Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2005) is the sixth book in the seven-part Harry Potter series penned by J. K. Rowling. The book revolves around the titular character Harry Potter, who is a wizard, and the events that take place during his sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Joanne Rowling, known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author best known for her immensely popular fantasy series, Harry Potter. Published between 1997 and 2007, the Harry Potter series broke several publishing records, and it continues to be the highest-selling book series in literary history. The books have spawned multiple films, merchandise, and themed attractions, among others. Rowling’s work has earned her many awards and honors, including multiple “Children’s Book of the Year” awards and an appointment to the Order of the British Empire (OBE).

The story opens with the wizarding world at war after the return of the dark wizard, Lord Voldemort. Harry is prophesied to be the one who will vanquish Voldemort, and his sixth year at Hogwarts sees him receiving lessons from Headmaster Albus Dumbledore as preparation for his epic destiny. The sixth Harry Potter book takes a darker, more grown-up turn than its predecessors, as its hero and his friends navigate the very real throes of adolescence even as they look for a way to save the wizarding world. Themes include the Racial Framing of Good Versus Evil, The Protective Power of Love and Friendship, and The Interplay between Character and Circumstance. This guide is based on the 2015 Pottermore Limited Kindle edition.

Plot Summary

Cornelius Fudge, ex-Minister for Magic, meets with the Muggle Prime Minister to introduce him to his successor, Rufus Scrimgeour. The wizarding world is at war, as Fudge informs the Prime Minister. Elsewhere, Narcissa Malfoy secretly meets with Severus Snape against the warnings of her sister, Bellatrix Lestrange. Narcissa begs Snape to help her son, Draco, with a secret mission that Voldemort has tasked him with, and Snape agrees.

Albus Dumbledore arrives at the Dursley home to collect Harry and take him to The Burrow, where he has been invited to spend the rest of the summer with Harry’s friend Ron’s family, Weasleys. On the way, they stop to meet Horace Slughorn, an old Hogwarts teacher whom Dumbledore and Harry persuade to rejoin Hogwarts. Dumbledore deposits Harry at The Burrow after informing Harry that he will be having private lessons with Dumbledore this year. Over the summer, the Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione go shopping for the kids’ school supplies. Harry, Ron, and Hermione run into Draco, who is acting suspiciously; the trio follow him under cover of Harry’s invisibility cloak and overhear him threatening the owner of Borgin and Burkes into helping him fix something. Harry is convinced that Draco has been made a Death Eater, one of Voldemort’s followers, but no one else agrees with him.

On the train back to Hogwarts, Harry is invited to lunch with Slughorn as part of the “Slug Club,” a club formed of students with influential ties or exceptional talent. Following this, Harry manages to sneak into Draco’s compartment underneath the cloak and overhears Draco bragging about being given a task by Voldemort. At the welcome dinner at Hogwarts, Dumbledore informs the school that Slughorn will replace Snape as the new Potions master, as the latter will teach Defense Against the Dark Arts this year. Harry and Ron, who had come unprepared to continue with Potions this year, having failed to secure Snape’s required grade, are cleared to do so with Slughorn. Slughorn lends Harry a textbook that has been heavily edited by its previous owner, the “Half-Blood Prince.” Harry begins to follow the Prince’s superior instructions in Potions class, earning him a new reputation of brilliance. In one of the classes, he wins a vial of Felix Felicis, a lucky potion, as a prize.

Harry’s lessons with Dumbledore commence; they involve revisiting Voldemort’s childhood through different people’s memories of him. Harry learns about Voldemort’s family, including his mother, who was from a pure-blood family descended from Salazar Slytherin; she ran away with a Muggle named Tom Riddle, who later abandoned her when she was pregnant, and she died, heartbroken, after childbirth. Voldemort was brought up in a Muggle orphanage and only learned he was a wizard when he was 11 and Dumbledore arrived to deliver his acceptance to Hogwarts. By this time, Voldemort’s magical powers had already manifested, and he was able to control them and hurt other people, something he relished doing. Voldemort completed schooling at Hogwarts with flying colors, after which he took a job at Borgin and Burkes before disappearing for a decade; when he resurfaced, he asked Dumbledore for a job as a teacher at Hogwarts, but Dumbledore, untrusting of Voldemort and the things he heard about him, refused.

Throughout Voldemort’s adolescence and young adult life, he is shown to have committed several murders, though none of them were tied to him. He also began to collect stolen trophies, including a ring that belonged to his grandfather and a locket that belonged to Slytherin. One of the memories that Dumbledore shows Harry is Slughorn’s; however, Slughorn has tampered with the memory, and Dumbledore tasks Harry with persuading Slughorn to part with the real memory. After several failed attempts, Harry uses some of his Felix Felicis and manages to coax the real memory out of Slughorn. The memory reveals that Voldemort has been creating Horcruxes, objects in which one can encase parts of one’s soul; to split the soul, one must first commit murder. Dumbledore surmises that Voldemort has made six Horcruxes using the trophies he collected over the years.

During a visit to Hogsmeade, Harry, Ron, and Hermione witness a fight between their fellow students, Leanne and Katie Bell, over a mysterious package someone has given Katie. The package contains a cursed necklace that almost kills Katie; as the teachers investigate who is behind the attack, Harry is convinced that it is Draco. He is further convinced that Draco is up to something sinister when he overhears Snape offering Draco help, but Draco refuses to confide in Snape.

In a second mysterious attack, Ron almost dies when he consumes some poisoned mead given to him by Slughorn. While the perpetrator of both attacks remains unknown, Harry discovers that Draco has been frequenting the Room of Requirement to work on his mysterious task. Harry begins to watch Draco and, in the process, overhears him crying in a bathroom; the boys duel, and Harry uses a spell penned by the Prince in his Potions textbook without knowing what it is. It turns out to be Dark magic. Snape apprehends Harry, who is forced to hide his Potions textbook to prevent Snape from learning about the Prince.

Dumbledore tracks down one of the Horcruxes and allows Harry to join him in finding and destroying it. They travel to where the Horcrux is hidden and manage to extract it after crossing several magical hurdles, but the process greatly exhausts Dumbledore. Harry helps them return safely to Hogwarts, only to find that Draco has succeeded in his task and let Death Eaters into the castle. Dumbledore Petrifies Harry while he remains hidden under his Cloak when Draco apprehends them at the top of the Astronomy tower. Draco confesses to having been behind both attacks and reveals that Voldemort has tasked him with killing Dumbledore. However, Draco’s heart is not in it, and before he can accept Dumbledore’s offer of asylum, other Death Eaters, including Snape, arrive. Snape kills Dumbledore and flees with Draco and the Death Eaters, revealing himself to be the Half-Blood Prince in the process.

Dumbledore’s funeral is held at Hogwarts and is attended by people from far and wide. Harry discovers that the locket he and Dumbledore retrieved is a fake; it contains a note signed by the initials “R. A. B.” informing Voldemort that they have discovered and stolen the real Horcrux to destroy it. Harry decides to carry on the hunt for the Horcruxes, choosing not to return to Hogwarts the following year. His friends Ron and Hermione resolve to join him on this quest.