Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the sixth instalment in the Harry Potter books/movies series and one which had wrapped up production and post-production back in 2008 itself. But with The Dark Knight having scorched the box office that year, Warner Bros decided to postpone the movie to the summer of 2009. This might just prove to be a masterstroke, considering that the movie may well turn out to be the best one in the series yet (according to some people, not including me!). Those who’ve read the books might feel that this one is better than the predecessors but as a sole movie-franchise-watching person, I feel that this one is a mere stop-gap stuff; something transitional…a gap-filler, call it that if you will! 
The sixth year at Hogwarts starts with Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) being whispered about as the chosen one but Professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) knows that without being fully prepared, the battle is not to be won. He uses Harry as bait in order to coax Professor Horace Slughorn (Jim Broadbent) into retaking his position as potions teacher at Hogwarts coz he knows something that would be invaluable to defeat Lord Voldemort. Back at school, the teenage hormones are raging and just about everybody seems to be falling in love…either knowingly or unknowingly or even forcibly (er…love potions induced i.e.)! None more so than Hermoine Granger (Emma Watson) who starts feeling jealous of Ron Weasley’s (Rupert Grint) seemingly jovial escapades with other girls. Even Harry is not spared as he finds himself attracted towards Ginny Weasley (Bonnie Wright). Cho…who’s that? Amidst all this love and laughter (and yeah, Quidditch of course) Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) has his own secret agenda, which despite Harry’s protests, is ignored and culminates in the ultimate revenge for Lord Voldemort. Hogwarts is, at last, breached and one of its faithful soldier falls. But not before unlocking a part of the secret of the enemy’s weakness.
