Inside Hollywood

year has passed since the climactic events of 2007's Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which culminated in the reemergence of the sinister Lord Voldemort. Darkness is spreading across the muggle and wizard worlds alike as the orthodontically-challenged Bellatrix Lestrange and the rest of her Death Eater crew roam freely between both realms, leaving devastation and chaos in their wake.

Newly famous thanks to his heroic exploits, Harry Potter has barely a chance to cash in on his celebrity before his old pal Dumbledore arrives to whisk him away on an urgent wizarding matter to the town of Budleigh Babberton. It’s there the two encounter the eccentric Horace Slughorn, a former professor of potions at Hogwarts who now hides out in the homes of vacationing muggles. Convinced that Slughorn is withholding knowledge crucial to the defeat of Voldemort, Dumbledore enlists his most famous student to help convince the starstruck professor to return to his old position at Hogwarts. He then tasks Harry with finding out what Slughorn is hiding.

As danger mounts outside the school, romance blossoms within it. Oblivious to the affections of Hermione, Ron Weasley has begun dating the cloying busybody Lavender Brown, while Harry has developed a crush of his own on Ron’s sister Ginny, who’s currently attached to Dean Thomas. It's quite the tangled teenage web; the element of magic, with its love potions and other mind-altering concoctions, only further complicates matters.

Unamused by the romantic proceedings is Draco Malfoy, now clad entirely in black and simmering with hatred and envy for his rival Harry. Draco’s rage and resentment make him a perfect pawn for Voldemort, who recruits the angry young lad to aid in the Death Eaters’ attempts to infiltrate Hogwarts and exact revenge upon Dumbledore.

Draco’s suspicious behavior doesn’t go unnoticed by Harry, who becomes convinced that his long-time nemesis is surreptitiously working in league with the Dark Lord. But when his concerns are dismissed by the Hogwarts hierarchy, Harry mounts his own investigation and makes a disturbing discovery: Draco has been receiving help from someone on the inside, a traitor whose efforts could pave the way for Voldemort’s ultimate triumph.