Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

[alohabear]

Warner Bros, announced that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will be released Thanksgiving 2008.

The "Prince" date will mark a return to the Thanksgiving period for the sorcerer series. Of the four "Potter" films to date, only the third installment, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," has been released during the summer.

I hope a decent film can still be made without cutting out much.
EW magazine also set thier odds on who will die in the last book after hearing this quote.from JK Rowling.

When Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling made a rare appearance on British TV last week, she delivered news as chilling as a Dementor's kiss: In book 7, which she's now writing, at least two main characters will die. ''A price has to be paid. We are dealing with pure evil here,''

[scrivener]

Re: HP and the Half-Blood Prince

9-2 odds for Harry's death seem low. Harry's not going to die if Rowling carries about the legacy her series leaves. I hadn't considered Hagrid and Snape -- I think those are both good guesses.

I'm almost certain Neville is going to die, probably to save Harry. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised at all if several of Harry's friends from the first year die in the line of fire.

I think I'd put my money on Ron, with Hagrid a close second.

As for the odds being even for Voldemort, I think EW is being much too conservative. They should be at least 1-2 or even 1-3.

[Bard]

Re: HP and the Half-Blood Prince

Are we past the statute of limitations on plot spoilers for the book now?

I wrote a blog entry about the subject a while back (as in right after the book came out) and I'm STILL getting people posting on it with their conspiracy theories. I'd love to hear you guys' theories on HBP's ending.

[alohabear]

Re: HP and the Half-Blood Prince

This movie will be hard to make. So much of the story can't be left out, the book is so complex with all the flashbacks and plot twists. I wonder if they can get Ms. Rowling to do a cameo in HBP? The script is being written by a Potter veteran, so hopefully no important points will be left out.

BTW... do you think Snape is free of the unbreakable vow?

[kealiinaauao]

Re: HP and the Half-Blood Prince

This was a well made book. JK Rowling has done an excellent job of holding on to readers for the past 16 years.

I really enjoy the books and the little clues and hints that Jo has left for us to guess at book 7. But I have to be honest, the movies suck. The first 2 movies, however short and cut stayed almost true to the actual book. Now I know that the books have gotten more complicated and more detailed, but at least stay true to the big revelations in each book. Book 3 was a big disappointment for me, they didn't explain why the things were happening to Sirius. Also, Dumbledore didn't use his wand when he chased off the dementors. And the new Dumbledore I can't really connect with. One of the things I liked about the books that describe Dumbledore is that Jedi calm he has in each situation. This new Dumbledore seems to wear more of his emotions on his sleeve then the book Dumbledore.

Anyways, this is one of only two fantasy stories that I will ever concede to read. The Harry Potter books have definitely tickled my imagination. Thumbs up for JK Rowling. Here are my thoughts and opinions regarding the Harry Potter series thus far:

1. Dumbledore is dead. Very sad, very shocking, but makes sense in a development way of Harry Potter. Dumbledore was the Obi-Wan Kenobi to Harry Potter being the young Jedi, Luke Skywalker. Dumbledore was only important up until the point he gave all of what he knew of Voldemort. Now, this doesn't mean that all of his influences are gone. I believe that Fawkes is connected to Dumbledore in some way. Not in the Horcrux way, but in some love loyalty way which I believe is the underlying theme in JK Rowling's books.

2. Snape is good. Yes, I know that he killed the greatest wizard of the age. But here's my thinking, Voldemort would never appear out in the open while Dumbledore was around. Also, Dumbledore was never afraid of death. The prospect of death was something that he tried to teach Voldemort, that there are worst things to fear. Also, Hagrid revealed a "teeny tiny" clue that this might have been part of whatever plan Dumbledore and Snape had cooked up. When Harry called Dumbledore on the Snape issue, Dumbledore looked like he was trying to decide something, but then said what he always said before he trusted Snape.

3. Godric's hollow holds clues to Voldemort and horcruxes. There is more to what happened at what happened when Harry's parents were killed. I think that it is not just coincidence that the name of the place is called Godric's Hollow, when one of the founders of Hogwarts is Godric Gryffindor.

4. Harry doesn't need Dumbledore present to defeat Voldemort. He will need additional information that Dumbledore would have cleverly left as bread crumbs to give Harry as much information as he needs, but as the prophecy indicated, Harry is the one that will take on Voldemort.

5. I don't think Harry will die. But I do think that Ginny Weasley might be a target. I think one of the Weasley twins would also be the other. I like the previous theory of Hagrid, never considered him.

6. The whole love theme that Dumbledore kept emphasizing might be the element that will tie up all the disparate parts such as: Percy and his nonsense, Giants and wizards, centaurs and wizards, Harry and Snape, Ron and Hermione, muggles and wizards, and pure bloods and half bloods. I just don’t know in what form that love will manifest itself to tie all these things together.

7. Petunia is a witch. HA!! This is probably controversial but, there are things that clue in that Petunia is not all that she appears. Of course, I’m stretching here… a lot.

8. RAB. I have heard that this could be a signature of Regulus Black, and that the reason why he was killed is because he found out about the horcruxes. But clues left by Dumbledore indicate that two wizards were needed to get to that particular Horcrux. Si RAB could be the signature of two people. I agree that it could be Regulus, but I submit that RAB stands for Regulus and B_____. It’s a signature of two people, but we just don’t know who the “B” person is. But it’s clear that two people were needed to get to that Horcrux and not just one. So, who is this ally “B?”

9. The necklace that was indicated in book 5 that they couldn’t open might have been the Horcrux Harry and Dumbledore were looking for; which backs the theory that Regulus got the Horcrux.

Well, that’s all I have. Whew, I’m glad I have a place where I can get this off my chest. I’ve been dying to discuss Harry Potter, but have encountered no one over the age of 20 who has read the books. Tell me what you guys think. If it’s old news, then well it was therapy to tell people my theories.