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Who's new in 'Harry Potter' 6

Oscar winner, others join 'Half-Blood Prince' cast

By Jennifer DeCamp St. Petersburg Times

We know you're counting down the days (three!) until Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince hits theaters Wednesday.

We also know you've reread the book again(!) in anticipation of watching Harry and pals Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger discover love, play Quidditch, learn how to apparate, deal with loss and fight evil.

So, to prepare ourselves, we've done a little non-magical detective work to determine the six new faces you should get to know in the series.

Tom Riddle

Age: 11.

Played by: Hero Fiennes Tiffin.

What you should know: As an adult, Riddle takes the name Lord Voldemort.

Connection to Harry: Murdered Lily and James Potter and tried to kill baby Harry, is responsible for Harry's lightning-bolt scar. The prophecy revealed in Order of the Phoenix stated that "neither can live while the other survives."

Trivia: The resemblance of young Riddle to Voldemort's Ralph Fiennes makes sense: Fiennes Tiffin is the Oscar-nominated actor's nephew.

Key scene: Dumbledore gets a glimpse of Riddle's true nature during their first meeting at the orphanage where the boy lives.

From the book: "His powers, as you heard, were surprisingly well-developed for such a young wizard and most interestingly and ominously of all ... he was already using magic against other people, to frighten, to punish, to control." Dumbledore to Harry

Professor Horace Slughorn

Played by: Jim Broadbent.

Connection to Harry: Potions professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry; chooses his favorite/well-connected/most promising students for after-class gatherings, called the Slug Club. Harry receives frequent invites.

Trivia: Broadbent, Maggie Smith (Professor Minerva McGonagall) and Emma Thompson (Professor Sybil Trelawney) are all Oscar winners.

Key scene: Harry learns through Slughorn's memories that the professor provided the teenage Voldemort with knowledge on how to split a soul, rendering the adult Voldemort nearly immortal.

From the book: Slughorn to Harry: "I am not proud ... I am ashamed of what that memory shows ... Just don't think too badly of me once you've seen it."

Narcissa Malfoy

Played by: Helen McCrory.

Connection to Harry: Wife of Lucius (one of Voldemort's followers), mother to Draco (Harry's sworn enemy at Hogwarts).

Trivia: McCrory originally was cast as Bellatrix Lestrange (Narcissa's sister) in Order of the Phoenix, but she had to drop the role because she was pregnant.

Key scene: Narcissa begs Professor Severus Snape to protect Draco after the Dark Lord assigns him a seemingly impossible task.

From the book: Narcissa to Snape: "That's because he is sixteen and has no idea what lies in store! Why, Severus? Why my son? It is too dangerous! This is vengeance for Lucius' mistake."

Lavender Brown

Played by: Jessie Cave.

Connection to Harry: Lovesick, co-dependent first girlfriend of Ron. She refers to him as Won-Won.

Trivia: More than 7,000 girls hoped to win the part of Lavender, who has appeared in every book but finally has a speaking role in Half-Blood Prince.

Key scene: Any time Lavender and Ron are sucking face in public, causing the green-eyed monster in Hermione to rear its head.

From the book: Hermione to Harry: "If Won-Won thinks that, you'd better do it. After all, when has Won-Won's judgment ever been faulty?"

Cormac McLaggen

Played by: Freddie Stroma.

Connection to Harry: Becomes the Gryffindor Quidditch keeper while Ron is in the infirmary.

Trivia: McLaggen's character appears only in Half-Blood Prince.

Key scene: Hermione takes Cormac as her date to Professor Slughorn's Christmas party, to make Ron jealous.

From the book: Hermione to Harry: "I though he'd annoy Ron most."

Fenrir Greyback

Played by: Dave Legeno.

Connection to Harry: Fenrir, the bloodthirsty werewolf leader, aligns his kind with Voldemort in fighting the Ministry of Magic. He also mauls Ron's brother Bill.

Trivia: Fenrir's role in Half-Blood Prince has been greatly expanded to include a scene that never appeared in the book .

Key scene: Fenrir and Bellatrix lead Voldemort's followers in an attack on the Weasley home while Harry is a guest.

From the book: Former professor and werewolf Remus Lupin to Harry: "Fenrir Greyback is, perhaps, the most savage werewolf alive today. He regards it as his mission in life to bite and to contaminate as many people as possible; he wants to create enough werewolves to overcome the wizards."

Sources: imdb.com, Warner Bros.