Harry Potter
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| Harry James Potter | |
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| Gender | Male |
| Hair colour | Black |
| Eye colour | Green |
| Skin colour | Light |
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| Patronus | Stag |
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| Occupation | Head of the Auror Office |
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- Lord Voldemort: "Why do you live?"
- Harry Potter: "Because I have something worth living for."
- — Voldemort questioning Harry Potter[src]
Harry James Potter (b. 31 July, 1980) was a half-blood wizard, the only child and son of James Potter and Lily Potter (née Evans), and one of the most famous wizards in modern times. He was also one of the most famous students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry of his time. He was the only known survivor of the Killing Curse, as Lord Voldemort tried to murder him when he was an infant, which led to Voldemort's first defeat and the end of the First Wizarding War, as well as to the orphaned Harry being taken in by his Muggle relatives, the Dursleys, the only relatives Harry had left.
At the age of eleven, Harry learned from Rubeus Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper, that he was a wizard. He began attending Hogwarts and was sorted into Gryffindor house. While at school, Harry became best friends with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. He became the youngest Seeker in over a century and eventually captain of his house's Quidditch team, winning two Quidditch Cupsas part of the team.[20] He became even better known in his early years for protecting the Philosopher's Stone from Voldemort and saving Ginny Weasley from the Chamber of Secrets. In his fourth year, Harry won the Triwizard Tournament, although the competition ended in tragedy with the death of Cedric Diggory and the return ofLord Voldemort. The next school year, Harry reluctantly foundedDumbledore's Army and fought in the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, during which he lost his godfather, who was like a father to him.
Harry played a significant role in many other battles of the Second Wizarding War and hunted down and destroyed Voldemort'sHorcruxes with Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. During theBattle of Hogwarts, he personally witnessed the deaths of Severus Snape and Fred Weasley, and learned that Remus Lupin,Nymphadora Tonks, Colin Creevey, and many others had fallen as well. He encountered Voldemort and sacrificed himself, knowing that that was the only way to destroy the piece of Voldemort's soul that was inside him. However, he did not die; he duelled Voldemort one last time, and defeated him.
After the war, Harry became an Auror and married his best friend Ron's younger sister, Ginny Weasley, with whom he had three children: James Sirius, Albus Severus, and Lily Luna. Harry was also named the godfather of Teddy Remus Lupin. He had felt the effects of the Cruciatus Curse and the Imperius Curse several times. He was also hit by the Killing Curse twice, but survived both times. Harry is also notable for being the only known Master of Death, having united the three Deathly Hallows.
Contents[show] |
BiographyEdit
Family lineageEdit
The Potters were an old, very wealthy pure-blood family, and Harry inherited much of his wealth from his parents. The Potters descended from the Peverell family, an ancient wizarding line, through Ignotus Peverell, who passed an Invisibility cloak on to his descendants. TheGaunts, descendants of Salazar Slytherin, also descend from thePeverells, through Ignotus' brother Cadmus, who passed on theResurrection Stone as a family heirloom in a signet ring, making Harry and Tom Marvolo Riddle very distant relatives.
It is also possible that Harry was distantly related, on his father's side, to the Blacks, Malfoys, Weasleys, and the Longbottoms[21], and almost all other pure-blood families, making him distantly related to various other wizards and witches, including Bellatrix Lestrange,Sirius Black, Nymphadora Tonks, and even his own future wife Ginny Weasley, though the degree of consanguinity is not known.[22]
ChildhoodEdit
Added by - "Maybe he thought he could persuade 'em... maybe he just wanted 'em outta the way. All anyone knows is, he turned up in the village where you was all living, onHallowe'en ten years ago. You was just a year old."
- —Rubeus Hagrid on Harry's parent's deaths[src]
Harry James Potter was born on 31 July, 1980, to James and Lily Potter, members of the first Order of the Phoenix at the height of theFirst Wizarding War. From birth, he lived in hiding with his parents after Lord Voldemort marked them for death. They lived in the village of Godric's Hollow in a home put under the Fidelius Charm to keep them hidden. As part of the charm, they had planned to make their Secret-Keeper Sirius Black, but acting on his advice, they changed this designation to Peter Pettigrew, as they thought he would be less suspicious. In a terrible turn of fate, it happened that Pettigrew was a spy for Voldemort. He betrayed James and Lily Potter, faked his own death, and framed Sirius Black for everything.
At an unknown time, James and Lily had a short, quick Christeningfor Harry, which Sirius attended. It was quiet and quick, and only James, Lily and Sirius were there.
Added by On the evening of 31 October, 1981, Lord Voldemort arrived atGodric's Hollow and ended the lives of Harry's parents; he started with James, who tried to stand up to him; unfortunately he did not have his wand with him and was killed immediately. Voldemort then advanced on Lily Potter, who died protecting Harry. Her sacrifice prevented the Killing Curse from working. Her love for Harry became a barrier protecting her son; when Voldemort attempted the curse on the child, it backfired, and instead of killing Harry, Voldemort lost all his powers and physical form but was saved from death by his multiple Horcruxes. Harry became the only person known to have survived the Killing Curse. The failed curse left a lightning bolt-shape scar on his forehead. The scar would be a bane and a blessing to Harry in the years to come, as it opened atelepathic link between Lord Voldemort and himself. He became famous even at the age of one for defeating Lord Voldemort.
- "To Harry Potter — The Boy Who Lived."
- —Wizarding world toasting Harry Potter after Lord Voldemort's first downfall.[src]
The house at Godric's Hollow was destroyed in the fight, and Rubeus Hagrid rescued Harry from the ruined house. Hagrid was given specific orders to take him to his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, but Hagrid was intercepted by Sirius Black, who pleaded for Hagrid to give the baby to him. Hagrid refused, saying that he was under orders from Dumbledore to get Harry to Privet Drive as quickly as possible. Sirius, though reluctant, relented and gave Hagrid his flying motorcycle to take Harry to Privet Drive. Dumbledore left a letter explaining everything to the Dursleys, but they never relayed it to Harry. Instead, Harry spent the next decade of his life in their strict and miserable home.
Life at Privet DriveEdit
Living with the Dursleys, Harry thought, was the worst thing in the world. As they were a Muggle family, they had no understanding ofmagic, and even though his aunt and uncle knew about his lineage, they wanted nothing to do with it. The Dursleys considered themselves a "proper" family and hated anything out of the ordinary. They lied to Harry about his parents, claiming they had died in a car wreck and that James was an unemployed drunk. They resented Harry for his magical talents, which were sporadic, but evident. They would not even let Harry say the word "magic." They discouraged any sort of imagination insisting upon "stamping that rubbish out" and screamed at or punished Harry whenever something "unusual" occurred. In his youth, Harry could make strange things happen without understanding why (as no one had bothered to tell him that he was a wizard). For instance, after his aunt Petunia sheared off all his messy hair in fury that it would not lay flat, it grew back to its untouched state by the next morning. Harry was punished, even though he had not done anything on purpose. Another time, Dedalus Diggle bowed to him in a shop, and his Aunt Petunia ferociously interrogated Harry as to how he knew the man before leaving the shop very quickly.
Added by The Dursleys spoiled and pampered their son Dudley and paid little to no attention to Harry. All his clothes were ill-fitting hand-me-downs from Dudley, far too large for Harry. He was forced to sleep in the cupboard under the stairs, while his cousin got two bedrooms to himself. They ordered Harry around like a slave. In time, Dudley became a terrible bully of Harry. The Dursleys took Dudley and a friend to spectacular places every year for his birthday, but they never threw Harry a party and gave him horrible presents like a pair of Uncle Vernon's old socks.
There were two benefits to Harry's virtual imprisonment at the Dursleys' home. First, Harry's neighbour, Arabella Figg, was a Squib working undercover for the Order of the Phoenix to keep tabs on Harry's well-being; however, to maintain favour with the Dursleys, she was forced to mistreat him whenever they sent him to her. And second, by returning to live with his mother's only living blood relative, the protection that Lily gave Harry would live on. While Harry could call that place home, there he could not be harmed. However, this charm would be broken when Harry turned 17 years old, or when he no longer called 4 Privet Drive his home.
On Dudley's eleventh birthday, the Dursleys went to Zoo with Dudley's best friend Piers Polkiss. Unfortunately for the Dursleys they had to take Harry with them, as Yvonne, Petunia's best friend, was on holiday at Majorca, andMrs. Figg broke her leg. At the Zoo, Harry accidentally made the glass into a boa enclosure disappear.
Muggle primary schoolEdit
- "At school, Harry had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang."
- —The reason Harry had no friends at school[src]
Harry attended a normal Muggle school along with Dudley. He did not have any friends, since all the students were afraid of Dudley's gang. It is told that he was good at sports, even though he was the last picked for a team; this was more because no one wanted to admit to Dudley that they liked him, rather than because he was no good. Harry got decent, if not good, grades at school. Harry once accidentally turned his teacher's wig blue, and once somehow found himself on the school kitchen roof, when escaping from Dudley's gang.
Harry's discovery of being a wizardEdit
- "Yer a wizard, Harry, and a thumpin' good one."
- —Rubeus Hagrid upon meeting Harry for the first time[src]
Harry had no birthday celebrations until the day he turned eleven, which was the same day that he discovered the exceptional reality about his identity. The week of Harry's birthday, hundreds of letters began arriving at the Dursley's home, addressed to him from a place called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. When the Dursleys saw the first letter was addressed as "cupboard under the stairs," they panicked at the thought of Harry's ill treatment being observed and transferred him to Dudley's second bedroom, which soon appeared on letters as the "smallest bedroom." When Harry's Uncle Vernon first read the letter, he turned a pale, porridge grey out of fear that wizards were trying to contact Harry. Because of this, Vernon Dursley tried to destroy the letters in a futile attempt to keep Harry from his destiny. As the letters kept coming in increasingly larger quantities, the Dursleys saw no alternative but to flee from them. The owls carrying the letters followed them wherever they went. In a final desperate move, the Dursleys relocated themselves to a shack on a rocky island in the edge of the sea.
Added by At midnight on Harry's birthday, Rubeus Hagrid appeared in person to find out why Harry had not received his letter. He was infuriated by the Dursleysand explained to Harry, in spite of Vernon's obstinate protests, that he was a wizard, how his parents died, and that he was to be sent to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
This would be Harry's first birthday celebration, and Hagrid gave him a small homemade birthday cake and an owl, whom Harry named Hedwig. Hagrid took Harry to the Leaky Cauldron, where he learned that he was famous. He met Quirinus Quirrell, his soon-to-be Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts, the Inn-keeper, Tom, a witch named Doris Crockford, and Dedalus Diggle, the man who had bowed to Harry several years earlier. Hagrid then took Harry toDiagon Alley, where he learned more about his fame in the Wizarding world and that his parents had left him a small fortune in a vault at Gringotts.
Added by - "It so happens that the phoenix whose tailfeather resides in your wand gave another feather... just one other. It is curious that you should be destined for this wand when its brother gave you that scar."
- —Ollivander explaining to Harry about his unique wand[src]
Harry bought his first wand from the wandmaker Ollivander that day. His wand was eleven inches long and made of holly. The phoenix feather at the core came fromDumbledore's phoenix Fawkes. It was crafted by Ollivander, who had also created a twin wand This wand had been made from yew, and contained the only other feather supplied by Fawkes. This twin wand had long ago chosen Tom Marvolo Riddle as its wielder. Riddle, under the alias of Lord Voldemort, ended up using this wand to attack Harry and his parents. The two wands, sharing the same phoenix origin, had a unique connection which would prevent them from successfully duelling against each other.
Education at HogwartsEdit
First yearEdit
- Dumbledore: "Harry, do you know why Professor Quirrell couldn't bear to have you touch him? It was because of your mother. She sacrificed herself for you. And that kind of act leaves a mark... This kind of mark cannot be seen. It lives in your very skin."
- Harry: "What is it?"
- Dumbledore: "Love, Harry. Love."
- — Albus Dumbledore to Harry[src]
Harry Potter was further guided by destiny when he met his lifelong best friendsRon Weasley and Hermione Granger while riding the Hogwarts Express. Initially, the Sorting Hat considered putting Harry into Slytherin, but changed its mind at Harry's insistence, as he had heard about the Dark Wizards who had been in the house. All three were Sorted into Gryffindor House on their first evening at school. While Harry immediately took to Ron, he did not immediately befriend Hermione, though he was nicer to her than Ron was. On Halloween, a Mountain Troll was let into the school. The students were sent back to their Common Rooms, but Harry realised that Hermione did not know about the Troll, since she was in the bathroom crying as Ron had made fun of her earlier in the day. Harry and Ron went to the girls bathroom and found the troll bearing down on Hermione. After Harry stuck his wand up its nose, Ron was able to knock the troll out with its own club. Hermione lied to the professors when they came to investigate to keep Harry and Ron out of trouble. From that point on, the three were best friends.
- Professor McGonagall: "Potter, this is Oliver Wood. Wood — I've found you a Seeker."
- Wood: "Are you serious, Professor?"
- Professor McGonagall: "Absolutely. The boy's a natural. I've never seen anything like it."
- — Professor McGonagall and Oliver Wood after seeing Harry fly[src]
Harry discovered at his first broomstick flying lesson that he was a natural flyer. When Draco Malfoy took Neville Longbottom's Rememberall, Harry retrieved it using his broom to fly up and catch it. He was so good that he was able to join the Gryffindor Quidditch team, becoming the youngest Seeker in a century, since first year students normally were not allowed to have their own broomsticks. Before Harry's first Quidditch match, he received the newNimbus 2000, a top of the line racing broom. During that Quidditch match, Harry's broom was jinxed, and he had no control. Ron and Hermione saw Professor Severus Snape staring at Harry and mumbling an incantation.Hermione went to Snape's row and under his seat she cast Lacarnum Inflamarae causing the end of his robes to catch on fire. As soon as Snape stopped making eye contact with Harry, he regained control of his broom and zoomed toward the ground. On his way, he caught the snitch in his mouth, almost swallowing it, ending the match and leaving Gryffindor victorious. It was later revealed that Professor Quirrell was the one jinxing Harry's broom, and Snape was trying to perform a counterjinx, much to Harry, Ron, and Hermione's surprise.
Meanwhile, Lord Voldemort, long presumed dead, was secretly mounting a return. Using the new Professor ofDefence Against the Dark Arts, Quirinus Quirrell, as a host body, he was able to search for the Philosopher's Stone, which he believed would restore him to his body and grant him everlasting life. Voldemort was thwarted by Harry, with great help from Ron and Hermione. Overall, the events of Harry's first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry set the three students in a bond of everlasting friendship which would carry them through every obstacle that came to them from the forces of Darkness.
Second yearEdit
- Ron: "You're a Parselmouth! Why didn't you tell us? ... Now the whole school is gonna think you're his great-great-great-grandson or something."
- Harry: "But I'm not! I can't be."
- Hermione: "He lived a thousand years ago. For all we know, you could be."
- — Harry finds out he's a Parselmouth[src]
Harry's second year started out badly, and gradually got worse. Throughout the preceding summer, Harry had not been in contact with any of his friends, had heard no news from the wizarding world, and had been mistreated by his family, as usual. The evening of his twelfth birthday, Harry learned that the reason his friends had not been in contact with him was that a house-elf named Dobby had been stopping letters from coming to Harry. When Harry questioned Dobby as to why, Dobby told him that Harry Potter must not return to Hogwarts. Harry refused, saying the wizarding world was where he belonged, and Dobby set out to cause him trouble. During a business meeting between Vernon and Mr. Mason, who brought his wife with him, Dobby used his powers to ruin the party, and then shortly afterward disappeared, framing Harry for the chaos. Dobby's act of magic caused Harry to receive a warning from the Ministry of Magic and to be imprisoned in his room by the Dursleys. Despite their efforts, Harry was rescued by Ron and his brothers, Fred and George. Harry had packed his bags and loaded the Weasleys' flying car. Harry and the brothers arrived at the Burrow in the early hours of the morning, hoping not to be noticed. However, they were, and Mrs. Weasley was furious.
Dobby's first attempt at stopping Harry from returning had failed, so he continued trying. When Harry and the Weasleys arrived atKing's Cross Station, Dobby sealed the entrance early and stopped Harry and Ron from passing through the wall to get on the Hogwarts Express. However, this did not stop Harry from returning to Hogwarts, he and Ron used the Weasleys' Flying Ford Angliato follow the train to Hogwarts. They arrived later than they had hoped, but all in one piece; until Ron accidentally drove the flying car into the Whomping Willow and broke his wand.
However, Harry's year at Hogwarts was not going to get any better. Throughout the year, the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Gilderoy Lockhart, humiliated Harry repeatedly by dragging Harry into the spotlight against Harry's will. During a duelling class led by Lockhart, Harry revealed himself to his fellow students and members of staff to be a Parselmouth, an uncommon skill that is normally associated with dark wizards. This brought on a great deal of trouble for Harry, since the Chamber of Secrets had been re-opened, and it was the "Heir of Slytherin" who was deemed responsible. Once the chamber had been unsealed, there were various attacks on Muggle-born pupils, including Harry's best friend Hermione Granger. These attacks were believed to have been carried out by the heir, who many believed to be Harry, but Harry believed that Draco Malfoy was responsible. In order to prove their hypothesis, Hermione cooked up aPolyjuice Potion that Harry and Ron used to change to look like Crabbe and Goyle, so they could try to get information from Malfoy. They learned that Malfoy was not the heir and that he had no idea who the attacker was. Hermione, however, did not join the boys in this adventure as she had accidentally used a cat hair in her potion, causing her to spend weeks in the hospital wing. Prior to Valentine's Day, Harry discovered a diary, and while writing in it, Harry learned that the Chamber had been opened fifty years ago and that Hagrid had been accused of the crime.
By this time, Hermione had a different theory. She believed that the monster responsible for these attacks was a basilisk and conducted research into her theory. The morning Hermione was attacked, she andPenelope Clearwater had been using a mirror to look around corners for any attacking predator. Hermione had done enough research to figure that the Basilisk had been moving around the school using the pipe system and scribbled her theory down on a scrap piece of paper torn out of a book. She was attacked the same day, and her paralysed body was taken to the school's hospital wing.
Still believing that if Hagrid were not responsible, he could at least point them in the right direction, Harry and Ron visited him after the attack on Hermione. From under the Cloak of Invisibility, they witnessed his arrest by Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge and the suspension of Dumbledore. As Hagrid was being led away, he gave the pair a new clue. He told them to follow the spiders. Harry and Ron heeded this advice, even though Ron was deathly afraid of spiders. They met Aragog who told them that Hagrid was not responsible for opening the Chamber the first time and that the girl who died was killed in a bathroom, leading Harry to theorise that Moaning Myrtle was the victim. A few days later, Harry and Ron discovered the scrap of paper in Hermione's hand. Harry and Ron wondered how a big Basilisk would go around the school undetected, and then they saw the word "pipes."
Harry (and later Ron) would soon learn that the person responsible for opening the Chamber was in fact Ron's younger sister Ginny Weasley, under the control of a memory of Lord Voldemort by writing into his diary, forcing her to torment and vandalise the school. They also learned that she was being kept down in the Chamber and were told that her "skeleton would lie in the Chamber forever." Determined to rescue Ginny and hopefully catch the Heir and destroy the Basilisk, Harry, accompanied by Ron and Lockhart, was able to locate and open the Chamber using his Parseltongue abilities. Once they got down into the Chamber, it was not long before the cowardly Lockhart attempted to erase Harry and Ron's memories using Ron's broken wand; however, his spell backfired, and he erased his own memory. The Chamber roof caved in, separating Harry from Ron and Lockhart.
Separated from Ron and a now deluded Lockhart, Harry ventured on alone. Harry soon found Ginny's unconscious body lying on the floor of the Chamber. As he hoped she was not dead, he was greeted by Tom Riddle, who had come to a simulation of life from the memories stored in the diary. Revealing his history and true nature, Riddle set the basiliskupon him. Harry defeated the Basilisk with the help of Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix, and Godric Gryffindor's Sword. However, Harry was bitten by the Basilisk. Fawkes flew over to Harry and wept upon his wound. As Phoenix tears have healing powers, Harry survived. Harry then stabbed the diary with the Basilisk fang to rid himself of Riddle, not knowing that he had just destroyed one of Voldemort's Horcruxes. Once the emergency was over, Fawkes flew Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Lockhart to safety. Harry spoke with Dumbledore on the events that took place, and explained to him that Ginny was not to blame and that Lockhart was a fraud. Harry and Ron both received Awards for Special Services to the School and two-hundred points a piece for Gryffindor House.
After interpreting Dobby's strange actions in Dumbledore's office, Harry realised Lucius Malfoy was the ultimate culprit for opening the Chamber. Before term started, he had planted Tom Riddle's diary in Ginny's cauldron in the hope of indirectly opening the Chamber of Secrets. At this time, he did not know the diary was one of Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes. Afterwards, Harry was able to trick Lucius into freeing his mistreated house-elf, Dobby, who had been attempting to protect Harry all year, by giving him one of his socks. Malfoy was subsequently sacked as a school governor.
