Call out the grief counsellors.
If you had trouble coping with the murder of Harry Potter's godfather, Sirius Black, in The Order of the Phoenix, volume five of J.K. Rowling's bestselling series, brace yourself. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which went on sale in bookstores around the world just after midnight, ends with a shocker.
A very significant character is brutally killed leaving Harry, the orphaned teenage wizard, more alone than ever in his struggle against the forces of Lord Voldemort. Death and mourning, beginning with the murder of Harry's parents when he was a baby, are recurring themes in Ms. Rowling's books. Rather than overtly moral tales about right versus wrong, the Harry Potter series has always been a battle between hope and despair and the power of love against the chilly blackness of hate. The Half-Blood Prince, which is leaner and more tautly written than its flabby predecessor, is no exception.
Coincidentally, considering the bombings last week in London, the new book opens in the office of the very beleaguered and frightened Prime Minister of Britain. A major bridge has mysteriously collapsed, two government officials have been murdered, a freak hurricane has devastated the countryside and a dank mist has blotted out the summer sunshine. This scene was not written post 9/11 according to Ms. Rowling. She says it has been "brewing" for 13 years and has been successively cut from at least three books until she found the proper place for it in the Half-Blood Prince.
Matthew Hemminger, 8, signs his name on the 'Endless Scroll' in Hudson, Ohio on Friday. (The Plain Dealer, Eustacio Humphrey/AP)
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All of these vile deed and environmental catastrophes are linked, of course, to rampaging Lord Voldemort and his followers. The Dementors have deserted Azkaban prison and the Death Eaters have invaded England, creating panic and destruction while enlisting the cowardly and the weak to their dire cause.
Meanwhile, Harry has just finished his fifth year at Hogwarts, the boarding school in the English countryside which trains wizards and witches to develop and control their magic skills. Summer vacation has exiled Harry from school, his spiritual home, separated him from his dear friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger and forced him to endure the abuse of his Muggle (ordinary human) relatives, the beastly Dursleys, in their odious suburban home.
There is a reprieve however. Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster at Hogwarts who first gave Harry to the Dursleys hoping they would raise him as their own son, takes him on an anti-terrorist adventure before dropping him off to stay with the Weasleys until school starts again.
This book marks a significant shift in the relationship between teacher and pupil. Dumbledore, the only wizard that Lord Voldemort fears, has always been an aloof, but kindly figure. In the past, though, Harry has resented the way Dumbledore has kept him at a distance and refused to share details and strategies about the deadly danger he faces. Now that Harry is on the verge of manhood--wizards come of age at 17-- his headmaster starts treating him more like a colleague in arms.
So Dumbledore, a collector and a retriever of memories, begins sharing his treasures and some of his fears with Harry as together they try to create a psychological profile of Lord Voldemort. This is one of the more interesting parts of the novel as Ms. Rowling digs into the family history of the villain who was known as Tom Riddle when he was a student at Hogwarts. By putting some biographical flesh on Lord Voldemort, she makes him into a much rounder and psychological more interesting character.
The thing about Harry is that he has always been a boy, albeit one with special powers and challenges, rather than a super-hero or a messiah. Kids who began reading when the first Harry Potter book was published have had a chance to grow up with him. That identification, along with the humour, pacing, and colourful imagery of Ms. Rowling's writing has accounted for much of the popularity of the series.
In the Half-Blood Prince we see him tangle with typical teenage emotions: jealousy, unrequited love and rebellion. Harry falls in love and his passion is returned. His old foe Draco Malfoy is more malevolent than ever and Severus Snape, the sinister master of Potions, is even more ambivalent and dangerous. And as for the identity of the Half-Blood Prince, that is a mystery I won't spoil. Suffice it to say that past traumas and prejudices are huge motivating forces in present day crimes.
As Harry returns to Hogwarts, everybody seems to want a part of him. He's a cult figure, partly because his escapades have been publicized in the press and partly because he is captain of the Quidditch team (a game similar to polo that is played on flying brooms). Dumbledore enlists his help, Darco Malfoy plots against him, a new teacher named Horace Slughorn wants his favour and, most of all, Lord Voldemort wants to kill him because of the prophecy --"neither can live while the other survives"--that was revealed in Order of the Phoenix. The Ministry of Magic, which wants to use him as a poster boy in their struggle against Lord Voldemort, has taken to calling him The Chosen One, a label that Harry abhors. Harry's lesson this time is learning how to lead and to cope with fame.
Ms. Rowling is a highly visual writer, who averages about two crises a chapter. Her books are real page turners, although there are a few slow patches where she seems to be laying the foundation for the next book, rather than advancing the plot of this one. This time she seems to be paying more attention to delivering her message than dazzling readers with pyrotechnics. That is not to suggest a paucity of ghastly smells, revolting creatures, and horrific encounters. But it does remind us that Ms. Rowling was a teacher and an impoverished single mother who suffered from depression before she imagined the world of Harry Potter and became a bestselling author almost ten years ago with her first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
Since then she has remarried (an Edinburgh doctor) and had two more children. She has dedicated The Half Blood Prince to her daughter Mackenzie who was born in January, calling the book her baby's "ink and paper twin." That sentimental linkage between creating a book and a baby shines through much of the novel. For all its mayhem and gore, this novel is really about the importance of loving and protecting children and overcoming prejudices based on blood and religion--themes that are both timeless and universal. And those are the qualities that lift the book and the series above mere kidlit.
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