The Half-Blood Prince

Dark. Enchanting. Two words that best describe, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince! There are deaths and tragedies everywhere throughout the book, with the worst at the end. The entire book is filled with resolved issues and opens the door for more questions as we come into the final leg of the series. The Half-Blood Prince is an enjoyable ride--- a tale that bridges the innocence of the first five books and sets the stage for the final book in the series.

warning. spoilers follow.

In HBP, Dumbledore takes the challenge of teaching young Harry Potter like the master-apprentice duo of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker, like Gandalf and Frodo before them, the pair embark on a journey--- to understand Lord Voldermort, find his weakness and destroy him. At the end of HBP, Dumbledore and Harry Potter do indeed understand how to kill Lord Voldermort and like all great sagas, our young hero must go and search for these Horcruxes--- parts of Voldermort's soul that allows him to be immortal and destroy them.

Harry Potter had already destroyed one in the previous books, most notably, Riddle's diary in Chamber of Secrets. Dumbledore at the start of HBP had already destroyed another--- the Gaunt Ring. A third is missing, whether or not it is actually gone still remains a mystery, only the note--- that it was taken was found by our master-apprentice duo. The four other Horcruxes are still out there and some artifacts are believed to be from the Four Founders of Hogwarts, and one is Voldermort's pet snake. These Horcruxes will be the subject of book seven.

In HBP, our characters have aged and they have matured properly. The themes of the book reflect this--- there are more young adult relationships, particularly Ron's and Hermionie's budding relationship, Harry's and Ginny's relationship. The idea of love is further stressed by examples from Bill and Fleur and of course, Lupin and Tonks. These are subplots that though not particularly important makes the characters and the world of Harry Potter more real.

Harry in this book has considerably grownup. Imperfect and continuously growing much like his friends, Harry is crafted as real. He is a natural leader, much like his father. He is a powerful wizard but as evident in his battle with Snape following the latter's murder of Dumbledore, he still has ways off to go before becoming the ultimate wizard! But who will follow a seventeen year old into battle when the time comes?

The Half Blood Prince leaves us with so many questions--- undoubtedly to set us up for the series finale and the grand battle between Harry Potter and Lord Voldermort!

Is Dumbledore truly dead?! Snape--- the Half Blood Prince used the Killing Curse and set Dumbledore to the afterlife. It was rather strange to see Dumbledore say, “Severus, please”. This is a huge question.

Dumbledore is the greatest Wizard of his time! Everybody says so! Even Voldermort fears Dumbledore. Could he not have stunned at the very least the Death Eaters in the room to save his life? Wasn't he powerful enough to do so without the aid of a wand? Perhaps powerful enough to distract his opponents to retrieve his wand for a battle? Or did he fear that petrified, Harry might get hit?

Did Snape kill Dumbledore out of spite? We do not know the exact information why Snape is in such good terms as Dumbledore. Did his actions point to an even deeper order from Dumbledore? Or was he acting on his own? Is Snape truly evil now?

Snape could have killed Harry. Harry's spells kept bouncing off Snape and the latter could have killed the Chosen One! But Snape was apparently under orders from Voldermort himself. However, is that enough reason? We know other second in commands, apprentices of the dark side have tried to kill their master, to usurp them. History is filled with them. But why not in Harry Potter's world? Are the Death Eaters such “nice” evil wizards that they would not dare to challenge Voldermort?

Book Seven will undoubtedly involve a quest--- the search for Horcruxes that will lead to Voldermort's destruction. Is Harry ready to fight the dark lord? If he could not defeat an apprentice (snape) what chance does he have of defeating the master himself? We suspect of course that over the summer and into the seventh year he will grow in power and skill that will rival the Dark Lord's.

Where will the Order of Phoenix now stand? With its leader dead, and many members dead or imprisoned, will they be powerful enough to face the Death Eaters?

Who is R.A.B.? what he got to do with all this? And is there anybody more interested in defeating Voldermort than Harry?

There are many questions than answers in Half-Blood Prince though it is an adventure to read. Now all we can do is wait until Jo Rowling can write the last installment and satisfy our curiosities. It will be a long wait indeed.