Harry Potter

Harry James Potter (born July 31, 1980), the only child of James Potter and Lily Potter. He is famous in the wizarding world for surviving a murderous attack by Lord Voldemort, one of the most powerful and feared wizards ever lived.

Harry Potter has jet black hair that is perpetually messy, and it sticks up at the back just like his father's. He has brilliant green eyes that are very similar to his mother's. He is small and lanky, though he has grown a fair bit over the years. He has a thin face, knobbly knees, and he wears round rimmed glasses. Upon his forehead, covered by his long black hair is a lightning bolt scar, given to him by Tom Riddle, aka Lord Voldemort.

Early Life
Harry Potter was born on July 31, 1980 to James and Lily Potter. Harry's parents, James and Lily, were killed in this incident on 31 October 1981 in their home in Godric's Hollow. James died first, defending Lily and one-year-old Harry. When Lily sacrificed herself for her son, ancient magic then protected Harry from Voldemort, whose killing curse rebounded off Harry and onto him. Harry survived unscathed apart from the now-famous lightning-bolt scar on his forehead, but Voldemort lost his powers and his corporeal form, leading to his exile and decline in the wizarding world. Ever since, Harry has been heralded as "The Boy Who Lived" — and many in the wizarding world credit him for Voldemort’s downfall.

After his parents' death, Harry was forced to live with his only remaining family–his mother's Muggle sister, Petunia Dursley, and her husband, Vernon, in the town of Little Whinging. The Dursleys live at Number Four, Privet Drive in an impeccably maintained house and seem moderately well off. However, throughout Harry's first ten years, they neglect him in favour of their own son, Dudley Dursley, and attempt to remove all traces of Harry's magical self. They reveal nothing about his past and isolate him from the wizarding world. Dumbledore later explains that Harry must stay with the Dursleys because the magical protection created by Lily's death, and that was later enhanced by Dumbledore, can only remain in effect by living with his maternal blood relatives.

Life at Hogwarts
In 1991, eleven-year-old Harry learns he is a wizard when Rubeus Hagrid, the gamekeeper at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and aide to Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, hand-delivers his invitation to attend the school. Previous letters were intercepted by his aunt and uncle, who want nothing to do with magic. Hagrid tells Harry about his magical background and his fame in the wizarding community, but Harry soon comes to dislike his celebrity status that causes many people to either fawn over him or be resentful. Harry also learns that his parents, James and Lily Potter, left him a small fortune. In Diagon Alley, Harry buys a wand at Ollivander's wand shop. Mr Ollivander tells him it is the "brother" to the wand owned by "He Who Must Not Be Named". Both contain a tail feather from the same phoenix. For his birthday, Hagrid gives Harry an owl Harry names Hedwig.

On the Hogwarts Express, he meets Ron Weasley, with whom he quickly becomes friends. He learns a little about the Wizarding World during his trip, and meets another future classmate, Hermione Granger.

At Hogwarts, Harry is sorted into Gryffindor, one of four school Houses. Joining him are Ron and Hermione. Sharing his dormitory are Ron, Neville Longbottom, Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas. Draco Malfoy, a Slytherin, becomes Harry's enemy after Harry rebuffs his offer of friendship. Malfoy's pureblood airs and scathing remarks about the Weasley family and Muggle-born students alienate Harry.

Due to his broom flying skill, Harry becomes the youngest Seeker for the Gryffindor Quidditch team in over a century. At Christmas, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore gives him his father's old invisibility cloak.

Unfortunately, Lord Voldemort (long presumed dead) has secretly returned. Using Defence against the Dark Arts Professor Quirrell as a host body, he searches Hogwarts for the Philosopher's Stone, which he believes will restore his body and make him immortal. Voldemort is thwarted by Harry, with help from Ron and Hermione. The Dark Lord abandons Quirrell, leaving him to die.

At year's end, Hagrid presents Harry an album filled with photos of his parents that were donated by their friends. Harry returns to the Dursleys knowing for the first time that there are people who care about him, and he now has a place he considers “home".

In his second year, Harry faces more challenges. Some are merely annoying (such as Gilderoy Lockhart's attempt to exploit his fame and Colin Creevey's hero worshipping), but more serious incidents include ostracism by many students after Harry is revealed to be a parselmouth (someone who has the ability to speak with snakes) and a growing suspicion that he may be the Heir of Slytherin. The Heir is believed responsible for a series of attacks on Muggle-borns throughout the school. Harry’s toughest challenge, however, is posed by Tom Riddle, the "memory" of a younger Voldemort hidden within his old diary. Controlling Ginny Weasley through the diary, Riddle uses her to release a deadly basilisk from the Chamber of Secrets.

Harry proves his mettle by rescuing Ginny from the Chamber and killing the Basilisk with Godric Gryffindor's sword. Riddle's memory is defeated when Harry stabs the diary with the Basilisk's venomous fang, destroying both the diary and Riddle's imprint. Harry and Ron subsequently win awards for Special Services to the School. Harry also tricks Lucius Malfoy into freeing his house elf, Dobby, who helped him.

In his third year, Harry undergoes many changes — the constant danger and horrific events take a heavy emotional toll. Harry also enters puberty, as do Ron and Hermione, and all suffer mood-swings. When Harry and Ron start noticing girls, Cho Chang, a pretty Ravenclaw student, becomes Harry's first crush. Lacking his guardians' written permission, Harry is unable join the student outings to Hogsmeade village. Fred Weasley and George Weasley, however, give him their Marauder's Map, a magical document showing secret passageways in and out of Hogwarts, as well as every person's location within the castle. Harry uses a tunnel to slip into Hogsmeade wearing his invisibility cloak. When Harry faints and falls off his Nimbus 2000 broom during a Quidditch match, it flies into the Whomping Willow and is destroyed. At Christmas, he receives a new Firebolt broom from an unknown benefactor. Tipped off by Hermione, McGonagall confiscates it to have it tested for Dark Magic, although it is returned some months later.

Harry becomes the supposed target of Sirius Black, a murderous wizard who escaped from Azkaban (Britain's wizarding prison). Hunting Black are strange hooded creatures called Dementors, the guards of Azkaban. Black is believed to have divulged James and Lily Potter's secret whereabouts to Lord Voldemort, and he was convicted of murdering their friend, Peter Pettigrew and twelve Muggles. More disturbing — Sirius was James' best friend and Harry's godfather. Harry vows to find and kill Black but eventually discovers that Sirius never betrayed his parents&mdash; it was Peter Pettigrew, who faked his own death and implicated Black for the crimes.

Sirius offers Harry what he most wants: a home away from the Dursleys. Harry eagerly accepts, only to lose this opportunity when Pettigrew&mdash;and the truth&mdash;escape. An innocent Sirius is forced back into hiding. When Harry receives a brief note from Sirius, he learns it was his godfather who sent him the Firebolt.

In his fourth year, Hogwarts hosts an inter-school competition called the Triwizard Tournament. Two other wizarding schools, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang Institute, are also participating. After one champion from each school is selected, Harry is mysteriously chosen as a fourth competitor, even though he is underage and never entered his name into the Goblet of Fire.

The school champions face three dangerous challenges on their way to the Triwizard Cup. Although most students, including Ron Weasley, believe Harry cheated to enter, Hogwarts champion Cedric Diggory of Hufflepuff befriends him after Harry passes on a tip about the first challenge. Harry also experiences romantic feelings and copes with complicated personal relationships. Shortly before Christmas, a dismayed Harry learns he is required to attend the Yule Ball.

During the final challenge, Cedric and Harry help each other and agree to grab the Cup simultaneously, unaware it is actually a Portkey. It transports them to a graveyard where Lord Voldemort awaits. On Voldemort's order, his servant, Peter Pettigrew, also knon as Wormtail, kills Cedric with the Avada Kedavra curse. Harry is bound to a tombstone and forced to witness a ritual (which uses his blood) that restores Lord Voldemort to his former body.

After summoning his Death Eaters, Voldemort engages Harry in a deadly wizard's duel. But unknown to him, his wand and Harry's are "brothers": each contains a feather from Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes. The wands' magical streams interlock and produce a Priori Incantatem effect. Harry forces the stream backwards into Voldemort's wand, causing its victims' spirit "echoes" to spill out, including James and Lily Potter and Cedric Diggory. The combined spirits momentarily shield Harry, allowing him to escape through the Portkey with Cedric's body.

Back at Hogwarts, Harry discovers that Voldemort's servant, Barty Crouch Jr, has been impersonating Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, "Mad-Eye" Moody using polyjuice potion. It was Crouch who entered Harry's name in the Goblet of Fire and ensured he reached the Triwizard Cup. After rescuing Harry and the real Moody from Crouch, Dumbledore, Snape, and McGonagall use Veritaserum to force Barty's confession. But before it can be repeated to the authorities, Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge orders a Dementor to suck out the imposter's soul. As a result, few believe Harry that Voldemort has returned.

Following summer, desperate for news of the wizarding world and Voldemort. One night, he is attacked by Dementors and uses a Patronus Charm to defend himself and his Muggle cousin, Dudley, although underage wizards are forbidden to use magic outside school.

For safety, Harry is taken to Number 12, Grimmauld Place, a dilapidated house in London owned by his godfather Sirius Black that now serves as headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix. He learns the Order is preparing for Voldemort's return but is denied any detailed information. Ron and Hermione tell Harry that Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge has been waging a smear campaign against him and Dumbledore in The Daily Prophet, denouncing their claims that Lord Voldemort has returned.

Thanks to testimony from Dumbledore and Arabella Figg, Harry is cleared of illegally using magic. In retaliation against Dumbledore, Fudge appoints Dolores Umbridge as the new Hogwarts Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher so she can spy on the school. She is also appointed High Inquisitor, empowered to arbitrarily change and impose school rules. When Harry insists Voldemort is alive, Umbridge uses a pain-inflicting quill to try and force his renouncement, although he steadfastly refuses. Rather than teach practical defensive magic, Umbridge only lectures about Ministry-approved theory. Urged by Hermione, Harry secretly trains students in real Defence Against the Dark Arts. Although they call their group the Defence Association, the initials, D.A., eventually comes to mean Dumbledore's Army as a sarcastic affront to the paranoid Ministry of Magic. Umbridge uncovers the secret meetings, and, to protect the students, Dumbledore claims responsibility for founding it. In spectacular fashion, he escapes before Ministry officials can arrest him. Umbridge is then appointed Headmistress by the Minister.

Throughout the year, Harry has disturbing visions that he eventually realises are glimpses into Voldemort's mind. When Voldemort becomes privy to their mental connection, he implants a false vision that Sirius is being tortured at the Ministry office in London. Harry and DA members Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom, and Luna Lovegood rush to Sirius' rescue.

The students are lured into the Department of Mysteries and ambushed by Voldemort's Death Eaters. They are outnumbered, but, tipped off by Snape, Order of the Phoenix reinforcements arrive in time. During the fight, a glass sphere containing a prophecy is smashed. To Harry's horror, Sirius is killed by his cousin Bellatrix Lestrange. Enraged, Harry chases Bellatrix into the atrium, vowing to kill her. Voldemort suddenly appears and attempts to fatally curse Harry, but Dumbledore arrives, and the two fiercely duel. Voldemort attempts to possess Harry, but is forced to abandon the attempt when Harry reflects on dying and being reunited with Sirius. Voldemort and Bellatrix then escape by disapparating, but not before being seen by the Minister and Ministry employees.

The Ministry publicly acknowledges that Voldemort has returned. At Hogwarts, Dumbledore explains to Harry that the prophecy is why Voldemort attempted to murder him when he was a baby. He then recounts it for Harry, for it was Dumbledore who first heard it from Sibyll Trelawney. Still stunned by Sirius' death, Harry cares little about the prophecy, and for now, is unaffected by his foretold destiny&mdash;that he must either kill Voldemort, or be killed by him.

In his sixth year, the wizarding population now calls Harry "The Chosen One" — the Daily Prophet having leaked that a prophecy predicts Harry will kill Voldemort. Meanwhile, Harry learns he has inherited Sirius Black's entire estate. This includes the house at Grimmauld Place that is currently being used as the Order of the Phoenix headquarters; he also inherits Kreacher, the Black family's half-crazed house elf, and the hippogriff, Buckbeak (renamed Witherwings). At the Burrow, Harry tells Ron and Hermione about the prophecy.

After observing Draco Malfoy acting suspiciously in Diagon Alley, Harry suspects he may have joined the Death Eaters. Ron and Hermione dismiss this as being absurd, however, and the subject strains Harry's relationship with them — particularly Hermione.

Back at Hogwarts, Harry is stunned when Professor Snape is announced as the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. His vacant position has been filled by former Potions Master, Horace Slughorn, whom Dumbledore, with unknowing help from Harry, coaxed from retirement. Slughorn lends Harry an old potions textbook once belonging to a student identified only as "The Half-Blood Prince." The book's copious handwritten notes help Harry excel in Potions class. Meanwhile, Harry finds a new love interest, Ginny Weasley.

Dumbledore gives Harry private lessons which are actually trips into various individuals' memories concerning Voldemort. Stored in a Pensieve, the memories reveal Voldemort's personality and how to kill him. Harry learns Voldemort's soul has been divided into seven parts. Six pieces are hidden in objects called Horcruxes, while the seventh remains within him. Even if Voldemort's body is destroyed, he cannot be killed while his soul shards remain earthbound. The memories suggest what objects the Horcruxes have been placed in.

Shortly before Christmas, Harry overhears Snape and Draco discussing an Unbreakable Vow Snape has made to Narcissa Malfoy to help Draco complete a task for their "Master." Professor Dumbledore is unperturbed by this information, which frustrates Harry. On Christmas day, the new Minister for Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour approaches Harry and asks for information about Dumbledore and also asks him to support the Ministry, both of which Harry declines.

Harry accompanies Dumbledore to retrieve a Horcrux hidden inside a secret cave. Before leaving, Harry learns more about the prophecy from Trelawney&mdash;it was Snape who overheard and revealed it to Voldemort, although only the first half. Trelawney also mentions strange happenings inside the room of requirement, leading Harry to believe Draco is involved is some plot against Dumbledore. However, Dumbledore remains unconcerned, and their mission continues. They find the Horcrux, a locket, although Dumbledore is seriously weakened in the effort.

Dumbledore and Harry return to find the school invaded by Death Eaters. Harry, hidden under his invisibility cloak, is immobilised by Dumbledore when Draco confronts them on the Astronomy Tower. Death Eaters and Snape soon arrive. When Draco hesitates to kill Dumbledore, Snape intervenes and uses a killing curse, catapaulting Dumbledore's body over the tower wall. Unable to move, Harry can only watch in silent horror.

Released from the spell, Harry chases Snape, who identifies himself as the Half-Blood Prince. Snape deflects every curse Harry hurls at him but does not harm him and prevents the other Death Eaters from doing so. He escapes with Draco in tow. Harry recovers the locket from Dumbledore's body, but a note inside reveals it is a fake; the real Horcrux has been stolen by someone whose initials are R.A.B..

After Dumbledore's funeral, Harry tells Ron and Hermione he is leaving Hogwarts to search for Voldemort's four remaining Horcruxes. Two have been destroyed — one (Riddle's diary) by Harry and another (a ring) by Dumbledore — and the mysterious R.A.B. may have eliminated a third (the locket). Harry also desires revenge, now hating Snape as much as he does Voldemort. To protect Ginny from Voldemort, he ends their relationship. Ron and Hermione tell Harry they are joining him.

The reaffirmation of Ron and Hermione's loyalty to Harry follows a year when the trio's deep bonds were strongly tested. This gesture, along with Harry’s approaching 17th birthday (the age of adulthood in the wizarding world), and Hogwarts' possible closure symbolises the end of any childhood innocence remaining within the characters. They are nearly adults, ready to face Voldemort together.