Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

What Hacker News says

1. B1FIDOJan 2026
   Of course you do! Any student who has read/seen Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince knows: the most dog-eared, worn-out, scribbled-up textbook is the best textbook you could hope for!
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2. KichererbsenAug 2022
   That's basically the plot of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince!
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3. topologieAug 2022
   This is really awesome. It's literally a real-life version of what happens in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. :)

   From the wiki page: `Harry finds an old potions textbook, once belonging to "The Half-Blood Prince", an individual who wrote numerous spells and tips in the book. Harry, using the tips in the book, excels in Potions class, winning a bottle of Felix Felicis, or "Liquid Luck".`

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4. mgamacheOct 2021
   “It is impossible to manufacture or imitate love”. – Horace Slughorn, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
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5. kpwagnerOct 2016
   Beautiful magic, wondrous to behold...

   "It was a student who gave me Francis. One Spring afternoon I discovered a bowl on my desk, just a few inches of clear water in it. Floating on the surface was a flower petal. As I washed, it sank. Just when it reached the bottom, it transformed into a wee fish. It was beautiful magic, wondrous to the behold. The flower petal had come from a lily, your mother. The day I came downstairs, the day the bowl was empty, was the day your mother..." ~Horace Slughorn, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

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6. krishna2Dec 2015
   Here is my list from 2015:

   1. Mark Derby: England my England

   2. Bill Messenger: Elements of Jazz [great courses]

   3. David Mamet: GlenGary Glen Ross

   4. Neil deGrasse Tyson: The Pluto Files

   5. Elizabeth Vandiver: The Illiad by Homer [great courses]

   6. Elizabeth Vandiver: The Odyssey by Homer [great courses]

   7. Elizabeth Vandiver: The Aeneid by Virgil [great courses]

   8. Robert Greenberg: Great Masters: Liszt - His Life and Music [great courses]

   9. David Christian: Big History [great courses]

   10. Robert Greenberg: Great Masters: Robert and Clara Schumann - Their Lives and Music [great courses]

   11. Steven Novella: Your Deceptive Mind: A Scientific Guide to Critical Thinking Skills [great courses]

   12. Ramesh Menon (Veda Vyasa): Mahabharatha

   13. Mark W. Muesse: Practicing Mindfulness: An Introduction to Meditation [great courses]

   14. J.K. Rowling: Book 1: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

   15. J.K. Rowling: Book 2: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

   16. Steven Pressfield: The War of Art

   17. Barnaby Conrad, Monte Schulz: Snoopy's Guide to the Writing Life

   18. J.K. Rowling: Book 3: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

   19. Ramesh Menon (Veda Vyasa): Siva Puranam

   20. Professor Allen C. Guelzo, Professor Gary W. Gallagher, Professor Patrick N. Allitt: The History of the United States, 2nd Edition [great courses]

   21. Robert Greenberg: Great Masters: Brahms - His Life and Music [great courses]

   22. Robert Greenberg: Great Masters: Tchaikovsky - His Life and Music [great courses]

   23. Chitra Bannerjee Divakaruni: The Palace of Illusions

   24. J.K. Rowling: Book 4: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

   25. Austin Kleon: Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative

   26. Stephen King: On Writing: A Memoir Of The Craft

   27. David McCullough: 1776

   28. Prof. Roy Benaroch: Medical School for Everyone [great courses]

   29. J.K. Rowling: Book 5: Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix

   30. Siddartha Mukherjee: The Emperor Of All Maladies

   31. J.K. Rowling: Book 6: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

   32. Robert Greenberg: Great Masters: Shostakovich - His Life and Music [great courses]

   33. J.K. Rowling: Book 7: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

   34. Neil deGrasse Tyson: The Inexplicable Universe: Unsolved Mysteries [great courses]

   35. Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli: Becoming Steve Jobs: The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart into a Visionary Leader

   36. Shurnyu Suzuki: Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

   37. William Shirer: The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

   38. Jhumpa Lahiri: Interpreter of Maladies

   39. Stephen Greenblatt: The Swerve: How the world became modern

   40. Professor Andrew R. Wilson: The Art of War [great courses]

   41. Prof. Jennifer Paxton: 1066: The Year That Changed Everything [great courses]

   42. Prof. Sherwin B. Nuland: Doctors: The History of Scientific Medicine Revealed Through Biography [great courses]

   43. Sun Tzu: The Art of War

   44. Prof. Robert Greenberg: Great Masters: Mahler - His Life and Music [great courses]

   45. Prof. Seth Lerer: The Life and Writings of John Milton [great courses]

   46. Prof. Robert Greenberg: Great Masters: Stravinsky - His Life and Music [great courses]

   47. Stephen Guise: Mini Habits: Smaller Habits, Bigger Results

   48. J.R.R. Tokien: Hobbit

   49. George Orwell: Animal Farm

   50. Prof. Seth Freeman: The Art of Negotiating the Best Deal [great courses]

   51. Ram Dass: Be Here Now

   52. Prof. Gregory S. Aldrete: The Decisive Battles of World History [great courses]

   53. Conn Iggulden: Conqueror Series Book 1: Genghis: Birth of an Empire

   54. Conn Iggulden: Conqueror Series Book 2: Genghis: Lords of the Bow

   55. Prof. Frederick Gregory: History of Science 1700-1900 [great courses]

   56. Prof. Indre Viskontas: 12 Essential Scientific Concepts [great courses]

   57. Conn Iggulden: Conqueror Series Book 3: Genghis: Bones of the Hill

   58. Conn Iggulden: Conqueror Series Book 4: Khan: Empire of Silver

   59. Conn Iggulden: Conqueror Series Book 5: Conqueror

   60. Prof. Robert Hazen: Origin and Evolution of Earth [great courses]

   61. Mark Forsyth: Elements of Eloquence

   62. Prof. Patrick Allitt: Industrial Revolution [great courses]

   63. Ramesh Menon (Valmiki): Ramayana

   64. Prof. John McWhorter: Myths, Lies, and Half-Truths of Language Usage [great courses]

   65. Dava Sobel: Longtitude

   66. Prof. Robert Hazen: Origins of Life [great courses]

   67. Prof. Daniel Robinson: The Great Ideas of Psychology [great courses]

   68. Tracy Kidder: The Soul of a New Machine

   69. Prof. Garrett Fagan: History of Ancient Rome [great courses]

   70. Kurt Vonnegut: Slaughterhouse Five

   71. Vladimir Nabokov: Lolita

   72. Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby

   73. Kalki: Ponniyin Selvan: Book 1: Pudhu Vellam [apple music]

   74. Upton Sinclair : The Jungle

   75. John Steinbeck: The Grapes of Wrath

   76. Kalki: Ponniyin Selvan: Book 2: Suzhar Kaatru [apple music]

   77. Karl Marx, Friedrich Engles: Manifesto of the Communist Party

   78. Kalki: Ponniyin Selvan: Book 3: KoduVaal [apple music]

   79. Kalki: Ponniyin Selvan: Book 4: Mani Magudam [apple music]

   80. Kalki: Ponniyin Selvan: Book 5: Thiyaga Sigaram [apple music]

   81. Kalki: Parthiban Kanavu [apple music]

   82. Hugh Howey: Wool [Silo Series : Book 1 of 3]

   83. Kalki: Sivagamiyin Sabatham: Book 1: Boogambam [apple music]

   84. Kalki: Sivagamiyin Sabatham: Book 2: Kanchi Mutrugai [apple music]

   85. Kalki: Sivagamiyin Sabatham: Book 3: Bhikshuvin Kadhal [apple music]

   86. Kalki: Sivagamiyin Sabatham: Book 4: Sidhaindha Kanavu [apple music]

   87. Thomas Sterner: The Practising Mind

   88. don Miguel Ruiz: The Fifth Agreement

   89. Prof. Jonah Berger: How Ideas Spread [great courses]

   90. Prof. Robert Sapolsky: Being Human [great courses]

   91. Michio Kaku: Einstein's Cosmos

   92. Guy Kawasaki: Art of the Start 2.0

   93. Edward Dolnick: Clockwork Universe

   94. Prof. John Medina: Your Best Brain [great courses]

   95. Sherman Alexie: Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

   96. Prof. Thad Polk: Addictive Brain [great courses]

   97. Jeff Kinney: Diary of a Wimpy Kid

   98. Prof. Scott Huettel: Behavioral Economics [great courses]

   99. Rob Walling: Start Small, Stay Small

   100. Ernest Hemmingway: Old Man and the Sea

   101. Prof. Robert Greenberg: Brief History of Holiday Music [great courses]

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