“Do you remember me telling you we are practicing non-verbal spells, Potter?” “Yes,” said Harry stiffly. “Yes, sir.” “There’s no need to call me “sir” Professor.” The words had escaped him before he knew what he was saying.” ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
“He accused me of being Dumbledore’s man through and through.” “How very rude of him.” “I told him I was.” Dumbledore opened his mouth to speak and then closed it again. Fawkes the phoenix let out a low, soft, musical cry. To Harry’s intense embarrassment, he suddenly realized that Dumbledore’s bright blue eyes looked rather watery, and stared hastily at his own knee. When Dumbledore spoke, however, his voice was quite steady. “I am very touched, Harry.” ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
“Why are you worrying about YOU-KNOW-WHO, when you should be worrying about YOU-NO-POO? The constipation sensation that’s gripping the nation!” ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
“You could say sorry,” suggested Harry bluntly. “What, and get attacked by another flock of canaries?” muttered Ron. “What did you have to imitate her for?” “She laughed at my mustache!” “So did I, it was the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen.” ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
“When you have seen as much of life as I have, you will not underestimate the power of obsessive love.” ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
“I make mistakes like the next man. In fact, being–forgive me–rather cleverer than most men, my mistakes tend to be correspondingly huger.” ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Title: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Author: J.K. Rowling Rating: ★★★☆☆ PageCount: 652
The war against Voldemort is not going well; even Muggle governments are noticing. Ron scans the obituary pages of the Daily Prophet, looking for familiar names. Dumbledore is absent from Hogwarts for long stretches of time, and the Order of the Phoenix has already suffered losses.
And yet . . .
As in all wars, life goes on. The Weasley twins expand their business. Sixth-year students learn to Apparate – and lose a few eyebrows in the process. Teenagers flirt and fight and fall in love. Classes are never straightforward, through Harry receives some extraordinary help from the mysterious Half-Blood Prince.
So it’s the home front that takes center stage in the multilayered sixth installment of the story of Harry Potter. Here at Hogwarts, Harry will search for the full and complete story of the boy who became Lord Voldemort – and thereby find what may be his only vulnerability.
Another Story-less book
This is the second book in the Harry Potter series that really doesn’t have a lot to do with the main story. The other is the Prisoner of Azkaban.
Half Blood Prince has more to do with the overall Harry Potter story, with Horcruxes being introduced and Dumbledore dying.
I feel like without most of this book, the story wouldn’t change too much. The same plot points could have been introduced in other books, and at least 75 per cent could have been removed.
Harry is Still Useless
I will always argue that Harry isn’t a good wizard. He doesn’t really excel at much other than flying on a broom.
He isn’t particularly gifted and he needs a lot of help with pretty much everything he does. Without his friends and mentors, Harry would have been dead half way through book one if it wasn’t for his friends helping him.
He has some interesting moments in the series, but more often that not, he defeats his enemies because of some magical abilities or a plot device.
This World Makes no Sense
There is this job in the Harry Potter world called an Auror correct? They are tasked with being the magic police basically, right? Am I wrong in remembering that?
How is it that an entire world’s worth of Aurors and wizards can’t root out Voldemort’s whereabouts and stop him and his allies?
I get they are infiltrated and you can’t really trust a lot of people, but Death Eaters seem to be fairly well-known. Couldn’t they be arrested?
It seems like there is a lot of plot holes in the world that don’t make a lot of sense.
It doesn’t necessarily make the book bad, but when you think about the rest of the world, it doesn’t add up.
Final Thoughts
This is a mediocre book in the series. The only interesting part of the book is the last 10-20 per cent, where Harry and Dumbledore hunt for the locket.
The series reaches its ultimate finale after this book, and though this one is a bit on the boring side, it’s title is even worse. The “Half Blood Prince” ultimately leads to a pointless conclusion that has zero effect on the story.
What were your thoughts on the Half Blood Prince? Let’s talk about it in the comments or on social media! Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Facebook
“Youth can not know how age thinks and feels. But old men are guilty if they forget what it was to be young.” ― J.K. Rowling , Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
“The mind is not a book, to be opened at will and examined at leisure. Thoughts are not etched on the inside of skulls, to be perused by an invader. The mind is a complex and many-layered thing.” ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
“Mistletoe,” said Luna dreamily, pointing at a large clump of white berries placed almost over Harry’s head. He jumped out from under it. “Good thinking,” said Luna seriously. “It’s often infested with nargles.” ― J.K. Rowling , Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Hello dear readers, I welcome you back to the magical world of Harry Potter.
I have reviewed the previous four books in the series so far, but if you were interested in my review of the Goblet of Fire, you can find it here.
There is a lot of controversy over whether or not I should be even talking about the Harry Potter series. J.K Rowling is a walking, talking ball of controversy.
Despite that, we cannot deny that Harry Potter was a major literary milestone for a lot of readers in my generation, so I do think it deserves the attention at the very least.
Title: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Author: J.K Rowling Rating: ★★★★☆
There is a door at the end of a silent corridor. And it’s haunting Harry Pottter’s dreams. Why else would he be waking in the middle of the night, screaming in terror?
Harry has a lot on his mind for this, his fifth year at Hogwarts: a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher with a personality like poisoned honey; a big surprise on the Gryffindor Quidditch team; and the looming terror of the Ordinary Wizarding Level exams. But all these things pale next to the growing threat of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named – a threat that neither the magical government nor the authorities at Hogwarts can stop.
As the grasp of darkness tightens, Harry must discover the true depth and strength of his friends, the importance of boundless loyalty, and the shocking price of unbearable sacrifice.
His fate depends on them all.
Friendship is Important
We all know Harry is basically nothing without his friends. He isn’t the best wizard we have ever seen, but he does have some good friends that are smart, loyal, and dependable.
We get to see some of that loyal friendship in Order of the Phoenix. Harry is trying to gather together an army to fight against Voldemort, and after some convincing, manages to band together a good number of Hogwarts’ students to train them for an inevitable battle against the Dark Lord.
Most of his army is made up of Gryffindor students, but we get some from various houses too.
It’s nice diving a little deeper into the other characters in the Potterverse. We don’t get to go that much deeper, but we venture out from the trio and explore other people.
MAGIC!!!
We finally get to see some magic in this book, and it is my favourite aspect of the book.
Most of the other books, casting spells seems secondary to the rest of the story. Harry even struggles with trying to cast some basic spells in a few books, so seeing more spells in this book is nice.
I wouldn’t say I am thrilled with it, but I am glad casting spells was more of the focus than before.
Most of the spells we see Harry and the DA practicing are spells we learned in the past, which sort of defeats the purpose, but I honestly don’t mind too much because these are spells that we’ve seen before, but we get to see them in a whole new light.
The End is Nigh
Order of the Phoenix is the start of the end of the Harry Potter Series.
The first two books set up the Harry Potter world. The third book gives us a bit of backstory and deepens the world for us. The fourth book is a bit of an odd one. A lot of it is pointless, right until the end when the big bad guy is revived and re-introduced to the world.
Order of the Phoenix makes the threat a lot more real. Voldemort is back and the world knows it.
We don’t get to know the entirety of his plans and we don’t get to see him for too long, but we get to see him at his full strength and the threat it brings.
Final Thoughts
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is one of the better books in the Harry Potter series.
Like the rest of the series, it deepens our exploration of the Potteverse, but this time we get to see more magic.
Magic is weirdly something I don’t remember seeing often in the Harry Potter world, at least not directly.
It often goes on in the background and we don’t always get an understanding of it.
What did you think of the fifth installment of the Harry Potter Series?
Hello dear readers, we are now more than halfway through the Harry Potter series. Obviously there are seven books in the series, and I am reviewing them once a month in order to eventually get them reviewed and never talk about them again ideally.
Title: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Author: J.K. Rowling Rating: ★★★★☆
Harry Potter is midway through his training as a wizard and his coming of age. Harry wants to get away from the pernicious Dursleys and go to the International Quidditch Cup with Hermione, Ron, and the Weasleys. He wants to dream about Cho Chang, his crush (and maybe do more than dream). He wants to find out about the mysterious event that’s supposed to take place at Hogwarts this year, an event involving two other rival schools of magic, and a competition that hasn’t happened for hundreds of years. He wants to be a normal, fourteen-year-old wizard. But unfortunately for Harry Potter, he’s not normal – even by wizarding standards.
And in his case, different can be deadly.
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SecondBest of the Bunch
If you don’t know by now, I do not worship at the shrine that is Harry Potter. I respect their place in society and the effect they have had on people, but they do not resinate with me the same way they do with a lot of other people.
Despite that, GoF is my second favourite book in the series, closely behind The Deathly Hallows.
GoF is the start of the end of the series in my opinion. Prisoner of Azkaban is the book that flips a switch in the series, but GoF is where it all really begins.
The stakes are much higher now that Voldemort is back, and we get a bit of world building with the TriWizard tournament.
Go to School!
What I liked best about GoF was that it felt like we were actually in school more than most of the other books.
I know that each book takes place during the school year, and some things are related to different classes or professors in the school, but GoF seems to take it further.
I would say that Philosopher’s Stone has the most “schooling” in it, but I liked that GoF had Harry struggling to learn spells and struggle with classes while managing the tournament.
A lot of the focus is on the different stages of the Tournament, but Harry can’t do it on his own and needs others to help him.
The actual schooling moments are some of the best parts in the story, and I appreciate Rowling sticking to the idea of a school year.
The Mystery
Each of the books have a lot of mystery to them. Harry and friends always have to solve some mystery in order to defeat the version of Voldemort in that book. They are usually simple mysteries, but allow the reader to learn a bit about the world.
Goblet of Fire does it even better in my opinion. While giving us a bit of information on different magical schools, Rowling manages to give us some mystery revolving around the Tournament.
Each round of the tournament has its own riddles, and the ever growing mystery happening behind the scenes always finds a way to keep the story rolling.
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Final Thoughts
There are minor issues with the book, but overall this was actually a good read. The overall mystery of the book and the background events happening helped me enjoy this book a lot more.
What were your favourite parts of Goblet of Fire? I have to say mine was probably the final round of the tournament and the events after Cedric’s death.
Here are some of the best quotes from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I hope you enjoy!
“Once again you’ve put your keen and penetrating mind to the task and as usual come to the wrong conclusion!” ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
“You can exist without your soul, you know, as long as your brain and heart are still working. But you’ll have no sense of self anymore, no memory, no . . . anything. There’s no chance at all of recovery. You’ll just — exist. As an empty shell. And your soul is gone forever . . . lost.” ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
“What do we want to be prefects for?” said George, looking revolted at the very idea. “It’d take all the fun out of life.” ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
“You look in excellent health to me, Potter, so you will excuse me if I don’t let you off homework today. I assure you that if you do die, you need not hand it in.” ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
“Hermione, if Harry’s seen a Grim, that’s — that’s bad,” he said. “My — my uncle Bilius saw one and — and he died twenty-four hours later!” “Coincidence,” said Hermione airily, pouring herself some pumpkin juice. “You don’t know what you’re talking about!” said Ron, starting to get angry. “Grims scare the living daylights out of most wizards!” “There you are, then,” said Hermione in a superior tone. “They see the Grim and die of fright. The Grim’s not an omen, it’s the cause of death! And Harry’s still with us because he’s not stupid enough to see one and think, right, well, I’d better kick the bucket then!” ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
“HARRY, THIS IS NO TIME TO BE A GENTLEMAN!” Wood roared as Harry swerved to avoid collision. “KNOCK HER OFF HER BROOM IF YOU HAVE TO!” ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
129 likesLike“The Forbidden Forest looked as though it had been enchanted, each tree smattered with silver, and Hagrid’s cabin looked like an iced cake.” ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban121 likesLike“Right, you’ve got a crooked sort of cross…” He consulted Unfogging the Future. “That means you’re going to have ‘trials and suffering’ — sorry about that — but there’s a thing that could be the sun… hang on… that means ‘great happiness’… so you’re going to suffer but be very happy…”
“That is the second time you have spoken out of turn, Miss Granger,” said Snape coolly. “Five more points from Gryffindor for being an insufferable know-it-all.” ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
“We let off a Dungbomb in the corridor and it upset him for some reason—” “So he hauled us off to his office and started threatening us with the usual—” “—detention—” “—disembowelment—” ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
“Lily and James only made you Secret-Keeper because I suggested it,” Black hissed, so venomously that Pettigrew took a step backward. “I thought it was the perfect plan… a bluff… Voldemort would be sure to come after me, would never dream they’d use a weak, talentless thing like you… It must have been the finest moment of your miserable life, telling Voldemort you could hand him the Potters.” ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Hello dear readers, I have come back with another literary showdown between two old-ass characters. These two gentlemen are some of the best known characters in all of literature in my opinion.
They’re very similar in terms of appearance: wear grayish robes, long beards and long hair. Both of them are also much older than a normal human should be.
Obviously they are both strong in their own worlds, and it is probably impossible to determine just how strong they are, so their “power levels” against each other won’t be considered.
What I will consider are 5 different things:
Their importance to their respective stories
Their role as a teacher/guide
Their legacy after the story
Their power within their own stories
Their “badassery”
If you have any other ideas for a VS. battle between two authors, two books, two series, two characters, or two anything, let me know!
It’s obvious that both Dumbledore and Gandalf are important to their respective stories. They both serve as a mentor to the main characters, and really help drive the story along. The question is, who is the more important character? Whose story would be so vastly different without them?
Dumbledore is the headmaster of Hogwarts, and arch enemy to Voldemort. He is believed to be the most powerful wizard when he was alive, and was the oldest character we knew of. BUT, if you strip away the layers, Dumbledore isn’t the only one driving the story forward. Sure, he is the main reason Harry is able to defeat Voldemort, but without the rest of the Order of the Phoenix, a lot of the story wouldn’t be possible. The events of the books could have gone on if Dumbledore wasn’t in the picture.
Gandalf is basically a god in Middle Earth. He is of some level of power where he is more powerful than pretty much anything we see in the Lord of the Rings world. He sets Bilbo off on his quest, and then guides Frodo and the rest of the fellowship on their journey to destroy the ring. Though there are plenty of events outside of his control, Gandalf is a key factor in the ring being destroyed.
The winner of this round: Gandalf
Though Dumbledore is crucial to defeating Voldemort, the rest of the Order of the Phoenix could have done some significant damage on their own. Even if they were unable to “kill” Voldemort, they could have at least detained him theoretically.
Gandalf on the other hand is the sole reason that the Lord of the Rings trilogy is able to happen. He puts Bilbo’s quest into action, which puts the Ring and Frodo into their paths. If the Ring hadn’t been found and destroyed, the entire world would have been overtaken by orcs.
Round 2:Who is the better “mentor”?
Obviously Dumbledore and Gandalf are the respective “mentors” in their stories. They influence the main characters and help shape them to be the people they are at the end of their stories.
Dumbledore is literally a teacher, and shows Harry the ways to defeat Voldemort. He teaches him literal magic, and helps not only Harry, but everyone around him as well. Though he is absent at times, and neglectful at others, he ultimately knows how most scenarios will turn out. Whether this could be seen as abuse, or teachable moments, Dumbledore shapes the lives of the trio a lot more than they may realize.
Gandalf, though not technically a “teacher” is similar to Dumbledore in that he shapes those around him. He especially guides Frodo and the other Hobbits, but his teachings don’t stop with them. He influences the other members of the Fellowship as well. He doesn’t have any formal lessons that he teaches, but he does impart his vast knowledge onto those around him.
The winner of this round: Dumbledore
I think Dumbledore takes this round quite easily. He is a literal teacher and his “lessons” are much more obvious than Gandalf’s. Dumbledore literally teaches Harry about the Horcruxes and other magic as well. Not only that, because he knows what is going to happen in most of the books, he helps guide those around him and let them learn from what needs to be done. I think the lessons that Dumbledore teaches are more impactful than Gandalf’s.
Gandalf doesn’t so much as teach as he does provide a sense of security. He is seen as a guiding beacon to the Hobbits, which is what they need on their quest.
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Round 3:Their legacy
The actions that both Dumbledore and Gandalf take have long-lasting effects on the story. Even in death, their legacies can be seen after the stories are done.
Dumbledore dies before the story is over, but because of what he did, the Order of the Phoenix was able to defeat Voldemort and his army. Though he doesn’t do much after his death, Dumbledore inspired hundreds of students and was known to be one of the most powerful wizards. We don’t hear much of his legacy once the story is over, but we can only imagine the long-lasting effects of his actions. Who knows, maybe he will continue to help those at Hogwarts through his picture that is put up on the walls.
Gandalf does make it to the end of the story, after coming back from the dead once. He eventually leaves the realms of men, and takes a ship with Frodo to the west, with the elves and other ring-bearers. We also don’t get much of his legacy after the story, but even through the books we don’t see the long lasting effects of what he does. He has a pivotal role in destroying the ring, so I guess you could say he is much more important than Dumbledore is.
The winner of this round: Gandalf
Gandalf is just on a bigger scale, which gives him an advantage. He literally helps save the entire world, and for that he is definitely more important. His actions leave much longer-lasting results for his story than Dumbledore’s do. Whether he knew it or not, him choosing Bilbo meant that the Ring of Power would be found, and eventually destroyed.
Round 4:Who is the bigger badass?
When you’re an all-powerful wizard, chances are you’re also a bad ass. You’ve got spells to use that would knock the average person’s socks off. You’ve got a cool pet, or you make some pretty sweet fireworks. There are plenty of things that can make you a certified bad ass.
We see Dumbledore show this several times. Going toe to toe with Voldemort in the Ministry of Magic, stopping Grindewald, sacrificing his life to destroy a Horcrux, escaping with the flames of his pet phoenix, living till an ungodly age for a human, and just being Dumbledore. He often knew how things would play out before they came to be, and he did it all with plenty of flair.
Gandalf on the other hand, has some wicked fireworks at his disposal. I mean he made one that turned into a dragon. If that were possible I would definitely go to see that. He is friends with the lord of all horses, and is older than some of the other gods in the world. He goes toe to toe with a Balrog, is best friends with the Lord of all Horses, and saved the Mountain Eagle King a time or two.
The winner of this round: Dumbledore
This was a tough choice, but taking into account the two wizards in their respective worlds, I have to give it to Dumbledore, and only by a hair. It’s his attitude that is putting him over the edge. I’d say they are basically on the same level, but Dumbledore offers just a hint of style that Gandalf doesn’t really show. Plus, Gandalf is most often dealing with mortals, and it doesn’t give him a true chance to shine.
Round 5:How strong are they?
Head to head, Gandalf would win this round no issue. Nothing short of Avada Kadavra could stop him, and we aren’t even sure that would work. So, instead we will compare how strong they are in respect to their own worlds.
Dumbledore is immensely powerful, stopping two dark wizards; Grindewald and Voldemort, and surviving to be around 150 years old. There’s no power scale or anything that we can base him off of, but we don’t get to see any wizards that could stop him in his prime. Plus, he was the wielder of the elder wand, the most powerful wand in all of existence.
Gandalf on the other hand is an immortal spirit, older than almost anything we see in Middle Earth. He could destroy the ring and have defeated Smaug singlehandedly most likely, but knows it is not his job to do it. Instead, he knows he needs to be a guide along the path instead of the one paving the way. He defeats a Balrog and stops Sauruman, and wields one of the rings of power.
The winner of this round: Gandalf
Gandalf is just an anomaly in his story. There are so few that are near him in power that he could kill thousands in an instant.
Dumbledore is a great wizard in his own right, but he does not stand that far above the rest. One or two other wizards could probably take him down, while it would take something of equal power to stop Gandalf.
THE WINNER IS: GANDALF
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I think this was a close matchup overall. It’s tough to compare them considering their different stories, but I think Gandalf is the better wizard comparatively, because he is just so much above the rest of his world.
What do you think? Do you think Dumbledore or Gandalf is the better wizard? Let’s talk about it in the comments, or send me a message on social media. Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Facebook
