:: HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE ::

The excitement over Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is waning and guess what's Jo Rowling's countermeasure for this? The unveiling of the title of the much-anticipated installment six of the series which is to be called HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE. Based on her official site, jkrowling.com, the title is actually one of the working titles of book 2, Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets. She announced the title on her very own website last June 28 in an ultra-mysterious made-for-Hogwarts fashion. Die-hard Potter fans will surely be entertained in her all-flash site since Jo is the one who's actually updating the site. It's humorous and quite Dumbledorish.

Here are some bits and pieces regarding book six that I found at the Rowling site:

1. Rumors said that it will be out in four (4) months! Haha, yeah right! Rowling however said that she's far for finishing it. It took almost a three year interval between HP and the Goblet of Fire and HP and the Order of the Phoenix. If that's the ongoing rate, we'll have the Half Blood Prince in 2006! *groans*

HP Publication Dates:
Harry Potter and Sorcerer's Stone - September 1, 1998
Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets - June 2, 1999
Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban - September 8, 1999
Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire - July 8, 2000
Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix - June 21, 2003

*Increase in popularity and sales of the series happened after Goblet of Fire. It was also the time when the first book was re-created into a movie by Warner Brothers. Naturally, Rowling's publicist wanted to prolong the agony for HP's billions of fans to sustain the excitement and the numerous "rights". Harry's series will end at book seven.

2. The Half Blood Prince is neither Harry nor Voldemort...but who? Do you know any other popular half-bloods in the series? How about Neville who's becoming more and more important and valuable in the series? But it was specifically told that both Alice and Frank are both purebloods. Any idea? Or perhaps this will be an entirely new character.

3. The ending of the book has a great connection with the Chamber of Secrets. So, are we going back to the Tom Marvolo Riddle plot line or to the great founders of Hogwarts - Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff and Salazar Slytherin?

REVISITING THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX
When HP and The Order of the Phoenix was released last year, I remembered pre-ordering my copy months before the publication at NBS Greenbelt. Me and Coleen even went out on our 10am break to get our copies as soon as they opened the doors at National. If we have known that we can get it at 7am at Powerbooks Arnaiz, we would have gotten our copies there. Anyway, that's how excited I was to get my book 5. Unfortunately, due to many duties and responsibilities last year, I finished the book in almost a month! That's unacceptable considering the pains and anticipation that I have to go through in getting a copy. But it's not entirely me. The book did not live to my expectations. It was boring, too long and too detailed for my taste.

Since I am doing practically nothing these days, I've decided to re-read the book again to give it another chance. This time I read it thoroughly. Well, I found it different the second time around. After finishing the book, I got this usual HP feeling of craving for more, more, more thus the lengthy post. To summarize it, book five is seriously heavy stuff. Lots of frustration and angsty feeling all throughout and until the very end. Harry who used to be level-headed in the past books became cynic, paranoid, stubborn and he spent half the time feeling angry. Even Cho Chang was not spared to this new Harry. Who can blame him? He's been though a lot on this book: living alone at the Dursleys, unexpected Dementor attacks, suspension and near-expulsion from Hogwarts, insults from half the Wizarding community, the insufferable Dolores Umbridge, the very un-Dumbledore ways of Dumbledore, O.W.L.S, those crazy visions and dreams, fighting the Death Eaters, the unknown prophecy and losing Sirius. If I am fifteen and I experienced all of those...I will definitely die of agony and frustration. It's generally a good book with lots of revelations that is very important to the Voldemort-Harry connection. It explains a lot of things that readers were asking since the very start.

Some questions though...

> What is really "behind the veil" in the archway at the Dept. of Mysteries? Did Sirius actually fell there? Dumbledore called it the Death Chamber when he asked the Aurors to check on the escaped Death Eaters.

I am looking forward to book 6 since I would like to know...

...what does the Weasleys think of George and Fred's new business and of their dropping out of Hogwarts. How about Percy? Will he seek his parents forgiveness or join the Death Eaters as the first non-Slytherin to go bad?

...what happened with Dolores Umbridge. That would be funny. It's payback time.

...the Dursleys new arrangement with Harry. I'm expecting some "magical" stuff from Petunia or Dudley.

...the love angle of Ron and Hermione and possibly...of Harry and Ginny. Ginny's ex - Michael Corner - got together with Cho Chang in the end. Can they possibly switch partners?

Book5 Favorite Characters:
Fred and George Weasley, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Minerva McGonagall
Book5 Hatest Characters:
Bellatrix Lestrange, Cho Chang, Dolores Umbridge, Percy Weasley, Cornelius Fudge