I think I've found an error in "Half Blood Prince" ***spoiler***

[Coventina]

Can anyone help me with this?

I'm doing a re-read, because I raced through the book so quickly the first time I know there was stuff I missed.

Anway, it turns out that Snape is the HBP, right?

But on page 337, after Harry talks to Lupin, he decides that the book is 50 years old, and therefore the HBP cannot his father or anyone else that went to school with him.

Now, it is possible that maybe the book was ALREADY old when Snape had it, but Rowling never addresses this and how Harry came to the wrong conclusion at the end of the book.

Did Rowling make a mistake? What do you think?

[XemaSab]

1. I think the conclusion

is that it was originally Snape's mom's book, and she handed it down to her son.

[outraged2]

2. the book

The potions book was Snape's mother's book before it was his. Prince is her maiden name.

[dhinojosa]

6. That would coincide with Slughorn's envy of a previous Mudblood

that was smarter than everyone else.

[intheflow]

17. But Prince wasn't a mudblood...

because Hermione says in the article she found that Prince married a muggle.

[antigone382]

24. The previous muggle-bon was Harry's mother...

She had no relation to the book.

[davidinalameda]

3. it would have to be his mother's book

but the notes in the book were his though

[MaraJade]

4. Other interesting things about Snape derived from

the Potion book's age.

According to canon, the Half-Blood Prince takes place in Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts, or 1996-1997. Since Snape was born in 1959 or 1960, he was either 36 or 37 at the time the incidents in HBP occurred. Counting back 50 years from 1996 we get 1946. Assuming that Eileen Prince was in her sixth year when she obtained the book (age 16), and counting forward to Snape's birth, we get that she was either 29 or 30 when she had him.
We also know that Snape's mom was born in about 1930, which would have made her about 66 years old at the time that HBP occurred--very likely that she is still alive.

[XemaSab]

5. Today I sort of was

entertaining the thought that Pince was Prince.

But nah.

[davidinalameda]

8. I'm Snape! OH NO

I'm 37 and my mother is 30 years older than me

:scared:

[WMliberal]

7. the book was Snape's mother's before it was Snape's

That or the 50 years old thing was just a poor guess.

[Orsino]

9. Not completely convinced Snape is the HBP.

Oh, I don't have any better ideas, mind you, but the book didn't really prove that point.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

21. What is ambiguous about it?

It was his mother's book, he admitted he planted it, and that he was the HBP. I don't know what you need convincing about. :shrug:
Duckie

[WMliberal]

10. i found a misspelled word.

:shrug:

[XemaSab]

11. I did too

:-(

[WMliberal]

12. "fug" instead of fog?

I think it was p.36 or 38. We're such nerds! :grouphug:

[intheflow]

14. Hmmm... I'm not seeing this one, WMLib.

I can't find either word on either page. :shrug:

Viva la Nerds!

[WMliberal]

16. i'll look when I can pry the copy from my sister's hands

[XemaSab]

15. Don't remember

but the word "shifty" was used in OOP and "shufti" used in HBP, I think to mean about the same thing. Thought that was odd.

[Debbi801]

18. I thought the same thing, but it actually is a translation error.....

Not a spelling error... i looked it up and got:

noun: (British informal) an airless smoky smelly atmosphere

[redsoxliberal]

20. thank you... I can't believe so many people thought that was a mistake

it made my head spin.

[intheflow]

13. "Site" instead of "sight"?

Page 10 (US Scholastic)

"The site, therefore, of Fudge stepping out of the fire once more..."

[blueraven95]

19. that one drove me nuts.

Pay $30.00 for a book, I expect it to be proofread.

[melissinha]

23. its very common to find typos in books

I find them all the time... its not highly unusual, the editors didn't catch it, no big deal.

[melissinha]

22. it was a textbook

I remember back in the 80s, I had textbooks from the 60s....

I am assuming that students were allowed to use used books at Hogwarts... even if it wasn't his mother's it could have been 50 years old and then written on 17-20 years before Harry laid his hands on it.

[semillama]

25. Sounds like an American school

...using 50-year-old textbooks...