It's funny to read the beginning of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, which opens with a chapter entitled "The Other Minister." The "other" minister, depending on your point of view, is either the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, or the Minister of Magic. What's funniest to me is the reflections of the Muggle Prime Minster, who seems to know more than anyone how much of a screw-up Cornelius Fudge is.
When the Muggle Minister first comes to office, Fudge introduces himself with the promise that this should be the only time they meet, ever. Then he has to come and announce the escape of Sirius Black from Azkaban. Then he has to come explain the Death Eater incident at the Quidditch World Cup (and to clear the dragon import for the TriWizard Tournament). Then he has to come back and admit that Voldemort has returned. Then he has to come and announce that he has been forced to resign his post. Obviously.
The Half Blood Prince is one of the shorter of the "later" books, though it is certainly the heaviest, steeped as it is in teenage pheromones. This is the book in which the kids truly cross over from being children to young adults, with Ron and Hermione fighting their mutual attraction tooth and nail (unsuccessfully), and the "beast" in Harry's chest awakening to recognize his love for Ginny.
Because of a nasty virus, I was able to read The Half Blood Prince and The Deathly Hallows quickly and back-to-back, literally picking up one and then the other. This made a big difference in my perception of the sixth book, because clarity on the actions of so many of the characters came (relatively) quickly as well. Snape's screaming at Harry that he (Snape) is not a coward, for example, is far more laden with meaning when you know the truth of Snape's motives, and also when you can follow up so quickly with just how much of a coward he is not.
The most important part of The Half Blood Prince, especially looking forward to The Deathly Hallows, is Harry's evolving relationship with Albus Dumbledore. At the end of book five, following the disastrous events at the Ministry and the failed Occlumency lessons with Snape, Dumbledore apologizes to Harry and confesses two things, one of which Harry had suspected, and one of which Harry had not: yes, Dumbledore had been avoiding him out of fear that The Dark Lord would use his psychic connection to Harry against him. But more importantly, Dumbledore was afraid that the psychic connection would give Voldemort insight into exactly how much Dumbledore cares for Harry.
And so The Half Blood Prince features a much more intensive set of interactions between Harry and Dumbledore, beginning with Albus' appearance on Privet Drive to deliver Harry to the Burrow and continuing down into the Pensieve to discover the origins and secrets of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.
Of course, the end of the story is the most important, and the most resonant. We learn the secret of the Horcruxes, as well as the existence of the locket, a locket not the Horcrux, with a note inside signed "R.A.B." And, most importantly, Severus Snape kills Albus Dumbledore.
I remember the first time I read this, I felt betrayed, bewildered, and not a little confused. Snape, after all, was someone Dumbledore trusted implicitly, and who Dumbledore defended, literally to the death. His final words, begging for mercy, were some of the hardest I have ever read. That is, until my mother pointed out that to her, it didn't sound like Dumbledore was pleading for his life. She thought it sounded like he was asking for Severus to complete a mission.
The Phoenix laments, the tomb is sealed, and the final journey begins. Harry breaks from Ginny, which is hard but ultimately right, and Ron and Hermione state unequivocally that they are "in." On to The Deathly Hallows.
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