Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter #6)

Summary:

It is the middle of the summer, but there is an unseasonal mist pressing against the windowpanes. Harry Potter is waiting nervously in his bedroom at the Dursleys' house in Privet Drive for a visit from Professor Dumbledore himself. One of the last times he saw the Headmaster was in a fierce one-to-one duel with Lord Voldemort, and Harry can't quite believe that Professor Dumbledore will actually appear at the Dursleys' of all places. Why is the Professor coming to visit him now? What is it that cannot wait until Harry returns to Hogwarts in a few weeks' time? Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts has already got off to an unusual start, as the worlds of Muggle and magic start to intertwine...  (Summary and cover courtesy of goodreads.com)

Review:

Without fail, Harry manages to find new and creative ways to get into trouble every school year.  In this installment, however, it would seem that the trouble Harry is getting into is designed by Dumbledore himself.   Harry and Dumbledore begin to have private lessons and Harry dives deep into the world of magical history and upcoming conflict.  I think this book is so powerful because we do get to know Dumbledore so much more.  We get some insights that in the previous books we were only able to see in the “sit down chat” that Harry and Dumbledore seem to have at the end of every book.  With that, however, we also find out just how much we don’t know and just how many challenges are up ahead. 

Professor Slughorn absolutely cracks me up so I particularly enjoyed his addition to Hogwarts.  There are a lot of people who never make it past this book and I just have to say – commit to reading the last two books close to each other because it’s going to torture you if you don’t!

Warning: Contains violence.

Rating: 5 stars!

Who should read it? Fans of the series – you’ll be super confused if you don’t start earlier in the series!

Want to read the whole series?

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