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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the sixth novel in J.K. Rowling's popular Harry Potter series. Set during Harry Potter's sixth year at Hogwarts, it prepares the reader for his last battles with Lord Voldemort, whose past is examined in much more detail than previous books in the series, and it deals with the emerging romantic relationships of various students. When it was released on July 16, 2005, it was the first book in the United Kingdom to have a simultaneous standard print, large print, and Braille edition release.

In 24 hours, the book sold 6.9 million copies in the United States alone, roughly about 250,000 books per hour, making it the fastest selling book in history. It generated over $100 million in sales out of the gate, outpacing even the combined take of the top movies at the box office. Bookseller Barnes and Noble reported sales averaging 105 copies per second in the first hour of sales.

Voldemort and his allies begin to act openly, causing widespread chaos and paranoia in Britain. Rufus Scrimgeour replaces Cornelius Fudge as Minister of Magic, due to Fudge's previous inaction against Lord Voldemort[HP5]. Severus Snape makes an Unbreakable Vow to Draco Malfoy's mother Narcissa that he will protect Draco and aid him in his first mission as a Death Eater.

Security measures have been increased at Hogwarts. Snape is given his coveted Defence Against the Dark Arts post while Horace Slughorn is persuaded by Dumbledore and Harry Potter to return from retirement to replace Snape as Potions teacher. Slughorn lends the unprepared Harry an old textbook marked as the Half-Blood Prince's. Its handwritten notes help Harry to outdo even Hermione in Potions.

With Slughorn's reluctant help, Albus Dumbledore shows Harry details of Voldemort's past. They discover that Voldemort created six Horcruxes and divided his soul into seven pieces to become immortal as long as they exist. While two of Voldemort's Horcruxes have already been destroyed (Tom Riddle's diary by Harry[HP2] and Marvolo Gaunt's ring by Dumbledore), Dumbledore believes that there are four more that must be destroyed. Dumbledore and Harry set off to retrieve one (Salazar Slytherin's locket), but Dumbledore is heavily weakened by drinking the potion guarding it.

The two return to find the Dark Mark over Hogwarts and Death Eaters attacking students and teachers. As they investigate, they are surprised by Draco. Dumbledore paralyses Harry, who is invisibly cloaked. Draco reveals that he let the Death Eaters into Hogwarts via a magical cabinet. Other Death Eaters soon arrive and urge Draco to fulfill his mission, but Draco hesitates. Snape then arrives and kills Dumbledore with the Avada Kedavra curse, fulfilling his vow. Harry pursues Snape, who identifies himself as the Half-Blood Prince before fleeing from Hogwarts.

Minerva McGonagall becomes the interim headmistress of Hogwarts, but she and the other teachers fear that the school may have to be closed down. Harry discovers that the locket he and Dumbledore recovered is a fake. The actual locket was taken by the mysterious R.A.B.. After Dumbledore's funeral, Harry decides not to return to school so that he can devote his time to destroying the remaining Horcruxes and defeating Voldemort.