Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Chapter Sixteen:
A Very Frosty Christmas

Notes by Steve Vander Ark and Michele L. Worley
Synopsis and links by John Kearns

U.S. hardcover edition: pages 325 - 348
U.K. hardcover edition: pages 305 - 326
Timeframe: 21-25 December, 1996 [Y16]

In which Harry and Ron discuss Malfoy and Snape, Harry tells Mr. Weasley his suspicions and hears about the Ministry's poor fight against Death Eaters, Lupin talks about Snape and Greyback, and Harry discovers that the Half-Blood Prince's book was fifty years old.  Percy shows up on Christmas with Scrimgeour, who then asks Harry to support the Ministry, and Harry refuses strongly, saying he disapproves of the actions the Ministry has been taking.

The chapter title has a double meaning that may be lost in translation. The surface meaning refers to typical winter weather in England; the next layer refers to the emotional atmosphere between the characters in the chapter (Harry and Scrimgeour, mainly, but to a lesser degree Molly and her daughter-in-law-to-be).

Interesting facts and notes about the text of this chapter:

Oh, my poor heart, where has it gone?
It's left me for a spell...

Who's Greyback?

Characters introduced in this chapter:

• none

Characters returning in this chapter:

• Delacour, Fleur

• Lupin, Remus

• Potter, Harry

• Scrimgeour, Rufus

• Weasley, Arthur

• Weasley, Bill

• Weasley, Fred

• Weasley, George

• Weasley, Ginny

• Weasley, Molly

• Weasley, Percy

• Weasley, Ron

Characters mentioned in this chapter:

• Black, Sirius

• Brown, Lavender

• Crouch Sr., Bartemius

• Dumbledore, Albus

• Granger, Hermione

• Greyback, Fenrir

• Kreacher

• Malfoy, Draco

• Malfoy, Narcissa

• McLaggen, Cormac

• Potter, James

• Riddle, Tom Marvolo (as Voldemort, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named)

• Robards, Gawain

• Shunpike, Stan

• Slughorn, Horace

• Snape, Severus

• Tonks, Nymphadora

• Umbridge, Dolores

• Warbeck, Celestina

• Weasley, Charlie

• (unnamed) pretty girl in the paper shop in Ottery St. Catchpole

• (unnamed) two non-Death Eaters arrested besides Stan Shunpike

Settings and locations introduced or returning in this chapter:

• Burrow, the

  • kitchen

  • living room

Settings and locations mentioned in this chapter:

• Malfoys' Wiltshire Mansion
• paper shop in Ottery St. Catchpole (as "the village")

Exceptional character moments:

• Still to come....

Spells and Potions:

• Levicorpus

• Levitation

• Patronus

• Stupefy

• Transfiguration: Fred transfigures Ron's thrown knife into a paper airplane

• Unbreakable Vow

• Wolfsbane Potion

• (unnamed) nonverbal spell George uses to make Ron cut himself with the knife

• (unnamed) nonverbal spell Molly uses to raise the volume on Celestina Warbeck

Links and Resources:

• Aurors

• Bestiary

  • gnome

  • house-elf

  • werewolf

• books: Advanced Potion-Making

• Daily Prophet, the

• Death Eaters

• Exploding Snap

• Harry's Dreams

• Pensieve

• Ministry of Magic

• Order of the Phoenix

• music, rhymes, and dance

• Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes

Memorable lines:

• "Well, you can't break an Unbreakable Vow...."
  "I'd worked that much out for myself, funnily enough."

• And speaking of hitherto unsuspected skills, Ronald," said George, "what is this we hear from Ginny about you and a young lady called - unless our information is faulty - Lavender Brown?"
  Ron turned a little pink, but did not look displeased as he turned back to the sprouts. "Mind your own business."
  "What a snappy retort," said Fred. "I really don't know how you think of them. No, what we wanted to know was...how did it happen?"
  "What d'you mean?"
  "Did she have an accident or something?"
  "What?"
  "Well, how did she sustain such extensive brain damage?"

• "Sometimes you remind me a lot of James. He called it my 'furry little problem' in company. Many people were under the impression that I owned a badly behaved rabbit."

• "Classy. You should definitely wear it in front of Fred and George."

• "Dumbledore's man through and through, aren't you, Potter?"

Strictly British:

• bowler hat

• camp-bed

• prat

• purkey

• satsuma

• snogging

• sprout

• tooding

• wireless

Timelines/Calendar:

The first part of the chapter takes place on an unspecified day near the start of winter break, though since it says afterward that "Harry did not get a chance to speak to Mr. Weasley... until Chrismas Eve night" it was probably one of the first days back at the Burrow, likely 21 or 22 December. The chapter then continues through Christmas day, 25 December.