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Having returned to power, Death
Eaters attack both the Muggle and Wizarding worlds, while Lord Voldemort
has given Draco Malfoy an assignment. Bellatrix Lestrange goads Severus
Snape into making an Unbreakable Vow with Draco's mother, Narcissa, to
protect Draco and carry out the assignment if he fails. Scarred by his
experience at the Ministry of Magic with Voldemort, Harry is reluctant to
return to school. Dumbledore brings Harry to entice former Potions
Professor Horace Slughorn to return to Hogwarts. Later, while leaving Fred
and George's new shop in Diagon Alley, Harry, Ron and Hermione notice
Draco associating with Bellatrix Lestrange, Fenrir Greyback and Narcissa
Malfoy in Borgin and Burkes, leaving Harry suspicious. He attempts to
eavesdrop on Malfoy on the Hogwarts Express, but Draco petrifies Harry. He
is rescued by Luna Lovegood and her Spectrespecs.
At Hogwarts, Harry and Ron borrow school textbooks for Slughorn's Potions
class. The previous owner of Harry's copy, the "Half-Blood Prince", has
annotated the book with additional instructions that allow Harry to excel
in class and win a vial of the luck potion Felix Felicis. After making it
as Keeper on the Quidditch team, Ron becomes a hero and he forms a
relationship with Lavender Brown, which leaves Hermione heartbroken. After
Harry finds her sobbing in the Astronomy Tower, it is known that he has
feelings for Ron's sister Ginny Weasley. Harry spends Christmas with the
Weasleys, during which he discusses the situation at Hogwarts with Order
of the Phoenix members Arthur Weasley, Molly Weasley, Remus Lupin and
Nymphadora Tonks. He also gets much closer to Ginny, who has since broken
up with Dean and is now taking an interest in him. They very nearly share
a kiss on Christmas Eve, but before they do, Bellatrix Lestrange and
Fenrir Greyback attack the Burrow, intent on capturing Harry, but must
abandon their attack when they are outnumbered, leaving the Burrow in
flames as Harry and the Weasleys watch their home burn.
Draco continues eluding Harry while perfecting the use of a Vanishing
Cabinet inside the Room of Requirement. Harry suspects Draco is behind two
attempts on Dumbledore's life, one of which nearly kills Ron. In his
semi-comatose state, Ron mumbles Hermione's name, causing his relationship
with Lavender to deteriorate. Confronting Draco, Harry hits him with a
curse from the Half-Blood Prince's book which severely wounds him. Snape
heals Draco as Harry retreats. Fearing the book may be filled with more
Dark Magic, Ginny accompanies Harry to the Room of Requirement, intending
to leave it there so that nobody can use it again. She tells him to close
his eyes so that he won't know where it's hidden, and then kisses him,
starting a relationship between them.
During private meetings held throughout the year, Dumbledore shows Harry
memories of a young Tom Riddle and reveals Slughorn retains a memory
critical to Voldemort's defeat. Harry retrieves the memory using Felix
Felicis. It reveals that Voldemort had been seeking information for
creating as many as seven Horcruxes, devices that safeguard a portion of
the creator's soul, granting him immortality unless the Horcruxes are
destroyed. Two of Voldemort's Horcruxes have already been destroyed: Tom
Riddle's diary, and his grandfather's ring. After locating another
Horcrux, Dumbledore requests Harry's help to retrieve it. They travel to a
far away cave, where Harry is forced to make Dumbledore drink a
mind-altering potion that hides the Horcrux, a locket. Though gravely
weakened, Dumbledore defends them from a horde of Inferi and apparates
himself and Harry back to the Astronomy Tower at Hogwarts.
Dumbledore first tells Harry to fetch Snape for help, but then tells him
to hide when footsteps approach. Draco appears and reveals that Voldemort
has chosen him to kill Dumbledore, but is unable to follow through. Snape
arrives and motions to Harry to stay hidden before joining the Death
Eaters that arrived through the Vanishing Cabinet and are surrounding
Draco as he hesitates. Snape casts the Avada Kedavra curse, killing
Dumbledore and then escaping from the castle with the other Death Eaters.
In their wake Bellatrix casts the Dark Mark, destroys the Great Hall and
sets fire to Hagrid's hut. Harry tries to stop them, but Snape deflects
Harry's spells and Bellatrix stuns him. Before departing, Snape reveals to
Harry that he is the Half-Blood Prince. Harry returns to the school to
find the staff and students mourning Dumbledore. Together they pay a
tribute to him.
Harry reveals to Ron and Hermione that the locket Horcrux was a fake. The
locket contains a message from an "R.A.B." stating he has taken the real
Horcrux and hopes to destroy it and the others. Rather than return for
their final year at Hogwarts, Harry and his friends vow to seek out R.A.B.
and the remaining Horcruxes as Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes, flies into
the horizon. |
