Harry Potter (character) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Harry Potter |
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| Harry Potter character | |
Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter in
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix |
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| First appearance | Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1997) |
| Last appearance | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007) |
| Created by | J. K. Rowling |
| Portrayed by | Daniel Radcliffe |
| Voiced by |
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| Information | |
| Family | James Potter Lily Potter |
| Spouse(s) | Ginny Weasley |
| Children | |
| Relatives |
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| Nationality | British |
| House | Gryffindor |
| Born | 31 July 1980 |
Harry James Potter is the main character in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter fantasy book series. The books tell the story of seven years in the life of an orphan boy. On his 11th birthday, Harry learns he is a wizard. He finds out his parents, Lily and James Potter, were also magical.
Harry goes to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to learn magic. He quickly discovers he is already famous in the wizarding world. Harry also learns that his fate is linked to Lord Voldemort. Voldemort was a very evil wizard who killed Harry's parents. People believed Voldemort died when he tried to use a deadly curse on baby Harry. J. K. Rowling said she got the idea for Harry Potter while waiting for a train in 1990. She decided to make Harry an orphan after her own mother passed away.
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Creating Harry Potter
J. K. Rowling shared that the idea for Harry Potter came to her in 1990. She was waiting for a delayed train from Manchester to London. She said that during those hours, the idea of "this scrawny, black-haired, bespectacled boy who didn't know he was a wizard became more and more real."
Rowling also decided Harry should be an orphan at a boarding school called Hogwarts. She explained that Harry needed to be an orphan so he could be free to act. He wouldn't have to worry about disappointing his parents. Hogwarts had to be a boarding school because many important things happen at night. It also offered Harry a sense of security.
Rowling's mother died on December 30, 1990. This made Rowling write Harry as a boy who missed his dead parents deeply. His pain became "more deeper, more real" because she understood it herself. Rowling also said that Harry was born on July 31 and shares her birthday. However, she says Harry is not based on any real person. She feels he "came just out of a part of me."
Harry's Adventures in the Books
First Year at Hogwarts
Harry first appears in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. This book is known as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the United States. Harry is the main character, or protagonist. When Harry was just over one year old, his parents were killed by the powerful Dark Wizard, Lord Voldemort. Harry survived Voldemort's deadly curse because his mother protected him. The curse bounced back at Voldemort, tearing his soul from his body. Because of this, Harry has a lightning-bolt shaped scar on his forehead.
Harry lives unhappily with his only remaining family, the cruel Dursleys. On his eleventh birthday, Harry learns he is a wizard. Rubeus Hagrid tells him he will go to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. There, Harry learns about his parents and his connection to the Dark Lord. He is sorted into Gryffindor House by the Sorting Hat. He becomes friends with classmates Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Near the end of his first year, he stops Voldemort from trying to steal the Philosopher's Stone. Harry also starts rivalries with Draco Malfoy and the Potions teacher, Severus Snape. These feuds continue throughout the series.
Rowling has said that the Mirror of Erised chapter in the first book is her favorite. The mirror shows Harry's deepest wish: to see his dead parents. Her favorite funny scene is when Harry accidentally sets a boa constrictor free from the zoo. The Dursleys are horrified.
Years Two to Four
In the second book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry faces Tom Marvolo Riddle. Riddle is a memory of Lord Voldemort trapped in a secret diary. Ron's younger sister, Ginny Weasley, finds this diary. When students from non-magic families are turned to stone, many think Harry is behind the attacks. This makes him feel alone. Later, Ginny Weasley goes missing. To save her, Harry battles Riddle and the monster he controls in the Chamber of Secrets.
The third book is Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Harry learns that his parents were betrayed to Lord Voldemort by their friend Peter Pettigrew. Pettigrew was also accused of framing Harry's godfather, Sirius Black, for crimes he didn't commit. Black was locked up in the wizarding prison, Azkaban. When Black escapes for revenge, Harry and Hermione use a Time Turner to save him and a hippogriff named Buckbeak. Pettigrew escapes from Sirius, leaving Sirius on the run.
In the fourth novel, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry starts to grow up. He becomes interested in Cho Chang, a pretty Ravenclaw student. Harry is mysteriously chosen by the Goblet of Fire to compete in the dangerous Triwizard Tournament. Another Hogwarts champion, Cedric Diggory, was already chosen. This is actually a plan by Lord Voldemort to trap Harry. During the final challenge, Harry and Cedric are teleported to a graveyard. Cedric is killed. Lord Voldemort, helped by Peter Pettigrew, uses Harry's blood in a ritual to bring Voldemort's body back. When Harry duels Voldemort, their wands connect. The spirits of Voldemort's victims, including Cedric and Harry's parents, come out of his wand. These spirits protect Harry as he escapes to Hogwarts with Cedric's body. Rowling said this scene shows Harry's bravery and selflessness.
Years Five and Six
In the fifth book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the Ministry of Magic tries to make Harry and Dumbledore look bad. They don't believe Voldemort has returned. A new character, Dolores Umbridge, is appointed as the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. She is also a Ministry spy. The Ministry thinks Dumbledore is building a wizard army. So, Umbridge doesn't teach students real defensive magic. She slowly gains more power and takes control of the school. Harry becomes angry and acts out, almost losing Ron and Hermione as friends. Rowling said she put Harry through this stress to show his human side.
Harry secretly teaches his classmates real defensive magic. Their meetings are discovered, and Dumbledore is removed as Headmaster. Harry suffers another blow when his godfather, Sirius Black, is killed in a battle. But Harry defeats Voldemort's plan to steal an important prophecy. He also helps uncover Umbridge's bad intentions. Rowling stated that Harry would "rise from the ashes strengthened." Harry's romance with Cho Chang also happens in this book, but it ends quickly.
In the sixth book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry goes through difficult puberty. Rowling says this is based on her own teenage years. A new character, Horace Slughorn, returns to teach Potions. Severus Snape takes over Defence Against the Dark Arts. Harry does very well in Potions using an old textbook. It belonged to a student known as "The Half-Blood Prince." The book has many handwritten notes and new spells. Hermione thinks Harry is cheating by using it.
Through private meetings with Dumbledore, Harry learns about Lord Voldemort's past. He learns how Voldemort gained power and split his soul into Horcruxes to live forever. Two Horcruxes have been destroyed. Harry and Dumbledore find another, but it's a fake. When Death Eaters attack Hogwarts, Snape kills Dumbledore. As Snape escapes, he says he is the Half-Blood Prince. Harry's admired mentor is actually his hated enemy. Now, Harry must find and destroy Voldemort's remaining Horcruxes. He also needs to get revenge for Dumbledore's death.
The Final Battle
In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry, Ron, and Hermione leave Hogwarts. Their task is to find and destroy Voldemort's last four Horcruxes. Then, they must find and kill the Dark Lord. The three friends face Voldemort's new totalitarian police state. This tests Harry's courage and his sense of right and wrong. Rowling said that a scene where Harry uses dark spells on Voldemort's servants shows Harry is "flawed and mortal." But she explained he was in an extreme situation, defending good people.
Harry realizes that being too focused makes him predictable to his enemies. It also clouds his perceptions. When Severus Snape is killed by Voldemort later, Harry learns the truth. Snape was not the traitor he thought. He was a tragic anti-hero loyal to Albus Dumbledore. Snape's memories show he loved Harry's mother, Lily Evans. Their friendship ended because of Snape's connection with future Death Eaters. When Voldemort killed the Potters, a grieving Snape vowed to protect Lily's child. He loathed young Harry for being James Potter's son. It is also revealed that Snape did not kill Dumbledore. He carried out Dumbledore's plan. Dumbledore was dying from a curse. He wanted to protect Snape's position and save Draco Malfoy from killing him.
To defeat Harry, Voldemort steals the Elder Wand from Dumbledore's tomb. This is the most powerful wand ever. Voldemort tries to kill Harry twice with it. The first time, it only stuns Harry into a death-like state. Dumbledore's spirit tells Harry that when Voldemort failed to kill baby Harry, Harry became an unintentional Horcrux. Voldemort could not kill Harry while a piece of his soul was inside Harry. Voldemort's second curse also fails. This is because Voldemort used Harry's blood when he came back to life. The piece of Voldemort's soul inside Harry was destroyed because Harry willingly faced death. Harry, not Voldemort, became the Elder Wand's true master. In the end, the Elder Wand disobeys Voldemort. It sends the curse back at him, killing him. Rowling said Harry accepts death, which makes him stronger than Voldemort.
After Voldemort's defeat, Harry joins the Auror Office. This is part of a changed Ministry of Magic. Ten years later, Harry becomes department head. Ron, who helped George run the Weasley Wizarding Wheezes Joke Shop, also becomes an Auror. Rowling said Harry's old rival Draco Malfoy overcame his dislike after Harry saved his life three times.
In the Deathly Hallows epilogue, set nineteen years later, Harry and Ginny are married. They have three children: James Sirius, Albus Severus, and Lily Luna.
Harry in the Movies
In the eight Harry Potter movies from 2001 to 2011, Harry Potter was played by British actor Daniel Radcliffe. Radcliffe was asked to audition for the role in 2000. He was at a play in London at the time. The Harry Potter role earned Radcliffe a lot of money.
In a 2007 interview, Radcliffe said Harry Potter is a classic coming of age character. He said the movies are about losing innocence. Harry goes from a young kid amazed by the world to someone hardened by battles. Radcliffe also said Harry's feelings of guilt about his dead parents and his loneliness are important to his character. Because of this, Radcliffe talked to someone who helps people with sadness to prepare for the role. Radcliffe was happy with the ending of the books. He praised J. K. Rowling for how she finished the story.
Radcliffe said the most common question he gets is how Harry Potter influenced his own life. He always says it has been "fine." He doesn't feel stuck in the role. He sees it as a huge honor to play Harry Potter.
Harry's Character
J. K. Rowling says Harry Potter is strongly guided by his own conscience. He has a strong sense of right and wrong. Harry had "very limited access to truly caring adults." So, Rowling said, he "is forced to make his own decisions from early age on." She admitted he "does make mistakes." But in the end, he does what his conscience tells him. Rowling said one important scene was in the fourth book. Harry protects his dead schoolmate Cedric Diggory's body from Lord Voldemort. This shows Harry is brave and unselfish.
Rowling also said Harry's two biggest flaws are "anger and occasional arrogance." But Harry is also naturally honorable. "He's not a cruel boy. He's competitive, and he's a fighter. He doesn't just lie down and take abuse. But he does have native integrity, which makes him a hero to me. He's a normal boy but with those qualities most of us really admire." After the seventh book, Rowling said Harry has the greatest strength: he is not afraid of death, which Voldemort is.
Rowling has also said Harry is a good role model for children. She said you can know a fictional hero better than a real one. If people like Harry and connect with him, she is happy. She thinks he is very likable.
How Harry Looks
Rowling gave Harry Potter a unique look. Throughout the series, Harry has his father's messy black hair. He has his mother's green eyes. He also has a lightning bolt-shaped scar on his forehead from his encounter with Lord Voldemort. He wears round, thick eyeglasses. Rowling explained this image just came to her when she first thought of Harry. She saw him as a "scrawny, black-haired, bespectacled boy."
In the books, Harry's scar shows when Voldemort is near. It burns when the Dark Lord is feeling angry or happy about something bad. Rowling said that by attacking baby Harry, Voldemort gave him "tools no other wizard possessed." The scar gave Harry a "magical window into Voldemort's mind." When asked why Harry's scar is lightning bolt-shaped, Rowling said, "to be honest, because it’s a cool shape." She joked, "I couldn’t have my hero sport a doughnut-shaped scar."
Harry's Abilities and Interests
Harry is a "half-blood" wizard. This means both his parents were magical, but his mother, Lily Evans, was "Muggle-born" (born to non-magic parents). To wizards who care about blood purity, Lily would be seen as "as loathsome as a Muggle." They would call her a "Mudblood."
Rowling wrote Harry as a talented wizard student. She said in a 2000 interview that Harry is "particularly talented" in Defence Against the Dark Arts. He is also good at Quidditch. Rowling said that until about halfway through the third book, his friend Hermione Granger would have beaten Harry in a magic duel. Hermione is the smartest student in Harry's year. From the fourth book onwards, Harry becomes very skilled in Defence Against the Dark Arts. He would beat Hermione in a duel. His power is clear from the start of the series. Harry shows immediate skill with a broomstick. He can produce a Patronus (a powerful protective charm) at a young age. He also survives many fights with Voldemort. Harry can speak and understand Parseltongue, a language linked to Dark Magic. Rowling said this is because he has a piece of Lord Voldemort's soul. After Voldemort destroys that soul piece in the seventh book, Harry loses the ability to speak Parseltongue. Harry "is very glad" to have lost this gift.
Rowling said Harry's favorite book is Quidditch Through the Ages. This is a real book Rowling wrote for the Comic Relief charity.
Harry's Possessions
When Harry's parents were killed, they left him a lot of wizard's gold. This gold was in a vault at the wizarding bank, Gringotts. This money pays for all of Harry's Hogwarts textbooks, wizarding clothes, and spending money.
Like most wizards, Harry's wand is one of his most important magical items. Harry's wand is made of holly wood. Rowling chose holly because it is said to get rid of evil. This is a contrast to Lord Voldemort's wand, which is made of yew. Yew symbolizes death. Rowling later learned that in the Celtic calendar, a type of wood is given to each month. Harry's birthday (July 31) is linked to holly. Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger also have wands made from woods linked to their birth months.
Another important possession is Harry's Cloak of Invisibility. He gets it anonymously as a Christmas gift in his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He later learns it was given by Albus Dumbledore, who got it from Harry's father.
Harry also owns half of a pair of two-way mirrors. His godfather Sirius Black gave them to him to talk secretly. In Book 7, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry and friends are captured at Malfoy Manor. This was Lord Voldemort's headquarters. Harry uses the mirror to talk to Aberforth Dumbledore. Aberforth sends help in the form of Dobby the House Elf.
After Sirius's death, Harry inherited all his remaining possessions. This included the Black family home, Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, and everything inside it, including Kreacher (the old Black family House Elf). Harry also inherited the rest of Sirius's gold at Gringotts.
Harry also has a magical knife given to him by Sirius Black. This knife can open most locks, both mechanical and magical. The knife was destroyed when Harry tried to use it on a lock in the Department of Mysteries. An enchantment destroyed the blade instead of opening the lock.
By the end of Deathly Hallows, Harry has all three Deathly Hallows. These are the Cloak of Invisibility, the Resurrection Stone, and the Elder Wand. They are three of the most powerful magical items. However, Harry loses the Resurrection Stone in the Forbidden Forest and leaves it there. Harry also takes the Elder Wand and places it with Dumbledore's body. This way, the wand's power might end if Harry dies a natural death. The new portrait of Dumbledore agrees that Harry should keep the Invisibility Cloak. It was his father's.
Throughout most of the books, Harry also has a pet owl named Hedwig. She delivers and gets messages and packages. When Hedwig is killed in the seventh book, Rowling expected readers to be sad. She said, "The loss of Hedwig represented a loss of innocence and security. She has been almost like a cuddly toy to Harry at times. I know that death upset a lot of people!"
Harry's Family
In the novels, Harry is the only child of James and Lily Potter. He became an orphan as a baby. Rowling made Harry an orphan from the start. She felt an orphan would be the most interesting character to write about. After her mother's death, Rowling wrote Harry as a child who longed to see his dead parents. She put her own sadness into him. Harry is a "half-blood" wizard. Both his parents were magical, but Lily was "Muggle-born" (born to non-magic parents), and James was a pure-blood.
Harry's aunt and uncle kept the truth about his parents' deaths from him. They told him his parents died in a car crash. James Potter was a descendant of Ignotus Peverell. Ignotus was one of the three original owners of the Deathly Hallows. Harry realizes this in the final book. Harry's family line continues through his three children with Ginny: James Sirius Potter, Albus Severus Potter, and Lily Luna Potter.
Rowling has shared more about the Potter family history. It started with Linfred of Stinchcombe in the 12th century. He was an eccentric wizard whose nickname, "the Potterer," became "Potter." Linfred invented remedies that became potions still used today, like Skele-Gro. His inventions made the family rich. Linfred's oldest son, Hardwin, married Iolanthe Peverell. She was Ignotus Peverell's granddaughter. She continued the tradition of passing down Ignotus' Invisibility Cloak. Two of Harry Potter's ancestors were members of the Wizengamot (a wizarding court): Ralston Potter and Henry Potter. Henry Potter, Harry's great-grandfather, was known as "Harry" to his loved ones. He served on the Wizengamot from 1913 to 1921. He spoke out against the Minister for Magic for not helping Muggles during the First World War. Henry's son, Fleamont Potter, made the family even richer by creating a magical hair potion. Fleamont and his wife, Euphemia, had given up hope of having a child when James was born. James married Lily Evans, and they had Harry Potter. Fleamont and Euphemia lived to see James and Lily marry. However, they died before meeting their famous grandson.
Harry Potter in Pop Culture
In 2002, Book magazine voted Harry Potter No. 85 among the "100 Best Fictional Characters." Harry Potter is also made fun of in the Barry Trotter series by American writer Michael Gerber. In these books, "Barry Trotter" is an unpleasant character. Gerber describes Trotter as someone who "drinks too much, eats like a pig, sleeps until noon, and owes everybody money." Gerber said he liked Rowling's books. So, he felt he had to write a spoof that was worthy of the originals.
In real life, Harry's look has become very popular. According to halloweenonline.com, Harry Potter costumes were the fifth-best selling Halloween costume in 2005. Also, wizard rock bands like Harry and the Potters often dress up like Harry Potter. They wear painted forehead scars, black wigs, and round glasses.
Wizard rock is a music style that started in 2002. It has at least 200 bands made up of young musicians. They play songs about Harry Potter. The movement began in Massachusetts with the band Harry and the Potters. They cosplay as Harry during their live shows.
Harry Potter appears in the Robot Chicken episode "Nutcracker Sweet." Seth Green voices him. Quinton Flynn voices Harry Potter in the episode "Password: Swordfish."
Episodes of The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy have spoofed Harry as Nigel Planter. Unlike Harry, Nigel has an L-shaped scar on his forehead.
In an episode of The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, Potter is mentioned three times. Once, Jimmy watches movie clips quickly, and Hagrid says, "You're a Wizard, Harry." Later, in filming Jimmy's movie, Jimmy plays a parody of Harry called "Terry Bladder."
Wizards of Waverly Place once mentioned Harry. Justin was wearing a robe and glasses like Harry. Alex joked about it, trying to guess who he looked like ("Barry something," "Jerry something," etc.).
See also
In Spanish: Harry Potter (personaje) para niños
