The Prophecy And The Potters
The First Wizarding War ended in 1981, but the seeds of its conclusion were planted more than a year prior. In early 1980 , word reached Voldemort of a prophecy that had been delivered to Dumbledore by the unlikely seer Sybill Trelawney. It proclaimed that “the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies,” to parents “who have thrice defied him.” Two children born in July 1980 fit that description: Neville Longbottom and Harry Potter. Possibly because Harry shared his own half-blood heritage, Voldemort decided he was the prophesied threat. Harry’s parents, James and Lily, were placed under a seemingly impenetrable concealment spell, only to be betrayed by their treacherous friend, Peter Pettigrew. Shortly after Harry’s first birthday, Voldemort entered the Potter home and killed both parents, before turning his wand upon their only child.
What happened next fundamentally altered the course of history. In giving up her life for her son, Lily Potter imbued him with an ancient and powerful magical protection. Voldemort’s curse, which had killed so many witches and wizards, bounced off Harry and rebounded upon its caster, killing Voldemort instead. Moreover, Voldemort’s soul had, by this point, been so heavily damaged that the curse caused another piece of it to tear off. This soul-scrap merged with Harry himself, making him Voldemort’s sixth Horcrux though this wouldn’t be known to anyone for years.
Chapter One: The Worst Birthday
Summary
At 4 Privet Drive, the Dursley family is arguing. Vernon Dursley bellows at his nephew Harry Potter because Harry’s pet owl, Hedwig, is noisy. Dudley Dursley, Vernon’s spoiled and obese son, clamors for more bacon. When Dudley demands the frying pan, Harry mutters, “You’ve forgotten the magic word,” and the family erupts into chaos.
The narrator explains the reason for the hubbub about the magic word. Harry Potter is a wizard, staying with the Dursleys for the summer after his first term at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Upon Harry’s return from school, Uncle Vernon locked all of Harry’s magical thingshis spellbooks, brookstick, wand and cauldroninto a closet. The Dursleys are “Muggles,” or non-magical people, and they were forced to adopt Harry when his own parents were killed by the greatest wizard of their time, the evil Lord Voldemort. Harry survived Voldemort’s curse but was left with a lightening-bolt shaped scar on his forehead, beneath his unruly dark hair and above his usually broken glasses. For the survival of this powerful curse and also for his scar, Harry Potter was famous in the wizard world before he was even old enough to remember. Harry did not even know himself to be a wizard until the previous summer, when Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper, arrived to whisk eleven-year-old Harry away to Hogwarts for his wizarding education.
Analysis
Peeves Was The One Who Broke The Vanishing Cabinet That Malfoy Later Repaired
In “Chamber of Secrets,” Harry is about to be punished by Filch when Nearly Headless Nick persuades Peeves the Poltergeist to drop a cabinet right above the office.
Harry hears Filch talking to Mrs. Norris the cat saying that it was an extremely valuable Vanishing Cabinet. That cabinet later becomes a crucial part of the “Half-Blood Prince” plot. Malfoy has to repair the cabinet in order to sneak Death Eaters into Hogwarts.
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Professor Trelawney Mistakenly Guesses That Harry Was Born In Midwinter But She Might Have Been Picking Up On The Part Of Voldemort Inside Him
During one Divination lesson in “Goblet of Fire,” Trelawney tries to guess Harry’s birth month.
“Saturn was surely in a position of power in the heavens at the moment of your birth … Your dark hair,” she says. “Your mean stature … tragic losses so young in life … I think I am right in saying, my dear, that you were born in midwinter?”
Harry was born on July 31. But Voldemort’ birthday was December 31 precisely midwinter.
Harry was a Horcrux, and was therefore holding a part of Voldemort’s soul within him. Professor Trelawney might have been accidentally analyzing Voldemort’s soul, instead of Harry’s, by mistake.
Even her description of “dark hair” and “tragic losses so young in life” match with Voldemort/Tom Riddle.
Price Wars And Other Controversies
, along with several other UK supermarkets, having already taken pre-orders for the book at a heavily discounted price, sparked a price war two days before the book’s launch by announcing they would sell it for just £5 a copy. Other retail chains then also offered the book at discounted prices. At these prices the book became a . This caused uproar from traditional UK booksellers who argued they had no hope of competing in those conditions. Independent shops protested loudest, but even , the UK’s largest dedicated chain bookstore, could not compete with the supermarket price. Some small bookstores hit back by buying their stock from the supermarkets rather than their wholesalers. Asda attempted to counter this by imposing a limit of two copies per customer to prevent bulk purchases. Philip Wicks, a spokesman for the , said, “It is a war we can’t even participate in. We think it’s a crying shame that the supermarkets have decided to treat it as a loss-leader, like a can of baked beans.” Michael Norris, an analyst at Simba Information, said: “You are not only lowering the price of the book. At this point, you are lowering the value of reading.”
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Lily J Potter & James Potter
Harry Potter’s famous July 31st birthday came just over a year before the tragic murder of his parents, Lily and James Potter, at the hands of Voldemort on Halloween night, 1981, both of whom died at the age of 21.
Both born in 1960, sharing a calendar year with the likes of Snape and Lupin, Lily was the older of the two, born at the end of January while James’ birthday helped usher in the springtime two months later.
Did Hermione Kiss Draco
One day, Draco decides to erase Hermiones memories. During the Battle of Hogwarts, Hermione and Draco reunite on the room of requirement. Thats a symbolic place for them cause thats where they exchanged their first kiss, thats why Hermione recovers her memories but its too late since shes already with Ron.
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Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows
In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Voldemort furthers his quest for ultimate power. He disposes of the Minister for Magic and replaces him with Pius Thicknesse, who is under the Imperius Curse. Establishing a totalitarianpolice state, he has Muggle-borns persecuted and arrested for “stealing magic” from the “pure blood” wizards. After failing to kill Harry with Draco’s father Lucius Malfoy‘s borrowed wand , he goes on a murderous search for the Elder Wand, the most powerful wand ever created, seeing it as the weapon he needs to overcome Harry’s wand and make him truly invincible. He goes on a quest that takes him out of the country to Gregorovitch‘s wand shop, where he kills the old wandmaker. His journey also takes him to Nurmengard, the prison where Gellert Grindelwald is kept, and he kills Grindelwald as well. He finally locates the Elder Wand and steals it from Dumbledore’s tomb.
Rowling stated that after his death, Voldemort is forced to exist in the stunted infant-like form that Harry sees in the King’s Cross-like Limbo after his confrontation with Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest. Rowling also mentioned that, despite his extreme fear of death, he cannot become a ghost.
Draco Malfoy Actor Tom Felton Made A Documentary About Harry Potter Fans
Feltons proximity to Harry Potter fandom gave him a unique perspective when he set out to make a documentary about Harry Potter fans.
Were not just talking about the fact that he was in the Harry Potter films, although that does help to an extent. His 2015 BBC documentary looks into the lives of the fans who wait in line to meet him and other actors at conventions, and how the books and films have affected them, which opened his eyes to their experiences along the way.
It was a massive insight for me, going behind the ropes and seeing what people actually do to stand behind a railing at an event, Felton told JustJared in 2015. You dont really think about the three hours it took them to stand there and get the best spot.
Although some initially feared that Feltons documentary would misunderstand or mock its subjects , it was well-received by critics, helped in part by Feltons willingness to look deeper.
You can watch Superfans! on YouTube.
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He Is Not Always Self
The Malfoys as a whole tend to be incredibly self-serving. Even the seemingly kindest acts often have an ulterior motive. Narcissa Malfoy is often credited with saving Harrys life by not telling Voldemort about him. The only reason she does this is because she thinks Draco may still be alive, and she is not willing to chance losing her son. While this saved Harry, she ultimately did it for herself and Draco.
Draco, however, is different. When asked to identify Harry, Ron, and Hermione who he clearly knows he lies to the Death Eaters in order to save their lives. Not only is there no reward in this for him, Draco could actually be punished and even be terminated for such a lie. He takes the risk anyway, and this shows a true difference in his character from his family.
What else do you think everyone gets wrong about Draco Malfoy in Harry Potter? Let us know in the comments!
Similarities To Real Life
Voldemort’s character draws certain parallels to three real-life dictators Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and Benito Mussolini. However, J.K. Rowling uses Hitler as the bigger influence for Voldemort.
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Magical Abilities And Skills
Voldemort demonstrates his power in the Ministry of Magic
Lord Voldemort was the most powerful, skilled and dangerous dark wizard of all time. He was amongst the greatest wizards to have ever lived, often considered to be the second most powerful wizard in history, his only superior being Albus Dumbledore. Voldemort was extremely talented even while still a student of Hogwarts, with Albus Dumbledore himself saying Voldemort was the most brilliant student to have ever attended Hogwarts. As an adult, Voldemort became a tremendously powerful and accomplished wizard of nearly unrivalled skill, admired and feared by even the most powerful wizards and witches. Combined with his utter megalomania, Voldemort was regarded as the most powerful and most dangerous Dark Wizard of all time, being the only dark wizard to surpass Gellert Grindelwald.
- “You think you know more magic than I do? Than I, than Lord Voldemort, who has performed magic that Dumbledore himself never dreamed of?”
- Voldemort’s egomaniacal philosophy of magic equating to power, in his last moments
- “Inferi have not been seen for a long time, however, not since Voldemort was last powerful… He killed enough people to make an army of them, of course.”
- Albus Dumbledore explaining Voldemort’s immortality
Voldemort’s wandless possible casting of Fiendfyre that took the form of a giant serpent
Lord Voldemort’s fearsome visage
So This Is How 2016 Ends With Lord Voldemorts 90th Birthday
2016 has been an unprecedented year yes, thats the word. So, as we approach the years end we could all do with a bit of a laugh. Lets look at ways magic-minded folk might party on New Years Eve the day a certain Tom Marvolo Riddle first entered the world in 1926.
Thats not to say that the most evil wizard of all times birthday is in any way a cause for joy and merriment. But it feels somehow fitting to wrap up this particular year with some pretty dark party inspiration. Its what he would have wanted.
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Harry Potter And The Cursed Child
In the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Draco appears with his son Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy, who became best friends with Harrys second son Albus Severus Potter. It was revealed that during the fourth year of Scorpiuss time in Hogwarts that Draco became widowed, as his wife Astoria Malfoy passed away due to a inherited blood curse, which could shorten her lifespan and disallow her from growing into old age.
After he was married, Draco initially contemplated letting the Malfoy bloodline to end with him to allow Astoria live longer , as he was aware of Astorias family blood curse and that childbirth would weaken her further. Astoria, however, persuaded him from doing so as she wanted a child not for the pure-blood beliefs, but for him so that he will not be alone should she died some day, which culiminated into the birth of Dracos first and only child Scorpius. Draco had once considered the birth of his son as the greatest day of his life, even though Scorpiuss birth had led to Astorias health to be further weakened and eventually caused her to die fourteen years later.
During the events of the play, Draco slowly made amends with Harry and his friends as they all embarked on a journey to save their sons from Voldemorts daughter Delphini, demonstrating his slow, but gradual acknowledgement of Harry as a friend and his outright denouncement of his Death Eater past.
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He Constantly Needs The Approval Of Others
A running theme with Draco is definitely his inner conflict. As the series unfolds, it slowly becomes clear that the biggest struggle of all is how Draco feels versus how his family wants him to act. For the Malfoys, family and bloodline is everything. Imagine the strictest household you can think of, multiply it, and there you have Dracos childhood.
In almost every instance where Draco is doing something evil that he doesnt actually want to do, he is doing it to please his father and his family. His constant need for approval almost drives him insane. Dracos seemingly evil nature and mean spirit has less to do with him and more to do with his over-bearing family, who he eventually learns he will never please.
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The First Words Snape Speaks To Harry Have A Hidden Reference To Lily Potter’s Death
When Harry attends his first potions lesson with Snape in “Sorcerer’s Stone,” the professor asks him a series of difficult questions. One of the questions is, “What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?”
A Pottermore article detailing Rowling’s use of the Victorian language of flowers reveals how Snape’s question was really an expression of regret over Lily Potter’s death.
“Asphodel is a type of lily and means ‘remembered beyond the tomb’ or ‘my regrets follow you to the grave,’ while wormwood is often associated with regret or bitterness,” the Pottermore article explains.
Online Leaks And Early Delivery
In the week before its release, a number of texts purporting to be genuine leaks appeared in various forms. On 16 July, a set of photographs representing all 759 pages of the US edition was leaked and was fully prior to the official release date. The photographs later appeared on websites and networks, leading to seek a in order to identify one source. This represented the most serious security breach in the Harry Potter series’ history. Rowling and her lawyer confirmed that there were genuine online leaks. Reviews published in both and The New York Times on 18 July 2007, corroborated many of the plot elements from this leak, and about one day prior to release, The New York Times confirmed that the main circulating leak was real.
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Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban
Voldemort does not appear in the third book, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, either in person or as a magical manifestation. He is, however, heard when Harry passes out from the harsh effects of a Dementor. Towards the end of the story, Sybill Trelawney, the Divination professor, makes a rare genuine prophecy: “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 than ever before. Tonight… before midnight… the servant… will set out… to rejoin… his master…” Though it is initially implied that the prophecy refers to Sirius Black, the book’s ostensible antagonist, the servant is eventually revealed to be Peter Pettigrew, who, for the 12 years since Voldemort’s fall, has been disguised as Ron’s pet rat, Scabbers.
Books In The Harry Potter Series
- Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child although a script and not a novel, it was advertised as the eighth story in the series
On film Harry Potter was portrayed by Daniel Radcliffe, at the time a relatively unknown child actor. His friends Ron and Hermione were played by Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, respectively. Irish actor Richard Harris assumed the role of Dumbledore for the first two films and was replaced after his death by Michael Gambon for the remainder of the series. Voldemort was played by Ralph Fiennes, and his followers included Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy and Helena Bonham Carter as the mad witch Bellatrix Lestrange, among others.
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