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Harry Potter Series

The Harry Potter series, penned by J.K. Rowling, chronicles the adventures of young wizard Harry and his friends at Hogwarts. Focused on the battle against the dark wizard Lord Voldemort, the books delve into themes of friendship, courage, and the triumph of good over evil. With its magical world and compelling characters, the series has captured the hearts of readers worldwide.

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Chronological Order of Harry Potter Books

The chronological order of the Harry Potter books is the same as the publication order.

About Harry Potter Series:

Harry Potter has been called the greatest childrens book series ever to have been printed. The series combines a sense of wonder, adventure, and magic that matures with its audience, against a backdrop of one of the greatest stories of good and evil ever told. Comprised of seven novels, eight movies, and a slew of add ons and tie-ins including video games, toys, and clothing, it is a classical coming of age story, a bildungsroman that transcends age and generations to tell a sometimes funny, oftentimes sad, yet always entertaining. The story centers around the trials and lessens of a young wizard named Harry Potter, the victim of an unspeakable tragedy and unlikely hero at his school, Hogwarts.

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Written by J.K. Rowling, a native of the U.K., Harry Potter is far from the classical idea of the hero. Riddled with all the feelings of angst and inadequacies of childhood, and saddled with the uncertainties of a world on the cusp, he goes from being an average eleven year old boy to a wizard, and not only a wizard, but a famous wizard. The series captures all the mystery and romanticism of a much more mature author, but makes it accessible and easy for young adult readers to comprehend and enjoy.

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The books primarily take place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a school for magic that children are preselected to attend, somewhere on the Scotland/England border. It is described as a fantastical and wondrous castle, filled with talking portraiture, moving staircases, ghosts and of course, normal, everyday children going to school. Except that instead of learning their letters and arithmetic, they attend Potions class and Transfiguration lectures. They practice dueling with magic wands and play their very own wizarding sport, Quidditch, on flying broomsticks. Harry Potter has shown himself adept however, at getting into all the hijinks that normal, growing boys are expected to indulge in, being caught out of bed, out-of-bounds, and generally being a teenager.

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Harry Potter himself is a wiry youth, with knock knees and messy, jet-black hair. He wears round glasses, and, when not in the school uniform of black robes and a pointed wizards cap, wears clothes that are to large for him, secondhand items that are given to him by his horrible and magic fearing family, the Dursleys. His most distinguishing feature is his small, lightening-shaped scar that is streaked across his forehead, a souvenir from his encounter with the most powerful Dark Wizard of all time, Lord Voldemort, or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. This relationship between Harry Potter and the Dark Lord is a main theme of the series, and is explored in every installment of the series, either directly or circumspectly.

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Why He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named killed Harry’s parents and tried to kill Harry, yet failed spectacularly, is still a mystery at the beginning of the series, and is a source of continual speculation for everyone in the wizarding world. As the series progresses, more and more information comes to light about Harry’s parents, James and Lily Potter, and the love that Harry feels for them and the sacrifice that they made on his behalf are a continual source of both pain and pride for Harry Potter.

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Harry Potter goes from being universally unlike and unloved at his foster families home, whom he lives with after the murder of his parents by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, to being known far and wide as the wizard that defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, almost a household name. He has two great friends through the series, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Ronald Weasley is from a family of pure-bloods, or people who are almost exclusively wizards, all with bright red hair and freckles, and for the most part accepting and affectionate. Ron is described as being tall and lanky, with the red hair and freckles that characterize his whole family, and being very ashamed that his family, though ancient and respected, are very poor. He acts as comic relief throughout the books and films, but has shown genuine feelings for both Harry and Hermione, being fiercely protective of both them and his family. Hermione Granger is from a Muggle family, or a non-magic family. Her parents are both dentists, and she got the invitation to attend Hogwarts in the same way as Harry Potter, out of the blue. She is described as being pretty, but with overly large front teeth and very bushy brunette hair. Hermione is also a bit of a know it all, and is the first in class at ever subject she takes, except Divination, or fortune-telling. With these two compatriots, Harry winds his way through the wonderful and dangerous world of magic, encountering fantastic beasts and spectacular sorcery along the way.

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When he first begins to attend Hogwarts, Harry is known for his so called defeat of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and everyone in the wizarding world knows his name. This gives him a little bit of discomfort, however, as he dislikes being known far and wide for something that he can’t remember. He spends a lot of time in the series not only dealing with all of the regular problems that regular boys deal with, but also the issues that are forced on him due to his connection to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. He is not spectacular in school, but is above average in the classes that he likes, and passes even the ones he finds difficult or dislikes. His main antagonist, outside of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is Professor Severus Snape, the Potions Master at Hogwarts, who has a grudge against Harry for something that happened between him Harry’s parents and himself a long time ago.

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The Harry Potter series gained worldwide popularity, and all seven books in the series ranked on international bestseller list across the planet. Harry Potter has had his story translated into more than 60 languages, and is the best selling book series of all time. Not without his share of controversy, Harry Potter is more often lauded for encouraging children to read more often, especially at the dawn of the internet age, and with telling such an accessible and entertaining story filled with concepts and ideas to stimulate a child’s imagination. Not limited to children or young adult readers, people of all ages can fall in love with the charming story of the boy wizard, Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived.

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