Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the English author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The central story arc concerns Harry's struggle against the evil wizard Lord Voldemort, who killed Harry's parents in his quest to conquer the wizarding world and subjugate non-magical people (Muggles).
Since the 1997 release of the first novel Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, which was retitled Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the United States, the books have gained immense popularity, critical acclaim and commercial success worldwide. As of June 2008, the book series has sold more than 400 million copies and has been translated into 67 languages, and the last four books have consecutively set records as the fastest-selling books in history.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Format: LIT/ 663 pages
This is the first novel in the Harry Potter series featuring Harry Potter, a young wizard. It describes how Harry discovers he is a wizard, makes close friends and a few enemies at the Hogwarts School of Wicthcraft and Wizardry, and with the help of his friends thwarts an attempted comeback by the evil wizard Voldemort, who killed Harry's parents and tried to kill Harry when he was one year old.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Format: LIT/ 735 pages
The plot follows Harry's second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizadry, during which a series of messages on the walls on the school's corridors warn that the "Chamber of Secrets" has been opened and that the "heir of Slytherin" will kill all pupils who do not come from all-magical families. These threats are followed by attacks which leave residents of the school "petrified" (that is, frozen). Throughout the year, Harry and his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger investigate the attacks, and Harry is confronted by Lord Voldemort, who is attempting to regain full power.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Format: LIT/ 938 pages
Having lost his temper with his Aunt Marge and inadvertently causing her to magically inflate, Harry Potter flees the Dursleys'. Harry takes the Knight Bus to The Leaky Cauldron, where he meets Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic. Fudge informs Harry that Aunt Marge has been deflated and that he will not be punished. The Ministry of Magic is simply concerned about Harry's safety due to the escape of mass-murder Sirius Black from the wizarding prison Azkaban. Black was a great friend of the Potter family and Harry's godfather, but betrayed the family to the evil Lord Voldemort. Voldemort killed Harry's parents but, when he tried to kill Harry, mysteriously vanished. Afterward, Black murdered their friend Peter Pettigrew along with 12 bystanders.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Format: LIT/ 1506 pages
The book opens with Harry Potter having a dream about Frank Bryce, the ex-caretaker at the Riddle family mansion, who is caught eavesdropping on a deformed Tom Riddle and his servant, Peter Pettigrew. In Harry's dream, Bryce is killed by Voldemort. Later in the summer, Harry, Hermione Granger, and the Weasley family take a trip to the Quidditch World Cup. While there, Death Eaters, Voldemort's servants, storm the grounds, harass some muggles, and run away when they see the Dark Mark in the sky.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Format: LIT/ 2190 pages
This novel begins when Harry and his cousin, Dudley, are attacked by dementors. Harry uses magic to fight them off, and must attend a disciplinary hearing for it. In response to Voldemort's reappearance, Dumbledore re-activates the Order of Phoenix, a secret society which works to defeat Voldemort's minions and protect Voldemort's targets, including Harry. Despite Harry's description of Voldemort's recent activities, the Ministry of Magic and many others in the magical world refuse to believe that Voldemort has returned.
In an attempt to enforce its version of school curriculum, the Ministry appoints Dolores Umbridge as the new High Inquisitor of Hogwarts. She transforms the school into a quasi-dictatorial regime and refuses to allow the students to learn ways to defend themselves against dark magic. Harry forms a secret study group and begins to teach his classmates the higher-level skills he has learned. The novel introduces Harry to Luna Lovegood, an airy young witch with a tendency to believe in oddball conspiracy theories. Moreover, it reveals an important prophecy concerning Harry and Voldemort. Harry also discovers that he and Voldemort have a telepathic connection, allowing Harry to view some of Voldemort's actions. In the novel's climax, Harry and his school friends face off against Voldemort's Death Eaters. The timely arrival of members of the Order of the Phoenix saves the children's lives, but Sirius Black, Harry's godfather, is murdered by Bellatrix Lestrange. Many Death Eaters are captured and, most importantly, the return of Voldemort is confirmed within the magical world.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Format: LIT/ 1439 pages
Harry Potter accompanies Albus Dumbledore on a trip to persuade retired Hogwarts professor Horace Slughorn to return to teaching, before arriving at The Burrow.
At Hogwarts, Severus Snape is named the new Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor, with Slughorn becoming the Potions teacher. Harry and Ron are able to enrol in his class, but Harry's borrowed book has notes and corrections that yield better results than the textbook's instructions, winning him a vial of Felix Felicis, a luck potion, on his first day in class. The book formerly belonged to "The Half-Blood Prince".
Harry becomes suspicious of his rival Draco Malfoy, after overhearing several of his conversations, and when Katie Bell is almost killed while attempting to deliver a cursed necklace under the influence of the Imperius Curse. Meanwhile, Ron is displeased with his younger sister Ginny dating anybody, forcing Harry to ignore his attraction. After an argument with Ginny in which Ron's dating inexperience is made clear, Ron takes up with Lavender Brown, creating a divide between him and Hermione. This rift is only mended when he accidentally consumes a love potion attracting him to Romilda Vane, and then poisoned mead which almost kills him.
Harry Potter and the Deathly HallowsFormat: LIT/ 1676 pages
Following Dumbledore's death, Voldemort has completed his ascension to power and gains control of the Ministry of Magic. Harry, Ron, and Hermione drop out of school so that they can find and destroy Voldemort's remaining three Horcruxes. They isolate themselves to ensure the safety of their family and friends. They do not have much knowledge about the remaining Horcruxes except the possibility that two of them are objects that belonged to Hogwarts founders Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff, and that the third is Nagini, Voldemort's snake familiar. The locations of the two founders' objects are unknown, and Nagini is presumed to be with Voldemort himself. As they search for the Horcruxes, the trio learn details about Dumbledore's past, as well as Snape's true motives.
The trio recovers the first of Voldemort's Horcruxes, Salazar Slytherin's locket, by infiltrating the Ministry of Magic. They recover the Sword of Godric Gryyindor; it is one of a few objects that can be used to destroy Horcruxes, and they use it to destroy the locket. In their travels the trio come across a strange symbol, which an eccentric wizard named Xenophilius Lovegood tells them represents the mythical Deathly Hallows. The Hallows are revealed to be three sacred objects: the Resurrection Stone, a stone with the power to bring others back to life; the Elder Wand, an unbeatable wand; and an infallible Invisibility Cloak. Harry learns that Voldemort is after the Elder Wand, but the trio decides that discovering Voldemort's Horcruxes is more important than procuring the wand for themselves. They break into Bellatrix Lestrange's vault at the Wizarding Bank Gringotts to recover another Horcrux, the cup of Helga Hufflepuff. Harry learns that another Horcrux is hidden in Hogwarts, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione enter the school. They find this Horcrux, the Diadem of Ravenclaw, and successfully destroy both.
The book culminates in the Battle of Hogwarts. Harry, Ron, and Hermione, in conjunction with students and members of the wizarding world opposed to the rise of Voldemort, defend Hogwarts from Voldemort, his Death Eaters, and various magical creatures. Several major characters are killed in the first wave of the battle. Harry discovers that Voldemort inadvertently made Harry a Horcrux when he attacked him as a baby, and that he would have to die to destroy Voldemort. Harry surrenders himself to Voldemort, who attacks Harry with the Killing Curse, sending Harry to a sort of Limbo between life and death. There, Harry meets Dumbledore who explains that because Voldemort used Harry's blood to regain his full strength, Harry is protected from any harm that Voldemort could commit, meaning that the Horcrux inside of Harry is destroyed but that he can return to his body despite being hit by the Killing Curse. Harry then returns to his body, the battle resumes, and after the last remaining Horcrux destroyed, Harry is able to defeat Voldemort.
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