Bit of Ivory

I’ve been reading theories, and mulling it over, and I think there are 4 (maybe 5) good, solid possibilities for the Half Blood Prince. I’ve posted some of my thoughts in various places, but I’d like to gather them all here.

In speculating on who the HPB could be, there’s one thing we have to remember:

The title of the book was originally a working title for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. This means that, unless she’s completely changed who the HBP is (which I sincerely doubt), it has to be someone who either did influence or could have influenced the plot of CoS. That eliminates several people: Remus Lupin, for instance, has been revealed to be a half-blood in recent chats, so many have been thinking it could be him. But Lupin was not invovled in the plot of CoS, and we can tell from other chats that he was never scheduled to appear earlier than CoS. So he’s right out. So are people like Viktor Krum, who could not possibly have been introduced into the CoS plot. I personally believe that it’s someone who was introduced in either books one or two– we’re just going to get more information about him.

That being said, I think a strong case can be made for any of the following five people:

Tom Marvolo Riddle

Yes, I know JKR said that it “isn’t Harry or Voldemort”, but she’s used that trick before–

“All right!” cried Harry, grabbing the elf’s arm to stop him. “You can’t tell me. I understand. But why are you warning me?” A sudden, unpleasant thought struck him. “Hang on – this hasn’t got anything to do with Vol- – sorry – with You-Know-Who, has it? You could just shake or nod,” he added hastily as Dobby’s head tilted worryingly close to the wall again.

“Not -not He- Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, sir – ” But Dobby’s eyes were wide and he seemed to be trying to give Harry a hint. Harry, however, was completely lost.

So it’s still possible that the HBP is Tom Riddle– as he was before his transformation into Voldemort. There are a few minuses to this theory, however. One is that Tom Riddle was destroyed along with the diary in CoS. Unless there’s another way to reincarnate a young Tom, it’s hard to see how he could play a big role. Another minus is that JKR has used this card before. Yes, I know it’s a plus, but it also begs the question– she’s done it once already, why should she do it again? So I’m putting Tom Marvolo Riddle in a ‘maybe’ category.

Godric Gryffindor

There are a few things that point to Gryffindor. First off, there’s the whole “Prince” idea. It makes a lot more sense to me to have a title of “Prince” back in the far away time of the Founding. It would have made sense in the plot of CoS to reveal Godric as a half-blood, with perhaps a royal bloodline that is connected with that of Slytherin. It’s also consistent with the additional backstory we’ve been getting (and will continue to get) on the Founders. And it works with my personal-favorite Heir of Gryffindor theory. Thus Gryffindor, while not a major player as far as a present-day character, could have a big impact on Harry and his destiny. This is my favorite theory at the moment.

Rubeus Hagrid

Hagrid makes sense on several levels– one, because he was important to the plot in CoS. Two, because Robbie Coltrane revealed in the Leavesden interview reported that JKR had told him something important about Hagrid’s past that hasn’t been revealed yet. The third point is a little bit of a stretch, but couldn’t his mom have been royalty of some kind in the giant kingdom? That would make him a Giant Prince.

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore

I like the Dumbledore theory too, not the least of which is because I came to the conclusion that he’s a half-blood a long time ago. In my story his mother is a Muggle born, his father a pure blood (or at least close to one)– which fits the definition of half blood as it applies to Harry. Seems like “half blood” refers to anyone of mixed blood– not Muggle born, but not pureblood either. Anyway, it explains some of the things in his tastes– Sherbet Lemons, ten-pin bowling, chamber music– and his unwillingness to dismiss the Muggle world. It also works well because I think Dumbledore and Harry will work rather more closely in this book than they have in the past– I think Dumbledore will take over Occlumency lessons, for instance. So maybe this will be the intense period of learning from Harry’s true mentor. On the other hand, it also means that Dumbledore’s about to snuff it, as the wise old mentor usually has to do.

Angua pointed out one flaw in this theory, however– Dumbledore really had very little to do with the plot of CoS. However, it is possible that she revised his role to elimate the necessary information.

Severus Snape

A good case can be made for Snape as well, even though he didn’t have a big role in CoS. Perhaps his role was reduced, however. The memories we see in the Occolumency lessons suggest a possible Muggle connection. His relationship to Harry, in addition, could be the source of a lot of conflict. But I’m inclined away from this one at this point, maybe because I can’t see how Snape would work in a book-six plot. Would one of you Snape lovers like to elaborate on this theory?

So, those are my present thoughts. At this point I can’t see it being any of the students– other than the Trio and perhaps the extended Sextet, they’re just not involved enough in the outside world to be important. It would be a heck of a reversal if Seamus ended up being extremely important, though.

Your thoughts?