What better use to make of a a decidedly pagan holiday such as Vernal Equinox than indulging in epic fantasy. First the last third of the latest Harry Potter (see below) and then this Academy-Award-winning (Best Achievement in Makeup) adaptation of C.S.Lewis' book. I have not read any of the Narnia novels, and seen only parts of the BBC TV show, and that was a long time ago, so that I basically only remember that it features a bunch of kids that walk through a wardrobe (a similar thing, by the way takes place in said Harry Potter book) to meet fauns and the like, the upshot of which is that I had no idea where the story would go, and could enjoy the ride (except for the sudden appearance of Santa Claus, which did not really work for me).

7 points

Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts is over-shadowed by the war that is now openly raging between the wizarding world and Lord Voldemort's Death Eaters (other topics are love interests - they are all teenagers now - and of course Quidditch). While the Ministry of Magic is arguably not doing a good job at fighting Voldemort, Headmaster Dumbledore probably is, judging from his constant and secretive absences and the state he is in when he returns. Dumbledore arranges private lessons for Harry in order to teach him as much as possible about Voldemort in order to prepare him for the final battle that has been foretold to take place between the two. At the same time, Harry also receives training from a text book containing notes left behind by the unknown and somewhat suspect Half-Blood Prince, and spends his free time trying to uncover a Death Eater plot within Hogwarts that not even Ron and Hermione believe is taking place.

At the risk of repeating myself, the story continues to pick up steam and also become much darker and more serious. Half-Blood Prince, just like Order of the Phoenix, ends with a wizardry showdown between Death Eaters and the good guys, that leaves one of the good guys dead (and this time it is a central character) and the reader wanting to immediately dig into the next book.