Info Blast: Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince

Under orders

We open on Harry and Dumbledore at Hogwarts. Dumbledore looks serious. "Harry, you must obey every command I give you," he says, gravely. Uh oh... we don't like where this is going. Does Albus have a clown costume hidden behind his back?

Oh, no - he's actually being dramatic. "Should I tell you to abandon me and save yourself, you must do so." Bet that won't come into play later in the plot AT All. Thanks, Obi-Wan Kenowizard!

"Your word, Harry." His word is... Slarple! And he wins the prize! We kid.

Burning down the house

"My word," replies Harry, though he looks doubtful. We cut away to what looks like The Burrow (the Weasley family home) being destroyed. Looks like it's the Travelodge for the Weasleys!

Owling mad

One of the new snippets of footage shows off Dumbledore's fancy owl lecturn. Yes, we're all suitably impressed, but really it's not the wingspan, it's what you do with it that counts.

Flash stance

"You know at times, I forget how much you’ve grown," says Dumbledore to Harry, as they walk through a crowd of photographers snapping away. Either that, or Harry's suddenly nuclear powered.

Objects dart

"At times I still see the small boy from the cupboard," which has us worried that Dumbledore is keeping some unfortunate lad in a dark cupboard some... oh, right... Harry.

"Once again, I must ask too much of you, Harry," says Albus. Yeah, we've heard that line a thousand times now. Come up with new material!

Gambon's take

Michael Gambon: "In this film, Harry’s turning into a young man. The relationship grows into a friendship."

Trivia time: To give the main characters more room, the usual slashing cuts have been made from the story. Not appearing this time out are characters from the novel including the Dursleys, Kreacher, Dobby, Bill and Fleur, Rufus Scrimgeour, Cornelius Fudge and the Muggle Prime Minister.

Radcliffe speaks out

Daniel Radcliffe: "When Dumbledore takes Harry on this mission, he uses it as a sort of right of passage."

Trvia time: More cuts, this time to the number of memories found and explored by Harry and Albus - all but two of the memory scenes, including that of the Gaunts, have been cut. Only the flashbacks of Tom Riddle at the orphanage and Riddle asking Slughorn about Horcruxes, shown twice, remain.

Yates on the film

Director David Yates: "In The Half-Blood Prince, Harry and Dumbledore go on this journey together."

Trivia time: Yates has previously explained his plan for the film's shift in tone. "It's actually about sex, potions and rock 'n' roll. ...

"It's a wonderfully fun, slightly rebellious, quite naughty stage of teenage life. When you're kind of discovering the opposite sex. ... In the previous film, it was about the first kiss. This film is a bit more sexualized than that.

"You know, in a way. We don't see sex, but it's kind of in there. And the relationships are a bit more complicated and romantic and convoluted."

Keep the faith

Ron and Hermione are seeing Harry off on his latest trip with Dumbledore Air. "Good luck mate," says a nervous Ron.

"I don’t need luck, I’ll be with Dumbledore," explains Harry. Yeah, because he's *always* safe.

Chair wares

We meet professor Slughorn (Jim Broadbent) in another new footage snippet, as Albus reveals him disguised as a chair. "Merlin’s beard!" exclaims Slughorn as he changes back into a man.

The Slugglehurn, folks, now available at IKEA for £45.99. Jim Broadbent and several necessary construction pieces not included.

Broadbent behind the scenes

Daniel Radcliffe: "They have to get this teacher, Slughorn, to come back to Hogwarts because he possesses a memory.."

Cut back to Dumbledore reeling out yet another familair line from the many trailers. "This memory is everything. Without it, we leave the fate of our world to chance."

Sullen teen

Daniel Radcliffe: "It’s the final clue of how to destroy Voldemort."

Trivia time: Frank Dillane plays Voldy as a kid, while the previously-announced Hero Fiennes-Tiffin (yes, Ralph's nephew, above) takes over for him when we see the character as a teenager.

Harry's game

We see Radcliffe in Quidditch gear for the first time in a while.

David Yates: "This story is particularly about what Harry’s learning from Dumbledore."

Trivia time: Quidditch is actually back in the film, even though it was cut from Order Of The Phoenix. Both Ron and Harry play.

The one ring

"It’s a different kind of magic. Very dark, very powerful," explains Dumbledore about Horcruxes, magical items embued with dark power and designed to imbue immortality. This is the ring of Marvolo Gaunt, which Harry sees Dumbledore wear, then destroy.

Hey, man

Producer David Heyman: "What we’re seeing in this film is Dumbledore preparing Harry for that ultimate battle."

Trivia time: Like Yates, Heyman admits that it's a different film from some of the more recent efforts. " "It's different than the other films. It's not the non-stop action that some of the others are, although there is some action. It's more emotional."

Luna tics

Daniel Radcliffe: "This film is the best yet." Well, he would say that, wouldn't he?

Trivia time: Spoiler alert! In a change from the novel's plot, on the Hogwarts Express, after he is paralysed and hidden under his Invisibility Cloak by Draco Malfoy, Harry is rescued by Nymphadora Tonks. In the film, Luna Lovegoodsaves him instead, using her Spectrespecs (above) to find him.

Love me, do

Emma Watson: "It’s really exciting, and there’s loads of new faces."

Trivia time: One of the newer characters is Lavender Brown, played by Jessie Cave (above), who skipped the massive open casting call to fill the role, and got the job after a separate audition and because of her chemistry with Grint and Radcliffe.

Looking down on history

David Heyman: "There’s excitement and thrills…"

Oooh... Some of the nastier characters looking down out of a Hogwarts tower. Wonder if someone fell out of it? No spoilers, now...

Big finish

Dumbledore's penultimate words in the footage: "Whatever happens, trust me…" Likely not adding, "I promise I won't die or anything and leave you to face your destiny al... I've said too much already."

And the coda after the titles crop up... "The tale is thrilling, if I do say so myself." We'll be the judge of that, Alb.

See the full Behind The Scenes video