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Who died in book 6? Who is the Half-Blood Prince? Discuss the answers with other HP fans at the fan site forums... Chiff.com Half-Blood Prince Review

Harry Potter And the Half-Blood Prince...

Who Is the Half-Blood Prince?
Which Character Dies in Book 6?
What's JK Rowling Saying in Interviews?
Who is RAB?

The newest addition to JK Rowling's Harry Potter series...Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, arrived at the stroke of midnight, of course...the witching hour on Saturday, July 16th. The American version of the sixth book weighs in at a healthy 652 pages. Check out the Harry Potter Party scene to see what went on around the world while fans were waiting to get their a copy. There should be plenty of books to go around. The first printing in the US ran 10.8 million copies and 1.2 were printed for Canadian book stores.

Scholastic says that 6.9 million books were sold in the US on the first day they were available. That beats the slightly more than 5 million copies of the Order of the Phoenix that flew of the shelves when the fifth book was released. They are getting ready with a second printing of an additional 2.7 million books for the USA to make sure that there are enough copies of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince for eager fans.

For those of you who already have a copy ... get reading. Forums are now open for discussing Half-Blood Prince beware of what you read - and write - so you don't spoil the story for yourself or anyone else.

Bookstores around the world were open at one minute after midnight on July 16th to sell copies of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the 6th book in the Harry Potter series. The cover art for the US Deluxe edition, the UK adult version and the UK cover (shown above) were already public knowledge.

J.K. Rowling was in Scotland for the big event and read from the book at the stroke of midnight July 16, in Edinburgh Castle. At 12:01 AM (GMT), she bewitched 70 cub reporters from all over the world who won contests to be there. The "Harry Potter Children's Press Conference" was broadcast around the world on television and radio. There were huge HBP Release Parties all over the world. In the US, the biggest party was Spellbound!, an event that the major HP fan sites sponsored. Potter Parties.com kept track of local parties.

Bloomsbury, the book publisher, released the back cover with a short summary of the beginning of the book. It didn't reveal who the Half Blood Price was - or which characters died, but did contain some spoilers. If you want to read it, check out the Wizard's News site...

Several fans reported getting early copies of the book, but none revealed the details. While it is fun to guess what will happen - and who it will happen to - most Harry Potter fans respect the spoiler policy and won't leak news that might ruin the fun for others...even now that many have read the whole book. This means that even though the book is available all over the world, you won't find anyone talking about the contents until everyone has had a chance to read the book. Follow this link for a no spoiler review of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Time Magazine is one of the lucky ones...Jo Rowling agreed to an interview with them. Check out the online interview, but watch for a pop-up, and pick up the July 25, 2005 issue of TIME magazine if you can find a copy at your library, for the full interview.

Owen Jones, a 14 year old fan from Cardiff, won the chance to ask JK Rowlings a few questions. She did give him a few hints about book seven...“When people have finished reading this book, they will really know what to expect in book seven and I think I give very clear pointers as to what Harry will do next..." more of their interview is posted on the Ireland Online site.

Jo Rowling also spoke with Katie Couric in Scotland about the Half-Blood Prince and how Harry Potter has changed her life. The first part of the interview, a teaser really, was shown on NBC’s Dateline on Sunday, July 17th. Jo spoke about how complicated things have become with her fame and fortune, but she is very aware of how fortunate she is. She did make a visit to her flat where she lived when she began her Harry Potter journey. Katie Couric asked her about book seven. JKR says she's already begun the last Harry Potter novel. No one else knows what the seventh book will include and Jo Rowling is very good at keeping Harry's secrets.

The full interview was broadcast on Monday, July 18th on the Today Show. The video of Katie Couric asking Jo the questions from American fans is live at the Today Show site. If you missed the show be sure to visit to find out Jo Rowlings favorite color, and other details on the creator of the Harry Potter series. Besides information on the interview, MSNBC has some good coverage of the Harry Potter scene with polls, links and videos. If you'd like to read the transcript of the Katie Couric interview with JKR for the 5th book they have it posted at the Dateline NBC site - Inside ‘Order of the Phoenix’.

Meanwhile, the hottest buzz around the fan sites still centers on the two questions, but as readers make their way to the end of the book, a third 'hot' question has cropped up...Remember the spoiler policy. You won't find the answers here unless you really want to...

• Who is the Half-Blood Prince? (SPOILER ALERT)
• Who dies in book 6? (SPOILER ALERT)
• Who is RAB? (This is more clarification than spoiler, since RAB did appear in the Order of the Phoenix and remember the locket at 12 Grimmauld Place which no one could open. Where did that rubbish bag that it was thrown into wind up?)

Before Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince hit the bookstores, rumors swirled and everyone had a theory - or theories - and a favorite pick. There were some clues to the identity of the Half-Blood Prince. Macleans in Canada offered some thoughts, and a poll on who would die in book 6. The BBC poll showed who were the most likely candidates before the Half-Blood prince was available.

It was not even certain that only one person would die. What was certain was that it wouldn't be Harry - he still has another adventure ahead of him in book 7 and JKR has stated that Harry and Voldemort will survive at least into book 7. There are rumors that the boy wizard will die in book 7, but that's still a long way off... and educated guesses see Harry surviving the final battle - although very much a different person than the young and innocent Harry Potter...

Who Could the Half-Blood Prince be? Fact monster is ran a poll that showed most fans thought it would be a new character. It's was almost certainly character with only one wizard parent and one Muggle - although Hagrid is a possible. With one wizard and one Giant parent, he is of mixed wizardly heritage. Quite a few serious students of the Harry Potter books suggested that it might be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts (DADA) teacher who was recruited by Dumbledore in book 6...and was rumored to have very strong skills in the "old magic" - a requirement for the Half-Blood Prince...

All Harry Potter fans will soon know the answers to these and many other questions... Millions of copies of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince have already been picked up around the world and Harry Potter fans are busy reading and discovering the secrets...

Now the discusssion are focusing on rumors about book 7. Will those who were once Death Eaters turn out to be friends or foes? Will Dumbledore still guide Harry to the answers he needs? Where will the last book take Harry and his friends? What new dangers and enemies will they face? Who will they meet along the way to the ultimate battle between a grown up Harry and Voldemort?