Friends and enemies

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Chapter 20

Ron and Hermione are friends again following the tumultuous events of chapters 18 and 19. Near-death experiences sharpen one's perspective on life.

They thought about what's truly important: friendship and being united sidekicks for the Chosen One. They are the role players, the trainers in Harry's corner, the ones who put Humpty-Dumpty back together again.

With the synergy back they can focus on the important business of Malfoy's secret plans, Sluggy's secret memories and the worst-kept secret of the elephant in the room. Or the elephants if you count Harry's secret feelings for his best friend's little sister. Awwwwkward.

Harry was humbled by disappointing Dumbledore in his failure to get Sluggy to talk about his Tom Riddle memory. Harry's creativity will be put to the test with Sluggy. Simply asking will never work. Maybe the Half-Blood Prince has scribbled a potion in the margin in the back of the book that would do it? That's just a guess, but magic must play a part it seems. Or maybe Harry just needs to find out what Horcruxes are first to make Sluggy talk.

I am baffled by Dumbledore's logic. He couldn't get Sluggy to talk, but he thinks Harry can? Must be one of those Chosen One things. All in good time, I suppose.

The first trip into the pensieve shows more of the same about Voldemort. He's a thief and a murderer. And he obviously knew what he needed to achieve his goals. In his mind, nothing will stand in his way.

Until, of course, we come to the second memory. Dumbledore firmly stands in Voldemort's way. No doubt the Dark Lord wanted to use a teaching job as a trojan horse to infiltrate Hogwarts, overthrow Dumbledore and turn the castle into a military stronghold and place for training Death Eaters in the dark arts. I suspect Dumbledore had the same or similar fears.

So it's off to find Sluggy, extract that memory and finish the Voldemort puzzle. Good luck, Harry.

P.S. Dumbledore's final statement about not being able to keep a DADA instructor for more than a year since Voldemort was turned down for the job is chilling. But I have no idea what it means.

Potions and notions

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Chapter 9

A few observations before I get into the stirring part of this chapter.

• Clearly Hermione will be the prefect to fear. Taking Frisbees? Yeah, she would do that.
• Ron is a prefect in name. But in spirit? Not sure yet.
• I rediscovered what N.E.W.T. stands for: Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests. That's just what I would've named them.
• And to apparently have time to deal with the workload of N.E.W.T.s they now have free periods. My experience with college students (I was once one too) is that they will often use this time for anything but studying: gaming, show-binging, napping, donut runs, etc. Hogwarts students aren't of college age, but in their world it amounts to the same.
• Snape's description of fighting the Dark Arts is memorable: "... You are fighting that which is unfixed, mutating, indestructible."
• And Harry's slip of the tongue: "There's no need to call me 'sir,' Professor." Well, let's just say if a student such as Harry said that to me, I would undoubtedly laugh and immediately give 20 points to his dorm.

Chapter titles are meant to tease. But come on. I should've expected not to expect the revealing of the identity of the Half-Blood Prince. I won't guess. Would probably just make myself look silly. And who's to say it's a character we've even met. I need someone to cauldron me up a patience potion.

In these stories it doesn't pay to believe in coincidences. Slughorn just happens to be teaching the class? Harry just happened not to realize he could get into the potions class? Harry just happens to stumble upon an old book that helps him win the "lucky" potion? And the book just happens to have once been the property of the Half-Blood Prince?

Did Harry already drink the lucky potion? I can only assume that this discovery is another step toward Harry's destiny. The Chosen One he is.

Now if I could just whip up a potion that graded papers for me.

Old Snape has a new job

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Chapter 8

In the interest of not burying the lead (newspaper lingo), Snape will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Is it too late to register? I hope there's not a waitlist.

Take it this year if you want Snape, because hanging on to this job is as impossible as trying to cast a spell without a wand. Let's review previous DADA professors:

• Sorcerer's Stone, Professor Quirrell: That guy was so two-faced.
• Chamber of Secrets, Gilderoy Lockhart: GilLo is still giving out autographs.
• Prisoner of Azkaban, Remus Lupin: Dude was a werewolf.
• Goblet of Fire, Mad-Eye Moody/Barty Crouch Jr.: This was a train wreck in so many ways.
• Order of the Phoenix, Dolores Umbridge: The High Instigator. Enough said.

This was certainly big and surprising news at the year-opening feast. If they all only knew about Snape's meeting a few chapters back with Death Eaters. But as you know from Chapter 2 I think Snape is on the Dumbledore side of magic.

Harry, however, will dread every time he walks into Snape's classroom. If Snape becomes a hero or martyr for the good guys, will Harry's opinion change? Of course, if Snape is a truly dark dude, Harry won't be surprised. He might even feel vindicated.

In the continuing trend of open communication lines, Harry tells Ron what happened to him in the Slytherin car. And Ron again has an adult conversation. As much as things stay the same -- escape from the Dursleys, catching the train to school, Harry finding trouble, Malfoy being Malfoy -- the more they change.