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| Friday, October 16, 2009 12:48 AM |
| Re-Potterizing: Progress Report 4 |
 by Fëanor |
I've just finished rereading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which might be one of my favorites of the series so far.
- This book is much more about love than the previous books have been. Finally the people who are supposed to be together start getting together: Harry and Ginny, Ron and Hermione. A particularly telling scene comes rather early on, when Slughorn has a love potion sitting ready in the classroom, and Hermione stops in the midst of describing what it smells like to her and turns red, because certainly to her it must smell like Ron. To Harry, it has a smell he recognizes from the Weasley house - and that he smells again when Ginny shows up later. Ah ha!
- Also during their first class with Slughorn is the moment when Harry receives the Half-Blood Prince's old textbook. In the novel, he and Ron are simply handed a couple of used textbooks and Harry ends up with that one by chance. But this is one of those rare times when the movie does things better. In the film, Harry and Ron go to get the textbooks themselves, and find there are only two left in the cupboard - a nice new one, and a very old, ratty-looking one. A silent struggle immediately ensues as each of them tries to get the better-looking book. It's immensely funny, and it feels completely realistic and true to the characters. Of course Ron would particularly want the newer book, because he so hates the hand-me-downs he's constantly having to put up with at home.
- There's a wonderful scene later on in the book when Harry stands up to Rufus Scrimgeour, instantly seeing through the new Minister's political scheming and not willing to put up with it for a moment. He also proudly agrees that he is Dumbledore's man through and through. It really shows us how much Harry has grown, how much smarter he is now, and how brave he still is. Later he tells Dumbledore about this moment, and says again that he's Dumbledore's man through and through. The headmaster is so moved he can't speak for a moment. It's very touching.
- One of the great moments in the novels, which is done wonderfully in the film, is when Harry takes a drink of the Felix Felicis potion and has the luckiest night of his life. His adventures while under the spell of the potion are very entertaining and very funny. He manages to break up Ron and Lavender and Ginny and Dean just by arriving at the right place at the right time in his invisibility cloak. The funeral for Aragog is at once touching and hilarious. Also moving is the moment when Harry finally convinces Slughorn to give up the memory.
- Perhaps an even better scene, however, is the succeeding one, where Harry brings the memory to Dumbledore, they watch it, and Dumbledore unfolds for Harry the secret to defeating Voldemort, and what it really means to say that Harry's ability to love is what makes him so powerful. The final paragraph, where Harry realizes that the prophecy is really meaningless, and it's he himself who's decided to face Voldemort and defeat him, is thrilling indeed.
- It seems to me that not nearly as much happens in this book as in the previous books. There's no plot to steal the sorcerer's stone, no Tri-Wizard Tournament, no monster lurking in a hidden chamber, no complex plot involving time travel and prison escapes. Yes, Harry has to get a memory from one of his professors, and Dumbledore is finally filling him in on everything he knows about Voldemort, and preparing him for what he'll have to do in the next book. And at the very end there are a couple short bursts of adventure (the search for the Horcrux and of course the fateful battle at Hogwarts), but mostly it's just Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny sorting out their feelings for each other and trying to make it through another year at school. I'm not complaining, mind you. I think the book is solid and entertaining regardless, and the many character developing moments are powerful indeed. This volume of the series is simply a kind of summing up, a pause as we reconsider what's come before and get ready for the final adventure to come.
- The sequence in the cave near the end of the book is extremely powerful and effective for a variety of reasons. Not only do we get to witness some really fascinating and complex dark magic, which gives us insight into Voldemort's personality, we also get to see Dumbledore using all of his incredible knowledge to analyze and defeat that magic. The sequence in which Harry has to force Dumbledore to drink the terrible potion is agonizing and excellent. The relationship between Harry and Dumbledore is once again powerfully illuminated. Before Harry leaves with Dumbledore to go to the cave, he gives the rest of the Felix Felicis to his friends and declines to take any for himself - he knows he'll be safe because he'll be with Dumbledore. As he's leaving the cave with Dumbledore, he keeps up a constant stream of comforting and encouraging words to his headmaster, and Dumbledore finally replies, "I am not worried, Harry. I am with you." It's another very touching moment.
- It's wonderful how the attack on Bill finally brings together Fleur and Mrs. Weasely, not to mention Lupin and Tonks.
- Dumbledore's funeral is another powerful sequence. I like that Harry can't hear the speech that's given over Dumbledore's body; we know it's nothing but meaningless platitudes. He remembers humorous things about Dumbledore, and notes those who are truly honoring him, and those who are only showing lip service. He also realizes that a series of protectors have always stood between him and danger at every step of his life, but now his last and greatest protector has fallen and he's finally completely on his own. He's come of age, figuratively and, soon enough, literally.
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