J.K. ROWLING'S HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE TO BE PUBLISHED ON 16th JULY, 2005 IN THE UNITED KINGDOM, THE UNITED STATES, CANADA, AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND AND SOUTH AFRICA



ONDON, ENGLAND: NEW YORK, NY, USA: 12 noon London, 21st December, 2004



Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, by J.K. Rowling, the sixth in the bestselling series, has been scheduled for publication on 16th July, 2005 in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, it was announced today by Bloomsbury and Scholastic, her British and American publishers. On her website, www.jkrowling.com, J.K. Rowling announced last night that she had completed the book and delivered the manuscript to her two English language publishers.



In making the joint announcement, Nigel Newton, Chief Executive of Bloomsbury Publishing in the United Kingdom and Barbara Marcus, President of Scholastic Children's Books in the United States, said: "We are delighted to announce the publication date. J.K. Rowling has written a brilliant story that will dazzle her fans in a marvellous book that takes the series to yet greater heights. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince delivers all the excitement and wonder of her bestselling Harry Potter novels."



In the previous book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the last chapter, titled 'The Second War Begins,' started:



'In a brief statement on Friday night, Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge confirmed that He Who Must Not Be Named has returned to this country and is once more active.



"It is with great regret that I must confirm that the wizard styling himself Lord — well, you know who I mean — is alive and among us again," said Fudge.'



Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince takes up the story of Harry Potter's sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry at this point as Voldemort’s power and followers are increasing day by day, in the midst of this battle of good and evil.



The author has already said that the Half-Blood Prince is neither Harry nor Voldemort. Intriguingly, the opening chapter of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has been brewing in J.K. Rowling's mind for 13 years.



Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, J.K. Rowling's fifth Harry Potter book, was released on 21st June, 2003, and was the fastest-selling book in history on the first weekend of its publication. All five Harry Potter books, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, as well as Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, have all been Number One bestsellers in the United Kingdom, the United States and around the world.



Bloomsbury will be publishing their standard children's hardback edition (ISBN 0747581088) and in addition an adult hardback edition (ISBN 074758110X), (the same text but with a different jacket) at the same time and both editions have a Recommended Retail Price of Ј16.99.



Sale of the book in all time zones preceding the United Kingdom is embargoed until 00:01 am BST (British Summer Time) on Saturday 16th July, 2005.



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Speculation based on the earlier books



Assuming that things take their usual course, here's some of what we can look forward to in the book:

- Harry will be in his sixth year at Hogwarts in book six. The events of book six will presumably take place between July, 1996 and the end of June, 1997.

- Neville Longbottom will need another wand to replace that which was broken in the Department of Mysteries.

- At the end of June 1996, Hermione Granger's year-long ban on Rita Skeeter's writing will end.

- "Ministry...guides to elementary home and personal defence...will be delivered free to all wizarding homes [by the end of July] (OP38)." Depending on the definition of "wizarding home", this may come as a bit of a shock to the families of Muggle-born students such as Dean Thomas, who hasn't kept his family informed about the various dangerous happenings at Hogwarts in the last few years (OP11).

- In July 1996, each of the returning sixth year students will receive an owl with their Ordinary Wizarding Level (O.W.L.) results (OP31).

- If the Quidditch season takes place as usual, the Gryffindor team will hold tryouts for at least two Chaser positions and the two Beaters (since Fred and George Weasley left Hogwarts during OP). If Harry has been reinstated as Seeker by then, Ginny Weasley plans to try out for Chaser at that point (OP). Gryffindor will also need a new team captain.



The Harry Potter books follow a fairly predictable pattern. If HBP sticks with this pattern (and there is no guarantee that this will be the case), we'll see the following happen:



- Harry will spend some time in Privet Drive, but JKR has said that this will be his shortest stay yet. Harry's time spent with the Dursleys have been increasingly shorter from book to book. In addition, the Dursleys will likely be happy to see him go due to their intimidation by various Order members at the end of book 5.

- Harry will receive his O.W.L. grades in July and turn 16 on July 31. (Ron is already 16 years old at the end of OP and Hermione will turn 17 shortly after school begins, on September 19).

- Before classes begin, Harry will encounter or hear about someone who will be the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher (this has happened in each book so far).

- On September 1, Harry and his friends will travel to Hogwarts aboard the Hogwarts Express.

- At the Welcoming Feast, Harry and his friends will meet their new DADA teacher, find out if both Firenze and Trelawney will teach Divination, and hear a new Sorting Hat song

- Harry will start N.E.W.T.-level classes, which will include Potions (if his OWL grades permit or Professor Snape's refusal to teach N.E.W.T. Potions to any without the highest OWL grades is somehow circumvented), but not Divination. We'll also learn what career paths Hermione and Ron have chosen.

- In Transfiguration, the sixth years will start learning human transfiguration spells (GF26).

- The Gryffindor Quidditch team will probably include Harry (Seeker), Ginny (probably Chaser), Ron (Keeper), and Katie Bell (Chaser). The other players who were added last year might be back, although new players may need to be recruited. A new captain will be assigned.

- As June rolls around, Harry will find himself once again in a one-on-one confrontation with Voldemort or the Death Eaters.

- Rowling has revealed that one of her characters will not survive this book. Rumours include: Percy Weasley, Hagrid, Severus Snape and Minerva McGonagall.



Reference: Harry Potter Lexicon: About Book Six



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_...lf-Blood_Prince