HBP MUST have appeared in COS

[hines571]

No: HPFGUIDX 103460

Wanda Sherratt <wsherratt3338 at r...> wrote:
> I happen to think the HBP is Tom Riddle, but others have made a 
> good case for different characters.  However, as CoS stands right
> now, referring to ANY of them as a Half Blood Prince would have 
> just come across as nonsense.  There are too many pieces missing. 
> I suspect that Rowling didn't want to go so deeply into Tom Riddle's 
> background that early in the series; as it happens, the next bit 
> of information we get about his youth comes in GoF, two books later.  
> I think the next book will focus on some crucial incident(s) in his 
> formative years, and that will make clear why the title is 
> appropriate.


I do agree that the HBP "probably" appeared in CoS, however I think 
that all of JKR's comments thus far have supported the fact that it 
is NOT Tom Riddle. She said that she changed the title by the end of 
the book because the story's title bore little relationship to the 
story by the end. I would say that if Tom Riddle was the HBP, the 
story would've still had an awful lot to do with the title when it 
was finished. Afterall Riddle is central to that book's plotline. I 
think that it is however someone who at least appeared in CoS, 
because on the website JKR is giving us hints to re-read and find 
the clues

   "I have said before now that 'Chamber' holds some very important 
clues to the ultimate end of the series. Not as many as six, 
obviously, but there is a LINK."   (emphasis mine)

    I would interpret the "link" to be a person from CoS.

Just some speculation :)

      Ryan S.