Harry Potter

Harry Potter is famous in the wizarding world for being the only person in recorded history to survive the terrifying Avada Kedavra curse, in addition to inadvertantly defeating the powerful dark wizard Lord Voldemort when he was only a year old.

Appearence
Harry Potter is almost a spitting image of his father, having jet black, untidy hair, although with brilliant green eyes that are very similar to his mother's. Harry's physique 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 unruly black hair is a scar that is shaped like a lightning bolt. This scar is his most distinguishable feature, given to him by Lord Voldemort, when the Dark Lord attempted to kill him with the Avada Kedavra curse. His wand is made of holly, is eleven inches long and has a core made of a single Phoenix tail feather (from Fawkes).

Early Life
Harry James Potter was born on July 31, 1980 to James and Lily Potter. From the beginning of his birth he had lived in hiding with his parents after it became apparent Lord Voldemort was planning on murderering them. They lived in a house on Godrics Hollow that was put under the Fidelius Charm to keep them hidden. They orignally made their Secret-Keeper Sirius Black, but useing the advice of Sirius, the Potter's changed their Secret Keeper to Peter Pettigrew, who they thought would not be suspected of being their secret keeper. It turned out though that Peter Pettigrew was working for Lord Voldemort, and betrayed James and Lily Potter. On the evening of October 1st, 1981, Voldemort came to the Potter home and killed Harry's parents, starting with James who tried to duel Voldemort then Lily who died protecting Harry. He then raised his wand to Harry, planning on doing the same to the infant. When Lord Voldemort used the Killing Curse on Harry, it backfired and instead of killing Harry he lost all of his power. This was caused by the love Lily had shown for Harry, which acted as a barrier around him. Harry was the only person known to survive the Killing Curse. All it left was a scar on his forehead shaped as a lightening bolt. He became famous even at the age of one, for defeating Lord Voldemort. The house was destroyed in the fight, and Harry was picked up by Rubeus Hagrid, who had specific orders given by Albus Dumbledore to take him to his Aunt and Uncle, where he would spend the next decade under their strict and uncaring roof.

Living with the Dursleys
Living with his uncle Vernon Dursley, his aunt, Petunia Dursley, and his over weight cousin, Dudley Dursley, was torture for Harry. They were Muggles, meaning they had no magical abilites, and they liked it like that. They were a proper family that hated anything out of the ordinary, unfortunatley for Harry, with him being a Wizard. His Aunt and Uncle treated Dudley above him. They spoiled Dudley and didn't pay any attention to Harry. They didn't celebrate his Birthday or buy him gifts, and everything he owned were hand-me-downs from Dudley and were way to large for him. He was forced to sleep in the cupboard under the stairs, while his cousin got two bedrooms, and they ordered him around as if he was a slave. To top it all off though, they failed to tell him the truth about where he came from and how his parents died. Albus Dumbledore had left a note explaining the situation and asked them to relay it to Harry, who never got the message. They had told him his parents had died in a Car Crash, and that was where his scar had come from. Despite not knowing of his heritage, Harry was still able to make things atrange happen without knowing it was him. He was always confused when he was punished for these things.

When Harry was eleven, hundreds of letters started to arrive for him at the Dursley home from a place called Hogwarts. His Uncle refused to let him see the letters though, and disposed of them all despite Harry's protests. The letter kept on coming though, in larger amounts everytime. Vernon Dursley tried to run from them, but they always seemed to know where to find them. In a final desperate move to run from the letters, the family moved to a shack on a set of rocks out in the lake. Instead of letters, Rubeus Hagrid appeared on the day of Harry]s birthday, and explained how he was a wizard, how his parents died, and how he was to be sent to Hogwarts School of Witchraft and Wizardry. Vernon refused to let him go, but Hagird ignored him and took Harry away form the Dursley's.

Introduction to the Wizarding World
The first shock Harry gets is of the Wizarding World which had been living along side the normal one for centuries. Hagrid took him to Diagon Alley where he learned he was famous amoung the Wizarding Community without having really done anything. The attention people were giving him was a nice change of pace from his life with the Dursley's, but he found it odd how people would whisper about him and point at his scar. Harry traveled Diagon Alley, buying all his school needs and enjoying the magic. He found out that his parents had left him a small fortune in the wizarding bank Gringotts. He was most excited over buying a wand, which was last on their list. Ollivander, the owner of Ollivanders, took great delight in trying to find Harry a wand suitable for him which was a very difficult task. It finally ended when he was given a wand that had the same core of that which Lord Voldemort had in his wand.

1991-1992
After being breifly intorduced to the Wizarding World by Rubeus Hagrid, Harry returns to the Dursley home to wait for the day he leaves school. Harry boarded the Hogwarts Express which was going to take him to Hogwarts. Harry found it strange how he was famous among Wizards and Witches for not even doing anything, and found it hard to stand people whispering about him and pointing at his scar. On the Hogwarts Express, he made his first real friend with Ron Weasley, a red-headed boy who was also starting Hogwarts. He also met Hermione Granger, a bushy haired girl with a bossy attitude who he did not take kindly to at first.

"Hmmmmm, difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. There's talent, oh yes - and a thirst...to prove yourself, but where to put you?"

-Sorting Hat

When Harry was placed on the sorting stool in front of the school, he had a clear idea of what house he wanted to be in. Gryffindor was the house he wanted, and the hat thoght about putting him in Slytherin. Because of his continued thought of Not Slytherin, the Sorting Hat placed him in Gryffindor with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.