The Hindu : Front Page : Adventure as always, and a dash of gloom

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jul 16, 2005

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Front Page

Adventure as always, and a dash of gloom

Special Correspondent

Someone important dies, but the twist lies in how this person is killed

"It was nearing midnight and the Prime Minister was sitting alone in his office, reading a long memo that was slipping through his brain without leaving the slightest trace of meaning behind."

So begins, and somewhat unconventionally, J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the first few pages devoted to a meeting between the Prime Minister (of the Muggles) and Cornelius Fudge, just sacked as the Minister of Magic.

It has become apparent that things are far from well in the wizarding world, when Harry, who spends his holidays as usual with the Dursleys at Privet Drive, receives an unusual visitor: Albus Dumbledore himself. There are weeks to go before school reopens, but clearly there is important work to be done as the Headmaster of Hogwarts urges Harry to come with him and "pursue that flighty temptress, adventure."

Adventure there is plenty of and much of it, as one would expect, takes place at Hogwarts. The Half-Blood Prince has everything one would expect in a Harry Potter novel — outlandish beasts, eccentric wizards, magical potions and unusual spells. But for the most part, Rowling stays close to the main plot in this 607-page book — which is slimmer than the previous two in the series, The Order of the Phoenix and The Goblet of Fire.

It is possibly also far more focussed and taut. There are no long digressions on Quidditch games, no lengthy explanations of the familiar rituals and customs in Dumbledore's school of wizardry. This one is written with the confident (and perhaps not wholly misplaced) assumption that Rowling's readers have read her earlier novels.

No other Rowling novel has ended on such a sad and gloomy note as this one. There was plenty of speculation about who would die in this one, and sure enough it is someone very important. Even if you guessed right, the real twist lies in how this person is killed and at whose hands. You cannot fail to be surprised.

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