Voldemort is getting stronger and the authorities have yet to find him, which makes politicians very anxious and given into stupid popularity contests. People are living in a constant state of fear, but in Hogwarts everything seems to be more or less in order. Harry is now captain of the Quidditch team, has a very helping hand at Potions and has private lessons with Dumbledore.

This was always one of my favourite from the series, even though I couldn't remember it clearly having read it more than 10 years ago. It was a treat to revisit "the half-blood prince" and be less worried about what could happen, savouring the words and storytelling. I didn't remember Ginny being such a great character nor Tonks being so miserable. Funny enough, I could still remember the words of this dialogue and where it took place: "maybe he — Snape — didn’ wan’ ter do it anymore". I loved it all over again and some more.