We are almost at the end of our Harry Potter Book Challenge, and it’s time to share your thoughts/links for the sixth book in the series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

This month since Jose wrote an excellent article about Felix Felicis, I will use the question he asked at the end of the article:

“What would you do if you had a little bit of Felix Felicis for luck (remember no sports, contests, or tests)?”

Personally, I would probably save it for one very special day, I wouldn’t want to waste it on trivial matter, so if I had to wait years to use it until I really needed it I would. But that’s just me, it’s time to hear from you.

For those of you who have signed up to participate through the comment section, please answer the above question in the comments.

For those of you who have written either a review or opinion piece on your blogs, Goodreads, Shelfari, LibraryThing, Amazon, or YouTube, you can leave a link in the comment section. (Please note: Your comment might be held for moderation because it includes a link, but we will approve all the relevant links. If your comment hasn’t been approved within 1-2 days, please resubmit it so that we count your participation into the challenge).

And feel free to also share your answer to the question.

Remember, your comment and/or link will count as one proof of participation, which will give you one entry into our final giveaway. Also you can add your January links/comments here, February links/comments here, March links/comments here, April links/comments here and May links/comments here if you haven’t done so yet.

Please make sure to use the same name/email you signed up with for the challenge. You can find a full list of participants here.

Felix Felicis is a very curious and interesting potion. Drinking it grants the drinker incredible amounts of good luck, although how long this effect lasts depends on the amount imbibed. You also have to be careful since drinking too much leads to over zealousness or giddiness and can be dangerous. It’s the magical world’s equivalent to performance enhancing drugs as use of the potion in sporting events, competitions, or during tests is forbidden.

We first see Felix Felicis (also called Liquid Luck) in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince when Harry attends his first Advance Potions class given by Slughorn. It’s one of many potions Slughorn has prepared for the class to name, which is really no challenge when Hermione is in the classroom. Slughorn offers a small sample (about twelve hours worth) of the potion as a prize to the student who creates the best version of Draught of Living Death, which Harry wins thanks to the Half-Blood Prince’s copy of Advance Potion Making, much to Hermione’s chagrin.

The potion becomes an important part of the plot for the rest of the book. Harry feigns putting some in Ron’s drink right before a Quidditch match to help him overcome his jitters at being the new keeper. He drinks some of the potion to help him get Slughorn’s memories about Horcruxes, leading to a series of improbable luck and coincidences. He divides the rest of the potion among his friends in order to help protect them when the Death Eaters enter Hogwarts.

I thought that it was wonderful that the magical world has this very difficult to obtain potion that steers you to have good luck. It seems like the kind of thing we’d all want to try out at least once. I think if I had a small bottle of it I’d try to go out and do something dangerous like rock climbing, stunt driving, or salsa dancing (you’d understand if you ever saw me dance).

What would you do if you had a little bit of Felix Felicis for luck (remember no sports, contests, or tests)? I also thought it was very much like Harry to share the rest of his potion with his friends to help protect them before the Death Eaters came to the castle. Would you share your potion with friends or would you keep it to yourself? Lastly, if you were Harry, would you have kept a little bit of the potion for yourself as well just in case? I can’t wait to hear your thoughts and ideas, and feel free to talk about what you thought of The Half-Blood Prince.

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The movie Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince opens this week so if you haven’t read the book yet, now is the time. Most fans of the series read the book a few years ago, so read on for a quick refresher. If you recall, the fifth book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, ended with the wizarding world finally becoming aware that Lord Voldemort had returned. The sixth book begins with the magical world at war and a new minister of magic taking office, now that the bumbling Cornelius Fudge has been relieved of duty. As the story of his battle with Voldemort spreads, Harry is once again everyone’s hero, the chosen one who will defeat Voldemort forever.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince opens with Harry spending his summer at the Dursley’s, until Dumbledore arrives and asks him to help him persuade Horace Slughorn to become the newest professor at Hogwarts. Professor Slughorn isn’t a bad person, but he is one of those people who value others for their social connections or what they can do for him. To me he’s pretty repulsive, but a vast improvement on the hideous Dolores Umbridge. While at Hogwarts, Harry acquires an old potions textbook with writing-covered margins that once belonged to someone who called himself “The Half-Blood Prince.” Despite Hermione’s objections, Harry uses the spells in class to his benefit.

Dumbledore, whose hand is mysteriously withered, begins meeting with Harry to show him everything he has learned about Voldemort’s, aka Tom Riddle’s, life before and after Hogwarts so that Harry may better understand his enemy. Through the Pensieve, Harry sees that Riddle collected objects of importance that he later turned into horcruxes – objects that hold onto a piece of one’s soul, which ensures immortality but at the cost of fracturing the soul. Harry realizes that in order to kill Voldemort, he must first destroy the horcruxes. One thing this book really drives home is how different Harry and Riddle are, even though they were both orphans who found a home at Hogwarts. Despite being given many opportunities, Riddle chose to use his talent and charisma for evil.

Those who have read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will certainly remember the unforgettable ending, so I won’t spoil it for those who haven’t. But, seriously, if you haven’t read the book, what are you waiting for? I love all the Harry Potter books, but this is one of the best in the series. Dumbledore preparing Harry for defeating Voldemort is bittersweet because it needs to be done, but it’s heartbreaking to see Harry have to face such adult problems. The Half-Blood Prince is more grown-up than previous books and has adult themes, but there is also a lot of teenage romance and angst that is a reminder of how young the characters really are.

The Harry Potter movies are fantastic and I will definitely be the first in line this weekend, but I highly recommend reading the books too because they contain so much more detailed information. There’s just no way to fit all the various storylines into a 2 hour movie, so by not reading the book you really do miss some of the background that makes Rowling’s characters so enjoyable.

Buy Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by JK Rowling on Amazon by clicking here.

(You can also read a review for the movie Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince here.)