Riddle the HBP (was Re: HBP MUST have appeared in COS)

[Wanda Sherratt]

No: HPFGUIDX 103490

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "albusthewhite" 
<jacobalfredo at h...> wrote:
 My hypothesis is, taking Jo at her word at every step, she 
> really liked the phraseology "Half Blood Prince", she decided that 
Year 2 was more about 
> the chamber than Riddle and so changed the name, and now she is 
reusing the *prase* 
> HBP but not its original signified.  Does that make sense or are 
there big gaping holes?  Of 
> course Riddle could be the HBP, maybe is the most likely suspect, 
but let's not stop 
> theorizing there!

That could be the solution - perhaps the term is now better applied 
to some unknown person who will appear in Book 6, it's quite 
possible.  I think her reason for changing the title was probably 
just as you suggest: however she may have intended the story to go 
at the beginning, by the time it was written it was less about Harry 
and this other character than about Harry and the mystery of the 
Chamber. Even if the HBP *was* Tom Riddle, I don't feel that the 
book was really primarily "about" him. I guess this raises the 
question of what is the "purpose" of a book title, after all?  I 
don't think in Rowling's case she titles her books to deceive her 
readers; so far, the titles have been pretty accurate indications of 
the focus of the story.  The last one maybe not quite as completely 
as the others, as the Order of the Phoenix tended to appear a bit 
fitfully throughout the book, but I think its mysterious activities 
and mission were a persistent theme.  I guess I tend to think that, 
in order to rate a mention in the title, the thing or person has to 
be nearly as important as Harry himself, and have some crucial 
function in the story.  Tom Riddle in CoS is important, but I don't 
think he would rank right up there as an overarching theme.

Wanda