The Half Blood Prince has perhaps risen to the top of my favorite book within the Harry Potter series, although, this is difficult considering I almost never pick a favorite, especially out of such a fine lineup...favoritism aside, there are some truly memorable scenes in this book: the Felix Felicis scene and the Horcrux Cave scene. Here's why...
Felix Felicis
For starters, the Felix Felicis scene has to be one of the most bizarre and strangely fascinating scenes I have ever read, due to its context and nature, events and characters involved, it is so seemingly random, though it betrays a sense of overwhelming unity in the end, since that is what the Felix Felicis potion does: it makes one lucky, wherein whatever one sets out to accomplish, it is done with ease, which reminds me of those events and times in my own life where there is a sense of systemic confidence and sublimity, where all stimuli seem to merge together and the path is clearer than it usually is, the foggy murk gives way to an ambition that leads to success...tis quite the variant take on the idea of lucky, as if we the readers, get to sit in the backroom where the gears of life crank, and we get to see how it all comes together, as if the mechanism was exposed to us plainly, as it seems to have done with Harry...
In both the book and the film this scene was executed brilliantly, for the tale behind it is classical and superb...it all starts with Harry ingesting the potion, and we watch, as Hermione and Ron watched, with nervous apprehension, to see what would happen: how is this going to affect Harry? what does being "lucky" look like? And the first thing Harry does, is say, in a most random fashion, "I'm going to Hagrid's!" To which, of course, Hermione and Ron are flabbergasted, saying, "No Harry! You have to get that memory from Slughorn!" But Harry isn't listening, he knows, or rather, Felix knows, that going straight to Slughorn isn't going to work...that indeed, a more roundabout path is called for, which, although it seems ludicrous and chaotic, is a path that leads Harry to success, and the retrieval of the memory, the very thing he needed to get done, success!
He happens upon Slughorn, (the book and the film somewhat differ here, but both being effective, the film having a more sympathetic tone from Slughorn to accompany Harry to Aragog's funeral, for Harry caught Slughorn in the act of stealing a rare plant from Professor Sprout's greenhouse, which makes him a bit guilty, and with Harry being out of doors after curfew, he couldn't quite say no, although he did make some weak attempts at urging him to go back inside...versus the book, where Harry just met Slughorn, who was actually talking to Sprout at the time, and he was reprimanded in a weak way as well, yet when told he was going to Aragog's funeral, he was interested to go, in fact, he went to go change, and bring back a vial or two so he could collect some of Aragog's venom, which, according to Slughorn, an acromantula's venom is quite rare and valuable to those looking for it...and so, he comes back with some mead(?) or some alcohol rare, for the occasion of the funeral...) anyways, what ensues from this is a bizarre and memorable scene of Aragog's funeral, with Hagrid, Slughorn, and Harry, (and Fang!) with Aragog on his back (and Slughorn taking a vial or two of his venom, although acting as if he were inspecting his head, pretending as though it was of some mild interest, for no one was ever so close to an acromantula's head without being soon dead (yet this was only in the book, the film, Hagrid let him knowingly take a vial of the venom) Hagrid was crying and upset, Harry was just standing there, and Slughorn ends up saying a few words in Aragog's memory...a man who did not ever know the creature, and he said the most perfect thing...such a strange collection of characters in a most perfect setting and context, the event, everything was perfect though random, which, upon reflection, seems to wrap up those times when "lucky" seemed to be happening, it is always those random, strange, inexplicable times that seem to work out, that's when it seems to coalesce into One, and that is what lucky is all about: enlightenment! (??)
The scene resolves in Hagrid's hut, where the drinking ensues, (yet Harry feels it is not right for him to drink, he must stay sober)(another "lucky" trait? listening to your gut? this is very Jedi. the inner voice, Harry listened to his gut, his instinct, which was in this case his Felix potion, but the symbol could be that Harry was listening more to his intuition, which is a deeper voice to hear and one which could be considered a Felix voice within us all, a God voice?) which ultimately leads to Harry extracting the memory from Slughorn, who was so inebriated, that had he not been so, he probably would not have divulged it yet again, and probably would have become a nuisance to Slughorn and fallen out of favor with him, since the Slytherin professor did hold him in such high esteem...either way, Harry's mother Lily was one of Slughorn's favorites, and so, using that advantage and leverage as well, Harry was able to get beyond Slughorn's guilt, and, paradoxically make him feel guilty for another reason, that he should divulge the memory, or Lily's life and death were for nothing, because his memory was considered so valuable as to be the key that could unlock the mystery of Voldemort's demise...
The Horcrux Cave
The other powerful scene, was the one in which Dumbledore and Harry were at the cave where Voldemort supposedly had hid one of his precious Horcruxes. This one is significant to me, because of its relation to the Hero's Journey motif where the old wizard has to die for the young hero to move on and bring back order to the land, etc. And yet. it is not the outright death of Dumbledore that happens here, it is a variant that I have never before seen, in which the hero hand feeds something, in this case, a vile protective potion laid out by Voldemort to discourage those who wish to steal his hidden Horcrux, that in essence, hinders him, and depowers him, reduces his strength and therefore cripples him, which does lead to his demise by Snape. The fact that Harry has to handfeed it to him is quite interesting, that, no, Harry is not directly responsible for his death, but this action, indeed one that had to happen for the Horcrux to be found, definitely worked against him to help bring about the conditions in which Dumbledore dies...although it is quite believable that Dumbledore had this worked out, indeed, that he might have foreseen it, for he knew, it is obvious, that Malfoy was to kill him, and that he had to be a sacrifice for the greater good, although that left everyone else to fend for themselves without such a powerful ally as Dumbledore...yet without this umbrella of security, is when all the characters, including Harry, must stand and unite, for it is ultimately the change of guard that is to happen, that happens in these events, tragic and unfortunate, yet is a necessary rite of passage to become a stronger, more realized individual, a hero, and this blanket of security is what Harry now has to live without, but it is necessary in his development, although it now seems hopeless and futile without Dumbledore, he will soon realize the truth.
Much like Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, Frodo and Gandalf (although Gandalf comes back and Obi-Wan can come back as a ghostly apparition, can Dumbledore? haven't read the last installment yet) how they both had a hand in their master's deaths, so too, did Harry, but it is this critical scene, and the way in which it was handled which makes it superb and brilliant. How Dumbledore cut his own hand for the offering to enter the Cave's Horcrux chamber, and how Harry felt like he was to be okay, since Dumbledore was with him, and then after the transferal of power by a liquid potion concocted by the main villain mind you, Voldemort, and on their way out, Harry was the one who offered the blood, he was the one who helped Dumbledore out because he was so weak, and, as Harry was consoling Dumbledore, telling him that he could Apparate them back to safety, that everything was going to be alright, Dumbledore said, "I know, because I am with you..." now, this is a very enigmatic statement, and can be read different ways, and because there is no emphasis in the text literal, (and it is because of this that one can read it in different ways) then it leaves it open, (very enigmatic statement from such an enigmatic character!) Yet, on the whole, I like to see it as Dumbledore's transference of power to Harry and that he feels like they will be alright, because he feels comfort in knowing that Harry is there and with him. That in fact, in the way that I read it, it says, "I know, because I am with you."
And not to mention the charred hand of Dumbledore in the book, and the talk of Dumbledore's age in the film, both serving to undermine his credibility, and his power, which develop and climax with, indeed, his death, as if they were portents, portentous of his dying at the end, to be buried in his White Tomb there on the grounds of Hogwarts next to the lake, a serene and beautiful resting place for such a strong character, no I do not think Dumbledore will return in spirit, but wait, his predecessors do in their paintings, why can't he? I guess we shall see in the next and final installment, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows!
