Who Killed Albus Dumbledore?: What Really Happened in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince? Six Expert Harry Potter Detectives Examine the Evidence.

by John Granger (Editor), Joyce Odel, Wendy B. Harte

Six fan-theorists attempt to unravel the clues of THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE. Joyce Odell of Red Hen Productions, Daniella Teo of Mugglenet, Sally M. Gallo of The Leaky Cauldron, Wendy B. Harte and the mysterious "Swythyv" - along with editor, John Granger (author of Hidden Key to Harry Potter, etc.)- provide Harry Potter readers with exciting and insightful ideas of what happened and what will happen based on their close reading of the texts ... ideas that will challenge and engage readers everywhere. Travis Prinzi, creator of THE SWORD OF GRIFFYNDOR website, writes that these essays "will stand as a monument to the kind of guesswork we were all involved in as we awaited the final Harry Potter book."

Genres: Harry Potter, Nonfiction, Fandom, Media Tie In

240 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2006

Reviews

[Heather Modzelewski]

I thoroughly enjoyed this collection of essays. The ideas and conjectures of the authors were imaginative and made me rethink (and often grab one of the Harry Potter books off my bookshelf to re-read) passages in Rowling's earlier works. The book enlightens to the fact that the structure of Rowling's series goes much deeper than the page, delving into genres of literature and styles of writing. The only downside might be that the book points out how much MORE she could have done...

[Gloria]

To give context, this book was written during that space in time when book six, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" had been written and book seven, then untitled, was still to be published. Therefore, this book is a published work of speculation, based on the author's & editor's analysis of the facts as they had them then.

It's a fascinating thing, further along in time, to be able to read their theories and either go "Yes, on the right track" or "Nope, completely off base". This would also be an exercise in what happens during prophecy - what it means, and after the events have happened, to reflect and either confirm or reject the interpretation or analysis.

I wasn't part of the Harry Potter book craze during the time the books were being published - so all the blogs and writings and speculations may have been amazing back at the point in time that this book was published, but now it seems just "likeable" (reasoning for my star rating).

[Amanda]

I have enjoyed this collection of essays regarding six "experts'" opinions of what really transpired in the penultimate Harry Potter book, The Half-Blood Prince. I think that it is not quite as compelling after reading Unlocking Harry Potter, simply because a lot of the theories/predictions I have already heard, and I really prefer to examine Rowling's own underlying writing structures and formulaic references, rather than a bunch of seemingly implausible theories. Yet, I have learned a few interesting tidbits that do cast some light on certain aspects of the book. I particularly liked the book's last segment, which summarizes the authors' differing ideas of predictions for Book 7. Just seeing the chart of who thinks whom will die is intriguing.

[Heather]

I'm sure I would have thought these theories were pretty clever if I would have read this before Deathly Hallows came out, but I didn't. I bought/read this after I read Deathly Hallows. I don't really know why I did. Well, I saw it in a clearance bin for about $2 and it was Harry Potter related, so that's probably why. Some of the theories I thought were ridiculous, but like I said, I had already read Deathly Hallows.

[Beth]

So many theories and only 20 days left before we have the last book in our hands!

[Tasha]

This was given to me sometime before the release of the seventh book, and... well... yeah. Not really ever planning to read this one.

[Lara]

A grownup perspective on the serious issues of Harry Potter :)

[Elizabeth Flynn]

This book is most effective if read post book 6 and prior to book 7. :)

[Kelly Cennamo]

if people would read the book and watch the movie carfully they would know!!!!

[Chelsea]

This was a fun dive into nostalgia. Having about 6 or 7 essays about theories on what would happen when book 7 of Harry Potter finally dropped, it was a nice nostalgic dive to see what the fandom was thinking. There were actual LiveJournal articles reprinted in here about a debate on Lupin being Polyjuiced or having turned to LV. Amazing. What a time that was.

While I had fun looking back on the what-ifs, other than a collector's piece there's no reason to pick this one up.

[Monteiro]

Interesting to read back and to dip back deep into the crazes. Often off and completely but almost always striking and thought inducing especially the "Welcome to my murder act 1" the best ones are the ones who play on the fringes and add-on without needing to be spelled into the books canon. A fun read for fans and to think back on that universe. Plus Albus Dumbledore is always the greatest.

[s stevens]

Love it

[Chahir Zineb]

Good book

[Liz Michaels]

If you have problem falling asleep this is the book to read. After falling asleep on it five times in a row, I gave up on it. DNF

The date I'm finished with this book 2015/06/27