what do you know about harry potter?

Answer 1

Harry Potter is the name of a very popular series of fantasy novels by British writer J. K. Rowling. It depicts a world of witches and wizards, the protagonist being the eponymous young wizard, Harry Potter. Since the release of the first novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (retitled Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the United States) in 1997, the books have been criticised, both literarily and otherwise. However, despite this, the series has succeeded in gaining immense popularity and commercial success worldwide and across age demographics, spawning in addition to its original medium, books, films, video games, and a wealth of other items.

Along with its clear elements of fantasy, Harry Potter is also in the words of Stephen King a "shrewd mystery tale."[1] Most of the narrative takes place in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, focusing on Harry Potter’s journey toward manhood over the course of his education, interactions, journeys, and adventures. Through the course of these, the books also explore themes of friendship, ambition, choice, prejudice, and love against the backdrop of the expansive magical world with its long and complex history, diverse inhabitants, unique culture, and parallel society.

As of 2006, six of the seven planned books have been published. The latest, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, was issued in its English language version on 16 July 2005. The first four books have been made into very successful films, and the fifth began filming in February 2006. English language versions of the books are published by Bloomsbury, Scholastic Press, and Raincoast Books.

Please note, most links lead to spoilers. Those that are noted will carry the following tag:
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
Contents
[hide]

* 1 Origins and publishing history
* 2 Overview
o 2.1 Characters in Harry Potter
o 2.2 Themes & motifs
* 3 Influences
* 4 Criticism
* 5 Controversy
* 6 Films
* 7 Releases
o 7.1 Events
o 7.2 Security
* 8 Awards & honours
* 9 Commercial success
* 10 Cultural impact
* 11 Future
* 12 See also
* 13 References
* 14 Further reading
* 15 External links

[edit]

Origins and publishing history

In 1990, J.K. Rowling was on a crowded train from Manchester to London when the idea for Harry simply “fell” into her head. She gives an account of the experience on her website:[2]

"I had been writing almost continuously since the age of six but I had never been so excited about an idea before. To my immense frustration, I didn't have a functioning pen with me, and I was too shy to ask anybody if I could borrow one. I think, now, that this was probably a good thing, because I simply sat and thought, for four (delayed train) hours, and all the details bubbled up in my brain, and this scrawny, black-haired, bespectacled boy who didn't know he was a wizard became more and more real to me. I think that perhaps if I had had to slow down the ideas so that I could capture them on paper I might have stifled some of them (although sometimes I do wonder, idly, how much of what I imagined on that journey I had forgotten by the time I actually got my hands on a pen)."

That evening, the author began the pre-writing for her first novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, a semi-detailed plan that would include the plots of each of her seven envisioned books, in addition to an enormous amount of historical and biographical information on her characters and universe. [3] Eventually Rowling relocated to Portugal, where in 1992 she married her first husband, and in 1993 had her first child, Jessica, all the while continuing her writing of Stone. When the marriage dissolved, Rowling returned to Britain with her daughter and settled in Edinburgh to be near her sister, famously continuing her writing of Philosopher's Stone in local coffee shops. Bringing in only £90 a week (of which £70 was from income support) and unable to secure a place for her daughter in a nursery, the sleeping infant Jessica would be a constant companion to her mother as Rowling laboured to finish the book that she had at this point begun to fear would never be completed.

In 1996, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was completed and the manuscript was sent off to an agent.

"The agent sent the manuscript back to my despair without the folder, which had cost me £4.00 [$7.00], saying writing 80,000 words made it much too long for a children's book."

The second agent she tried, Christopher Little, wrote back immediately to say he liked it and wanted to take her on. He sent the manuscript to Bloomsbury...[4]

At Bloomsbury, at the time a fairly small independent publisher, Philosopher's Stone landed in front of the uninterested eye of Nigel Newton, the chairman of the company. The unenthused Mr Newton took the manuscript home but did not read it, giving it instead to his eight-year-old daughter, Alice.[5] Showing great excitement over what she had read, Ms. Newton would go on to 'nag' her father for months until Bloomsbury, after eight other publishers had rejected Philosopher's Stone, offered Rowling a £2,500 advance.

Despite Rowling's statement that she did not have any particular age group in mind when she began to write the Harry Potter books, the publishers initially targeted them at children aged around 9 to 11. On the eve of publishing, like Harper Lee (To Kill a Mockingbird) and S. E. Hinton (The Outsiders) before her, Joanne Rowling was asked by her publishers to adopt a more gender-neutral pen name, in order to appeal to the males of this age group, fearing that they would not be interested in reading a novel they knew to be written by a woman. She elected to use J.K. Rowling (Joanne Kathleen Rowling), omitting her first name and using her grandmother's as her second.

The first Potter book was published in the United Kingdom by Bloomsbury in July 1997 and in the United States by Scholastic in September of 1998, but not before Rowling had received a six-figure sum for the American rights — an unprecedented amount for a children's book. Fearing that some of its intended readers would either not understand the word "philosopher" or not associate it with a magical theme, Scholastic insisted that the book be renamed Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for the U.S. market.

The series has been the recipient of many publishing accolades. Among them, the first three books, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, were awarded the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize for the 9 to 11 age group in 1997, 1998, and 1999 respectively.[6]

By 2000, the series had become very high-profile due in part to marketing strategy by Rowling's publishers, but also due to word-of-mouth buzz among readers, especially young males. The latter is notable because for years, interest in literature among this demographic had lagged behind other pursuits like video games and the Internet. Rowling's publishers were able to capitalise on this fervour by the rapid, successive releases of the first three books that allowed neither Rowling's audience's excitement nor interest to wane, along with quickly solidifying a loyal readership.[7] The culmination of this initial Potter excitement was the huge media coverage surrounding the 2000 release of the fourth book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

In 2001, two slim spin-off volumes called Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander and Quidditch Through the Ages by Kennilworthy Whisp were published. All proceeds went to the British charity Comic Relief (not to be confused with the American organisation of the same name). The hype escalated with the publication of the next two books, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, with midnight launch parties at hundreds of bookshops in the UK, simultaneous launch events around the English-speaking world, and intense media interest, leading to unprecedented first-day sales in the UK, US, and elsewhere. People would become so eager to get their Harry Potter books, some tried to steal them before the release date, which received extreme media attention.

Over nearly a decade the books have garnered fans of all ages, leading to two editions of each Harry Potter book being released, identical in text but with one edition's cover artwork aimed at children and the other aimed at adults. The series is also immensely popular around the world in its many translations. Such was the global clamour to read the book that the English-language edition of Order of the Phoenix became the first English-language book ever to top the bookseller list in France.[8] With the 2005 release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince selling nearly nine million copies in the first 24 hours of its release, the series' popularity shows no signs of fading. [9]
[edit]

Overview
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The novels are very much in the fantasy genre; however, in many respects they are also a bildungsroman, a novel of education, set in Hogwarts School, an old-fashioned British boarding school for wizards, where the curriculum includes use of magic and brewing potions. The main character, a boy named Harry Potter is an orphan who lives with his cruel relatives, the Dursleys, initially kept in ignorance of his magical heritage — the Dursleys despise his "unnaturalness". However, as his eleventh birthday approaches, Harry has his first contact with the magical world when he is notified by Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry that he is in fact a wizard and has been chosen to attend.

The first novel opens on the morning of November 1, 1981, a day the novel fills with both the peculiar and the incomprehensible: shooting stars, an inordinate number of owls, and oddly dressed strangers joyously accosting bewildered muggles on the street. The source of these strange events is the rare, unrestrained, celebratory mood of a carefully secretive Wizarding World that had for years been terrorised by Lord Voldemort in his decades long bid for power. However, the previous night, Lord Voldemort, who had for months sought the hidden Potter family, discovered their refuge and killed Lily and James Potter. When he turned his wand against their infant son, Harry, his curse rebounded upon him and he was ripped from his body, and was forced into hiding, leaving Harry with his distinctive lightning bolt scar on his forehead, the only physical sign of Voldemort's attack. Harry's defeat of Voldemort in the course of the mysterious events of that Halloween night was met with a mix of awe and fear, but mostly joy by the magical community, resulting in them dubbing Harry, who had survived where so many others had fallen, "The Boy Who Lived".

The subsequent stories follow a very strict formula: set one year apart, they begin near the end of summer, as Harry, interred with the Dursleys in the Muggle world, awaits September and his return to Hogwarts. He then spends some time in a particular magical location (Diagon Alley, The Burrow, Grimmauld Place) before boarding the Hogwarts Express at Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross Station, which takes him to Hogwarts. After he arrives at school, the bulk of each novel deals with him overcoming everyday school issues, such as essays, awkward crushes and unsympathetic teachers. Also during this period, Harry wrestles with a mystery which climaxes in the days after the end of the school year, which, invariably, will involve an attempt by Lord Voldemort to regain power.
[edit]

Characters in Harry Potter

* Harry James Potter: The only child of James and Lily Potter, with whom he shares many distinct characteristics, most notably James' unruly black hair and Lily's green eyes. He achieved fame at the age of one when Lord Voldemort, the most feared wizard of the age, attacked his home, murdering his parents but failing to kill him, though leaving him with his instantly recognisable scar, and in turn was hit and ripped from his body by his own backfiring Killing Curse. At Hogwarts, Harry has shown himself to be a gifted wizard, excelling both at Defence Against the Dark Arts and Quidditch, along with being recognised as a capable leader within his house, Gryffindor, and the school in general. Despite his best attempts, he has been unable to downplay his fame and his inability to do so has at times been a source of great frustration to him, making him the target of unwanted media attention, rumours, gawking (chiefly at his scar), and the ire of professors and classmates alike. However, despite all external pressures, he remains overall courageous, noble, and high minded, though at times these qualities have been shown to negatively manifest themselves in what Hermione Granger termed his "saving-people thing".

* Ronald "Ron" Bilius Weasley: Harry Potter's best friend and sixth of the seven children of the widely respected (though extremely poor) Weasley family.[10] He befriended Harry almost immediately upon meeting him during their first journey on the Hogwarts Express. However, a serious rift did once develop between them, due in part to his frustration at being forced to live in Harry's shadow — no doubt magnified by his position as youngest brother in his large family. Despite this, he and Harry have remained close through the years, with him being a constant companion through Harry's trials and adventures.

* Hermione Jane Granger: The close friend of Harry Potter and Ron Weasley who is generally held to be the best student of Harry's year. Her high intelligence and reason-based way of tackling challenges have often been a great asset to Harry and Ron throughout their Hogwarts careers, though her sometimes bossy and interfering manner has at times been a source of contention between them. Her status as a Muggle-born, along with her intelligence and assertive manner, have on occasion made her a prime target for disapproving prejudiced classmates.

* Lord Voldemort: The chief series antagonist and evil wizard bent on securing unmatched power and achieving immortality through the practice of Dark Magic. After years of slaughter in pursuit of his goals he met his match when he attempted to kill Harry Potter and failed, being ripped from his body and forced to flee into hiding. So feared was he at the height of his prodigious powers that even following his downfall most wizards feared to speak his name, referring to him instead as "You-Know-Who", "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named", or "The Dark Lord," the last of which is uttered primarily by his followers, the Death Eaters.

* Professor Albus Dumbledore: Harry's most trusted advisor and headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He is perhaps one of the most respected men in the Wizarding world, holding high ranking positions in both national and international magical government, along with being an accomplished alchemist and master of an assortment of magical disciplines. He is also said to be the only known sorcerer whom Lord Voldemort ever feared. Despite, or perhaps because of his magical power, intellect, and status in the magical world, Dumbledore often finds himself socially isolated and is as a result, not invulnerable to reckless emotional mistakes.

* Professor Severus Snape: A gifted wizard, Hogwarts staff member, and since his youth, a bitter enemy of James Potter and Sirius Black. As Hogwarts Potions master he sought to exact his revenge on the deceased James Potter by verbally abusing his son Harry. A former spy employed by both Voldemort and Dumbledore, Snape's loyalty is constantly under question though Dumbledore maintains that he unequivocally trusts him for reasons that he has declined to reveal. There are those who still remain sceptical, Harry Potter chief among them.

* Professor Rubeus Hagrid: Son of a wizard and a giantess, he is both surprisingly gentle and nurturing. One of Harry Potter's biggest supporters and most steadfast friends, he is also the Hogwarts groundskeeper and Professor of Care of Magical Creatures and it was he who reintroduced Harry back into the magical world. Hagrid also went to school at Hogwarts, but was expelled in his third year and is thus unable to legally perform magic.

* Sirius Black: Best friend to James Potter and former rebellious youth who fled his pure-blood supremacist parents' home in his youth. Following the murders of James and Lily he was arrested for supposed involvement though he later escaped.

* Draco Malfoy: A pure-blood supremacist and member of Slytherin house known for his white-blonde hair and grey eyes, in addition to his sharp tongue that often targets Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger. As Harry and Ron became fast friends, Harry and Draco quickly became enemies, with the two facing off in various confrontations, including Quidditch, on numerous occasions throughout the series. He and his two cronies, Crabbe and Goyle, serve as the antithesis to the main trio.

Further information: List of characters in the Harry Potter books

[edit]

Themes & motifs

One of the most enduring themes throughout the series is that of love, portrayed as a powerful form of magic in and of itself. It is Dumbledore's belief that it was this power that allowed Harry to resist Voldemort's temptations of power during their second encounter, prevented Voldemort from being able to possess him during their fifth encounter, and will eventually lead to Voldemort's downfall.[11] [12]

Prejudice and discrimination also feature prominently throughout the series. As Harry's education in the magical world continues he learns that there are wizards and witches who hate Muggles and view them as inferior because of their lack of magical ability. Furthermore, the magical world utilises a system of designations, Muggle-born, half-blood, and pure-blood, to indicate a wizard's heritage. The more prejudiced within the magical community take these designations a step further, viewing them as a system of ranking to illustrate a wizard's worth, pure-bloods being the preferred sorcerers, and Muggle-borns (alternatively known by the slur "Mudblood") as the most despised. In addition to prejudices held for fellow humans, there is also a common shunning of non-humans and even part-humans (commonly known by the offensive epithet, "half-breeds").

Another significant recurring themes is that of choice. In Chamber of Secrets, Dumbledore makes perhaps his most famous statement on this issue: "It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."[13] He confronts the issue again in Goblet of Fire, when he tells Cornelius Fudge that what one grows up to be is far more important than what one is born. [14]

As it has been for many characters throughout the series, what Dumbledore termed the "choice between what is right and what is easy" has been a staple of Harry Potter's career at Hogwarts and his choices are among his character's most distinguishing traits from Voldemort's. Both he and Voldemort were orphans raised in difficult environments, in addition to sharing characteristics including, as Dumbledore points out, Voldemort's "own very rare gift, Parseltongue — resourcefulness, determination" and "a certain disregard for rules".[13] However, Harry, unlike Voldemort, has consciously elected to embrace friendship, kindness, and love, where Voldemort knowingly chose to reject them.

While ideas such as love, prejudice, and choice are, as J.K. Rowling States, "deeply entrenched in the whole plot", the writer prefers to let themes "grow organically", rather than sitting down and consciously attempting to impart such ideas to her readers.[15] Friendship and loyalty are perhaps the most "organic" of these, with their main conduit being the relationship between Harry, Ron, and Hermione, which allows these motifs to naturally develop as the three age, their relationship matures, and their accumulated experiences at Hogwarts test their trueness to each other. These ordeals become progressively difficult, keeping in line with the series' increasingly darker tone, and the general nature of adolescence. Along the same lines is the ever-present theme of adolesence, in whose depiction the author has been purposeful in her refusal to ignore her characters' sexualities and leave Harry in what she called "stuck in a state of permanent pre-pubescence".[16] Also recurring throughout Harry Potter is Rowling's frequent use of irony, satire, wordplay, and folklore.

Further information: Themes and motifs in Harry Potter

[edit]

Influences
Series' mythological influences as seen on the cover of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Enlarge
Series' mythological influences as seen on the cover of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Rowling has stated that while there are a number of writers she "admires", it is more accurate to say that they represent an "untouchable ideal" to her, rather than an influence, as she doesn't "analyse" her "own writing in that way". [17] Despite this, Rowling's Potter books draw upon a long tradition of boarding school-set children's literature in English, a school story genre originated in the Victorian era with Tom Brown's Schooldays by Thomas Hughes. Further seemingly influential works of the Victorian era include those of E. Nesbit, of whom Rowling has frequently characterised herself as being a fan of, praising Nesbit for her innovative "very real" child characters. [18]

More controversial has been the alleged influence of J.R.R. Tolkien on Rowling. While Tolkienian scholar Thomas Shippey has maintained that no "modern writer of epic fantasy has managed to escape the mark of Tolkien, no matter how hard many of them have tried", Rowling has maintained that in the most meaningful of ways, she has (see criticism).[19] Less controversial is the clearer influence of more general, less author-specific elements of the series such as classical myth and legend. Such influences as these are most often seen in Rowling's selection and creation of the creatures that inhabit her universe, e.g., dragons, the phoenix, and Hippogriffs. In addition to this is the influence of astronomy, history, geography, and language (especially Latin), often seen in Rowling's careful naming of characters, places, and magic in the wizarding world.
[edit]

Criticism

While it is arguable that the archetypical familiarity of the stories contributed to their rapid elevation to classic status, critics of the Harry Potter stories are quick to argue that they lack originality, frequently pointing to its shared content with the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. Such content includes Tolkien's Wormtongue and Rowling's Wormtail, Rowling's Dementors and Tolkien's Nazgûl, and similarities between both authors' antagonists, Tolkien's Sauron and Rowling's Lord Voldemort (both of whom are sometimes within their respective continuties unnamed due to intense fear surrounding their names).[20] Rowling maintains that she hadn't read The Hobbit until after she completed the first Harry Potter novel (though she had read The Lord of the Rings as a teenager) and that any similarities between her books and Tolkien's are "fairly superficial".[21]

Critic A.S. Byatt went even further in attacking the perceived lack of originality of the series following the release of the fifth book in 2003, when she called Rowling's world a "secondary secondary world, made up of intelligently patchworked derivative motifs from all sorts of children's literature [...] written for people whose imaginative lives are confined to TV cartoons, and the exaggerated (more exciting, not threatening) mirror-worlds of soaps, reality TV and celebrity gossip". Byatt went on to say that readers' deference to this "derivative manipulation of past motifs" is for adult readers driven by a desire to regress to their "own childish desires and hopes" and for younger readers, "the powerful working of the fantasy of escape and empowerment, combined with the fact that the stories are comfortable, funny, just frightening enough". The end result being the levelling "of cultural studies, which are as interested in hype and popularity as they are in literary merit".[22]

Some critics were in agreement with Byatt. Fay Weldon said, "She is absolutely right that it is not what the poets hoped for, but this is not poetry, it is readable, saleable, everyday, useful prose." [23]

Others, like Charles Taylor of Salon.com, responded to Byatt by conceding that she may have "a valid cultural point — a teeny one — about the impulses that drive us to reassuring pop trash and away from the troubling complexities of art", but rejecting her claim that the series is lacking in serious literary merit, owing its success merely to the childhood reassurances it offers, stressing the progressively darker tone of the books filled with the discomfort of scenes including the murder of a classmate and close friend and the resulting psychological wounds and social isolation each causes. Taylor also points out that discomforting scenes disruptive to the childhood reassurances Byatt claims spurs the series' success are present in Philosopher's Stone (said to be the lightest of the six published books, citing "the devastating scene where Harry encounters a mirror that reveals the heart's truest desire and, looking into it, sees himself happy and smiling with the parents he never knew, a vision that lasts only as long as he looks into the glass, and a metaphor for how fleeting our moments of real happiness are", then asking rhetorically if "this is Byatt's idea of reassurance?" Taylor concludes that Rowling's success among children and adults is "because J.K. Rowling is a master of narrative". [24]

Other critics, like Stephen King, concurred with Taylor calling the series "a feat of which only a superior imagination is capable", along with declaring "Rowling's punning, one-eyebrow-****** sense of humour" to be "remarkable". However, he does write that despite the story being "a good one", he is "a little tired of discovering Harry at home with his horrible aunt and uncle", the formulaic beginning of each of the six books published to date. King also rejects the view of the series often held by members of the fandom as being highly textured and thought-provoking, characterising the plot as "simple, uncomplicated fun". [1]

King did, however, predict that Harry Potter "will indeed stand time's test and wind up on a shelf where only the best are kept; I think Harry will take his place with Alice, Huck, Frodo, and Dorothy and this is one series not just for the decade, but for the ages. "[25]

Yet another vein of criticism comes from some feminist circles, Christine Schoefer prominent among them, who contend that the novels are patriarchal and chauvinistic, and according to Schoefer present a world filled with stereotypes and adherence to "the conventional assumption that men do and should run the world." Schoefer cites Harry's courage in dangerous situations in contrast to Hermione's apparent emotional frailty when confronting the same, along with her need for Harry and Ron's approval. Similarly, she contrasts the female Professor McGonagall and her similar frailty under stress compared to the composed and farsighted Dumbledore. In addition to this is the attachment of fraud to females (Professor Trelawney, Professor Umbridge), immaturity (constantly giggling, naïve and catty school girls), and a general lack of daring, bold heroines.[26]
Spoilers end here.
[edit]

Controversy

In 1999 Nancy Kathleen Stouffer, who is sometimes known by her penname of N.K. Stouffer, quietly began to allege copyright and trademark infringement by J.K. Rowling of her 1984 works The Legend of Rah and the Muggles and Larry Potter and His Best Friend Lilly.[27]

The primary basis for Stouffer's claims lie in her own invention of Muggles, non-magical elongated humanoids of sorts and the title character of the second work, Larry Potter, a bespectacled boy with dark, albeit wavy hair (Rowling's Potter is characterised as having all of those, though with unruly instead of wavy hair.) Stouffer contended (and still does to this day) that it is not just these examples and similar names but that it is "the cumulative effect of all of it combined" with the other comparisons she lists on her real muggles website.[28]

Rowling, along with Scholastic Press (her American publisher) and Warner Brothers (holders of the series' film rights), pre-empted Stouffer with a suit of their own seeking a declaratory judgment that they had not infringed on any of Stouffer's works. Rowling, through the use of expert witnesses who brought into question the authenticity of Stouffer's evidence, won the case with Stouffer's claims being dismissed with prejudice and Stouffer herself being fined $50,000 for her "pattern of intentional bad faith conduct" in relation to her employment of fraudulent evidentiary submissions, along with being ordered to pay a portion of the plaintiffs' legal fees.[29]

Added controversy stems from some Christian groups in the United States who have denounced the series for promoting witchcraft and Satanism. "It contains some powerful and valuable lessons about love and courage and the ultimate victory of good over evil," said Paul Hetrick, spokesman for Focus on the Family, a national Christian group based in Colorado Springs. "However, the positive messages are packaged in a medium — witchcraft — that is directly denounced in Scripture." [30] Accordingly, Harry Potter has been the subject of various book burnings.[31] Continuing with the same line of reasoning, in 2002, Chick Publications went so far as to produce a comic book tract called "The Nervous Witch" about two teenage girls who get seriously involved in occult witchcraft and become demonically possessed as a direct result of reading Harry Potter books. [32]

It has also been argued that when Pope Benedict XVI was Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith he also condemned the books in a letter expressing gratitude for the receipt of a book on the subject, stating they are "a subtle seduction, which has deeply unnoticed and direct effects in undermining the soul of Christianity before it can really grow properly". [33] Monsignor Peter Fleetwood, a Vatican priest, wrote that these remarks were misinterpreted, and that the letter was likely to have been written by an assistant of the then-cardinal.[34]

Owing to the very nature of the books and the matter-of-fact way in which Rowling addresses the use of magic, the series has been a frequent target of banning and censorship in libraries. The series taken as a whole is in the list of the top 100 most frequently challenged books at libraries (i.e., books that have been requested to be banned), currently listed at number seven on this list. [35]

The series garnered more controversy with its most recent release, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, when a grocery store in Canada accidentally sold several copies of the sixth Harry Potter book before the authorised release date. The Canadian publisher, Raincoast Books, obtained an injunction from the Supreme Court of British Columbia prohibiting the purchasers from reading the books in their possession. This sparked a number of news articles questioning the injunction's restriction on fundamental rights. Canadian law professor Michael Geist has posted commentary on his weblog. [36] Richard Stallman has posted commentary on his weblog calling for a boycott until the publisher issues an apology.[37] Some versions of this creed have been circulated by email including a spoiler for one of the major plot points in the novel. Whether this was actually the original posted version and was modified by Stallman is as yet unclear, though the tone of the sentence is substantially the same as that of the rest of the message.
[edit]

Films

In 1999, Rowling sold the film rights to the first four Harry Potter books to Warner Bros. for a reported £1 million. [38] Her major demand was that the principal cast be kept strictly British. [39] Although Steven Spielberg was initially in negotiations to direct the first film, he would later decline. For a while, it was speculated that this was due to Rowling's heavy involvement and Spielberg's dislike of an all-British cast. However, Spielberg contended that, in his opinion, it would be like "shooting ducks in a barrel... It's just like withdrawing a billion dollars and putting it into your personal bank accounts. There's no challenge." [40] In the Rubbish Bin section of her website, Rowling maintains that she personally had no role in Spielberg's choice saying, "Anyone who thinks I could (or would) have 'veto-ed' him needs their Quick-Quotes Quill serviced." [41]

In the end, Chris Columbus directed the first two films, Alfonso Cuarón, the third, and Mike Newell, the fourth. The fifth, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, is slated to be directed by David Yates.[42]

In 2000, the virtually unknown British actors Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint were selected from thousands of auditioning children to play the roles of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley, respectively. [43] They are scheduled to return in the fifth film. [44] Other notable Potter character portrayals include Robbie Coltrane's Hagrid, Alan Rickman's Severus Snape, Tom Felton's Draco Malfoy, and Richard Harris and Michael Gambon's Albus Dumbledore (Gambon took over for the third film following Harris's death in 2002). These character reprisals for Order of the Phoenix remain uncertain.[45]

The first four films were scripted by Steve Kloves with the direct assistance of Rowling, though she allowed Kloves what he described as "tremendous elbow room". Thus the plot and tone of each film and its corresponding book are virtually the same except with minor changes (Hermione's dress robe colour in Goblet of Fire) and omissions of a non-critical nature (the absence of the Marauders in Prisoner of Azkaban) for purposes of cinematic style and time constraints. Despite these changes, Rowling has characterised Kloves and his adaptations as being "faithful to the books".[15]

Further information: Differences between book and film versions of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Differences between book and film versions of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Differences between book and film versions of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and Differences between book and film versions of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

[edit]

Releases
Crowds wait outside a Borders store in Delaware for the midnight release of the book
Enlarge
Crowds wait outside a Borders store in Delaware for the midnight release of the book
[edit]

Events

Following the Harry Potter media blitz or "Pottermania" of 1999–2000, the Harry Potter series developed a massive following of fans, so eager for the latest series release that book stores around the world began holding events to coincide with the midnight release of the books, beginning with the 2000 publication of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The events, commonly featuring mock sorting, games, face painting, and other live entertainment have achieved popularity with Potter fans and have been incredibly successful at attracting fans and selling books with nearly nine million of the 10.8 million initial print copies of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in the first 24 hours. [46] [9]
Copies of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince awaiting the stroke of midnight
Enlarge
Copies of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince awaiting the stroke of midnight
[edit]

Security

As publication nears, the popularity of the series as seen in the 670 Barnes & Noble release parties and 1,800 others registered with PotterParties.com, along with the nearly 2 million pre-orders for the sixth book between Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble, necessitates a level of security unprecedented in the publishing world including in some cases, armed police guards for truck delivery of the heavily sealed packages.[47] [48]

A shipment of Potter books to dealers also comes with strict instructions for distribution with the possibility of legal action and revocation of future books if proper procedure isn't followed.[49]
[edit]

Awards & honours

J.K. Rowling and the Harry Potter series have been the recipients of a host of awards since the initial publication of Philosopher's Stone including four Whitaker Platinum Book Awards (all of which were awarded in 2001), three Nestlé Smarties Book Prizes (1997-1999), two Scottish Arts Council Book Awards (1999 and 2001), and the WHSmith book of the year (2006), among others. Honours include a commendation for the Carnegie Medal (1997), a shortlisting for the Guardian Children's Award (1998), and numerous listings on the notable books, editors' Choices, and best books lists of the American Library Association, New York Times, Chicago Public Library, and Publishers Weekly.[50]
[edit]

Commercial success
Harry Potter costumes promoting the film in Hong Kong.
Enlarge
Harry Potter costumes promoting the film in Hong Kong.

The tremendous popularity of the Harry Potter series has translated into substantial financial success for Rowling, her publishers, and other Harry Potter related license holders. The books have sold over 300 million copies worldwide and have also given rise to popular film adaptations produced by Warner Bros., all of which have been successful in their own right with the first, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, ranking number three on the list of all time highest-grossing films and the other three each ranking in the top 25. [51] The films have in turn spawned five video games and have in conjunction with them led to the licensing of over 400 additional Harry Potter products (including an iPod) that have, as of July 2005, made the Harry Potter brand worth an estimated 4 billion dollars and J.K. Rowling a U.S. dollar billionaire, making her, by some reports, richer than Queen Elizabeth II.[52] [53]
[edit]

Cultural impact

Since the publishing of Philosopher's Stone a number of societal trends have been attributed to the series. In 2005, doctors at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford reported that their research of the weekends of Saturday, 21 June, 2003 and Saturday, 16 July, 2005 (the dates of the two most recent book releases of the series) found that only 36 children needed emergency medical assistance for injuries sustained in accidents, as opposed to other weekends' average of 67.[54] While anecdotal evidence such as this suggests an increase in literacy among children, whether or not such growth is varied across genres and works or is even sustained has yet to be definitively proven.

Harry Potter has also wrought changes in the publishing world, one of the most noted being the reformation of the New York Times Best Seller list. The change came immediately preceding the release of Goblet of Fire in 2000 when publishers complained of the number of slots on the list being held by Harry Potter and other children's books, leading the Times to create a separate children's list for Harry Potter and other children's literature in order to free up more of the coveted 15 slots on the list. [55]

Another and more pervasive impact is its introduction of the word "Muggle" into the English language. The word has expanded its meaning out of its original context, and as such has been accepted into the Oxford English Dictionary as "a person who lacks a particular skill or skills, or who is regarded as inferior in some way." [56]

Harry Potter's popularity has also made it the subject of frequent reference and parody throughout the world. These include the Barry Trotter series, the Russian Tanya Grotter series, features in Mad magazine, and a number of sketches on the comedy show Saturday Night Live, among others.

Further information: Harry Potter parodies

[edit]

Future
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

There are currently three more Harry Potter films yet to be released. On 5 April 2006 Warner Brothers announced that the fifth film, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, will be released in cinemas on 13 July 2007.[57]

In December of 2005, Rowling declared on her website that "2006 will be the year when I write the final book in the Harry Potter series." Updates have since followed in her online diary chronicling the progress of this the seventh Harry Potter book, though a title, release date, or proclamation of completion have not accompanied them. However, in a 2006 interview, Bloomsbury publishing director, Liz Calder, said that "the next Harry Potter book is likely to come out in 2007."[58]

Rowling herself has stated that the last chapter of the seventh book was completed some time ago, before writing the third book. According to her, the last word in the book is currently "scar". [59] In June 2006, Rowling, on an appearance on the British talk show Richard & Judy, announced that the chapter had been modified as one character "got a reprieve" and two others who previously survived the story had in fact been killed. [60]

Regarding the existence of Harry Potter novels beyond the seventh, Rowling has said that she might write an eighth book some day. If she does, she intends it to be a sort of encyclopædia of the wizarding world, containing concepts and snippets of information that were not relevant enough to the novels' plots to be included in them. [61] She has also said that she will not write any sort of prequel to the novels, since by the time the series ends all the necessary back story will have been revealed. [18]

Answer 2

well, I know the books are largely plagiarized... at least the first one is. Harry Potter was the name of the little boy who wanted to be a magician in the movie "Troll" from the 80's (bad movie, but still..). The concept itself can be largely seen in The Book of Magic by, I think it is Neil Gaiman.

What do I know about the books beyond that? Not much as I refuse to read them, knowing her ideas were not her own.

Answer 3

"[Voldemort] can move faster than Severus Snape confronted with shampoo when he wants to." -Fred Weasley "Oh, very good....Yes, it is easy to see that nearly six years of magical education have not been wasted on you, Potter. 'Ghosts are transparent.'" - Severus Snape "There's no need to call me sir Professor." - Harry Potter "Mr. Moony presents his compliments to Professor Snape and begs him to keep his abnormally large nose out of other people's business. Mr. Prongs agrees with Mr. Moony, and would like to add that Professor Snape is an ugly git. Mr. Padfoot would like to register his astonishment that an idiot like that ever became a professor. Mr. Wormtail bids Professor Snape good day, and advises him to wash his hair, the slimeball." - Marauder's Map All of these they are just so funny! Probably the shampoo one! lmfao

Answer 4

His parents died. He has a scar on his forehead. He has glasses. He likes Cho. His best friends are Ron and Herminie.
He hates Malfoy. He plays Quidditch. And he goes to widard school at Hogwarts.

Answer 5

Is there anything specifically that you are wanting to know? I have read the books and seen the movies, so I know quite a bit.

Answer 6

allot, but im sure that we will find allot more baout him when the next book comes out. I heard that the author has a book on every character, like what the like and what they dont, just stuff about them.

Answer 7

The famous fictious funny character ever in the world.

Answer 8

hes awesome and i cant wait for the next book to come out!

what else are you looking for?

Answer 9

almost everything, all i need to know is What happens in the 7th book!!!!!

Answer 10

His girlfriend is hot.

Answer 11

Hairy Pooter be gay.