Calling All Harry Potter Fans

Ok, so Harry Potter may be more fantasy than sci-fi, but with all of its broom flying, spell casting and strange creatures, it sure has enough for a sci-fi feel!

This month brings us the sixth installment to the Potter series, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. The movie has been highly anticipated, especially since it was supposed to open last November and got postponed for this summer.

By the looks of the trailers, though, it was definitely worth the wait. The effects look absolutely amazing; the cave scene is just fantastic as are the broom flying sequences. The classic Potter humor is still there, especially when it comes to all the awkward moments between Ron and Hermione. Another great scene from the book is when Ron is given some chocolates laced with a love potion and it looks like the movie version won't disappoint. Rupert Grint, who plays Ronald Weasley, plays the part wonderfully and the scene with the chocolates is no exception.

Half Blood Prince finds our Hogwarts friends back at school again, after a previous hard fifth year where Harry lost his godfather, Sirius Black, by the hand of the evil Death Eater, Bellatrix Lestrange. Ironically, she was Harry's godfather's cousin. Sixth Year at Hogwart's seems to go smoother and with less incidents than the year before. At first, anyway!

There's a new teacher who is quite peculiar and who surprisingly takes over the Potions class. This means that the previous professor and Harry's least favorite, Severous Snape, is now teaching another class - Defense Against the Dark Arts - a subject Harry thinks Snape is too dark to teach himself. With Harry's unwanted connection to the Dark Lord Voldemort (Harry's lifelong enemy) having been severed, he is able to enjoy the school year by being less anxious and angry.

However, he still thinks something is off with his nemesis student, Draco Malfoy, who is acting very strangely all year. His friends won't listen to him and think he's imagining things.

In the meantime, Dumbledore, Hogwarts' beloved Headmaster, wants Harry to learn all he can about the Dark Lord Voldemort, so he can be prepared when the time comes to face him, which he inevitably will someday soon. So it's towards the end of the school year that we start to see what has been brewing all year long.

Our beloved main characters are all back for Half Blood Prince, as well as a few new ones such as Horace Slughorn, the new Potions teacher. And although not new to the books, some characters will be shown in the movie version for the first time, these include Narcissa Malfoy, Draco's mother, and Lavender Brown, Ron's-sort of-new girlfriend.

So mark your calendars for July the 15^th, get your Hogwarts uniforms out of the closet, plan a big, scrumptious Hogwarts feast and then head for the theater to watch Harry Potter and his friends in their next exciting adventure!

For more information on the movie and characters check out the film's official website:

http://harrypotter.warnerbros.com/harrypotterandthehalf-bloodprince/#/home