What Jo says about...
Book 6: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ©2005

Please note: unless you see quotemarks, these are summaries, and not JKR's words themselves. Please see the linked article for the actual text.

• Harry will not train to be an animagus; his "energies are going to be concentrated elsewhere and he's not going to have time to do that." [Read the exact quote from National Press Club, 1999]
• On whether Harry and his friend Hermione will have a date when they get older: "No, but I won't answer for anyone else - nudge, nudge, wink, wink." [SGM-99]
• JKR: "What's very important for me is when Dumbledore says that you have to choose between what is right and what is easy. This is the setup for the next three books. All of them are going to have to choose, because what is easy is often not right." [Read the exact quote from Entertainment Weekly, 2000]
• Harry might get a different pet "at some point." [RC-01]
• JKR: "Key things happen in book two. No one knows how important those things are ... yet. There's a lot in there. And I know how difficult it was to get it all in there without drawing too much attention to the clues." "All the important stuff [from book 2] got into the film."[IGN-02]
• Kloves: "There's one thing in Chamber [of Secrets movie] that Jo indicated will play a part later in the series..." [CoS-03]
• As she writes Book 6, Jo feels as if Book 6 and Book 7 "are two halves of the same novel." [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• We will see Moaning Myrtle again. [Read the exact quote from World Book Day, 2004]
• We will see more of Narcissa Malfoy. [Read the exact quote from World Book Day, 2004]
• Tonks will be back. [Read the exact quote from World Book Day, 2004]
• There will be a new Minister for Magic in book 6. [Read the exact quote from World Book Day, 2004]
• Hagrid’s half brother is becoming a little more controllable, and we’ll find out what happens to him in book 6. [Read the exact quote from World Book Day, 2004]
• JKR: "In book six, the wizarding world is really at war again and [Harry] has to master his own feelings to make himself useful." [Read the exact quote from World Book Day, 2004]
• In book 6, Harry will have "the shortest stay in Privet Drive so far. " [Read the exact quote from World Book Day, 2004]
• Harry will have some time for romance in book 6. [Read the exact quote from World Book Day, 2004]
• Voldemort was not born evil. We will "find out more about the circumstances of his [Voldemort's] birth in the next book." [Read the exact quote from World Book Day, 2004]
• Wormtail will be back in book 6. [Read the exact quote from World Book Day, 2004]
• "The 'Pillar of Storgé' was never my title, and I did not change it at the eleventh hour because I was 'found out.' [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince "was once, in the long distant past, a possibility for 'Chamber of Secrets,' and from that deduced that it was genuine. Certain crucial pieces of information in book six were originally planned for 'Chamber of Secrets,' but very early on (first draft of Chamber) I realised that this information's proper home was book six. I have said before now that 'Chamber' holds some very important clues to the ultimate end of the series. Not as many as six, obviously, but there is a link." [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• "The HBP is neither Harry nor Voldemort." [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• Arthur Weasley will not be the new Minister of Magic. [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• Tom Riddle is the same person as Voldemort, so he is not the Half Blood Prince. [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• There is no trace of the HBP storyline left in CoS, rather the link between the two books relates to a discovery Harry made in CoS that foreshadows something he finds out in HBP. [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• JKR came close to using a chapter very like the opening one of book 6 in PS/SS, PoA and OotP. But it didn't fit properly until now. [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• JKR told Cuaron that there is a graveyard at Hogwarts, over near the other side of the castle to where Hermione punched Draco. The graveyard will play an important part in book 6 or 7. [CBBC-04a]
• What Harry (and all the characters) will be going through will be quite "tough." [Read the exact quote from Edinburgh Book Festival, 2004]
• We should be asking "Why didn't Voldemort die?" Not, "Why did Harry live?" but, "Why didn't Voldemort die?" The killing curse rebounded, so he should have died. Why didn't he? At the end of Goblet of Fire he says that one or more of the steps that he took enabled him to survive. You should be wondering what he did to make sure that he did not die — I will put it that way. I don't think that it is guessable. It may be — someone could guess it — but you should be asking yourself that question, particularly now that you know about the prophesy. [Read the exact quote from Edinburgh Book Festival, 2004]
• We will finally meet Blaise Zabini (who is male) in the next few books. [Read the exact quote from Edinburgh Book Festival, 2004]
• Grawp will continue to become "more amenable to human contact." [Read the exact quote from Edinburgh Book Festival, 2004]
• Book 6 will be a "time for answers, not more questions and clues…." [Read the exact quote from Edinburgh Book Festival, 2004]
• There is a McLaggan [a name she recently found] in book six because she likes the name. [Read the exact quote from Edinburgh Book Festival, 2004]
• There are new potions she names in book 6. [Read the exact quote from Edinburgh Book Festival, 2004]
• Book 6 is not a "spinoff" of book 2. [Read the exact quote from Edinburgh Book Festival, 2004]
• Dudley is nothing more than he seems; he gets very few lines in book 6. [Read the exact quote from Edinburgh Book Festival, 2004]
• Cuaron "put things in the [PoA] film that, without knowing it, foreshadow things that are going to happen in the final two books." [Read the exact quote from the Prisoner of Azkaban DVD, 2004]
• There will be no chapters in the sixth book called "Lupin’s papers" and "The Lovegoods in court." In JK’s words, that’s a "pile of Storgé." [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• Book 6 preview: "[He] looked rather like an old lion. There were streaks of grey in his mane of tawny hair and his bushy eyebrows; he had keen yellowish eyes behind a pair of wire-rimmed spectacles and a certain rangy, loping grace even though he walked with a slight limp." [JKR locked door, 16 AUG 2004]
• Book 6 chapter 2: SPINNERS END [JKR locked door 31 OCT 2004]
• Book 6 chapter 6: DRACO'S DETOUR [JKR locked door 31 OCT 2004]
• Book 6 chapter 14: FELIX FELICIS [JKR locked door 31 OCT 2004]
• In Book 6, Harry will not stand trial again; he will leave the Dursley’s for a much pleasanter reason. [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• None of the pure-blood families are actually ‘pure’ – they merely cross Muggles and Squibs off the family tree. The number of families who can claim to be pure is diminishing as they are finding it increasingly difficult to perpetuate themselves. This subject is touched upon in book 6. [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• Writing one part of Book 6 made JK "rub [her] hands with fiendish glee." [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• More characters are going to die. [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• The last part of the prophecy does not mean that Neville and Harry must kill each other. [Read the exact quote form Jo's website]
• Neville is a "normal" wizarding boy with a tragic past and his own "latent strengths." [Read the exact quote form Jo's website]
• Refers to Neville as "the boy who was so nearly King" but does not tell us if he will ever find this out. Also refers to Neville as an "also-ran" and a "might-have-been." [Read the exact quote form Jo's website]
• Neville does have a "significant part to play in the last two novels and the fight against Voldemort." [Read the exact quote form Jo's website]
• The prophecy did not mystically intertwine Neville's fate with Harry's. [Read the exact quote form Jo's website]
• Barbara Marcus says "Someone dies [in Book 6] but it's not Harry or Voldemort." [read source for quote from Reuters News Agency, 2005]
• Arthur Levine says: Harry is "definitely growing up in all areas of his life." [Read the source for Arthur Levine quote from report on BookExpo America, 2005]
• Arthur Levine says: Book 6 is not as dark as the last, though the overall arc of the series is that the "world is getting more pernicious." [Read the source for Arthur Levine quote from report on BookExpo America, 2005]
• Arthur Levine says: Book 6 "has more romance in general." [Read the source for Arthur Levine quote from report on BookExpo America, 2005]
• Writing Luna's commentary during the Quidditch match was what caused JK's "fiendish glee" [mentioned on her website, see above].
• JK won't tell us what Dumbledore would see in front of the Mirror of Erised, or what his boggart is, though we might be able to guess the boggart from clues in Book 6. [Read the whole quote from the Leaky Cauldron, 2005]
• As one can guess from the end of Book 6, the founders of Hogwarts will play a role in Book 7. [Read the whole quote from the Leaky Cauldron, 2005]
• Who is R.A.B.? Regulus Black is a "fine choice." [Read the whole quote from the Leaky Cauldron, 2005]
• JK had fun with the romance in Book 6. She hopes that the trends are now entirely clear. "I really enjoyed writing the Ron/Lavender business." Ron needed to "grow up emotionally." [Read the whole quote from the Leaky Cauldron, 2005]
• "Draco did a lot of growing up" in Book 6. [Read the whole quote from the Leaky Cauldron, 2005]
• Suddenly, after "having talked the talk [Draco's] asked to walk it for the first time and it is absolutely terrifying. I felt sorry for Draco." [Read the whole quote from the Leaky Cauldron, 2005]
• "Draco would not have killed Dumbledore." [Read the whole quote from the Leaky Cauldron, 2005]
• JK won't tell us if Dumbledore was planning to die. "I have to give people hope." [Read the whole quote from the Leaky Cauldron, 2005]
• Dumbledore’s line “the prophecy is significant only because you and Voldemort choose to make it so” is a key point in Book 6. [Read the entire quote from the Leaky Cauldron, 2005]
• Dumbledore's guesses about how to kill Voldemort are “never very far wide of the mark.” Harry will need to get rid of four horcruxes, and then “go for Voldemort.” Dumbledore has given Harry “some pretty valuable clues” and Harry "has amassed more knowledge than he realizes." [Read the entire quote from the Leaky Cauldron, 2005]
• At least one of the remaining Horcruxes is pretty easy to guess at if you are a careful reader. [Read the entire quote from the Leaky Cauldron, 2005]
• The first two chapters of Book 6 were a useful device to show that everybody knows Voldemort is back and that a lot of people are being affected. [Read the whole quote from ITV, 2005]
• JK was "seriously upset" at the end of Book 6. [Read the whole quote from ITV, 2005]
• JK removed the Half-blood Prince storyline from Chamber of Secrets because it didn't work well, and it would have blown too many things open. [Read the whole quote from ITV, 2005]
• "When people have finished reading this book, they will really know what to expect in book seven and I think I give very clear pointers as to what Harry will do next."
  "There is plenty to guess at... at least one thing I think people will probably deduce, there is a mystery left at the end, but I think they might already know the answer if they think about it." [Read the whole quote from ITV, 2005]
• "Ron's hormones get fuller play in Book 6.... It dawns on Ron that both Hermione and Harry have had some action and he's never got close!" [Read the whole quote from Time Magazine, 2005]
• "In Book 6 "Harry finds out a lot of Voldemort's history. Though he was never that nice a guy." [Read the whole quote from Time Magazine, 2005]
• After Book 6 "you're left with a very clear idea of what Harry's going to do next." [Read the whole quote from Time Magazine, 2005]
• In Book 6 Harry is "ready to go out fighting. And he’s after revenge." [Read the whole quote from Dateline NBC, 2005]
• In Book 6 Harry finds out a lot about the past which "hopefully will be of use to him in the future." [Read the whole quote from Dateline NBC, 2005]
• JKR: "You really sort of skid off the end of six straight into seven" because you know at the end of six that the main plot line isn't finished. [Read the whole quote from BBC-Radio4, 2005]
• MORE:book 1 | book 2 | book 3 | book 4 | book 5 | book 6 | book 7 | after book 7