← Fiction

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

by J.K. Rowling · 2005

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the sixth novel in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, published in 2005. Set during Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts, it unfolds against a wizarding world openly at war after Lord… more

First published 2005 · 607 pages · English

27 quotes ★ 4.58 (3,736,258) Fiction

Quotes from the Book

Do you remember me telling you we are practicing non-verbal spells, Potter?" "Yes," said Harry stiffly. "Yes, sir." "There's no need to call me "sir" Professor." The words had escaped him before he knew what he was saying.
It is the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness, nothing more.
Let us step into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.
Dumbledore says people find it far easier to forgive others for being wrong than being right.
The thing about growing up with Fred and George," said Ginny thoughtfully, "is that you sort of start thinking anything's possible if you've got enough nerve.
It was, he thought, the difference between being dragged into the arena to face a battle to the death and walking into the arena with your head held high. Some people, perhaps, would say that there was little to choose between the two ways, but Dumbledore knew - and so do I, thought Harry, with a rush of fierce pride, and so did my parents - that there was all the difference in the world.
You'd think people had better things to gossip about," said Ginny as she sat on the common room floor, leaning against Harry’s legs and reading the Daily Prophet. "Three Dementor attacks in a week, and all Romilda Vane does is ask me if it’s true you’ve got a Hippogriff tattooed across your chest." Ron and Hermione both roared with laughter. Harry ignored them. What did you tell her?" I told her it's a Hungarian Horntail," said Ginny, turning a page of the newspaper idly. "Much more macho." Thanks," said Harry, grinning. "And what did you tell her Ron’s got?" A Pygmy Puff, but I didn’t say where.
He accused me of being Dumbledore's man through and through." "How very rude of him." "I told him I was." Dumbledore opened his mouth to speak and then closed it again. Fawkes the phoenix let out a low, soft, musical cry. To Harry's intense embarrassment, he suddenly realized that Dumbledore's bright blue eyes looked rather watery, and stared hastily at his own knee. When Dumbledore spoke, however, his voice was quite steady. "I am very touched, Harry.
An Unbreakable Vow?" said Ron, looking stunned. "Nah, he can’t have.... Are you sure?" "Yes I’m sure," said Harry. "Why, what does it mean?" "Well, you can’t break an Unbreakable Vow..." "I’d worked that much out for myself, funnily enough.
Why are you worrying about YOU-KNOW-WHO, when you should be worrying about YOU-NO-POO? The constipation sensation that's gripping the nation!
You could say sorry," suggested Harry bluntly. "What, and get attacked by another flock of canaries?" muttered Ron. "What did you have to imitate her for?" "She laughed at my mustache!" "So did I, it was the stupidest thing I've ever seen.
It's going to be all right, sir," Harry said over and over again, more worried by Dumbledore's silence than he had been by his weakened voice. "We're nearly there ... I can Apparate us both back ... don't worry ..." "I am not worried, Harry," said Dumbledore, his voice a little stronger despite the freezing water. "I am with you.
Sometimes you remind me a lot of James. He called it my 'furry little problem' in company. Many people were under the impression that I owned a badly behaved rabbit.
Dumbledore's man through and through, aren't you Potter?" "Yeah I am," said Harry. "Glad we straightened that out.
Harry was left to ponder in silence the depths to which girls would sink to get revenge.
I don't mean to be rude—" he began, in a tone that threatened rudeness in every syllable. "Yet, sadly, accidental rudeness occurs alarmingly often," Dumbledore finished the sentence gravely.
We'll be there, Harry," said Ron "What?" "At your Aunt and Uncle's house," said Ron, "And then we'll go with you wherever you're going." "No-" said Harry quickly; he hadn't counted on this, he had meant them to understand that he was undertaking the most dangerous journey alone. "You said it once before," said Hermione quickly, "that there was time to turn back if we wanted to. We've had time, haven't we? We're with you whatever happens.
Dumbledore will only leave from Hogwarts when there are none loyal to him!
I enjoyed the meetings, too. It was like having friends.
When you have seen as much of life as I have, you will not underestimate the power of obsessive love.
I make mistakes like the next man. In fact, being--forgive me--rather cleverer than most men, my mistakes tend to be correspondingly huger.
For future reference, Harry, it is raspberry...although of course, if I were a Death Eater, I would have been sure to research my own jam preferences before impersonating myself.
Harry looked around; there was Ginny running toward him; she had a hard blazing look in her face as she threw her arms around him. And without thinking, without planning it, without worrying about the fact that fifty people were watching, Harry kissed her. After several long moments, or it might have been half an hour-or possibly several sunlit days- they broke apart.
Nobody's ever asked me to a party before, as a friend. Is that why you dyed your eyebrow, for the party? Should I do mine too?
Once again, you show all the sensitivity of a blunt axe.
Voldemort himself created his worst enemy, just as tyrants everywhere do! Have you any idea how much tyrants fear the people they oppress? All of them realize that, one day, amongst their many victims, there is sure to be one who rises against them and strikes back!
And Harry saw very clearly as he sat there under the hot sun how people who cared about him had stood in front of him one by one, his mother, his father, his godfather, and finally Dumbledore, all determined to protect him; but now that was over. He could not let anybody else stand between him and Voldemort; he must abandon forever the illusion he ought to have lost at the age of one, that the shelter of a parent’s arms meant that nothing could hurt him. There was no waking from this nightmare, no comforting whisper in the dark that he was safe really, that it was all in his imagination; the last and greatest of his protectors had died, and he was more alone than he had ever been.

Did you know?

  • It is the sixth and penultimate novel in the Harry Potter series.
  • The novel was first published on 16 July 2005 by Bloomsbury in the UK and Scholastic in the US.
  • The opening chapter is told from the perspective of the Muggle British Prime Minister, a departure from the series' usual point of view.
  • Much of the book's plot involves Dumbledore showing Harry recovered memories of Lord Voldemort's early life.
  • It won the 2006 British Book of the Year Award and several other honors including Quill Awards in 2005.

About J.K. Rowling

J.K. Rowling is a British author best known for the Harry Potter fantasy series, which became one of the best-selling book series in history and was adapted into a blockbuster film franchise. She has also written crime fiction under the pen name Robert Galbraith.

More about the author →

About the book

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the sixth novel in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, published in 2005. Set during Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts, it unfolds against a wizarding world openly at war after Lord Voldemort's return. Alongside the escalating threat, Harry takes private lessons with Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, who guides him through recovered memories that reveal events from Voldemort's early life, while Harry also comes to rely on an old potions textbook annotated by a mysterious former student who calls himself the Half-Blood Prince.

Beyond its plot of preparation for a final confrontation, the novel is preoccupied with themes of love, death, trust, and memory. Reviewers have noted its focus on different kinds of love, from the bond of parent and child and teacher and student to the romances that develop among the older students, as the characters move further into adolescence. It is a darker, more elegiac installment than the earlier books, weaving political instability in both the wizarding and Muggle worlds into a coming-of-age story.

As the penultimate book in one of the best-selling series in publishing history, Half-Blood Prince was a global publishing event, breaking sales records on release and collecting honors including the 2006 British Book of the Year Award. It deepens the mythology of Voldemort in preparation for the series finale and was later adapted into a major feature film, cementing its place in the cultural phenomenon the series became.

Key characters

  • Harry PotterThe teenage protagonist, now in his sixth year at Hogwarts
  • Albus DumbledoreHogwarts headmaster who mentors Harry through lessons on Voldemort's past
  • Ron WeasleyHarry's loyal best friend and fellow Gryffindor
  • Hermione GrangerHarry's brilliant best friend and academic anchor of the trio
  • Severus SnapeThe enigmatic Potions and Defence Against the Dark Arts master
  • Draco MalfoyHarry's Slytherin rival, entangled in a secret task
  • Horace SlughornReturning Potions professor who holds a crucial memory

Book details

First published
2005
Length
607 pages
Reading time
8 hours
Genre
Fiction
Goodreads rating
4.58 (3.7M ratings)
First line
“It was nearing midnight and the Prime Minister was sitting alone in his office, reading a long memo that was slipping through his brain without leaving the slightest trace of meaning behind.”

Series & reading order

  1. 1 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
  2. 2 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
  3. 3 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
  4. 4 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
  5. 5 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
  6. 6 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
  7. 7 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Movie & TV adaptations

  • IMDb
    Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince 2009

    Feature film directed by David Yates

If you liked this, read…

  1. 1
    Harry Potter and the Order of the PhoenixThe preceding book in the same series
  2. 2
    Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning ThiefAnother coming-of-age fantasy about a young hero and a hidden magical world
  3. 3
    The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the WardrobeClassic children's fantasy of good versus evil

Keep reading