The magic continues.

The latest "Harry Potter" screen adventure is just as fresh as the first one eight years ago. While many ongoing movie sagas decline in proportion to their increasing installments, this fantasy adventure just gets more interesting.

"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" brings an even wider epic sweep to the franchise based on the phenomenally successful novels by J.K. Rowling. As the characters grow older, they become more involving. This time around, Hogwarts, the school for upcoming wizards, is awash in hormones.

Harry has a thing for Ginny Weasley though he's nervous about the reaction his attentions might arouse in Ron Weasley, her brother and Harry's best friend. Meanwhile, Ron is constantly pawed by his girlfriend, and Hermione Granger -- who rounds out the original trio of friends -- is jealous because she pines for Ron. Kind of sounds like an episode of the Bravo channel's latest reality show, "New York Prep." But Harry and his pals have more to worry about than young love and what kind of expensive meal to order on daddy's credit card.

Harry is by now "The Chosen One," the good wizard destined to confront the evil wizard Lord Voldemort who is waging an all-out war on Hogwarts and its graduates.

Daniel Radcliffe returns as Harry and his headmaster points out that he needs a shave from time to time. Emma Watson is back as perfectionist Hermione and Rupert Grint returns as Ron, Harry's wing man. These three main characters have grown up on screen and their accumulated history gives the series a satisfying emotional subtext.

Also back is Tom Felton as the malicious student Draco Malfoy, who is given a pernicious mission by Voldemort's agents.

As the story begins, Dumbledore (Michael Gambon), the school's beloved headmaster and Harry's biggest supporter, spirits Harry away from a pick-up date in order to visit one of Hogwarts' former teachers on a recruiting mission. Jim Broadbent, a wonderful addition to any movie he's in, plays Horace Slughorn, who reluctantly returns to the classroom at Dumbledore's urging.

As usual, intrigue is afoot at the school and the headmaster has an ulterior motive for bringing the old teacher back to teach a potions class.

The movie gets its title from a textbook Harry finds. The inscription from the previous owner states that it's the property of the Half-Blood Prince. The hand-written annotations in the margins help Harry to rise to the top of his class but there are also spells rooted in dark and forbidden magic among the scribblings of the former owner.

Harry's not all that curious about the Half-Blood Prince, though Hermione is, and she also recognizes the danger in possessing such a book.

The identity of the Half-Blood Prince is one of the movie's main mysteries. The second is Slughorn's relationship with former pupil Tom Riddle, who morphs into the evil Voldemort. The third is who is going with whom to the Christmas dance.

Director David Yates, who directed "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," gives this outing the darkest tone yet. There are moments of whimsy and humor, but a sense of foreboding descends upon Hogwarts as Harry nears the inevitable confrontation with Voldemort.

Visually, the production is a handsome imagining of an enchanted world that blends the kind of English boarding school celebrated in "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" with a "Lord of the Rings" otherworldly splendor. Yates and screenwriting Potter veteran Steve Kloves don't settle for eye-popping action and resonant art direction, however. They invest the movie with a richness of emotion and motivation.

Loyalty, courage, ambition, love, friendship, duty and sacrifice give purpose to the top-flight special effects and the artfully sustained suspense.

There are two more Harry Potter adventures to come, based on Rowling's "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows." Presumably, there will be no more after that. Graduation from Hogwart's will be kind of like saying a sad farewell to youth.