A Pinoy Blog About Nothing

With Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, JK Rowling is now one book shy of a promised seven-book series which follows the boy wizard and his friends through their education in Hogwarts. How she’ll tie-up the loose ends with just one book would be no small feat — if it won’t be in 3 books with 500-pages each.

While Rowling follows a formula, albeit a successful one (Summer at the Dursleys - Diagon Alley - Hogwarts Express - Magic classes - Christmas - Quidditch - Resolving the Main Plot points) it is the cadence of these books which make it thrilling to come back every two years for a new story. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince doesn’t disappoint in that regard. However, Rowling is a very brave woman indeed to kill off a major character in service of the story which sets up a pretty interesting book 7. I won’t mention any spoilers as I don’t want to ruin your enjoyment in reading the book.

The story picks up just a few weeks after the events of Order of the Phoenix hence an abbreviated episode at the Dursleys. The Wizarding world is currently at war since the attack at the Ministry of Magic by the forces of Voldemort. As Harry and his friends start their sixth year at Hogwarts, they have to constantly worry about the fate of family and friends as Voldemort sends out his Death-Eaters to murder anyone who opposes him. As usual, Harry has to contend with the pressures unique to Hogwarts (ie classes and Quidditch) as well as a plot which may or may be against him.

Rowling tries to break the formula she has used in the past five books. As mentioned the passage of time and the regularity of Hogwart’s activities was effectively used to hang certain plot points in the past. This time however, she tries to shake it up a bit. She did away with the obvious red herring for example and tries instead to put up a more complicated mystery. She also goes into the exploration of more mundane aspects of Harry’s world: his relationship with girls. To her credit, Rowling pulls off the potentially disastrous mushy parts quite well. Humor, an intergral part of the Potter books, balances off everything no matter how grim or mushy they may be.

The one major development in the book of course is the death of a tremendously popular character. While I was reading it, I was having doubts Rowling would have the guts to pull it off. But she did. No cop outs, no deux ex machina. Dead. Finito. If you think the death of Harry’s godfather, Sirius Black was a doozy, wait till you get a load of this one.

However it is that particular event and the revelations in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince which shall make for an interesting - if Rowling doesn’t change her mind - last book. She practically thrashes all her “old reliables” in this one that it I would read the last one just to see how she manages it. For now though, the latest trip to Hogwarts was definitely worth the two year wait.