15 years later, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is still the pinnacle of romance in the late 2000s. It captures the raging teenage love hormones alongside the hopeless romanticism of an unrequited love. The sixth film in the record-breaking franchise follows Harry as he returns to Hogwarts after Voldemort takes a stronger hold of the wizarding world. But in the midst of everyone’s fear, love shines through the hardest, following the series’ thread that love is the most powerful magic of all.
Between teenage romances and the story’s big reveal about Severus Snape’s true intentions, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the epitome of romance. With almost all of the hallmarks of different romance genre films, we’ll all crave a little bit of a love potion after a rewatch.
The introduction of any film is integral to setting the scene and the vibe of the rest of the movie. In Half-Blood Prince, the first exchange between two characters is a surprisingly flirtatious one that’s not actually in the books. Clearly, director David Yates had a vision of setting up Half-Blood Prince as a love story.
The first scene shows Harry reading the Daily Prophet as a muggle waitress asks him who Harry Potter is, to which Harry responds jokingly, “A bit of a tosser.” She smiles at him and tells him when she finishes her shift with a clear intention to hang out. Sadly, Dumbledore interrupts Harry’s flirtatious endeavors, but that doesn’t stop us from craving a little romance throughout the rest of the film.
Every good romance needs a love triangle, and luckily for us, in Half-Blood Prince, there’s more than enough. When Harry arrives at the Burrow, Ginny is the first one to greet him. In fact, not only does she greet him with a hug, but they linger in the embrace for a few extra seconds and share a meaningful glance. It’s a clear nod to their future romance, setting up the first of many love triangles and squares in the film.
Ginny actually begins by dating Harry’s classmate, Dean Thomas. When Harry hears this, he does a double take, showing his interest in Ginny. But Harry is pursued by someone else, which we learn when Ron eats some love potion-infused chocolates sent to Harry by Romilda Vane. Love potions are rife throughout Half-Blood Prince, with their first introduction in Fred and George’s joke shop as a symbol of the raging teenage infatuation hormones even wizards and witches get.
Then, of course, there’s the love square with Ron and Hermione at the center. Their future relationship is a slow burn, with nods to it as early as Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. So when Hermione confunds Cormac McLaggen to help Ron win the Quidditch match for Gryffindor, we can see her teenage love hormones taking control of her rationality. She would never cheat on a test or a game, but for Ron, she will.
However, Lavender Brown grows increasingly impressed with Ron due to his Quidditch prowess, and locks him in. Hermione is clearly jealous as Cormac pursues her. Ron is aware of Cormac’s infatuation with Hermione, so he decides to give it a go with Lavender. Their endgame romance faces their biggest obstacle yet because of these outside “love interests,” and yet, by the end of the film, they come together and start to rebuild their friendship with a hint of potential romance.
Romance isn’t just about “love” between teenagers. It’s a love story! Throughout the series, we learn that Harry survived the killing curse because of his mother’s love for him. This comes full circle by Deathly Hallows with both Molly Weasley and Narcissa Malfoy, whose love for their children is often mirrored. In Half-Blood Prince, Molly loves her children so much that she is wary of letting them go back to Hogwarts because of Voldemort’s looming presence and Dumbledore’s waning health.
But that’s not all — we finally meet Draco’s mom, Narcissa, after Draco’s father is sent to Azkaban. Her love for Draco trumps even the family’s love for Voldemort as she forces Snape to protect Draco with an official Unbreakable Vow. Even still, Draco’s need for love and affection from his father forces him down a dark path that will ultimately end with both him and his mother choosing love over power.
Between a plethora of love triangles, forbidden love, familial love, and unrequited love, Half-Blood Prince is emblematic of the best teenage romance films. It’s right up there with films like The Graduate, Reality Bites, and of course, Love Actually. Clearly, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince should sit in the catalog of classic love stories … Always.
