In the previous book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the last chapter, titled 'The Second War Begins,' started:
'In a brief statement on Friday night, Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge confirmed that He Who Must Not Be Named has returned to this country and is once more active.
'It is with great regret that I must confirm that the wizard styling himself Lord — well, you know who I mean — is alive and among us again,' said Fudge.'
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince takes up the story of Harry Potter's sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry at this point as Voldemort's power and followers are increasing day by day, in the midst of this battle of good and evil.
Utdrag ur boken:
‘We ought to check that there's nothing odd about it. I mean, all these funny instructions, who knows?’
‘Hey!’ said Harry indignantly, as she pulled his copy of ''Advanced Potion-Making'' out of his bag and raised her wand.
‘Specialis revelio!’ she said, rapping it smartly on the front cover.
Nothing whatsoever happened. The book simply lay there, looking old and dirty and dog-eared.
‘Finished?’ said Harry irritably. ‘Or d'you want to wait and see if it does a few back flips?’
‘It seems all right,’ said Hermione, still staring at the book suspiciously. ‘I mean, it really does seem to be ... just a textbook.’
‘Good. Then I'll have it back,’ said Harry, snatching it off the table, but it slipped from his hand and landed open on the floor.
Nobody else was looking. Harry bent low to retrieve the book and, as he did so, he saw something scribbled along the bottom of the back cover in the same small, cramped handwriting as the instructions that had won him his bottle of Felix Felicis, now safely hidden inside a pair of socks in his trunk upstairs.
This Book is the Property of the Half-Blood Prince
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