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Use research/previous knowledge to fill out worksheet for recap on Harry Potter series.

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Read Biography

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J.K. (Joanne) Rowling Biography

Joanne Kathleen Rowling (pronounced rolling) was born on July 31st, 1965 in Chipping Sodbury, Gloucestershire, England. Her sister, Di, was born a little under 2 years later. Rowling can remember telling stories from early on and writing down her first story when she was 5 or 6 years old - about a rabbit called Rabbit who got the measles and was visited by friends including a giant bee called Miss Bee.

She moved house twice while growing up. The first was from Yate, just outside Bristol, to Winterbourne - also close to Bristol. In Winterbourne she was friends with a brother and sister whose surname was Potter. She says she always liked the name, and preferred it to her own because the children always made annoying jokes about rolling pins!

Her family moved again when she was nine years old - to Tutshill near Chepstow in the Forest of Dean. After attending Tutshill Primary School she went to Wyedean Comprehensive. She describes herself as having been quite, freckly, short-sighted and rubbish at sports. Her favorite subject was English followed by languages. She used to tell stories to her friends - usually involving them all doing heroic and daring deeds that they wouldn't dare to do in real life.

She went to Exeter University straight after school and studied French, having been encouraged by her parents who said that this could lead to a great career as a bilingual secretary. Jo left home at eighteen for Exeter University, where she read so widely outside her French and Classics syllabus that she clocked up a fine of £50 for overdue books at the University library. Her knowledge of Classics would one day come in handy for creating the spells in the Harry Potter series, some of which are based on Latin. On graduating from Exeter she moved to London and spent a few years working a series of jobs including being 'the worst secretary ever', and being a researcher at Amnesty International. Jo conceived the idea of Harry Potter in 1990 while sitting on a delayed train from Manchester to London King's Cross. Over the next five years, she began to map out all seven books of the series. She wrote mostly in longhand and gradually built up a mass of notes, many of which were scribbled on odd scraps of paper.

In 1990, at the age of 26, she moved to Portugal to teach English. She says that she loved teaching English. She taught in the afternoons and evenings, leaving the mornings free for writing. At this time she was starting work on her third novel (the first two having been abandoned as being 'very bad'). The new book was about a boy who found out he was a wizard and was sent off to wizard school.

While in Portugal she met and married a Portuguese journalist, Jorge Arantes. Their daughter, Jessica, was born in 1993. After their marriage ended in divorce, Rowling and her daughter moved to Edinburgh, Scotland, to be close to her younger sister, Di. Jo brought with her the first three chapters of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. She set herself a deadline - to finish the Harry novel before starting work as a French teacher - and, of course, to try and get it published. She wrote at a café table while Jessica was napping.

The Scottish Arts Council gave her a grant to finish the book and, after a number of rejections, she eventually sold Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone for the equivalent of about USA $4,000 to Bloomsbury (UK).

By this time Rowling was working as a French teacher (being serenaded down the corridors with the first line of the theme from Rawhide "Rolling, rolling, rolling, keep those wagons rolling...')

A few months later Arthur A Levine Books/Scholastic Press bought the American rights for enough money that she was able to give up teaching.

The book was published in the UK by Bloomsbury Children's Books in June 1997 (at the time of writing 1st editions of this book are on the market for upwards of 12,000 UK pounds/ USA $20,000). Thereafter the accolades began to pile up. Harry Potter won The British Book Awards Children's Book of the Year, and the Smarties Prize.

Renamed Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, the book was published in the USA in September 1998 by Arthur A Levine Books/Scholastic Press, with illustrations by Mary Grandpre.

The sequel, Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets was published in the UK in July 1998 and in the USA in June 1999. The third book, Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban, was published in the UK in July 1999 and in the USA in September 1999.

In 1999 Rowling became an international literary sensation when the first three installments of the Harry Potter series took over the top 3 slots in the New York Times bestsellers list - after achieving similar success in the UK. This resulted in the New York Times introducing a bestseller list for children's literature - a relief to many adult authors vying for the top slots on the list and an honor for Rowling.

By Summer 2000, the first three books had sold over 35 million copies in 35 languages and earned approximately $480 million.

In July 2000, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire had a first printing of 5.3 million copies with advance orders of over 1.8 million.

By 2000, Ms. Rowling had sold at least 30 million copies of the first three books which had been printed in 35 languages, earning approximately $400 million.

The fifth book in the series, Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix was published in 2003 with a first print run of 8.5 million copies (USA). 5 million copies were recorded sold in the USA on the first Saturday after it was published. Barnes and Noble reported selling 286,000 copies in just one hour.

By 2003 at least 192 million copies had been sold in over 200 countries, and the books have been translated into at least 55 languages, including Latin. In 2003 she was estimated to be the richest woman in England - a position previously held by the Queen.

The sixth book in the series, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince was published simultaneously in multiple countries on July 16th 2005. The seventh, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was published in July 2007.

In 2001, the film adaptation of the first book was released by Warner Bros., and was followed by six more book adaptations, concluding with the release of the eighth film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, in 2011.

The first two movies were directed by Chris Columbus who also directed Home Alone and Mrs Doubtfire. The third movie was directed by Alfonso Cuarón. The fourth movie, Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire directed by Mike Newell, was released in 2005. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix followed in 2007. Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince was released in November 2008, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 was released in November 2010. The final film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, was released in July 2011.

The Harry Potter series has sparked new enthusiasm amongst children for books. Having said that, Rowling's books are not free from criticism - some Christian fundamentalists, express concern that the books promote and encourage satanic practices. On the other hand, other Christians applaud the books for the themes of courage, loyalty, justice, honesty and fairness that they portray and compare them to books such as The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis.

Rowling says she wrote Harry Potter when "I was very low, and I had to achieve something. Without the challenge, I would have gone stark raving mad."

Will there be another Harry Potter book? For sometime Rowling has insisted that she will not write another Harry Potter book, but in an article in Time Magazine in January 2008 she confessed to "weak moments" when she feels like succumbing to the pressure from her many fans, including her her 14-year-old daughter Jessica. Rowling says, "If - and it's a big if - I ever write an eighth book, I doubt that Harry would be the central character. I feel I've already told his story. "But these are big ifs. Let's give it ten years." In the meantime, Rowling has launched Pottermore.com, a website where fans can participate in "...an online experience based around the Harry Potter books, which includes exclusive new information from [Rowling]."

In September 2012 Rowling published her first adult novel, The Casual Vacancy, to huge sales but mixed reviews. In July 2013 it was revealed that she was the author of the The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith, published in April 2013 by Mulholland Books (a division of Hachette). The book received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly ("a stellar debut") and Library Journal ("totally engrossing") and, at the time that the pseudonym was revealed had sold perhaps 1500 copies in hardcover in the UK and 500 in the USA.

In 2016, J.K. Rowling collaborated with Jack Thorne and John Tiffany on an original new story for the stage. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts One and Two is now running at The Palace Theatre in London's West End. The script book was published (Little, Brown) to mark the play's opening in July 2016, and instantly topped the bestseller lists. '

Also in 2016, J.K. Rowling made her screenwriting debut with the film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, a further extension of the Wizarding World, released to critical acclaim in November 2016. A prequel to Harry Potter, this new adventure of Magizoologist Newt Scamander marked the start of a five-film series to be written by the author.

J.K. Rowling has been married to Dr Neil Murray since 2001. They live in Edinburgh with their son, David (born 2003) and daughter, Mackenzie (born 2005).

J.K. (Joanne) Rowling's website

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J.K. (Joanne) Rowling Biography Joanne Kathleen Rowling (pronounced rolling) was born on July 31st, 1965 in Chipping Sodbury, Gloucestershire, England. Her sister, Di, was born a little under 2 years later.

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#4 Explore J.K. Rowling's website (day two)

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#4 Explore J.K. Rowling's website (day two)

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Joanne Rowling was born on 31st July 1965 at Yate General Hospital near Bristol, and grew up in Gloucestershire in England and in Chepstow, Gwent, in south-east Wales.

Her father, Peter, was an aircraft engineer at the Rolls Royce factory in Bristol and her mother, Anne, was a science technician in the Chemistry department at Wyedean Comprehensive, where Jo herself went to school. Anne was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when Jo was a teenager and died in 1990, before the Harry Potter books were published. Jo also has a younger sister, Di.

The young Jo grew up surrounded by books. "I lived for books,'' she has said. "I was your basic common-or-garden bookworm, complete with freckles and National Health spectacles."
Photography Debra Hurford Brown © J.K. Rowling
Jo wanted to be a writer from an early age. She wrote her first book at the age of six - a story about a rabbit, called 'Rabbit'. At just eleven, she wrote her first novel - about seven cursed diamonds and the people who owned them.

Jo studied at Exeter University, where she read so widely outside her French and Classics syllabus that she clocked up a fine of £50 for overdue books at the University library. Her knowledge of Classics would one day come in handy for creating the spells in the Harry Potter series, some of which are based on Latin.

Her course included a year in Paris. "I lived in Paris for a year as a student," Jo tweeted after the 2015 terrorist attacks there. "It's one of my favourite places on earth."

After her degree, she moved to London and worked in a series of jobs, including one as a researcher at Amnesty International. "There in my little office I read hastily scribbled letters smuggled out of totalitarian regimes by men and women who were risking imprisonment to inform the outside world of what was happening to them." She said later. "My small participation in that process was one of the most humbling and inspiring experiences of my life."

Jo conceived the idea of Harry Potter in 1990 while sitting on a delayed train from Manchester to London King's Cross. Over the next five years, she began to map out all seven books of the series. She wrote mostly in longhand and gradually built up a mass of notes, many of which were scribbled on odd scraps of paper.

Taking her notes with her, she moved to northern Portugal to teach English as a foreign language, married Jorge Arantes in 1992 and had a daughter, Jessica, in 1993. When the marriage ended later that year, she returned to the UK to live in Edinburgh, with Jessica and a suitcase containing the first three chapters of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

In Edinburgh, Jo trained as a teacher and began teaching in the city's schools, but she continued to write in every spare moment.

Having completed the full manuscript, she sent the first three chapters to a number of literary agents, one of whom wrote back asking to see the rest of it. She says it was "the best letter I had ever received in my life."

The book was first published by Bloomsbury Children's Books in June 1997, under the name J.K. Rowling.

The "K" stands for Kathleen, her paternal grandmother's name. It was added at her publisher's request, who thought a book by an obviously female author might not appeal to the target audience of young boys.

The book was published in the US by Scholastic under a different title (again at the publisher's request), Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, in 1998. Six further titles followed in the Harry Potter series, each achieving record-breaking success.

In 2001, the film adaptation of the first book was released by Warner Bros., and was followed by six more book adaptations, concluding with the release of the eighth film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, in 2011.

J.K. Rowling has also written two small companion volumes, which appear as the titles of Harry's school books within the novels. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through the Ages were published in March 2001 in aid of Comic Relief. In December 2008, a third companion volume, The Tales of Beedle the Bard was published in aid of her international children's charity, Lumos.

In 2012, J.K. Rowling's digital company Pottermore was launched, which became Wizarding World Digital in 2019. Pottermore Publishing continues to be the global digital publisher of Harry Potter, Fantastic Beasts and the Wizarding World.

Also in 2012, J.K. Rowling published her first novel for adults, The Casual Vacancy (Little, Brown), which has now been translated into 44 languages and was adapted for TV by the BBC in 2015.

Under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, J.K. Rowling also writes crime novels, featuring private detective Cormoran Strike. The first of these, The Cuckoo's Calling, was published to critical acclaim in 2013, at first without its author's true identity being known. The Silkworm followed in 2014, Career of Evil in 2015, Lethal White in 2018, Troubled Blood in 2020 and The Ink Black Heart in 2022. The series has also been adapted for television by the BBC and HBO.

J.K. Rowling's 2008 Harvard commencement speech was published in 2015 as an illustrated book, Very Good Lives: The Fringe Benefits of Failure and the Importance of Imagination (Sphere), and sold in aid of Lumos and university-wide financial aid at Harvard.

In 2016, J.K. Rowling collaborated with playwright Jack Thorne and director John Tiffany on an original new story for the stage. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts One and Two opened in London and is now playing in multiple locations around the world. The script book was published (Little, Brown) to mark the play's opening in July 2016, and instantly topped the bestseller lists.

Also in 2016, J.K. Rowling made her screenwriting debut with the film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, a further extension of the Wizarding World, which was released to critical acclaim in November 2016. This was the first in a series of new adventures featuring Magizoologist Newt Scamander and set before the time of Harry Potter. The second film, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, was released in 2018 and the third, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore was released in 2022.

The screenplays were published to coincide with each film release: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them The Original Screenplay (2016), Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald The Original Screenplay (2018) and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore The Complete Screenplay (2022).

In May 2020, J.K. Rowling's fairy tale for younger children, The Ickabog, was serialised for free online for children during the Covid-19 pandemic in the summer of 2020, and is now published as a book illustrated by children, with her royalties going to charities supporting vulnerable groups affected by the pandemic.

Her latest children's novel The Christmas Pig, a standalone adventure story about a boy's love for his most treasured thing and how far he will go to find it, is out now.

J.K. Rowling has been married to Dr Neil Murray since 2001. They live in Edinburgh with their son, David (born 2003) and daughter, Mackenzie (born 2005).

Honours & Awards

J.K. Rowling has received many honours and awards, including:

Companion of Honour, for services to literature and philanthropy, 2017
PEN America Literary Service Award, 2016
Freedom of the City of London, 2012
Hans Christian Andersen Award, Denmark, 2010
Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur: France, 2009
Lifetime Achievement Award, British Book Awards, 2008
South Bank Show Award for Outstanding Achievement, 2008
James Joyce Award, University College Dublin, 2008
The Edinburgh Award, 2008
Commencement Day Speaker, Harvard University, USA, 2008
Blue Peter Gold Badge, 2007
WH Smith Fiction Award, 2004
Prince of Asturias Award for Concord, Spain, 2003
Order of the British Empire (OBE), 2001
Children's Book of the Year, British Book Awards, 1998 and 1999
Booksellers Association Author of the Year, 1998 and 1999

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Joanne Rowling was born on 31st July 1965 at Yate General Hospital near Bristol, and grew up in Gloucestershire in England and in Chepstow, Gwent, in south-east Wales. Her father, Peter, was an aircraft engineer at the Rolls Royce factory in Bristol and her mother, Anne, was a science technician in the Chemistry department at [...]

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Review list and think of who has which traits.

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Character traits are the individual characteristics and qualities that make characters from books, stories, movies, plays, and other art forms come to life for readers.

Use the following list of character traits as a guideline when writing book reports and essays about the different characters you've read about. Don't stop with this list, though; you can probably think of many more terms to describe your characters.

Search and explore the definitions of character trait with our sister company Infoplease's dictionary.

Values, Morals, and Beliefs Character Traits

Physical and Emotional Character Traits

Personality Character Traits

Just like real people, literary characters have behaviors, attitudes, traits, and beliefs that give them a unique personality. These can be surface characteristics, like personality or physical traits - or they can be deeply-held values and morals. Writers develop characters with myriad traits to help readers build empathy or antipathy, relate to the narrative, create realism, and develop various plot points and storylines.

Looking for activities, lessons, and printables on character traits to use in your classroom? View all of our character trait resources here.

Recommended Character Traits Classroom Resources

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Character traits are the individual characteristics and qualities that make characters from books, stories, movies, plays, and other art forms come to life for readers. Use the following list of character traits as a guideline when writing book reports and essays about the different characters you've read about.

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#6 Explore The Harry Potter Lexicom and read each character's synopsis. (day two)

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#6 Explore The Harry Potter Lexicom and read each character's synopsis. (day two)

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Harry Potter is the Boy Who Lived, the Chosen One, the hero of the Wizarding world. He grew up with Muggles, and then came to Hogwarts where he faced dangers and terrors beyond his years. He, along with his friends Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley and Neville Longbottom, destroyed Voldemort's Horcruxes. Harry faced Voldemort at the end of a climactic battle in Hogwarts castle and defeated him.

Early years: 1980-1981
Harry James Potter was born on July 31, 1980, in Godric's Hollow ( DH16, 35) to Lily and James Potter.James Potter's best friend, Sirius Black, was named Harry's godfather ( PA10). Sirius, James, and Lily were all part of the Order of the Phoenix, a group of witches and wizards who were desperately fighting againstVoldemort. They were outnumbered and many of them were killed, but they fought on. James and Lily had narrowly escaped Voldemort three times during this time.

Before Harry was born, a prophecy had been made about a boy to be born at the end of July which indicated that this person would be able to defeat the Dark Lord ( OP37). Lord Voldemort heard part of this prophecy because one of his Death Eaters, Severus Snape, was eavesdropping ( DH33). The Dark Lord resolved to destroy the child. Both Harry and another child, Neville Longbottom, would have fit the prophecy, but Voldemort decided that Harry must be the one and went after him. James and Lily knew that Voldemort was trying to kill Harry, and by October of 1981, they had used the Fidelius Charm to hide themselves away. Unfortunately, the person they chose as Secret Keeper for the Charm, Peter Pettigrew, turned out to be a double agent who revealed their location to Voldemort ( PA19).

On the evening of October 31, 1981, the Dark Lord came to Godric's Hollow, the town where James and Lily were living as Muggles, and attacked. James tried to hold Voldemort off at the door but failed; he was killed there. Lily tried to run with Harry but Voldemort caught her ( DH17). Because of a promise he'd made to Snape ( DH33), he offered to spare her life, but she stood in his way and he killed her to get to Harry. This sacrifice turned out to be vitally important, for it was the ancient magic of this act that protected the child. When Voldemort's Killing Curse hit Harry, the protection of Lily's sacrifice made the curse rebound onto Voldemort, who was all but killed. The curse left a curse scar in the shape of a lightning bolt on Harry's forehead ( PS1).

The battle between the Potters and Voldemort left the house in ruins. Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore dispatched Hagrid to go to Godric's Hollow and retrieve Harry. Hagrid managed to rescue Harry before the Muggles had a chance to investigate and interfere. While he was there, Hagrid encountered Sirius Black, who asked that Harry be given to him, since he was the boy's godfather. Hagrid refused, since he was following Dumbledore's orders to retrieve the boy. Sirius lent Hagrid his flying motorcycle to fly Harry to safety.

It is unclear where Hagrid and Harry were for the next twenty-four hours. Dumbledore apparently spent the time arranging for Harry's safe keeping in Privet Drive, but even McGonagall didn't know what was going on. The next evening, she met Dumbledore in Privet Drive and shortly thereafter Hagrid arrived on the flying motorcycle with Harry. The three of them left Harry in a bundle of blankets on the doorstep of number four, the home of Harry's last surviving blood relatives, theDursleys ( PS1).

A Decade of Abuse (1981-1991)
For the next ten years, Harry lived a life of emotional abuse and physical deprivation. His Aunt Petunia, Lily's sister, and his Uncle Vernonwere determined to squash any magic out of him. They never told him about his true identity. They told him that his parents had died in a car crash, which was also how he got the scar on his head ( PS2). They doted on their son Dudley, who was a spoiled bully, while making Harry sleep in a cupboard under the stairs. The number one rule in the Dursley household was "Don't ask questions." Their goal was to keep him oppressed and downtrodden in the hopes that he wouldn't develop what they considered to be abnormal tendencies toward magic. They sent him to the same school as Dudley, who picked on Harry mercilessly. The other kids at school tended to avoid Harry because they didn't want to be nice to someone Dudley picked on or they'd attract his bullying on themselves. Harry was made to wear Dudley's old clothes, which were much too large for Harry.

Despite the efforts of the Dursleys, Harry did exhibit some magic tendencies during his years at the Dursleys. At one point, when Aunt Petunia had become so frustrated with Harry's untidy hair that he cut it all off, Harry turned up at the breakfast table the next morning with hair all grown back. Another time, Harry was being chased by Dudley and his gang when Harry found himself unexpectedly up on the school roof. Harry had turned a teacher's wig blue and also shrunk a particularly ugly jumper of Dudley's so that he wouldn't have to wear it ( PS2).

Periodically during these years, Uncle Vernon's sister Marge would visit the Dursleys. She took great delight in tormenting Harry. She would give expensive presents to Dudley and either something horrible or nothing at all to Harry. She brought her pet bulldog, Ripper, to visit and when Harry was nine, she actually allowed the dog to chase Harry up a tree, where he had to remain until she called the dog off after midnight ( PA2).

By the time he was ten years old, Harry had grown into a skinny, knobbly-kneed boy with untidy black hair and a narrow face. He wore glasses which were broken and taped from repeated blows aimed at him by Dudley. He was surprisingly quick, a skill developed over years of getting out of the way of his bullying cousin. He still lived in the cupboard under the stairs. His eyes, which were the same as his mother's, were brilliant green ( PS2, 4).

His life changed abruptly during the summer of 1991. Strange letters began arriving ( PS3) which frightened his aunt and uncle into fleeing the house and running to hide in a hut on a rock out at sea. In the midst of a huge storm, with waves crashing on the rock, just after midnight, Hagrid arrived on the rock where he discovered that Harry had no idea that he was a wizard ( PS4). Hagrid did his best to explain to the boy all about his past, and when morning came on July 31, 1991, Hagrid took Harry to Diagon Alley to shop for the things he would need for school ( PS5). A few weeks later, on September 1, Harry boarded the Hogwarts Express and was taken to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry( PS6).

School years (1991-1997)
Harry's years at Hogwarts were in some ways typical of any young wizard. He made friends with Ron Weasley while still on the train ride to school ( PS6). It took a little longer for him and Ron to warm up to Hermione Granger, but after a shared experience with a troll over Halloween, the three became inseparable ( PS10). This three-way friendship was destined to change the world for the better.

During his first year, Harry discovered that Voldemort had possessed Professor Quirrell and was trying to steal thePhilosopher's Stone to attain immortality. Harry at first suspected another teacher, Professor Snape ( PS11), who seemed to hate Harry for no reason at all. In the end, Harry defeated Voldemort and the Dark Lord fled ( PS17).

Voldemort did not return in Harry's second year, but a strange phantom version of the Dark Lord emerged from an old diary and almost killed Ron's sister Ginny. Harry managed to save Ginny and destroy the diary ( CS17). At the time, he didn't understand what the implications of this were, but Dumbledore began to suspect that Voldemort had used the book as a Horcrux. Dumbledore began to investigate this possibility ( HBP17).

The hatred aimed at him by Professor Snape was explained to some extent during Harry's third year. His new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Lupin, turned out to have been a close friend of James Potter. Harry's godfather, Sirius Black, was suspected of trying to kill Harry, but was in fact trying to protect him from Peter Pettigrew, in disguise as a rat. In a dramatic confrontation, Pettigrew was revealed and nearly executed by Lupin and Sirius, but Harry spared his life ( PA18, 19). The story of his father's friendship with Sirius and Lupin and his hatred of Snape came out. Snape, it appeared, had transferred his hatred of James to Harry.

In his fourth year, Harry found himself part of a nefarious plan aimed at getting him away from the protection of Dumbledore; Voldemort thought he needed Harry's blood to regain his body. Harry was startled to find himself the unwilling fourth champion in the Triwizard tournament ( GF16), the last prize of which had been transformed into a Portkey. He was whisked away to a lonely graveyard where he was tied up and his blood used in a ritual that resulted in Voldemort's rebirth ( GF32). The Dark Lord called his Death Eaters to him and then dueled Harry. Unexpectedly, Harry and Voldemort found that their wands, when used against each other, created a strange effect where phantom forms of the people Voldemort had killed appeared. These included James and Lily, and they gave Harry the strength he needed to break the effect and run. He managed to grab the Portkey and return to Hogwarts, where he revealed that Voldemort had returned ( GF33, 34).

When he came back to Hogwarts for his fifth year, Harry discovered that no one believed him about Voldemort's rebirth. In fact, the Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge was actively trying to discredit Harry by making it seem that he was mad or seeking glory. Fudge assigned his assistant, Dolores Umbridge, to Hogwarts ( OP12) and Harry quickly ran afoul of her. She stopped him playing Quidditch, she tried to force him to admit that he was lying about Voldemort, and refused to allow students to learn to use offensive and defensive spells, preferring them to simply read about the theory. Harry gathered a group of students called Dumbledore's Army and trained them himself ( OP18). All through that year, Harry found that his scar was giving him a painful connection to Voldemort's thoughts. Voldemort realized this as well, and used that connection to invade his dreams and draw Harry to the Ministry of Magic to retrieve a recording of the Prophecy about the two of them which was stored there ( OP34). Voldemort had only heard part of it and wanted to know the rest to try to understand what went wrong in the graveyard battle. Harry went to the Ministry and fought with the Death Eaters there, but in the end it is Dumbledore who battled Voldemort, and the Dark Lord fled once again ( OP37).

Harry had to face the reality of his situation. Because of various circumstances, he and he alone could defeat Voldemort. He came out of his horrible fifth year determined to do whatever he had to do to make that happen. Dumbledore began to teach Harry more about Voldemort's past ( HBP9). Together they learned that Voldemort had created a series ofHorcruxes to split his soul into seven parts and thereby gain immortality. Harry would have to destroy the Horcruxes before he tried to kill Voldemort. Harry accompanied Dumbledore on a quest to find one of the Horcruxes and Dumbledore was seriously injured by a potion ( HBP26). When they returned, the found a battle underway as Death Eaters had infiltrated the castle. Dumbledore flew to the topmost tower where a Dark Mark was burning and was killed there by Snape ( HBP27). Harry prepared himself for what was to come.

The Horcrux hunt and the Deathly Hallows
Harry never returned to Hogwarts for his seventh year; the Ministry fell to Voldemort during the summer, and Dumbledore had told him that he urgently needed to find the four remaining Horcruxes. Ron and Hermione spent next nine months in hiding trying to locate and destroy the Horcruxes. First they found the locket Horcrux by infiltrating the Ministry (destroyed by Ron with Gryffindor's Sword) ( DH13, 19). The second, Hufflepuff's cup, was obtained by breaking into a vault in Gringotts ( DH26). The remaining Horcruxes were Voldemort's snake Nagini, and some unknown object possibly associated with Ravenclaw. Along the way they learned about the Deathly Hallows, three powerful magic items which would supposedly make a person the master of death ( DH21). The thought of all that power within reach threatened to distract Harry from the Horcrux quest, but after Dobby died, Harry was able to see what needed to be done more clearly. The trio left for Hogwarts.

But time was running out. Voldemort had finally discovered that Harry was seeking his Horcruxes, and decided to trap Harry at the school ( DH31). As the battle began, Harry searched for and found the unknown Horcrux, the Diadem of Ravenclaw ( DH30, 31). With Ron and Hermione's help (and inadvertently Crabbe's), he destroyed the Cup and the Diadem ( DH31); only the snake was left. Harry sought Voldemort, knowing Nagini would be nearby, and arrived in time to witness Voldemort's murder of Severus Snape and collect the memories Snape released to him. Snape's memories were shocking. Harry learned of Snape's unrequited love for his mother Lily, his reason for his loyalty to Dumbledore, and that he himself contained a Horcrux. Harry realized that he had to die if Voldemort was ever to be killed, and so willingly went into the Forest to sacrifice himself ( DH34) where he stepped in front of Voldemort and was killed.

But he didn't die ( DH35), because of the blood they shared during Voldemort's rebirthing three years ago. Voldemort had unknowingly protected the one person who could kill him. Voldemort also did not realize that his attempt to become the master of the Elder wand was still unsuccessful. Unbeknownst to the Dark Lord, it was Harry who was now the master of that wand.

Voldemort approached the castle with Harry's supposedly dead body and demanded that all surrender. Not surprisingly, no one did. Neville Longbottom, who at one time it seemed the prophecy may have been referring to, stood boldly in front of Voldemort and defied him, then killed the snake. That was the last Horcrux to go. The battle raged into the Entrance Hall and from there to the Great Hall, where Harry finally faced Voldemort. Harry offered him one last chance, that he feel some remorse. Voldemort refused and tried once again to kill Harry. Harry cast a disarming charm and the Elder wand, recognizing its master, flew to him. Voldemort's spell rebounded back on himself, and he was killed ( DH35).

Harry married Ginny Weasley and they had three children; James, Albus Severus, and Lily (DH/e). Harry became an Auror at the age of 17 and eventually became head of the Auror Office in 2007 (BLC, JKR).

BIRTHDATE & NAME MEANINGS
Birth name: Harry James Potter.
First name: Harry, possibly named after Henry "Harry" Potter, a relative who served in the Wizengamot from 1913 to 1921 (Pm).
Middle name: James, after his father (Sch2, OP8).
Other names: 'The boy who lived;' 'Saint Potter, the Mudblood's friend' (-Draco, CS12); 'the Chosen One' ( HBP3) 'Parry Otter, the Chosen Boy' (-Horace Slughorn, HBP22), 'Undesirable Number One' in 1997 and 1998 ( DH16).
Birthdate: 31 July 1980, the same birthday (not year) as Rowling.
Citations: Harry is mentioned in Modern Magical History, The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts, and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century ( PS6).
JKR's Wizard of the Month for October 2007 ( JKR).

APPEARANCE
Eye color:Brilliant green, the same as his mother's; his green eyes are all that keeps him from looking just like his father ( OP3).
Hair color: Black; perpetually messy, sticks up in the back, same as his father's.
Other characteristics: Round glasses; at the age of 11 he was short and thin, with knobbly knees. Lightning-bolt scar on forehead.
From the books: "Harry had always been small and skinny for his age. ... Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair, and bright green eyes. He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tape .... The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning." ( PS2)
Tattoo? Nah. During Harry's sixth year it was rumored that he had a Hippogriff tattooed on his chest. Ginny had a laugh on them by telling them it wasn't a Hippogriff, it was a Hungarian Horntail ( HBP25).

THE SCARS
"Never wondered how you got that mark on yer forehead? That was no ordinary cut. That's what yeh get when a powerful, evil curse touches yeh - took care of yer mum an' dad an' yer house, even - but it didn't work on you, an' that's why yer famous, Harry." ( PS4)

Dumbledore looked very intensely at Harry for a moment, and then said, "I have a theory, no more than that ... It is my belief that your scar hurts both when Lord Voldemort is near you, and when he is feeling a particularly strong surge of hatred."
"But ... why?"
"Because you and he are connected by the curse that failed," said Dumbledore. "That is no ordinary scar." ( GF30)

New scar: Ever since his fifth year, Harry has also had a self-inflicted scar: "I must not tell lies" is now permanently etched on the back of his right hand ( HBP16).

HOGWARTS
First year: 1991.
House: Gryffindor.
Yule Ball date: Parvati Patil.
Earned 7 OWLs (9 attempted): Astronomy A; Care of Magical Creatures E; Charms E; Defense Against the Dark Arts O; Divination P;Herbology E; History of Magic D; Potions E; Transfiguration E. ( HBP5). These grades qualified Harry for a career as an Auror.
Quidditch: Seeker for Gryffindor House team 1991 - 1997 (youngest player for a House team in a hundred years). Captain of the team during his sixth year ( HBP6).
Awards, etc.: Quidditch Cup; Special Award for Services to the School ( CS18); Triwizard Tournament Champion.
Other schools: Before he was admitted to Hogwarts, Harry was to attend Stonewall High, the local public school ( PS3). Later, the Dursleys explain Harry's absence during the school year away by telling people that he attends St. Brutus's Secure Center for Incurably Criminal Boys, a "first-rate institution for hopeless cases." ( PA2, GF1).

SKILLS, MAGICAL DEVICES, ETC.
Wand: Holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple; an unusual combination. It is the "brother" to Lord Voldemort's wand ( PS5), in that both contain a feather from Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes ( GF36). This wand was broken during the escape from the Bathilda Bagshot's house, and Harry was wandless until Ron returned with a blackthorn wand he had captured from snatchers. The blackthorn wand was noticeably clumsy and less powerful. Luckily Harry was able to win Draco's, Bellatrix's and Womtail's wands during the escape from the Malfoy mansion. Of the three, Draco's (hawthorn and unicorn hair, 10 inches, reasonably springy), was the friendliest ( DH24) so Harry used this one until he could fix his original holly wand ( DH36).
Broomstick: Nimbus 2000 (1991-3), Firebolt (1994-97).
Other devices: Invisibility cloak, Marauder's Map, Pocket Sneakoscope, two-way mirror (OP), two-way mirror shard (DH), Sword of Gryffindor, Resurrection Stone, Elder Wand (DH). See also Christmas gifts chart below for other devices that Harry owns.
Socks: Socks with spiders on them ( PS2) ; Dobby gave him red (with broomsticks) and green socks (with Snitches) for Christmas ( GF23).
Organizations & affiliations: Gryffindor Quidditch Seeker and team captain; Dumbledore's Army; Slug Club.
Career: While in school, Harry decided he wanted to be an Auror (OP), and his wish came true. After Voldemort was killed, new Minister of Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt asked Harry to become an Auror. Harry reformed the Auror Department and became its Head in 2007 ( JKR).
Skills: A "natural" Quidditch player (PS); a Parselmouth until 1998 (CS, BLC); can cast spells without a wand; senses the presence of others;prescient dreams; particularly skilled in Defense against the Dark Arts; appears to be resistant to the Imperius Curse and Veelas. Had difficulty learning Occlumency, but finally figured it out in 1998.
Patronus: Stag, clearly referring to his father's Animagus form.
Worst fear/memory: Harry relives the death of his parents when dementors are close by.
Boggart: A dementor.
Amortentia (love potion) smells: "treacle tart, the woody smell of a broomstick handle, and something flowery he thought he might have smelled at the Burrow" ( HBP9).
Criminal? Harry was named "Undesirable Number One" by the Death Eater-controlled Ministry. A ten-thousand-Galleon reward was set for his capture ( DH16).

PROPHECIES
"It Will Happen Tonight."
"The Dark Lord lies alone and friendless, abandoned by his followers. His servant has been chained these twelve years. Tonight, before midnight ... the Servant will break free and set out to rejoin his Master. The Dark Lord will rise again with his servant's aid, greater and more terrible that ever he was. Tonight ... before midnight ... the servant will set out to rejoin his Master ..." (Trelawney, PA16)

Harry will "live to a ripe old age, become Minister for Magic and have twelve children." (Trelawney, OP26)

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... And the Dark Lord will mark him as equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ... And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives." (Trelawney, OP37)

[More on Sybill Trelawney] [ JKR on Prophecies (Madam Scoop's Index)] [ List of all Trelawney's known predictions]

HARRY'S DREAMS [more on Harry's dreams...]

A flying motorcycle (PS2).

Harry wears Quirrell's turban which tells him he must transfer to Slytherin because it is his destiny. Malfoy, Snape and green light too (PS7).

On show in a zoo, labeled "Underage Wizard." Wakes up from the dream to see Ron at the window in the Ford Anglia (CS2).

Quidditch dream where he is late to a game and the Slytherin team arrives riding dragons. He is flying at a high speed when he realizes that he forgot his Firebolt and falls through the air (PA15).

Mermaid from the bathroom torments Harry with his own broomstick (then Dobby wakes him up) (GF26).

Riding on an eagle owl soaring toward Riddle house to a room where there are two men speaking, and a snake. Overhears conversation between LV and Wormtail about someone being killed to cover up Wormtail's blunder (GF29).

"Many-legged creatures" with cannons for heads cantering up and down the stairs at Weasley house. Hagrid tells him they'll be studying weapons this term (OP6).

Dreams about the corridor in the MoM Department of Mysteries begin in August when he is staying at 12 Grimmauld Place. (OP6; hereafter referred to as "the corridor dream.")

Mrs. Weasley sobs over Kreacher's body watched by Ron and Hermione, who are wearing crowns (then corridor dream again) (OP10).

"He was not going to share his dreams with anyone. He knew perfectly well what his regular nightmare about a graveyard meant." (OP12).

Harry dreamed he was back in the Room of Requirement. Cho was accusing him of luring her there under false pretenses; she said that he had promised her a hundred and fifty Chocolate Frog cards if she showed up. Then the dream changes when Harry dreams he is Nagini and "witnesses" the actual attack on Arthur Weasley (OP21).

Neville and Professor Sprout waltz around the Room of Requirement while Professor McGonagall plays the bagpipes. Turns into the corridor dream (OP).

Ron chases him with a Quidditch bat (HBP14).

Dreams of Ginny (HBP15, 22).

Malfoy turns into Slughorn, then Snape (HBP21).

Cups, lockets and other objects that are just out of reach; Dumbledore gives him a ladder but it turns to snakes (HBP30).

Harry initially thinks his visions of Voldemort are dreams (DH).

Nagini, the cracked stone in the Peverell ring, and a wreath of Christmas roses (DH19).

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Harry Potter is the Boy Who Lived, the Chosen One, the hero of the Wizarding world. He grew up with Muggles, and then came to Hogwarts where he faced dangers and terrors beyond his years. He, along with his friends Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley and Neville Longbottom, destroyed Voldemort's Horcruxes.

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Can you name the answers to these Harry Potter questions and make it to level 15 of the bunker? Test your knowledge on this literature quiz to see how you do and compare your score to others.