Wizard One (talk | contribs) Reverted to earlier, more concise version. Previous one is too long. |
Renamed user abcedarium (talk | contribs) Revert - Wikipedia has no space constraints. Take it to the talk page |
||
Line 5: | Line 5: | ||
[[Image:HBP potionbook.PNG|thumb|right|200px|The Half-Blood Prince's Potions textbook, as pictured on the UK adult edition of [[Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince|''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'']].]] |
[[Image:HBP potionbook.PNG|thumb|right|200px|The Half-Blood Prince's Potions textbook, as pictured on the UK adult edition of [[Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince|''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'']].]] |
||
[[Harry Potter (character)|Harry]] returns to Hogwarts for his 6th year believing he will be unable to take [[Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Test|NEWT]]-level [[Hogwarts subjects#Potions|Potions]], a course he needs to eventually become an [[auror]]. However, Potions teacher [[Severus Snape|Professor Snape]] is now the new Defense Against the Dark Art instructor. His vacant position has been filled by former Hogwarts Potions professor, [[Horace Slughorn]], whom [[Albus Dumbledore|Dumbledore]] persuaded to return. [[Minerva McGonagall|Professor McGonagall]] informs Harry that Slughorn allows students to advance to NEWT classes with lower [[Ordinary Wizarding Level|OWL]] exam grades than Snape required. Both Harry and [[Ron Weasley]] |
[[Harry Potter (character)|Harry]] returns to Hogwarts for his 6th year believing he will be unable to take [[Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Test|NEWT]]-level [[Hogwarts subjects#Potions|Potions]], a course he needs to eventually become an [[auror]]. However, Potions teacher [[Severus Snape|Professor Snape]] is now the new Defense Against the Dark Art instructor. His vacant position has been filled by former Hogwarts Potions professor, [[Horace Slughorn]], whom [[Albus Dumbledore|Dumbledore]] persuaded to return. [[Minerva McGonagall|Professor McGonagall]] informs Harry that Slughorn allows students to advance to NEWT classes with lower [[Ordinary Wizarding Level|OWL]] exam grades than Snape required. Both Harry and [[Ron Weasley]], now eligible to take the course, sign up. |
||
Slughorn loans Harry and Ron old copies of ''Advanced Potion-Making'' by [[Libatius Borage]]. Harry's copy contains the previous owner's handwritten margin notes, revising many potions and making them easier to brew. The book also contains a collection of jinxes and hexes and an inscription saying it is the property of the ''Half-Blood Prince'' |
Slughorn loans Harry and Ron old copies of ''Advanced Potion-Making'' by [[Libatius Borage]]. Harry's copy contains the previous owner's handwritten margin notes, revising many potions and making them easier to brew. The book also contains a collection of jinxes and hexes and an inscription saying it is the property of the ''Half-Blood Prince''. |
||
Harry's performance in Potions improves greatly when he uses the Prince's modifications, so much so that Slughorn compliments him for having inherited his mother's outstanding Potions ability. When Harry brews the best [[Potions in Harry Potter#Draught of Living Death|Draught of Living Death]] in the class, Slughorn awards him a prize. Enthused by his unprecedented success in Potions, Harry comes to believe 'the Prince' is a better teacher than either Snape or Slughorn. |
|||
⚫ | Harry notices that whilst the potion tips are written without alterations, the jinxes and hexes contain numerous revisions and corrections, leading him to believe they were created by the Prince. In particular, the spell [[Canonical spells in the world of Harry Potter#Levicorpus|Levicorpus]] contains many changes: Harry guesses that it gave the Prince some trouble, although he succeeds the first time he uses it on Ron. He also learns other new and sometimes dangerous spells from the notes, including [[Canonical spells in the world of Harry Potter#Muffliato|Muffliato]] and [[Canonical spells in the world of Harry Potter#Sectumsempra|Sectumsempra]]. |
||
⚫ | Harry notices that whilst the potion tips are written without alterations, the jinxes and hexes contain numerous revisions and corrections, leading him to believe they were created by the Prince. In particular, the spell [[Canonical spells in the world of Harry Potter#Levicorpus|Levicorpus]] contains many changes: Harry guesses that it gave the Prince some trouble, although he himself succeeds the first time he uses it on Ron. He also learns other new and sometimes dangerous spells from the notes, including [[Canonical spells in the world of Harry Potter#Muffliato|Muffliato]] and [[Canonical spells in the world of Harry Potter#Sectumsempra|Sectumsempra]]. |
||
[[Hermione Granger]] disapproves of Harry's sudden - and ill-gotten - success in Potions; she also distrusts the book, thinking it a collection of Dark Magic. Based on the textbook's publication date and an old ''Daily Prophet'' article she finds, she surmises the Half-Blood Prince may be [[Eileen Prince]], a Hogwarts student from about 50 years ago. Harry, however, believes the Prince was a male student. |
|||
[[Hermione Granger]], however, resents Harry's sudden - and ill-gotten - skill and praise in Potions; she also distrusts the book, thinking it a collection of Dark Magic. She consistently scolds Harry about his use of it, and uses magic on the book in an attempt to reveal any hidden information. When these methods fail to bring success, Hermione seeks recourse in the library, researching any leads or connections, no matter how vague or tangential, to the book. Based on the textbook's publication date, she believes the Half-Blood Prince may be [[Eileen Prince]], a Hogwarts student from about 50 years ago, who was printed in an old [[Harry Potter newspapers and magazines#The Daily Prophet|Daily Prophet]] article due to having been a school Gobstones captain. Hermione also argues that the handwriting of 'the Prince' looks female; Harry disputes this, believing that the Prince was a male student. |
|||
Harry knows his father used the Levicorpus spell on Severus Snape in school, and he asks [[Remus Lupin]] if he knows 'The Half-blood Prince' - half hoping it was his father - but Lupin tells him it was not James Potter. Lupin does not explain how James learned the spell, only that it was popular when when they were at school. |
|||
When Harry recalls that his father used the Levicorpus spell on Severus Snape, he asks [[Remus Lupin]] if he knows of 'The Half-blood Prince' - half hoping that it was his father. Lupin, however, tells Harry that although the Levicorpus spell was popular at school during James' and Snape's fifth year, James was not the Half-blood Prince. Lupin does not explain how the spell came to be known by James, instead describing it as a spell that, like many others, came into and went out of fashion, which everyone knew. Lupin also informs Harry that there are no wizarding Princes, and jokingly asks if Harry - a half-blood - is thinking of calling himself 'The Half-blood Prince' instead of 'The Chosen One'. |
|||
The 'Half-Blood Prince's' true identity is revealed during the [[Hogwarts#Recent history|battle at Hogwarts]]. When Harry attempts to use the Prince's spells against Snape, he easily blocks every curse and sneers angrily, "You dare use my own spells against me...It was I who invented them - I, the Half-Blood Prince!" Snape is said to have known more curses and jinxes when he arrived at Hogwarts than most did when they left. |
|||
However, when the true identity of 'the Half-blood Prince' is revealed, it is no joke: it is Severus Snape, who as a boy knew more curses and jinxes when he arrived at Hogwarts than most did when they left. It was he who devised the Potions improvements, and he who invented the spells which Harry has found so useful; indeed, when Harry attempts to use one of 'the Prince's' spells against Snape (before he knows that the two are one and the same) during the [[Hogwarts#Recent history|battle at Hogwarts]], Snape, outraged, protests, "You dare use my own spells against me...It was I who invented them - I, the Half-Blood Prince!" |
|||
⚫ | Following these climactic events, Hermione searches archived marriage and birth announcements and discovers that Eileen Prince married a [[Muggle]] named [[Tobias Snape]], and they had a son |
||
⚫ | Following these climactic events, Hermione searches through the library's archived marriage and birth announcements and discovers that Eileen Prince married a [[Muggle]] named [[Tobias Snape]], and they had a son: Severus. The 'Half-Blood Prince' was thus a literal description of Snape, a combination of his father's lack of magical ability and heritage, and his mother's maiden name of Prince. Harry is left sickened at the news that, having "refused to think ill of the boy who had been so clever, who had helped him so much", the boy has proved to be the murderer of Harry's mentor, Albus Dumbledore. |
||
A comparison can be drawn with Tom Riddle, who dubbed himself [[Lord Voldemort]], which is a partial [[anagram]] of his original name. ''Prince'' is also a title, but the term ''half-blood'' is used derogatively by some in the wizarding world, particularly amongst [[Death Eaters]] or in [[Slytherin]] house, and it is unclear why he adopted such a name. |
A comparison can be drawn with Tom Riddle, who dubbed himself [[Lord Voldemort]], which is a partial [[anagram]] of his original name. ''Prince'' is also a title, but the term ''half-blood'' is used derogatively by some in the wizarding world, particularly amongst [[Death Eaters]] or in [[Slytherin]] house, and it is unclear why he adopted such a name. |
Revision as of 02:47, 11 January 2007
The Half-Blood Prince is an alias of a fictional character in J. K. Rowling's sixth Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Harry's investigation of the true identity of this person is one of the major plotlines of the book, and the mystery is solved at the conclusion.
Harry returns to Hogwarts for his 6th year believing he will be unable to take NEWT-level Potions, a course he needs to eventually become an auror. However, Potions teacher Professor Snape is now the new Defense Against the Dark Art instructor. His vacant position has been filled by former Hogwarts Potions professor, Horace Slughorn, whom Dumbledore persuaded to return. Professor McGonagall informs Harry that Slughorn allows students to advance to NEWT classes with lower OWL exam grades than Snape required. Both Harry and Ron Weasley, now eligible to take the course, sign up.
Slughorn loans Harry and Ron old copies of Advanced Potion-Making by Libatius Borage. Harry's copy contains the previous owner's handwritten margin notes, revising many potions and making them easier to brew. The book also contains a collection of jinxes and hexes and an inscription saying it is the property of the Half-Blood Prince.
Harry's performance in Potions improves greatly when he uses the Prince's modifications, so much so that Slughorn compliments him for having inherited his mother's outstanding Potions ability. When Harry brews the best Draught of Living Death in the class, Slughorn awards him a prize. Enthused by his unprecedented success in Potions, Harry comes to believe 'the Prince' is a better teacher than either Snape or Slughorn.
Harry notices that whilst the potion tips are written without alterations, the jinxes and hexes contain numerous revisions and corrections, leading him to believe they were created by the Prince. In particular, the spell Levicorpus contains many changes: Harry guesses that it gave the Prince some trouble, although he himself succeeds the first time he uses it on Ron. He also learns other new and sometimes dangerous spells from the notes, including Muffliato and Sectumsempra.
Hermione Granger, however, resents Harry's sudden - and ill-gotten - skill and praise in Potions; she also distrusts the book, thinking it a collection of Dark Magic. She consistently scolds Harry about his use of it, and uses magic on the book in an attempt to reveal any hidden information. When these methods fail to bring success, Hermione seeks recourse in the library, researching any leads or connections, no matter how vague or tangential, to the book. Based on the textbook's publication date, she believes the Half-Blood Prince may be Eileen Prince, a Hogwarts student from about 50 years ago, who was printed in an old Daily Prophet article due to having been a school Gobstones captain. Hermione also argues that the handwriting of 'the Prince' looks female; Harry disputes this, believing that the Prince was a male student.
When Harry recalls that his father used the Levicorpus spell on Severus Snape, he asks Remus Lupin if he knows of 'The Half-blood Prince' - half hoping that it was his father. Lupin, however, tells Harry that although the Levicorpus spell was popular at school during James' and Snape's fifth year, James was not the Half-blood Prince. Lupin does not explain how the spell came to be known by James, instead describing it as a spell that, like many others, came into and went out of fashion, which everyone knew. Lupin also informs Harry that there are no wizarding Princes, and jokingly asks if Harry - a half-blood - is thinking of calling himself 'The Half-blood Prince' instead of 'The Chosen One'.
However, when the true identity of 'the Half-blood Prince' is revealed, it is no joke: it is Severus Snape, who as a boy knew more curses and jinxes when he arrived at Hogwarts than most did when they left. It was he who devised the Potions improvements, and he who invented the spells which Harry has found so useful; indeed, when Harry attempts to use one of 'the Prince's' spells against Snape (before he knows that the two are one and the same) during the battle at Hogwarts, Snape, outraged, protests, "You dare use my own spells against me...It was I who invented them - I, the Half-Blood Prince!"
Following these climactic events, Hermione searches through the library's archived marriage and birth announcements and discovers that Eileen Prince married a Muggle named Tobias Snape, and they had a son: Severus. The 'Half-Blood Prince' was thus a literal description of Snape, a combination of his father's lack of magical ability and heritage, and his mother's maiden name of Prince. Harry is left sickened at the news that, having "refused to think ill of the boy who had been so clever, who had helped him so much", the boy has proved to be the murderer of Harry's mentor, Albus Dumbledore.
A comparison can be drawn with Tom Riddle, who dubbed himself Lord Voldemort, which is a partial anagram of his original name. Prince is also a title, but the term half-blood is used derogatively by some in the wizarding world, particularly amongst Death Eaters or in Slytherin house, and it is unclear why he adopted such a name.