More riddles to be confounded by

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Chapter 13

Yes, it's been a while since you've heard from me. But with entertainment options limited and no games to go to, now seems like a good time to renew my quest. The coronavirus (which sounds strangely like a magic spell) can't take away all of our fun.

Speaking of magic spells, make that curses, Katie Bell is thankfully recovering from whatever curse was on that necklace. In time (not to sound like Dumbledore, but I do), I suppose we will find out who was the intended target of the curse. And maybe who sent it.

Snape has Katie's recovery under control we're told. As a double-agent truly working for Dumbledore (that's my current opinion; see my post on Chapter 2 of this book for why), he might be able to conjure a way to figure out who it was meant for and who sent it.

Harry's eagerness for his face-to-face "lessons" (no distance learning required at Hogwarts) will be interesting to follow. There is a heavy nature to these encounters with memories swirling about in the Pensieve that could be mentally taxing for Harry. But his curiosity always pushes him forward even if it sometimes betrays him.

Harry is convinced that Draco Malfoy is a death-eater-in-training. He might be, but it seems that Dumbledore would be attuned to the future of Draco based on his experiences with a young Tom Riddle.

I would be judgmental to accuse Dumbledore of having been naive with the fledgling and orphaned (at least by his mother) Voldemort. No doubt he believes he should have seen darkness coming in young Tom Riddle. I'm sure he's had his wand up ever since those days when a student like Draco shows up. He knows, I assume, what to watch for.

What are we to watch for? Who is the Half-Blood Prince? What more will the Pensieve reveal? Who is Snape's true master? As always, there are more questions than answers.

And I'll keep trying to answer them.

Hanging in the balance

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Chapter 12

The important, plot-evolving part of this chapter is Katie Bell being dangled by her ankle by an invisible hand or crane or giant or some kind of other magic.

But let's allow that to hang there for a minute before I speculate and analyze this important development. Instead, let's spend a moment on Harry's fascination with the scribblings of the Half-Blood Prince. 

Doing well on the potions is certainly good for his grades. But learning hexes and jinxes? Now that's good stuff.

Be honest. Didn't you always want to be the one who was good at practical jokes and pranks? We all have wished at one time or another that we could pull off something original. To you who have that ability: I tip the Sorting Hat to you.

And a silent jinx that can throw Ron up in the air, keep him hanging there and drop him on the bed? Yeah, that would've been fun in the dorm.

So after Ron's upsy daisy foreshadowed what happened to Ms. Bell, it was the usual nasty cold, wind and every other winter element you can conjure up on the road to Hogsmeade. Is it just me or is the everyday nastiness of winter weather overplayed just a little? Quit making me think the current Ohio weather I am enduring ain't so bad.

Anyway, this business with Katie Bell being cursed 😱 by a necklace delivered in a brown-paper package sounds pretty suspicious. 😏 (Yes, I just discovered I can use emojis on here, so I'm gonna do it some. Forgive me if I overdo it.) I wonder if brown-paper packages used to be one of Katie Bell's favorite things. I digress.

Who was it meant for?

Who sent it?

Maybe it was a test by 💀 and his death-eating squad to see what could make it past Filch. At any rate it doesn't sound like Malfoy's doing unless he's got a lot of people on his payroll. That's a lot of conspiracy. Still, you better believe that son of a Death Eater is up to bad stuff.

Nothing good will ever come of that boy.