Hehehe - my buddy in Photoshop - that looks cool Accio!

My first thought on seeing the enlargement (unreparied) was seeing a snake shape (possibly the illusion brought about by that shield form) with the round highlight in the upper right appearing to be the snake's eye - very Voldemort.

The "repaired" version looks very like a signet ring - hard to say what the shield represents...

I'm still sleepy so if I don't make any sense, forgive me.

Straight to the point. I cannot help but think of the Hogwarts signet ring, the one with Hogwarts logo. Well then, I was looking at the crack and my thoughts started to run along these lines: If that indeed is Hogwarts signet ring, what could a crack symbolise? A broken friendship or alliance? Note that the crack divides the assumed Hogwarts logo so that Gryffindor and Hufflepuff are on the left side, leaving Slytherin and Ravenclaw on the right. Does this present forecoming sides of the War? It can also be that only Gryffindor and Slytherin are of importance here, since these are the opposite Houses and most significant in the series. And Godric Gryffindor & Salazar Slytherin were the greatest wizards of their time.

This made me think about those two hands in different light. I first assumed that they are Harry's and Dumbledore's, but the longer I look, the more I see them as fighting hands. Magical arm-wrestling. Well, they don't seem like hands bound together by friendship but locked in combat. Even though it's (Harry and) Dumbledore surrounded by flames in the cover, I'm willing to bet that the hand doesn't belong to him. Is it Voldemort's them? Frankly, I haven't decided yet. All I can say, is that the connection is not by choise and those two are drawn together by some mysterious force the flames present. Someone mentioned the golden threads that connected Harry and Voldemort when Priori Incantatem took place. They could look like that.

Back to bed.

I just wanted to add a few quick comments:

As I said above, I also think that the hands are bound together in battle. I'm thinking the battle between Harry and Voldemort (one of them has to die, right) represented here by arm wrestling, especially with those golden ties around them that make me immediately think GoF scenario all over again.

I guess the ring could be from Hogwarts, but I kinda feel like its more personal than that. More of a family crest than a school crest. More personally symbolic of, oh I don't know, say the HBP and his family maybe? Which may extend to Harry? Plus I would think that a class ring would have more designs on it, or at least a year.

Off to work I go.

i definately don't think that it's a class ring.
The more i think about it the more i wonder if it has to do with LV's death eaters? I mean, we all know they possess a scar of some sort that burns them... and immediately after LV lost his power, they all fled. Could the ring be perhaps the one symbol that proved LV lost all his power? The crack looks like a scar, which could symbolize Harry's part in that event, and its black.
(yes, that's where the sirius "black" thing may come in..)

But im kind of under the impression now it has to do with LV...

Xenia---I don't see any words on the wall...I'll have to go back another time and look at it with fresh eyes though, I've been staring at it way too long now!

leanora---thanks for posting the other 'symbols'/pics from the books for me...Interesting that Pig was used.

Accio---you are soo Groovy! Love the patch job!

It kind of seems like the reflection of someone's (who's looking at the ring)
face on the ring (unpatched) in the upper right area of the stone, but I don't know. I don't know about the writing on the wall, I don't know about the glow emanating from everywhere but nowhere, I don't know why the boat appears to have something in it in the reflection, I don't know what the blasted @*#)@*#)&# thing on the pedestal is, I don't know who's hands those are, I don't know what I'm fixing for dinner, I don't k--oh.

I don't know!! Ohhhh, the Madness!!!
Save me HBP! Please!

I'll be at St. Mungo's should anyone need me....I don't have enough spellotape for this one!

Spello, here is the word "half". It really is there. Scary. I don't remember who mentioned it in this thread first, but my compliments to the one who did. Sharp eyes you have.



Rosie, I didn't mean a class ring, but the "Official Hogwarts Signet Ring", which is used to seal the letters that are sent to Hogwarts students. You know, the one with H in the middle and the House animals around. It was mentioned in PS that the letters Hagrid sent to Harry had a purple seal like that. Of course, the seal thingy doesn't have to be ring; it just seems approriate.

I'm still in for the Hogwarts signet ring. The Sorting Hat is wise.

Xenia: Had a look at the big picture i've got of the cover, and i can see what you mean, it does look like the word Edit:sorry, meant to put-'Half', but i'm still not sure if it was put there on purpose or if it's just a coincidence, cause it's not very clear until you spot it. (took me ages)!!

Spello: I went into a bookshop today while out shopping, to find a copy of PS, the picture on the spine is Dumbledore (natch!).
And here's the house crests:-



Leanora.

Oh okay Birdy, I can see what you mean now. That makes more sense. I still kinda lean towards the family crest, but the Lord Voldemort tie is an interesting one. The crack resembling Harry's scar and what not, I could see that too. But I also feel like if it is a big symbolic thing for Voldemort I would have thought it would have been mentioned before. Unless, of course, it has just recently been discovered by our sources.

I'm beginning to get skepical of the whole idea though. I mean, it may simply be a symbol of royalty aka the half-blood PRINCE. I guess what I'm saying is that I won't be too surprised when it turns out to have basically no significant part of the book at all after we have spent all this time analyzing and pondering.
Sorry, didn't mean to get all pessimistic on you all, just in one of those moods. I'd better go before I bring the group down even more.

i conquer (meh can't spell) that its definately a crest.

be it a school, family, HBP related one i do not know, although i think its related to the story in some way other than background info.

The question is, when we actually get the cover in our hands will the crest be visable?

I don't think analyzing the ring to death will be much help here, after all it's a very small image and I doubt the artist paid that much attention to detail when drawing the ring. But great job in 'mending' it, Accio!
P
ersonally, I think the ring as a whole is a symbol of royality and the HBP, since it's on the spine of the book and should be related to the title somehow. I think it's very likely that it's the ring Sirius takes from Kreacher in chapter 6 of OotP. Why else would JKR bother to mention it? A lot of interesting items are mentioned in this chapter, and I do think some of them will appear later on.

As for the writing on the wall, I don't see it. I'd probably be able to see it if I looked at the picture for some time and tried to make something out, but again, I don't think the artist paid that much attention to detail. It's just a coincidence and we could read anything into the scratches, I guess.

Hihi Paddy, I can't believe it's a coinsidence... there's other word(s) too, one beginning with "W", but I haven't still sorted out, what it says. Have to play with Photoshop to make those letters more visible.

The ring may well be the symbol of the Half-Blood Prince; after all the stone in it is splitten in half. Perhaps the prince is a link between two worlds? Anyhow, the fact that it is in the spine, doesn't mean it's related straightly to the title. Those spine pictures described above are not all about the main plot of the story.

I'll try to find out the other word. I'll be much wiser after that (which still isn't much ).

I can't see it either Paddy, and not for want of looking. I've been staring at that picture so long my head hurts! Would it be possible for someone who sees the word "half" to copy the picture into paint or some such programme and either trace over or circle the word in red or something and then post it here? Please and thank you with chocolate on top.

Sure:



And the "W" spoken of is right over the l in half. I'm not sure any of this means anything, but I traced the word, anyway.

Edit: *takes chocolate from clare*

Thank you!

Oh, I see! Thank you very much Accio, you're a star! Now it's been pointed out to me it seems so obvious, too obvious to be a coincidence or people finding what they want to see just because they're looking for it. Do you think the artist just threw it in there as a wee something for thse with keen eyes or something, or do you think it's actually significant? The Half-Blood Prince lair or something.

*GASP* I've had a revelation. Oh my God. It's a cave. Possibly the lair of the Prince. Who has a cave lair? BATMAN! Who has been compared to a bat? SNAPE! It's all so clear now. It's the Batcave! Snape is both Batman and the HBP and this is that Batcave. Snape will defeat evil in a figure hugging rubber suit with a small acrobatic sidekick, Ronin.

That's it, mystery solved, we can all go home now.

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And there I was looking for the word "HALF" in capital letters all the time! I guess that explains why I didn't see it. Thanks for using your photoshop skills again, Accio! I can see it clearly now. Once you know where to look for it, it's quite easy to spot.

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