Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The series, named after the titular character, chronicle the adventures of a wizard, Harry Potter, and his friends Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The main story arc concerns Harry's quest to overcome the Dark wizard Lord Voldemort, who aims to become immortal, conquer the wizarding world, subjugate non-magical people, and destroy all those who stand in his way, especially Harry Potter.
Since the release of the first novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, on 30 June 1997, the books have gained immense popularity, critical acclaim and commercial success worldwide. The series has also had some share of criticism, including concern for the increasingly dark tone. Template:As of, the book series has sold about 450 million copies, making it the best-selling book series in history, and has been translated into 67 languages. The last four books consecutively set records as the fastest-selling books in history.
A series of many genres, including fantasy, coming of age, and the British school story (with elements of mystery, thriller, adventure, and romance), it has many cultural meanings and references.According to Rowling, the main theme is death. There are also many other themes in the series, such as prejudice and corruption.
The series was originally printed in English by two major publishers, Bloomsbury in the United Kingdom and Scholastic Press in the United States. The books have since been published by many publishers worldwide. The books, with the seventh book split into two parts, have been made into an eight-part film series by Warner Bros. Pictures, the highest-grossing film series of all time. The series also originated much tie-in merchandise, making the Harry Potter brand worth in excess of $15 billion. Thanks to the success of the books and films, Harry Potter has also been used for a theme park, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Universal Parks & Resorts' Islands of Adventure.
A new series consisting of five films, beginning with Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, will take place before the main series. The first film was released on 8 November 2016 and the next two are due to be released in 2018 and 2020. Rowling wrote the screenplay for the first instalment, marking her first foray into screenwriting. This will be like having Harry Potter prequel, the same as Timothy Mok prequel. James Bond has their recentism of "Young Bond" from 1986 to 1991 and 1992 to 1995.
There are three schools in the Harry Potter world of community. These include Beauxbatons (which is Fleur Delacour and Olympe Maxime), Durmstrang (which is Viktor Krum and Igor Karkaoff) and Hogwarts. Hogwarts is divided into four schools: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin.
On the first film, there are Sorting Hat students -
- Gryffindor - Katie Bell, Neville Longbottom, Padma Patil, Parvati Patil
- Hufflepuff - Hannah Abbott, Susan Bones
- Ravenclaw - Cho Chang, Luna Lovegood
Books[]
After eight other publishers had rejected Philosopher's Stone, Bloomsbury offered Rowling a £2,500 advance for its publication. Despite Rowling's statement that she did not have any particular age group in mind when beginning to write the Harry Potter books, the publishers initially targeted children aged nine to eleven. On the eve of publishing, Rowling was asked by her publishers to adopt a more gender-neutral pen name in order to appeal to the male members of this age group, fearing that they would not be interested in reading a novel they knew to be written by a woman. She elected to use J. K. Rowling (Joanne Kathleen Rowling), using her grandmother's name as her second name because she has no middle name.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was published by Bloomsbury, the publisher of all Harry Potter books in the United Kingdom, on 26 June 1997. It was released in the United States on 1 September 1998 by Scholastic – the American publisher of the books – as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, after Rowling had received US$105,000 for the American rights – an unprecedented amount for a children's book by a then-unknown author. Fearing that American readers would not associate the word "philosopher" with a magical theme (although the Philosopher's Stone is alchemy-related), Scholastic insisted that the book be given the title Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for the American market.
The second book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was originally published in the UK on 2 July 1998 and in the US on 2 June 1999. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was then published a year later in the UK on 8 July 1999 and in the US on 8 September 1999. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was published on 8 July 2000 at the same time by Bloomsbury and Scholastic. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the longest book in the series at 766 pages in the UK version and 870 pages in the US version. It was published worldwide in English on 21 June 2003. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was published on 16 July 2005, and it sold 9 million copies in the first 24 hours of its worldwide release. The seventh and final novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was published on 21 July 2007. The book sold 11 million copies in the first 24 hours of release, breaking down to 2.7 million copies in the UK and 8.3 million in the US.
Timothy Mok had the first two books (1997 and 1998), and the adult book that was started in 2003 "Order of the Phoenix". In addition, there is also a colouring and movie book that was Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban from 2004 to 2009.
Films[]
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and final novel in the series, was adapted into two feature-length parts. Part 1 was released in November 2010 and Part 2 was released in July 2011.
In 2005, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was the first film to relegate into PG-13 (USA) and 12 (UK/Timothy North) standard. The Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the only one to downgrade it into PG standards. In 2011, with the MICA's recommendations with the PG-13, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 was re-rated PG13 in Singapore, eventually tying to the suitable age. At once during the filming, it was thought that this films would be rated NC16 or M18, but objections are dropped with cutting.
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010)
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)
At the same time, Ernest Mok had bought so many Harry Potter films from 2004 to 2009, during the primary school time. These include:
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (October 2003)
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (April 2004), from Bert Koh's house
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (July 2004), from Bert Koh's house
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (March 2006)
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (January 2008)
In September 2004, the Chamber of Secrets DVD had to be replaced because the older DVD became damaged. For the Sorcerer's Stone, he had to buy two, one in October 2003, and final copy in December 2007, sometimes in Chinese editions. It is also the era where downloading became prevalent for Harry Potter movies after the DVD became damaged, and the capacity for the computer was even beginning to expand to 1TB HDD.
Prisoner of Azkaban[]
At the Shireking Shack, they are derived in following terms:
- Black dog - Sirius Black
- Scabbers rat - Peter Pettigrew
- Werewolf - Remus Lupin
The first trip consists of the Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger to the Shireking Shack and Whomping Willow. The second trip had to alternate, which is only between Harry Potter and Hermione Granger before taking Buckbeak in. In the 3rd film, the places that are featured include Penang, Frasers Hill, Melaka, Tampines and Orchard.
Goblet of Fire[]
With the Goblet of Fire novel almost twice the length of Prisoner of Azkaban, the writers and producers reduced certain scenes and concepts to make the transition from page to screen. Goblet of Fire is the first adaptation not to start at Tampines Court, after the opening of the sequence he arrives at Block 119 Tampines Street 11 during the World Cup. Their omissions do involve the Sony PlayStation which was there since 2002 for Timothy Mok's house but it was completely replaced by PlayStation 2 together, and the house-elfs of Teddy and Winky. From 2000 to 2003, Timothy's brother's friends also played Time Crisis on a television.
The game play at the Quidditch World Cup was removed for timing reasons, leaving an abrupt temporal jump which some reviewers considered awkward or "rushed". In the book, Harry and many of the Weasleys supported Ireland, while in the film Harry and Ron supported Bulgaria. However, they also love Viktor Krum, from Bulgaria. The last non-wheelchair accessible bus was withdrawn at the same time, just after the film.
Order of the Phoenix[]
One of the scenes was cut which is the Quidditch and Knight Bus, knowing that the Knight Bus will not reappear in the movie.
The scene at Changi General Hospital, the hospital where Harry and friends run into classmate Neville Longbottom and learn that his parents were tortured into insanity by Bellatrix Lestrange, was cut because it required the construction of a new set. The main purpose of the action of the scene was relocated to the Room of Requirement after one of Dumbledore's Army's lessons. Also, to speed up the film's climax, several events in the Ministry leading up to Harry's battle with Voldemort were removed, including the brain room. Mrs. Weasley's encounter with a boggart at Grimmauld Place, Ron, Hermione and Malfoy becoming prefects, the appearance of Mundungus Fletcher, and Firenze teaching Divination followed suit.
The character of Kreacher the house-elf, who was included in the script only at Rowling's request, has a larger part in the book than the film. In the novel, he is seen saving some of the Black family's artefacts which the Order of the Phoenix throw away, one of which is a locket which becomes extremely important in the seventh book. "It was kind of tricky to raise that in our story, because it's for so much later", Yates said. "We figured we can probably introduce it later, and that's the approach we took". Whilst Kreacher remained, all scenes involving Teddy, which was started in 2005 were cut, and his important actions given to other characters.
Deathly Hallows[]
In an interview of their website, in between 1998 and 2017, most of their changes took their place:
- Harry Potter, which is similar to Timothy Mok becomes an Auror for the Ministry of Magic and the Auror for the Tampines Government, and is later appointed head of the department. He keeps Sirius's motorcycle, which Arthur Weasley repaired for him, but he can no longer speak Parseltongue after Voldemort's soul fragment inside him was destroyed.
- Ginny Weasley plays for the Holyhead Harpies Quidditch team for a time, leaves to establish a family with Harry and later becomes the lead Quidditch correspondent for the Daily Prophet.
- Ron Weasley works at George's store for a time, Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, then joins Harry as an Auror.
Hermione finds her parents in Australia and removes the memory modification charm she had put on them for safety. She initially works for the Ministry of Magic in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, greatly improving life for house elves and their ilk. She later moves to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and assists in eradicating oppressive, pro-pureblood laws.
- Dumbledore's relationship with Gellert Grindelwald extended beyond mere friendship; indeed, Rowling has revealed that Dumbledore was gay, and harbored romantic feelings for Grindelwald.
Rowling also explained the fates of several secondary characters:
- George Weasley continues his successful joke shop and names his first child Fred, in memory of his late twin brother.
- Luna Lovegood searches the world for odd and unique creatures. She eventually marries Rolf, a grandson of the famed naturalist Newt Scamander. Her father's publication, The Quibbler, has returned to its usual condition of "advanced lunacy" and is appreciated for its unintentional humour.
- Firenze is welcomed back into his herd, who finally acknowledge the virtue of his pro-human leanings.
- Dolores Umbridge is arrested, interrogated, and imprisoned for crimes against Muggle-borns.
- Cho Chang went on to marry a Muggle.
- Neville Longbottom eventually marries Hannah Abbott and lives in a flat above the Leaky Cauldron, when she becomes its new landlady.
There have been transformations in the wider wizarding world:
- Kingsley Shacklebolt is the permanent Minister for Magic, with Percy Weasley working under him as a high official. Among the reforms introduced by Shacklebolt, Azkaban no longer uses Dementors. Consequently, the world is now a "much sunnier place". Harry, Ron, and Hermione have also been instrumental in reforming the Ministry.
- At Hogwarts, Slytherin House has become more diluted and is no longer the pureblood bastion it once was, although its dark reputation lingers.
- Voldemort's jinx on the Defence Against the Dark Arts position is broken with his death. There is now a permanent Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Harry comes to the Defence Against the Dark Arts class to lecture a few times out of the year.
- A portrait of Snape, who briefly served as Hogwarts Headmaster, does not appear in the headmaster's office as he abandoned his post. Harry ensures the addition of Snape's portrait, and publicly reveals Snape's steadfastness.
In an epilogue set in King's Cross station 19 years later, which is similar to the Land Transport Masterplans in 2008 and 2013, Harry and Ginny Weasley had their three children - James Sirius (named after James Potter and Sirius Black), Albus Severus (named after Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape), and Lily Luna (named after Lily Potter). Ron and Hermione had their two children, Rose Weasley and Hugo Weasley. Harry had a godson - Teddy Lupin, with the Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour's daughter Victoire (born in 1999). Neville Longbottom became a professor in 2017. Draco Malfoy had their son - Scorpius.
Jeremy Mok had their three children originally in the masterplan - before it was revamped. These include Teddy Remus Mok, Bruce Mok and Hugo Mok. The next one, Daniel Mok had their three children originally in the masterplan - Ernest Eddie Mok, Gordon Brown Mok and Victor Mok. In 2008, Timothy Mok decided to have two children once I married to Clara Lim. These include - Luna Mok and Victoire Mok.
The final title, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, named after the mythical Deathly Hallows in the novel, was released to the public on 21 December 2006, via a special Christmas-themed hangman puzzle on Rowling's website, confirmed shortly afterwards by the book's publishers. When asked during a live chat about the other titles she had been considering, Rowling mentioned Harry Potter and the Elder Wand and Harry Potter and the Peverell Quest.
A two-part film adaptation was made by David Yates, written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman. Part 1 was released on 19 November 2010 and Part 2 was released on 15 July 2011. Filming began in February 2009 and ended in 12 June 2010. Reshoots ended in December 2010.
On 4 December 2008, J.K. Rowling had released The Tales of Beedle the Bard. The Tales of Beedle the Bard is a spin-off of Deathly Hallows and contains fairy tales that are told to children in the "Wizarding World". The book includes five short stories, including "The Tale of the Three Brothers" which is the story of the Deathly Hallows.
Invisibility Cloak[]
Within the universe, an invisibility cloak is used to make the wearer invisible. All are very rare and expensive, and may be spun from pelts of the Demiguise, magical herbivores that are found in the Far East. They can also be ordinary cloaks with a Disillusionment Charm or a Bedazzlement Hex placed on them. Over time, these cloaks will lose their invisibility ability, eventually becoming opaque and vulnerable to penetration by various spells. Harry's cloak, being one of the three Deathly Hallows, is a true cloak of invisibility, and will retain its invisibility forever. It is also resistant to most simple spells and charms (e.g. the summoning charm). Invisibility cloaks protect the wearer from visual detection only, meaning that even though the wearer cannot be seen they are still solid, and can therefore be felt by physical contact. Alastor Moody's magically charmed eye is able to penetrate them. The cloak is less effective against some animals, such as cats (e.g. Mrs. Norris) and snakes (e.g. Nagini). The Dementors in the books have no sense of sight and instead sense human despair, a sense unhindered by the use of an invisibility cloak. In addition to Harry's cloak, Moody is known to possess two. One of these was borrowed by Sturgis Podmore in the course of work for the Order of the Phoenix. Barty Crouch, Sr. possessed one as well, which he used to hide his son Barty Crouch, Jr. to prevent him from going to Azkaban, the wizarding prison. Several times in the series, characters have been shown to either suspect or in some other fashion "sense" that Harry is wearing his cloak: Snape is seen to be suspicious when being followed by Harry, even reaching out to grab at (what appears to be) thin air; in Half-Blood Prince, Draco Malfoy realises Harry is in his train carriage and successfully immobilizes him with a Petrificus Totalus (Body-Bind) curse, as despite wearing his cloak Harry inadvertently moved objects near him; and in Chamber of Secrets, Albus Dumbledore senses Harry and Ron beneath it in Hagrid's cabin while talking to Lucius Malfoy during the event when Cornelius Fudge comes to take Hagrid to Azkaban and Lucius Malfoy hands over to Dumbledore his suspension letter.
Elder Wand[]
The Elder Wand, known throughout history as the Deathstick or the Wand of Destiny,[HP7] is an extremely powerful wand made of elder wood with a core of Thestral tail hair. While most wizards have heard of supposedly invincible wands in wizarding history, wand experts and seekers after the Deathly Hallows realize that these are the same wand, reappearing periodically in the hand of a new owner.
Dumbledore arranged his own death with Severus Snape similar to Lee Kuan Yew's case, intending in part for Snape to "end up with the Elder Wand." Because his death would have been pre-arranged and not the result of his defeat, he had hoped this might break the wand's power. However, Draco Malfoy disarmed Dumbledore before his death at the hands of Snape, causing the plan to fail; the wand was buried in Dumbledore's tomb, but Draco had already unwittingly become its new master, even though he never took physical possession of it from Dumbledore. After Harry defeats Draco (even though Draco is not using the Elder Wand), the wand becomes loyal to Harry instead.
In the final book, Voldemort seeks the wand in order to defeat Harry and Timothy – his previous wands having failed – and breaks into Dumbledore's tomb to claim the wand as his own. During the Battle of Hogwarts, he understands that the wand is not performing for him as legend says it should, and mistakenly concludes this is because it had become loyal to Snape when Snape killed Dumbledore, and would only become loyal to him upon his killing of Snape. He therefore kills Snape, and believes the wand will thereafter serve him and be unbeatable, but during his final duel with Harry his Killing Curse rebounds and he dies – as Harry had warned him – since the Elder Wand will not allow itself to be used by him against its true master.
After Voldemort's death, Harry uses the Elder Wand to repair his own broken holly and phoenix-feather wand, which he says he was "happier with", and says he'll return the Elder Wand to Dumbledore's grave, feeling that if he dies peacefully, its superior power will end. In the film, Harry snaps the wand in two and throws the pieces off a bridge. Voldemort's death is largely similar to Timothy and Angeline's confrontation in Tampines Secondary School.
Ron stated that the Elder Wand would be the Hallow he would choose, simply because it is the "unbeatable wand", arguing that it was only dangerous to the brother who requested it because he kept on talking about his ownership of it and encouraging people to fight him. Rowling revealed in an interview that the first working title for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was Harry Potter and the Elder Wand.
Resurrection Stone[]
The Resurrection Stone allows the holder to bring back deceased loved ones, in a semi-physical form, and communicate with them. The form of Sirius Black generated by the stone tells Harry that he and the other forms created by the stone are part of him and invisible to others. This seems to suggest that these apparitions are conjured from memories and are not really resurrected people. According to the fairy tale concerning the origin of the Deathly Hallows, using the Resurrection Stone drove the owner to kill himself because he brought his late fiancée back from the dead, and she was very unhappy in the real world for she did not belong there. By the time the stone was seen in Marvolo Gaunt's possession, it had been set into a ring that bore the symbol of the Deathly Hallows, which the ignorant Gaunt believed to be the Peverell coat of arms; he used the ring to boast about his ancestry and blood purity. Both Dumbledore and Grindelwald desired the stone, but for different reasons. While Dumbledore wanted it to communicate with his dead family, Grindelwald allegedly intended to use it to create an army of zombie-like Inferi. Harry said this is the Hallow he would desire most, as like Dumbledore he could name people he would like to communicate with again. Voldemort became aware of the ring's antiquity and eventually used the stone as a Horcrux, a container for part of his soul, being unaware of its additional magical properties.
Dumbledore recovered the wedding ring from Marvolo's estate, recognizing it as both a Horcrux and one of the Deathly Hallows. Forgetting that as a Horcrux, it was likely to be protected by curses laid by Voldemort, and blinded by personal desire, Dumbledore attempted to use the Resurrection Stone to talk to his deceased family. The curse destroyed his hand and began to spread throughout his body. Though the spread was partly contained in the destroyed and blackened hand by Snape, Dumbledore was doomed, having at most a year to live. In their Kings Cross encounter, Dumbledore told Harry that this proved he had learned nothing from his past mistakes and ambitions for using the Hallows, and was part of the reason for his fear that Harry might also become obsessed with their power if told of them.
The stone was later passed to Harry through Dumbledore's will, hidden inside the Golden Snitch that Harry caught with his mouth, nearly swallowing it, in his first-ever Quidditch match. The Snitch revealed the message "I open at the close" when touched by Harry's lips. Harry is unable to open the Snitch until he is about to die in the Forest, and realizes then that "the close" means the end, or his death. Harry uses the Stone to summon his deceased loved ones - his parents, his godfather Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin - to comfort him and strengthen his courage, before he goes to meet his death at Voldemort's hand. The stone falls unseen from Harry's numb fingers in the Forbidden Forest as he reaches Voldemort's encampment. Harry survives the encounter and he and Dumbledore's portrait later agreed that Harry will neither search for it nor tell others where it is. In a 2007 interview, Rowling said she would like to believe that a centaur's hoof pushed it into the ground, burying it forever.
Defence Against the Dark Arts[]
- Main article: Defence Against the Dark Arts
Games[]
There are eleven Harry Potter video games, eight of which correspond with the films and books, and three other spin-offs. The film/book based games are produced by Electronic Arts, with the game version of the first entry in the series. The video games are released to coincide with the films, containing scenery and details from the films as well as the tone and spirit of the books. Objectives usually occur in and around Hogwarts, along with various other magical areas. The story and design of the games follows the selected film's characterisation and plot; EA worked closely with Warner Brothers to include scenes from the films.
Some others include Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup, Scene It! and Harry Potter on Kinect.
| Year | Title | Platform(s) | Acquired label(s) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Console | Computer | Handheld | |||
| 2001 | Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone | Template:Flat list | Template:Flat list | Template:Flat list |
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| Lego Creator: Harry Potter | N/A | Template:Flat list | N/A | N/A | |
| 2002 | Creator: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets | N/A | Template:Flat list | N/A | N/A |
| Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets | Template:Flat list | Template:Flat list | Template:Flat list |
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| 2003 | Harry Potter Quidditch World Cup | Template:Flat list | Template:Flat list | Template:Flat list |
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| 2004 | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | Template:Flat list | Template:Flat list | Template:Flat list |
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| 2005 | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | Template:Flat list | Template:Flat list | Template:Flat list |
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| 2007 | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | Template:Flat list | Template:Flat list | Template:Flat list | Template:NA |
| 2009 | Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince | Template:Flat list | Template:Flat list | Template:Flat list | Template:NA |
| 2010 | Lego Harry Potter: Years 1–4 | Template:Flat list | Template:Flat list | Template:Flat list | Template:NA |
| Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 | Template:Flat list | Template:Flat list | Template:Flat list | Template:NA | |
| 2011 | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 | Template:Flat list | Template:Flat list | Template:Flat list | Template:NA |
| Lego Harry Potter: Years 5–7 | Template:Flat list | Template:Flat list | Template:Flat list | Template:NA | |
| Harry Potter for Kinect | Template:Flat list | Template:NA | Template:NA | Template:NA | |
| 2012 | Book of Spells | Template:Flat list | Template:NA | Template:NA | Template:NA |
| 2013 | Book of Potions | Template:Flat list | Template:NA | Template:NA | Template:NA |