School yearVIPublished2005-07-16
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Dumbledore uses memories to teach Harry what a Horcrux is and how many Voldemort meant to make. Draco Malfoy is under orders to kill the headmaster and lets Death Eaters into the castle. On the Astronomy Tower, Dumbledore — already dying from the ring’s curse — is killed by Severus Snape, fulfilling the plan they made. Harry is left with a false locket, a broken burial, and the task of finding the remaining Horcruxes without his teacher.
In this book
Also profiled
- Arthur Weasley
- Bellatrix Lestrange
- Fleur Delacour
- Fred Weasley
- George Weasley
- Ginny Weasley
- Helga Hufflepuff
- Hermione Granger
- James Potter
- Lily Potter
- Lord Voldemort
- Lucius Malfoy
- Luna Lovegood
- Minerva McGonagall
- Molly Weasley
- Narcissa Malfoy
- Neville Longbottom
- Nymphadora Tonks
- Remus Lupin
- Ron Weasley
- Rubeus Hagrid
- Tom Marvolo Riddle
On the timeline
- Summer 1996
The ring, the vow, and a new Minister
Dumbledore puts on the ring and takes a fatal curse. He asks Snape to kill him when the time comes, rather than let Draco do it. Snape makes the Unbreakable Vow with Narcissa. Fudge is out. Rufus Scrimgeour is in. Amelia Bones and Emmeline Vance are dead. - 1996-08
Slughorn comes back
Dumbledore and Harry recruit Horace Slughorn. Harry needs the memory Slughorn is ashamed of. - 1996-10
The opal necklace
A cursed necklace meant for Dumbledore injures Katie Bell. Draco is already failing at murder and does not know how to stop. - 1997-03-01
Ron is poisoned
On his seventeenth birthday Ron drinks poisoned mead meant for Dumbledore. Harry keeps him alive with a bezoar. - June 1997
The cave, the false locket, and Dumbledore’s death
Dumbledore and Harry take a locket from the cave. It is a fake, with a note from R.A.B. Death Eaters enter by Draco’s vanishing cabinet. Snape kills Dumbledore on the tower.