Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince - discuss the book (WARNING: SPOILERS!!)

I know that boxset... But I got each book in French one after one, as they were released

 

I actually thought about that, them switching places like that... at the very beginning of the book that's what I thought... but now I don't think so...

 

spoiler


ok i was just on mugglenet.com and i there is this really long interview with jkr about book six and here's the website www.mugglenet.com/jkrinterview they cover almost everything and a few pieces of information relevant to what we've been talking about here; jkr said that regulus black would be a very good guess and said it like that might be the person. and she said that careful readers of the book would be able to find one of the horcurses (sp?) easy enough so i'm thinking that the locket that they found when they were cleaning out sirius's house was probably it. and a few parts about dumbledore that i'll post the extract it seems to me like she is saying that snape and dumbledore had an agreement opon it isn't true but she wouldn't admit that anyway would she. here:

MA: OK, big big big book six question. Is Snape evil?
JKR: [Almost laughing] Well, you've read the book, what do you think?
ES: She's trying to make you say it categorically.
MA: Well, there are conspiracy theorists, and there are people who will claim -
JKR: Cling to some desperate hope [laughter] -
ES: Yes!
MA: Yes!
ES: Like certain shippers we know!
[All laugh]
JKR: Well, okay, I'm obviously – Harry-Snape is now as personal, if not more so, than Harry-Voldemort. I can't answer that question because it's a spoiler, isn't it, whatever I say, and obviously, it has such a huge impact on what will happen when they meet again that I can't. And let's face it, it's going to launch 10,000 theories and I'm going to get a big kick out of reading them so [laughs] I'm evil but I just like the theories, I love the theories.
ES: I know Dumbledore likes to see the good in people but he seems trusting almost to the point of recklessness sometimes.
[Laughter] Yes, I would agree. I would agree.
ES: How can someone so -
JKR: Intelligent -
ES: be so blind with regard to certain things?
JKR: Well, there is information on that to come, in seven. But I would say that I think it has been demonstrated, particularly in books five and six that immense brainpower does not protect you from emotional mistakes and I think Dumbledore really exemplifies that. In fact, I would tend to think that being very, very intelligent might create some problems and it has done for Dumbledore, because his wisdom has isolated him, and I think you can see that in the books, because where is his equal, where is his confidante, where is his partner? He has none of those things. He’s always the one who gives, he’s always the one who has the insight and has the knowledge. So I think that, while I ask the reader to accept that McGonagall is a very worthy second in command, she is not an equal. You have a slightly circuitous answer, but I can't get much closer than that.

and this bit

ES: Was Dumbledore planning to die?
JKR: [Pause.] Do you think that's going to be the big theory?
MA & ES: Yes. It’ll be a big theory.
JKR: [Pause.] Well, I don't want to shoot that one down. [A little laughter.] I have to give people hope.
MA: It goes back to the question of whether Snape is a double-double-double-triple-
JKR: [Laughs] Double-double-quadruple-to-the-power-of - yeah.
MA: …whether this had been planned, and since Dumbledore had this knowledge of Draco the whole year, had they had a discussion that said, "Should this happen, you have to act as if it is entirely your intention to just walk forward and kill me, because if you don't, Draco will die, the Unbreakable Vow, you'll die," and so on —
JKR: No, I see that, and yeah, I follow your line there. I can't — I mean, obviously, there are lines of speculation I don't want to shut down. Generally speaking, I shut down those lines of speculation that are plain unprofitable. Even with the shippers. God bless them, but they had a lot of fun with it. It's when people get really off the wall — it's when people devote hours of their time to proving that Snape is a vampire that I feel it's time to step in, because there's really nothing in the canon that supports that.

 

The Half Blood Prince really (unlike most of the others) intended to be a mystery, it was more str8 forward than the others. i found that figuring out the Order was easier than forming a theory on how Malfoy did everything and who the Half Blood Prince was. Draco had an A+ performance in this 1, i really pitied Draco, and yet he really retained the same attitude.
Even if Dumbledore told Snape to kill him, he is out of league with the Order. But Snape was certainly the star of the book. She did a great jb on putting us in suspence about Snape and what he really stands for.

 

Just my 2 cents, but D says that he "trusts" S. Maybe, what he trusted about S is his badness. D knew that when the chips were down which way S would go. S was trusted to go with the DE and "turn" (even though he didn't really, because he was always a secret DE).

My husband and I were kicking around that theory the other night.

 

I've read this theory (and I'm not sure if it's in this thread already, as the thread is 97 posts long) that Dumbledore isn't really dead. When everyone else dies of the Avada Kedavra curse, they collapse. Dumbledore toppled backwards over the tower. This is a little far-fetched, but perhaps he transfigured something to look like his body at the bottom. Also, wouldn't he have seen the curse coming?

On the other hand, maybe JKR destroyed Dumbledore so that Harry could become a character in his own right, and prove his powers, without the aid of his ultimate mentor...

 

i dont think he is dead either. i found it strange that he would have Harry under the invisibility cloak and studded so that he couldnt move yet could hear all that transpired.
i think what Dumbledore drink was something like a Romeo and Juliet elixir. but we shall see. it was an excellent book. i love it and look so forward to the next.

 

Haha, who doesn't? It's The End. Good vs. Evil. I KNOW that lots of people say "it's obvious that good will win", but I'm not too sure. JKR's always introducing these amazing plot twists, so that she leads you to expect something, before slapping you in the face with your own anticipation. eg. Dumbledore dying. That's what I think she'll do with the end.

 

SPOILER

In the end of book six there's this note, and the initials in it say R.A.B. Now, who is that? I think I've got the answer, it's Regulus A. Black, Sirius' brother. It's mentioned in the books that he was a Death Eater. What makes me think it's him? In the Dutch translation, Black is 'Zwarts' (that's just black in Dutch), and the initials are R.A.Z. there! Cool, huh?

 

Yeah, that's what I think too! 'Cause in the norwegian translation it stands R.A.S. and Black is "svart" in norwegian.

 

Brilliant! I have to go read it again.

 

Yeah, another (though less obvious) hint is that it must be a Death Eater, because the letter was addressed to 'the Dark Lord' and, as Harry pointed out during his Occlumency lessons with Snape in OotP, only Death Eaters use the term 'Dark Lord' when discussing Voldemort.

I haven't read the book in Dutch yet but my bro got it for Sinterklaas, and I've read the English version twice so far. But I'm kind of sad for those that only read the Dutch versions because they miss out on a lot. I've been told that the translator had to write a last-minute substitute for the whole Tom Riddle / Tom the barman similarity clue when Dumbledore visits Tom in the orphanage, because in the Dutch books Tom Riddle is called Martin (else the Voldemort anagram wouldn't have been right). And I fear for the excellent U-no-poo joke.

It's been such a long time since I've read the books in Dutch.

 

See, I have been thinking a lot about that as well. I was really pissed off when Harry broke up with her. Perhaps even more so than about Dumbledore getting killed. I mean, they obviously love each other, and in dark times like that, love is really important! I think they'll end up together again anyway though. Ginny's become a strong, reliable character and she won't let herself be put out of the game so easily. Maybe she'll even go along with the 3 when they go horcrux-hunting.

I also think they'll end up in Hogwarts anyway, because I think a lot of trails will lead to there. And they might even be following lessons and unravelling the clues in their spare time like always. Besides, they have to do their NEWTs, and JK was pretty resolute about a 7 books maximum, plus maybe an encyclopedia of magic.

 

yes, that too.

i hate the dutch version. i hate reading books in translation anyway. I was wondering about the brilliant word-jokes too, must be really tough for the translator...well, not my problem. I always read all the HP books between Sinterklaas and Christmas (yeah I'm a freak, I know ). But, now we at least know who R.A.B. is!

 

I dont like to think about the 6th book anymore..it makes me really sad

 

because of dumbledore?

 

ya...I don't think I've ever cried that much in my entire life.
:&

 

i'll admit that i cried alot too, but after a few days because it took a while to sink in. the characters are like reall almost, and i mean, i've been reading the books since i was ten. and i was thinking what about kids like ten years from now who get into the harry potter books and start reading them. it won't be near as good, it can never compare with the connection that we all have reading the books as that were being wrote- finishing reading a book and then going on the internet or calling your friends, knowing that millions of other people just got done reading the book and are just as excited/sad as you are and have the same questions and you can talk and theorize for a few years. the wait is half the fun! the knew rumors, and theories, trying to decode the book and jkr's interviews. the kids ten years from now who can just pick up book after book and read them won't have have the fun or expericence that we have had.

 

I've been reading them since I was ten too. I love that, because as the characters get older, so do I, and I have always been roughly the same age as the characters. I think it's amazing the way JKR is not only making the characters mature so well, but the overall tones of the books.

As for the Ginny Weasley thing, of COURSE she'll be back. Throughout books 5 and 6, she has emerged as a main character. Seeing as she finally went out with Harry and they got along well, AND that she sort of joined the Harry-Ron-Hermione group in a minor, unofficial way, there's NO way she'll let Ron, Hermione, and especially Harry go Horcrux-searching alone. Besides, Harry would feel awkward if a romance between Ron and Hermione blossomed, because the whole friendship trio would break up somewhat. If Ginny was involved, there would be two couples, and that potentially awkward situation would be less awkward.