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Harry Potter is a 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 ...
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- Books in the Harry Potter series
Harry Potter, fictional character, a boy wizard created by British author J.K. Rowling. His coming-of-age exploits were the subject of seven enormously popular novels (1997–2007), which were adapted into eight films (2001–11); a play and a book of its script appeared in 2016.
Harry Potter was first introduced in the novel Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (1997; also published as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone), as an orphan who is mistreated by his guardian aunt and uncle and their son. On his 11th birthday Harry discovers that his parents were a witch and a wizard and that he, a wizard himself, has been invited to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He also learns that his parents had not perished in a car accident, as his aunt and uncle had told him, but that they instead had been murdered by an evil wizard named Voldemort. Harry was the only person to have ever survived an attack by Voldemort—by somehow rebounding the latter’s “killing curse”—which left him with a lightning-bolt-shaped scar on his forehead. Indeed, Harry’s mysterious survival had all but killed Voldemort, who was left disembodied, and the young boy was thus already a celebrated figure in the “wizarding” community. At Hogwarts Harry becomes fast friends with classmates Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger and finds a rival in Draco Malfoy. He is taken under the wing of the school’s headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. These relationships persist throughout the series, especially as the young wizards and witches grow older and are called upon to take sides in a growing wizard war.
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Unbeknownst to Harry, and to much of the wizarding world in general, Voldemort is planning a return to power. Although at first feeble and living as a parasite in a follower’s body, Voldemort makes attempts on Harry’s life beginning in the first book and continuing throughout the series. In the fourth volume, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000), Voldemort regains his body and former strength through a magic ritual, and thereafter his army greatly increases in number. Harry and those who side with him—including some of his teachers, several classmates, and other members of the wizarding community—are forced on multiple occasions to battle Voldemort and his disciples, including the Malfoy family. The epic saga culminates with Harry accepting his role as the iconic “boy who lived” and facing almost certain death in the struggle against the evil wizard. With help from those who love him and believe in him, he is able to emerge victorious.
The Harry Potter series proved incredibly popular with both children and adults worldwide. All the books were best sellers, available in more than 200 countries and some 60 languages. The phenomenon introduced new terms—such as a new definition for the word muggle, a person who possesses no magical powers—into the common lexicon. The books were tra...
•Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (1997; also published as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone; film 2001, also released under both titles)
•Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (1998; film 2002)
•Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999; film 2004)
•Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000; film 2005)
•Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2003; film 2007)
•Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2005; film 2009)
- Alison Eldridge
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Harry Potter and the Philosopher'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 ...
- J. K. Rowling, Klaus Fritz
- 1997
- Reedsy
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, the book that started it all (understatement of the century), Harry Potter discovers his true identity in the wee hours of his eleventh birthday: he is a wizard, famous in the magical world for having vanquished the evil Lord Voldemort when he was only a baby.
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry and friends return to Hogwarts with a bang — the bang of a flying Ford Anglia as it crashes into the Whomping Willow, that is.
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. The third book in the series introduces Sirius Black, a deranged mass murderer who’s just escaped from the wizard prison of Azkaban.
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. There’s quite a bit to unpack in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, so we’ll dive right in: after attending an eventful Quidditch World Cup with Hermione and the Weasley family, Harry returns to Hogwarts for his fourth year of school.
Nov 13, 2024 · Accessed 19 November 2024. J.K. Rowling is a British author and the creator of the popular and critically acclaimed Harry Potter series, about a young sorcerer in training. The novels were adapted into a number of blockbuster films. Rowling’s other works include a mystery series featuring the detective Cormoran Strike.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
- J.K. Rowling is the British author who created the popular and critically acclaimed Harry Potter series (seven books published between 1997 and 200...
- In addition to the Harry Potter books, J.K. Rowling wrote such companion volumes as Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them (2001) and cowrote a stor...
- J.K. Rowling started writing about Harry Potter after graduating from the University of Exeter. After a brief marriage and the birth of her daughte...
- J.K. Rowling was born Joanne Rowling. After her publisher recommended she use a gender-neutral pen name, she chose J.K., adding the middle name Kat...
The Harry Potter books make up the popular series written by J. K. Rowling. The series spans seven books. The books have been made into eight films by Warner Bros. The final book was split into two films. The books concern a wizard called Harry Potter and his journey through Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The stories tell of him overcoming dangerous obstacles to defeat the Dark ...
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Protagonist Harry Potter. Major conflict Harry attempts to stop Voldemort, who killed Harry’s parents, from stealing the Sorcerer’s Stone. Rising action Harry’s arrival at Hogwarts, the news of the break-in at Gringotts, and Hermione’s revelation of the trapdoor under the guard dog in the third-floor corridor bring Harry and Voldemort ...
