Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Chapter Nineteen:
Elf Tails

Notes by Steve Vander Ark and Michele L. Worley
Synopsis and links by John Kearns

U.S. hardcover edition: pages 399 - 422
U.K. hardcover edition: pages 374 - 395
Timeframe: 1-8 March, 1997 [Y17]

In which Harry discusses Ron's poisioning with the Weasleys, Hagrid tells Harry that he overheard Dumbledore and Snape arguing, McLaggen accosts Harry to ensure he can play in Ron's place in the upcoming Quidditch match, and Harry finds that Ron has been avoiding Lavender. At the Quidditch match (with Luna commentating!), McLaggen grabs a beater's bat and cracks Harry's skull. Finally, in the hospital wing, Harry summons Kreacher and Dobby and orders them to tail Malfoy and figure out what he's up to.

The chapter title is a reference to Harry having asked two house-elves to "tail" Draco Malfoy, and also a homonym for "elf tales", that is, listening to their subsequent reports.

Interesting facts and notes about the text of this chapter:

Hagrid came striding towards them, a crossbow in his hand, bearskin coat flapping behind him

"I can't see anyone trying to bump off a Quidditch team," said George.
"Wood might've done the Slytherins if he could've got away with it," said Fred fairly.

"I dunno, Harry, I shouldn't'a heard it at all! I - well, I was comin' outta the Forest the other evenin' an' I overheard 'em talkin' - well, arguin'."

Potion master's room (U.K. edition only)

(U.K. edition only) Sigh. I spend a lot of time bawling people out (not Lexicon staffers, but elsewhere) for typos like this. It should be Potions master, and in fact is corrected that way in the US edition.

Loser's Lurgy

"I don't want to stay here overnight," said Harry angrily, sitting up and throwing back his covers. "I want to find McLaggen and kill him."
"I'm afraid that would come under the heading of 'over-exertion'," said Madam Pomfrey, pushing him firmly back on to the bed and raising her wand in a threatening manner.

Characters introduced in this chapter:

• Cadwallader

Characters returning in this chapter:

• Brown, Lavender

• Coote, Ritchie

• Crabbe, Vincent (having taken Polyjuice Potion)

• Dobby

• Filch, Argus

• Goyle, Gregory (having taken Polyjuice Potion)

• Granger, Hermione

• Hagrid, Rubeus

• Kreacher

• Lovegood, Luna

• Malfoy, Draco

• McGonagall, Minerva

• McLaggen, Cormac

• Norris, Mrs.

• Peakes, Jimmy

• Peeves

• Pomfrey, Poppy

• Potter, Harry

• Robins, Demelza

• Smith, Zacharias

• Weasley, Arthur

• Weasley, Fred

• Weasley, George

• Weasley, Ginny

• Weasley, Molly

• Weasley, Ron

Characters mentioned in this chapter:

• Aragog

• Bell, Katie

• Black, Mrs.

• Dumbledore, Albus

• Fat Lady, the

• Flitwick, Filius

• Hooch, Rolanda

• Riddle, Tom Marvolo (as Lord Voldemort)

• Scrimgeour, Rufus

• Slughorn, Horace

• Snape, Severus

• Sprout, Pomona

• Wood, Oliver

• (unnamed) ghost of a long-haired woman... possibly the Grey Lady?

• (unnamed) Hogwarts Board of Governors

• (unnamed) Hufflepuff's Quidditch captain

Settings and locations introduced or returning in this chapter:

• Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

  • Gryffindor Tower common room

  • hospital wing

  • Quidditch locker room

  • Quidditch pitch

Settings and locations mentioned in this chapter:

• Zonko's Joke Shop

• Hogwarts Express

• Dumbledore's office

Exceptional character moments:

• Still to come....

Spells and Potions:

• Imperius Curse

• Langlock

• Muffliato

• Polyjuice Potion

• (unnamed) cleaning spell Madam Pomfrey uses to get rid of Hagrid's muddy footprints

• (unnamed) toenail-growing spell from the Half-Blood Prince

Links and Resources:

• house-elves

• Chamber of Secrets

• Death Eaters

• bezoar

• essence of rue

• Firebolt

• items and devices, magical

  • Marauder's Map

  • necklace, opal

  • Quidditch Handbook

  • Quidditch Teams
  • Gryffindor
  • Hufflepuff

  Memorable lines:

  • "No more than six vixitors at a time!" said Madam Pomfrey, hurrying out of her office.
    "Hagrid makes six," George pointed out.
    "Oh... yes..." said Madam Pomfrey, who seemed to have been counting Hagrid as several people due to his vastness.

  • "I can't see anyone trying to bump off a Quidditch team," said George.
    "Wood might've done the Slytherins if he could've got away with it," said Fred fairly.

  • Surely nobody in their right mind would have let Luna Lovegood commentate?

  • ...but Luna did not seem to have noticed; she appeared singularly uninterested in such mundane things as the score, and kept attempting to draw the crowd's attention to such things as interestingly shaped clouds and the possibility that Zacharias Smith, who had so far failed to maintain possession of the Quaffle for longer than a minute, was suffering from something called "Loser's Lurgy."

  Strictly British:

  • bedside cabinet

  • blimey

  • clench-jawed

  • done

  • ickle

  • jumper

  • lot

  • lurgy

  • pitch

  • potty

  • row

  • shot of

  • timetable

  • wart_plasters

  Timelines/Calendar:

  The chapter continues on 1 March, Ron's birthday. McLaggen says the Quidditch match is "next week," presumably meaning Saturday, 8 March, and this is the day on which the chapter ends.