We totally missed J.K. Rowling’s sneaky shoutout to Rupert Grint in “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”
It seems like every day we’re discovering tiny details we missed when reading the Harry Potter series. J.K. Rowling is such a master of all things Harry Potter and sometimes, no matter how hard we try to stay on our A-game, she’s able to pull a fast one on us. Example: We recently learned that Rowling gave actor Rupert Grint a shout-out in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
Grint — who played Harry Potter’s best friend Ron Weasley in all eight Harry Potter films — is one of the franchise’s main actors. But unfortunately, his character Ron was sometimes forgettable, especially in comparison to his best friends’ Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson).
In the Half-Blood Prince, Harry and Co. have a new potions teacher, Professor Slughorn, who takes a very obvious favoritism towards students of fame and money, as well as those who impress him. For obvious reasons, Slughorn takes a liking to Harry and quickly becomes impressed by Hermione. To Slughorn, Ron is another forgettable student, which is where the Rupert Grint shout-out comes in. When referring to Ron, Slughorn accidently calls him Rupert.
In a scene from the book, after Ron has been accidentally poisoned while drinking Slughorn’s wine, Harry and Slughorn talk about Ron’s poisoning and why someone might want to kill the professor. The book reads,
“‘I have had it all tested for poison,’ he assured Harry pouring most of the first bottle into one of Hagrid’s bucket-sized mugs and handing it to Hagrid. ‘Had a house-elf taste every bottle after what happened to your poor friend Rupert.’
It’s an adorable call-back to the actor who plays Ron. While most people aren’t entertained by these kinds of hidden messages, we love how Rowling hides little easter eggs within her work. It’s kind of a fun way for Harry Potter fans to discover quirky facts about the book.
Now, we’re definitely going to go back and read the series to find more hidden messages!
