Even if we’ll have to wait a little more, I think the movie will be very good and the time will not be wasted.

by J. K. Rowling

Published July 16, 2005
(Bloomsbury, Scholastic, Raincoast, et al.)
illustrations by Mary GrandPré, 2005 (U.S. edition)

Dedication:
To Mackenzie,
my beautiful daughter,
I dedicate
her ink-and-paper twin.

Resources:

• Reader’s Guide to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
  a complete chapter-by chapter guide with notes and commentary
• Canon Portkey: detailed outline of the book
  explore book six with links and cross-references
• Fantastical Facts from the new book
  a number of the more interesting new facts we’ve uncovered in The Half-Blood Prince.
• Chapter synopses
• Day by day calendar of events in the book
• Differences between the British and American versions
• Edits and changes to the text
• Gallery of cover art from around the world (from Leaky Galleries)

Word count:

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - 168,923
Official Word Count Provided by Scholastic Inc TM & © 2004-1996. All rights reserved.

Other media versions:

• Audiobooks
  • Stephen Fry (U.K. version)
  • Jim Dale (U.S. version)

Notes and facts about the book:

This is the sixth book in the series. In the Lexicon, its abbreviation is HBP.

When Rowling first put the title on her website it was written “Half Blood” Prince. Soon afterward she changed the title on her site to the more grammatically correct “Half-Blood” Prince, which is how it was published.

Rowling’s comments about the book:

Aug 15, 2004:

At the moment, I really like how the sixth book is going. A lot happens in the sixth book and a lot of questions are answered. I really have a sense that we are nearly there and it is time for answers, not more questions and clues, although obviously there are a few clues as I am not quite finished yet. I hope that that is sufficiently frustrating for you, knowing that you can’t read it yet! (EBF)

About the first chapter of the book:

I have come close to using a chapter very like this in Philosopher’s Stone (it was one of the discarded first chapters), Prisoner of Azkaban and Order of the Phoenix but here, finally, it works, so it’s staying. And that’s all I’m going to say, but when you read it, just know that it’s been about thirteen years in the brewing.

Many more comments and details are being revealed every day. For up-to-the-moment coverage, visit Everything There Is to Know About Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (unless You’re JKR) on the Floo Network.

That piece of music in the background is called “Night on Bald Mountain” by Modest Mussorgsky, though I believe it does sometimes go by another name which I can’t at this moment recall. You would be most likely to know it from Disney’s Fantasia, the bit with the demon and the ghosts.

from harry potter and the half-blood prince trailer