July 19 - Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince

Here is a film with a scene that happens today – July 19. I hope you enjoy the movie and watch it tonight.

HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE

The evil magician Voldemort’s followers, the death-eaters are causing problems in both the magical and muggle worlds. Dumbledore takes Harry Potter on a trip to recruit Professor Horace Slughorn to return to Hogwarts as potions master on July 19, 1996 [2:51 to 5:26]. Slughorn reluctantly agrees. Narcissa Malfoy gets Professor Snape to make the unbreakable vow to protect her son Draco and complete his task if he cannot. On a trip to Diagon alley, Harry and his friends visit  Weasley’s Wizards Wheezes, the closed Ollivander’s wand shop and spy on Draco taking an interest at some item at Borgin and Burkes, a dark magic shop. On the Hogwarts express Harry spies on Draco but is discovered and immobilized, but rescued by Luna Lovegood. Ron and Harry take potions, with Harry using a heavily annotated textbook, the property it says of ‘the half-blood prince, that enables him to win a small vial of ‘liquid luck’ from Slughorn. Dumbledore enables Harry to ‘see’ the day he met Tom Riddle aka Voldemort. Ron becomes the Gryffindor quidditch goal keeper, with the secret help of Hermione Granger. Katie Bell is injured by a cursed necklace. After Harry makes Ron thinks Harry gave him a dose of ‘liquid luck”, Ron’s saves win the match. He starts a relationship with Lavender Brown, which causes heartache for Hermione. Harry overhears Snape and Malfoy talking about Draco’s mission. Harry learns Draco was interested in a vanishing cabinet. Death-eaters attack and burn the Weasley’s home. Dumbledore shows Harry an altered memory of Slughorn’s where Tom Riddle asked him a question about dark magic. Ron gets a love potion meant for Harry and this indirectly causes the end of his relationship with Lavender. Draco and Harry fight, with Harry using a very deadly spell he found in the potions textbook. Because of this he decides to get rid of it in the Room of Requirement with Ginny Weasley and they kiss. Harry drinks his vial of ‘liquid luck’. He meets Slughorn at Hagrid’s after Agragog’s funeral and persuades Slughorn to give him the real memory. Tom Riddle asked him about horcruxes. These are items that, after a wizard killed someone he could hide a piece of his soul in it, so that even if his body was destroyed he would keep on existing. Dumbledore says that’s what Voldemort did. Dumbledore has been looking for horcruxes and found one that when destroyed, hurt his hand. He has found another one and asks Harry to go with him to find it. The go to the lake of inferni and get a locket, but the effort severely weakens Dumbledore. Upon their return to Hogwarts they learn Draco has used two linked vanishing cabinets, one inside and one outside to get a group of death-eaters past all the school’s protective enchantments.  Draco disarms Dumbledore, but cannot bring himself to kill him. Snape appears and kills Dumbledore. Draco and Snape flee Hogwarts. Dumbledore is buried and Ginny comforts Harry and the start a relationship. The locket is empty, except for a note signed R.A.B. Harry vows to find the other horcruxes and kill Voldemort.            

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling (Scholastic Inc., New York, 2005) Dumbledore comes to get Harry on a Friday (page 43) after he has been at Privet drive two weeks (page 44). The Friday that meets this definition in 1996 is July 19.

Producer - David Heyman and David Barron

Director - David Yates

Screenplay - Steve Kloves

Awards – The film was nominated for the Best Cinematography Oscar at the 82^nd

                 Academy Awards.

Released – July 15, 2009

Runtime – 1 hour 33 minutes

Starring –

Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter

Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley, one of Harry's two best friends

Emma Watson as Hermione Granger, one of Harry's two best friends.

Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange, one of the principal Death Eaters

Jim Broadbent as Horace Slughorn, the newly appointed Potions master

Robbie Coltrane as Rubeus Hagrid, the Hogwarts Care of Magical Creatures teacher

Warwick Davis as Filius Flitwick, the Charms master and head of Ravenclaw.

Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy, Harry's rival and recipient of Voldemort's secret mission.

Michael Gambon as Albus Dumbledore, the legendary headmaster of Hogwarts.

Alan Rickman as Severus Snape, the current Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.

Maggie Smith as Minerva McGonagall, the Hogwarts Transfiguration teacher

Timothy Spall as Peter Pettigrew, the Death Eater who betrayed Harry's parents

David Thewlis as Remus Lupin, a member of the Order of the Phoenix

Julie Walters as Molly Weasley, the Weasley matriarch and a mother figure to Harry.