Harry Potter, #6
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
by J.K. Rowling
Contents
Chapter 18: Birthday Surprises
Overview
Harry fails to coax Slughorn’s real Horcrux memory, deepening the mystery. Hogwarts begins Apparition lessons while Harry fruitlessly tails Draco. On Ron’s birthday, a misused love potion sends Harry to Slughorn for help; celebratory mead then poisons Ron. Harry’s quick use of a bezoar saves Ron’s life, underscoring the Half-Blood Prince’s dangerous usefulness.
Summary
Harry tells Ron and Hermione about Dumbledore’s task to retrieve Slughorn’s true memory. In Potions, stung by Hermione’s barbs, Harry uses the Half-Blood Prince’s shortcut—fetching a bezoar—to ace an antidote challenge, angering Hermione and Malfoy. After class, Harry directly asks Slughorn about Horcruxes; Slughorn panics, blames Dumbledore, and shuts him down.
Harry decides to bide his time while Slughorn pointedly avoids hosting gatherings. Hermione’s research yields nothing on Horcruxes. Appparition lessons begin in the Great Hall under Wilkie Twycross, marked by failed attempts and Susan Bones’s Splinching. Harry positions himself to overhear Draco arguing with Crabbe and resolves to monitor him using the Marauder’s Map, but Draco repeatedly vanishes from the map even as Crabbe and Goyle act as lookouts.
With worsening weather, a Hogsmeade weekend is canceled, ruining Ron’s birthday plans. On March first, Harry notices Draco missing from the map. Ron, after eating Chocolate Cauldrons meant for Harry, becomes besotted with Romilda Vane—love potion–addled. Harry drags Ron to Slughorn, who brews an antidote that restores Ron.
Slughorn then opens oak-matured mead to toast Ron’s birthday. Ron drinks first and collapses, violently poisoned. As Slughorn freezes, Harry sprints for Slughorn’s kit, forces a bezoar into Ron’s mouth, and Ron stabilizes, proving the Prince’s advice life-saving and leaving the poisoning a new, ominous mystery.
Who Appears
- Harry PotterTries to extract Slughorn’s Horcrux memory, spies on Malfoy, and saves Ron’s life with a bezoar.
- Ron WeasleyBirthday boy; accidentally ingests a love potion, then is poisoned by mead and revived by a bezoar.
- Professor Horace SlughornPanics at Horcrux question, avoids Harry; cures Ron’s love potion, serves poisoned mead unwittingly.
- Hermione GrangerExcels at Potions theory, frustrated by Harry’s shortcut; finds no information on Horcruxes in the library.
- Draco MalfoyArgues with Crabbe about secret plans; eludes the Marauder’s Map while using lookouts.
- Wilkie TwycrossMinistry Apparition Instructor; teaches the three Ds amid student failures and Splinching.
- Lavender BrownRon’s girlfriend, snubbed as Ron, under love potion, seeks Romilda.
- Vincent CrabbeActs as Malfoy’s lookout; argues with him about timing.
- Gregory GoyleServes as lookout for Malfoy during his secret activities.
- Professor Minerva McGonagallHelps oversee Apparition lesson; rebukes Malfoy for talking.
- Professor Severus SnapePresent during Apparition session; Harry notes his whereabouts on the map.
- Susan BonesSplinches her leg during Apparition practice and is reconstituted.
- Ernie MacmillanParticipates in Potions and Apparition; provides a spell Harry imitates.
- PeevesBlocks a corridor, delaying students en route to the Tower.