Harry Potter Article

Jun 22

Harry Potter

In 1997 Harry Potter took the world by storm in his first book debut. Since then, the Harry Potter craze has only amplified with the release of each book in the series, leading to several-hour long lines of children and adults dressed up as their favorite characters on release night all around the world.

Joanne Rowling began writing the book in 1990 as she was riding a train to London and the idea just “popped” into her head. It was then requested that for the book to be published, Joanne change her pen-name to something more masculine for fear people wouldn’t want to read a book written by a woman. From then on, J.K. Rowling became the name that would appear on the seven books of her Harry Potter series.

The Harry Potter series is based on a young boy that is unaware that he is one of the most powerful wizards known to the wizarding community. Harry is brought to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry where he develops his powers alongside best friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley; enemy Draco Malfoy; teachers Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape; and groundskeeper Hagrid. In each book Harry faces the Dark Lord, Voldemort, or his followers, the Death Eaters. Voldemort killed Harry’s parents when he was just one year old, but when he attempted to kill Harry, Voldemort was reduced to nothing for many years. Harry battles Voldemort to avenge the death of his parents and to protect the wizarding world from another uprising of the Dark Lord. As the series continues, Voldemort develops more power and returns to power while the Ministry of Magic does everything in its control to deny the uprising.

As the series matures, so does Harry. In the first few books he is a nerdy first-year wizard, struggling to overcome normal teenage problems. As the books continue, Harry faces death, loss, and love.

The series of the books is as follows:
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s (Philosopher’s) Stone (1997)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (1998)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2003)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2005)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007)*
*The latest and last book in the Harry Potter series will be released on July 21, 2007

The books phenomenon was also created on the big screen starting with the first book in 2001. All movies have the same name as their book counter-part. The first four books have already been released in movie form. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix has a release date of July 11, 2007. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is scheduled to be released November 21, 2008. The making of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is confirmed but no release date has been set.