School yearVIPublished2005-07-16
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Dumbledore uses memories to teach Harry what a Horcrux is and how many Voldemort meant to make. Draco Malfoy is under orders to kill the headmaster and lets Death Eaters into the castle. On the Astronomy Tower, Dumbledore — already dying from the ring’s curse — is killed by Severus Snape, fulfilling the plan they made. Harry is left with a false locket, a broken burial, and the task of finding the remaining Horcruxes without his teacher.
In this book
Also profiled
- Ron Weasley
- Hermione Granger
- Rubeus Hagrid
- Lord Voldemort
- Fred Weasley
- Remus Lupin
- Ginny Weasley
- Neville Longbottom
- George Weasley
- Minerva McGonagall
- Alastor Moody
- Arthur Weasley
- Vernon Dursley
- Molly Weasley
- Cornelius Fudge
- Dudley Dursley
- Percy Weasley
- Luna Lovegood
- Kreacher
- Petunia Dursley
- Bill Weasley
- Argus Filch
- Sybill Trelawney
- Fleur Delacour
- Nymphadora Tonks
- Gregory Goyle
- Vincent Crabbe
- Dean Thomas
- Cho Chang
- Hedwig
- Bellatrix Lestrange
- Bartemius Crouch
- Oliver Wood
- James Potter
- Seamus Finnigan
- Peeves
- Igor Karkaroff
- Crookshanks
- Poppy Pomfrey
- Rufus Scrimgeour
- Lucius Malfoy
- Lavender Brown
- Filius Flitwick
- Mundungus Fletcher
- Rita Skeeter
- Parvati Patil
- Buckbeak
- Lily Potter
- Quirinus Quirrell
- Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington
- Myrtle Warren
- Garrick Ollivander
- Charlie Weasley
- Katie Bell
- Kingsley Shacklebolt
- Olympe Maxime
- Fang
- Fenrir Greyback
- Ernie Macmillan
- Lee Jordan
- Pomona Sprout
- Stan Shunpike
- Phineas Nigellus Black
- Narcissa Malfoy
- Firenze
- The Fat Lady
- Cormac McLaggen
- Grawp
- Morfin Gaunt
- Pansy Parkinson
- Mrs. Norris
- Corban Yaxley
- Muriel
- Madam Rosmerta
- Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank
- Arabella Figg
- Rolanda Hooch
- Aragog
- Blaise Zabini
- Pigwidgeon
- Tom Marvolo Riddle
- Marietta Edgecombe
- Zacharias Smith
- Antonin Dolohov
- Merope Gaunt
- Amelia Bones
- Nagini
- Marvolo Gaunt
- Hannah Abbott
- Hepzibah Smith
- Michael Corner
- Amycus Carrow
- Dennis Creevey
- Mrs. Cole
- John Dawlish
- Romilda Vane
- Avery
- Alecto Carrow
- The Bloody Baron
- Terry Boot
- Florean Fortescue
- Dirk Cresswell
- Emmeline Vance
- Susan Bones
- Augusta Longbottom
- Bob Ogden
- Helga Hufflepuff
- Tom Riddle Sr.
On the timeline
- Summer 1996
The ring, the vow, and a new Minister
Dumbledore puts on the ring and takes a fatal curse. He asks Snape to kill him when the time comes, rather than let Draco do it. Snape makes the Unbreakable Vow with Narcissa. Fudge is out. Rufus Scrimgeour is in. Amelia Bones and Emmeline Vance are dead. - 1996-08
Slughorn comes back
Dumbledore and Harry recruit Horace Slughorn. Harry needs the memory Slughorn is ashamed of. - 1996-10
The opal necklace
A cursed necklace meant for Dumbledore injures Katie Bell. Draco is already failing at murder and does not know how to stop. - 1997-03-01
Ron is poisoned
On his seventeenth birthday Ron drinks poisoned mead meant for Dumbledore. Harry keeps him alive with a bezoar. - June 1997
The cave, the false locket, and Dumbledore’s death
Dumbledore and Harry take a locket from the cave. It is a fake, with a note from R.A.B. Death Eaters enter by Draco’s vanishing cabinet. Snape kills Dumbledore on the tower.