The Half-Blood Prince

The Half-Blood Prince was the self-styled moniker of Severus Snape during his time as a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The name is a direct reference to his heritage: his mother, the witch Eileen Prince, and his father, the Muggle Tobias Snape, made him a half-blood wizard. By using his mother's maiden name, he proudly claimed his magical ancestry. This identity is primarily known to Harry Potter and the reader through Snape's old, heavily annotated copy of the Advanced Potion-Making textbook. The book's brilliant but dangerous contents significantly aid Harry in his sixth year, while the mystery surrounding the Prince's true identity forms a central plotline of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

The persona of the Half-Blood Prince existed during Severus Snape's Hogwarts years (c. 1971–1978). A gifted student in Slytherin house, Snape displayed a prodigious talent for Potions and the Dark Arts that far surpassed the standard curriculum. He acquired a copy of Advanced Potion-Making by Libatius Borage and used it as a personal notebook, scrawling “This Book is the Property of the Half-Blood Prince” on the inside cover. Throughout the textbook, the Prince corrected the printed instructions, improved upon potion recipes, and invented his own spells and jinxes. His annotations transformed the standard textbook into a work of genius. The identity was a private one, representing Snape's pride in his magical Prince lineage while acknowledging the “half-blood” status that might have been a point of contention within pure-blood-obsessed Slytherin circles. Years later, during the 1996-1997 school year, the textbook was left in a cupboard in Professor Slughorn's Potions classroom. Harry Potter was inadvertently given the book when he arrived for his first N.E.W.T.-level class without one. The Prince's identity remained a compelling mystery for most of the year, with Hermione Granger in particular voicing deep suspicion about the book's unknown author and the dark nature of his invented spells. The truth was revealed dramatically after Snape killed Albus Dumbledore. As Snape fled the castle grounds, Harry attempted to use one of the Prince's own spells, Sectumsempra, against him. Snape effortlessly repelled the curse and furiously revealed his identity, shouting, “You dare use my own spells against me, Potter? Yes. I am the Half-Blood Prince.”

As the Half-Blood Prince, a young Severus Snape was described in memories viewed in the Pensieve as a sallow-skinned, awkward boy with greasy, shoulder-length black hair and a prominent hooked nose. The personality of the Prince, as gleaned from his annotations, was that of a brilliant, arrogant, and highly creative individual. He was critical of established authorities like Libatius Borage and confident in his own superior abilities. The invention of violent spells like Sectumsempra also reveals a dangerous, vindictive side, likely cultivated in response to the relentless bullying he endured from James Potter and Sirius Black. He was an isolated but fiercely intelligent student with a deep and early fascination with the Dark Arts.

• Potions Master: The Prince's abilities in Potions were exceptional, bordering on genius. His handwritten notes in the Advanced Potion-Making textbook contained crucial improvements to complex brews, such as the Draught of Living Death and the Elixir to Induce Euphoria, which allowed Harry Potter to excel in the subject and win a bottle of Felix Felicis.
• Spell Creation: A rare and advanced magical talent, the Prince invented numerous spells, which he recorded in the margins of his textbook. Notable inventions include:
  • `Sectumsempra`: A dark curse that deeply slashes the target as if with an invisible sword.
  • `Levicorpus`: A nonverbal jinx that hoists a person into the air by their ankle.
  • `Liberacorpus`: The nonverbal counter-jinx to Levicorpus.
  • `Muffliato`: A Charm that fills the ears of anyone nearby with an unidentifiable buzzing sound, allowing for private conversation.
  • Other minor jinxes, such as one to make toenails grow at an alarming rate.
• Dark Arts: The Prince possessed a profound knowledge of and affinity for the Dark Arts, with Sectumsempra being the most prominent and dangerous example of his work in this field.

• `Advanced Potion-Making` Textbook: The single most important object associated with the Prince. It was a battered, second-hand schoolbook that served as his personal diary for magical experimentation, filled with annotations that revealed his genius and dark inclinations.
• `Wand`: While no specific details of the wand he used as a student are known, a wand was a necessary tool for his spell-work.

• `Lily Evans`: Snape's closest and perhaps only friend during his early Hogwarts years. Their friendship fractured and ultimately ended due to his growing fascination with the Dark Arts and his use of the slur “Mudblood” against her.
• `The Marauders`: James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew were Snape's chief antagonists at Hogwarts. The mutual hatred between Snape and James's group was intense, and their constant bullying undoubtedly fueled the creation of the Prince's more defensive and offensive spells.
• Slytherin Associates: As a Slytherin, Snape associated with students who would later become Death Eaters, such as Lucius Malfoy. His immersion in this group contributed to his alienation from Lily Evans.

• Half-Blood: A term for a wizard or witch with one magical and one Muggle parent. Snape's father, Tobias Snape, was a Muggle, and his mother, Eileen Prince, was a pure-blood witch.
• Prince: His mother's maiden name. By adopting this name, Snape was rejecting his connection to his non-magical, and seemingly unloving, father, and instead aligning himself wholly with his magical maternal heritage.

• The identity of the Half-Blood Prince is the core mystery of the sixth book and its film adaptation, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
• Harry's reliance on the Prince's textbook creates a significant moral dilemma throughout the story, particularly in his arguments with Hermione Granger, who correctly warns him of the book's potential dangers. This highlights a recurring theme in the series about the allure of power and whether the ends justify the means.
• In the film adaptation, Harry disposes of the book by hiding it in the Room of Requirement with Ginny Weasley before Snape's identity is revealed, a departure from the novel where he hides it after using Sectumsempra on Draco Malfoy but before the confrontation with Snape.