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Plot summary
The story opens with the conspicuous celebration of a normally secretive Wizarding world; for many years, it has been terrorised by the evil wizard, Lord Voldemort. On the previous night, October 31, Voldemort discovered the Potter family's hidden refuge (after learning the location from the Potter's Secret Keeper, Peter Pettigrew), killing Lily and James Potter. However, when he attempted to murder their toddler son, Harry, the Avada Kedavra killing curse he cast rebounded upon him. Voldemort's body was destroyed, but his spirit survived: he is neither dead nor alive. Meanwhile, the orphaned Harry is left with a distinctive lightning bolt-shaped scar on his forehead, the only physical sign of Voldemort's curse. Harry is the only known survivor of the curse, and Voldemort's mysterious defeat causes the Wizarding community to dub Harry "The Boy Who Lived". Harry is protected by the enchantment that was produced when Harry's mother died while protecting him from Voldemort. This protection will last until his seventeenth birthday.
On November 1, Rubeus Hagrid, a "half-giant", delivers Harry to his only living relatives, the cruel and magic-phobic Dursleys, comprised of Uncle Vernon, a bad-tempered uncle; Aunt Petunia, a woman who appears to absolutely loathe Harry; and Dudley, their spoiled and overweight son. The Dursleys are, in the words of Professor McGonagall, "the worst sort of Muggles imaginable" and seek to deny Harry his magical birthright by making up a false story about Harry's parents dying in a car accident. They treat Harry like a slave and force him to live in a small, cramped closet under the stairs at their Privet Drive home.
However, as his eleventh birthday approaches, Harry has his first contact with the magical world when he begins receiving letters from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which are delivered by owls. Unfortunately, his uncle confiscates the letters before he can read them. Much to the Dursleys' chagrin, Hogwarts is aware that Harry is not receiving his letters. However, the letters keep on coming and Uncle Vernon decides to move the family (Harry included) to a deserted island off the coast, hoping that the letters will cease. At the stroke of midnight on Harry's eleventh birthday, Rubeus Hagrid (Hogwarts' half-giant gamekeeper) kicks in the door of the house where they are staying, and presents Harry with a letter explaining that he is a wizard and has been selected to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Each book chronicles one year in Harry's life, which is mostly spent at Hogwarts. There he learns to use magic and brew potions. Harry also learns to overcome many magical, social, and emotional hurdles as he struggles through his adolescence, Voldemort's second rise to power, and the Ministry of Magic's corruption and incompetent negligence. After facing many obstacles, forging lasting friendships, and losing countless loved ones, Harry Potter confronts the Dark Lord for the last time.
For a detailed synopsis of the novels, see the relevant article for each book.
Universe
Main article: Harry Potter universe
Hogwarts school, as depicted in the first film
The Wizarding world in which Harry finds himself is both completely separate from and yet intimately connected to our own world. While the fantasy world of Narnia is an alternative universe and the Lord of the Rings' Middle-earth a mythic past, the Wizarding world of Harry Potter exists alongside that of the real world and contains magical elements similar to things in the non-magical world. Many of its institutions and locations are in towns and cities which are recognisable in the real world, such as London. It possesses a fragmented collection of hidden streets, overlooked and ancient pubs, lonely country manors and secluded castles that remain invisible to the non-magical population (known as "Muggles"; i.e. the world of the reader). Wizard ability is inborn, rather than learned. Most wizards send their children to Wizarding schools to learn the magical skills necessary to get along in the magical world. There is no educational equivalent to college or graduate school in the Wizarding world. After graduation from their magical school, students are considered fully trained witches and wizards who are ready to take their places in the Wizarding World. It is possible for wizard parents to have children who are born with little or no magical ability at all (known as "Squibs"). Since one is either born a wizard or not, most wizards are unfamiliar with the Muggle world, and what they do know of the Muggle world is either inaccurate or patronizing.
