Harry Potter
and the Half-Blood Prince
by J. K. Rowling
Published July 16, 2005
(Bloomsbury, Scholastic, Raincoast, et al.)
illustrations by Mary GrandPré, 2005 (U.S. edition)
Dedication:
To Mackenzie,
my beautiful daughter,
I dedicate
her ink-and-paper twin.
Resources:
Word count:
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - 168,923
Official Word Count Provided by Scholastic Inc TM & © 2004-1996. All rights reserved.
Other media versions:
Notes and facts about the book:
This is the sixth book in the series. In the Lexicon, its abbreviation is HBP.
When Rowling first put the title on her website it was written “Half Blood” Prince. Soon afterward she changed the title on her site to the more grammatically correct “Half-Blood” Prince, which is how it was published.
Rowling’s comments about the book:
Aug 15, 2004:
At the moment, I really like how the sixth book is going. A lot happens in the sixth book and a lot of questions are answered. I really have a sense that we are nearly there and it is time for answers, not more questions and clues, although obviously there are a few clues as I am not quite finished yet. I hope that that is sufficiently frustrating for you, knowing that you can’t read it yet! (EBF)
About the first chapter of the book:
I have come close to using a chapter very like this in Philosopher’s Stone (it was one of the discarded first chapters), Prisoner of Azkaban and Order of the Phoenix but here, finally, it works, so it’s staying. And that’s all I’m going to say, but when you read it, just know that it’s been about thirteen years in the brewing.
Many more comments and details are being revealed every day. For up-to-the-moment coverage, visit
Everything There Is to Know About Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (unless You’re JKR) on the Floo Network.
Harry Potter’s sixth year at Hogwarts turns out to be quite the exciting year. First off is the arrival of a new teacher at Hogwarts, Horace Slughorn, who is a bit more useful to Harry than he realizes. Next, Harry obtains a Potions book which used to be belong to the very mysterious Half-Blood Prince. Harry finds that the Half-Blood Prince’s ancient scribbles are written along the margins of almost every page, giving Harry advice on how to improve greatly on his Potions work, and also teaching him a few helpful (and dangerous) spells along the way. Read more…