Harry Potted

Done. Finished.

I now know who the Half-Blood Prince is. I know who dies in the end. And now I can read the Time magazine article.

I’m pretty sure the dead person will come back. Heck, it’s a magical world. If Obi-Wan Kenobi can do it using the Force, if Voldemort was able to come back from the dead, then I don’t see why _____________ can’t come back in some form or another.

Truth be told, the death was neither unexpected nor that shocking as compared to the first death encountered in the Harry Potter series. It’s clear from her last two books that J.K. Rowling won’t hesitate to kill off even her most well-loved characters, no matter how handsome they are (goodbye, Cedric!) The two major deaths in the last two books may have made the readers immune to the shock of this latest casualty. But then it is precisely the identity of this latest “victim” that makes me hesitate to write off this character. I won’t be surprised if this character appears again in the seventh and last book.

In fact, the whole of “Half-Blood Prince” seems to be just a major set-up for a grand finale for the final chapter of Potter’s saga. Nothing much really happens in terms of action (though a major fight scene happens towards the end just like in “Order of the Phoenix”), and most of the book is actually an exposition into Voldemort’s past. It’s about time—the poor villain has never had a chance to become a full-bodied character until now.

Now we wait for the movie “Goblet of Fire” and the seventh book.