History Of Harry Potter

A twisted tale of magical potions spells and curses - Harry Potter is every child’s ultimate magical fantasy coming true. Written by the British author, J.K Rowling, Harry Potter is a collection of seven fantasy novels, with Potter being the central character of the story. The entire story is a narration of Harry’s struggle against the evil wizard, Lord Voldemort, with the help of his two best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. It was Lord Voldemort, popularly known in the wizarding world as ‘He who must not be named’, who was responsible for the death of Harry’s parents. The evil Lord was obsessed with racial purity and wanted to conquer the wizarding world, to subjugate the non-magical people, known as Muggles. The entire series received enormous critical acclaim and became a commercial success all over the world. Not only is it very popular among the kids, adults also love to read it, as one can almost feel the characters come to life while going through the pages. Every character, every place in ‘Harry Potter’ has been described in such detail that a clear picture comes to one’s mind while reading.

 

The first edition “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” was released in the year 1997 and gained immense popularity, selling over 400 million copies worldwide. Published by the renowned Bloomsbury print, in the United Kingdom, the book has been translated in 67 different languages till date. The entire series have become such a hit with the masses that the first six novels have been made into motion pictures by Warner Bros. Given below is a brief outline of the history of the main character in the story - Harry Potter.

 

Harry Potter’s eleventh birthday was drawing near and all he had to look forward to is spending the day home with his uncle Vernon Dursley, aunt Petunia and their son Dudley, who left no stone unturned to trouble and irritate him. However, this birthday was different and something very strange happened that changed Harry’s life forever. Just before his 11^th birthday, Harry received a series of letters, which were addressed to him. It was strange, as nobody knew him, except from his relatives and some annoying friends from school. It was even stranger when his uncle got furious at this and tore away the letters immediately, but this did not stop the letters from coming.

 

Highly frustrated with the letters, Harry’s uncle finally decided to pack his belongings and travel to a far off island, where they would not be disturbed by anyone. Just before the strike of midnight, before his 11^th birthday, a giant-like man approached Harry and introduced himself as Rubeus Hagrid - the keeper of Keys and Grounds and the gamekeeper of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He told Harry that he is actually a wizard and has been accepted at the prestigious Hogwarts for the next year. This revelation turned Harry’s entire world upside down.

 

Hagrid further told Harry that he was the only son of James Potter and Lily Potter, who were renowned wizards of their time and worked fulltime for the ‘Order of the Phoenix’, defying Voldemort’s power and actions. Together, they defied Voldemort three times with their unique skills and magical devices, like the ‘Invisibility Cloak’ and the ‘Marauder’s Map’. However, a prophecy made by Sybill Trelawney, the Divination professor at Hogwarts, marked Harry for death. According to the prophecy, the birth of a boy ‘with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord’ would take place at the end of July.

 

The prophecy was overheard by Severus Snape, a long-term enemy of James Potter and admirer of Lily Potter. He reported this to Voldemort, who began to plan the murder of the Potter family. Snape never wanted Lily to be harmed in any way and when he did not receive any reassurance from the Dark Lord, he offered Dumbledore his complete allegiance and informed him about the plans of Voldemort. Soon after, the Potters were provided with full protection.

 

Despite the many protections and security the Potters received, on 31^st October 1981, Voldemort arrived at Godric Hollows, where they were in hiding and killed both James and Lily. He was, however, not able to kill the baby, as Lily’s sacrifice to protect her son unexpectedly created ‘old magic’ protection that could even ward off the dangerous ‘Avada Kedavra’ curse. So, the spell rebounded back on Voldemort, who was reduced to nothing but a formless soul. The baby was saved and later arrangements were made for the Dursleys to be the legitimate guardians of Harry Potter.