Edited Drafts of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

PROFESSOR SLUGHORN arrives at Hogwarts during Harry's sixth year and takes over the role of Potions Master. The following two pages show annotations by J.K. Rowling and her editor on a draft of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

The first page is a draft of Professor Slughorn's first Potions class, where he presents several potions to his students that Hermione, naturally, is able to identify. The asterisks indicate that the handwritten text at the bottom of the page, where Hermione talks about her favourite smells, needs to be inserted.

Hermione's well-practised hand hit the air before anybody else's; Slughorn pointed at her. 'It's Veritaserum, a colourless potion that forces the drinker to tell the truth,' said Hermione.

HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE

Draft of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, annotated by J.K. Rowling and her editor (c. 2004–2005)

BLOOMSBURY

In the draft Harry consults his copy of Advanced Potion-Making. He notices one of the Half-Blood Prince's spells, 'Sectumsempra', only later on realising the danger of using an unknown spell.

Harry was about to put his book away again when he noticed the corner of the page folded down; turning to it, he saw the Sectumsempra spell, captioned ‘For Enemies’, that he had marked a few weeks previously.

HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE