FAQ for
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) Plus avec IMDbPro »

The following FAQ entries may contain spoilers. Only the biggest ones (if any) will be covered with spoiler tags. Spoiler tags are used sparingly in order to make the page more readable.

For detailed information about the amounts and types of (a) sex and nudity, (b) violence and gore, (c) profanity, (d) alcohol, drugs, and smoking, and (e) frightening and intense scenes in this movie, consult the IMDb Parents Guide for this movie. The Parents Guide for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince can be found here.

Yes. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2005) is the sixth book of the Harry Potter series, written by British author J.K. Rowling. The other books in the series include: (1) Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1997) (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the USA), (2) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (1998), (3) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999), (4) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000), (5) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2003), and (7) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007). Rowling's Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was adapted for the screen by American screenwriter Steve Kloves.

The movies have been released in the same order as the novels: (1) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001), (2) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), (3) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), (4) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), and (5) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007). Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the sixth movie in the series. Still to follow are (7) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I (2010) and (8) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II (2011).

The IMAX Corporation confirmed that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will be released simultaneously in IMAX theaters. Some sections will be in IMAX 3D. You can watch the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince teaser trailer for IMAX 3D here.

IMAX has now stated that the release of this film in IMAX will be delayed by two weeks because of a previous deal made with the producers of Transformers 2. Read the story here.

Neither Katie or Romilda are shown in actual classes with Harry and his friends. As they are Gryffindors, they all eat lunch together (which is where we see Katie when she freaks out after seeing Draco), and it was established that they take Hogsmeade visits at the same time (which is where Katie was cursed). Romilda is seen in the Gryffindor common room, and in the library (it's possible she just had a free period at the same time as Harry and Hermione).

Only two memories (three, if you count professor Slughorn's tampered-with and untampered-with memories as separate) are shown in the film. The first one of a young Tom Riddle learning that he is a wizard, the second being the altered memory of Horace Slughorn, and the third being the real memory Slughorn provides Harry with, which has not been tampered with. The Gaunts, Hepzibah Smith and Tom Riddle's Defense Against the Dark Arts teaching post request are all confirmed to have been omitted. They were included in the original script, but they were omitted because the director did not want to spend too much time on the Tom Riddle character.

In a new scene created for the movie, the Burrow is attacked by Bellatrix Lestrange and Fenrir Greyback during the Christmas break from Hogwarts. The scene was added in because the film's middle act would otherwise have had no action, and it would also show that there are no safe places anymore. The scene also helps develop Harry and Ginny's relationship a bit more because, during the scene, Harry runs after Bellatrix and Ginny rushes to help him. Also, Lupin and Tonks are featured in this scene, which establishes that they are a couple. Finally, the scene ends in a rather melancholic note given that the Burrow holds practically everything the Weasleys ever worked for, and since they were already quite impoverished, it adds to the darker tone of the movie.

Yes, Aragog's funeral scene is in this movie.

Dumbledore did indeed know about Voldemort's Horcruxes; he had already found two of them before he saw the memory of Slughorn where Tom Riddle mentions them: the first was Tom Riddle's diary, which was already destroyed in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and the other was Riddle's black ring (which Riddle wears in that memory). So Dumbledore did not need to see the memory to learn about the existence of Voldemort's Horcruxes themselves; he needed to see it so he could estimate how many Horcruxes Voldemort had made. In the memory, Riddle suggests splitting the soul in seven pieces as the best way to achieve immortality; from this, Dumbledore can derive that Voldemort has indeed split his soul in seven parts.

In the memory of young Tom Riddle at the orphanage, there was a picture of the cliffside on the wall. It is shown in a very brief shot when Dumbledore is in Riddle's room. This would be an important clue as to the location of the Horcrux.

Also, as Dumbledore says in the movie, the cave has known magic; since there is a Horcrux hidden, he has protected the place with magic charms. Perhaps Dumbledore has some way of detecting active magic, as the Ministery of Magic can detect underage wizards performing magic outside Hogwarts: the only thing he had to do was to search for traces of magic in places along the coast.

The book explains that young Tom had been there once on a field trip with the entire orphanage; he had lured two children into the cave and scared them in some unspecified way. In the book Dumbledore also mentions that the Horcruxes are hidden in places that meant something to Riddle, so the cave would be a good pick.

Yes, nearly the entire fight scene has been cut from this movie, and what hasn't been cut has been changed dramatically from the book. In the movie none of the Death Eaters, Aurors, teachers or Dumbledore's Army actually fight. This was done because the ending of The Deathly Hallows, the final novel, involves a very grandiose, epic battle at Hogwarts, and the filmmakers wanted to avoid the ending of this film being too similar to the ending of the final film.

Early in the film, Draco Malfoy's mother, Narcissa, and aunt, Bellatrix Lestrange, meet with Snape, asking him to take the Unbreakable Vow, binding him to fulfill a task given to Draco Malfoy if Draco is unable to perform it himself. The Unbreakable Vow brings instant death to the party who fails to keep his end of the oath. It is later revealed that Draco's job is to kill Dumbledore. As expected, Draco proves unable to carry out the deed, so Snape does it instead.

This spell does indeed produce a green flash, as in all previous movies (and the books), but the scene in which it is used has an overall cyan cast, and this affects the appearance of the spell as well. The fact that the spell is still green, not cyan, can be more clearly seen in the IMAX version of the movie than in the 35mm version.

It is Professor Snape . However, the movie does not explain why he calls himself as such. In the book, it is explained that he was the son of the witch Eileen Prince and of a muggle. Ashamed of the fact that he was not a pure blood wizard, he tried to emphasize the fact that his mother was magical, referring to himself as the "Half-Blood Prince."

Yes, the funeral of Professor Dumbledore has been cut. It was in the original drafts of the script but was eliminated. From a practical point of view, it would involve getting numerous people together including high profile actors (Imelda Staunton, Miranda Richardson etc) for a few seconds' screen time with no dialogue. The effects would be costly as Grawp, the centaurs and the mermaids feature prominently. Instead, the students are shown giving a tribute at the end and the bit afterwards with Harry, Ron and Hermione takes place in a tower. It has been rumored that Deathly Hallows: Part I will open with the funeral.

At the end of the film, Harry shows the Horcrux to Hermione, revealing it to be fake. Inside the locket is a note from RAB, who claims to now be in possession of the real one. The identity of RAB was a hotly-debated topic after the book came out and, of course, the truth was not revealed until the final book or, in this case, the final film. Rowling's comments on the matter are just as useful for the film as for the book: with very few exceptions (Xenophilius Lovegood, Rufus Scrimgeour, etc.), all the characters who appear in the final film are characters who have been previously introduced or at least referred to. RAB is no exception, so if you pay close attention, this film gives you a clue you can use to figure it out. However, if you just have to know now, RAB is Regulus Arcturus Black, the brother of Sirius Black.

Unfortunately, the only sequence shown in IMAX 3D is from the beginning until Harry arrives at the Weasleys' home. After that, everything is non-3D.

It is entirely possible that they may hold Bill and Fleur's wedding at another house, like Auntie Muriel's or Bill & Fleur's cottage, for example. It is also a possibility that they will have rebuilt the Burrow by the time Harry gets there. Another possibility is that they may have put the fire out in time, but it just wasn't shown in the film. It is unknown at this point as the film's script information is very limited at the moment. One logical possibility is that the Weasley twins use their new joke shop fortune to rebuild it or even buy their parents a new house.

They will have to find an alternate explanation for Harry's knowledge or discovery of the Cup of Helga Hufflepuff. Keep in mind that the writers for the movies have become quite creative in circumventing parts of the books and still pass essential information. Good example is the omission of the character Dobby from The Goblet of Fire; in the book it was Dobby who provided Harry with Gillyweed; in the movie it was Neville. Some possible solutions in order of probability based on the Deadly Hallows book include:

1) Harry eventually meets Griphook the Goblin, who works at Gringotts bank. He tells Harry that Bellatrix Lestrange recently left something in her vault at Gringotts. Harry, Ron and Hermione suspect it is the Hufflepuf Cup and infiltrate the bank. They enter the vault and the Cup is there indeed. This would be by far the easiest solution, requiring the least amount of story manipulation; both in the book and the movie, Harry would learn of the Horcrux' location by accident, but only in the book did Harry actually know beforehand what object he was exactly looking for.

2) Kreacher, Sirius' old House Elf, helps Harry retrieve the original locket Horcrux, as he was present when Voldemort hid it in the cave. Perhaps in the movie, Kreacher has information about the other Horcruxes as well, which he can share with Harry.

3) Harry inherits a Golden Snitch from Dumbledore, which becomes more important later. Perhaps in the movie, he also inherits the memory that provides the clue to the Hufflepuff Cup.

3) Hermione inherits a book of tales from Dumbledore which provides very subtle clues as to how they can defeat Voldemort. Perhaps in the movie, the book also contains some of Dumbledore's notes, or a picture of the cup, that provides a clue.

4)It may be retconned in the sequel that Dumbledore showed Harry more memories, but they just weren't shown in The Half-Blood Prince. This seems a less likely solution, as such story-telling tricks are often perceived as cheating the audience.

Christian Coulson actually did express interest in returning to his role as Riddle. However, the filmmakers felt he was too old for the part, as he is now nearing age 30. Still, this seems kind of a strange decision as the actress who portrays Moaning Myrtle (Shirley Henderson) was 40 years old when she played the character in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.