Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Characters: Full List & Analysis

Who drives the story

Main characters

Harry Potter

Sixth-year student turned apprentice Horcrux-hunter, armed with a dead man's textbook and Dumbledore's trust. He wins the luck potion, loses his headmaster, and chooses the hunt over his final year at Hogwarts.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Other Minister and the Vow; Part 2: The Half-Blood Prince's Book; Part 3: Memories, Poisons, and a Cursed Necklace; Part 4: The Cave, the Tower, and the Fake Locket
Themes:: The cost of divided souls; Trust and its blind spots; Ordinary teenage life under siege; Inheritance and legacy; Memory as evidence

Albus Dumbledore

Headmaster racing his own weakening body to extract the memory that explains Voldemort's immortality. He drinks the cave's poison, disarms Harry to protect him, and dies at Snape's hand on the Astronomy Tower.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Other Minister and the Vow; Part 2: The Half-Blood Prince's Book; Part 3: Memories, Poisons, and a Cursed Necklace; Part 4: The Cave, the Tower, and the Fake Locket
Themes:: The cost of divided souls; Trust and its blind spots; Inheritance and legacy; Memory as evidence

Severus Snape

The double-faced Potions master who finally gets Defence Against the Dark Arts, bound by an Unbreakable Vow to Draco's mother. He saves Draco's life, kills Dumbledore, and escapes after revealing he is the Half-Blood Prince.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Other Minister and the Vow; Part 2: The Half-Blood Prince's Book; Part 3: Memories, Poisons, and a Cursed Necklace; Part 4: The Cave, the Tower, and the Fake Locket
Themes:: Trust and its blind spots

Draco Malfoy

Voldemort's reluctant teenage assassin, repairing a Vanishing Cabinet to let Death Eaters into Hogwarts. He nearly kills two people by accident, cannot commit murder, and is saved — against his will — by Snape.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Other Minister and the Vow; Part 2: The Half-Blood Prince's Book; Part 3: Memories, Poisons, and a Cursed Necklace; Part 4: The Cave, the Tower, and the Fake Locket
Themes:: The cost of divided souls; Trust and its blind spots; Ordinary teenage life under siege

Horace Slughorn

Vain, club-forming retired Potions master ashamed of the favor he did Voldemort as a boy. He tampers with his own memory, then surrenders the truth to Harry and Felix Felicis.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Other Minister and the Vow; Part 2: The Half-Blood Prince's Book; Part 3: Memories, Poisons, and a Cursed Necklace; Part 4: The Cave, the Tower, and the Fake Locket
Themes:: Memory as evidence

Ginny Weasley

Harry's sharp, steady love interest, dating Dean Thomas until Harry realizes his feelings. She shares his first kiss in the Room of Requirement and is broken up with to keep her out of Voldemort's reach.

Appears in:: Part 2: The Half-Blood Prince's Book; Part 4: The Cave, the Tower, and the Fake Locket
Themes:: The cost of divided souls; Ordinary teenage life under siege

Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger

Harry's best friends, pulled apart by Ron's thoughtless kiss with Lavender and bound back together by poison, grief, and a shared vow. Both refuse to let Harry hunt Horcruxes alone.

Appears in:: Part 2: The Half-Blood Prince's Book; Part 3: Memories, Poisons, and a Cursed Necklace; Part 4: The Cave, the Tower, and the Fake Locket
Themes:: Ordinary teenage life under siege

Also in the story

Supporting characters

Narcissa Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange

Sisters on opposite edges of fear and fanaticism: Narcissa begs Snape to protect her son, Bellatrix doubts his loyalty. Bellatrix later fights at the tower as Dumbledore falls.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Other Minister and the Vow
Themes:: Trust and its blind spots

How they are connected

Key relationships

Harry Potter Albus Dumbledore
Sixth-year student turned apprentice Horcrux-hunter, armed with a dead man's textbook and Dumbledore's trust.
Albus Dumbledore Severus Snape
He drinks the cave's poison, disarms Harry to protect him, and dies at Snape's hand on the Astronomy Tower.
Severus Snape Draco Malfoy
The double-faced Potions master who finally gets Defence Against the Dark Arts, bound by an Unbreakable Vow to Draco's mother.
Horace Slughorn Harry Potter
He tampers with his own memory, then surrenders the truth to Harry and Felix Felicis.
Ginny Weasley Harry Potter
Harry's sharp, steady love interest, dating Dean Thomas until Harry realizes his feelings.
Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger Harry Potter
Harry's best friends, pulled apart by Ron's thoughtless kiss with Lavender and bound back together by poison, grief, and a shared vow.
Narcissa Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange Severus Snape
Sisters on opposite edges of fear and fanaticism: Narcissa begs Snape to protect her son, Bellatrix doubts his loyalty.
Narcissa Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange Albus Dumbledore
Bellatrix later fights at the tower as Dumbledore falls.

Go deeper

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince themes & symbols

The cost of divided souls · Trust and its blind spots · Ordinary teenage life under siege · Inheritance and legacy

Themes explained

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