![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
seldearWritten for the Sugar Quill forums, contains spoilers and my own person opinion on the book and the events within. Comments welcome.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The long-awaited sixth book in the Harry Potter series, 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince', is a tale that changes many things in the Harry Potter universe - not all of them pleasant for long-term fans of the series. In HBP, JKR has turned the tables in several aspects: the direction of the story, the development of characters, and, of course, the romantic relationships of the Trio.
Where are we going? And what are we going to do?
The book opens with what is essentially a chapter of exposition: what has happened since we left Harry on Platform 9¾ at the end of 'Order of the Phoenix'. It seems strangely fitting that this book - which is so clearly expository in preparation for the series finale - should open with a scene that brings us up to speed on what has happened in the wizarding world in the two weeks since the end of OotP, and close with Harry preparing to embark on his final journey towards destroying Voldemort.
I consider the change in the manner of Harry's quest to be one of the two significant events of the book.
Previously in each book, Harry would discover some new plan of Voldemort's and seek to thwart it, using his own resourcefulness and those of his friends and schoolmates. In HBP, Rowling ends the theme of a repeating confrontation between Harry and Voldmort quite effectively. She sets up Harry's hunt for the Horcruxes that hold the parts of Voldemort's soul and enable him to cheat death time and time again, and indicates that the story will depart from the familiar setting of Hogwarts into new and uncharted territory in Book 7.
This was a pleasantly unexpected change for me. I expected the pattern of 'Harry goes to Hogwarts, Harry deals with his friends/antagonists/issues, Harry confronts Voldemort' to continue all the way through the series, purely for literary repetition. It seems this is not to be the case, and I am interested in seeing what Rowling has planned for Book 7.
The other 'significant event' of HBP is the betrayal of Severus Snape.
Throughout the book, Harry is obsessed with the activities of Draco Malfoy and considers Snape an adjunct to Malfoy's mission, but it is Snape whose partisanship grips the attention of readers - the question of his loyalties and where they lie. It is his Killing Curse that ends the life of the greatest wizard in living memory, Albus Dumbledore.
As they stand in the infirmary, gathered to take stock of the losses of the night, the Order is completely convinced that Snape has double-crossed them. However, scenes earlier, Dumbledore was equally convinced that Snape was loyal to him: to the point where he told Harry to fetch Snape to help him and nobody else.
What Dumbledore's final thoughts may have been as he faced Snape is not given for us to know, and interpretations vary wildly. For some, the question of Snape's loyalties is very clear-cut and open; for others, it is clouded with doubts and uncertainties.
The dissection of his reactions and interactions with other characters all through HBP - and their interpretation - is an essay for another day. Needless to say, Snape's actions - both in his conversation with Narcissa Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange, and in his murder of Dumbledore - have branded him a traitor to the Order (at least, in the minds of Harry and the Order) and severed him from their cause.
Where and how Rowling takes it from here is anyone's guess and everyone's theory.
You've got to live a little, love a little - and give a little, too!
Like the story direction in HBP, the character development has taken off in some new and unexpected ways.
The most significant change is that Harry has grown up. While we were treated to the CAPSLOCK OF RAGE all through OotP, by the time we open in HBP, Harry has mostly dealt with Sirius' death and the prophecy.
I'm not entirely convinced of Harry's 'okayness' with Sirius' death. On one hand, I can appreciate that we don't have enough space left in the series for the CAPSLOCK OF RAGE to continue. On the other, it would have been nice to have a little more acknowledgement of how much Sirius meant to Harry (wizarding normality and freedom from the expected constraints of others).
For the hingepoint of Harry's character development in HBP, Chapter Twenty-Three: Horcruxes provides the moment of understanding in Harry. He finally understands that the prophecy does not require him to kill Voldemort, but that his own sense of honour and justice demands it. It's a beautiful scene, one of my favourite in the book - the revelation that Harry requires to set his shoulders and do what he must.
Harry has definitely grown up, and he's not the only one.
Ron has matured. He's willing to sacrifice his place on the team so Harry can replace him with a better Keeper, he actually admits that he'd like Hermione to ask him to Slughorn's Christmas Party, and is more concerned about being there for his friends than his macho image (comforting Hermione while he cries himself) or his life (following Harry out of Hogwarts after the Horcruxes).
Granted, he still shows signs of immaturity in his behaviour and attitudes through the book, but he wouldn't be Ron if he didn't. While Harry grew up under the pressures of Voldemort, Ron has had to take the more circuitous route towards maturity and we are now seeing the results of the process.
By contrast, Hermione shows her adolescent side more than once, and in behaviour that might be considered a little childish. Her hex on McLaggen for speaking ill of Ron and Ginny, the little birds she sets to attack on Ron after he first kisses Lavender, her determined ignoring of Ron and Lavender for a good two months.
While her behaviour in this book has infuriated Hermione-fen for it's depiction of their favourite character, I enjoyed the so-called regression. Hermione is repeatedly mentioned as the cleverest witch of her age group, but clever and intelligent does not prevent adolescence - as HBP shows.
We see more of Dumbledore and less of Ron and Hermione in this book compared with previous books. This is due to the literary need to establish Harry as the Hero, Dumbledore as the Mentor, and Ron and Hermione as the Companions before Harry goes out to face Voldemort. At the end of the book, the Mentor is dead, the Hero is resolute in his decision, and the Companions have stated their intention not to leave the Hero to face the enemy alone.
Perhaps it's not quite as grandiose as I make it sound, but the concepts are quite clearly there.
Some minor characters are developed - fans of Draco Malfoy must be pleased by the extra dimension provided to the previously cardboard Slytherin, and Blaise Zabini not only had his gender confirmed, but was discovered to be good-looking and slightly mysterious in to the bargain! However, people who were hoping for a greater involvement of Neville, Ginny, and Luna in the main plot are destined for disappointment: while the secondary trio of OotP are mentioned repeatedly, they play no significant part in this book.
You're the one that's in my mind! You're the one I need to know!
It seems that Rowling has decided to come clean in at least one matter that has been weighing on the minds of Potterfen everywhere: more than any previous book, HBP contains significant relationship developments among Harry and his friends.
I've left the matter of relationship developments until after the major plot events because that is where it deserves to be. The series is not about romance or romantic relationships and never was.
It is perhaps a little ironic that the most obvious 'ship, Ron/Hermione, is left open-ended, with the pair standing by Harry, but not necessarily romantically together. In terms of interaction, these two have had more than any other pair in the book - even more than Harry and Ginny. They argue, they fight, Hermione gets jealous over Ron's relationship with Lavendar, Ron is a little jealous that Hermione asks a complete prat to go with her to Slughorn's Christmas Party, but by the end of the story, they are united in grief for Dumbledore and their determination to follow Harry wherever he goes.
As relationships go, I'm pleased with the development of this one. In previous books, Ron has been jealous of Hermione's relationship with Krum; his reactions have been juvenile and occasionally stupid. Until now, other than Hermione's challenge to Ron after the Yule Ball in GoF, the most we've had to go on regarding Hermione's feelings towards Ron has been her resentment at his reaction to Fleur whom she doesn't like anyway. Now, we have Hermione's reaction to Ron dating another girl - and it's no more 'mature' than Ron's reactions were.
A major complaint of Harry/Ginny is that this 'ship, while enshrined in fanon, had considerably less to go on in canon up until OotP - and even then, that was simply the elaboration of Ginny as a character.
I'm in agreement with the 'where did that come from?' faction of the fandom. Harry's realisation that he likes Ginny felt very abrupt. I would have been more accepting of it if the relationship had been dealt with more gradually over the last few books or with a lighter touch in this one. Nevertheless, I gave a shout of laughter at their first kiss, and wasn't all that disappointed by their getting together, for all that I'm a not-so-sekrit Harry/Luna shipper.
Unfortunately for the character of Ginny, her newfound relationship with Harry doesn't make her an equal in status to Ron or Hermione. Harry accepts them as his companions at the end of the book, while he keeps Ginny at arm's length for her own safety's sake.
For the most part, the other 'ships in the book didn't bother me. Bill/Fleur was hinted at in previous books, Ron/Lavender was plainly hormones and destined for termination by the end of the book, and Ginny/Dean was old news.
If I had any severe complaint about the 'shipping, it would be that the Remus/Tonks relationship (or lack thereof) made Tonks very grey through the books instead of the vivid, vivaceous woman we were shown in OotP. I would have preferred it if her shine and sparkle had been tarnished by Remus' rejection rather than completely dimmed, although love makes fools of us all.
On the whole, this book had a great deal more relationship development in it than any of its predecessors, a kind of calm before the storm of Harry's efforts to destroy Voldemort. It probably could have been worked in a little more subtly, but Rowling may have reasons to which we're not privy.
In Conclusion
For fans of the series, this book will seem seriously bantamweight after the intensity of OotP, however it provides a jump-off point for the final book of the series: the long-awaited final conflict between Harry and Lord Voldemort.
The tone of HBP is very different to that of OotP: more determined, less introspective, with emphasis on the things that matter to Harry - friendship, loyalty, and stopping Voldemort. It is, as I mentioned, an expository book: we are taken from the realisation of just how much Voldemort has changed Harry's life to how much he has altered his own - and what Harry must do to destroy the Dark Lord once and for all.
No book written was going to satisfy every single fan of the series out there. That would be impossible and Rowling was right not to try. What she has produced is a story that moves Harry's quest onwards, sets up for Book 7, and tells a powerful tale of friendship, growth, suspicion, betrayal and loyalty.
We impatiently await the advent of Book 7.
--
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The long-awaited sixth book in the Harry Potter series, 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince', is a tale that changes many things in the Harry Potter universe - not all of them pleasant for long-term fans of the series. In HBP, JKR has turned the tables in several aspects: the direction of the story, the development of characters, and, of course, the romantic relationships of the Trio.
Where are we going? And what are we going to do?
The book opens with what is essentially a chapter of exposition: what has happened since we left Harry on Platform 9¾ at the end of 'Order of the Phoenix'. It seems strangely fitting that this book - which is so clearly expository in preparation for the series finale - should open with a scene that brings us up to speed on what has happened in the wizarding world in the two weeks since the end of OotP, and close with Harry preparing to embark on his final journey towards destroying Voldemort.
I consider the change in the manner of Harry's quest to be one of the two significant events of the book.
Previously in each book, Harry would discover some new plan of Voldemort's and seek to thwart it, using his own resourcefulness and those of his friends and schoolmates. In HBP, Rowling ends the theme of a repeating confrontation between Harry and Voldmort quite effectively. She sets up Harry's hunt for the Horcruxes that hold the parts of Voldemort's soul and enable him to cheat death time and time again, and indicates that the story will depart from the familiar setting of Hogwarts into new and uncharted territory in Book 7.
This was a pleasantly unexpected change for me. I expected the pattern of 'Harry goes to Hogwarts, Harry deals with his friends/antagonists/issues, Harry confronts Voldemort' to continue all the way through the series, purely for literary repetition. It seems this is not to be the case, and I am interested in seeing what Rowling has planned for Book 7.
The other 'significant event' of HBP is the betrayal of Severus Snape.
Throughout the book, Harry is obsessed with the activities of Draco Malfoy and considers Snape an adjunct to Malfoy's mission, but it is Snape whose partisanship grips the attention of readers - the question of his loyalties and where they lie. It is his Killing Curse that ends the life of the greatest wizard in living memory, Albus Dumbledore.
As they stand in the infirmary, gathered to take stock of the losses of the night, the Order is completely convinced that Snape has double-crossed them. However, scenes earlier, Dumbledore was equally convinced that Snape was loyal to him: to the point where he told Harry to fetch Snape to help him and nobody else.
What Dumbledore's final thoughts may have been as he faced Snape is not given for us to know, and interpretations vary wildly. For some, the question of Snape's loyalties is very clear-cut and open; for others, it is clouded with doubts and uncertainties.
The dissection of his reactions and interactions with other characters all through HBP - and their interpretation - is an essay for another day. Needless to say, Snape's actions - both in his conversation with Narcissa Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange, and in his murder of Dumbledore - have branded him a traitor to the Order (at least, in the minds of Harry and the Order) and severed him from their cause.
Where and how Rowling takes it from here is anyone's guess and everyone's theory.
You've got to live a little, love a little - and give a little, too!
Like the story direction in HBP, the character development has taken off in some new and unexpected ways.
The most significant change is that Harry has grown up. While we were treated to the CAPSLOCK OF RAGE all through OotP, by the time we open in HBP, Harry has mostly dealt with Sirius' death and the prophecy.
I'm not entirely convinced of Harry's 'okayness' with Sirius' death. On one hand, I can appreciate that we don't have enough space left in the series for the CAPSLOCK OF RAGE to continue. On the other, it would have been nice to have a little more acknowledgement of how much Sirius meant to Harry (wizarding normality and freedom from the expected constraints of others).
For the hingepoint of Harry's character development in HBP, Chapter Twenty-Three: Horcruxes provides the moment of understanding in Harry. He finally understands that the prophecy does not require him to kill Voldemort, but that his own sense of honour and justice demands it. It's a beautiful scene, one of my favourite in the book - the revelation that Harry requires to set his shoulders and do what he must.
Harry has definitely grown up, and he's not the only one.
Ron has matured. He's willing to sacrifice his place on the team so Harry can replace him with a better Keeper, he actually admits that he'd like Hermione to ask him to Slughorn's Christmas Party, and is more concerned about being there for his friends than his macho image (comforting Hermione while he cries himself) or his life (following Harry out of Hogwarts after the Horcruxes).
Granted, he still shows signs of immaturity in his behaviour and attitudes through the book, but he wouldn't be Ron if he didn't. While Harry grew up under the pressures of Voldemort, Ron has had to take the more circuitous route towards maturity and we are now seeing the results of the process.
By contrast, Hermione shows her adolescent side more than once, and in behaviour that might be considered a little childish. Her hex on McLaggen for speaking ill of Ron and Ginny, the little birds she sets to attack on Ron after he first kisses Lavender, her determined ignoring of Ron and Lavender for a good two months.
While her behaviour in this book has infuriated Hermione-fen for it's depiction of their favourite character, I enjoyed the so-called regression. Hermione is repeatedly mentioned as the cleverest witch of her age group, but clever and intelligent does not prevent adolescence - as HBP shows.
We see more of Dumbledore and less of Ron and Hermione in this book compared with previous books. This is due to the literary need to establish Harry as the Hero, Dumbledore as the Mentor, and Ron and Hermione as the Companions before Harry goes out to face Voldemort. At the end of the book, the Mentor is dead, the Hero is resolute in his decision, and the Companions have stated their intention not to leave the Hero to face the enemy alone.
Perhaps it's not quite as grandiose as I make it sound, but the concepts are quite clearly there.
Some minor characters are developed - fans of Draco Malfoy must be pleased by the extra dimension provided to the previously cardboard Slytherin, and Blaise Zabini not only had his gender confirmed, but was discovered to be good-looking and slightly mysterious in to the bargain! However, people who were hoping for a greater involvement of Neville, Ginny, and Luna in the main plot are destined for disappointment: while the secondary trio of OotP are mentioned repeatedly, they play no significant part in this book.
You're the one that's in my mind! You're the one I need to know!
It seems that Rowling has decided to come clean in at least one matter that has been weighing on the minds of Potterfen everywhere: more than any previous book, HBP contains significant relationship developments among Harry and his friends.
I've left the matter of relationship developments until after the major plot events because that is where it deserves to be. The series is not about romance or romantic relationships and never was.
It is perhaps a little ironic that the most obvious 'ship, Ron/Hermione, is left open-ended, with the pair standing by Harry, but not necessarily romantically together. In terms of interaction, these two have had more than any other pair in the book - even more than Harry and Ginny. They argue, they fight, Hermione gets jealous over Ron's relationship with Lavendar, Ron is a little jealous that Hermione asks a complete prat to go with her to Slughorn's Christmas Party, but by the end of the story, they are united in grief for Dumbledore and their determination to follow Harry wherever he goes.
As relationships go, I'm pleased with the development of this one. In previous books, Ron has been jealous of Hermione's relationship with Krum; his reactions have been juvenile and occasionally stupid. Until now, other than Hermione's challenge to Ron after the Yule Ball in GoF, the most we've had to go on regarding Hermione's feelings towards Ron has been her resentment at his reaction to Fleur whom she doesn't like anyway. Now, we have Hermione's reaction to Ron dating another girl - and it's no more 'mature' than Ron's reactions were.
A major complaint of Harry/Ginny is that this 'ship, while enshrined in fanon, had considerably less to go on in canon up until OotP - and even then, that was simply the elaboration of Ginny as a character.
I'm in agreement with the 'where did that come from?' faction of the fandom. Harry's realisation that he likes Ginny felt very abrupt. I would have been more accepting of it if the relationship had been dealt with more gradually over the last few books or with a lighter touch in this one. Nevertheless, I gave a shout of laughter at their first kiss, and wasn't all that disappointed by their getting together, for all that I'm a not-so-sekrit Harry/Luna shipper.
Unfortunately for the character of Ginny, her newfound relationship with Harry doesn't make her an equal in status to Ron or Hermione. Harry accepts them as his companions at the end of the book, while he keeps Ginny at arm's length for her own safety's sake.
For the most part, the other 'ships in the book didn't bother me. Bill/Fleur was hinted at in previous books, Ron/Lavender was plainly hormones and destined for termination by the end of the book, and Ginny/Dean was old news.
If I had any severe complaint about the 'shipping, it would be that the Remus/Tonks relationship (or lack thereof) made Tonks very grey through the books instead of the vivid, vivaceous woman we were shown in OotP. I would have preferred it if her shine and sparkle had been tarnished by Remus' rejection rather than completely dimmed, although love makes fools of us all.
On the whole, this book had a great deal more relationship development in it than any of its predecessors, a kind of calm before the storm of Harry's efforts to destroy Voldemort. It probably could have been worked in a little more subtly, but Rowling may have reasons to which we're not privy.
In Conclusion
For fans of the series, this book will seem seriously bantamweight after the intensity of OotP, however it provides a jump-off point for the final book of the series: the long-awaited final conflict between Harry and Lord Voldemort.
The tone of HBP is very different to that of OotP: more determined, less introspective, with emphasis on the things that matter to Harry - friendship, loyalty, and stopping Voldemort. It is, as I mentioned, an expository book: we are taken from the realisation of just how much Voldemort has changed Harry's life to how much he has altered his own - and what Harry must do to destroy the Dark Lord once and for all.
No book written was going to satisfy every single fan of the series out there. That would be impossible and Rowling was right not to try. What she has produced is a story that moves Harry's quest onwards, sets up for Book 7, and tells a powerful tale of friendship, growth, suspicion, betrayal and loyalty.
We impatiently await the advent of Book 7.
--
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-07-18 12:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-07-18 08:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-07-18 01:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-07-18 08:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-07-18 10:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-07-18 02:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-07-18 08:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-07-18 07:54 pm (UTC)Ah, yes, that was a lovely moment. *sniff*
Excellent essay, hon. The bit about Tonks's completely falling into despair is a good point (she was always so bubbly and lively in OotP), although you're right that love can make people do strange things.
Definitely some food-for-thought there, so thanks for sharing! :)
no subject
Date: 2005-07-18 08:27 pm (UTC)On one of the Sugar Quill discussion forums, someone has pointed out that Dumbledore talks of Merope and Tom Riddle Snr, and how, once her husband left her, despair sapped her power.
Which is a possible explanation. Although I still can't see Tonks doing that.
no subject
Date: 2005-07-19 07:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-07-20 01:52 am (UTC)btw, the CAPSLOCKS OF RAGE is brilliant!
Hmm...hope you don't mind if I read your other essays? Is that OK?
no subject
Date: 2005-07-20 03:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-07-20 11:38 am (UTC)I think it is exactly as grandiose as you described it, otherwise Dumbledore's death loses some of it's meaning. I like the idea of the trio heading off on a grand adventure, although I hope Ginny makes some sort of attempt to join the quest in the next book. I'd much rather believe that Molly keeps her from going than that she just gives up.
Great essay :)
no subject
Date: 2005-07-20 02:38 pm (UTC)How was the convention down in Melb?