Official Harry Potter & the HBP Discussion Thread

[Dr. Rated-R]

With book six, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, just under a month away from release (it's out July 16), I figured I'd start up this topic. I know there are at least a few Potter fans on the board. To help out those who haven't been keeping up with the news and such, below is a list of facts Rowling has revealed about book six, compiled and put online by MuggleNet.

These are facts straight from the mouth of J.K. Rowling, and were gathered from numerous online chats and her personal website. Everything here is confirmed.

General Info

Release Date: July 16th, 2005

Length (US):

- Trade version: 672 pages

- Deluxe edition: 704 pages

Length (UK):

- Trade version: 608 pages

Chapters: The deluxe edition includes 32 additional pages of artwork; the same pictures throughout the book before each chapter, just larger versions. Considering there is also 1 or 2 pieces of artwork before the story begins, we can expect about 30 chapters.

Additionally, the door on JKR's site opened on Halloween revealing 3 of the chapter titles. You can see/read about them here.

Other Info: On August 16th, the door on JKR's site opened giving us the following excerpt of book 6, which describes the Half-Blood Prince:

(He) looked rather like an old lion. There were streaks of grey in his mane of tawny hair and his bushy eyebrows; he had keen yellowish eyes behind a pair of wire-rimmed spectacles and a certain rangy, loping grace even though he walked with a slight limp.

Random facts about the book

    * We will learn a lot more about Voldemort in this book.

    * HBP will be an intense book, but with light-hearted moments.

    * Harry will leave Privet Drive early again, for a "much pleasanter" reason than in book 5.

    * The opening chapter of book 6 was originally planned for the early parts of book 1, perhaps we get a more in-depth story of what happened the night Harry's parents died.

    * Neither Harry or Voldemort (including Tom Riddle) are the Half-Blood Prince

    * Arthur Weasley will not be the new Minister of Magic

    * By the ends of books 6 and 7 "you'll have all the back story you'll need", says JK Rowling, and a prequel will not be necessary

    * There will be a new Minister of Magic, no more Mr. Fudge.

    * We will find out what happened to Hagrid's half brother Grawp. He will be a bit more controllable in book 6.

    * The Dursleys are in the next book, but Harry's stay with them will be the shortest yet. In book 5 he stayed for 4 weeks, so we know his stay will be less than 4 weeks.

    * Cho Chang will not be a romantic interest of Harry in Book 6, however there will be a "little romance" for Harry says JK.

    * In books 6 and 7 we will find out exactly why JK killed off Sirius.

    * Harry becomes even more powerful in book 6.

    * In books 6 and 7 we will find out why Dumbledore trusts Snape.

    * We will find out what happened to Wormtail AKA Peter Pettigrew

    * More about the animosity between Snape and Sirius will be revealed in the last 2 books.

    * JK has said that giving away the form of Snape's boggart and patronus says too much. We'll definitely find out what Snape's worst fear is, and it'll be important.

    * Hermione and Draco will NOT end up together in book 6 or 7.

    * We will find out what exactly Dudley saw when he looked at the dementors.

    * The reason Voldemort and Harry both didn't die when Voldemort tried to kill Harry, will be revealed.

    * We will see more of Draco's mother, Narcissa Malfoy, now that Lucius is busy.

    * We'll learn more about Harry's scar in the last 2 books.

    * Moaning Myrtle will make an appearance again, as will Tonks.

    * More about Voldemort's birth will be revealed, thus helping us understand why he is so evil.

    * Muggles begin to notice "more and more odd" occurrences in book 6, says JK.

    * The wizarding world is really at war in the sixth book.

    * Harry will tell his dearest friends about the prophesy after it sinks in to him.

    * We will learn more about Harry's relatives, including his grandparents (though JK says they aren't really important to the story)

    * We will find out what happened to Sirius's motorbike.

    * Book 6 will be shorter than the 5th book (or at least JK's 99% sure, but will not swear on her children's lives)

    * There will be no "new" nationalities of children at Hogwarts. Hogwarts is a British school, and JK says that adding foreigners for the sake of it is not in her plans.

    * During an interview, when JKR was asked in which Hogwarts room she'd like to be for 1 hour, she said it would be a room in which Harry has been before, but doesn't know its importance. Yet. (this could have happened in book 5, but we're unsure)

    * It's very important in the plot that Harry has his mother's eyes, and that her wand was very good for charms.

    * During an interview for Kids BBC, Victor Greensteet (reporter) asked Rowling if Harry would have a dragon for a pet. This is what she replied: "You can't tame a dragon, no matter what Hagrid thinks. It's simply impossible. So no. He has more common sense. He MAY have a different pet in the future, but for now, I won't say anything else". (This could have been buckbeak, but I'm sure we can expect more pets)

    * In the same interview for Kids BBC, the reporter asked J. K. if Harry had ever used the internet, and this is what she had to say: "No. They (the Dursleys) won't let him go near Dudley's computer, and Dudley is the only one who has a computer. They hit him if he gets too near to the keyboard. So the answer would be No. I use it a lot, but Harry doesn't. Wizards don't really need to go on the web. They have an even better way to find out what's happening in the outside world, which I think is a lot more fun than the Internet, but I'm going to keep quiet on this one."

    * The choice between what's right and what's easy will be a pillar of the plot in Harry's last 2 years at Hogwarts

    * Harry's parents' profession will be a big part of the plot.

    * Something HUGE will be revealed about Lily Potter'

credit: MuggleNet Article

[alldaws1]

Looking forward to it. Had it pre-ordered for months from WHSmith. Payed £1 on the day of pre-ordering it, have to pay £9.99 on the day of release. I'll be picking it up as soon as the shop opens

[CKN]

I preordered from Chapters about a month ago. Now I have all the books out so far but have only read the first three and am currently reading Goblet of Fire so after tuesday I am doing some heavy reading to finish in time for HBP.

[Laice07]

Pre-ordered it from Chapters a month ago. I'm really pumped up for this, especially since it comes out on July 16....my birthday. Just a cool bonus I guess. (Y) Does anyone think more then one major character will die in this book...being the second last book and all. Man, the ending better not be a cliffhanger.

[Hellfire]

Eh, I'll most likely just borrow it from the library, not worth picking up becuase I'll just read it once or twice at the most. It sounds pretty good though.

[Perfecshaun]

Nobody will probably care, but that chapter that was supposed to be in the first book may have something to do with something I came across while (re)reading Goblet of Fire:

In Goblet of Fire, the spirits of the dead come out of Voldemorts wand in the order that he last killed them...right? So then if Harry's dad died before Harry's mom, why did he come out first? The order they came out was Cedric, Frank the groundkeeper, Bertha Jorkins, James Potter, then Lily. But the order should have been Cedric, Frank, Bertha, Lily, then James. Did James Potter let Voldemort kill his wife? This is pretty fishy...I don't think J.K. would slip up on something this big...

[Dr. Rated-R]

I thought it was Lily before James...? I'm too lazy to go and check though.

HOPEFULLY, chapter one will be set in the past (like ch.1, book 1 and ch.1, book 4), this time the night that Voldemort killed the Potters. I mean, she did say she was going to use this chapter (or one like it) in book 1, and that WOULD make sense as the first chapter of the first book, so yeah.

[Perfecshaun]

I thought it was Lily before James...? I'm too lazy to go and check though.

HOPEFULLY, chapter one will be set in the past (like ch.1, book 1 and ch.1, book 4), this time the night that Voldemort killed the Potters. I mean, she did say she was going to use this chapter (or one like it) in book 1, and that WOULD make sense as the first chapter of the first book, so yeah.

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James is talking to Harry telling him that his mother will be coming out soon, and to not break the connection between Harry's and Voldemorts wand.

[wrathofcarnage]

The James before Lily thing was something that JK's editor made a mistake on. It was originally written the correct way, but the editor figured that James was always supposed to come out before Lily because it was standard cannon that it was first James... then Lily... yadda yadda yadda... not taking into account the 'reverse' nature of things. It was fixed in later versions and was simply a mistake, nothing more.