The creaky doors to Hogwarts open yet again as Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) returns for his sixth term. You would think that with the end in sight – the upcoming Deathly Hallows is the final instalment in the Potter series, young Harry would have much to do in this outing. If only.

Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) believes that the teaching staff at Hogwarts is a bit on the thin side, so decides to ask Horace Slughorn (Jim Broadbent) if he’ll come out of retirement to lend a wizardry hand. The teacher of potions accepts, which is just as well as evil appears to be brewing on school grounds.

Meanwhile, love is in the air on the kind of scale that Shakespeare would be proud of. Ginny Weasley (Bonnie Wright) is enjoying the affectionate attentions of a young man, much to Harry’s disappointment; and her brother Ron (Rupert Grint) is also in Cupid’s firing line, which Hermione (Emma Watson) isn’t exactly thrilled about.

If everyone wasn’t so loved up, perhaps they would have noticed that Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) is being pushed further into the dark side of magic, with fatal consequences.

And that’s pretty much it. Considering the film’s near never-ending length (a bum-numbing 153 minutes), nothing really happens. What story there is has absolutely no momentum or direction. And for a film that is supposedly rooted in all things hocus pocus, it’s about as magical as herpes. For such a big budget production, it’s difficult to see where any of the money went, as it didn’t appear on the screen. And if you’ve seen one match of Quidditch, you really have seen them all. When you consider that the one in this film is the closest thing to a highlight, then you know you’re in trouble.

It doesn’t help matters that there’s no real tangible villain or foe to speak of. The sheer evil of nemesis Voldemort is often alluded to, but it never actually amounts to anything. This means that the only thing the audience has to fear is the sight of Harry Potter kissing a girl. In terms of all time good Vs evil battles then, this one’s not exactly up there.

The film’s main focal point appears to be the blossoming sexual awareness of its teen cast. However, the on-screen chemistry between many of the characters is about as explosive as a Christmas cracker. The acting by the young cast is woefully bad too.

You would have thought that having worked together for so long on this series, the cast would have a solid rapport that would be more than evident to an audience. Sadly though, there’s an overwhelming sense of awkwardness in all of their acting abilities, as if their characters have never even seen each other before, never mind appeared in five films together.

This could be due to the lack of direction; David Yates, who also directed the previous instalment, has built a career on directing for television, including episodes of The Bill and State of Play. On this evidence, directing for the big screen with an even bigger budget is simply too much of an ask. The bad news for Potter fans is that he’s also helming the final two-parter as well. The fact that he hasn’t directed a film that hasn’t had the words ‘Harry’ and ‘Potter’ in the title, also doesn’t bode well.

Even during what should have been a crucial finale, he manages to drain the scene of any kind of emotion; it has the same kind of impact as being told that a friend of a friend of a friend’s goldfish died, a month ago, at a grand old age. Let’s hope that, for the sake of the die-hard fans at least, he manages to find his A-game for the conclusion of this well-loved franchise.

The content of the rest of the Blu-ray is less disappointing; probably the most exciting prospect – for early buyers at least - is that of the first ever Live Community Screening on the 12th of December, giving registered users the ability to be involved in a Q&A with star Daniel and the film’s director. It would certainly be an opportune time to ask him if he intends to make the finale just as big a bitter disappointment as he managed directing this sad effort.

It also has a Maximum Movie Mode in which to watch the main film with added extras flying at you, as well a substantial amount of featurettes.

No amount of content, however, will detract from the overall feeling of disappointment. Regardless of how it fits in with the rest of the series, as a standalone experience, it’s a poor one. It’s akin to being a huge fan of the original Star Wars trilogy and the feeling one was left with after seeing The Phantom Menace. It’s that bleak.

How this is supposed to entertain a younger audience is anyone’s guess. Without any jaw-dropping set pieces, or major story advances, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is reduced to nothing more than a sort of middle class Grange Hill, with an ending that appears to be just as elusive as the plot.

As difficult as it might be to admit, the unthinkable has happened – Harry Potter really has lost his magic.