DAVID YATES returns to the director’s chair after the disappointing Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix for the penultimate instalment in JK Rowling’s magical series, as the boy wizard and his friends face their toughest test yet.

Thankfully, the sixth film is a marked improvement on the last outing, riding some of the same dark undercurrents as Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, still the strongest adventure in the series thus far.

The gloomy tone is set from the opening sequence in the Muggle world, where three Death Eaters cause the collapse of the Millennium Bridge, in London.

Younger viewers may need to hide behind their hands as Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) stamps on Harry’s head, Katie Bell (Georgina Leonidas) comes under attack from a cursed necklace and Bellatrix Lestrange (Helena Bonham Carter) and her cronies launch a night-time attack on the Weasleys.

To counterbalance the darkness, screenwriter Steve Kloves focuses on the frequently comical growing pains of Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) as they fall victim to raging teenage hormones.

Thus, Ron tries to extricate himself from a scarily passionate Lavender Brown (Jessie Cave) while Harry wrestles with his feelings for Ron’s sister Ginnie (Bonnie Wright).

As for Hermione, she tries to make Ron jealous by lavishing her affections on Cormac McLaggen (Freddie Stroma).

On to more serious business, Professor Severus Snape (Alan Rickman) is announced as the school’s new Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher, to the delight of Slytherin House.

While Ron and Hermione continue with their studies, Harry spends time with headmaster Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) and a Pensieve memory device, delving into the evil Voldemort’s past.

The new Potions master, Horace Slughorn (Jim Broadbent), may hold the key. Harry’s bitter rivalry with Malfoy comes to a head atop the Astronomy Tower, where one of the boy wizard’s friends sacrifices himself for the greater good.