My take on the Half-blood Prince

[pcaehill2]

No: HPFGUIDX 105768

> Aggie wrote:
 [snip]
> Darn and Blast!  I had the brain wave (think that should say brain 
> ache though!!) that perhaps we'd been seeing this all wrong, that 
> MAYBE just because it had been ONE of the titles for CoS we all 
> assumed that the HBP in book 6 is going to be the same HBP that 
would have been in book 2.  I did wonder, if only for 2 minutes, if 
they were in deed two different beings!!  On JKR's web site she says 
that it was an original title for CoS and that lots of info that was 
> originally destined for CoS in now going to be in HBP, so it could 
> still be a relevant theroy . . . couldn't it?. . .

Pam responds:

I agree; in choosing the HBP, JKR is not bound solely to characters 
from CoS.  She only specified who HBP *was not*.  I think that 
you're right--the material that was originally intended for CoS may 
be info/plot/characters that didn't make it into CoS at all!!

As I wrote earlier, I think the HBP may be eastern European, mostly 
due to these reasons:

1) LV's years before his "rise to power" may have been spent in some
eastern European country, because LV sought refuge in that region on 
at least two occasions: when he met Quirrel, and before he met 
Wormtail. Perhaps he was already familiar with the region--maybe in 
years past he had the company of Durmstrang graduates (also Slavic)?

2)OoP pointed out the need for the houses to stand together, and GoF 
(maybe indirectly) the need for "international magical cooperation" 
to defeat LV.

3) OoP also contains a reference to Charlie Weasley's presence in 
Romania, and his effort to muster support from international wizards-
-this will surely be further developed in Book 6.

4) There are a great many references to slavic countries: Krum's 
Bulgaria, Charlie's Romania, LV in Albania, and the unknown but 
slavic location of Durmstrang.