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.
Instant
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.
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.
Harry’s story continued in the
play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which
premiered in 2016. In the production, which was based on a story cowritten by
Rowling, Harry is married to Ginny Weasley, and they are the parents of James
Sirius, Albus Severus, and Lily Luna. Although working for the Ministry of
Magic, Harry continues to struggle with his past, while Albus must contend with
his father’s legacy.
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 transformed into a blockbuster series of eight films (the final book, some
750 pages long, was adapted into two films) released over 10 years, which
grossed more than $7 billion worldwide. Together, the book and movie series
spawned a huge amount of related merchandise, and in 2010 a theme park inspired
by the franchise opened in the United
States.
Books in the Harry Potter sequence
·
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)
·
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007 film part-I
2010 part-II 2011)
·
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (2016 play 2016)
although a script and not a novel, it was advertised as the eighth story in the
series
No comments:
Post a Comment