Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
by J. K. Rowling
Overview
From the Publisher
The war against Voldemort is not going well; even Muggle governments are noticing. Ron scans the obituary pages of the Daily Prophet, looking for familiar names. Dumbledore is absent from Hogwarts for long stretches of time, and the Order of the Phoenix has already suffered losses.
And yet...
As in all wars, life goes on. Sixth-year students learn to Apparate -- and lose a few eyebrows in the process. The Weasley twins expand their business. Teenagers flirt and fight and fall in love. Classes are never straightforward, though Harry receives some extraordinary help from the mysterious Half-Blood Prince.
So it's the home front that takes center stage in the multilayered sixth installment of the story of Harry Potter. Here at Hogwarts, Harry will search for the full and complex story of the boy who became Lord Voldemort -- and thereby find what may be his only vulnerability.
My thoughts
Of course I'm reading Harry Potter! Who isn't?!? Actually I had to wait until my daughter finished reading it, which she did in the span of 2 days. She was shocked at the character in the book who died, so naturally my curiosity was sky high!
I loved this book. It was perhaps my favorite of all the Harry Potter books, and I thought J.K. Rowling did a great job of filling in the blanks in case, like me, you'd forgotten some of the history of the Potter saga. However, and this is a huge one, I am shocked and saddened and somewhat traumatized (!) by the death of one of the characters! I just can't believe it happened! I don't want to say too much lest I give away the story, but I keep thinking that the character will re-materialize in the next book like Spock did in Star Trek, and that one of those two other characters, whose names I will not mention, turns out to be a good guy after all rather than the snake (no pun intended) that he appears to be!!
That said, I can't wait for the next book. This one was sensational!
Favorite Passage
"Within hours of Scrimgeour's appointment we met and he demanded that I arrange a meeting with you -- "
"So that's why you argued!" Harry blurted out. "It was in the Daily Prophet."
"The Prophet is bound to report the truth occasionally," said Dumbledore, "if only accidentally. Yes, that was why we argued. Well, it appears that Rufus found a way to corner you at last."
"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, and stared hastily at his own knees. When Dumbledore spoke, however, his voice was quite steady.
"I am very touched, Harry."
