Can someone please tell me everything important in Harry Potter and the Half Blo

Question:

Can someone please tell me everything important in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince?

I bought the book, but I never got around to reading it, I preordered the seventh one, and I don't want to start the 6th now, cuz i'll never finish it by July 21, but I want to understand the seventh when I read it, I know that Dumbledore gets killed or something but I just wanna kno everythin I need to, I'm gonna try to read the sixth (or as much as I can b4 the new one comes out) but any information will be helpful. 10 pts to most info. (important info, not like what the first word word is in each chapter)

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Okay, so the book starts out introducing the new Minister of Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour. It then goes to Snape's house, where Narcissa Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange go. Bellatrix questions Snape about his allegiance to Voldemort, and does not believe him until he makes an Unbreakable Vow to help Draco in his task. The next chapter brings Dumbledore to the Dursleys' house to pick up Harry. Dumbledore's hand is black and shriveled, and Harry is not told why. Harry finds out that 12 Grimmauld Place (and Kreacher) is his now. Then Harry and Dumbledore go to Horace Slughorn's house to convince him to teach at Hogwarts again, which he does. Harry stays at the Burrow the rest of the summer, and discloses to Ron and Hermione the prophecy. They return to Hogwarts to find that Dumbledore has finally given Snape the DADA job, and Slughorn has taken the Potions job, so Harry's "E" on his OWL is enough to let him into NEWT Potions. He gets a book that belonged to the half blood prince, and it has spells written in it, along with instructions to help in potion making. Throughout the year, Dumbledore has many private lessons with Harry, teaching him about Voldemort's past. Harry manages to procure a memory from Slughorn about Tom Riddle. In the memory, Tom asks Slughorn (who taught at Hogwarts 50 years ago) about Horcruxes. Slughorn explains the concept. When a wizard murders somebody, his soul is split. The murderer can then cast a spell to encase the torn portion in an object. Riddle asks Slughorn if it is possible to create more than 1, specifically 7. Dumbledore's theory is then confirmed, and he lists the remaining Horcruxes to Harry. He explains that (can you guess the one that has already been destroyed?) the diary from CoS was a Horcrux, but Harry destroyed it. Dumbledore explains that he destroyed another Horcrux, a ring of Slytherin's. There are 5 more: Slytherin's locket, Hufflepuff's goblet, the snake Nagini, Voldemort himself, and an artifact of Gryffindor's or Ravenclaw's. Dumbledore tells Harry that he will search far and wide for the remaining Horcruxes and that if he finds one, Harry can come to help destroy it. Later, Harry performs a curse from the Prince's book and almost kills Malfoy, but curiously enough, Snape gives Harry detention (though it does cause Harry to miss the final of the Quidditch Cup). After the final, Gryffindor wins and Harry kisses Ginny. They start going out. Finally, Dumbledore calls Harry to his office and they set out to find a Horcrux. They go to a cave Riddle visited when he was small. Inside, there is a lake with a cauldron in the middle. They go to the cauldron and Dumbledore realizes the Horcrux is at the bottom of the cauldron and that the only way to remove it is to drink all the potion. He makes Harry force him to drink it, even though it causes him some type of immense pain. They retrieve the locket and head back to Hogwarts, Dumbledore extremely weak. At the castle, the Dark Mark has been set over the Astronomy Tower. They fly there and Draco is waiting to kill Dumbledore, though he cannot do it. Death Eaters come (Draco helped them through the Room of Requirement) and then Snape comes. Dumbledore freezes Harry (who is under the invisibility cloak) and pleads "Severus, please..." Snape raises his wand and cries "AVADA KEDAVRA" and Dumbledore shoots up and falls to the ground below. Dumbledore is dead. Harry follows Snape and Draco out of the castle and Snape shouts at Harry and blocks every single one of Harry's curses, even the nonverbal ones and the ones from Snape's old Potions book. Interestingly enough, the ONLY curse Snape hits Harry with is one that knocks him over. Snape Disapparates and everybody ends up in the hospital wing. Harry discovers that the locket is a fake. It has a note in it telling Voldemort that the person who wrote it found out his Horcrux secret and intended to destroy the real Horcrux ASAP. It is signed RAB. At Dumbledore's funeral, Harry attempts to break up with Ginny, while Ron and Hermione FINALLY show each other their open affection for each other. Harry knows he must find the other Horcruxes, and Ron and Hermione promise to go with him. This is where the book ends.