Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) - 14 questions

Question: In the movie when Harry, Ron and Hermione are sitting in the Great Hall and discussing how Ron and Lavender broke up, Hermione asks Ron if he remembered something from that night in the Hospital Wing. Ron says, "I did remember something, but no, it can't be". What was it that Ron remembered?

Answer: Ron remembers calling Hermione's name when he was in bed sick. In this scene in the Great Hall Ron is asking Hermione how he broke up with Lavender. Hermione asks if he remembered anything, which he does but says his mind was completely "boggled." He remembers, but he does not want to admit it since he likes Hermione and does not want her to know.

Question: What is the sole purpose of a Death Eater?

Answer: Their sole purpose is to serve Lord Voldemort. They are his most trusted and faithful followers and do his bidding without question or hesitation. They also make up his inner council, acting as advisors and gathering information that will help the Dark Lord conquer the wizard world. Once someone has entered the Dark Lord's service, there is no leaving it alive.

Question: Every time I've watched The Half Blood Prince I've found myself asking whether or not, at some point during shooting, Daniel Radcliffe actually broke his nose in reality. I'm not sure if it's because of the way the scene is lit, but during several moments within the movie, particularly at the end during his scene with Professor McGonagal, his nose looks swollen. Was any news about an actual broken nose ever reported during the filming?

Answer: At the beginning of the film, when they are travelling to Hogwarts, Harry hides under his invisibility cloak to spy on Draco. Draco finds out and knocks Harry to the floor where he cannot move. Draco then kicks Harry in the face, breaking his nose. Luna fixes his nose with a spell, but says she onle practiced on toes before. Maybe what you are seeing is the spell not being done properly and it wearing off through the movie. There were no reports of him actually breaking his nose.

Question: After Harry gets Slughorn's memory, he watches it with Dumbledore. Dumbledore says "This is beyond anything I imagined" after the viewing. But then he goes on to say that he's been hunting for the horcruxes. I don't understand his remark when he's been finding and destroying them, since he must know what they are. How else can you look for something if you don't know what it is?

Answer: Dumbledore did not know that Tom Riddle was planning to create seven Horcruxes, which was more than he expected.

Question: Anyone who's read the seventh book will know that Harry misses something very important in the room of requirement (I'm being vague here to avoid spoilers.) Is said item ever shown in this film?

Answer: I have watched the film several times and specifically looked for the item you are mentioning (The bust of a warlock with an ugly wig, and the object you're referring to). I have not seen it. There ARE several Easter Eggs from previous movies, however, such as the harp and chess pieces from HP1.

Question: In the scene where Ron, Hermione and Harry are in the three broomsticks, and Ron mentions to Hermione about how she has a bit of foam from her butterbeer above her lip, why does she seem so upset and embarrassed?

Answer: Because she doesn't want to look silly in front of Ron, who she's in love with. Teenage romance, it's a minefield...

Question: In the Christmas party scene, when Harry and Cormac are behind the curtain talking, Cormac pops a dragon tart in his mouth then says something weird while his mouth is full. What did he say? I listened to that line over and over but couldn't make it out.

Answer: If I remember correctly, he says something along the lines of "what is this I'm eating?".

Question: Is there a reason why the white bird in the cupboard died? Also, why did it turn black when it came back to life?

Answer: There are two birds, as we see in the cage early on. Draco uses them to test whether the link between the two vanishing cabinets is working - with the white bird, the link is unsuccessful, so the bird dies. After working on it further, he tests it again using the black bird, which survives, telling him that the link is up and running.

Question: Is Aragog smaller in this film, than in the Chamber of Secrets?

Answer: Yes, much smaller. I'd estimate that the Aragog in Half-Blood Prince is about one third the size of the spider in Chamber of Secrets.

Question: In the books Malfoy fixes the vanishing cabinet to allow death eaters through and there is a fight between them and the order. However in the film the fight is cut making the whole point of Malfoy fixing the cabinet irrelevant as the death eaters do not need to witness the death as proved by Malfoy's earlier attempts to kill Dumbledore. Considering this, why do they cut the fight, when it is such a vital part of the story line?

Answer: Because it's not actually vital at all. The Death Eaters are there to kill Dumbledore if Malfoy can't (as his previous attempts have been woefully unsuccessful) - that's their goal. The battle against the Aurors and the Order of the Phoenix is, for the most part, irrelevant to the overall storyline. It also allows them to avoid repetition, as the final book also finishes with a big battle through Hogwarts. If they kept the fight in, they'd have to make it look good, which would give them problems in depicting the final, much larger battle in the last film as expectations would be so much higher. By leaving it out and solely showing the main features of the storyline, namely Dumbledore's death at Snape's hands, it keeps the story focused and allows them to show the final battle in the last film without having already set a high mark that they'd then have to ensure that they exceeded.

Question: What was the reason for adding the attack scene at the Burrow during Christmas? My friend and I can't find a way to fit this scene in with the rest of the movie, as it does not happen in the book. It's obvious directors love to add scenes that aren't in the book, but something of this impact, it's just flying right over my head.

Answer: In the book we are told of attacks by Death Eaters within the Wizarding community. In the film, when Arthur and Harry enter the shed, Arthur explains that they're all being followed and most days Molly doesn't leave the house. The filmmakers chose to expound on this by means of an attack by Bellatrix and Greyback, and the attempt to terrorize the family the viewers hold dear, the Weasleys.

Question: After Dumbledore is killed, Snape, Draco and the other Death Eaters are leaving the castle from the Astronomy Tower, why/how is it that they end up exiting the Great Hall (then blasting the Auror and then exiting the castle)?

Answer: There is a bit of a time lapse from when they leave the Astronomy Tower, but the Death Eaters are creating as much mayhem as possible within the castle. The movie tones this down, but in the book, there is an all-out battle between the Death Eaters and the Aurors, Hogwarts staff, and "Dumbledore's Army."

Question: How is a memory retrieved from the bowl of liquid and returned to its vial after it is viewed? Does it say in the book?

Answer: First, someone removes a memory from their own mind using a wand. The memory is a silvery mist that attaches itself to the wand's tip and is extracted from a person's head. To save the memory, it is often stored in a flask or vial until it can be poured into a magical bowl called a pensieve. The memory can be viewed at anytime by peering into the pensieve, although in the movie it appears that one must actually submerge their head into the liquid. A memory can also be removed from the penseive with a wand and transferred to a storage flask or another pensieve.

Question: In Horace Slughorn's house, what was that dragon blood dripping on the ceiling about? He has a dragon?

Answer: No, he doesn't have a dragon; dragon's blood was simply something that he had to hand. He's trying to give the impression that he's no longer there, so he's made the house look like there's been a fight and added a strategically-placed blood stain to suggest that he's been injured or killed.