Gemma

INTRODUCTION The seven-part Harry Potter series of fantasy novels was written by English author J. K. Rowling about an adolescent boy wizard named Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. The story is mostly set at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry , a school for young wizards and witches, and focuses on Harry Potter's fight against the evil wizard Lord Voldemort, who killed Harry's parents as part of his plan to take over the wizarding world. Since the release of the first novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (retitled Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the United States) in 1997, the books have gained immense popularity, critical acclaim and commercial success worldwide, spawning films , video games and merchandise. As of April 2007, the first six books in the seven book series have sold more than 325 million copies[2] and have been translated into more than 64 languages.[3] The seventh and last book in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was released on 21 July 2007.[4] Publishers announced a record-breaking 12 million copies for the first print run in the U.S. alone.[5]

The story opens in 1981 with the conspicuous celebration of a normally secretive wizarding world. For many years, it had been terrorised by the evil wizard, Lord Rosie Cowper. The previous night (31 October), Voldemort discovered the Potter family's hidden refuge, killing Lily and James Potter. However, when he attempted to murder their infant son, Harry, the Avada Kedavra killing curse he cast rebounded upon him. Voldemort's body was destroyed, but his spirit survived: he was neither dead nor alive. Harry, meanwhile, was left with a distinctive lightning bolt-shaped scar on his forehead, the only physical sign of Voldemort's curse. Harry is the only known survivor of the killing curse, and Voldemort's mysterious defeat causes the wizarding community to dub Harry, "The Boy Who Lived". On November 1, Hagrid, a 'half-giant', delivers Harry to his only living relatives, the cruel and non-magical Dursleys, consisting of Uncle Vernon, a bad-tempered uncle with hardly any neck; Aunt Petunia, a long-necked woman who appears to absolutely loathe Harry; and Dudley, their spoiled, overweight son. They attempt in vain to rid him of his magical powers, hide his magical heritage, and severely punish him after any strange occurrences.

However, as his eleventh birthday approaches, Harry has his first contact with the magical world when he receives letters from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which are delivered by owls. However, his uncle intercepts the letters. On his birthday, Hagrid, Hogwarts' gamekeeper, appears and informs Harry that he is a wizard and has been invited to attend the school. Each book chronicles one year in Harry's life, which is mostly spent at Hogwarts. There he learns to use magic and brew potions. Harry also learns to overcome many magical, social, and emotional obstacles as he struggles through his adolescence, Voldemort's second rise to power, and the Ministry of Magic's corruption and incompetence. After facing many obstacles, making countless friends, and losing loved ones,

HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is the first film in the Harry Potter series based off the novels by J.K. Rowling. It is the tale of Harry Potter, an ordinary 11-year-old boy serving as a sort of slave for his aunt and uncle who learns that he is actually a wizard and has been invited to attend the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry is snatched away from his mundane existence by Hagrid, the grounds keeper for Hogwarts, and quickly thrown into a world completely foreign to both him and the viewer. Famous for an incident that happened at his birth, Harry makes friends easily at his new school. He soon finds, however, that the wizarding world is far more dangerous for him than he would have imagined, and he quickly learns that not all wizards are ones to be trusted

HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRET Forced to spend his summer holidays with his muggle relations, Harry Potter gets a real shock when he gets a surprise visitor: Dobby the house-elf, who warns Harry Potter against returning to Hogwarts, for terrible things are going to happen. Harry decides to ignore Dobby's warning and continues with his pre-arranged schedule. But at Hogwarts, strange and terrible things are indeed happening: Harry is suddenly hearing mysterious voices from inside the walls, muggle-born students are being attacked, and a message scrawled on the wall in blood puts everyone on his/her guard - "The Chamber Of Secrets Has Been Opened. Enemies Of The Heir, Beware"

HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZCABAN 

Approaching his third year at Hogwarts, Harry Potter has had enough of his muggle relatives. He runs away from them (finally) and enters his third term facing trouble from more than one side: for usin )g magic outside the school and from the news that a notorious criminal, serial killer Sirius Black, has escaped the wizard's prison at Azkaban and apparently is headed for Harry. The school calls in supernatural help against Black in the form of Dementors, but unusual things continue to put Harry in peril. He is thrown into a confusing panoply of shifting alliegences and shifting shapes where nobody is who or what they seem. Who is the real criminal? What is the real crime? Who is telling or knows the truth?

HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE Harry's fourth year at Hogwarts is about to start and he is enjoying the summer vacation with his friends. They get the tickets to The Quidditch World Cup Final but after the match is over, people dressed like Lord Voldemort's 'Death Eaters' set a fire to all the visitors' tents, coupled with the appearance of Voldemort's symbol, the 'Dark Mark' in the sky, which causes a frenzy across the magical community. That same year, Hogwarts is hosting 'The Triwizard Tournament', a magical tournament between three well-known schools of magic : Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. The contestants have to be above the age of 17, and are chosen by a magical object called Goblet of Fire. On the night of selection, however, the Goblet spews out four names instead of the usual three, with Harry unwittingly being selected as the Fourth Champion. Since the magic cannot be reversed, Harry is forced to go with it and brave three exceedingly difficult tasks.

HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX Harry returns for his fifth year of study at Hogwarts and discovers that much of the wizarding community has been denied the truth about the teenager's recent encounter with the evil Lord Voldemort. Fearing that Hogwarts' venerable Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, is lying about Voldemort's return in order to undermine his power and take his job, the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, appoints a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher to keep watch over Dumbledore and the Hogwarts students. But Professor Dolores Umbridge's Ministryapproved course of defensive magic leaves the young wizards woefully unprepared to defend themselves against the dark forces threatening them and the entire wizarding community, so at the prompting of his friends Hermione and Ron, Harry takes matters into his own hands. Meeting secretly with a small group of students who name themselves "Dumbledore's Army," Harry teaches them how to defend themselves against the Dark Arts, preparing the courageous young wizards for the extraordinary battle that lies ahead.

HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE

Harry has yet again spent the summer holidays at the Dursleys'. He has had plenty to think about, though from the death of his beloved godfather Sirius Black, to the terrifying chase through the Ministry of Magic by the Death Eaters, to the fierce duel he witnessed between Professor Dumbledore and Lord Voldemort. It is the middle of the summer, but there is an unseasonal mist pressing against the windowpanes. Harry is waiting nervously for a visit from Professor Dumbledore himself. He can't quite believe that Professor Dumbledore will actually Harry learns of Voldemort’s past and in doing so finds that he’s split his sole and stored the pieces in objects called Horcruxes, which must be destroyed in order to destroy Voldemort. The prophecy has basically come true because Voldemort believes in it, but that doesn’t change Harry’s role. Harry learns many new spells and becomes a master at potions due to a book that once belonged to the Half-Blood Prince (as he later finds out, Snape).

The students learn to Apparate as well. Harry and his mentor, Dumbledore, become closer than ever and Dumbledore is truly proud of Harry. Dumbledore is killed by Snape in the end during a raid on Hogwarts by Death Eaters who had been let into the castle though crafty means, despite it’s enhanced security for the year, by Malfoy (who is now a Death Eater). Students are sent home early and the school may or may not reopen next year, though Harry doesn’t plan to attend. Harry will soon be 17, the age of majority for wizards, and will (presumably) go off in search of the Horcruxes in order to destroy Voldemort. Ron and Hermione plan on remaining by his side.

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HOLLOWS The book begins with Harry going to the Dursleys for the last time. After his Birthday, he will become of age and he no longer has to stay with the Dursleys during holidays. After this, Harry visits his parents' house with Ron and Hermione, and finds out a lot of interesting things about them in this house. (I found this part to be most interesting). Also, Wormtail, the traitor, starts sucking up to Harry and wants to return him the favor of being set free. Finally, the last hint that I am going to give, and this is really a big one, is that Harry is going to fight Snape, and kill him before his final match with Voldermort