201512251 LIT 127

201512562
201506198

JOSEPH CAMPBELL’S 17 STAGES OF THE HERO’S JOURNEY

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

1. The Call to Adventure

The movie starts grimly with the appearance of a dark cloud in the sky and the arrival of

the death eaters in the human world. Basically, there was fear and chaos lurking in the

beginning. Harry being in the realm of the ordinary –the muggle world. He dines in a

shop where he develops interest in a pretty lady. At the train station, he meets

Dumbledore who informs him that he should join him to visit an old friend in the village

of Budleigh Babberton. This old friend is named Horace Slughorn –a retired professor in

Hogwarts. Dumbledore asks Potter to help him convince Slughorn to mentor again in

Hogwarts because he knows that Slughorn would be more interested to go back in

Hogwarts knowing that he would be able to hone another brilliant student again and not

just a mere intelligent student but The Chosen One himself. Slughorn holds a very crucial

memory which can help Dumbledore and Potter kill Voldemort. This is the main reason

of Dumbledore’s visit in the human realm.

2. Refusal of the Call

Harry Potter viewers know by now that Harry knows that he is the only one who

can kill Voldemort and Dumbledore is helping him achieve his goal. There is not really a

refusal in Potter’s side. Rather, he was at first, hesitant to go with Dumbledore because of
 the previously mentioned girl who he was eyeing just before Dumbledore arrived. Being

the Harry Potter that he is, he was inquisitive on where Dumbledore will take him and

whether he would be reason enough for Slughorn to go back at being a Hogwarts

professor. Lastly, Potter also had doubts if he will really be able to get close with

Slughorn.

3. Supernatural Aid

Harry and Dumbledore were successful in luring Slughorn back to Hogwarts. In

order to get closer to Slughorn, Harry must first show him that he is worthy of his praise

and attention. Although he was already known to the Potions Master as The Chosen One,

Potter should still prove himself to him so that he will give him more attention. In their

class, Slughorn asks his students to make a certain potion. Anyone who would be

successful to accomplish the task will be given the potion that can help someone succeed

on whatever his or her objectives are. The supernatural aid that assisted Harry to

accomplish the task was a magic potion book which contains notes that only Harry can

see. The notes which taught Harry how to perfect the potion was written by “The Half

Blood Prince”.

Harry won the potion. This potion can also serve as a supernatural aid because it

will later aid Harry in making Slughorn give his memory to him.

4. The Crossing of The First Threshold

To bring Harry to the realm of wizards, Dumbledore used his skill of apparition.
5. The Belly of the Whale

From Ron’s house (Harry’s best friend) where they have a little catching up,

Harry and his best friends travelled to Hogwarts, the school of wizardry, through the

Hogwarts Express.

6. The Road of Trials

Harry Potter suspects that Draco is already a member of the death eaters. Not only

because he is a son of a death eater but also because of an instance where they saw him

suspiciously having a meeting with the death eaters. At the back of his head, Harry Potter

knows that Draco is up to something, so he spies him.

When he was still in Ron’s house, death eaters came to tease Harry into coming

out of the house in order to harm him. With Harry’s buried hatred to Voldemort who has

killed his parents, Harry rushed outside to face the death eaters who were Voldemort’s

companions but to no avail because they only tricked them to go outside so they could

burn their house and inflict fear to them. After this encounter, Harry is resolved to do

whatever it takes to defeat Voldemort.

Harry succeeds on asking Slughorn to give him a part of his memory which is the

key to knowing how to defeat Voldemort. Upon seeing this piece of memory, he

discovers that Voldemort has divided his soul inside Horcruxes –whatever thing or

person where someone wants to put his or soul in. A horcrux serve as another life to its

owner and it is only acquired through murder. Harry finds out that Voldemort has seven
 horcruxes kept which are equivalent to seven lives. Harry and Dumbledore set out to look

for the first horcrux.

7. The Meeting with The Goddess

Harry Potter and his friends begin to be curious about intimate relationships. They

begin to be conscious and aware of their emotions. Hermione, who likes Ron, is hurt

upon knowing that Ron has a relationship with another girl. Ron, on the other hand, likes

Hermione, too but he is still unable to sort out his emotions. Our main character, Potter

secretly develops feelings towards Ron’s sister, Ginny.

8. Woman as Temptress

There was not really a temptress in the movie. Harry Potter was very resolved to

defeat Voldemort and take revenge for his parents’ death.

9. Atonement with the Parent

In the Half Blood Prince, Harry Potter has already lost his parents. The memory

of his parents’ deaths serves as Potter’s guide in Hogwarts and in achieving his goal. In

the present, Dumbledore serves as Harry’s guardian. Dumbledore helps him find the

Horcrux which is a way to kill Voldemort.

10. Apotheosis
 The apotheosis in Harry Potter is implied because he is The Chosen One, he is the

only one who can kill Voldemort. However, this notion is often reinstated to him by

Dumbledore who extends his help to find the horcruxes and defeat Voldemort. He and

Dumbledore learned where the first Horcrux was. It was in a cave surrounded by waters.

Through a boat, they went inside the cave and saw that the horcrux was under a bowl of

poison and it could only be taken if one of them drinks all the poison. Harry insists that

he drink the poison, but Dumbledore disagrees saying that he is older and much less

valuable while Harry is young and much more valuable than he is.

11. The Ultimate Boon

Dumbledore instructs Harry that the poison can cause him to feel severe pain and

he might ask Harry to help him or stop him from drinking the poison, but Harry is not to

oblige to whatever his requests are or else they will not accomplish their purpose in going

into the cave. Although hesitant, Harry agrees. He then starts feeding Dumbledore the

poison which immediately effected. Dumbledore cried in pain, but Harry Potter was

forced not to mind his cries and requests although he pitied the old wizard. After forcing

Dumbledore to finish the poison, Harry Potter was able to get the horcrux at the bottom

of the bowl. Dumbledore, now weak after ingesting all the poison asked Harry Potter for

water. Harry Potter used the Aguamenti spell to produce water in the bowl but strangely,

he could not fetch water from. He decided to get water from the surrounding body of

water not knowing that this will cause the supernatural creatures at the pit of the waters to

surface to attack them. Through wizardry (inferi, the fire storm) and the help of

Dumbledore’s expertise, he was able to get out of the cave safely and with the Horcrux.
12. Refusal of The Return

There was no refusal to return to the world because Harry was very

determined to find the horcruxes and end Voldemort. In fact, he immediately

returned to Hogwarts.

13. The Magic Flight

When they arrived in Hogwarts with the horcrux, Dumbledore was already very

weak, so Harry decided to call someone for help. Dumbledore strictly instructed him not

to meet anyone on his way, only professor Snape. He also told Harry to be wary and

always stays below because he is now holding the horcrux and no one should be able to

get it from him, especially the death eaters. Before Harry could even go far, the death

eaters together with Draco Malfoy arrived and threatened Dumbledore. They asked

Dumbledore to give them the horcrux which the latter resolvedly concealed. Harry

watching from below saw all of these and almost attacked them but to everybody’s

surprise, professor Snape who vowed the unbroken vow to Bellatrix appeared to stop him

because he knew that Harry was still not prepared to face the death eaters altogether.

Here, the viewers realize that Snape is not really an antagonist and he reveals that he is

the half-blood prince. Even though he knows he will be killed, he decides to kill
 Dumbledore instead of Draco Malfoy doing the act which he was commanded to do.

Dumbledore dies but Draco Malfoy was not able to accomplish his task which would

later cost him a lot.

14. Rescue from Without

Potter is deeply wounded by Dumbledore’s death. In addition to his grief, he

realizes that all their efforts were all in vain for the horcrux is not really the real

one. Nonetheless, he grows more resolved to find the horcruxes and defeat

Voldemort. His friends Ron and Hermione offers their help in finding the

horcruxes to Harry because they knew that even though Harry was brave and

wise, he still needs their help.

15. The Crossing of the Return Threshold

Through his best friends, Harry realizes that even though some bad things happen,

he still gained something in his quest. He learns that there are people around him who

loves him and are ready to help him achieve what he wants. He is now more determined

to continue his quest.

16. Master of Two Worlds

Harry Potter decides to stay in the wizarding world to continue to look for the

horcruxes and defeat Voldemort.

17. Freedom to Live

sometimes he fails, all these led him to be what he is now. All the help he received and

the struggles he faced will eventually lead him to his ultimate goal.