The Burrow: Who is the HBP?

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by Rachel

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Those three little words have spiked confusion among many Harry Potter fans. Who is he? (It doesn’t say princess.) Already there is a wonderful editorial, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – Who the Heck is That? By Morgan Sutherland, which analyzes almost all the characters who could be the HBP, but one I noticed was pushed aside.

Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds of Hogwarts.

Call me crazy, but Hagrid could easily be the HPB. This is what Morgan has to say about Hagrid.

“I don’t think Hagrid is the HBP, as he doesn’t wield much magical power, and he’s too much of a pushover.”

Hagrid might be a pushover, but technically, so is Neville, Ron and Malfoy, and they aren’t considered it. (This is going to sound crazy, but just read on.) Just think, in the second book, why is Hagrid expelled? Because Tom Riddle told people that he opened the Chamber of Secrets. Hagrid was obviously given no trial, like Sirius. People overlooked the possibility that Riddle was just trying to frame someone because he is a model student. Hagrid, of course, is half giant, half human. Who would trust him? He was expelled from Hogwarts because the ministry didn’t care to listen to his thoughts, and they needed to catch someone because Myrtle’s parents were coming. But what if Hagrid was all-human? Would people have listened to him now? I think that would have qualified to a Truth Potion, since someone had died. Imagine if Hagrid wasn’t related to a giant, would he have been arrested? For instance, do you think that Saddam will get off his trial? No way. And the same with Hagrid.

Half Blood doesn’t necessarily resemble someone with a Muggle parent and Wizard parent. It could mean anything. Half Jewish/Christian, half Giant/Human, half American and so forth.

Think about it. Except for rescuing Harry from the Dursleys and telling Quirrell how to get to the Sorcerer’s/Philosopher’s Stone, has Hagrid done anything to the main plot of the other three books? Most things (in my mind) have been minor plots, Hagrid going to Azkaban, Hagrid and Grawp, Hagrid and Buckbeak and so forth. Most could’ve been re-written to not include him, and the plot would not have changed.

Except for his duty for Dumbledore… Was all that written just to bring Grawp in? Probably not. Jo doesn’t do that. Was Sirius blown over? The thestrals? Dementors? No. Hagrid could easily be the HBP. Or the Half Human Prince. Just think about it.