The Power of Perception

In Half-Blood Prince, reality is completely characterized by perception, not by truth. This can either be a good or bad thing. For instance, the power of perception is a good thing when dealing with self-confidence: because Ron believes he drank the Felix Felicis and thinks he is lucky, he plays Quidditch like a champion.

In another instance, we see how perception can overshadow the truth a little more dangerously via love potions: Voldemort’s mother giving his father a love potion, Romilda attempting to give Harry a love potion that Ron incidentally drinks. The power of such a potion is a little darker than it may seem on the surface. Love, one of a human being’s greatest powers, is being manipulated for another person’s benefit—which can lead to disastrous results once the love potion wears off.

The major instance where perception distorts reality is seen when Snape kills Dumbledore. We, as the readers, see reality through Harry’s eyes: and what Harry sees is Snape murdering Dumbledore in cold blood. It even looks to Harry that Dumbledore “pleads” for him not to. And after Harry finds out that the locket is a fake, it seems that his and Dumbledore’s efforts were all in vain. That Dumbledore died for nothing.

However, Harry’s perception of reality is limited. He does not know of the Unbreakable Vow that Snape made to protect Malfoy. And, as we find out in Deathly Hallows, Snape killing Dumbledore was all part of Dumbledore’s plan. Especially in Half-Blood Prince, nothing is as it seems. As human beings, there will always be things we do not know, and reality is often different from how we see it—thus, it is important not to make assumptions and even more important not to act on them.

Confronting the Past

Overcoming one’s past is a key theme in Half-Blood Prince. Often in the series, characters suppress their memories due to shame, fear, or pain. Harry has already dealt with the pain of losing his parents, his godfather, and even Cedric. His acceptance of their deaths (especially because he believes that Sirius and Cedric’s deaths were partly his fault) is what motivates Harry to prevent the deaths of any more of his loved ones in the future.

However, Slughorn represents the dangers of not confronting the past, no matter how dark it may be. Slughorn is held back by shame. Was it his fault for giving Voldemort information about Horcruxes that led to the murder of innocent lives? Did he succumb to temptation, so motivated to please the alluring Tom Riddle? Slughorn, not wanting to deal with such questions, literally erases the memory from his mind. And what’s worse, he makes it inaccessible to Harry and Dumbledore as well. And without this information, Harry cannot hope to defeat Voldemort.

In the end, Slughorn overcomes his shame for the greater good; and with the information about Voldemort and Horcruxes, Harry now knows exactly what he has to do in order to destroy Voldemort. Slughorn is the perfect example of the importance of making peace with our dark pasts in order to move forward and progress in life.

Loss of Adolescence

Half-Blood Prince is very different than its predecessors in both its darkness and its coming-of-age content. Moving past adolescence in both light and dark ways is a core theme seen throughout the book. Ron is caught in his first romance and meanwhile deals with his deep feelings for Hermione; Fred and George move past their juvenile selves and become successful entrepreneurs with their joke shop; Malfoy deals with immorality and loss of self when enlisted to kill Albus Dumbledore; Harry grapples with his deep feelings for Ginny as Ron’s sister.

While many of the characters deal with love and prospects of the future, the presence of war is what primarily catalyzes Harry’s loss of adolescence. Harry watches the greatest wizard known to man die, comes face to face with the darkest kind of magic in existence, and discovers his true destiny to find and destroy Voldemort’s Horcruxes. In light of all this, Harry discovers exactly who he is and what his purpose is, something that most adults cannot even say.

Meanwhile, Harry takes the necessary steps to protect the people he loves by ending his relationship with Ginny so she is not a target to Voldemort. Harry, more than anyone, goes from an angry, touchy youth in Order of Phoenix and comes out a man at the end of this book, a metamorphosis that would not have occurred if the Wizarding World were in a state of peace. The presence of war can strip people of their childhood, transforming them into adults much sooner than expected.