Harry Potter series of seven fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young wizard, Harry Potter, and his friends, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The main story arc concerns Harry’s conflict with Lord Voldemort, a dark wizard who intends to become immortal, overthrow the wizard governing body known as the Ministry of Magic, and subjugate all wizards and Muggles (non-magical people).
Harry Potter series was originally published in English by Bloomsbury in the United Kingdom and Scholastic Press in the United States. A series of many genres, including fantasy, drama, coming-of-age fiction, and the British school story (which includes elements of mystery, thriller, adventure, horror, and romance), the world of Harry Potter explores numerous themes and includes many cultural meanings and references. Major themes in the series include prejudice, corruption, madness, love, and death.
Since the release of the first novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, on 26 June 1997, the books have found immense popularity and commercial success worldwide. They have attracted a wide adult audience as well as younger readers and are widely considered cornerstones of modern literature, though the books have received mixed reviews from critics and literary scholars. As of February 2023, the books have sold more than 600 million copies worldwide, making them the best-selling book series in history, available in dozens of languages. The last four books all set records as the fastest-selling books in history, with the final instalment selling roughly 2.7 million copies in the United Kingdom and 8.3 million copies in the United States within twenty-four hours of its release.
Warner Bros. Pictures adapted the original seven books into an eight-part namesake film series. In 2016, the total value of the Harry Potter franchise was estimated at $25 billion, making it one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is a play based on a story co-written by Rowling.
The success of the books and films has allowed the Harry Potter franchise to expand with numerous derivative works, a travelling exhibition that premiered in Chicago in 2009, a studio tour in London that opened in 2012, a digital platform on which J. K. Rowling updates the series with new information and insight, and a trilogy of spin-off films premiering in November 2016 with Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, among many other developments. Themed attractions, collectively known as The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, have been built at several Universal Destinations & Experiences amusement parks around the world.
About Harry Potter Series
1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Harry Potter Series, Book 1)
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is a fantasy novel written by the British author J. K. Rowling. It is the first novel in the Harry Potter series and was Rowling’s debut novel. It follows Harry Potter, a young wizard who discovers his magical heritage on his eleventh birthday when he receives a letter of acceptance to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry makes close friends and a few enemies during his first year at the school. With the help of his friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, he faces an attempted comeback by the dark wizard Lord Voldemort, who killed Harry’s parents but failed to kill Harry when he was just 15 months old.
Turning the envelope over, his hand trembling, Harry saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger and a snake surrounding a large letter ‘H’.
Harry Potter has never even heard of Hogwarts when the letters start dropping on the doormat at number four, Privet Drive. Addressed in green ink on yellowish parchment with a purple seal, they are swiftly confiscated by his grisly aunt and uncle. Then, on Harry’s eleventh birthday, a great beetle-eyed giant of a man called Rubeus Hagrid bursts in with some astonishing news: Harry Potter is a wizard, and he has a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. An incredible adventure is about to begin!
Having become classics of our time, the Harry Potter eBooks never fail to bring comfort and escapism. With their message of hope, belonging and the enduring power of truth and love, the story of the Boy Who Lived continues to delight generations of new readers.
Plot
Harry Potter lives with his abusive uncle and aunt, Vernon and Petunia Dursley, and their bullying, spoiled son, Dudley. On Harry’s eleventh birthday, he learns that he is a wizard. A man named Rubeus Hagrid tells him that he can attend Hogwarts, a school of magic. Hagrid explains that when Harry was an infant, a Dark wizard named Voldemort murdered his parents and tried to kill him as well. However, Voldemort’s killing curse rebounded and seemingly destroyed him, leaving a lightning bolt-shaped scar on Harry’s forehead. Unbeknownst to Harry, this event made him famous among wizards.
Hagrid takes Harry to Diagon Alley, where he buys a wand and other school supplies. A month later, Harry takes the Hogwarts Express to Hogwarts. During the journey, he befriends Ron Weasley, a fellow first-year student. The two boys also meet Hermione Granger and have a confrontation with Draco Malfoy. At Hogwarts, a magical Sorting Hat assigns each first-year student to a House. Harry, Ron and Hermione are assigned to Gryffindor, although the Hat considers putting Harry in Slytherin.
Harry’s broomstick flying ability earns him a place on the Gryffindor Quidditch team as the Seeker. He develops a dislike for the Potions professor Severus Snape, who seems to hate Harry. One night, Harry and Ron discover a gigantic three-headed dog guarding a trapdoor. The two boys later save Hermione from a troll, after which they begin a friendship with her. During Harry’s first Quidditch match, his broomstick attempts to throw him off. Snape’s strange behaviour during the match convinces Hermione that he jinxed Harry’s broom. On Christmas, Harry receives an anonymous gift – his father’s invisibility cloak. While using the cloak to explore the school undisturbed, he discovers the Mirror of Erised, which shows the viewer what they most desire. Harry sees his family in the mirror.
Harry, Ron and Hermione learn that the three-headed dog is guarding a magical object called the Philosopher’s Stone, which grants its user immortality. A centaur named Firenze warns Harry that Voldemort is plotting to steal the Stone to restore his body. When Dumbledore is lured away from Hogwarts, Harry and his friends fear the theft is imminent and descend through the trapdoor to retrieve the artefact. Various obstacles force Ron and Hermione to remain behind while Harry proceeds towards the Stone. He encounters Professor Quirrell, the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, who explains that he serves Voldemort and that it was he who jinxed Harry’s broom. Quirrell attempts to retrieve the Stone from the Mirror of Erised, but cannot figure out how. When Harry looks in the Mirror, he feels the Stone drop into his pocket. Quirrell then reveals that Voldemort has possessed his body, and shows Harry Voldemort’s face on the back of his head. Quirrell attempts to seize the Stone, but his flesh burns upon contact with Harry. As Harry and Quirrell struggle, Harry’s scar begins hurting and he passes out.
Harry awakens in the school’s infirmary. The headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, explains that Harry survived because he is protected by a magical charm that was created when his mother died trying to protect him. Quirrell’s hatred and greed caused him to burn upon contact with Harry, and Voldemort abandoned him to die. Dumbledore also reveals that the Stone has been destroyed. During the school’s year-end feast, Gryffindor is awarded the House Cup. Harry then returns to the home of the Dursleys for the summer.
Read More: [Reviews & Quotes] Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter Series, Book 2)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling and the second novel in the Harry Potter series. The plot follows Harry’s second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, during which a series of messages on the walls of the school’s corridors warn that the “Chamber of Secrets” has been opened and that the “heir of Slytherin” would kill all pupils who do not come from all-magical families. These threats are found after attacks that leave residents of the school petrified. Throughout the year, Harry and his friends Ron and Hermione investigate the attacks.
The book was published in the United Kingdom on 2 July 1998 by Bloomsbury and later in the United States on 2 June 1999 by Scholastic Inc. Although Rowling says she found it difficult to finish the book, it won high praise and awards from critics, young readers, and the book industry, although some critics thought the story was perhaps too frightening for younger children. Much like with other novels in the series, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets triggered religious debates; some religious authorities have condemned its use of magical themes, whereas others have praised its emphasis on self-sacrifice and the way one’s character is the result of one’s choices.
Several commentators have noted that personal identity is a strong theme in the book and that it addresses issues of racism through the treatment of non-human, non-magical, and non-living people. Some commentators regard the story’s diary that writes back as a warning against uncritical acceptance of information from sources whose motives and reliability cannot be checked. Institutional authority is portrayed as self-serving and incompetent.
The film adaptation of the novel, released in 2002, became (at the time) the fifth highest-grossing film ever and received generally favourable reviews. Video games loosely based on Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets were also released for several platforms, and most obtained favourable reviews.
Plot
While spending the summer with the Dursleys, the twelve-year-old Harry Potter is visited by Dobby, a house-elf. Dobby says Harry is in danger and must promise not to return to Hogwarts. When Harry refuses, Dobby uses magic to destroy a pudding made by Aunt Petunia. Believing that Harry created the mess, Uncle Vernon locks him in his room. The Ministry of Magic sends a notice accusing Harry of performing underage magic and threatening to expel him from Hogwarts.
The Weasley brothers Ron, Fred, and George arrive in their father’s flying car and take Harry to their home. When Harry and the Weasleys go to Diagon Alley for school supplies, they meet Gilderoy Lockhart, a celebrity author who is the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. At King’s Cross station, Harry and Ron cannot enter Platform 9¾ to board the Hogwarts Express, so they fly to Hogwarts in the enchanted car.
During the school year, Harry hears a strange voice emanating from the castle walls. Argus Filch’s cat is found Petrified, along with a warning scrawled on the wall: “The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir, beware”. Harry learns that the Chamber supposedly houses a monster that attacks Muggle-born students, and which only the Heir of Slytherin can control. During a Quidditch match, a rogue Bludger strikes Harry, breaking his arm. Professor Lockhart botches an attempt to mend it, which sends Harry to the hospital wing. Dobby visits Harry and reveals that he jinxed the Bludger and sealed the portal at King’s Cross. He also tells Harry that house-elves are bound to serve a master, and cannot be freed unless their master gives them clothing.
After another attack from the monster, students attend a defensive duelling class. During the class, Harry displays the rare ability to speak Parseltongue, the language of snakes. Moaning Myrtle, a ghost who haunts a bathroom, shows Harry and his friends a diary that was left in her stall. It belonged to Tom Riddle, a student who witnessed another student’s death when the Chamber was last opened. During the next attack by the monster, Hermione Granger is Petrified.
Harry and Ron discover that the monster is a Basilisk, a gigantic snake that can kill victims with a direct gaze and Petrify them with an indirect gaze. Harry realizes the Basilisk is producing the voice he hears in the walls. After Ron’s sister Ginny is abducted and taken into the Chamber, Harry and Ron discover the Chamber entrance in Myrtle’s bathroom. When they force Lockhart to enter with them, he confesses that the stories he told of his heroic adventures are fabrications. He attempts to erase the boys’ memories, but his spell backfires and obliterates his own memory.
Harry finds an unconscious Ginny in the Chamber. A manifestation of Tom Riddle appears and reveals that he is Lord Voldemort and the Heir of Slytherin. After explaining that he opened the Chamber, Riddle summons the Basilisk to kill Harry. Dumbledore’s phoenix Fawkes arrives, bringing Harry the Sorting Hat. While Fawkes blinds the Basilisk, Harry pulls the Sword of Gryffindor from the Hat. He slays the serpent, then stabs the diary with a Basilisk fang, destroying it and the manifestation of Riddle. Later, Harry liberates Dobby by tricking his master into giving him clothing. At the end of the novel, the Petrified students are cured and Gryffindor wins the House Cup.
Read More: [Reviews & Quotes] Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter Series, Book 3)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is a fantasy novel written by the British author J. K. Rowling. It is the third instalment in the Harry Potter series. The novel follows Harry Potter, a young wizard, in his third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Along with friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, Harry investigates Sirius Black, an escaped prisoner from Azkaban, the wizard prison, believed to be one of Lord Voldemort’s old allies.
The book was published in the United Kingdom on 8 July 1999 by Bloomsbury and in the United States on 8 September 1999 by Scholastic, Inc. Rowling found the book easy to write, finishing it just a year after she began writing it. The book sold 68,000 copies in just three days after its release in the United Kingdom and since has sold over three million in the country. The book won the 1999 Whitbread Children’s Book Award, the Bram Stoker Award, and the 2000 Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel and was short-listed for other awards, including the Hugo.
The film adaptation of the novel was released in 2004, grossing more than $796 million and earning critical acclaim. Video games loosely based on Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban were also released for several platforms, and most obtained favourable reviews.
Plot
During the summer, Harry accidentally performs magic at the home of his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon. After this incident, he leaves their house and spends the summer in London. While staying at the Leaky Cauldron inn, Harry is visited by Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge, who warns him about Sirius Black, a mass-murderer who escaped from the wizard prison Azkaban.
With Black at large, Dementors have been stationed at Hogwarts as a security measure. During a Care of Magical Creatures lesson with Hagrid, Draco Malfoy is injured after provoking a hippogriff named Buckbeak. Draco’s father, Lucius Malfoy, gets Hagrid put on trial for owning a dangerous creature. Harry repeatedly faints in the presence of the Dementors, but eventually is taught by Professor Lupin how to repel them using the Patronus Charm. When Harry is unable to participate in weekend trips to Hogsmeade Village, Fred and George give him a magical map that shows him how to get there using a secret passage. At the Three Broomsticks pub, Harry overhears that Black is his godfather, that he betrayed Harry’s parents to Voldemort, and that he now seeks to kill Harry as well.
When Ron’s pet rat Scabbers disappears, he blames Hermione and her cat Crookshanks. Ron and Hermione stop talking to each other, although Hermione is distraught when Ron survives an attack by Black inside the Gryffindor dormitory. After the attack, Black cannot be found. After Harry, Ron and Hermione learn that Buckbeak will be executed, they console Hagrid, and Ron and Hermione resume their friendship. Ron also finds Scabbers, who was hiding in Hagrid’s hut. As the friends make their way back to the castle, Ron is attacked by a large black dog, which drags him through the passageway leading to Hogsmeade. Harry and Hermione give chase, and find themselves in the Shrieking Shack, where the dog is revealed to be Black in his Animagus form. Lupin arrives, and Black states that he intends to kill Scabbers, not Harry. He explains that Scabbers is Peter Pettigrew, who betrayed Harry’s parents to Voldemort and framed Black for mass murder. Black and Lupin compel Pettigrew to transform into human form, then haul him back to Hogwarts.
On the way to the castle, the full moon causes Lupin to transform into a werewolf. Pettigrew escapes and is pursued by Black, Harry and Hermione, who encounter Dementors and lose consciousness. They awaken in the castle, where Black is now being held captive. Harry and Hermione proclaim his innocence to Dumbledore, who suggests using Hermione’s Time Turner. Harry and Hermione travel back in time and save both Black and Buckbeak, who fly away together. Snape blames Lupin for Black’s disappearance and makes his werewolf-identity public, which forces Lupin to resign. On the train back to London, Harry receives a letter from Black, expressing his gratitude to Harry for saving his life.
Read More: [Reviews & Quotes] Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter Series, Book 4)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is a fantasy novel written by the British author J. K. Rowling. It is the fourth novel in the Harry Potter series. It follows Harry Potter, a wizard in his fourth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and the mystery surrounding the entry of Harry’s name into the Triwizard Tournament, in which he is forced to compete.
The book was published in the United Kingdom by Bloomsbury and in the United States by Scholastic. In both countries, the release date was 8 July 2000. This was the first time a book in the series was published in both countries at the same time. The novel won a Hugo Award, the only Harry Potter novel to do so, in 2001. The book was adapted into a film, released worldwide on 18 November 2005, and a video game by Electronic Arts.
Plot
During the summer, there is an attack at the Quidditch World Cup. The cloaked assailants resemble Death Eaters, the followers of Voldemort. When the school term begins at Hogwarts, Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody is introduced as the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. Dumbledore announces that students from the foreign wizarding schools Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving at Hogwarts to participate in the Triwizard Tournament. An artefact called the Goblet of Fire is placed in the main hall, and students are invited to nominate themselves for the tournament by putting their name into it. Although Harry does not nominate himself, he is mysteriously selected to compete against the older students Cedric Diggory, Fleur Delacour and Viktor Krum.
Harry is interviewed by the Daily Prophet reporter Rita Skeeter, who writes a scathing article portraying him as a disturbed attention-seeker. Using the Hogwarts Floo Network, Harry speaks with his godfather, Sirius Black, who warns him about the Durmstrang principal, Igor Karkaroff, who is a former Death Eater. Sirius believes Harry’s selection for the dangerous tournament is somehow connected to the attack at the World Cup. Hagrid alerts Harry that the First Task involves a dragon. After Moody reminds Harry that he is an expert flyer, Harry uses his broomstick to fly past the dragon and accomplish the task.
As Christmas approaches, Harry asks a girl named Cho Chang to the Yule Ball, but she is already going with Cedric. Harry and Ron end up going to the ball with the twin sisters Parvati and Padma Patil. Ron is sullen as he observes Hermione dancing with Krum. As the Second Task nears, Harry learns that he will need to rescue someone from the lake. The house-elf Dobby gives him Gillyweed, which allows him to breathe underwater long enough to rescue both Ron and Fleur’s sister Gabrielle. He is awarded extra points for his bravery and is tied for first place.
In the Third Task, Harry and his competitors must navigate a maze of obstacles to reach the Triwizard Cup. Harry and Cedric reach the Cup at the same time and decide to grab it together. They are immediately transported to a graveyard, where Peter Pettigrew kills Cedric and subdues Harry. Using Harry’s blood, he performs a ritual that returns Voldemort to bodily form. As Voldemort and Harry duel, their wands magically connect. This distraction allows Harry the chance to escape back to Hogwarts with the Cup and Cedric’s body.
Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape discover that Moody is actually the Death Eater Barty Crouch Jr. When they administer him a truth potion, he reveals that he placed Harry’s name in the Goblet, supported him through the Tasks, and ensured he was transported to the graveyard for the ritual. Crouch Jr is handed over to the Dementors, who render him soulless with the Dementor’s Kiss. Recovering in the hospital wing, Harry narrates the events to Cedric’s parents. He offers them his tournament winnings, but they refuse it, so he gives the gold to Fred and George Weasley so they can open their joke shop. During a memorial service for Cedric, Dumbledore tells the students at Hogwarts that Voldemort has returned.
Read More: [Reviews & Quotes] Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter Series, Book 5)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is a fantasy novel written by the British author J. K. Rowling. It is the fifth novel in the Harry Potter series. It follows Harry Potter’s struggles through his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, including the surreptitious return of the antagonist Lord Voldemort, O.W.L. exams, and an obstructive Ministry of Magic. The novel was published on 21 June 2003 by Bloomsbury in the United Kingdom, Scholastic in the United States, and Raincoast in Canada. It sold five million copies in the first 24 hours of publication.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix won several awards, including the American Library Association Best Book Award for Young Adults in 2003. The book was also made into a 2007 film, and a video game by Electronic Arts.
Plot
During the summer, Harry is frustrated by the lack of communication from his friends and by Dumbledore’s refusal to let him help in the struggle against Lord Voldemort. One evening, Dementors attack him and his cousin Dudley, but Harry fends them off using the Patronus Charm. Later, members of the Order of the Phoenix arrive at the Dursley residence and take Harry to Number 12, Grimmauld Place. Number 12 is Sirius Black’s family home and the headquarters of the Order, which is a secret organisation founded by Dumbledore to fight Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Harry wants to join the Order, but is too young.
Under the leadership of Cornelius Fudge, the Ministry of Magic is waging a smear campaign against Harry and Dumbledore, claiming they are lying about the return of Voldemort. Harry faces legal charges for the Patronus Charm he performed, but is exonerated and returns to Hogwarts. Dolores Umbridge, a senior Ministry employee, is the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. She implements a textbook-only curriculum and forbids the students from practicing defensive spells. Harry, Ron, and Hermione form a secret student group called Dumbledore’s Army, which meets in the Room of Requirement to practice defensive magic under Harry’s instruction.
One night, Harry dreams that Arthur Weasley is attacked by Voldemort’s snake, Nagini. The attack actually occurred, and Dumbledore realises that Harry’s mind is connected to Voldemort. He orders Professor Snape to teach Harry Occlumency to keep Voldemort out of his mind. When Umbridge discovers Dumbledore’s Army, Dumbledore saves Harry from expulsion by claiming he formed the group. To avoid arrest, he goes into hiding. Umbridge is appointed headmistress and begins enacting strict rules and regulations.
During exams, Harry has a vision of Voldemort torturing Sirius at the Department of Mysteries. He attempts to contact Sirius at Grimmauld Place, but Umbridge catches and interrogates him. Hermione intervenes and convinces Umbridge to go with her and Harry into the Forbidden Forest. When Umbridge provokes the centaurs who live there, they take her captive. Harry and his friends fly to the Ministry to rescue Sirius, but he is not there. Instead, they find shelves containing glass spheres, one of which bears Harry’s name. Harry picks it up and is immediately surrounded by Death Eaters. Lucius Malfoy reveals that Harry was lured to the Ministry by a false vision from Voldemort, who wishes to hear the prophecy contained in the sphere. He asks Harry for the sphere, but Harry refuses to give it to him.
The students fight the Death Eaters with help from several Order of the Phoenix members. Neville accidentally knocks the sphere down some steps, destroying it. Bellatrix Lestrange kills Sirius by knocking him through a mysterious stone archway. Voldemort appears and tries to kill Harry, but Dumbledore arrives and thwarts him. Fudge and other Ministry of Magic employees arrive on the scene and witness Voldemort just before he flees. Back at Hogwarts, Dumbledore tells Harry the prophecy was made by Professor Trelawney, who predicted the birth of a child with the power to vanquish Voldemort. This prophecy caused Voldemort to murder Harry’s parents, and it is why he wishes to kill Harry as well. Harry feels overwhelmed by the prophecy and the loss of Sirius, but the wizarding community now believes him and respects him.
Read More: [Reviews & Quotes] Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
6. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter Series, Book 6)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a fantasy novel written by the British author J. K. Rowling. It is the sixth novel in the Harry Potter series, and takes place during Harry Potter’s sixth year at the wizard school Hogwarts. The novel reveals events from the early life of Lord Voldemort, and chronicles Harry’s preparations for the final battle against him.
The book was published in the United Kingdom by Bloomsbury and in the United States by Scholastic on 16 July 2005, as well as in several other countries. It sold almost seven million copies in the first 24 hours after its release, a record eventually broken by its sequel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. There were many controversies before and after it was published, including the right-to-read copies delivered before the release date in Canada. Reception to the novel was generally positive, and it won several awards and honours, including the 2006 British Book of the Year award.
Reviewers noted that the book had a darker tone than its predecessors, though it did contain some humour. Some considered the main themes love, death, trust, and redemption. The considerable character development of Harry and many other teenage characters also drew attention.
Plot
After his fifth year at Hogwarts, Harry has spent two weeks mourning the loss of his godfather, Sirius Black. As Albus Dumbledore escorts him to the Weasley home, they visit the retired Hogwarts professor Horace Slughorn, who agrees to resume teaching. Meanwhile, Bellatrix Lestrange and her sister Narcissa Malfoy convince Severus Snape to make an Unbreakable Vow to protect Narcissa’s son Draco at Hogwarts.
While out shopping for school supplies, Harry, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger observe Draco making inquiries at Borgin and Burkes, a shop known for its connection to the Dark Arts. At Hogwarts, the students learn that Slughorn will be teaching Potions, while Snape will be taking over Defence Against the Dark Arts. For Slughorn’s first class, Harry and Ron borrow a pair of old textbooks. Harry’s textbook previously belonged to someone known as “The Half-Blood Prince”, and it contains many helpful tips. Following the instructions of the Prince, Harry becomes an expert potion brewer. He rises to the top of the class and wins a vial of the luck potion Felix Felicis.
Dumbledore prepares Harry for his eventual battle with Voldemort by educating him about Voldemort’s past as Tom Riddle. While a student at Hogwarts, Riddle had asked Slughorn about objects called Horcruxes, which can grant immortality by encasing fragments of a wizard’s soul. Dumbledore wants to see the memory as it appears in Slughorn’s mind, and asks Harry to retrieve it from him. Harry joins the Slug Club, a group of Slughorn’s famous, talented and well-connected students. Hermione and Ginny also attend the club, which causes Ron to feel left out. He accepts an invitation from Hermione to Slughorn’s Christmas party, but upsets her when he kisses Lavender Brown. Meanwhile, Harry develops a crush on Ginny.
When Ron is poisoned and admitted to the infirmary, Hermione visits him, which brings an abrupt end to his relationship with Lavender. Harry discards his Potions textbook after he nearly kills Draco with one of the Prince’s scribbled spells. Later, Harry’s luck potion helps him obtain Slughorn’s memory and causes Ginny to break up with her boyfriend Dean Thomas, which allows Harry to start seeing her instead. Slughorn’s memory suggests that Voldemort created six Horcruxes, though Dumbledore explains that two are already destroyed. He asks Harry to accompany him to retrieve another.
In a remote cave, Harry and Dumbledore overcome many obstacles before seizing the Horcrux. Back at Hogwarts, Dumbledore unexpectedly immobilizes Harry under his invisibility cloak. A group of Death Eaters arrives with Draco, who falters in an attempt to kill Dumbledore. Snape then casts the killing curse on Dumbledore and sends him falling to his death. Harry tries to fight Snape as he flees, but is overpowered. Snape reveals himself as the Half-Blood Prince and brags about creating the spells Harry is using. After Snape escapes, Harry discovers that the Horcrux he obtained is fake. He resolves to find and destroy all the remaining Horcruxes, and Ron and Hermione pledge to join him.
Read More: [Reviews & Quotes] Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter Series, Book 7)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is a fantasy novel written by the British author J. K. Rowling. It is the seventh and final novel in the Harry Potter series. It was released on 21 July 2007 in the United Kingdom by Bloomsbury Publishing, in the United States by Scholastic, and in Canada by Raincoast Books. The novel chronicles the events directly following Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2005) and the final confrontation between the wizards Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort.
Deathly Hallows shattered sales records upon release, surpassing marks set by previous titles of the Harry Potter series. It holds the Guinness World Record for most novels sold within 24 hours of release, with 8.3 million sold in the US and 2.65 million in the UK. Reception to the book was generally positive, and the American Library Association named it a “Best Book for Young Adults”.
A film adaptation of the novel was released in two parts: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 in November 2010 and Part 2 in July 2011.
Plot
The young wizard Harry Potter is about to turn seventeen and is being escorted to The Burrow by members of the Order of the Phoenix. The group is attacked by Death Eaters, who kill “Mad-Eye” Moody and injure George Weasley. Lord Voldemort attempts to kill Harry but fails.
Harry and his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger begin searching for Voldemort’s four remaining Horcruxes. They learn that the locket Horcrux is in the possession of Dolores Umbridge at the Ministry of Magic. Harry and his friends infiltrate the Ministry and steal the locket from Umbridge, but are unable to destroy it. The locket’s Dark magic affects Ron, who abandons Harry and Hermione. In Godric’s Hollow, Harry and Hermione are attacked by Voldemort’s snake Nagini, but manage to escape. One night, a Patronus guides Harry to a pond containing the Sword of Gryffindor. When he tries to recover it, the locket tightens around his neck, nearly drowning him. Ron returns and saves Harry, then destroys the Horcrux with the sword.
The three friends visit Xenophilius Lovegood, who tells them of the mythical objects known as the Deathly Hallows: the Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone and the Cloak of Invisibility. Xenophilius then alerts Death Eaters to the presence of the trio in his home, but Harry and his friends escape. Soon after, they are captured by Snatchers and imprisoned in Malfoy Manor. Harry and Ron are thrown into a makeshift dungeon with Luna Lovegood, Mr Ollivander and Griphook the goblin, while the Death Eater Bellatrix Lestrange tortures Hermione. The house-elf Dobby helps all six prisoners escape, but dies in the process.
Harry, Ron and Hermione break into Gringotts Bank and retrieve another Horcrux. Harry has visions which inform him that Nagini is a Horcrux, and that another is hidden at Hogwarts. After the trio enters the school with the help of Aberforth Dumbledore, Voldemort prepares to assault the castle. As the Death Eaters enter the school and fight the professors and students, Ron and Hermione destroy the Horcrux from Gringotts. They then accompany Harry to the Room of Requirement, where they discover the next Horcrux. Draco Malfoy and his friends Crabbe and Goyle ambush them, and Crabbe casts a fire spell which grows out of his control and destroys both him and the Horcrux.
After stealing the Elder Wand from Dumbledore’s tomb, Voldemort struggles to make it obey him. Believing that Severus Snape is the master of the wand, Voldemort uses Nagini to mortally wound him. Before dying, Snape passes his memories to Harry, who views them in the Pensieve. The memories reveal that Snape loved Harry’s mother, and acted as a double agent against Voldemort in an attempt to protect her. Albus Dumbledore had learned he was dying, and decided to plan his own death at the hands of Snape so that Snape could gain Voldemort’s trust. The memories also reveal that Harry himself became a Horcrux when Voldemort first tried to kill him. Now, Harry must die to render Voldemort mortal. On his way to surrender himself to Voldemort, Harry instructs Neville Longbottom to destroy Nagini. He also uses the Resurrection Stone to communicate with his deceased loved ones: his parents, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin.
Voldemort casts the Killing Curse on Harry, who then awakens in a dreamlike place. He is greeted by Albus Dumbledore, who explains that the curse destroyed the fragment of Voldemort’s soul inside Harry, and that Harry can now return to life. Harry subsequently regains consciousness and pretends to be dead. Voldemort orders Hagrid to carry Harry’s body back to Hogwarts, and demands that the professors and students surrender. Neville, however, pulls the Sword of Gryffindor from the Sorting Hat and kills Nagini. The battle resumes, during which Molly Weasley kills Bellatrix. Harry reveals himself to be alive and duels with Voldemort, who casts another Killing Curse. However, the Elder Wand refuses to kill Harry, because Harry is its true master. Voldemort’s spell rebounds and destroys him.
In the novel’s epilogue, set nineteen years later, Harry and his friends see their children off to Hogwarts. Harry and Ginny have three children: James Sirius, Albus Severus, and Lily Luna. Ron and Hermione have a daughter named Rose and a son named Hugo.
Read More: [Reviews & Quotes] Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
About the Author (J.K. Rowling)
Joanne Rowling (born 31 July 1965), known by her pen name J.K. Rowling, is a British author and philanthropist. She is the author of Harry Potter, a seven-volume fantasy novel series published from 1997 to 2007. The series has sold over 600 million copies, been translated into 84 languages, and spawned a global media franchise including films and video games. The Casual Vacancy (2012) was her first novel for adults. She writes Cormoran Strike, an ongoing crime fiction series, under the alias Robert Galbraith.
Born in Yate, Gloucestershire, Rowling was working as a researcher and bilingual secretary for Amnesty International in 1990 when she conceived the idea for the Harry Potter series. The seven-year period that followed saw the death of her mother, the birth of her first child, divorce from her first husband, and relative poverty until the first novel in the series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, was published in 1997. Six sequels followed, concluding with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007). By 2008, Forbes had named her the world’s highest-paid author.
The novels follow a boy called Harry Potter as he attends Hogwarts (a school for wizards), and battles Lord Voldemort. Death and the divide between good and evil are the central themes of the series. Its influences include Bildungsroman (the coming-of-age genre), school stories, fairy tales, and Christian allegory. The series revived fantasy as a genre in the children’s market, spawned a host of imitators, and inspired an active fandom. Critical reception has been more mixed. Many reviewers see Rowling’s writing as conventional; some regard her portrayal of gender and social division as regressive. There were also religious debates over the Harry Potter series.
J.K. Rowling has won many accolades for her work. She has received an OBE and made a Companion of Honour for services to literature and philanthropy. Harry Potter brought her wealth and recognition, which she has used to advance philanthropic endeavours and political causes. She established the Volant Charitable Trust in 2000, and co-founded the charity Lumos in 2005. Rowling’s philanthropy centres on medical causes and supporting at-risk women and children. In 2012, Forbes estimated that Rowling’s charitable giving totaled US$160 million. She has also donated to Britain’s Labour Party, and opposed Scottish independence and Brexit. Since 2017, Rowling has been vocal about her opinions on transgender people and related civil rights. Her comments, described as transphobic by critics and LGBT rights organisations, have divided feminists, fuelled debates on freedom of speech and cancel culture, and prompted declarations of support for transgender people from the culture sector.
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