History Awesome / HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince

* During Christmas, when Harry is celebrating at the Burrow, new Minister of Magic Rufus Scrimgeour comes by pretending that his assistant Percy Weasley wanted to join his family for the holidays. But when he suddenly asks Harry to accompany him outside for a stroll around the yard, he understands the ''real'' reason why Scrimgeour came by. And when outside, he eventually gets tired of him trying to get in his good spirits and lays into how much of a disappointment he is when compared to his predecessors.

-->'''Hermione:''' "[without the book, Harry wouldn't have]-[[KickTheDog got a reputation for Potions brilliance you don't deserve.]]"

** Especially notable because Hermoine has always been like a CoolBigSis to Ginny. Hermoine, especially in the books, can be a bit full of herself, though, and it's great fun watching Ginny take her down a peg.

* A [spoiler: seemingly] villainous example: after killing Dumbledore, Snape is able to casually shrug off everything Harry can throw at him, even giving him advice on how to fight better while doing so. Eventually, Harry gets angry enough to start attempting Dark Magic, which Snape blocks just as easily.

* Ginny gets a small one in that she gets herself invited to the Slug Club not because of personal connections or existing fame like everyone else but simply because of her own talent. (Slughorn witnessed her Jinxing another student and instead of giving her detention was so impressed he invited her to a club meeting.)

* Bob Ogden is a rather unappreciated character--he's plainly very progressive for his time. He considers blood status "neither here nor there" and, even more impressively, he sees a young woman being abused by her father and brother and reports them to the authorities--a first in a 'verse where SocialServicesDoesNotExist. He's not some big hero, but he is a rather awesome wizard in his own way.

* Thanks to the DA lessons, the students of Hogwarts were able to protect the school quite efficiently. Granted, that wasn't enough to stop the Death Eaters, but managed to hold them back enough that no one were killed that night except Dumbledore, but he planned it long before, and it also was just another step in his plan to Voldemort's defeat. And the fact that it was possible not only because of the fighting capabilities of the single students, but also because of friendship and sense of community it formed outside of the Houses' boundaries. It's a shame it wasn't in the movie, really.

* Offscreen moment it might be, but Lupin's escapades among the werewolves as Dumbledore's spy. Jury is still out on whether he harbors some resentment for being sent there (he hates being a werewolf but nobody else would have been able to infiltrate the group and the reveal of his feelings for Tonks might imply he went voluntarily ''expecting, even wanting to get into danger''), but it is clear he must have exercised the patience of a saint and acting skills worthy of Snape himself given he was forced to put up with Fenrir Greyback, the monster who bit him as a child, and managed to keep his cover for at least half a year (as the battle at the tower blew his cover for good).

* Ron himself, a teenager who still hasn't completed his education and yet he fights one-on-one against a Death Eater. It's never pointed out which Death Eater, but the narration puts it in perspective easily enough by mentioning that he's fighting next to ''[=McGonagall=]'' and they're both fighting against respective Death Eaters.
* The Death Eaters deserve credit here. After sneaking into Hogwarts they are faced with members of both the Order of the Phoenix and Dumbledore's Army, and for most of the battle they hold the upper hand. After Dumbledore's death we see Bill and Neville injured, Amycus has Ginny on the defensive, Ron and Lupin are stalemating their opponents, Rowle is able to simultaneously duel Tonks and fire curses all over the place, and Harry is nearly mauled by Greyback. Had Snape not ordered them to retreat and Harry not interrupted their duels, the Death Eaters may have shed more blood that night!
* It's an OffscreenMomentOfAwesome and glossed over, but Arthur--kind, gentle, semi-ridiculous Mr. Weasley--is mentioned to have ''terrified'' Fred and George when they tried to get Ron to cast an Unbreakable Vow, to the point where he remembers it vividly many years later. We don't get to see it as often, but Arthur is just as much of a PapaWolf as Molly is a MamaBear.
* Draco Malfoy, of all people, gets few villainous moments:
** As if to show that he is no longer the toothless bully from previous books, he spots Harry spying on him while Harry ''was under the Invisibility Cloak'' while on the Hogwarts train, makes some excuse to his friends to stay back, gets the drop on Harry with a petrification spell, breaks the paralysed Harry's nose, and leaves him under the Invisibility Cloak, which would have resulted in him not being found for hours if not for Tonks having tailed the train. What makes it doubly awesome is that after five books of underhanded tricks against Harry and friends, this was one of the few times he legitimately one-upped them.
* Right before Harry and Dumbledore leave Privet Drive, there's an early hint at the power of the Elder Wand. With one wave, Dumbledore is able to transport not only Harry's trunk to the Burrow, but Hedwig as well. In other words, the Elder Wand is capable of teleporting a flesh and blood being.

* The group's [=OWLs=] probably count to at least some extent. Hermione nabs all Outstandings (except for one Exceeds Expectations in Defense). Harry gets an O in Defense, Es in Transfiguration, Charms, Herbology, Magical Creatures, and even Potions, and an A in Astronomy (which was interrupted by the attack on Hagrid), only receiving a Poor and Dreadful in Divination and History of Magic (the latter of which he collapsed halfway through). Ron also does similar (except receiving an E in Defense and a P in History). What especially stands out are Harry and Ron's Potion grades given that they loathed the class.

* He also sees through Slughorn's ruse with practically no effort, then plays him like a stradivarius to get him to come back to Hogwarts. Admittedly, Slughorn had been in a hurry, but it's no small feat, either.

* Ginny gets a small one in that she gets herself invited to the Slugclub, not because of personal connections or existing fame like everyone else but simply because of her own talent. (Slughorn witnessed her Jinxing another student and instead of giving her detention was so impressed he invited her to a club meeting.)

* Snape gets one for shutting down ''Bellatrix Lestrange'' [[DeadpanSnarker while completely snarking at her]] during their meeting in the beginning. Also, his asking her if she doubts of Voldemort's ability in legilimency becomes an offscreen one when you learn he was actually with Dumbledore from the beginning, meaning he ''successfully used occlumency against Voldemort'', probably multiple times given how paranoid Voldemort is. Also, points must be given to Bellatrix for being the only one not trusting Snape, considering she's the ''only'' one who thinks Voldemort might be wrong.

* Right before Harry and Dumbledore leave Privet Drive, there's an early hint at the power of the Elder Wand. With one wave, Dumbledore is able to transport not only Harry's trunk to the Burrow, but Hedwig as well. In other words, the Elder wand is capable of teleporting a flesh and blood being.