Half-Blood Prince ( was Merlin's Beard!)

[Tonks]

No: HPFGUIDX 126582


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, imamommy at s... wrote: 
> 
> Why do you suppose the HBP necessarily needs to be a type and 
shadow of Christ?  I haven't even made up my mind that he needs to 
be a good guy.  I'm still not sure he's not a beverage, as someone 
suggested. Or a new designer drug:P  Can you please offer some 
support for this claim? 


Tonks now:  

The half-blood prince could be someone alive now or in the past.  It 
could be a story about that person.  But the person that it refers 
to must be a Christ figure because of the symbolism that runs 
throughout the HP series.  We see so much symbolism of Christ in 
Harry that it led me to think that Harry was the Christ until the 
5th book when he does in fact fall from grace and commits a sin.  
The real XC (Christ) would not have done that.  DD shows signs of 
the Christ as well with his patronus being a phoenix and with 
Faulks, etc.  So the symbolism of XC is everywhere in the series.  
John Granger also points this out in his Book "Looking for God in 
Harry Potter".

Sometimes when I think of the WW and the MW, I think of the 
difference between those in heaven (angels) and those on earth 
(humans) before the death, resurrection and ascension of XC.  Jean 
Danielou, S.J., in his book "The Angels and Their Mission (According 
to the Fathers of the Church)" speaks of some of the angels having 
what might be called a pure-blood philosophy.  These angels did not 
want to be servants to humans whom they felt were below them. In 
this tradition Satan says "I will not pay homage to Adam" and when 
Michael was about to force me to pay homage I said "I will not pay 
homage to someone who is lower than I and who came after me." 
This was the sin of Satan and his followers. They would serve God, 
but not humans made in the image of God.

I should explain here that there was a hierarchy in heaven with all 
pure blood angels, but different stations. As far as I can figure 
out there were 3 levels. When Jesus assended he went above them all 
to sit at the right hand of God. (As we see later in this post 
Lucifer had a problem with this idea.)

Sometimes the angels (or at least the Archangels) are referred to as 
Princes.  This, I think, is where the concept of Satan being 
the "Prince of this world" comes from.  He is a fallen angel but 
still a Prince.  (I suppose one could speculate as to SS being the 
half-blood prince if one were looking for the anti-Christ. Perhaps 
SS's mom (a witch) got a bit too friendly with Satan.)

Another tradition follows this same line of thought with "Lucifer 
refusing to accept the future prospect of the Incarnation of the 
Word." (Danielou)  Lucifer did not thing that God should stoop to 
such a level. Sounds a bit like Lucius doesn't it?

Again Danielou says "The true mystery of the incarnation is the self-
abasement of the divine Person of the Word, a little lower than the 
angels. And the true mystery of the Ascension is the exaltation of 
human nature above all the worlds of the angels."

When Jesus ascended back to heaven the angels that were not with him 
on earth did not recognize him in his human form.  They had to ask 
repeatedly "who is this?" before they opened the door.  They were 
all shocked that God would bring his son (a half-blood Prince) back 
into heaven in his *human* body.  Jesus is known as the Prince of 
Peace.  And also after the resurrection and ascension, He is known 
as the King of Heaven.

Thus it is Christ who is the half-blood Prince.  All of JKR's work 
points to the Christ and the whole pure-blood clash concept has 
already been played out in human history when God took human form 
and became half God/half man in the person of Jesus.  What is 
perplexing is just how this will be played out in the books.

Tonks_op