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But now I’ve finished it, I am once again awed at the quality of the writing, and the way the author pulled together so many subplots and strands. The first time I read this, in 2005, it was shortly after publication. I read it aloud to my teenage sons, and had no idea what was coming. We were all shocked by the ending, after much discussion about the starting chapters. The second time I read it was in 2007, immediately prior to the publication of the final volume in the series.
But I had not read ‘Half-Blood Prince’ for twelve years, nor since reading ‘Deathly Hallows’. So I had the benefit, this time, of knowing a few of the secrets that were revealed, and was able to read this in the light of future knowledge, so to speak. I could see more clues, and some deliberate ambiguities.
The story opens with a light-hearted scene as the Muggle prime minister has a meeting with the Minister for Magic. It’s no longer the somewhat bumbling Cornelius Fudge, but the rather more organised Rufus Scrimgeour. However Fudge arrives first and makes the introduction, and it’s a very cleverly written scene, with the clear implication that all the British prime ministers have known about the magical world.
Scrimgeour passes on some dire warnings, and they take us neatly into the second chapter, one which takes us into the dark wizarding world. Professor Snape meets some of the Malfoy family, and makes an unbreakable vow… although we don’t actually know what it refers to until later in the book. We don’t learn why he is willing to make it until the final book.
Harry doesn’t appear until the third chapter; once again he has spent the summer with his caricatured non-magical relatives. He has heard nothing from anyone, and is depressed anyway after the events at the end of the fifth book. Then Professor Dumbledore appears, and meets his aunt an uncle in another scene which is light-hearted, in contrast to chapter two.
Dumbledore takes Harry to meet an elderly wizard who is possibly going to teach at Hogwarts, and then to the Weasley home, where he spends the last few days of his holiday. And then - amidst much high security - to Diagon Alley to buy more text books, and eventually on to Hogwarts for his sixth year.
Harry and his friends are sixteen now, and there’s rather more discussion of romantic interests, with a large amount of kissing and cuddling - although only as sidelines to the story. Hermione and Ron don’t speak to each other for a while, each pursuing other people, although it’s clear from the text that they’re rather keen on each other. And Harry realises that the person he cares about most is someone who has had several boyfriends…
There are private lessons with Dumbledore, gradually piecing together some past history that sheds light on the rise of the dark Lord Voldemort. There are potions lessons with a new master, in which Harry suddenly shines; this is due to a borrowed text book which has notes in the margins, and which originally belong to someone calling himself the ‘half-blood prince’. Another sideline story is the ongoing quest to discover who this might have been.
Harry is also very concerned about Draco Malfoy, suspicious that he is involved in a terrible plot, determined to find out what it might be…
The book has many twists and turns, with close escapes by two people, some Quidditch - Harry is now the captain of the Gryffindor team - and some discoveries. It wouldn’t work well as a standalone story; it’s far better read after the earlier ones, as there are so many characters and important history that would make little sense if this was read alone.
But it’s an excellent read. The film of ‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince’ is good too, but the movie versions inevitably miss a great deal of what happens in the books. This volume isn’t as long as the previous two, although it’s still just over 600 pages, but that’s far too much to fit into a two-and-a-half hour film.
Despite knowing what was coming, I found the final chapters tense, and the ending extremely poignant. So much so that instead of reading another nine or so different books before the finale, I’m going to re-read the last volume immediately.
This book is more for teenagers than young children - while the romantic interludes are extremely tame, and there is only the mildest of bad language, there's some violence and extreme tension - and the traumatic ending - which could be disturbing to younger or sensitive children.
Highly recommended, but I would strongly suggest that you read the earlier books first. They are:
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Review copyright 2019 Sue's Book Reviews
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