Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Chapter Notes

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Chapter 16: A Very Frosty Christmas

• “‘Fred and George tried to get me to make one when I was about five. I nearly did, too, I was holding hands with Fred and everything when Dad found us. He went mental,’ said Ron, with a reminiscent gleam in his eyes.” – If Ron was five that means the twins were seven and I doubt they could have done any severe damage. They didn’t even had wands back then and the spell to do the Unbreakable Vow seems a bit too complex for children.

• There is an obvious difference between the way the twins talk to Ron after they found out he had a girlfriend and the way they talked to Ginny about her boyfriend. They tease Ron, but they never act like his reputation is at risk. It is a very obvious example of sexism.

• “‘They didn’t hear him,’ said Harry flatly. ‘No one’s that good an actor, not even Snape.’” – As a matter of fact he is probably the best actor of all time.

• “Fred, George, Harry and Ron were the only ones who knew that the angel on top of the tree was actually a garden gnome that had bitten Fred on the ankle as he pulled up carrots for Christmas dinner. Stupefied, painted gold, stuffed into a miniature tutu and with small wings glued to its back, it glowered down at them all, the ugliest angel Harry had ever seen, with a large bald head like a potato and rather hairy feet.” – I need some fan art of this, asap.

• “‘I neither like nor dislike Severus,’ said Lupin. ‘No, Harry, I am speaking the truth,’ he added, as Harry pulled a sceptical expression. ‘We shall never be bosom friends, perhaps; after all that happened between James and Sirius and Severus, there is too much bitterness there. But I do not forget that during the year I taught at Hogwarts, Severus made the Wolfsbane Potion for me every month, made it perfectly, so that I did not have to suffer as I usually do at the full moon.’” – I mean we ignore the fact that Snape had wanted to see both Lupin and Sirius dead, despite the fact that there was proof that both were innocent. And while Lupin is right to feel grateful towards Snape for keeping him healthy, I think Snape did not make the potion out of the goodness of his heart, but on Dumbledore’s order and because he obviously did not want the risk of a werewolf wandering around Hogwarts. But despite the fact that they are both in the Order it does not seem like Snape continued to make the Wolfbane Potion for Lupin. By now of course Lupin is undercover among other werewolves, but still. Snape’s helpfulness only went as far as Dumbledore ordered it to be.

• “’Greyback specialises in children … bite them young, he says, and raise them away from their parents, raise them to hate normal wizards. Voldemort has threatened to unleash him upon people’s sons and daughters; it is a threat that usually produces good results.’” – Enough has been written and said about Greyback being a predator and how problematic it is to portray him as someone who prefers to bite children, so I leave it with that.

• “‘But you are normal!’ said Harry fiercely. ‘You’ve just got a – a problem –’ Lupin burst out laughing. ‘Sometimes you remind me a lot of James. He called it my “furry little problem” in company. Many people were under the impression that I owned a badly behaved rabbit.’” – Harry of course had almost an entire year, where he got close to Lupin, before he had learned about him being a werewolf (and even then he didn’t trust him immediately). But most people don’t even get there. They wouldn’t even bother to find out what kind of man Lupin is once they know he is a werewolf. They most likely never met a werewolf in their life and are full of prejudices. They only see the monster, not the man. Whereas Harry first and foremost sees the man and forgets about the monster.

• “‘There are no wizarding princes,’ said Lupin, now smiling.” – But has there ever been a Wizard monarchy? Or did they always have a democracy and government? And if they had a monarchy did it stop having power at the same it did in the Muggle world?

• “Ron fell asleep almost immediately, but Harry delved into his trunk and pulled out his copy of Advanced Potion-Making before getting into bed. There he turned its pages, searching, until he finally found, at the front of the book, the date that it had been published. It was nearly fifty years old. Neither his father, nor his father’s friends, had been at Hogwarts fifty years ago.” – Because obviously using a second-hand book is a thing Harry has never heard about.

• “‘Well … we don’t really talk much,’ said Ron. ‘It’s mainly …’ ‘Snogging,’ said Harry.” – No offence though, like we all had those relationships as teenagers that simply existed to get some experience. But I think that’s something else about Ron and Hermione, even though they might be different, they do know each other really well, they know how the other works (and also unfortunately what would hurt the other the most), so despite their differences they have a deep bond and trust.

• “[…]Mrs Weasley herself, who was sporting a brand new midnight-blue witch’s hat glittering with what looked like tiny starlike diamonds, and a spectacular golden necklace. ‘Fred and George gave them to me! Aren’t they beautiful?’ ‘Well, we find we appreciate you more and more, Mum, now we’re washing our own socks,’ said George, waving an airy hand.” – The twins might be the children Mrs Weasley had to scold with the most and it always seemed like their mother was the only one Fred & George ever feared, but they are not ungrateful. They do appreciate all the hard work their mother did for them and they try to give something back to her.

• “She gave Lupin an annoyed look, as though it was all his fault she was getting Fleur for a daughter-in-law instead of Tonks, but Harry, glancing across at Fleur, who was now feeding Bill bits of turkey off her own fork, thought that Mrs Weasley was fighting a long-lost battle. He was, however, reminded of a question he had with regard to Tonks, and who better to ask than Lupin, the man who knew all about Patronuses? ‘Tonks’s Patronus has changed its form,’ he told him. ‘Snape said so, anyway. I didn’t know that could happen. Why would your Patronus change?’ Lupin took his time chewing his turkey and swallowing before saying slowly, ‘Sometimes … a great shock … an emotional upheaval …’ ‘It looked big, and it had four legs,’ said Harry, struck by a sudden thought and lowering his voice. ‘Hey … it couldn’t be –?’” – I really love how completely misinterpreting Harry is the entire situation. Mrs Weasley does blame Lupin for Tonk’s absence, but for completely different reasons. And of course there is more than one big creature with four legs.

• “[…]Well, if anybody cared to show me your charming garden … ah, that young man’s finished, why doesn’t he take a stroll with me?’ The atmosphere around the table changed perceptibly. Everybody looked from Scrimgeour to Harry. Nobody seemed to find Scrimgeour’s pretence that he did not know Harry’s name convincing, or find it natural that he should be chosen to accompany the Minister around the garden when Ginny, Fleur and George also had clean plates.” – Scrimgeour’s plan is so obvious that it hurts. And obviously this is yet another way Percy breaks his mother’s heart, because he must be aware that they would find out the real reason for their visit, and that the family reunion is nothing more than an act to get to Harry.

• “‘It’s fine,’ he said quietly, as he passed Lupin, who had half risen from his chair. ‘Fine,’ he added, as Mr Weasley opened his mouth to speak.” – I totally get why neither Lupin or Mr Weasley want to leave Harry alone with Scrimgeour. Harry is still 16 after all and Scrimgeour wants to manipulative him for his own advantages. But I love the entire conversation that follows, how Harry knows exactly what the Ministry wants from him and how he stands his ground. The last year gave him a rather ugly look at how politics work and disillusioned him.

• One of things Scrimgeour mentions is that it is Harry’s duty to help the Ministry and I wonder why he would think that. In which ways does Harry owe the Ministry anything at all? When did they ever help him? Sure, Fudge made it possible that Harry was not accused for underage magic after he blew up aunt Marge, but two years later he tried everything in his power to damage Harry’s reputation. Fudge had used Harry because he is a public figure and now Srimgeour does the very same thing. Furthermore Scrimgeour mentions the Head of the Auror office, implying that he could help Harry with his wish to become an Auror, but between the lines it also means he could prevent Harry from becoming one. He holds Harry’s future as a bargain.

• “‘Yeah, and others might say it’s your duty to check people really are Death Eaters before you chuck them in prison,’ said Harry, his temper rising now. ‘You’re doing what Barty Crouch did. You never get it right, you people, do you? Either we’ve got Fudge, pretending everything’s lovely while people get murdered right under his nose, or we’ve got you, chucking the wrong people into jail and trying to pretend you’ve got the Chosen One working for you!’” – Harry clearly sees the parallel to what has happened the last time Voldemort was in power, how the fear and terror lead to injustice, how the Ministry tries to show strength and becomes a dictatorship in doing so. But I think it also reflects Rowling’s own opinion on politics. There are no good politicians in her world. Neither Fudge or Scrimgeour got it right; both abuse their power and both use Harry for it (first as a scapegoat, now as a mascot). Arguably the message here is that power will always corrupt, at least the ones who crave for it (as we will also see in book 7 regarding Dumbledore).

• “‘Well, it is clear to me that he has done a very good job on you,’ said Scrimgeour, his eyes cold and hard behind his wire-rimmed glasses. ‘Dumbledore’s man through and through, aren’t you, Potter?’ ‘Yeah, I am,’ said Harry. ‘Glad we straightened that out.’” – By now this seems like a positive statement, as if Dumbledore is the only one we can trust and who is always right. But with the things we learn about Dumbledore in book 7 we see Scrimgeour’s statement in a different light, because there is some (ugly) truth to it. Dumbledore did in fact a good job on Harry, he did manipulate him in his own ways, so that Harry at least by now puts blind faith in him.