50 Fun Facts About Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

On what date was Half-Blood Prince published?

Rowling announced the date on 21 December 2004, the same day she revealed she had finished writing it.

How many copies did Half-Blood Prince sell worldwide in its first 24 hours?

Two million were in the UK and about 6.9 million in the US, where Scholastic rushed another 2.7 million into print.

Which 2006 UK prize did the novel win?

It also took the Royal Mail Award for Scottish Children's Books and two reader-voted Quill Awards in the US.

Who makes an Unbreakable Vow with Narcissa Malfoy to protect Draco?

The scene opens the book proper; in the film Snape's house comes with a silent Pettigrew as a servant.

What does Snape reveal to Harry before escaping with Draco?

Harry had spent the year using the Prince's annotated Potions textbook without knowing whose it was.

Which former professor is persuaded to return to Hogwarts to teach Potions?

Dumbledore brings Harry along for the recruiting visit, which the film shot overnight in the village of Lacock.

What is the name of the luck potion Harry wins in Potions class?

He later drinks it to coax the true Horcrux memory out of a reluctant Slughorn.

Where did the young Voldemort grow up, as seen in the Pensieve?

Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Ralph Fiennes's nephew, plays the 11-year-old Tom Riddle in the film's orphanage scene.

What Dark object did the teenage Voldemort question Slughorn about?

Slughorn's shame at answering is why the memory he first shows Harry has been doctored.

In the novel, Dumbledore believes Voldemort split his soul into how many parts?

Two had already been destroyed, the diary and the ring, leaving four hidden pieces plus the one in Voldemort himself.

Which Gryffindor student is nearly killed by a cursed necklace?

Harry is sure Draco is behind it but cannot prove it; the poisoned mead that fells Ron is another failed attempt.

Whom does Ron start dating to spite Hermione?

The relationship ends when a poisoned Ron murmurs Hermione's name from his hospital bed.

In the film, what nearly kills Ron in Slughorn's office?

He had gone there to be cured of a love potion meant for Harry, then accepted a celebratory drink.

Learning of Hermione's past relationship with whom sets off Ron's sulk?

The row follows Hermione inviting Ron to Slughorn's Christmas party, and his Quidditch form collapses afterwards.

Which Weasley does Harry begin dating in his sixth year?

He ends it at Dumbledore's funeral to keep her safe, then sets off to hunt the remaining soul fragments.

Who disarms Dumbledore on the tower before Snape arrives?

He hesitates to kill; Snape finishes the job while Harry watches, immobilised beneath the invisibility cloak.

What does Harry discover about the locket retrieved from the cave?

Inside is a note from someone signing themselves R.A.B., who had taken the real one meaning to destroy it.

What initials sign the note inside the fake locket?

The identity of the thief, and how the locket left the cave, is one of the threads the final book picks up.

Rowling had once considered the title Half-Blood Prince for which earlier book?

She decided the information it revealed belonged later in the story, and announced the title in June 2004.

Who succeeds Cornelius Fudge as Minister for Magic in the book's opening chapter?

The chapter "The Other Minister" was an idea Rowling had tried to open three earlier books with before it finally worked.

Suspicious bets on Dumbledore's death came from which town, believed to be printing the book?

UK bookmakers suspended betting in May 2005 over fears of insider knowledge, then reopened it.

Bloomsbury printed the book on 30% recycled paper in response to a campaign by which group?

The campaign targeted big-name authors to push publishers toward forest-friendly paper.

A supermarket accidentally sold 14 copies early in which Canadian province?

Raincoast won a court injunction forbidding the buyers from reading or discussing the book before release day.

Which free-software campaigner called for a boycott over the Canadian injunction?

Law professor Michael Geist also weighed in, and The Globe and Mail was warned off publishing a midnight review.

How many pre-orders did Amazon.com take for the book, a record at the time?

Order of the Phoenix had held the record with 1.3 million; the initial print run was 10.8 million.

Who reads the US audiobook, which sold 165,000 copies in two days?

That beat the Order of the Phoenix audiobook by twenty percent.

Into how many languages was the series eventually translated?

Translators could not start until the English release date, so German fans crowd-translated it online in under two days.

Which film moved into the November 2008 slot the Potter film vacated?

Warner Bros. delayed the finished film eight months to guarantee a 2009 summer blockbuster, enraging fans.

What was the film's estimated budget, the largest in the series?

Warner Bros. spent an estimated further $155 million marketing and distributing it.

Which film kept it from being the highest-grossing release of 2009?

It finished on about $941 million worldwide after a record $394 million five-day opening.

Half-Blood Prince is the only Potter film nominated for which Academy Award?

Bruno Delbonnel's moody grey palette was so muted that the studio asked Yates to add more colour.

Who plays the new Potions master in the film?

Variety called him a grand eccentric old professor; he was among the first actors on set in September 2007.

Which actor auditioned for the role of Slughorn but lost out?

Warner Bros. and MSN also ran an online quiz whose prize was a walk-on part in the film.

Who plays the 11-year-old Tom Riddle in the orphanage flashback?

Dillane plays the 16-year-old Riddle; Campbell Bower, once in talks for that part, later played young Grindelwald.

Why did Yates decline to bring back Christian Coulson as the teenage Riddle?

Coulson had played the role in Chamber of Secrets and had expressed interest in returning for the flashbacks.

Which actor was Yates's first choice for Scrimgeour, a role cut from this film?

He got to play the Minister after all in Deathly Hallows – Part 1.

The exterior of the cave scene was filmed at which Irish landmark?

The crystal-formation interior was CGI; Radcliffe said the sequence took three to four months to prepare.

Because Scotland had no snow, the Hogwarts Express scenes were shot in which country?

The Rauma Line near Bjorli stood in for the Highlands while Harry and Ron discuss the Unbreakable Vow.

Which London landmark do the Death Eaters destroy in the film's opening?

The book only mentions the Brockdale Bridge collapsing; Yates wanted to show the Death Eaters at work rather than describe it.

Which book event was cut from the film because it did not fit the rest of it?

A small battle at Hogwarts was also dropped to avoid repeating the big one coming in Deathly Hallows – Part 2.

Which action scene did the film add that is not in the book?

Yates felt the story needed an injection of jeopardy; Bellatrix uses the raid to boast of killing Sirius.

Emma Watson considered not returning for the film out of fear of what?

She decided the pluses outweighed the minuses and could not bear to see anyone else play Hermione.

Who composed the score, which earned a Grammy nomination?

The album debuted at 29 on the Billboard 200, the highest chart placing of the first six soundtracks.

Which film beat its record for the biggest midnight showings later in 2009?

Half-Blood Prince had taken $22.8 million at midnight; the Twilight sequel took $26.3 million in November.

The film's first 15-second teaser was shown with the IMAX release of which film?

The first full US teaser followed on Moviefone and played ahead of Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

In the film, where do Harry and Ginny share their first kiss?

She has just persuaded him to hide the Prince's book there, fearing it holds Dark magic.

Which werewolf Death Eater do Harry, Ron and Hermione spot meeting Draco?

Dave Legeno plays him; he returns with Bellatrix for the added raid on the Burrow.

Draco secretly connects the Vanishing Cabinet to a twin located where?

Arthur Weasley had tipped Harry off at Christmas that the Malfoys were interested in such a cabinet.

Who plays Narcissa Malfoy in the film?

She had originally been cast as Bellatrix two films earlier before pregnancy forced her out.

Guillermo del Toro passed on directing the film to make which of his own?

Alfonso Cuarón said he would have loved to return, while Terry Gilliam said Warner Bros. had blown its chance on the first film.