Cues No. 16 & 17

A playful Trio theme opens this cue as they share a lighter moment together. The end of the statement breaks off the legato, finishing with two short chords, then leads into an ascending clarinet solo. Some choreography follows Harry around the common room as Hermione asks to see this mysterious new potions book. Ginny quickly snatches it out of his hands as he’s hiding it behind his back.

The music changes tone rather quickly once Ginny begins reading the name of the Half-Blood Prince. The Call of the Prince begins low in the celesta and strings. As Harry later sits alone with the book, the theme grows with the transition of scene, and the biggest and most ominous statement of the theme presents itself.

It’s now winter, and the trio are walking to Hogsmeade to the semi-source music of a baroque consort. This is in a Prisoner of Azkaban style, and imitates the scene from Order of the Phoenix where the three of them are also walking through the snow to Hogsmeade. This version starts with a harp solo, and expands with various light percussion and strings.

Inside the Hog’s Head, the baroque consort idea continues with a harpsichord rendition of Prisoner of Azkaban music (most well known as “Hagrid the Professor”). Under much of the dialogue, the strings move around in a non-intrusive way. There is a slow Malfoy quote on the shot of him, as well as dissonance on Harry seeing Ginny kissing Dean. Low strings continue to move around, then the mood lightens considerably at the arrival of a slightly drunk Professor Slughorn.

Bassoon, along with other neighboring woodwind instruments, is featured in this variation of his theme. As the conversation comes to a close and he stumbles away, Ron’s theme plays in the strings when Slughorn says goodbye to him, though he addresses him as Wallenby. The harp quietly plays the Fawkes B theme when the conversation moves to Harry’s task given to him by Dumbledore. The cue then ends with a brief moment between Ron and Hermione.

----

On their way back from the Hog’s Head, the trio share a moment of happy stumbling up the path. A continuation of the harpsichord instrumentation plays in a small variation of Double Trouble, again evoking the Prisoner of Azkaban aesthetic.

Their moment of fun is interrupted quickly as they notice something ahead of them. The strings build dissonance and rumbles appear low in the orchestra accompanied by thuds in the percussion. Katie Bell is writhing around in the snow, as if pulled around by some unseen force. She is lifted up into the air violently, and the whole orchestra explodes in ascent with her. Choir with loud aleatoric woodwinds and percussion come to the forefront of the texture, emphasizing the horror of the moment.

The music descends with her back to the ground, landing with a thump. Strings and horns play ominous triads over a pedal bass, as the characters discern what has just happened. A small celesta motif ends the cue as the camera moves towards the cursed necklace on the ground next to Harry.