Summary- If you have not read the books, please don't read this. It contains tons of spoilers
Sorcerer’s Stone
Harry Potter is an average 11 year old boy. Unless you count living in a closet at your relative’s house and being subject of the terrible life they inflict on him. Then, odd letters begin to try to make themselves to Harry. Finally his uncle drives to a remote outpost, but there things get worse. A giant named Hagrid breaks into the cottage and tells Harry that he is a wizard. He has been accepted to the Hogwarts School of Magic. Harry is introduced to the amazing wizarding world; however he is one of the most well known people in his new world. Apparently his parents were murdered by a wizard referred to as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named; contrary to the story of their death in a car accident he was told. Harry finds that he is the only known person ever to survive He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named’s attacks. To add to that after the night when his parents were murdered, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was never seen again. When Harry starts his first year at Hogwarts he meets a boy named Ronald Weasly. They become fast friends. When Harry is sorted into his house the sorting hat greatly wonders if Harry should be put in the Slytherin house, but pleads not to, after hearing bad things about the house. He is sorted into Gryffindor instead. Harry loves his new school and friends. Under some unusual circumstances Harry and Ron become friends with a girl named Hermione Granger. His first year is marked by success like becoming part of the Gryffindor Quiddict team, but he is also singled out for death. Harry, Ron, and Hermione sneak into a restricted area and must make it through a series of obstacles to get to a stone. When Harry alone arrives at the end of the obstacles one of his teachers is there. His teacher is providing a host for Lord Voldermont or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and tries to kill Harry. Harry obtains the Sorcerer’s Stone and is just saved by his headmaster, Albus Dumbledore.
The Chamber of Secrets
Harry’s second year at Hogwarts begins with a flying car. When a house-elf named Dobby magically appears in Harry’s bedroom and tells Harry not to go to Hogwarts, it causes big problems. He gets locked in his room, with bars over the windows. However his friend Ron gets worried when he doesn’t hear from Harry. Ron and his older brothers take their dad’s flying car and bust Harry out of his prison. Then somebody blocks the magical entrance to the Hogwarts express, Harry and Ron take the magical flying car and fly to school. This is nothing compared to the rest of the year. Harry begins hearing odd voices, then a blood written note about a chamber of secrets. Students begin getting paralyzed, frozen, for no particular reason. Each time either Harry finds them, or has a problem with them. The school begins to hide from Harry, thinking he may be the one who unleashed the terrible unknown monster in the chamber of secrets. All the students learn of the old legend that says the chamber of secrets is a magical room which can only be opened by the Slytherin heir. Supposedly a terrible monster lives in the chamber and the heir can unleash it to clear out Muggle children. (Muggle is non-magical)Then, one day Hermione runs off to the library and is found paralyzed. Suspicion on Harry begins to dissipate. Then Ron’s younger sister, Ginny, is taken into the Chamber of secrets. Everyone believes her to be dead. Harry and Ron find the entrance to the chamber and take their new Defense against Dark Arts teacher with them. After an avalanche Harry is forced to go on alone. Harry enters the chamber and a great snake or, Basilisk, appears. It will kill you is you look at it directly, and was responsible for all the frozen students. Harry finds Ginny’s body and an odd memory from a diary. The memory is of Tom Riddle who is going to take over Ginny’s soul to regain himself. He possed Ginny through his diary and made her open the chamber of secrets. Riddle is Voldermont as a teenager. Harry is able to destroy Riddle and the Basilisk with help from Dumbledore’s Phoenix. The phoenix pecks at the basilisk’s eyes ad brings Harry a sword. He is then able to save Ginny and all the frozen students are brought back to normal.
The Prisoner of Azkaban
Terror is reigning high in the wizarding world. The first ever escape from the wizarding prison Azkaban was made by a man named Sirius Black. He was accused of giving away Harry’s family’s location to Voldermont and later killing about a dozen innocent bystanders. Harry and Ron are not happy at all with the news. Then dementors begin patrolling Hogwarts, scarring people almost to death. Harry and his friends find Black within Hogwarts and attempt to kill him. Then Sirius tells Harry that he is Harry’s godfather. He was trying to kill Ron’s rat, who was the real murder in his animal form. Snape (the potions teacher) catches wind of Black and tries to thwart him. Thanks to Harry, Ron, Hermione, and their new Professor Lupin, Sirius is able to escape. He is innocent of all his crimes but is still a highly wanted murderer.
The Goblet of Fire
Harry begins to spend much of his summer with the Weaslys instead of his own relatives. He happily starts his new year with Ron and his numerous siblings at the Quidditc cup. That night panic erupts as the dark mark, or the sign of Voldermont appears. On the first day of the term Dumbledore announces the Triwizard Competition will be held at Hogwarts. Two foreign schools come with contestants to try and compete. One student from each school, over the age of 17 will be selected. On the morning of the contestants name drawing Harry feels happy. Two of the contestants are foreign wizards. The Hogwarts champion is named Cedric Diggory. Then, at the last minute Harry’s name is called. Someone bewitched the sorter and entered Harry under a 4th school. He has to compete against the other competitors in a series of 3 events. Meanwhile Harry is saved during various nighttime wanderings by his new Defense against Dark Arts teacher, Mad eyed Moody. The first task is to get past a dragon, which Harry does by flying around it. He finds out that all the other competitors were told about the tasks beforehand, except for Cedric, so Harry tells him. Then the second one has to rescue the thing you want most from the bottom of the lake. Dobby, who now works at Hogwarts, tells Harry beforehand ad gives him herbs so he can breathe underwater. Ron, Cho, and Hermione are at the bottom with one of the other competitor’s little sister. Harry keeps all the hostages safe until their champion saves them. For the Yule Ball, Harry has a real problem finding a date. He asks Cho, a girl he’s had a crush on for a long time, only to find out that she’s going with Cedric. Then Hermione goes with Victor Krum, another champion. Ron gets very jealous and they start fighting about how Ron should’ve gone with her. Finally June comes, and the final task is a maze. There are dangerous things designed to kill all the competitors. Finally only Cedric and Harry are left. Harry helps Cedric and they battle a giant spider together. Both boys decide it should be a tie, and grab the goblet in the center. They are transported to a cemetery somewhere far away. One of Voldermont’s followers kills Cedric instantly. Then he performs a weird spell to give Voldermont his form. When Voldermont is human looking again he is able to touch Harry, because he has some of Harry’s blood. Then he summons all the death eaters. Voldermont tortures Harry and attempts to kill him, but Harry is able to end the duel. His parents and Cedric appear and tell him what to do. Harry arrives back at Hogwarts with Cedric’s body. Then Mad Eyed Moody attempts to kidnap Harry, only to be stopped by Dumbledore. They find out that the real Moody had been captured the whole year, and that the man was really an inside man at Hogwarts. He killed his father and attempted to kill Harry. Harry then learns that Snape used to be a death eater. Newspapers and officials don’t believe Harry and write him off as loony.
The Order of the Phoenix
Harry arrives back at home only to be attacked by two dementors, with his cousin. He has to use magic to destroy them and ends up getting expelled from Hogwarts. Luckily Dumbledore vouched from Harry and they get a hearing. Then, a group of wizards and witches escort Harry to a secret house in London, where he meets up with the Weasly’s and Hermione. The house is the headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix, a secret organization lead by Dumbledore, to fight Voldermont. Meanwhile the Ministry of Magic denies voldermont’s return and continues to claim Harry and Dumbledore to be crazy. When Harry starts his year at Hogwarts, there is a new Defense against Dark Arts teacher, Dolores Umbridge, from the Ministry of Magic. During her first lesson she declares there is no evil, causing Harry to fight her. From that point on she is Harry’s new least favorite teacher. As Harry continues to tell his stories, Umbridge gets new laws passed, giving her more power. In order to stay safe, Harry and his friends start a secret and illegal group to practice Defense against the dark arts. The D.A. or Dumbledore’s Army is the only thing that keeps Harry optimistic. He spends all his free time studying for huge exams at the end of the year, or worrying about strange feelings and dreams. Then one day he has a dream of Mr. Weasly being attacked, and it turns out to be a vision. Later the D.A. is almost caught by Harry’s nemesis Draco Malfoy who is one of Umbridge’s favorite students. Dumbledore is arrested, but escapes, leaving Umbridge to become Headmaster of Hogwarts. Harry’s life becomes terrible after that. He can’t talk with Sirius who has been the only person able to comfort Harry. Then special lessons start with Professor Snape, whom Harry loathes. Plus, Umbridge starts trying to fire teachers like Hagrid. She also tells Harry that he has absolutely no chance of becoming an Auror, causing her to get into a huge fight with Professor McGonagall. Then Harry has a dream of Sirius being held prisoner in the Ministry of Mysteries. He attempts to alert the rest of the Order, but his favorite professors are all either in the hospital or on the run. He finally gets caught and is only able to give a hint to Snape. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and their friends Luna and Neville fly to the Ministry of Mysteries after losing Umbridge in the woods. They find that they had been lured there as a trap. Sirius was never really captured. Death Eaters surround Harry and his friends, who must try and fight them. Harry gets a prophecy with his name on it and runs. People are trying to kill his friends everywhere. Luckily none of them are fatally injured. They are about to lose when the Order of The Phoenix arrives. Harry is able to help Neville escape from the battle when Dumbledore arrives. It is too late however for Sirius. He was killed fighting his cousin Beatrice, who was responsible for Neville’s parents going insane. Harry is heartbroken and overcome with grief for his godfather, when Voldermont attempts to kill Harry in front of the entire Ministry of Magic. They are forced to acknowledge the return of the Dark Lord. Back at Hogwarts, Dumbledore tells Harry about the prophecy he had in the Ministry of Mysteries, (which was later destroyed.) The prophecy says that the Dark Lord’s match may be born and they will be marked as equals. One of them will have to kill the other in order to live. After learning part of the prophecy from Snape, Voldermont hunted down Harry’s family and murdered his parents. Harry lived because his mother sacrificed herself for him, giving him love. On that happy note Harry heads back to his relatives.
The Half-Blood Prince
Harry’s year starts out pretty good, Dumbledore comes to his house and takes Harry away. Then they apparate (teleport) to an old professor’s house, where they convince an old teacher to come back. Harry then spend the rest of the summer with the Weasly family and Hermione. However not all is well, there is a new Minister of Magic, and there’s been several murders. When Harry arrives back at Hogwarts he is pretty happy. Then it is announced that Snape will finally be teaching Defense against Dark Arts. Slughorn, the new teacher, will be teaching potions. This allows Harry to continue his education to be an Aruor. Slughorn also seems to have taken a special liking to Harry, a student he sees as having a good future. Harry is captain of the Gryffindor Quiddict team, with Ron and Ginny as part of the team. Plus, Harry has private lessons with Dumbledore. During his potion lessons, he borrows a book from a closet, and finds it wrote all over. He tries doing what was written in the book, and suddenly everything he does is right. The book belonged to someone named, the Half-Blood Prince. During Harry’s lessons with Dumbledore, they look at memories of Voldermont’s childhood and life. After securing a memory form Professor Slughorn, Harry learns that Voldermont probably split his soul into objects, or Horcruxes, which are hidden around, possibly, the world. Dumbledore figures that there are probably seven Horcruxes, two which have already been destroyed. Their mission is to destroy the others; then Voldermont might be able to be killed. Harry also realizes that he is in love with Ginny Weasly, and finally kisses her after the end of their won Quittich game. Harry uses tips from the Half-blood Prince to save Ron’s life, and to defend himself against Draco Malfoy. Then, a letter comes for Harry, from Dumbledore, who thinks he has located a Horcrux. They journey to a cave on the coast. After breaking through a variety of defenses, Harry and Dumbledore find themselves in the middle of a black lake filled with dead bodies. Dumbledore drinks a poisonous solution in order to find what he thinks is a Horcrux. Once Harry takes the locket inside, all the dead come out of the water and try to kill them. Dumbledore puts up a ring of fire and they are able to escape. Then Harry is able to apparate himself and Dumbledore to Hogsmead, the town outside of Hogwarts. Once there, they see the dark mark (voldermont’s sign of death) over the school. Harry and Dumbledore fly on brooms to the highest tower in the school. Dumbledore tells Harry to put his invisibility cloak on and find Snape. Before Harry can reach the door however, Dumbledore freezes him. Draco bursts through the door and disarms Dumbledore. Below, a battle is raging, Death eaters against the Order of the Phoenix. Draco talks for a few minutes with Dumbledore, then more death eaters show up. Draco cannot bring himself to kill Dumbledore. Just then, Snape shows up and takes his wand out. He instantly kills Dumbledore with a killing curse. After all the people leave, Harry is unfrozen. He races after Snape and Draco as they try to escape. There is a battle going on in the halls but Harry just keeps running. Once outside, Harry is able to almost catch up to his query. He calls Snape a coward, making Snape dangerously angry. When Harry tries to use one of the Prince’s spells, Snape screams that he was the Half-blood prince, and then runs off. Hagrid helps Harry, but refuses to believe Dumbledore is dead until they see his body. Harry then finds that the locket Dumbledore drank poison to get was not the real Horcrux. He goes to the infirmary to find that Ron’s oldest brother was severely injured by a werewolf. All the people in the Order are there and are terribly sad and angry. Professor McGonagall becomes headmistress. The last day of the shortened term is Dumbledore’s funeral. Almost everyone cries. Harry breaks up with Ginny in order to keep her safe from Volermont. Harry decides he won’t come back to Hogwarts for his final year; he’s going to kill Voldermont. The minister of magic tries to get Harry to become the face of the ministry doing their job, but Harry refuses to ever work with the ministry as it is.
Favorite Scene
Personally, my favorite scenes are always ones with a lot of emotion, emotion that I can relate to. My favorite scene in the entire Harry Potter series takes place in Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix. It is on Harry’s first day back at Hogwarts, in his Defense Against Dark Arts class. His new professor, Dolores Umbridge, states her course aims and the type of learning they will be doing. Hermione refuses to read the first chapter which they were assigned to read, and raises her hand. She doesn’t agree with the course aims which do not include any type of actually doing magic. Umbridge tells the class they will not use magic at all in her class, why would they actually need to defend themselves. She goes on about ministry certified curriculums, bad previous teachers, and how theories should be good enough for everyone. Harry becomes extremely mad, especially when she says that there are no dark wizards who are out there. Harry stands up and begins arguing that there is, and he battled the dark wizard. The kids need to be able to defend themselves because there is danger. He gets detention for a week, where he must write “I must not tell lies” with a quill that etches it into his hand.
I really like this scene for a few reasons, it introduces a person you want t o hate, you really agree with Harry and his friends, and you feel pretty mad. Dolores Umbridge is Harry’s biggest problem aside from Voldermont and his followers in this book. She gets Harry banned from Quiddich, takes away weekend trips, and even tries to curse him. She is a character that you really love to hate. From this scene on, you immediately see that Harry is the exact example of what she hates the most. They have absolutely nothing in common, and pretty much everyone is going to despise her. When she’s talking all about how Harry is lying, and even denying the truth about his friend’s murder, Harry really hates her. From the time Hermione sits in her seat with her hand up, you can tell she is going to hate this woman. Ron’s family is pretty much insulted too, which probably makes him pretty mad. I would say that reading that scene made me pretty mad. You follow Harry in his adventures all his previous years and then some stupid lady denies it all, calls her student a liar. From that point on, you really hate her character more than even Draco Malfoy. She is Harry’s biggest enemy inside of Hogwarts, and she takes power away from all the teachers that you know and love. She really comes in the way of a lot of things that should’ve been simple, like talking to other people, and reading magazines. I’ve met people who are similar to that character and it really makes you remember that loser. That is why I think this is my favorite scene in the entire series.
Most Important scenes
In order to understand he Harry Potter books, you have to know some important thing that happen.
1 At the age of 1 Harry Potter is the only person to survive an attack by Lord Voldermont. Both his parents are killed, and Voldermont seems to have been killed. Harry is sent to live with his relatives, the Dursleys, and is told his parents were killed in a car accident.
2 10 years later Harry is told he is a wizard. He is reintroduced to the wizarding world, and saved from the Dursely’s closet. He starts at Hogwarts as a first year, and is sorted to Gryffindor. Harry becomes best friends with Ron Weasly and Hermione Granger. He faces Lord Voldermont as he attempts to steal the sorcerers’ stone.
3 The Chamber Of Secrets was opened and Harry learned he could speak Parseltounge, snake. A Basilisk tries to kill students and Hogwarts was almost closed. Hermione is frozen by the monster, and Ginny Weasly is captured by it. Harry learns why Hagrid was expelled and who Voldermont was when he was younger. He saves Ginny, the first of the Weaslys he saves.
4 Harry learns that Sirius Black is his godfather, and that together with Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew, was his father’s best friends. Pettigrew was a traitor and sold out the Potters, leading to their deaths. Harry helps Sirius escape, but they keep in touch.
5 The dark mark appears at the Quiddict National Cup spreading fear. Harry is entered in the Triwizard Tournamt, which he wins. He sees the return of Lord Volermont and his followers, the Death Eaters. Luicius Malfoy and his wife, Snape and others are revealed as death eaters. Hermione becomes obsessed with house-elf right. The Ministry Of Magic denies all of this.
6 Harry is brought to the Order Of the Phoenix HQ in London. It’s Sirius’ house, and is full of activity. Dolores Umbridge starts at Hogwarts and ruin’s Harry’s year. She eventually becomes dictator of the entire school. There is a huge battle at the Ministry and Sirius is killed by his cousin Beatrice. The Ministry acknowledges Volermont. Harry and Volermont are connected, and can read each other’s thoughts. Harry saves Mr. Weasly from voldermont’s snake.
7 Dumbledore tells Harry of a prophecy made before he was born. It is about how he will be the only person who can kill Voldermont. Harry must keep trying, no matter how much he loses. The only reason he is able to survive is because he can love, something Voldermont cannot do.
8 Snape become s DADA teacher, and does a lot of work with Voldermont and his followers. Dumbledore assures Harry that Snape is completely trustworthy. They are seen fighting but nobody knows why.
9 Dumbledore and Harry discover Voldermont hid parts of his soul in Horocruxes. So far two have been destroyed, and they search for the other four. When they return from trying to find a Horocruxs Dumbledore is killed by Snape. He runs off after cursing Harry.
10 Harry decides he’s not coming back Hogwarts. He’s going to find and kill Voldermont. He breaks up with his girlfriend, Ginny, to keep her safe. Ron and Hermione decide that they are going to go with Harry and kill Voldermont.
11 The final battle begins
Author’s Messages
Throughout the Harry Potter series there are many authors’ messages. Three main author’s messages are show below.
Love
When Harry’s parents were killed, he was able to live. Voldermont came to their house and instantly murdered Harry’s father. He tried to then take Harry and kill him. Harry’s mother wouldn’t let Voldermont have the baby; she gave herself up trying to save him. By dying for her son, Lilly Potter protected Harry from Voldermont’s curse. The love continued to flow in Harry’s blood, keeping him safe. Dumbledore explained that Harry had to return to his relative’s house each summer, because that would renew a spell on the Dursleys. Since his aunt had the same blood in her, Harry was kept safe. The only reason that Harry was able to live was because of love. Voldermont on the other hand was never loved. He was born an orphan and grew up in a poor orphanage. He did everything alone, never having friends or family. Well, actually he did find his family at one point, and murdered them. He was mostly destroyed by Harry, because the love for Harry was so strong. Harry wants his family, whereas Voldermont never did. Even as he became powerful, Voldermont had followers, not friends, or a family. He just had people, many whom were terrified of him, who carried out his, will. Harry has strong friends. That made the difference for him. Dumbledore told him that he has the power to defeat Voldermont just because he has love, something worth fighting for.
Friends
Harry doesn’t have a family. His friends are everything to him. Especially in the end, when all the adults who kept him safe, are dead. His friends are loyal and smart. From the time he found the sorcerers’ stone, he couldn’t have got there without his friends. The Weasly’s open up their house for Harry, Molly Weasly even says he’s like a son to her. His friends are always there for him, and they help him a lot. Harry is pretty alone, so his friends help him. Harry’s friends become his family(literally and figurlarly). Voldermont has no real friends, he never has. He had followers, not friends. None of them tried to help him when he was almost destroyed. They came back to him mostly out of fear. A lot of death eaters aren’t truly loyal to Voldermont. They stay with him and are faithful, not all of them truly believe in him. Harry on the otherhand has friends. They stay with him even when he has tons of problems. In the end, more people believe in Harry than they do in Voldermont. Voldermont is all alone in the end. Nobody really cares about him. Harry and Voldermont are both orphans, but Harry has friends, Volermont does not.
Choices
At the end of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore tells Harry about a prophecy. The prophecy says that a child born in July, who had parents who faced the dark lord three times, would be able to destroy the Dark Lord forever. There were two children who fit that description, Harry and Neville Longbottom. The prophecy went on to say that they would be marked as equals, and one would have to kill the other. Voldermont chose to go after Harry, someone more like himself. Voldermont killed Harry’s parents and scarred him. Voldermont chose his enemy. Dumbledore explains to Harry that it is his choice, not a prophecy that will determine the outcome. Harry could decide to give up, or go to the dark side. Volermont even thought that Harry may be a great Dark Wizard. Some people thought Harry would join the death eaters. Harry decides he is going to hunt down and kill Voldermont. It was because Voldermont heard part of the prophecy that he came after Harry. The prophecy was very important, and Voldermont was acting just as the prophecy stated, but Harry didn’t have to go along. Harry chose to avenge his family and friend’s deaths. He was not forced to. Ron and Hermione chose to go with Harry after they left Hogwarts. They were loyal and put themselves in danger to help their friend. Fate is not pre-determined; it’s up to you to determine it.
My Stories
Professor Umbridge to Hermione in The Order Of the Phoenix
How dare you little girl! Helping to terrify students with lies! Breaking school rules! I shall have 200 pints from Gryffindor. Lying, disobedience, and defiance! I should say you lady, have you ever learned any manners? This school is worse than I could ever possibly imagine. I will get an education decree on manners tomorrow.
To say a certain Dark Lord is rising, is, is perpostuas! Just because you believe your lying little friend Harry Potter and your precious Dumbledore. Let me tell you something young lady. Potter is a lair, and Dumbledore is a fool.There is nothing that would want to hurt you like they say. You seemed like a smart girl, but obviously I was wrong Ms. Granger. There is no Dark Lord who is trying to kill you. There is no Dark Lord at all!
Now, if we have that taken care of, which I'm sure we do, I will not have to do this again. May I remind you that I am a very important person at this school. Lying will be a very dangerous crime here. I hope, you have learned your lesson now, or next time you will be punished, severely.
From Ron Weasly to Hermione
You are so annoying sometimes. I know you like to be prepared to anything but, our tests are in June, it's January! Harry and I are going to fail if you can't help us. Mom will go ballistic! Oh, and did you forget that someone is trying to kill Harry? I sure didn't. Do you really think the best thing to do now is study?
I know school is the most important thing for you, but life has bigger problems. We can all pass the test if we try, but why would it matter if we're dead before we graduate? You've already read these books like a hundred times! It's mad, absolutely mad I tell you. You're reading Defense Against Dark Arts, For Beginners! Harry taught us more stuff than if is in that book the first day! Did I mention the fact that we could be tortured, even killed at anytime. Hermione, don't you think that's more important than studying for tests you'll surely pass?
The bottom line is that the world has gone mad! You just sit there and study, and we can all die. By knowing about what, Goblin Wars, we are surely gonna survive. Yeah right! You are a very smart person, as we all know, so why don't you help us instead of studying?
Caution: I have been told this one may be disturbing.
From Lord Voldermont to Harry Potter
I will destroy you! Of course you would've been taken care of years ago, but you weak little baby got lucky. Oh what it would've been to get rid of all the Potters at once! But of course that all happened fourteen years ago, in the past. But never again will you escape me Harry Potter!
I will kill you like I killed your pathetic parents. I will make the boy who lived die! I will make everyone see you are nothing special, nothing compared to me. A little boy only alive because of luck, nothing because of himself! I will be the all powerful ruler of the world! Everyone will see me, everyone. Hahahah!!!!
My life will finally be complete once you're gone, like so many other pathetic witches and wizards! Nothing can protect you from me, not even your precious love. You are mine!!!!!!!!!!!
