Unfogging the Half-Blood Prince Cover Art v2.0

[Jinxie Cat]

Version 1

The covers of the HBP books are out and as such speculating on what's on them is a must! A picture of the American cover can be found here. The cover of the British adult's version is here and the children's version, here.

The last two posts from the old thread are:

Originally Posted by starrbryt

Okay, so I JUST noticed this, and some of you all might think I'm crazy, but I don't think so...
go to this site and magnify it
http://www.veritaserum.com/books/boo...ver-deluxe.jpg

Now, on the bottom right hand side of the cover, just above the broken fence, look real close...do you see it? A wolfish looking creature (Remus?) and a man (Snape?) sitting, leaning against something? And just above the wolfish thing's head, it looks as if other faces (DE's, Order Members) are drawn in the branches. And then, okay this is hard, but at the bottom of Dumbledore's robes (by his armpit I guess), and where Harry's arm starts, there is a branch that is drawn like Voldemort's face. I don't think he's there but the drawing might be trying to show us that wherever they are, it has to do with Voldemort (The Riddle House) perhaps. It would make sense that after the murders, it would be blocked and boarded up.

So maybe they aren't alone...perhaps Snape and Remus are with them. It looks as if there could be a full moon...I wonder what everyone is doing.

Oh please tell me someone else sees all this and I am not crazy. I nearly fell out of my seat when I noticed it.

AND

Originally Posted by Oddsbodokins

Um, I don't see any of this. I would say you're grabbing at smoke but then again someone was talking about the knife stuck in the tree and I was looking at the wrong spot. I don't think that the cover would give away too much.

Continue discussion please!

[Desraelda]

I'm not sure I see what you see, starrbryt, but on the spine, I think I see a lioness' head in the tree bark on the right side of the tree, where it kind of sticks out. I also saw one face at the end of the broken fence. I think others have seen this face before.

But then again, I see a person's face on the paper sticking out of the potions book on the adult cover (see my Avatar), and no one else seems to see it but me.

It's like one of those funny drawings where you can see either an old woman or a young girl. We all see something different.

[JT_Bourne]

Has anybody noticed that on the US Cover Harry is holding his wand in his left hand?

[kingwidgit]

Originally Posted by JT_Bourne

Has anybody noticed that on the US Cover Harry is holding his wand in his left hand?

Yes, the artist did the same for GoF and OoP.

[Evilrabbit]

Now, on the bottom right hand side of the cover, just above the broken fence, look real close...do you see it? A wolfish looking creature (Remus?) and a man (Snape?) sitting, leaning against something? And just above the wolfish thing's head, it looks as if other faces (DE's, Order Members) are drawn in the branches. And then, okay this is hard, but at the bottom of Dumbledore's robes (by his armpit I guess), and where Harry's arm starts, there is a branch that is drawn like Voldemort's face. I don't think he's there but the drawing might be trying to show us that wherever they are, it has to do with Voldemort (The Riddle House) perhaps. It would make sense that after the murders, it would be blocked and boarded up.

I don't see any of this, I only see tree branches. Maybe you could post a pic that zooms in on these details?

[AngiePangie]

Now, on the bottom right hand side of the cover, just above the broken fence, look real close...do you see it? A wolfish looking creature (Remus?) and a man (Snape?) sitting, leaning against something? And just above the wolfish thing's head, it looks as if other faces (DE's, Order Members) are drawn in the branches. And then, okay this is hard, but at the bottom of Dumbledore's robes (by his armpit I guess), and where Harry's arm starts, there is a branch that is drawn like Voldemort's face. I don't think he's there but the drawing might be trying to show us that wherever they are, it has to do with Voldemort (The Riddle House) perhaps. It would make sense that after the murders, it would be blocked and boarded up.

Hmmm, nope I don't see any of that. I do think I see Snapes face, but I see it in the broken fence, rather than above it. The broken part of the fence looks like a face with a large nose to me.

Originally Posted by Desraelda

But then again, I see a person's face on the paper sticking out of the potions book on the adult cover (see my Avatar), and no one else seems to see it but me.

It's like one of those funny drawings where you can see either an old woman or a young girl. We all see something different.

I see it too!! At first I thought you were nuts, I had to look closely for about a minute, but I do see it in there.

[Desraelda]

Originally Posted by AngiePangie

I see it too!! At first I thought you were nuts, I had to look closely for about a minute, but I do see it in there.

Great!!! I'm not alone!!! Now we just have to figure out what it means or wait 35 days. I figure it's a bored student doing a sketch of the potions teacher. Since it's an old book, it's probably a drawing of the potions master before Snape, the one who put TR on the path to immortality. Just my own wild thoughts.

[_hello_kitty_]

I dunno what the cover could mean...I mean, we can interpret it so many different ways...I can't wait until July 16!

[chrisbll85]

usually the cover gives us a couple of clues but on this one I really don't see a lot of clues as the other books had on the front cover

[Aliennation]

Has anyone seen the book jacket for the UK Children's version of the HBP? It has what appears to be a pensieve on the back with some sort of chest and two hands interlocked with a string of fire surrounding them. I wonder about the pensieve, that would make two books with pensieves on them, maybe the HBP really will be revealled through a pensieve.

[Xeiqu]

Haha! I am almost sure my theory is right now!!

See the boat on the back of the Children's Edition? I reckon that under the school is a secret cave, and you access it using the boats!

I reckon the Pensieve is of Godric Gryffindor, and Dumbledore takes Harry there to show it. (US cover).

This also explains why we would see a man who looks like a Lion!

[werefrog]

I think that the hands entertwined with fire on the inside jackets are Harry's and Dumbledore's, showing the new bond that seems to be depicted on most of the covers.

The boat kind of surprised me, that was something that I wasn't expecting.

I wonder why both it and that pensieve are golden?

[ornjbreezy]

Originally Posted by Xeiqu

See the boat on the back of the Children's Edition? I reckon that under the school is a secret cave, and you access it using the boats!

I reckon the Pensieve is of Godric Gryffindor, and Dumbledore takes Harry there to show it. (US cover).

I'm rereading PS/SS right now, and the first years do in fact go through a tunnel underneath the school on their way to Hogwarts for the first time. The place on the jacket doesn't look much like Hogwarts, though. It could be that cemetary we've heard bits and pieces about. My first thought was Godric's Hollow, but that's really just a guess and I don't have anything to back it up.

The hands looking like they're arm wrestling appear to me to be Harry's and Dumbledore's. One is young, one is old, and it would make since because there's a picture of them on the front. I wonder what they're doing. What's the flame around the hands? Some sort of transfer of wizarding power? It seems we can only speculate about that importance. It seems as though Harry will be leaving Hogwarts again this year, from the looks of it. I doubt that he and Dumbledore would need to have a flaming arm wrestling competition just for the heck of it.

[PotionStudent]

Anyone thought of "Phantom of the opera" seeing the boat?

OK, at least that's a clue that the pensieve-like-thingy-on-a-pedestal is indeed on a pedestal, and somewhere well hidden.
I was thinking, could it be in a deep vault at Gringotts? Maybe after using the trolley-like transport, they have to use some boats to access the deepest and most secure vaults?

No idea on the hands.

[Thuldorn]

Originally Posted by Xeiqu

Haha! I am almost sure my theory is right now!!

See the boat on the back of the Children's Edition? I reckon that under the school is a secret cave, and you access it using the boats!

I reckon the Pensieve is of Godric Gryffindor, and Dumbledore takes Harry there to show it. (US cover).

This also explains why we would see a man who looks like a Lion!

Umm Secret Cave...Maybe a CHAMBER of Secrets....located in the SEWER whic should have lots of water therefor requiring a BOAT to get to certain spots.

Anyway that's my guess, the cover art is depicting something in the Chamber of Secrets that Harry and Dumbledore need to investigate.

[Ginny1976]

I'm wondering about the ring on the spine of the cover. And that's just about it. I sit wondering with nothing in my head about what it could mean!

[123LRSC]

Woo, the whole cover! It looks really interesting; I can't figure out what all the new clues mean, though. Possibly Harry inherits a magical ring?

[werefrog]

Oh, whoa, I didn't even notice the ring on the spine! A bit far-fetched, but maybe it's the ring that signifies that you're the Half-Blood Prince.

[Oddsbodokins]

Originally Posted by Xeiqu

Haha! I am almost sure my theory is right now!!

See the boat on the back of the Children's Edition? I reckon that under the school is a secret cave, and you access it using the boats!

Ooh I said something about that underground passage that they take and I guess everyone thought I was crazy because no one commented. Remember this--->

'Heads down!' yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy which hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbour, where they clambered out on to the rocks and pebbles.

Of course the cave could lead to much more because the students only went through there one year!

Finally some people are thinking on the same wave length as me.

[BCD]

Well, I guess we know fire will be important Did anyone else notice the huge ring on the top of the page? I zoomed in with PSP and it looks like there is a lightening bolt on it.

Also, there is no one in the boat, but in the water, something is reflected as if it is in the boat.