I just had the longest post imaginable written about this book and then my computer decided it didn't want to save it. Shame on you, mac. Shame on you. Anyway, I guess I'll just go ahead and do what I did with the previous post and will continue to do the same with the final book as well.
Harry's sixth year starts with Dumbledore asking his assistance in bringing back Horace Slughorn to teach at Hogwarts once again. (Of course, Harry has no idea that that's not all that Dumby is wanting Slughorn back for.) When they achieve their goal, Harry heads to the Burrow where Dumby says to relay the information he has learned (and will be learning) to Ron and Hermione, and soon it's off to Diagon Alley to see Fred & George's new shop. They see Draco Malfoy skulk off down Knockturn Alley and, of course, follow him. They see him threaten Burke and ask him to keep something safe as he is mending the other one. Having not much to go on, they find their way back and soon find themselves back on the Hogwarts Express. Harry sneaks into Draco's carriage, hears some less than helpful information, is found out, Tonks finds him under his invisibility cloak and he soon learns of the extensive security measures placed around the school. He and Ron are told to take up Potions again which leads him to the battered book of the Half-Blood Prince's. Soon after, his lessons begin with Dumbledore and instead of learning extensive magic, he's learning vital information that will help in the destruction of the Dark Lord. Months pass and after winning the coveted bottle of Felix Felicis in potions, Harry is forced to take the invitation to Slughorn's Christmas party. As many girls are hot on his case, Hermione recommends finding someone fast and he asks Luna. When he finds she's well occupied, he sneaks off after Draco and Snape and learns of the unbreakable vow between Snape and Narcissa. He voices his concerns at the Burrow on Christmas, but both Lupin and Mr.Weasley suggest it's nothing and tell him to move on. Back at school, Harry finds that Slughorn has tampered with an important memory regarding Horcruxes, a term that Harry knows nothing about. But Draco is still nagging at his mind. He sets Kreacher and Dobby on the case and learns he's in the Room of Requirement. Dumby suggests that it's nothing and that the memory is much more important. When he tells his friends he's had no luck, they suggest taking Felix. He heads down to Hagrid's hut after taking it, bumps into Slughorn and by the end of the night has the proper memory. Dumby explains that Voldy succeeded in making as many as six (whoops, seven!) horcruxes, yet they have already destroyed two while he's already on the hunt for the next. He almost kills Draco, hides his potion book under a battered bust topped with a rusty tiara in the room of requirement, learns that Snape is the one who overheard the prophecy and relayed the information to Voldy and then they're off towards the cave hiding the horcrux. It's in this cave, in my opinion, that one of the darkest sequences thus far in the series takes place. Now that the locket is in their possession, it's back to Hogwarts where they find the Dark Mark cast high above the Astronomy tower. Dumby asks him to fetch Snape, but Harry doesn't get far as the fight between the Order of the Phoenix and the Death Eaters is going full blast. Draco disarms Dumby, Snape kills Dumby and Harry chases after them as they flee. The fight continues and most of the Death Eaters are gone before Harry can get to them. Despite admitting his feelings for Ginny, he breaks up with her and tells Ron and Hermione that he's off to finish Voldemort and will let them know where he is when he can. Hermione reminds him of how stupid he is, that they've had plenty of time to back out and they're aware of the danger they're in by going with him. As Ron puts it, "We're with you whatever happens."
This is not only my favorite book of the second half, but this is also the first book in the series to make me shed a few tears. What's worse is that it's only the last page and a half that makes me tear up. That seems like some sort of joke, but the friendship between the three of them is just so...well, for lack of a better word, magical. Anywho, what makes this my favorite of the second half is that it's virtually all plot. There's very little action. Unless, of course, you consider the action to be entirely hormonal then yes, it's action packed. But I think that's what makes this book so wonderful. It's the precursor to the grand finale, the battle between good and evil, the WWII of the wizarding world. Without any of this crucial information, a good portion of the seventh one wouldn't make any sort of sense or would seem entirely boring. I also really like it for the amount of hilarity pulsating within the walls of Hogwarts. It's usually just a good joke or one-liner here or there, but this one was full of humor. I love that.
There were a few changes in the film adaptation that I quite liked and a few that I wish would have been kept in. For instance, the added scene of Bellatrix and Fenrir attacking the Burrow at Christmas was amazing. It really added an element of danger to an already mounting sense of unease. I also liked that Luna was the one to find Harry on the train instead of Tonks because, well, who doesn't love Luna? I wish that they would have kept the fight in between the Order of the Phoenix and the Death Eaters. I thought that that sort of chaos would have translated really well to the screen in the hands of David Yates. Ah, well. I enjoyed it all the same.
Good god. I seem to have let my hands get away with me again. It would be so much easier to talk about these books if they weren't so damn good.
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