Harry Potter and the Book That Gave Us Trust Issues

     (Aka Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince)

Intro: The One Where We Should Have Seen It Coming

Published in 2005, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the book where we all collectively ignored a million red flags—and paid for it big time.

This book is a wild mix of:
💀 Death Eater attacks left and right (nowhere is safe).
📖 A mysterious old Potions textbook with seriously OP spells.
❤️ Awkward teenage romance everywhere.
😨 Dumbledore acting way too chill about a certain prophecy.
🔪 The most shocking betrayal of the series. (But was it really?)

Oh, and did I mention that this is the book where we lost all faith in happiness?

Where Did the Inspiration Come From?

J.K. Rowling described Half-Blood Prince as the calm before the storm—which, considering the ending, is hilarious. Some key inspirations:

• Dark Academia Vibes – Between Slughorn’s exclusive club, Snape’s Potions expertise, and all the hidden knowledge, this book feels very secret society-esque.

• Classic Tragic Heroes – Dumbledore takes center stage as the wise mentor doomed to fall. (Think Gandalf, but with more secrets and a worse endgame plan).

• The Myth of Narcissus – Tom Riddle is the ultimate narcissist, obsessed with immortality and his own power. His downfall? His own arrogance.

• Poison & Betrayal in Mythology – From the poisoned mead to the cursed ring, this book is dripping with treachery. (See also: Snape’s entire arc.)

Summary: Love Potions, Dark Secrets, and a Murder Plot

We start with the most cursed tea party ever—Snape swearing an Unbreakable Vow to help Draco on a super shady mission. (Red flag No. 1.)

Meanwhile:

• Harry gets Slughorn’s old Potions textbook, which belonged to someone called The Half-Blood Prince. (And let’s just say, this dude knew his stuff).

• Draco Malfoy is suddenly super emo, constantly sneaking around. (Red flag No. 2.)

• Dumbledore becomes Harry’s personal history teacher, giving him exclusive Tom Riddle flashbacks via the Pensieve.

• Slughorn holds exclusive parties for his "favorite" students. (Nepotism? In Hogwarts? Groundbreaking.)

• Ron and Hermione continue their "Will They/Won’t They" saga—spoiler: they will, but not before peak teenage drama.

• Harry realizes he has feelings for Ginny, but instead of making a move, he just broods about it.

Then, the real horror begins.

Dumbledore and Harry embark on the worst field trip ever—to find one of Voldemort’s Horcruxes.
☠️ They go to a cursed cave, full of creepy zombie creatures.
☠️ Dumbledore is forced to drink literal nightmare fuel (which, btw, traumatized all of us).
☠️ They get the Horcrux (or so they think).

And then—THE scene.

• Draco finally reveals his plan—to kill Dumbledore.

• He hesitates. (Boy is shaking.)

• Snape appears. (Oh no.)

• "Avada Kedavra." (OH NO.)

• Dumbledore falls. (Absolute silence in the chat.)

Harry is devastated. Hogwarts is not safe anymore. And in the final gut punch—
📜 The Horcrux they found? A fake.
📜 The real one? M.I.A.
📜 The note? Signed R.A.B. (Who? Great question.)

Main Themes: It’s Giving "Betrayal"

🕵️ Secrets & Deception – From Snape’s true loyalty to Slughorn’s hidden memory, everyone is keeping secrets. (And none of them are good.)
💔 The Cost of Power – Dumbledore sacrifices everything to prepare Harry for the war.
⚗️ Obsessive Knowledge – Voldemort’s hunger for immortality, Snape’s Half-Blood Prince notes—it’s all about power through knowledge.
💀 Foreshadowing Doom – The book is full of warnings about what’s coming (but we ignored them, didn’t we?).

Movie vs. Book: What Got Left Out?

The Half-Blood Prince movie (2009) had vibes, but it also butchered some key moments:

• ❌ No Gaunt Family Backstory – The book gave us a deep dive into Voldemort’s twisted family history. (The movie? Nope.)

• ❌ Way Too Much Love Potion Drama – The movie added an entire burning Burrow scene (why?) but cut out actual plot.

• ❌ The Battle of Hogwarts? Missing. – In the book, the Death Eaters wreck Hogwarts on their way out. The movie? They just... leave.

• ✅ But hey, at least we got the Felix Felicis scene. (Drunk Harry is the best Harry.)

Fun Facts: Things You Might Not Know

• Alan Rickman (Snape) knew Snape’s true loyalty from J.K. Rowling herself—so his acting choices were chef’s kiss.

• Tom Felton (Draco) had to be constantly reminded that he wasn't actually supposed to like Harry & co. (He was too friendly on set).

• The cave scene was so intense that even Michael Gambon (Dumbledore) said it haunted him.

• That dramatic wand raise in the movie? Totally improvised.

Final Thoughts: Why This Book Still Hurts

We all went into this book thinking it was going to be a chill Hogwarts year with some romance and mystery. Instead, we got trauma, betrayal, and the beginning of the end.

This book was a masterclass in misdirection. We were so distracted by teenage drama and Slughorn’s weird parties that we didn’t realize we were marching toward heartbreak.

And that ending? We should have seen it coming. But we didn’t.

Next up:  Harry Potter and the Grand Finale That Left Us Emotionally Damaged. Brace yourselves.