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The Half Blood Prince: Looking Beneath the Possibilities
by Luna Lovegood
July 18, 2004
Luna Lovegood here. I was astounded by the rumors circulating about the sixth Harry Potter book. From JKR's mouth and Harry Potter news clippings world-wide, we now have confirmation of the title, which I'm sure you have all heard of by now: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. The half blood prince could be anyone, which will be discussed later. But really, why would a half blood prince be so important to the sixth book to have the title named after the person?
Every book before was mostly a non-person that followed the constant Harry Potter. "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" could have easily been called, "Harry Potter and the Really Old Guy;" "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" could have been, "Harry Potter and the Mysterious Riddle;" while "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" could have been, "Harry Potter and the Funny Foreigners." The exceptions, of course, would be the third and fifth books, and looking back at those, either person or groups of people were a very large part to the full mystery of the books. The first book did not focus on Nicholas Flamel, but instead on the immortality of the stone. In the second and fourth books, the object was merely a tool leading to the significant picture. From this, it is easily seen that whoever this prince is, will be an integral part in this sixth book and in the final.
Perhaps this prince will also help in the defeat of Lord Voldemort. We can only hope, because while it is nice to think that the prince is a good guy, there is a very real chance that he is evil - very evil. When Lord Voldemort had to choose between killing a pure blood (Neville Longbottom) and a half blood (Harry Potter), he consciously chose the half blood. Why would he choose a half blood when he himself believes that pure bloods make better wizards? Maybe there is some hidden level of truth here that half bloods are more dangerous; that they pose a greater threat from the very blood running through their veins.
We know this prince will mean a lot in the future of Harry Potter; we know that there is a big chance he can be a large contributor to the balance between good and evil; and we know that we really don't know too much at all. We have no idea about this mysterious person except the fact that Lord Voldemort and Harry, the most likely of anyone, are indeed both not the half blood prince. We know that it has some sort of connection with the second book, which is also from JKR's mouth. In conclusion, we know nearly nothing.
When looking at all the possibilies of who this mysterious half blood prince is, it could be any male character we've seen already, which is approximately 81 characters. However, on closer look some people can be eliminated. Now JKR is one smart woman. Say this to yourself every time you start speculating, and then maybe you'll know what you are up against. Anything, everything you have read up to now makes hardly any difference, because you must not assume anything! CONSTANT VIGILANCE! On that note, we can definitely eliminate Moody. If he were anything, it'd be more likely that he was a King seeing his parents are probably dead, and there has been no talk about any children, but perhaps that's a good thing.
However, there is something I stumbled upon. Sirius once said that his family thought that to be a Black meant you were practically royalty, but what if they actually are a bit royal? Now all of the Black family is pure blood, which is pretty obvious since they do pride themselves on that fact, however, do remember the holes that were burned into the Black family tapestry. Now why would JKR show us this, but to see the difference of pure bloods and what happens when they don't follow the trail that was set in front of them by the family: they are erased forever. From this we know that Sirius, Tonks, and the Weasleys' were erased. I highly doubt that JKR would be so nice as to bring Sirius back.
Tonks is a girl; yes I've noticed this minor factoid, although she can turn into a guy whenever she wishes, so she could still be a possibility. Tonks once said, "Metamorphmagi are really rare, they're born, not made." This single statement is very similar to the thought of royalty: Princes are not made...they are born. Could there be another hidden reason why Tonks doesn't like her first name - could it have any connection to her pass family connections? Many people would rule Tonks out since she is a Metamorphmagi, but her mum is related to the Blacks, while her father, Ted Tonks, was not a pure blood. We know hardly anything about Ted, but he could be royalty, in effect making Tonks the Half Blood Prince - it would shock many.
But alas, the Weasleys: for a wizarding family to like muggles so much it is strange that they are pure blood. Does the line, "Weasley is our King!" sound familiar? Could this be a clue - does it mean anything, or is it just a coincidence? In my experience, there are hardly any coincidences in the Harry Potter world. Always refer back to rule number one: JKR is a very smart woman. Does this mean that Ronald Weasley could be some sort of King, and let's just say, hypothetically of course, he marries Hermione Granger. Their child would be a half blood prince. What if time travel resurfaced? ...Or perhaps even another prophecy. The ideas are endless.
My next victims include ones that come up in the second book, as JKR gave us a clue that the second book would be very essential to this upcoming book. The Creevey brothers, Lockhart, Dobby, and Hagrid.
For starters the Creevey brothers have always been around - around so much that it is so easy to forget they exist. Do they have a bigger part than just annoying kids who like taking pictures and getting a glimpse at the "famous" Harry Potter? What if their behavior was to solely cover up their royalty for their own safety? Their father was a milkman, but was there ever talk of their mother? Both of them could have easily covered up the fact that they are royalty. In OotP, the youngest Creevey brother, Dennis Creevey, was allowed into Hogsmeade even though he was not of age. Do royalty get special treatment at certain times? The obvious answer is yes. I still wonder why the others didn't take note of that factor, but I guess the group had other things on their mind such as vanquishing the evil Umbridge (and I pray every night that Umbridge is not the half blood prince). Could the annoying brothers be more than what they appear?
Now Lockhart is a strange one. He sure does act as though he is royalty at times, even now, as he sits in St Mungo's trying to recover his memory. I find it strange that he was brought back up after Chamber of Secrets. His character doesn't die off, but reappears after a two-book break. The fact that it says he's recovering, and not just rotting away gives hope that we just might see more of that charming smile we like so much *cough*. He may not be the upcoming half-blood prince, but I'm sure he'll be around.
Second to last is the annoying creature that follows Harry around incessantly, Dobby. Now Dobby was a minor part in Chamber of Secrets popping up everywhere to save Harry from the evilness that was to torment the school during the year. JKR clearly stated that something small in Chamber of Secrets was to come up in this sixth book, and Dobby is small, in character and size, making him a target to fulfill that gaping hole that we are trying to fill. Is there some sort of elfish royalty that we have not been privy to before?
However, even though Dobby is small, this might be the wrong direction. JKR's clues are often misleading and refined to give the least information while increasing the mystery tenfold. In this case, she gives us a hint including the word "small," yet this could be a tricky clue since the last person we would ever think, as being small could be a viable candidate. Hagrid. He is gargantuan, which would contradict the clue pushing the reader away from this choice. What if this was intentional? If so, Hagrid could be the possible half blood prince. Following Hagrid's roles throughout the series, he did have quite a large part in the Chamber of Secrets. When we define a "small part" it is different to how JKR defines it. JKR can see the whole picture; we can't unfortunately. Is it a small part in comparison to the first five books or the whole series? The fans have no way of knowing. The rumor before the fifth book that Hagrid was the one to die only feeds into the fans overlooking him. Most expected him to be the one to die, but now that the hill has passed, we put our walls down concerning Hagrid. Hagrid's part in Chamber of Secrets can be somewhat small when compared to what might be in store for him.
JKR is very fond of surprises, and I do believe we will be shocked again with this sixth book. We'll just have to wait it out, as Harry Potter fans are known for, and keep reading (especially Chamber of Secrets) to uncover truth, mystery, and any further clues we can get our grubby hands on. "I think I'll just go down and have some pudding and wait for it all to turn up... it always does in the end..."
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