[[caption-width-right:300:[[TagLine "Again, I must ask too much of you, Harry."]]]]
->''This is beyond anything I have imagined''.
-->--'''Albus Dumbledore'''

'''''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince''''' is the sixth ''Film/HarryPotter'' film, released in 2009.

The Ministry has finally accepted that Voldemort is back, but that's not really making the situation any better. With everyone terrified, obviously unjustifiable arrests, and misinformation still being printed, just in the other way, and events play out to show that the Ministry can't really stop Voldemort in its current form.

But while those events linger over the plot, the action stays fully grounded at Hogwarts. Harry learns more about Voldemort's BackStory, becomes increasingly suspicious of Snape's loyalty and discovers an old potions textbook annotated with powerful spells and useful notes from its previous owner who identifies himself only as "[[TitleDrop The Half-Blood Prince]]". Draco Malfoy is tasked with something by Voldemort himself; [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and wacky romantic hijinks ensue for everyone]].

It is notably the first movie since ''[[Film/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban POA]]'' to be rated PG, which is [[AvoidTheDreadedGRating very strange]], considering [[spoiler:Dumbledore]] dies in the movie. However, its rating didn't stop it from becoming yet another critical and commercial success, achieving several AcademyAward nominations and becoming the second highest-grossing movie of the year (behind ''{{Film/Avatar}}''). Hell, even the soundtrack got praise and was even up for a GrammyAward.

Followed by the final story, which was split into two films: ''[[Film/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, parts 1 and 2]]''.
!!Tropes exclusive to this film:
* AdaptationExplanationExtrication: Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge is never shown to be directly dismissed. The Minister of Magic makes no appearance in the sixth movie and the seventh just puts a new Minister in office without explanation, except for the small fact that one of the headlines seen at the end of the fifth film reads "Minister to resign?"
** The scene where Dumbledore explains what the Horcruxes might be is cut.
* AlmostKiss: Harry and Ginny in The Burrow, before the Death Eater attack.
* ArtisticLicenseHistory / ArtisticLicenseGeography: Despite being set in 1996-97, they manage to destroy the Millennium Bridge, which wasn't started until 1998.
* AscendedExtra: Ginny, who goes from minor character to a rather vital person in Harry's life. This film at least tries to temper this by giving her a prominent role.
* BigShutUp: Harry tries to call a Quidditch tryout to order. He isn't quite loud enough, so Ginny intervenes with a very helpful "SHUT IT!"
* CaptainObvious:
-->'''Ron:''' It's just... you can't break an Unbreakable Vow!\\
'''Harry:''' I worked that part out myself, funnily enough.
* CreatorCameo: Early on in the movie - the knitting magazine Dumbledore asks Slughorn he can keep for the knitting patterns - that's Creator/JKRowling on the cover.
* CreepyChild: Tom Riddle, but especially so in the movie (which works really well, seeing it's the nephew of the guy who plays him as an adult!). A good example - in both the book and the movie Dumbledore sets Tom's collection of trophies he's stolen from the other orphans on fire to both show him he's not lying and (attempt to) teach him a lesson. Book Tom's reaction to a bonfire erupting in his room is awed shock and a bit of fake apology. Movie's Tom's reaction is an ''undeniably giddy smile.''
* DemotedToExtra: Tonks and Lupin only appear in one scene despite having a sub-plot in the book.
* DramaticCurtainToss: Every time Draco goes to the wardrobe. It gets silly after a while.
* EveryoneCanSeeIt: Ron and Hermione, even more so than in the book. Ginny lampshades it in the infirmary scene when leaving Ron and Hermione alone and says, "About time, don't you think?", which also doubles as a huge hint from herself to Harry.
* FingertipDrugAnalysis: Dumbledore checking the blood at Slughorn's house.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Harry has a brief reaction to the ring [[spoiler:foreshadowing the fact that Harry himself is a Horcrux]]. This, and other subtle hints towards the events of ''Deathly Hallows'', are due to the fact that this was the first script written where the writers knew how the series ended.
** When the trio sit down at the Three Broomsticks, Hermione orders three butterbeers "And put a little [[RedHeadedHero ginger]] in mine".
* ForTheEvulz: Presumably the only reason the Death Eaters torch the Burrow.
* GilliganCut: Played for laughs when Harry and Hermione are discussing their date choices to Slughorn's Christmas party:
-->'''Harry:''' I'll invite someone I like. Someone cool.\\
''(cut to [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Luna Lovegood]] waiting for Harry in her [[ImpossiblyTackyClothes Jane Jetson]] dress)''
* HideYourPregnancy: HelenaBonhamCarter (Bellatrix Lestrange) was pregnant, but it would have thrown a major wrench into the plot for Bellatrix to appear pregnant. So she spends the film wearing a loose costume and hiding behind the furniture, especially in the Unbreakable Vow scene.
* IntoxicationEnsues
** Harry, after imbibing some Felix Felicis
** Hermione seemed to be feeling some effects from drinking butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks.
** Ron on love potion.
* KarmaHoudini: Harry, just in the movie. In the book, Harry gets detention for the rest of the year for [[spoiler: casting sectumsempra on Draco]]. In the film, there is no punishment, despite Harry getting in trouble for comparatively minor things in previous movies.
** FridgeBrilliance: Because it changes his motivation for getting rid of the Half-Blood Prince's book. In the book, it's the selfish motivation of not wanting Snape to confiscate it, in the movie, however, it's the far more noble reason of not wanting anyone (not even himself) to be tempted by the dark magic in the book.
* LastMinuteHookup: The movie rectifies this a bit by expanding Ginny's screen time and giving her more scenes alone with Harry, but in the end it seems like this still.
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Not very villainous, but Slughorn's stubbornness about handing over the memory is fixed by the fact that ''he'' awarded Harry the felix felicitis.
* NoOntologicalInertia: In a brilliant bit of AdaptationExpansion, the movie uses this to discuss Slughorn's relationship with Lily Potter.
-->'''Slughorn:''' I once had a fish... Francis. He was very dear to me. One afternoon, I came downstairs and... it vanished. Poof.\\
'''Harry:''' Poof.\\
'''Slughorn:''' It was a student who gave me Francis. One day I came down to my office, and there was a bowl with only a few inches of clear water in it. And there was a flower petal floating on the water. Before my eyes it started to sink, and just before it hit the bottom, it transformed into a wee fish. It was a beautiful piece of magic, wondrous to behold. The flower petal was from a [[MeaningfulName lily]]. The day Francis disappeared was the day your mother... ''(starts crying)''
* PimpedOutDress: Trust [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Luna]] to attend a Christmas party in a dress that looks like the [[StealthPun lovechild]] of a Christmas tree and a wedding cake.
* PromotionToOpeningTitles: Of a sort. This marks the first time Creator/BonnieWright is listed in the main credits instead of just on the list of cast members. Funnily enough, she's still listed among other actors in a list while Timothy Spall's name gets the screen to himself for a while despite only being in the film for six seconds.
* RedHerring: The girl who hits on Harry in the diner. This was just put in for the movie, and has no relevance on the plot.
* TheReveal[=/=]TitleDrop: By Snape, oddly enough.
-->'''Snape''': You dare use my early spells against me, Potter? Yes...[[spoiler: ''I'm'' the Half-Blood Prince.]]
* RuleOfFunny: For much of the film, theaters were cracking up -- [[DownerEnding at least until the final scenes]].
* ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem: Dumbledore apparates with Harry from the top of the astronomy tower, something it was repeatedly pointed out in the books was impossible.
-->'''Harry''': [[LampshadeHanging But, Sir - I thought we weren't allowed to apparate on Hogwarts' grounds]].\\
'''Dumbledore''': Well, being me...has its privileges.
** In the book, Harry and Dumbledore walk into Hogsmeade, passing the Three Broomsticks as they go. There are book-only plot ramifications for this, but that plot ([[spoiler: Draco has the barmaid Rosmerta under the imperious curse - she passed the necklace to Katie, poisoned the mead intended for Dumbledore, and alerted Draco that Dumbledore had left Hogwarts that night]],) was dropped from the film.
* VomitDiscretionShot: At one point, Cormac is shown leaning down out of camera shot and vomiting on Snape's shoes.
-> ''[[TearJerker Severus...please...]]''