Chapter : The Sorting Hat
- “If only the hat had mentioned a house for people who felt a bit queasy, that would have been the one for him.”
- Harry, about the Sorting Hat
Peeves, dropping stuff over the new first-year students
The new students are greeted at the castle door by Professor Minerva McGonagall, who tells them they will soon be sorted into their houses. All Hogwarts students live in one of four residences: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin, with each house having its own team for Quidditch. The houses are in a yearlong competition with one another to acquire the most points, which are earned by success in Quidditch games and given by teachers for academic achievement and lost for student infractions, in order to win the House Cup awarded at the end of the year.
The first-years wait in an antechamber while McGonagall checks to see whether it is time yet. The Hogwarts ghosts glide into the room by mistake while debating whether to offer Peeves another chance.
After a brief mental discussion with the hat in which it tries to suggest Slytherin to him, the hat places Harry in Gryffindor. Harry is pleased to find that Ron joins in Gryffindor with him. Draco Malfoy is placed in Slytherin.
Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire
During Harry’s fourth year, Hogwarts plays host to a legendary event: the Triwizard Tournament. Three European schools participate in the tournament, with three ‘champions’ representing each school in the deadly tasks. The Goblet of Fire chooses Fleur Delacour, Viktor Krum, and Cedric Diggory to compete against each other. However, curiously, Harry’s name is also produced from the Goblet thus making him a fourth champion, which results in a terrifying encounter with a reborn Lord Voldemort.
Harry Potter: Philosopher’s Stone’s Sirius Black Reference
The first chapter in the Harry Potter book series included a casual reference to Sirius Black, showing how much J.K. Rowling had already planned.
Sirius Black was one of the most important people in Harry Potters life, and he was name-dropped in the first book so how much did J.K. Rowling had planned when Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was published? Rowling introduced readers to the Wizarding World in 1997, and continued exploring it with six more novels that followed the story of the boy who lived and the darkest wizard of all, Lord Voldemort.
Harry Potter didnt have an easy life: following the murder of his parents when he was one year old, he was sent to live with his aunt and uncle, who were never nice to him. Harry then learned he was a wizard , and began to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where he also encountered a lot of obstacles and enemies. Harry eventually formed his own family thanks to his friends, but before that, readers witnessed another big loss in Harrys life when his godfather and guardian, Sirius Black, was killed in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
Sirius Black became a very important person for Harry and one of the most beloved characters in the series, and Rowling knew exactly where she was going with him, so much that he was casually mentioned in the first book.
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Chapter : The Boy Who Lived
- “To Harry Potter – The Boy Who Lived”
- People meeting in secret all over the country to offer a toast to Harry
Vernon and Petunia Dursley, of Number Four Privet Drive , are proud to say that they are perfectly normal. They are the last people youd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just dont hold with such nonsense. Vernon is the director of a drill-making firm called Grunnings, and Petunia keeps house and raises their one-year-old son Dudley.
On Tuesday, 1 November1981, the Dursleys begin the day by gossiping about their neighbours while Petunia wrestles their toddler into his high chair. None of them notice a large tawny owl flying past their window, but Vernon does notice the tabby cat reading a map and a street sign outside their house. He forces himself to forget the sight, but upon arriving in town, he notices large groups of people wearing cloaks. He eavesdrops on them and hears them talking about the Potters and their son Harry. Vernon finds this horrifying because the Potters are his in-laws, and he and Petunia wouldnt want anyone to find out about them.
When he leaves work at the end of the day, he bumps into a small man wearing a cloak, but when he tries to apologise, the man hugs him and tells him that even muggles like him should be celebrating today because You-Know-Who has been defeated.
Chapter : The Letters From No One
- Dudley: “Dad! Look, Harry’s got a letter!”
- Uncle Vernon: “What? Who’d be writing to you?”
- Vernon Dursley taking Harry’s letter from him
Hundreds of letters arriving at the fireplace
Ever since the boa constrictor escaped from the zoo, Harry was locked in his cupboard for the longest time ever. When Harry is finally allowed out, it’s the beginning of the summer holidays. Even though he is not at school, Harry still can’t escape Dudley and his gang, who regularly visit the house. To keep out of their way, Harry usually wanders around Privet Drive. He is glad, however, that Dudley and Piers are going to Smeltings Academy, while Harry is going to attend Stonewall High. One day during the summer, Harry is told to get the post for Uncle Vernon. When Harry goes to get the mail, there are three letters: a postcard from Uncle Vernon’s sister, who is on holiday in the Isle of Wight, a letter that looks like a bill, and a letter for Harry. Harry takes the letter, studies the yellow parchment it is made of, then reads the address:
Mr H. Potter
- Hagrid telling Harry that he is a wizard
Rubeus Hagrid enters the cabin
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Rowling Owes Her Success To An 8
Like many first-time authors, Rowling struggled to get her first book, Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone published. The book was rejected by over a dozen publishers. Finally, a small British publisher, Bloomsbury, said yes. Bloomsbury saw the potential of the book because the chairman of the publishing house gave the first chapter to his then 8-year-old daughter, Alice, to read. Upon finishing, she immediately demanded the rest of the book. However, Bloomsbury was not convinced that it had a bestseller on its hands. Rowlings editor, Barry Cunningham, warned her that she needed to get a day job because it was impossible to make a living writing childrens books.
Final Harry Potter Book Released
On July 21, 2007, the seventh and final Harry Potter novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, is released, with an initial print run of 12 million copies in the United States alone. Like each of the previous Harry Potter novels, Deathly Hallows was slated to be made into a major Hollywood film.
The bespectacled boy wizard Harry Potter is the brainchild of the British author J.K. Rowling, who was born July 31, 1965. Rowlings first novel, Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone, debuted in Britain in 1997 and went on to become an international bestseller. Children and adults alike were captivated by Harry, his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger and their adventures at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The books, which chronicled Harrys struggles against his enemy, the evil Lord Voldemort, have sold over 400 million copies and been translated into more than 60 languages. The series is also credited with boosting childhood literacy around the globe.
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Response Within The Harry Potter Fandom
The response to the play from the Harry Potterfandom was polarizing.Fans responded positively to the play and its characters, with Scorpius Malfoy being particularly popular. Some fans commented that the dialogue between the familiar characters was “spot on”, celebrating it as a faithful continuation of the books. Others have noted that the play sheds light on some of the relationships between the characters, such as Harry and Dumbledore’s. The response had been particularly positive among fans who watched the play on stage.
Some fans however, said the story seemed more “like a work of fan fiction” and said that it diverged from previously established rules of the universe, criticising the script’s characterisation. Some also took issue with the style and plot of the script, complaining that the Time-Turner storylines had already been used, as had Cedric Diggory’s death, and that the writers were rehashing old storylines and over-played tropes of the fantasy/sci-fi genre. These criticisms have led to some of the fandom rejecting the play as separate from the Pottercanon.
Uses In Education And Business
Writers on education and business subjects have used the book as an object lesson. Writing about clinical teaching in medical schools, Jennifer Conn contrasted Snape’s technical expertise with his intimidating behaviour towards students. Quidditch coach Madam Hooch on the other hand, illustrated useful techniques in the teaching of physical skills, including breaking down complex actions into sequences of simple ones and helping students to avoid common errors. Joyce Fields wrote that the books illustrate four of the five main topics in a typical first-year sociology class: “sociological concepts including culture, society, and socialisation stratification and social inequality social institutions and social theory“.
Stephen Brown noted that the early Harry Potter books, especially Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, were a runaway success despite inadequate and poorly organised marketing. Brown advised marketing executives to be less preoccupied with rigorous statistical analyses and the “analysis, planning, implementation, and control” model of management. Instead he recommended that they should treat the stories as “a marketing masterclass”, full of enticing products and brand names. For example, a real-world analogue of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans was introduced under licence in 2000 by toymaker Hasbro.
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All The Harry Potter Books In Order: Your Jk Rowling Reading List
Of all the zeitgeist-defining fiction to come out of the past twenty years, perhaps none has been more universally beloved than the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. An incredibly imagined fantasy bildungsroman, it follows the eponymous boy wizard as he attends the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and contends with his destiny to fight the Dark Lord, Voldemort. Fortunately, he always has clever, loyal friends Ron and Hermione by his side plus the invaluable mentorship of eccentric but wise Hogwarts headmaster, Dumbledore.
As fellow Potterheads will know, its virtually impossible to rank these books from best to worst, since each one is brilliant in its own way. Thats why weve decided to simply present all the Harry Potter books in order of chronology/publication, hitting the highlights for longtime fans to happily reminisce and to help budding fans get a taste of the series genuine magic.
Heres a quick catalog of the series, so that you know what youre in for:
Chapter 1: Through The Trapdoor
- “I don’t know how you found out about the Stone, but rest assured, no one can possibly steal it, it’s too well protected.”
- Professor McGonagall’s wrong statement about the stone’s security
Fluffy the three-headed dog
The next room, Professor Flitwick’s, holds a bunch of flying keys and some broomsticks. Harry finds a silver one with a broken wing that is different from the others and catches it, unlocking the next door with it. The next room is Professor McGonagall’s, and has a large chessboard, for a game of Wizard’s Chess that Ron helps them win, at the cost of having to sacrifice himself and getting knocked out. Harry and Hermione continue to the next room, Professor Quirrell’s, where they find an unconscious troll laying on the floor. Lastly, they enter Professor Snape’s room and find seven potions in bottles along with a roll of paper giving clues on which one to drink to continue, noting that three bottles have poison, two have nettle wine, one will send the drinker back, and the other will let the drinker move forward into the next room. Hermione tells Harry that it is a test of logic and not magic wherein most wizards fail. She solves the puzzle, and at Harry’s instruction, drinks the one that will allow her to head back through the purple flame, while Harry drinks the one to head into the black flame and into the final room, where he is surprised at whom he sees.
Professor Quirrell removing his turban
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Subsequent Harry Potter Publications
Rowling has said it is unlikely she will write any more books in the Harry Potter series. In October 2007, she stated that her future work was unlikely to be in the fantasy genre. On 1 October 2010, in an interview with , Rowling stated a new book on the saga might happen.
In 2007, Rowling stated that she planned to write an encyclopaedia of Harry Potter‘s consisting of various unpublished material and notes. Any profits from such a book would be given to charity. During a news conference at Hollywood’s in 2007, Rowling, when asked how the encyclopaedia was coming along, said, “It’s not coming along, and I haven’t started writing it. I never said it was the next thing I’d do.” At the end of 2007, Rowling said that the encyclopaedia could take up to ten years to complete.
In June 2011, Rowling announced that future Harry Potter projects, and all electronic downloads, would be concentrated in a new website, called . The site includes 18,000 words of information on characters, places and objects in the Harry Potter universe.
In October 2015, Rowling announced via Pottermore that a two-part play she had co-authored with playwrights Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, , was the “eighth Harry Potter story” and that it would focus on the life of Harry Potter’s youngest son Albus after the epilogue of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. On 28 October 2015, the first round of tickets went on sale and sold out in several hours.
Magical Abilities And Skills
Throughout the series, Harry Potter is described as a gifted wizard apprentice. He has a particular talent for flying, which manifests itself in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone the first time he tries it, and gets him a place on a Quidditch team one year before the normal minimum joining age. He captains it in his sixth year. In his fourth year , Harry is able to confront a dragon on his broomstick.
Harry is also gifted in Defence Against the Dark Arts, in which he becomes proficient due to his repeated encounters with Voldemort and various monsters. In his third year, Harry becomes able to cast the very advanced Patronus Charm, and by his fifth year he has become so talented at the subject that he is able to teach his fellow students in Dumbledore’s Army, some even older than him how to defend themselves against Dark Magic. At the end of that year, he achieves an ‘Outstanding’ Defence Against the Dark Arts O.W.L., something that not even Hermione achieved. He is a skilled duellist, the only one of the six Dumbledore’s Army members to be neither injured nor incapacitated during the battle with Death Eaters in the Department of Mysteries in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. He also fends off numerous Death Eaters during his flight to the Burrow at the beginning of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
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The Tales Of Beedle The Bard
The Tales of Beedle the Bard is a collection of five fairy wizarding tales, told by, well, Beedle the Bard! Professor Dumbledore bequeathed these age-old tales to Hermione Granger, and they turned out to be instrumental in helping Harry Potter crack the clues given to him in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Now it’s your chance to read them for yourself. Though the stories in this book all have a magical twist, the themes at their cores still resonate with what we associate with fairy tales: friendship, the everlasting strength of love, and the magic that each one of us possesses.
Early On The Books Were Extremely Controversial And In Many Ways They Still Are
Part of what made Harry Potter such a literary phenomenon is that so many kids were reading the books despite an unprecedented number of attempts to get them to stop reading the books.
The Harry Potter series, like many works of fantasy, involves wizardry and witchcraft. The feeling that the books thus promoted the occult proved to be the basis for constant challenges to the series presence in school libraries and bookstores by concerned conservative parents. The books first topped the American Library Associations list of the most banned books of the year in 1999, and remained in the top spot for most of the next decade.
In some regions, pressure to censor the series was so high it led to lawsuits: In 2003, a judge ordered an Arkansas school district that had removed the books from schools due to promotion of the religion of witchcraft to return them. Similar formal attempts at removal persisted into the latter half of the decade, and the books continue to rile up conservative religious leaders who warn of its demonic influence.
All of this controversy speaks not only to concerns that Rowlings work would negatively influence children, but to the reality that many of those children grew up to be arguably even more progressive than the books they grew up reading which is, in a way, a confirmation of conservatives worst fears about the series.
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