Harry Potter, the latest phemonenon to hit the literary world, is a force to reckon with. Created by an unknown author named J.K. Rowling, it has become such a runaway success that you can love it, or hate it, there is no way you can ignore it. Although meant to be a children's book, the latest news reports suggest that a large number of adults are buying and reading the latest adventures of the bespectacled, orphan Boy Wizard with a lightning-shaped scar down his forehead.
The Books have been so successful that J.K. Rowling has managed to carve a niche for herself in the same echelons as literary giants like Enid Blyton and J.R.R. Tolkein. At last count, Rowling has surpassed the New Testament by about 70,000 words. Therunaway success of the series has propelled Rowling from a struggling-to-make-ends-meet single mother to the world's richest author and the richest woman in the UK.
With Harry Potter facts and Trivia cropping up in discussions in all circles it would be very helpful if you could bluff your way around the magical world of Wizards, Witches and Dragons, instead of pretending to be dumb on such occassions. This piece is for those who don't want to read the books, even though personally I'd strongly recomend reading them all.
Given the title of this piece, I think I should begin by defining the the word Muggle.Who/What's a Muggle?
- Muggle:
- A non-magical person.
- or as J.K Rowling writes in the Harry Potter Series - Someone “without a drop of magical blood in them”, a non-magical human being.
- By extension, a specialised term used by members of a group to refer to someone outside that group.
Harry Potter is a little orphan who has to live with his horrible aunt and uncle, the Dursleys, since his parents were killed when he was barely one year old. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia have a very strong dislike for poor Harry and make him live in a cupboard under the stairs. As if this was not enough, Harry's has a cousin Dudley, a fat, spoilt, overgrown bully whose sole aim in life seems to be getting Harry into trouble. Thus Harry spends all his childhood in this deprieved state, while Dudley grows fatter and more spoilt.
Why do Harry's uncle and aunt treat him so shabbily? Is it because they consider him to be an unnecssary burden forced on them? The actual fact is that Harry's dead parents were wizards. James Potter came from a family of sorcerers(pure-bloods) but Lily was descended from mere mortals(Muggles). The Dursleys, who are Muggles, consider anything to do with magic as "abnormal". Thay are mortally scared that their neighbours on Privet Drive will find out the truth and consider them freaks. To prevent this from ever happening, they keep Harry within the house, never allowing him to be even seen by any of the neighbours.
It is forbidden to use the M-word (Rowling has a liberal sprinkling of similar witticisms and puns throughout the text) in the Dursley Household. Uncle Vernon turns purple if anyone mentions about Harry's ABNORMALITY. Harry is told that his parents were killed in a car accident.
Life was going on in this fashion at 4, Privet Drive, when at the age of 11, Harry starts to discover the truth. Hagrid, a half Giant arrives with a special message and soon becomes one of Harry's best friends. Harry learns that his parents were wizards, and that too among the best wizards ever. He comes to know that he has special wizard skills(You are either born with it, or you are a Muggle). He learns that his parents were not killed in any car accident, but were brutally murdered by the evil dark lord, Lord Voldemort. (Voldemort seems to be insipred by Sauron, the evil lord in the LOTR series). The magical people are so scared of the reign of terror that Voldermort had unleashed, that they don't even take his name anymore. Voldemort is referred to by everyone as "You-Know Who".
Harry soon learns about the existense of a whole parallel magical world. We are introduced to Hogwarts, the ultimate in magical education. After the initial shock and confusion has abated, Harry decides that he wants to become a wizrd afetr all. But, before he can set off for Hogwarts he has to go shopping for all the required stuff at Diagon Alley (Diagonally, anyone?), the magical market-place situated in the heart of London, accessible through a run-down pub named "The Leaky Cauldron". Here he acquires all his school stuff(text-books, cauldrons, cloaks, and his snow-white pet owl, Hedwig)
To reach Hogwarts, Harry and others students have to take the Hogwarts Express, from from platform nine and three-quarters at King's Cross station in London. The Hogwarts Express is a magical crimson coloured steam-driven train that has quaint lanterns, a witch selling magical food stuff and plenty more of detail to keep you engrossed all the way to Hogwarts.
Hogwarts is a co-ed institution with students coming from all corneres of the world. There are ever a couple of students from India. Students start their schooling at 11 years and have six years of education to complete. It is located in a big castle next to a lake and forest and is run by Albus Dumbledore (The only person that You-Know-Who is afraid of) and his deputy Minerva McGonagall, (She's Harry House Leader and Transfiguration Teacher).
Harry finds out that Hagrid, his gentle-giant friend is the gamekeeper at Hogwarts. hagrid is a really endearing character who goes on to become a lecturer in the letr books. Hagrid is charterised by hids liking for man-eating creatures like dragons and Giant Spiders.
The amount of detail that Rowling has put into building Hogwarts, shows the imagination that this lady possesses. She ensures just the right mixture of intrigue, danger and fun to make us long to be accepted into Hogwarts. The school uniform consists of robes, cloaks and pointed hats. Hogwarts is divided into houses, rather like a public school. They are Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor - each with its own ghost. The houses are named after the founding wizards. "You know Who" belonged to Slytherin.
Students are "sorted" between the houses, depending on their character, by the talking Sorting Hat, a character with a real character.
Pleasant, easy-going types are usually placed in Hufflepuff. Those with a studious bent go to Ravenclaw. Slytherin house mostly includes the most ambitious students. Slytherin is famous for haveing produced the most number of Dark Wizards, when Voldemort was in power. Bright, pleasant and brave ones, like Harry, go to Gryffindor.
Harry makes some really good friends at Hogwarts. But his closest pals are easily Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, who are at his side in all the perilous situations that Harry goes through.
Hermione is not a pure-blood. Like Harry's mother, Hermione(pronounced Her-My-Knee) was born to muggle parents,(Her parents are Dentist). She is righteous, hardworking, angst-ridden and fussy but also kind and courageous. She has bushy brown hair, large front teeth and has finished memorising the course books by heart, even before the school term starts. She is the one who puts up her hand whenever any professor asks a question in class.
Ron is a bumbling, happy-go-lucky guy who is not too good at magic but is loyal, brave and great company. He and Harry bond too well with each other and become absolutely inseparable friends. He comes from a poor but loving family and has six siblings(Everbody has flaming red hair). His father Aurthur Weasley, works for the Ministry of Magic and barely manages to make ends meet. Ron pities himself because most of the stuff he uses is second-hand, and handed down by one of hids elder brothers. Harry really appreciates the love and affection that Ron's mom showers on him and envies Ron his large, loving family.
If you are thinking of getting enrolled at Hogwarts, be warned that the schedule is quite hectic. Thge Students of Hogwarts are tutored in subjects like Herbology, Charms, Potions, Transfiguration, Care of Magical Creatures and most importantly Defence Against the Dark Arts. There are also highly theoretical subjects like History of Magic, Astronomy, and Ancient Runes. Then there is Divination taht involves the study of Fortune telling, Crystal gazing,Auras, etc.
Hermoine, of course, is the best student and is constantly after Harry and Ron to finish their studies. Harry and Ron always feel that there are better things to do than go about studying.So, while hermione exceles with straight A's in everything, Harry and Ron get by OK.
What Harry really excels at is Quidditch, a game played by wizards which is not very unlike Soccer, except that it is played while flying around on Broomsticks, and with three different types of balls. The Quidditch season starts in November and sees teams of seven competing on broomsticks, divided up into Chasers, Beaters, Keepers, Seekers and Bludgers. The Quaffle is the ball and a Golden Snitch earns a team extra points, and is mostly the deciding factor in any game. Harry proves himself as a ratural with the broom, an gets selected as the Seeker for his team.
While I've already introduced most of the major characters of the series, the Harry Potter books are replete with myriads of characters, both good and Evil.
A special place is held by Draco Malfoy, Harry arch-rival at Hogwarts. He is slick but mean. He hates Muggles and his father was a well-known Death-Eater(Follower of Voldemort). He and Harry have been at loggerheads since the day they bumped into each other on the Hogwarts Express.
Then there is Fred and George, the lovable Weasley twins, who are always playing pranks. They love pulling others' legs but unlike Malfoy are not mean. They are always on the lookout for fun, and they are so good at pranks and practical jokes, that they end up with a Joke Shop of their own, named "Weasley's Wizard Wheezes", and invent brilliant charms and spells. They even have a charm called "U-No-Poo" -- Guaranteed Instant Constipation, anyone?
How can anyone, forget the Dementors(Dementia:The loss of intellectual functions (such as thinking, remembering, and reasoning) of sufficient severity to interfere with a person’s daily functioning). They are among the foulest creatures known to mankind. They are guards at the magical prison Azkaban, located on a rock in the middle of the ocean (Alcatraz???). The dementors feed on people's emotions, especially Joy and Happiness. They disable their victims by sucking out all positive thoughts and are capable of administering something called the "Dementors' Kiss", basically sucking out the soul of a person through his mouth, leaving him/her alive but as good as dead. Harry has a hard time fighting the Dementors as he has a lot of Sorrow in his life and the Dementors always manage to bring out all his sorrow.
Sprinkled throughout the books are a myriad of fantastic characters like the three headed Dog in "The Philosopher's Stone", the Flying Ford, the man-eating Giant spider Aragog and the Huge Basilisk in "The Chamber of Secrets". Then there is BuckBeak, the HippoGriff in "Prisoner of Azkaban".
Other than that, there is the very-excitingly portrayed Quidditch World Cup in the beginning of the fourth Book, "The Goblet of Fire".
Six Books involving the advrentures of Harry Potter and his friends have been published. Each book has been bigger and more detailed than the previous one. Each book charts a year's progress through Hogwarts School for Harry and his friends. Each Book has seen an exponential growth in the number of pages, the cost of the book, and the fan following.
- The First step in the Journey was "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" (Sorcerer's Stone in the US) released in 1997.
- The next year saw the release of "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" and charted Harry, Hermione and Ron's second year at Hogwarts. This time around, though, the mood is darker as evil voices and bloody messages point Harry towards an unsolved mystery. Ron's little sister, Ginny almost loses her life at the hands of Voldemort and Harry has to risk his own life to save her.
- "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" came out in 1999. It tells the story of Sirius Black, who escapes from the high security wizard prison of Azkaban and then "tries" to kill 13-year-old Harry. This book has the most twists in the tale, to date, and a lot of new information surfaces about Harry's past and his parents. Wormtail, is introduced in this book. Also there is this absolutley fantastic object called the Marauder's Map, which is like a magic version of GPS and 3G blended together.
Sirius Black, turns out to be asheep in Wolf's clothing and he becomes Harry Godfather. - "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire", the fourth installment in the series saw the readers facing the death of one of Harry's schoolmates at the hands of Voldemort. Also Lord Voldemort managed to regenerate himself towards the end of this book. This book ran in 640 pages.
- 2003 saw the eagerly-awaited publication of Rowling's fifth book, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix", which clocked in at a whopping 740 pages. Here Lord Voldemort is back in action and the Order is formed to try and defeat him. The grand climax sees Sirius Black getting killed, and the propehcy concerning the realtion between harry and Voldemort.
- The latest installment in the Harry Potter saga was released last week to great enthusiasm and fervour. "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" clocks in at aound 830 pages. It is widely rumoured to depict the death of a very important character. Speculation is rife about whether Dumbledore, or even Hary himself may be getting killed.
No release date has been set for the seventh book, the "supossedly" last instalment in JK Rowling's epic saga. Most people have their own favorite book, but my favourite is easily the Third Book "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban". This Book easily beats all the others in terms of plot and imagination.
Go, ahead, Plunge in and stop being such a MUGGLE...
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