Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Characters/Harry Potter
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| Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter - Character | |
| Harry James Potter | |
|---|---|
| Gender | Male |
| Hair color | Black |
| Eye color | Green |
| Related Family | James Potter, Lily Potter |
| Loyalty | Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Albus Dumbledore |
Contents |
[edit] Overview
Harry James Potter is the primary character in the book series by J.K. Rowling. Both Harry's parents were magical. His father, James, was the only child of a pure-blood wizard family, while his mother, Lily, was muggle-born, meaning both her parents were non-magical. That makes Harry a "half-blood" wizard. When Harry was one year old, the evil Lord Voldemort murdered his parents. When he then attempted to kill baby Harry with an deadly curse, it rebounded, ripping Voldemort's soul from his body while leaving the infant unscathed except for a lightning-bolt shaped scar on his forehead.
Harry spent the next ten years living with his neglectful relatives, the Dursleys. When he was 11, Rubeus Hagrid, the gamekeeper at the magical Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, delivered a letter of invitation to attend the school. Harry now spends much of the year at Hogwarts with his two best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Each summer he returns to the Dursleys', a time he cannot wait to end.
Harry's birthday, according to the author, is July 31, with internal evidence giving the year as 1980. This makes him almost a year younger than Hermione, and five months younger than Ron.
[edit] Role in the Books
Note: Harry Potter is the viewpoint character in this series, and thus is in almost every part of the action. A summary of his role in the books would, perforce, be a summary of the books. For a summary of Harry's role in the series, it is best to begin here and proceed onwards from that point. The sections below will provide the bare outline of his role.
[edit] Philosopher's Stone
We hear that Harry's parents have been murdered, and Harry is placed with his relatives, the Dursleys. In the process, we meet Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, and Rubeus Hagrid, who are evidently capable of magic: Dumbledore quietly and without any fuss turns off the streetlights, McGonagall is a cat when she first appears on the scene and transforms herself into a woman, and the huge Hagrid arrives on a flying motorcycle.
Though we don't see the intervening ten years, we meet Harry and his adoptive parents on the occasion of Harry's cousin Dudley Dursley's eleventh birthday. Here we see how Harry is treated with minimal care, and how Dudley is spoiled. We hear that odd things happen around Harry. And we see how he is punished for anything that goes wrong, even if he can't control it. Harry, though cruelly oppressed, seems to be making the best of things, even teasing Dudley at one point. When Harry starts getting letters addressed to him, though, it seems to result in a panic in the household; Harry's Uncle Vernon starts acting irrationally, eventually stranding them in a hut built on a rock in the middle of the ocean. It is here that Hagrid arrives, at seconds after midnight on Harry's birthday, with the letter that Vernon has been keeping from him and the announcement that Harry is a wizard.
The next day, Hagrid introduces Harry to the wizarding world lying somehow inside and under London, showing him the Wizarding shopping district of Diagon Alley. Harry buys his school supplies, and his wand, and Hagrid, as a birthday present, takes him to buy a pet, settling on an owl. Harry names the owl Hedwig, and she is is constant companion throughout much of the series.
A month later, Harry is dropped off by Vernon at King's Cross Station, and left to find Platform Nine and Three Quarters on his own. Luckily, he sees another Wizarding family with the same destination, and tags along with them; this introduces him to the Weasley family, and his traveling companion, Ron Weasley, becomes his true friend.
Harry's first year at Hogwarts is eventful. The Sorting Hat wants to place him in Slytherin, but Harry asks to be put in Gryffindor, one of four school Houses. He joins the Gryffindor Quidditch team as the youngest Seeker in over a century. When a mountain troll appears in the dungeons, Harry and Ron together defeat it, thus saving Hermione Granger's life; as a result of that, she also becomes a friend, and the Trio, as they have been called, are together for the rest of the series.
Harry is also guided by Professor Dumbledore, who turns out to be Hogwarts' Headmaster, and by the severe but fair Professor McGonagall, the transfiguration instructor and the Head of Gryffindor. Not everyone supports Harry, however. Potions Master Severus Snape takes an instant dislike to him, and Harry quickly becomes enemies with Draco Malfoy, a student from Slytherin House, after Draco denigrates Muggle-borns and insults the Weasleys, a pure-blooded wizard family the Malfoys consider inferior.
While this book serves mainly as an introduction to the magical world and the characters, there is a real quest involved. In Diagon Alley, Hagrid has taken a small "something" from a vault at Gringotts to bring it back to Hogwarts for safekeeping. Harry becomes convinced that one of the teachers, Professor Snape, is seeking this object, which he determines to be the Philosopher's Stone (known as the Sorceror's Stone in the U.S. editions). Apparently, the evil wizard who murdered Harry's parents, Lord Voldemort, had been killed when he attempted to murder Harry, but due to some advanced Dark magic, was possibly able to return, possibly with the aid of the Philosopher's Stone. It appears that Snape is trying to aid in that return, but is being blocked by Professor Quirrell. With help from Ron and Hermione, Harry manages to foil Lord Voldemort's plan to steal the Stone.
[edit] Chamber of Secrets
Harry's hopes of continuing friendship seem to be in vain by the middle of the summer when, on his birthday, he notices that he has not received any letters from Ron, Hermione, or Hagrid.
Sent to his room that evening, Harry is astounded to find an odd creature visiting him. Introducing himself as Dobby, a house-elf, this being seems adamant that he should not return to Hogwarts. Dobby does reveal that he has been intercepting Harry's letters, and then performs a Hover Charm in the Dursley's kitchen. As a result, Harry's Uncle Vernon loses the deal he has been angling for, and learns that Harry is not supposed to do magic. He locks Harry in his bedroom and bars the window.
Shortly, Ron and the Twins arrive in a flying Ford Anglia to rescue Harry. Returning to the Weasley family home, the Twins and Ron are strongly chastised by Mrs. Weasley, and set a punishment for having used their fathers' car without permission. Harry is welcomed into the Weasley family with open arms.
When time comes to buy books for school, Harry ends up in a Dark Magic store, Borgin and Burkes, where he overhears a conversation between Borgin and Draco Malfoy's father, Lucius. Rescued from Knockturn Alley by Hagrid, Harry rejoins the Weasley family. Shortly, when they go to buy books, Harry is embarrassed by Gilderoy Lockhart, who uses Harry's presence to publicize his own appointment as Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Also in the book store, a fight breaks out between Lucius Malfoy and Mr. Weasley.
The next day, all of the Weasleys drive to the station to meet the Hogwarts Express. Unable to get through the barrier, Ron and Harry take the car to Hogwarts, where they receive detention for their mode of arrival. Many of the teachers, notably Snape and Lockhart, feel that this was simply Harry's attempt to enhance his own fame.
Lockhart, as a teacher, proves to be full of himself, and apparently unable to do the simplest thing that he claims to be able to do. Having failed to control Cornish Pixies in his first lesson, he has reverted to re-enacting scenes from his many self-laudatory books, usually using Harry as the victim. He also specifically requests that Harry serve a detention with him, answering his fan mail. It is while Harry is serving detention that he first hears the disembodied voice that will appear repeatedly through this book.
Returning from Nearly Headless Nick's Deathday party in company with Ron and Hermione, Harry hears the voice again; following it upwards, he finds writing on the wall, "The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the Heir, Beware." He also finds Argus Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris, hung on a torch bracket.
Professor Dumbledore determines that Mrs. Norris has been Petrified, rather than killed, and dismisses Harry, Ron, and Hermione, much to Filch's displeasure; Filch wants someone punished. The writing on the wall, though, starts endless speculation within the school: what is the Chamber of Secrets? Who is the Heir? Hermione manages to convince Professor Binns to tell the History of Magic class that the Chamber was apparently created, and hidden, by Salazar Slytherin when he left the school over a feud with the other Founders, over a thousand years before. Nobody has found it since. However, there is beginning to be speculation that Harry is the Heir of Slytherin. Harry, of course, suspects Draco Malfoy. Hermione has heard of something called Polyjuice Potion, which could help them sneak into Slytherin and see if it is Draco; Harry helps her secure the necessary teacher's permission slip for the book containing that potion recipe.
Playing Quidditch against Slytherin, Harry becomes the target of a Bludger that is charmed to attack him. Though he does catch the Snitch, it breaks his arm, and due to Lockhart removing all the bones from his arm, Harry must spend the night in the Hospital Wing. There, Dobby comes to visit him, and admits having locked the barrier to try to prevent Harry's going to Hogwarts; and further, says that he had charmed the Bludger to chase Harry in hopes that it would injure him enough to send him home. He then escapes Harry's grip, vanishing as Colin Creevey, also Petrified, is brought into the Hospital Wing. Dumbledore, checking to see if Colin has caught an image of the monster on his camera, finds the film in the camera burned beyond usefulness, and says this confirms it: the Chamber has been opened. McGonagall wonders who has re-opened the Chamber; Dumbledore, instead, wonders how.
After Harry's recovery, he visits the disused bathroom inhabited by Moaning Myrtle, a particularly gloomy ghost. It is here that Hermione has set up to make the Polyjuice Potion. She says that there are ingredients she will need, that will have to be retrieved from Snape's private stores. Harry tosses a firework into Gregory Goyle's cauldron in Potions class as a diversion, and Hermione sneaks into Snape's office to retrieve what she needs.
Shortly after this, Lockhart announces a Dueling Club. Harry and Draco are given the chance to demonstrate, and Draco fires a snake at Harry. Lockhart volunteers to remove it, but his spell is ineffectual, and the snake turns to attack Justin Finch-Fletchley. Harry orders the snake to leave Justin alone, and the snake, surprisingly, does. Ron and Hermione take Harry aside and ask how he learned to talk to snakes. They tell him that the ability is very rare, and is linked to descendants of Slytherin. Harry begins to wonder if he is the Heir. Justin seems to believe that Harry was egging the snake on, so Harry determines to find him and explain what had happened. While searching, he stumbles over Justin, Petrified, and an injured and immobile Nearly Headless Nick. Peeves, happening by, sounds the alarm, and McGonagall takes Harry to Dumbledore's office.
Here, Harry meets Fawkes, Dumbledore's pet phoenix, and learns the characteristics of this bird. Dumbledore accepts that Harry has nothing to do with the Petrifications, and asks if he has anything else he'd like to talk about; Harry, worried that the disembodied voices he's hearing may be a sign of madness, says nothing.
By means of the Polyjuice Potion, Harry and Ron manage to get into the Slytherin common room and talk to Draco, however Draco also has no idea who the Heir is. Hermione, meanwhile, has been half-way transformed into a cat, and as the effect does not wear off, she must go to the Hospital Wing. It is while she is there, that Harry and Ron find T. Riddle's diary, which turns out to be blank. Some time later, due to an accident, Harry discovers that the diary absorbs ink without trace, and wondering what happens if he writes in it, discovers that it will write back. Tom Riddle, by means of the diary, shows him the events of some fifty years before, when the Chamber had last been opened, and shows Riddle catching Hagrid as a third-year student with what is believed to be the Monster.
Shortly afterwards, Harry's room is ransacked, and the diary is taken. The next day, Harry hears the disembodied voice again, and two more students are petrified: a Prefect, Penelope Clearwater, and Hermione. Hagrid is arrested and taken to Azkaban, on suspicion of having opened the Chamber, and Dumbledore is suspended as Headmaster, supposedly on the grounds that he is proving ineffective at stopping the attacks. As Hagrid leaves, he tells Harry and Ron that they should follow the spiders.
Following the spiders, Harry and Ron meet Aragog, the beast who Hagrid had been keeping in the school fifty years before. Aragog tells them that he had never been near the bathroom where the girl was killed. Harry and Ron are then rescued from the spiders by the flying car, now turned feral. Harry concludes that Moaning Myrtle was the girl killed when the chamber was opened, but before he and Ron can ask her, they visit Hermione in the Hospital Wing. Hermione has torn a page describing Basilisks out of a book, and it is caught in her hand; Harry and Ron determine that the Monster is a Basilisk.
Before they can tell Professor McGonagall what they have learned, Ginny Weasley is taken into the Chamber, and Gilderoy Lockhart is sent after her. Thwarting Lockhart's attempt to escape, Harry and Ron take him into the Chamber of Secrets; Harry, separated from the others by a rock fall, finds Ginny and the nearly re-animated Tom Riddle, who tells Harry that because of his hatred for his Muggle father, he had taken a new name: Lord Voldemort. Releasing the Basilisk, he sends it to kill Harry; Harry, pleading for help, manages to summon Fawkes, bearing the Sorting Hat. Fawkes destroys the Basilisk's eyes, and the Hat provides Harry with a sword. Harry kills the Basilisk, but takes an envenomed wound himself. Fawkes' tears heal the wound, and before Tom can cast a killing spell at Harry, Harry destroys the diary with a Basilisk fang. Fawkes then bears Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Lockhart back to the school.
[edit] Prisoner of Azkaban
The story unfolds with a much darker mood. When Sirius Black escapes Azkaban prison with the seeming purpose to kill Harry Potter, Harry learns about his parents' past and the circumstances surrounding their demise; Black, his godfather, betrayed James and Lily to Voldemort and murdered their friend, Peter Pettigrew. Harry vows revenge. However, Pettigrew is actually alive (disguised as Ron's pet rat, Scabbers), and it was he who revealed the Potters' secret location to Lord Voldemort, who then killed them and attacked Harry. After learning the truth, Harry bonds with his new-found godfather and eagerly looks forwards to living with him rather than the Dursleys. But when Pettigrew, and the truth, slip free, Sirius remains convicted. With Harry and Hermione's help, Black escapes—a hunted fugitive once again.
[edit] Goblet of Fire
Harry is mysteriously chosen as a second Hogwarts Champion in an inter-school competition, the Tri-Wizard Tournament, even though he is underage and never entered his name into the Goblet of Fire. In addition to competing in the grueling contest, Harry is scorned by his fellow students, including Ron, who believe he cheated to enter, although he and Ron eventually reconcile.
During the final challenge, Harry and fellow Champion, Cedric Diggory, are transported to a graveyard where Peter Pettigrew (Wormtail) instantly kills Cedric. Harry witnesses Lord Voldemort's rebirth in a ritual using a small amount of his blood that nullifies the protective Charm that has safeguarded him from Voldemort. The resurrected Dark Lord engages Harry in a deadly wizards' duel, but Harry escapes to Hogwarts with Cedric's body and announces Voldemort's return. Alastor "Mad Eye" Moody, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, nearly kills Harry, but he is saved by Dumbledore, Snape, and McGonagall. "Moody" is actually Barty Crouch, Jr., the Dark Lord's faithful servant, who, disguised as "Mad Eye," rigged the Tournamnet to ensure Harry reached the cemetery. The real Alastor Moody is rescued from a trunk with a secret compartment.
[edit] Order of the Phoenix
The darkest year Harry has experienced in the magical world so far. After being attacked by Dementors near the Dursleys' home, he is secretly escorted to 12 Grimmauld Place, the new headquarters for the "Order of the Phoenix," a resistance movement against Voldemort. An angry Harry is given little information about Voldemort or the Order's plans, and he has difficulty remaining quiet about the Dark Lord's return. Ron and Hermione tell him that the Ministry of Magic has been waging a smear campaign against him and Dumbledore, refuting their claims that Voldemort has returned. Consequently, many in the wizarding doubt Voldemort's resurrection.
Ministry of Magic spy, Dolores Umbridge, is appointed as Hogwarts' new Defence Against the Dark Teacher, and later High Inquisitor. Umbridge works hard to keep Hogwarts and the magical world from believing Voldemort's return, and her repressive tactics cause students, particularly Harry, to become rebellious. The Weasley twins instigate an outright revolt before departing on their broomsticks, leaving Hogwarts for good. The teachers do little, if anything, to help Umbridge regain order.
In a climatic battle at the Ministry of Magic, Harry witnesses his godfather, Sirius Black's, murder, and he confronts Voldemort once again; this time, Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge arrives in time to see Voldemort before he escapes, and Fudge is forced to publicly acknowledge the Dark Lord's return. Harry learns more about how he and Voldemort are connected.
[edit] Half-Blood Prince
Harry learns his place in the war against the Dark Lord. He and Dumbledore uncover Voldemort's past by viewing gathered memories stored in a Pensieve. It is learned that Voldemort split his soul into seven pieces called Horcruxes and hid six in various objects. Two have been destroyed, and possibly a third. At the book's conclusion, Harry battles the Death Eaters (Voldemort's followers) inside Hogwarts castle and suffers a terrible personal loss. Vowing to find and destroy Voldemort and his four remaining Horcruxes, Harry does not intend to return to Hogwarts for his seventh, and final, year. Ron and Hermione pledge to accompany him on his quest.
[edit] Deathly Hallows
[edit] Strengths
Aside from his strong magical skills, Harry is extremely brave, and will do almost anything to protect his friends. Throughout the series he is put into many stressful and dangerous situations, keeping a clear head throughout. Harry has a strong sense of good and evil, and he stands up for what he believes to be right.
A commonly discussed strength, particularly by Albus Dumbledore, is Harry's ability to love. Harry is extremely pure of heart.
He is also skilled at flying, particularly on a broomstick, although he also seems to have little trouble flying on the backs of magical creatures such as Hippogriffs and Thestrals. This flying skill translates into a gift for Quidditch, which makes him the youngest Seeker at Hogwarts in a century. During the First Task of the Triwizard Tournament, his flying ability is compared favourably to that of Viktor Krum, then considered the world's best Seeker.
[edit] Weaknesses
Harry often "wears his heart on his sleeve." On many occasions he is unable to hide or control his emotions, especially anger and rage. Among other things, this will make it impossible for him to master Occlumency. He also feels the need to be the hero, a trait that makes him predictable and which Voldemort exploits to lure him into an ambush at the Ministry of Magic. Although he is intelligent and a powerful wizard-in-training, academically he is a somewhat lazy student and usually receives slightly above average marks in his studies, except Defense Against the Dark Arts in which he excels. His Potions ability is apparently better than it appears, as he is able to achieve an Exceeds Expectations grade on his OWL exam; and improves greatly during his sixth year when he comes into possession of an old potions textbook in which a talented former student (later found to be Severus Snape) has revised many potion-making techniques.
[edit] Relationships with Other Characters
Harry attends school along with several friends he has met along the way, namely his two closest companions Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. At school, Harry must also interact with members from other houses such as Draco Malfoy whom he despises. There is a blooming love affair with Cho Chang, which ends with some coolness but not much acrimony. Later, he falls in love with Ginny Weasley. Sometime after the defeat of Lord Voldemort, Harry and Ginny marry. The couple has three children: James Sirius, Albus Severus, and Lily Luna.
[edit] Analysis
Because the books are mostly told from Harry's perspective, more is known about him than any other character. At best, the Dursleys treatment of him was neglectful. Between his Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia and cousin Dudley, Harry developed a rather low sense of self-worth, although he survived the experience in good humor. When Hagrid told Harry he was a wizard, he thought many times that it must have been a mistake.
From the beginning, Harry distrusts his fame and avoids publicity, though later in the series he does make use of that fame, unwelcome as it is, to try to achieve his ends. Since Harry tends to suffer more traumatic events than most, he often feels misunderstood. He is often approached by other students at Hogwarts asking him about his experiences, dying to know exciting details, but they are usually uninterested in the reasoning behind it. Throughout later books, Harry grows irritable over being constantly prodded for answers about Lord Voldemort and what may happen to the wizarding world. Harry's fourth and fifth years at Hogwarts test his patience but also strengthen his bonds with Ron and Hermione and Headmaster Dumbledore.
It has been noted a number of times that Harry looks exactly like his father, except for the eyes. He has his mother's eyes. The author has stated that this fact is important; it convinced Horace Slughorn to give Harry the memory he needed in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. There are indications in other places that there is more that is revealed in the later books. In fact, it plays an important role at one point in the plot of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
[edit] Questions
- What kind of person does Harry normally consider his friend? His enemy?
- Does Harry understand the true meaning of Dumbledore's role in the Order of the Phoenix and the war against Lord Voldemort?
- How does Harry change after Lord Voldemort's return is announced to the wizarding public and is no longer a questionable issue?
[edit] Greater Picture
Since the return of Lord Voldemort, Harry has been quite confused on where he is headed in life. No matter where he goes, he seems to be greeted by some aspect of the Dark Lord and the war raging on throughout the magical world. Harry's life has been filled with quite a large amount of tragedy and death, especially in his fifth and sixth years at Hogwarts. Harry has lost friends, mentors, and relatives, all in the confusion of the wizarding war. In many cases, Harry is unsure what to do or where to go.
At the end of his sixth year, Harry comes to many conclusions about his future. He knows he must finish things he so innocently started with Lord Voldemort many years ago. He knows he must solve many of the mysteries regarding Voldemort's power. He knows either he or Voldemort must defeat the other, just as the prophecy foretold. Harry is truly on a mission now, much more important than his previous years' accomplishments. As his school years come to a close, if he even returns to school for his seventh year, Harry will hopefully provide an answer to the question of how strong "The Boy Who Lived" truly is.
According to the author, at age 17 Harry becomes an Auror under Kingsley Shacklebolt, and then becomes head of the Auror department in 2007. Note that if Harry did become an Auror in 1997, it must have been within two months of when Voldemort died; therefore, Harry can have had at most two months of school before entering specialized Auror training. Along with his other accomplishments, this may make Harry the first Auror in centuries to have been accepted without taking (and passing) NEWTs.
[edit] Similarities between Harry and Tom Riddle
When reading all seven books, one comes to notice the frighteningly similar lives and experiences of Harry and Tom:
- Both were "abandoned" at a very young age, both were too young to properly remember their parents.
- Tom, the future Lord Voldemort, never met his mother. He did in fact meet his father, but only sought him out for revenge's sake and killed him. While Harry vaguely remembers both his parents, he was too young when they were killed to remember them properly. However, he has been able to feel some kind of contact with them through things that were his father's (the Invisibility Cloak and the Marauder's Map) and his parents' friends.
- Both boys wore second-hand clothes: Harry was given his repulsive cousin Dudley's enormous old clothes, and Tom wore old rags from the orphanage.
- Both were friendless, Harry because his cousin wouldn't allow Harry any peace or happiness, and Tom because he liked to torment the other orphans.
- Both are parselmouths (they can speak to snakes). This is less of a similarity than it might seem, for we believe that Voldemort actually transferred this ability to Harry when attacking him.
- The Sorting Hat almost put Harry into Slytherin, although it was Harry's choice to go to Gryffindor.
- Both boys had followers, Tom because of fear and intimidation, and Harry for curiosity and loyalty.
- They also, as shown in Book One, have brother wands, each wand containing a tail feather from the same phoenix. It is later revealed that the phoenix is Fawkes, who happens to be Dumbledore's pet.
- Both boys were unaware they were wizards until about the age of eleven, even though they had each made unusual things happen.
- Both Harry and Tom were of great interest to Dumbledore, and both felt their first home was Hogwarts.
- Both achieved greatness in the Defense Against the Dark Arts, however, each for different reasons.
- Neither had any brothers or sisters.
- Both are half-bloods, though that only seems to matter to Tom.
- Both are rule breakers. Harry, of course, feels he has reason to do things like leave his dorm after lights out, enter the Forbidden Forest, and eavesdrop on teachers, and as it turns out he is largely correct. Tom was likely doing much the same sort of thing, though without benefit of Harry's invisibility cloak; and eventually deliberately framed Hagrid for a crime he did not commit. Tom, of course, went on to worse crimes.
There are also differences:
- At his initial Sorting, Harry asked not to be put in Slytherin, and so ended up in Gryffindor. It is unlikely that Tom Riddle would have made a similar choice, even not knowing of his ancestry.
- Voldemort continues to not have friends, only followers. Harry has made a number of friends: his dorm mates, the Weasley family, and many of the teachers including especially Remus Lupin.
- While both were nominally half-blood, Harry's mother was Muggle-born, whereas Lord Voldemort's father was a Muggle, and incidentally so was Snape's, the Half-Blood Prince.
- Harry cares about the people around him, even pitying Malfoy by the end of Book Six. Harry has the ability to love and to be compassionate, which makes it easier to feel pain, but to also experience the bonds of brotherhood that will take him to the greatness he deserves.
