The war against Voldemort is not going well. Dumbledore is absent from Hogwarts for long stretches of time and the Order of the Phoenix has suffered losses. And yet, life goes on. Sixth-year students learn to Apparate. The Weasley twins expand their business. Teenagers flirt and fight and fall in love. It's the home front that takes center stage in the sixth installment of the story of Harry Potter. Harry struggles to uncover the identity of the Half-Blood Prince, the past owner of a potions textbook he now possesses that is filled with ingenious spells. But Harry's life is suddenly changed forever when someone close to him is murdered right before his eyes. With Dumbledore's guidance, he seeks out the full, complex story of the boy who became Voldemort, and thereby attempts to find what may be his only vulnerability.