Harry Potter

Author J.K. Rowling has revealed that Harry’s “spiritual ancestor” is Wart, the boy who becomes King Arthur in T.H. White’s novel “The Once and Future King.” Like Wart, Luke Skywalker, and other similar characters, Harry grows up an orphan in nondescript surroundings but is destined for greater things. After learning on his 11th birthday that he’s a wizard, he’s sent to Hogwarts, where he befriends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. He also develops a rivalry with elitist Draco Malfoy and Draco’s mentor, brusque potions teacher Severus Snape.

“The Half-Blood Prince” finds Harry dealing with his awkward teenage years as he struggles with his romantic feelings for Ron’s sister, Ginny, and finds himself the constant target of members of rival Slytherin house, to which Malfoy and Snape belong. During the course of the story, he learns the true identity of the Half-Blood Prince, contends with the death of a beloved character, and steels himself for the final battle against Voldemort, which will happen in the final novel, film, and video game: “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.”

Ron Weasley

Ron comes from a large wizarding family that owns a rundown seven-floor house in a place known as The Burrow. He’s an ordinary student and wizard, as well as a mediocre Quidditch player, all of which gives him a bundle of insecurities, particularly when he meets Harry, who is well-known even before setting foot in Hogwarts. His friendship with Hermione becomes more complex in “The Half-Blood Prince” as his attraction to her grows, but he winds up dating another student named Lavender. As with Harry, the story’s tragic events set the stage for his passage into adulthood in the final novel.

Hermione Granger

Rowling drew her first name from Shakespeare’s play “The Winter’s Tale,” in which Hermione is the Queen of Sicilia. Rowling’s character is the daughter of two Muggles, or non-wizards. She’s a top student and an overachiever in all her classes, finding herself on the verge of a nervous breakdown in “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” because of her intense workload. In “The Half-Blood Prince,” she secretly helps Ron get the keeper position during Quidditch tryouts by jinxing another student, but his relationship with Lavender leads her to date others. She also grows frustrated with Harry because she feels that his use of the Half-Blood Prince’s potions textbook, with its helpful notes, is the equivalent of cheating.

Draco Malfoy

The quintessential school bully, Draco is typically not far from his bodyguards, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. He is the only son of two high-level wizards, and his upbringing has led him to believe that the children of Muggles, such as Hermione Granger, should never be allowed to attend Hogwarts. In “The Half-Blood Prince,” Draco is assigned a terrible task, one that causes his mother to intervene and ask that he receive assistance via an Unbreakable Vow, which will cause Draco’s protector to instantly die if it is broken. (We won’t tell you the identity of Draco’s protector, since it may spoil some surprises.)

Severus Snape

The leader of Slytherin House, Professor Snape was a rival of Harry’s father, James, when they attended Hogwarts, and Snape directed that ill will toward Harry upon the boy’s arrival, even though James once saved his life. Snape initially teaches potions but would rather lead Defense Against the Dark Arts classes, finally receiving that opportunity at the beginning of “The Half-Blood Prince.” Snape’s loyalties to Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore are in question throughout the series, and the latest installment sheds more light on that situation.

Albus Dumbledore

Hogwarts’ headmaster is also the leader of the Order of the Phoenix, which is dedicated to preventing Voldemort from fulfilling his plan to conquer the wizard and Muggle worlds. After Harry’s parents were killed by Voldemort, he left the orphaned child on the doorstep of the Dursleys, who treated Harry cruelly while raising him. Dumbledore teaches Harry much about his past, and “The Half-Blood Prince” marks a major turning point in the elderly man’s life.

• As you travel around Hogwarts, collect all the school crests you come across — some of them are broken or may be obscured or difficult to reach, so you’ll need to employ some skillful spellcasting to collect them. A statue holding a crest will give you a quest to complete before it will release the treasure.
• Any time you come across a glowing object, double-click the left mouse button to cast the spell Depulso and summon a shower of mini-crests, which are traded for full crests when you accumulate enough of them. The next time you pass that area, the object will probably be glowing again, so get ready to collect more mini-crests.
• Trade in your crests for various rewards, including mini-games. If you haven’t collected all the crests by the end of the game, don’t worry: completing the story unlocks Endless Day mode, in which you can roam around Hogwarts and continue to discover its secrets