Harry Potter
Harry Potter is the fictitious main character in J. K. Rowling's fantasy book series that is known by the same name. The seven books in the series follow Harry from his discovery that he is a youthful wizard who belongs to a secret magical world, through various adventures, and ultimately concludes with a final battle between Harry and the most evil wizard of all time, Lord Voldemort. The books remain extremely popular, and have spawned a movie series, various merchandising enterprises, and a popular cult following.
Summary of the series
- WARNING: The following description contains spoilers.
The first book in the series - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was published in the United Kingdom in 1997, then published in the United States of America as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone the following year. The story starts by describing the dreary and abusive relationship between Harry Potter and his adoptee family, the Dursleys. The Dursleys are middle class, status-obsessed and mean to Harry, forcing him to live in the under-stairs cupboard for most of his childhood. Despite this, Harry manages to get himself in some difficult situations using his latent magical ability.
As he approaches his eleventh birthday, some very strange things start happening. A letter arrives for him, but Vernon Dursley forbids Harry from reading it. As the letters do not stop coming, Vernon takes the family away to stay in a hotel, then eventually to a shack on a tiny island to escape the letters. While Harry and the Dursleys are asleep, the door is knocked down by Hagrid, a towering giant. He delivers Harry his letter and tells him that he has been accepted as a student at Hogwards School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, explains to Harry how he is famous within the wizarding world for defeating the dark Lord Voldemort as a baby and upbraids the Dursleys for not telling Harry about his history.
The rest of the novel tells the story of Harry's first year at Hogwarts. Each subsequent novel deals with each of his years at Hogwarts, fighting against a returned Voldemort.