Unfogging the Half-Blood Prince Cover Art v2.0

[Oddsbodokins]

Originally Posted by Beauregard

Whoopie! I did something first! :bow:

I don't mean to burst your bubble but if you're talking about the knife that Dumbledore is looking up at then, you are not the first one to notice this. But you do have a sharp eye I didn't catch it at first. I think that the majority of ideas on this thread have been thought of before. Now that we have such a vast number of ideas and observations I think that we should try to look for what ideas can and cannot work or try to narrow things down and put our heads together. I think that we will be able to interpret a lot correctly.

[Desraelda]

If it is an "S" on the ring, it may have belonged to Slytherin himself. Now since crest rings are ususally associated with royalty, this ring may have belonged to the HPB. Are Salazar Slytherin and the Half-Blood Prince one and the same? Could the founder of the "pureblood" dynasty be a half-blood himself like Tom Riddle? What a joke that would be on Malfoy and the other pureblood elitists. Just a funny thought.

[ladyamanda123]

Hey everyone,

I've had some random thoughts in my head from this new cover art that I thought I'd share. Hopefully my ramblings are too hard to interpret


The basin: I know a lot of people still think it could be another pensieve but I don't agree. I don't think it's a great place for a
pensieve, even if it is protected by enchantments...just doesn't
seem like a good idea to leave a pensieve in the middle of a lake
like that. I thought of this before with the US front cover and
think that now it looks even more true. I definitely think it could
be something like Galadriel's mirror in the LotR. It looks so much
like it in this back cover art! Plus, throughout the book I feel JKR
has drawn a lot of inspiration from Tolkien. There are so many
similarities!
Harry = Frodo
Dumbledore = Gandalf
Wormtail = Wormtongue
Whomping Willow = Old Man Willow
Dobby = Gollum (well, Gollum's more like Dobby on crack!)

There's dragons, trolls, etc in both series as well as great and
evil wizards and a seemingly impossible quest lead by a single
character who alone can save everyone. There are so many similar
themes and so many individual likenesses (like above examples)
that I feel JKR may take a lot of her base ideas from Tolkien,
mythology, and other fantasy. If you've read the book "The magical
worlds of HP" then you can see all the research into this sort of
stuff that JKR has undoubtedly put to give the books a real
authentic quality. While so much is just made up from her head,
she's really done her homework to help give it a true quality...it
makes it more acceptable because she doesn't contradict mythology
but uses it to make her work feel authentic (does that make sense? I
know I'm rambling...it's hard to explain I guess). Anyway, my point
is I can see her taking the concept of Galadriel's mirror and
spinning it to work in HP.

The Boat: Very cool! On one hand that warm glow can seem inviting
through the darkness, but at the same time it also seems
creepy...the way it's just sitting there glowing so eerily, like
it's coaxing you into false security. "Come, come ride in me and see
what I can show you". Oddly glowing items in the middle of dark
lakes....kinda creepy don't you think? Although, as we know from the
cover that he does go to see it at least at some point with
Dumbledore (no way to know if he goes there before or after that
time with D) that it must be okay to some extent...at least he has
extra protection with D there. I'd be really concerned if we saw a
pic of Harry standing over the thing alone!

The Background: Honestly my first thought is that it looks like a
beat up rod iron fence like something you'd find around a graveyard
(like say..THE graveyard that V came to life it or maybe the
Hogwarts graveyard we have yet to learn about! Maybe it's somewhere
in the forbidden forest at the edge of the Hogwarts graveyard so
that Harry and the others have never seen it before)

The Hands: Some of my friends think it could be Voldemort or even Snape's hand but I think the older hand is Dumbledore. Look at the old hands fingers. See how they're holding the young hand (which I think we can safely assume is Harry's, though it could be another's like Neville or even Ron or
Hermione) My point though is that the hand is not squeezing the
young hand, it's holding it gently, kindly, lovingly. I don't think
that's Voldemort. As to the fire around it, the only thought I have
is that it reminds me of the description of the connection between
the two wands during priori incantatum.

The Ring: Well first of all I think it could be something
significant of the HBP of course. Might be the sign of the HBP
passed through generations, proof of a royal bloodline of sorts
(again, thinking LotR and the Ring of Aragorn!) I was looking at the
pic on it trying to picture it if it were together and not split,
but then I realized what I was looking at. It seemed simple so
you've probably all figured this much already but it took me totally
by surprise. Instead of looking at the picture I looked at the
actual break in the picture or symbol and what did I find? A
LIGHTNING BOLT!!! When I look at the symbol it just seems like a
crack but when I actually focus on the crack it's a clear bolt of
lightning! That could be very significant!

Okay, those are my thoughts so far Thanks for suffering through
them!

[Saz_k]

Originally Posted by Desraelda

If it is an "S" on the ring, it may have belonged to Slytherin himself. Now since crest rings are ususally associated with royalty, this ring may have belonged to the HPB. Are Salazar Slytherin and the Half-Blood Prince one and the same? Could the founder of the "pureblood" dynasty be a half-blood himself like Tom Riddle? What a joke that would be on Malfoy and the other pureblood elitists. Just a funny thought.

i did not think of that, that would be funny!

[Ennervate_]

Originally Posted by thestral83

i know its been mentioned before and i havent read all 27 pages, but i think the ring(s) are what the Order use to communicate.

I don't think so. Remember on JK's site, she answered the question about the Chocolate Frog cards being the way the Order communicate?
In that answer, she says that she thought it was a good idea, but she wanted it to be something that didn't require an object that could be misplaced, or stolen. That it only requires a wand.

[basilth]

i definately haven't read all 19 pages of this topic, so ignore me if this has been said already...

the picture with the two hands looks like one of them belongs to a black person. so i'm thinking that the half-blood prince is dean. but maybe its just the coloring on my computer screen. heh.

[jenny_d_b]

*deleted by myself, posted in the wrong thread, moderators please remove this post*

[Saz_k]

the room that he dose not know the impotance of could be the underground 'harbor'

[HarryPotter]

Originally Posted by Beauregard

I do not know if anyone else has noticed this but If I am the first I am extremely proud of myself! It was what dumbledore seems to be reaching for and looking at.

Yeah, I had discovered that knife a bit more than one month ago (And Shadowboxer noticed it almost at the same time)
http://www.cosforums.com/showthread.php?p=2237551
I think we all agreed that in fact, that was not a weird looking branch, and that it was clearly a knife, and also that Dumbledore was looking at it for any unknown reason

Good catch, in any case!

Originally Posted by jenny_d_b

*deleted by myself, posted in the wrong thread, moderators please remove this post*

You can delete your own posts with no problem, click on "edit reply", check the "delete reply" option, and press "delete"

Originally Posted by HarryPotter

I've tried to repair the broken ring using a Reparo spell (Well, I've used Photoshop ), I think it looks clearly like a crest with a S or a snake on it:



By the way, the symbol on the ring reminds me of this

I know it is sad to quote myself, but I'd like to share a new idea, focused more into what does the ring symbolize than into who is the owner or the function of the ring.

I think it is a crest, some kind of upside down triange, with a S inside, and a line over the top of the crest (a crown, perhaps?)
That S, that reminds so much of Slytherin appears broken with a lightning bolt shaped break.
Could that be foreshadowing of something to come? Slytherin's reign downfall for instance?

[Ennervate_]

Originally Posted by HarryPotter

I think it is a crest, some kind of upside down triange, with a S inside, and a line over the top of the crest (a crown, perhaps?)
That S, that reminds so much of Slytherin appears broken with a lightning bolt shaped break.
Could that be foreshadowing of something to come? Slytherin's reign downfall for instance?

I agree with you, Harry, that it does look like a crest with an S on it. As for Slytherin's downfall,could it be caused by Harry?(hence the lightening bolt?)

On another note, can anyone post a picture of this Slytherin ring I keep hearing about from PoA?

[HarryPotter]

Sorry for misspelling "Triangle" before, my brain has been on strike today

Originally Posted by Ennervate_

I agree with you, Harry, that it does look like a crest with an S on it. As for Slytherin's downfall,could it be caused by Harry?(hence the lightening bolt?)

On another note, can anyone post a picture of this Slytherin ring I keep hearing about from PoA?

I had already posted one screenshot I took, some pages ago, here you have the link:

http://www.cosforums.com/showpost.ph...&postcount=372

And the pic:

[Oddsbodokins]

Originally Posted by HarryPotter

I think it is a crest, some kind of upside down triange, with a S inside, and a line over the top of the crest (a crown, perhaps?)
That S, that reminds so much of Slytherin appears broken with a lightning bolt shaped break.
Could that be foreshadowing of something to come? Slytherin's reign downfall for instance?

Weird, I just noticed the crown looking thing when I was looking at the ring upside down . So I don't know if the "S" means that the ring belongs to Voldemort, a Slytherin (Draco?). Could the crown (if that's what it is) be the symbol of the prince. Could it mean something like the houses will be deleted in the next book, I don't think so though. Perhaps it was Salthazar's ring, and when he left the school his ring was broken. Or here's a little idea, he was told by a seer about Tom Riddle and Harry, the lightning bolt was added as a reminder of what the future has in store. Ok so that was not a good theory. Does anyone know if there is another wizarding family with the last name "S"?

Edit: Thanks for that picture HarryPotter. If Draco's ring is the same one that's one the cover this would be very interesting. It would bring Draco into a larger role that I've been waiting for.

[pranksta]

I think it is a crown or a pensive.

[msujameson]

I am seeing something more like this inside the crest on the ring, just facing the other direction and the look more dignified rather than aggressive. Anyone else see that?

[mimbletonia88]

It's odd that people hate spoilers, yet try there hardest to spoil the book

[cedricpatrick]

I managed to get ahold of a HBP promotional count down standup from a local retailer, and has the same basic art as the US cover, but with some extra stuff on the mid-section.

What it has that the cover doesnt:

Below the basin, in the background, what appears to be a city, or neighborhood area, which I can only presume is Godric's Hollow

A floating, gilltering, green, dark mark, identical to what I pictured at the Quidditch World Cup

3 figures, a male and female on the left, one female on the right, my friend is convinced that the couple on the left are James and Lily, and the female on the right was Hermione, but at a closer look, and comparatively to Mary Grandpre's past art, it is definitey Ron and Hermione on the left, and I have a strong feeling that the other is Lilly Potter, based on the Auburn hair, the eyes dont seem similar when compared to Harry's above the basin, that may just be because of the angle though.

Im a mean guy for posting this without pictures, but once my camera is back in town I will get some snapshots uploaded...

EDIT: Forgot to add, its obviously a pensieve, Im gonna go with my own theory, Dumbledore revealing old memories to Harry about his defeat of Grindewald, Voldemort's mentor. For some reason Dumbledore doesn't have his own recollection in his pensieve, so he has to show harry through this one... Grindewald's pensieve? HBP's pensieve?

[DCI_Freak]

Looking back on the Deluxe Edition cover...

http://www.veritaserum.com/books/boo...ver-deluxe.jpg

On the left part of the book, on the binding, there is a tree. I zoomed in and I am almost positve that I can see a person and a dementor peering out from behind the tree. It's barely visible, but you can definately see it if you zoom in.

Even if that isn't a person, I am positive I see a tall, hooded figure.

[Saf]

Although I think joining the two halves isn't likely to hold the key to anything, joining them makes what looks to me like a lion, viewed from the side. Gryffindor, anyone?

[HermioneLuvsRon]

Yeah I sort of see a lion looking < that way. But you have to look harder but I would say that you want to make whatever you want people to see visible at the first glance. At a a first glance, I see an S. It reminds me of those S's that we use to make back in elemenraty school, witht he three lines nad you connect them...

But anyway, yeah, it looks more like an S to me because that's the first thing you see. I wouldn't want someone to have to look harder for what I meant to be on the ring..

Unless it was meant to be harder to see..but I doubt that "

[whizbang121]

Originally Posted by msujameson

I am seeing something more like this inside the crest on the ring, just facing the other direction and the look more dignified rather than aggressive. Anyone else see that?

I think I see what you're talking about. To be honest, though, I think it looks more like a snake, mouth open, about to strike. It's faint, so.....