diamonds and the people who owned them.
The first Harry Potter book was published by Bloomsbury Children’s Books in June 1997, under the name J. K. Rowling. The “K” stands for Kathleen, her grandmother’s name. six further titles were released in the Harry Potter series, each achieving record-breaking success.
In 2001, the film adaptation of the first book was released by Warner Bros., and was followed by six more adaptations, concluding with the release of the eighth film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, in 2011.
Two companion novels have also been written by J. K. Rowling, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through the Ages. These appear as titles of Harry’s school books within the novels. In December of 2008, a third companion novel, The Tales of Beedle the Bard was published.
In 2012, J. K. Rowling published her first novel for adults, The Casual Vacancy. This has now been translated into 44 languages and was adapted for TV by the BBC in 2015. Under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, J. K. Rowling also writes crime novels, featuring private detective Cormoran Strike.
J. K. Rowling is the founder and president of Lumos, an international children’s charity fighting for every child’s right to a family by transforming care systems around the world. The Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic was founded by a donation from J. K. Rowling in 2010 in memory of her mother Anne. The clinic delivers clinical care and research to improve the lives of people with degenerative conditions affecting the brain, as well as hosting specialist NHS clinics for these conditions. J. K. Rowling also supports a wide range of projects and organisations through her charitable trust, Volant, which she set up in 2000 to administer grants to charities which help alleviate social deprivation, particularly affecting women and children.
Summary
Voldemort has returned to power and his wrath can be felt by both the Muggle and Wizarding world, resulting in a meeting between Cornelius Fudge and the prime minister of the Muggle world. Narcissa Malfoy along with her sister Bellatrix Lestrange, visit Severus Snape and ask him to make an Unbreakable Vow, promising to protect her son, Draco Malfoy. Snape has long been considered an enemy of Voldemort and is part of the Order of the Phoenix, however there has always been a doubt by a select few on which side he is really on.
Professor Dumbledore collects Harry from Privet drive to take him to spend the rest of the summer with the Weasley’s at the Burrow. He mentions to Harry that he has a stop to make on the way which requires Harry’s assistance. This stop is made to convince Horace Slughorn to return to Hogwarts as a professor. At the Burrow, Harry is reunited with his best friends, Ron and Hermione and they begin to prepare for their sixth year at Hogwarts. Upon their
return to school, Albus Dumbledore announces that Snape will be teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts, a position everyone knows Snape has always wanted.
Harry receives a used Potions textbook that once belonged to someone named ‘The Half-Blood Prince’. There are a lot of notes in the margins and Harry uses these amendments to excel at Potions. Professor Dumbledore schedules regular meeting with Harry in which they use Dumbledore’s pensieve to look at memories of those who had direct contact with Voldemort. Dumbledore believes that the more Harry knows about Voldemort’s past, the more it will help him when they finally come face to face.
Ron acquires a new girlfriend, Lavender, which makes Hermione extremely jealous and Harry, as usual, feels stuck between his two best friends. Harry eventually falls in love with Ginny, Ron’s sister. Ron ends up breaking up with Lavender, making Hermione very happy. Harry spends a lot of time this year keeping up with his duties as Quidditch captain and following Draco Malfoy. By using the Marauder’s Map, Harry keeps track of Malfoy and soon realises he is using the Room of Requirement to stay off the map. This room transforms into whatever a person needs it for.
Eventually, Professor Dumbledore and Harry leave Hogwarts together to fetch and destroy Merope’s locket. They overcome a lot of challenges and upon returning to Hogwarts, they see the Dark Mark is visible above the astronomy tower. When they reach the tower, Professor Dumbledore uses his magic to freeze Harry in place, while Harry remains hidden under his cloak of invisibility. Draco Malfoy arrives into the room and threatens Dumbledore’s life. Professor Dumbledore stalls, allowing enough time for Snape to arrive and kill Dumbledore, sending him flying over the edge of the tower. Harry tells Ron and Hermione that he is not returning to Hogwarts next year and will instead search for and kill Voldemort. Ron and Hermione promise to join him.
Meet the Characters
Harry Potter
Harry is accurately named the ‘Chosen One’ by the Daily Prophet, as it is his responsibility to destroy Voldemort. Although Harry has never shied away from his destiny, he is understandably frustrated that he cannot have a normal school life.
In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, readers see Harry slowly transitioning into a mature young man, as can be seen by his romantic relationship with Ginny Weasley and his increasingly loyal connection to Professor Dumbledore.
I will discuss more about Harry’s character and his growth further in the blog.
Ron Weasley
This is quite the exciting year for Ron. Why? For starters, he gets his first girlfriend, Lavender Brown. He also becomes Keeper for the Gryffindor Quidditch team and he begins to learn how to apparate. Finally, he starts realising he may have feelings for Hermione. Lots of growing up for Ron in one year.
Ron endures a bit of a bumpy ride in his sixth year. Harry and Hermione are invited to Slughorn’s private parties and rather than admitting he is jealous; he lets his angst out by making not so nice comments. Also, rather than admitting to Hermione that he may have feelings for her, he chooses to mock her instead when she chooses McLaggen to attend Slughorn’s party with her.
It’s a good things Ron has a good friend in Harry. After Ron is very close to quitting Quidditch, Harry pretends to lace Ron’s pumpkin juice with good luck potion. Ron plays amazingly well in the game against Slytherin and after the game, Harry reveals there was actually no good luck potion involved. Ron realises how much he is capable of when he has confidence in himself and his abilities.
At heart, Ron is a loyal friend to both Harry and Hermione. It will just take a little time for him to mature and show her that respect in the way she deserves. He helps his friends whenever he can and provides nothing but honest feedback. He is a good, loyal and kind person.
Hermione Granger
This year is also an important one for Hermione. There is a lot of growing up involved and her intelligence and wisdom only continue to shine. She is the friend who does all the research, which inevitably leads to beginning to uncover who the Half-Blood Prince might be. Despite all of Hermione’s wisdom, she is not sure what to do about her feelings for Ron. When she sees him kiss Lavender, she slips out of the common room and Harry finds her clearly feeling sad and troubled.
Hermione spends a lot of time in this book chastising Harry for his use of the spells in the Half-Blood Prince’s textbook. Despite the fact that Harry has found some useful spells, Hermione considers this as cheating. However, during the Gryffindor Quidditch try-outs, Hermione confounds Cormac McLaggen, to help Ron secure the position as Keeper for the team. I don’t see this as Hermione being hypocritical but rather, understanding she is not perfect and is just growing up, like everyone else around her.
Readers see Hermione struggle with honesty and integrity in her sixth year at Hogwarts. Typically, she is the model of morality. She is the Gryffindor prefect, charged with duty of looking out for and monitoring her housemates. She is, almost always, responsible and law-abiding. With all this going on and Hermione being incredibly mature, it is easy to forget what the war against Voldemort means to and for Hermione. Voldemort and his Death Eaters want to “purify” the Wizarding community by eliminating those who are not pure-blood, people like Hermione. She endures countless sneers about her background and her family. This war affects her and her family greatly.
Horace Slughorn
Slughorn is the new Potions teacher at Hogwarts, though he is returning and has taught at the Wizarding school before. He loves famous people, it’s odd but he does. Just when we think Slughorn is a regular oddball of a character, Harry is able to secure a memory from him that he is reluctant to give up. Readers see a side of Slughorn that we have not seen before, namely intense remorse and self-loathing over the fact that he gave Voldemort key information about Horcruxes.
Slughorn proves that not all Slytherins are evil. He has many powerful connections and yet, has never joined Voldemort or stepped over to the dark side in any way. In fact, when we first meet Slughorn, he is running from Death Eaters. He is good at heart and wants to live
comfortably, he wants people to like him and think of him as important; he’s just a regular guy. Whose one mistake allowed Voldemort to find a way to stay alive for a very long time.
Draco Malfoy
The sixth year at Hogwarts is an interesting one for Draco. He is as mean as ever and he is also working for Voldemort now but it seems he isn’t having much fun being Voldemort’s minion. His inability to kill Dumbledore allows a glimmer of hope that Draco has some good in him.
Due to the Unbreakable Vow Snape made to Draco’s mother, they also have an interesting relationship. Previously, Malfoy respected the Professor but it seems now he does not want his help. He does not confide in Snape at all or seek advice from him. It seems he is also afraid that Snape might steal his “glory”.
Malfoy has proven he will do anything to protect his family. However, his inability to kill Dumbledore shows us just how much this journey has cost him. Readers learn from Moaning Myrtle that Draco has been visiting the bathroom quite a lot in search for a place to cry in private. Malfoy realises that he does not possess the coldness and unfeeling nature that Tom Riddle possessed when he was Malfoy’s age.
Malfoy is truly scared in this book; I can feel it and I am sure other reads felt it too. He may have bragged at first about being one of Voldemort’s Death Eaters, but he soon learns that it is not so fun. Actually, it is dangerous and terrifying. We are left with a lot of questions at the end of this book about what is really going on in Malfoy’s mind. Is there any hope for him? What does he want to achieve? Glory? Is he going to turn things around and become a decent guy? I cannot help but see Malfoy as a lost little boy doing what he can to save his family from further harm.
Albus Dumbledore
I cannot believe Professor Dumbledore dies. Just… no. Even though I have read this series multiple times, each time I read the scene at the tower, I feel so heartbroken. Professor Dumbledore’s death is unsettling for many reasons. Firstly, we lose the greatest wizard in the world who acts as a mentor and father figure for Harry, but we also lose an incredible leader who has locked a vast amount of knowledge and wisdom in his brain. Even though he possesses all this knowledge, his humility is a quality that sets him apart to the prideful Voldemort.
Like Harry, Professor Dumbledore could have sought fame and wealth, if he wanted them. He has been asked to become the Minister of Magic on several occasions. Professor Dumbledore is first and foremost a teacher. He has been at Hogwarts for 40 years and he is dedicated to producing great witches and wizards. His wisdom and knowledge also make him a valuable advisor on many issues affecting the Wizarding world at large.
Professor Dumbledore’s friendship with Harry grows deeper and stronger in this book. At times, it even feels like they are colleagues, rather than teacher student. However, there are times when Dumbledore becomes a little strict and asserts his authority. We see another side to Professor Dumbledore from his interactions with Voldemort. When he fails to steer Voldemort away from his evil plans, he feels remorse which shows the reader that Professor Dumbledore feels a sense of responsibility, as a teacher, toward Voldemort.
Professor Dumbledore, like Harry, loves, trusts, accepts and forgives to his full capability. Maybe it is these characteristics which lead to his death. By the end of this book, we are left with many questions. Why did Dumbledore not consider Harry’s warnings about Snape? What did Dumbledore know that Harry did not? Why did Dumbledore not share this information with Harry? Ultimately, is it better to trust and risk being betrayed, or not trust at all?
Severus Snape
There are many things I want to say and ask Snape. The most important being, HOW COULD YOU KILL ALBUS DUMBLEDORE? There are so many questions surrounding Snape, we literally know nothing about him. Is he a Death Eater? How did he convince Dumbledore he no longer works for Voldemort? Why has he not killed Harry when he has had so many chances? What does Dumbledore know that we do not? Is Snape still working for Voldemort? Did he manage to fool the greatest wizard?
What we do know is Snape loves the Dark Arts. This is the year he finally becomes Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher and he could not be any happier. He is probably the only Professor who happily teaches Dark Arts to the students. We also know that Snape is great at keeping a low profile. He convinces Draco that he is on his side, maybe he is, we are always questioning his loyalty. Also, clearly both Voldemort and Professor Dumbledore trust Snape explicitly. Another obvious thing we know about Snape is that he hates Harry Potter, though he does not attempt to kill him. Interesting. He overhears the prophecy that Professor Trelawney delivered months ago and passes this information on to Voldemort. Finally, at the beginning of the book, he makes the Unbreakable Vow to Draco’s mother, which he fulfils when he kills Professor Dumbledore.
I did not see this coming but Snape is indeed the Half-Blood Prince. He tells Harry this as Harry tries to stop him leaving Hogwarts after killing Professor Dumbledore. This shows us how smart Snape is; he is able to invent his own spells at such a young age. Readers also learn that Snape was interested, like Voldemort, in pushing the boundaries of magic. A question that comes to mind is how did Snape let this book out of his possession? Would he not want to hold onto it, considering it hold hours of research and work that nobody else has ever done? Let’s hope we get some answers in the next book.
Voldemort
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is our very first insight into Voldemort’s background. Book six allows us to learn about Voldemort’s family, his childhood, adolescence and, we see several important moments in his life that transform Tom Riddle into Lord Voldemort. We learn all this through multiple people’s memories.
I would not go as far as to say I sympathise with Voldemort, but as we learn about the suffering in his past, he definitely becomes a more complex character.
Voldemort’s mother, Merope, dies after giving birth to Tom Riddle Junior. She could have saved herself using magic but chose not to. So, the one person who was supposed to love Tom unconditionally, abandons him and this is the sadness that marks his entrance into the world.
At the orphanage, Mrs Cole tells Dumbledore about Tom’s “odd” behaviour. He likes to terrorise the other children. It seems like Tom has a natural urge to hurt and dominate others. Once Professor Dumbledore tells him he is a wizard, Tom is happy as he says he always knew he was special. Dumbledore wishes to give Tom a second chance and so does not inform the other professors about his previously “odd” behaviour.
We learn in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets that Tom opens the chamber while he was a teenager at Hogwarts. We also learn that when Tom was 16, the same age Harry is in book six, he killed his father, Tom Riddle senior. So, what is the moment he goes from being Tom to becoming Lord Voldemort? It could be argued that this is when he created a Horcrux. In Professor Dumbledore’s words, this is the moment he moved past “usual evil”. Voldemort plans to create six Horcruxes, putting a piece of his soul into each one, hoping to achieve immortality. In this book, Harry vows to destroy all the Horcruxes, which are held in places personally important to Voldemort.
Harry’s Growth in this Book
As strong as Harry is, he still suffers greatly from his traumatic past. He lost his parents, Lily and James Potter, his godfather, Sirius Black and his hero, Professor Dumbledore who all died while ultimately trying to protect him. Harry realises he must sacrifice his newfound relationship with Ginny Weasley to prevent any harm coming to her, because of him. Harry cannot let anyone else sacrifice themselves for his sake.
In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, readers learn, through Professor Dumbledore, that Harry has a secret weapon. This weapon is not his Marauder’s map, his invisibility cloak or his Nimbus 2000. Dumbledore tells Harry that his power lies in his ability to love, and understandably so, Harry is reluctant to believe him. Harry does not want money, fame or power. He only wants one thing: the truth.
Another thing readers learn is that prophecies are only powerful if a person chooses to give them power. In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Professor Trelawney makes a prophecy that Harry is the ‘chosen one’. In this book, Professor Dumbledore tells Harry that the prophecy is only powerful because Voldemort chose to make it meaningful. Voldemort decided and chose Harry as his enemy. Harry does not need to fight Voldemort and has a choice. Harry learns a lesson on the importance of choice and his willingness to fight Voldemort, regardless of the prophecy.
We learn more not-so-serious thing about Harry in this book too. He develops a major crush on Ginny Weasley and they eventually begin to date. We also learn about Harry’s desire to become an Auror. Back to the more serious things, though Harry and Voldemort could not be more different in their approach to the world, they do share a similar background. They are both orphans, neither grew up in a wizarding family, Hogwarts was a first real home to both, both were very powerful and popular students and Professor Dumbledore influenced both characters in a big way.
Dumbledore picks up on these but as he points out to Harry, when Voldemort was Harry’s age, he was obsessed with finding a way of becoming immortal, while Harry’s heart is set on doing good things for others. There are also some noticeable similarities between Draco and Harry. Of course, they are very different in many ways, but they are both on a quest of some
kind, and both seem to be guided by great wizards. With Professor Dumbledore’s help, Harry learns all about Voldemort and his Horcruxes. Threatened with death to his family, Draco is forced to serve Voldemort. To both of them, school seems like more of a distraction than anything else.
My Rating and Review
This book is an easy five star for me. The multiple plot lines, the character development and all the questions being answered while simultaneously more questions arise make this a fantastic read.
Do the similarities between Harry, Voldemort, Snape and Draco make the dark character more human? Or do these similarities show a darker side in Harry? What does Harry’s use of the magic in the Half-Blood Prince’s textbook tell us about him? Why doesn’t Harry crave power like Voldemort does? We can only hope the final book in this fantastic series provides us with the answers.