Book Six : Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince [merged]

I agree about the love and friendship. It's like the Sorting Hat said in the 5th book:

Oh, know the perils, read the signs,
The warning history shows,
For our Hogwarts is in danger
From external, deadly foes
And we must unite inside her
Or we'll crumble from within
I have told you, I have warned you....
Let the Sorting now begin.

And we also know that love is a magic that Voldemort did not understand, and that it is an older magic. Did Salazar Slytherin know this magic? Maybe if the heirs can unite w/ love as their weapon they can win.

But Salazar Slytherin was the power-hungry wizard. If the HBP was the heir of his house then yes, there could be problems. And that would be okay for the story. But if one of the heirs of the other houses was the HBP I don't see how it could be a power struggle b/c they have always gotten along...

JKR said that something small in the 2nd book was going to be big in the 6th. And we know the HBP isn't Harry, and I don't think it will be Dumbledore (just looking at how she writes....I'm going back to look for more clues in CoS

Originally posted by tracygarrett
I think it was Harry's loyalty to Dumbledore that called Fawkes to the Chamber. And since Harry got out of the Chamber and could tell everyone where it is I don't think it's that big of a deal that Fawkes went.

By the way, I am not JKR. But that did give me a good chuckle Scar!!!

And Muhibulk08, I think you and I are on the same page about the 4 heirs. And if they were all half blood, they would all be really powerful, right? But which one is the prince? We know it's not Harry...Tom Riddle? Is it too presumptuous to think that JKR would use that twice? Then again, the villain in all the books (except PoA) has been Voldemort...why not again?

It is a big a deal why didnt Dumbledore himself came to help Harry.

Harry isnt the heir to Gryffindor, it was his loyalty that called fawkes. It probably works like how the Death eaters tatoos work. When Voldemort touches it, they apparate to him, so maybe Harry's loyalty summoned Fawkes like that. This way, Dumbledore still wouldn't know where it was. Thats my theory on how Fawkes got into the CoS

And I'm not saying Fawkes can apparate, cuz you can't in Hogwarts (excluding House-elves) but he probably used the "bursting-into-flames-and-reappearing-in-the-CoS"

Then you dont know Fawkes. Fawkes CAN apparate/disapparate inside Hogwarts. In a way we can say that Dumbledore can apparate/disapparate inside Hogwarts as he used to escape using Fawkes in OotP? Have not you read the 5th book yet?

Yes I have, and it isn't the same type of apparition as humans or house-elves, he bursts into flames and dissapears, maybe you should reread my post

Here are some more clues from CoS that I have found...

**"You all know, of course, that Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago--the precise date is uncertain--by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age. The four school Houses are named after them: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. They built this castle together, far from prying Muggle eyes, for it was an age when magic was feared by common people, and witches and wizards suffered much persecution." [...]
"For a few years, the founders worked in harmon together, seeking out youngsters who showed signs of magic and bringing them to the castle to be educated. But then disagreements sprang up between them. A rift began to grow between Slytherin and the others. Slytherin wished to be more SELECTIVE about the students admitted to Hogwarts. he believed that magical learning should be kept within all-magic families. He disliked taking students of Muggle parentage, believing them to be untrustworthy. After a while, there was a serious argument on the subject between Slytherin and Gryffindor, and Slytherin left the school."**pg. 150--This simply tells us the legend of the founding of Hogwarts and the beginnings of the Chamber of Secrets. I think this will have something to do w/ book 6, but I don't know what/how. Also important to note is that Slytherin and Gryffindor were best friends
"For were there such friends anywhere
As Slytherin and Gryffindor?" OotP pg. 204
And the rift that had been made btwn the two friends was so huge that the spectrum of the relationship btwn the heirs of these two houses goes from best friends to mortal enemies (ie. Tom Riddle {Voldemort} and Harry Potter).

**Harry had never told Ron and Hermione that the Sorting Hat had seriously considered putting HIM in Slytherin. He could remember, as though it were yesterday, the small voice that had spoken in his ear when he'd placed the hat on his head a year before YOU COULD BE GREAT, YOU KNOW, IT'S ALL HERE IN YOUR HEAD, AND SLYTHERIN WOULD HELP YOU ON THE WAY TO GREATNESS, NO DOUBT ABOUT THAT....**pg. 153-154--If it's in two books it's gotta be important. And someone did say something about someone switching sides...Now I don't seriously think that Harry will become the Dark Lord incarnate...but it's just food for thought...

**"But I'm not Muggle-born--how can I be in danger from the Chamber?"**pg. 178--Harry talking to Dobby. I find that this question is never really answered...could it be answered in book 6? Was the Basilisk going after Muggle-borns as well as the heirs and/or the HBP which would somehow include Harry (not to mention Voldemort's eternal grudge w/ Harry--which is only more reason for him to want to kill Harry).

**"Harry Potter risks his own life for his friends!" moaned Dobby in a kind of miserable ecstasy. "So noble! So valiant! But he must save himself, he must, harry Potter must not--"** pg. 179--Noble and valiant? Theses are words usually reserved for royalty are they not? Now don't get me wrong, I know that JKR already said the HBP isn't Harry, but it is an interesting choice of words. She could have said "brave" b/c afterall that is the trademark trait of any Gryffindor...

**"The question is not WHO," said Dumbledore, his eyes on Colin. "The question is, HOW...."**pg. 181--This is the scene in the Hospital Wing when Dumbledore and McGonagall bring the petrified Colin Creevey in. Since we know what happens at the end of the book, that Tom Riddle (Voldemort) opens the Chamber, I think it is safe to say that Dumbledore knows that it is also Tom Riddle opening the Chamber for the second time. This also makes me think that he knows that Riddle is the Heir of Slytherin, and possibly that he knows the Heirs of all the houses...

**"I might tell you that you can trace my family back through nine generations of witches and warlocks and my blood's as pure as anyone's, so--"** pg. 200--Ernie Macmillan of Hufflepuff. I've read many people's suspicions that Ernie Macmillan could be the HBP but we now know that he is a pureblood and so can be crossed off the list of suspects.

**They rose upward in circles, higher and higher, until at last, slightly dizzy, Harry saw a gleaming oak door ahead, with a brass knocker in the shape of a griffin.
He knew now where he was being taken. This must be where Dumbledore lived.** pg. 204--Interesting that there is a brass knocker in the shape of a griffin on Dumbledore's door. Could this be b/c he is the heir of Gryffindor? I just remembered something great that happens later in the book....It dispells that theory, but is very interesting nonetheless....!!!!!!!!!

**"Yes...you were particularly difficult to place. But I stand by what I said before"--Harry's heart leapt--"you WOULD have done well in Slytherin--"** pg. 206--Going along w/ the whole Harry is the Heir of Gryffindor thing...why was he so difficult to place. Wouldn't he automatically have been put into Gryffindor? I decided to look back to the original Sorting Hat's Song...
"You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart; [...]
Or perhaps in Slytherin
You'll make your real friends,
Those cunning folk use any means
To achieve their ends." HP & the SS pg. 118--now the description of the ideal Slytherin sounds nothing like Harry, whereas the one for Gryffindor describes him perfectly. Now why would he have done well in Slytherin? Is it b/c Slytherin and Gryffindor were good friends in the beginning? I don't know...Let's look at the Sorting Hat's New Song...
Said Slytherin, "We'll teach just those
Whose ancestry is purest."
Said Ravenclaw, "We'll teach those whose
Intelligence is surest."
Said Gryffindor, "We'll teach all those
With brave deeds to their name,"
Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot,
And treat them just the same." HP & the OotP pg. 205--So why was Tom Riddle in Slytherin? He had a Muggle father. His ancestry isn't pure. And why then is Ernie Macmillan in Hufflepuff if he can trace his ancestry in the Wizarding World back up to 9 generations? And I remember someone asking Hermione why she wasn't in Ravenclaw, but I always forget the reason...Does the Sorting Hat ever make mistakes? I'm gonna go w/ a big fat no on that one...but it does make you wonder....

**...They can carry immensely heavy loads, their tears have healing powers, and they make highly FAITHFUL pets."** pg. 207--Again, does Dumbledore know that Harry's loyalty to him will call Fawkes? Ummm...probably, it is Dumbledore...And he probably does know that if there is trouble, Harry will be there to fight the good fight--afterall he does have that hero complex...

**...but it all came back to him as Dumbledore settled himself in the high chair behind the desk and fixed Harry with his penetrating, light-blue stare.** pg. 207-208--High chair? Kind of like a throne???

I'm sorry, this doesn't mean anything...but I think it is HILARIOUS that the Dursley's sent Harry a toothpick for Christmas!!! Why bother?!?!--pg. 212

**"You'd never know the Weasleys were purebloods, the way they behave."** pg. 222--I know we all know this, so moving on...

Back w/ more clues later...

Fawkes was call to Harry and he went. He probably wasn't thinking "Oh, Harry is in the CoS about to face Voldemort who trapped his 16 yr. old self in a diary that was given to Ginny Weasley by Lucius Malfoy MONTHS ago! I better go get Dumbledore b/c I know that the only wizard Voldemort ever feared is him. Yup, I'll get right on that..."

ok ...

Don't forget to go back a page and see the new clues I found from CoS...there are a lot again...

okly dokly

woooooooooooooow i'm not here for like an hour and 3 pages come up

Somebody said something about dumbledore being the hbp, that is an interesting thought but i'm pretty sure he's pure blood because a) the maloy's have said nothing about him being a half-blood, if they knew (and they normally do somehow) would have said something by now

**"You live in a Muggle orphanage during the holidays, I believe?" said Dippet curiously.
"Yes, sir," said Riddle, reddening slightly.
"You are Muggle-born?"
"Half-blood, sir," said Riddle. "Muggle father, witch mother."
"And are both your parents--?"
"My mother died just after I was born, sir. They told me at the orphanage she lived just long enough to name me--Tom after my father, Marvolo after my grandfather."** pg. 244--We see that Tom Riddle is a half-blood and come to find that he is the heir of Slytherin. It could be possible that all of the other heirs of the houses are half-bloods as well, which means that Harry still could be the Heir of Gryffindor

**"However," said Dumbledore, speaking very slowly and clearly so that none of them could miss a word, "you will find that I will only TRULY have left this school when none here are loyal to me. You will also find that help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it."** pg. 263-264--Here's the thing about Fawkes. And I think Dumbledore gives an explanation in the final conclusion...

**On the one hand, Tom Riddle, poor but brilliant, parentless but so BRAVE, school prefect, model student...** pg. 311--not a pureblood, brave and brilliant. Must've gotten into Slytherin House on account of him being evil...

**"...I decided to leave behind a diary, preserving my sixteen-year-old self in its pages, so that one day, with luck, I would be able to lead another in my footsteps, and finish Salazar Slytherin's noble work."** pg. 312--there's that word "noble" again...Could the original Hogwarts Four been some kind of royalty/nobility? Then, possibly, the heirs would be princes/princesses...I don't know...

**"No one knows why you lost your powers when you attacked me," said Harry abruptly. "I don't know myself. but I know why you couldn't KILL me. Because my mother died to save me. My common MUGGLE-BORN mother," he added, shaking with suppressed rage.** pg. 316--Does Harry really know that his mother was muggle-born? Can we take his word for it, he doesn't really know anything about his mother, and it later books it is his father that we learn more about. I predict we will learn much more about Lily (Evans) Potter in the last two books...but for now, I guess we can assume that Lily was Muggle-born, since we haven't heard otherwise...

*"So. Your mother died to save you. Yes, that's a powerful counter-charm. I can see now...there is nothing special about you, afterall. I wondered, you see. There are strange likenesses between us, after all. Even you must have noticed. Both half-bloods, orphans, raised by Muggles. Probably the only two Parselmouths to come to Hogwarts since the great Slytherin himself. We even LOOK something alike...but after all, it was merely a lucky chance that saved you from me. That's all I wanted to know."** pg. 317--I think this comes up in the 5th book about the prophecy. This is Voldemort wondering if he picked the right baby from the prophecy. Is he thinking that he picked the wrong one? Will the choice btwn. Harry and Neville come up again? Obviously Neville can't be the HBP since he's a pureblood, but it will be something small from the 2nd book coming in the 6th book (eventhough it was somewhat explained in the 5th book)...we'll see...

**"Brilliant," he said softly. "Of course, he was probably the most billiant student Hogwarts has ever seen."** pg. 329--Dumbledore talking about Riddle...again w/ the brilliance...Although now I feel silly, seeing as how Tom Riddle was Salazar Slytherin's Heir, of COURSE he was in Slytherin...

**"If you want proof, Harry, that you belong in Gryffindor, I suggest you look more closely at THIS."
Dumbledore reached across to Professor McGonagall's desk, picked up the blood-stained silver sword, and handed it to Harry. Dully, Harry turned it over, the rubies blazing in the firelight. And then he saw the name engraved just below the hilt.
GODRIC GRYFFINDOR.
"Only a true Gryffindor could have pulled THAT out of the hat, Harry," said Dumbledore simply.**pg. 333-334--a "true Gryffindor" you say? Is Dumbledore trying to hint that Harry is the Heir of Gryffindor? BINGO! That was my big point that I was so excited about!

Okay...that's it. I finished the book and those were all the clues I could find. Let's get some feedback and discuss!!! I'm really excited to hear everyone's thoughts!!!

Good point about someone knowing if Dumbledore was half-blood or not. Especially Lucius. Now that I think about it, I'm sure he would have said something about having a half-blood Headmaster. He did say something about how much Dumbledore loves Muggles though...but that could just be like Arthur, and he's a pureblood...

Dumbledore reads a muggle newspaper. I read that in the 5th book I think.

Isn't that to see if the Muggles have noticed anything from the Wizard world?

He said that he thought that it was interesting.

Well there you go...he thinks it's interesting...

Could be more than just interesting...