• Welcome to BookAndReader!

    We LOVE books and hope you'll join us in sharing your favorites and experiences along with your love of reading with our community. Registering for our site is free and easy, just CLICK HERE!

    Already a member and forgot your password? Click here.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - Discussion *Spoiler Alert*

well, uh, i know this is kinda changing the subject, but i think it would be perfectly logical for harry to die at the end of the 7th book.

BECAUSE

1. JKRowling would not have to put up with the rabid fans begging her to write an 8th book

2. it wouldnt have to be sad! she could make it beautiful, just as sirius death was beautiful. (yes, i cried, but i was thoughtful, too)

3. THE PROPHECY NEVER SAID THAT THEY COULDNT BOTH DIE! it said that they both couldnt live, and one had to die. but if the SS/PS was destroyed, than they ARE BOTH GOING TO DIE, either from a BATTLE or OLD AGE or SICKNESS.

so, i think that harry could discover this ultra powerful spell that only he could use because he is the most powerful half-blood in the wizarding world (his mother lily was good at charms!) and use it to kill Voldemort, but in the process, kill himself.

i dont know if that makes sense, but it does to me!

about the half-blood prince, i think that it HAS TO BE SOMEONE IN CS! i just dont know who... if it isnt voldemort...

wait, i got it! LOCKHART! he was in the 2nd book, wasnt he? and he was in the 5th book, too! they said that he WAS getting hiss memory back, so what if he got it back, became as famous as he once was, and went VOLDEMORT HUNTING?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

that IS totally absurd, but IT COULD HAPPEN! lucius malfoy seems like a good idea, too, but what would he DO? voldemort could make him second in command, but voldemort doesnt share power. in fact, he even kept the death eaters from knowing each others names!

*think think*
 
Halo said:
Why? Some people don't want to read spoilers or theories before reading the book - this way they are protected from inadvertently reading something they'd rather not have read.
Click to expand...

Yes however, If you're in a 'so who do you think is the half blood prince' forum then I don't think you should be in there if you don't know, for example, that hagrid is in the second book. It should be assumed that if you're curious about who the half blood prince is then you would be interested in what other peoples theories are. Also, they are just theories, not 'spoilors.' Its not like any of us have insider information from jk rowling herself.



I agree with sung, it is probable that Harry could die in the 7th book. Very likley... I could also see her possibly killing off Ron... or Mrs Weasley being that she is the second closest thing to a mother to Harry. The only character I think is safe from being killed off would be Hermione because I think there's too many fans who want her to end up with one of the boys (harry or ron). Also on jk rowlings site this question gets asked "The prophecy Harry hears in Dumbledore's office suggests to me that both he and Voldemort will have to die, is that true?" Rowling answers
"Both Madam Trelawney and I worded the prophecy extremely carefully and that is all I have to say on the subject!"
:eek:

As to the whole sharing power, no I don't think that would be Lucius' role but perhaps hes now voldemorts most loyal supporter now that bartie crouch jr. is dead. Also, when they formed the circle around harry in the graveyard at the end of the 4th book, lucius was the first person in line and the first voldemort spoke with. Also, (I get a little confused here) although it was said the deatheaters never knew eachothers names, voldemort called on them all by name in book 4 when they were circled around him and harry. For example "'Lucius, my slippery friend,' he whisperd, halting before him, 'I am told that you have not renounced the old ways, though to the world you present a respectable face. You are still ready to take the lead spot in muggle-torture, I believe?...'"

hmmm here's another interesting fact. They've started pre-production for the 5th movie and so far the only 4 characters they've listed as returning for this movie are emma, rupert dan and Jason Isaacs (Lucius).... I find that interesting that they made sure he commited to move on with the movies before any of the other main characters especially since he wasn't even in the 3rd movie... Does any one know if Rowling gives the producers tips or hints as to whats coming in the next 2 books to improve the accuracy of the movies?

I originally thought
Lockhart
was a possibility too but as you can see from http://www.veritaserum.com/books/book6/verified.shtml, she has stated that
Lockhart
would not be in the remaining 2 books... However, she did say she deleted a part of the second book about who the half blood prince was and on her website under extras,
she talks about a scene she deleted from CoS involving the malfoys home life....

Or perhaps it could be Dumbledore as to hes the only person voldamort has ever feared and his bloodline is unknown... He's on the cover of the 6th book, hes in the 2nd (obviously), and voldamort says this in the 4th book"...perhaps they believed a still greater power could exist, one that could vanquish even Lord Voldemort...perhaps they now pay allegiance to another...perhaps that champion of commoners, of Mudbloods and Muggles, Albus Dumbledore?"

Another thought I just had, although this may be a bit far fetched (let me know what you think). Could Voldamort (Riddle) be related to the malfoys or the Blacks? I thought about this while re-reading a portion of OotP last night about the Black family tree... Because Riddles mother was pure blood and had him with a muggle so if they were on the family tree, they would have been burnt off the tree and would it not make sense to have him related to a family of wizards who are infamous for hating muggles? Just a thought...
:confused:
 
Halo said:
I vaguely remember JK saying it is not Harry or Voldemort. So my guess is that it is Neville - I'm sure he is going to turn out to be very important to things. Or then again, it could be Snape... or Malfoy... or... :D
Click to expand...
"I'm a half and half, me dads a muggle, me mums a witch...bit of a nasty shock when he found out..." I think this was in the first one of that boy, I can't remember his name, but I guess its him ;)
 
RainbowGurl said:
"I'm a half and half, me dads a muggle, me mums a witch...bit of a nasty shock when he found out..." I think this was in the first one of that boy, I can't remember his name, but I guess its him ;)
Click to expand...

It's Seamus Finnigan. I think it's the only one that fits :) He has to be the half-blood prince.
What's the betting that J K will prove all of us wrong though?!
 
up-to-no-good said:

Also on jk rowlings site this question gets asked "The prophecy Harry hears in Dumbledore's office suggests to me that both he and Voldemort will have to die, is that true?" Rowling answers
"Both Madam Trelawney and I worded the prophecy extremely carefully and that is all I have to say on the subject!"
:eek:

Does any one know if Rowling gives the producers tips or hints as to whats coming in the next 2 books to improve the accuracy of the movies?
:confused:
Click to expand...

Madam Trelawney also made a prophacy in the 3rd book to Harry about the Dark Lord rising again when his servant returned. What that did was make Harry react and attempt to prevent the prophacy from coming true. I think that only part of what she prophazied (?) came true because the prophacy made Harry react. Maybe this prophacy, like the last one, will set into action something/someone that can prevent it from becoming true (if that makes sense)
Yeah Rowling does give the producers/directors somewhat of an idea as to what will happen in the next 2 books for the movies sake. I saw it on one of the interviews on the DVDs.
 
Up-to-no-good: You make some good points about the use of spoiler tags. I think I need to clarify things. I don't think a spoiler is necessary when people are saying "I think it's so-and-so because..." i.e., someone's personal theory. But I think spoiler tags should be used if someone is saying "On _ 's official site, it says that the half-blood prince is _". To me there is a difference - do people agree? I would say that if in doubt, use the spoiler tags: people can then choose whether to click on them or not. :)

Anyway, back to the discussion! :)
 
h_carnahan said:
Madam Trelawney also made a prophacy in the 3rd book to Harry about the Dark Lord rising again when his servant returned. What that did was make Harry react and attempt to prevent the prophacy from coming true. I think that only part of what she prophazied (?) came true because the prophacy made Harry react. Maybe this prophacy, like the last one, will set into action something/someone that can prevent it from becoming true (if that makes sense)
Click to expand...

I believe this is the prophecy you are referring to
"He will return tonight! He who betrayed his friends - whose heart rots with murder! Innocent blood shall be shed and servant and master shall be reunited once more"~Madam Trelawney
I believe that this entire prophecy did come true because
'he who betrayed his friends'(wormtail)
did return and ran away to reunite with his master,
voldamort
as for the
'innocent blood' being shed, I believe she is referring to Ron and or Sirius who were both injured during the night
but I guess it all depends on how you look at it.
 
Sorry, didn't want to read 5 pages of HP speculation by rabid fans (I'm assuming), BUT, I think the the HPB is going to be completely new character.

Also, I think the character Rowling described in her website- the one with the liony mane and stuff- is probably Felix Felices- (because felix means cat...and lion = cat, no?)- Who is proabably going to be the minister of magic.
 
Ok - I've started a new topic for the discussion of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. This way those who haven't read the book yet can avoid any spoilers :)
 
Well, I've finished it. I won't spoil it for anyone, in case a raving type hunts me down... But it's better than the fifth one. And I may be really stupid but I didn't guess any of what happened.
Now I just have to wait about a decade for the next one.. :D
 
Jennifer - you can use this thread to discuss the book - I'm currently typing up my thoughts on what happened and will post them shortly. In putting 'discussion' after the title, hopefully people won't view this thread until after they have read the book so as to avoid potential spoilers.
 
Personally I feel that this was by far one of JKR's better books (certainly much better than OOTP ;) ). I felt that the plot developed well and she gave us more insight into some of the characters (I particularly liked the development of Voldemort's backstory).

There were a few points I wondered about. For some reason I thought Blaise was female, certainly not someone fitting the description JKR gave. I may have just assumed this though, as even though we know of several male slytherins in their year (Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, Nott) you only hear about Parkinson and Bulstrode as the females. I will have to look back as I thought it had been mentioned (though I know at the sorting they did not give a gender).

Another point I pondered on was the fact that Snape had insisted on an 'O' to get into potions but did not require the same standard for Defence (as Hermone only received an E and was allowed to take the class).

As for JKR saying that Snape's history would be revealed - I felt this played a very minor part in the book. Even though he was the HBP, I do not feel this had much to do with the plot (apart from the obvious writing in the Potions book). I was disappointed in this and had hoped he himself would play a bigger part. I felt the description of Snape revealing he was the HBP was somewhat rushed and more time could have been given to this. It was good to gain some insight into how Lupin came to be bitten however.

One thing I did notice was the fact that the role of the troubled teenager had now passed from Harry to Hermione. The constant arguing between Ron and Hermione did annoy me slightly, this seems to be a main point in most of the books, it certainly doesn't bode well for a future relationship - which is what JKR appears to be implying.

I don't feel that the books were consistant with Harry's feeling towards Dumbledore. Throughout OOTP Harry resented Dumbledore and now in HBP he virtually worships him. I wouldn't have minded more discussion on the Unspeakable Vow that Snape took. I thought that Kreacher was slightly OOC, there was very little strange muttering to himself which was a main part of OOTP.

I liked the idea of the Horcruxes and feel that JKR has set the plot up well for the next book. I'm not too sure I'm fond of the fact they may not be in school for the next year. Hermione seemed to offer to leave school with Harry rather too quickly for my liking which, IMO, is not at all in keeping with her character.

Perhaps someone can answer a question I have. When Harry and Dumbledore were looking at the House Elf's memory in the pensive, I noticed that at one point it is mentioned that whilst some dialogue occurs the house elf is out of the room, she then returns laden with cakes. How can Dumbledore and Harry remain in the room with Smith and Riddle whilst the house elf fetches the food if it is the house elf's memory they are in??

I'm also not convinced that they have had a new DADA teacher in every year since Dumbledore refused the post to Riddle, however I don't have the first two books to see if it is mentioned anywhere else. I did feel that the Felix potion was a slight enigma. Surely if the potion was that effective in battle then Voldemort would have picked up on its use by now?? It is located in a standard spell book so you would have thought someone may have thought to use it.

Would Dumbledore's portrait not be able to answer the question as to why he trusted Snape implicitly? I'm still not convinced about Snape's treachery. Dumbledore mentioned that Snape saved his life when he returned hurt from extracting the soul from the ring. Somehow I feel there is far more to this than simple betrayal (that and the fact Snape swore an Unreakable vow that he would complete the task should Draco fail). I feel he may have discussed this with Dumbledore and agreed on Snape using AK on him if the situation necessitated it.

Saying all that, I did enjoy the book and would probably say it is one of her best. I still prefer POA but this would have to come close.
 
Ok, gotcha.
My rambling and disjointed views then:
To be honest, I'm a bit disappointed about Snape's actions - he was one of the most interesting characters because he was not obviously either good or evil. Although the Vow leaves it open.
The writing's a bit tighter in this one - Rowling doesn't ramble on so much. Also, there's less of that "something mysterious is happening - find out more 200 pages later" stuff.
I liked the opening with the Prime Minister; I thought it was interesting to show the situation from a Muggle point of view. And the next chapter in Snape's house was the first "oh my god" moment, especially since you couldn't be sure how far he was just playing along.
All the relationship happenings dragged on a bit long for me - and the overuse of the word "snogging"! But I see how she was trying to break up the atmosphere of doom a bit.
I also think some of the characterisation was sacrficed for plot. Nothing of the other teachers, or Seamus and Dean. Even Ginny had turned into some kind of absent archetype, so when Harry revealed his undying affection I was thinking "Why? She has no personality!" Then again, if she'd wasted time with all these people, the book would have been too long and I'd be complaining about the loss of momentum.
All that said, I really enjoyed the whole thing, especially some of the Voldemort backstory. I think Rowling has finally decided that she's not writing for 5 year olds, which was my problem with the fifth one: she didn't seem to know who she was writing for. In fact, a lot of this one was unsuitable for small children.
Anyway, a general thumbs up!
 
Ice said:
Would Dumbledore's portrait not be able to answer the question as to why he trusted Snape implicitly? I'm still not convinced about Snape's treachery. Dumbledore mentioned that Snape saved his life when he returned hurt from extracting the soul from the ring. Somehow I feel there is far more to this than simple betrayal (that and the fact Snape swore an Unreakable vow that he would complete the task should Draco fail). I feel he may have discussed this with Dumbledore and agreed on Snape using AK on him if the situation necessitated it.
Click to expand...
Sorry about the double post, but I just wanted to comment on this. I really hope Rowling goes into this a bit more in the next book, or that Harry comes to some kind of understanding about Snape's motives. To build up this complex character, then have him turn out to be unequivocally A Bad Guy, seems a waste. Even from a child's point of view, I thought it was useful to point out that the villains aren't necessarily the ones swooping round like oversized bats, or however it was described. Snape, until now, was mean-spirited and vindictive, but also capable of courage and humanity. This is a perfect opportunity for a character in a children's book to show how evil can result from more morally ambiguous circumstances than someone simply being bad, through and through. I think Rowling knows that, as she has left the situation open with the Vow, like you said. The reader - and, actually, Harry, though he doesn't know it - is in no position to make a judgement about Snape's actions, and for now I think that's a good thing.
 
Ice said:
Perhaps someone can answer a question I have. When Harry and Dumbledore were looking at the House Elf's memory in the pensive, I noticed that at one point it is mentioned that whilst some dialogue occurs the house elf is out of the room, she then returns laden with cakes. How can Dumbledore and Harry remain in the room with Smith and Riddle whilst the house elf fetches the food if it is the house elf's memory they are in??
Click to expand...
Yeah, I noticed that too. There probably are more holes like that...

On the whole, I liked the book. I was, however, a bit disappointed by the ending. Not necessarily
Dumbledore's death
, but the way Rowling wrapped it up and the last page, really. I also think she rushed some things.
 
You're telling me, and I have to live with her ;)

It was a good book, much tighter paced than OOTP as has been said (and not so damn boring either, occlumancy was dull). Yes there was a tad too much teenage hysteria, but then they are all meant to be sixteen ... and did anyone notice Harry's sudden change from moody sod to the one that was having to put up with the moody people for half the book. He is back to being all sweetness and light, Dumbledore's Golden Boy-mode.

Anyways, I liked it, I like how Rowling developed all the back story and I think it finally took the inevitable turn at the end where Harry has to leave everyone he knows and set off on his final quest to destroy Voldemort, so why its a shame we probably wont be seeing much of the Hogwarts crowd in the next book, it should make for a more interesting expansion of the Magical world. In my opinion it is going to be much harder for her to write than the others, as she is now going to have to write outside her standard school year format ... it should prove interesting.

Anyway, thumbs up and now we have a few more years til the last one ... okay I'll say next one instead :D

Phil

PS: Snape is just an evil bugger, or did no one else notice that ;)
 
I finished the book last night and you are right he is. i said he couldnt be trusted! slimy little weasle, i hope he gets killed in the next book!
 
Harry Potter 6 (contains spoilers)

Well I just got through reading this. and I'd just liuke to say, great. I really enjoyed this book.

now a few things I just have to mention,

Snape. turncoat or not. I think yes but not the way we would expect him to be, I think at the start of the book, he mentioned knowing the mission that was intrusted onto Draco, I do not think that was the case. I think he saw an opening to be trusted once more by several important death eaters, and took it, not knowing what he got himself into.

Dumbledore, I think he somehow knew what was going to happen, and did what he did to get Harry ready for the coming confrontation.
he allowed himself to die so as to prepare Harry.

and R.A.B. I'm really curious as to what or better said who this is. I can't wait for the next and last part to see the end of this, speaking of which, it seems like Mrc Rowling is leaving quite a lot to the last book, quite a lot is crammed into one book there, the search for the soulcontainers, the unraveling of the true role of Snape, to see on who'se side he's really on. and of course the final confrontation.

pherhaps she's planned the book to be 1500 pages long eh ;)



well, I'm curious after any comments? any thoughts? any disagreements?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top