(no subject)
[series]: Harry Potter
[character]: Harry Potter
[character history / background]: Harry James Potter was born in July 31, 1980 to parents James and Lily Potter. Though James was a hero in his own right, Harry would inevitably go on to become one of the most notable heroes of the wizarding world-as famous as, if not more famous, than the famous Albus Dumbledore. The first year of Harry’s life was spent in hiding in a house in Godric’s Hollow. The village itself was actually the root of his ancestors-not the Gryffindors, but the Peverells. Their graves were located at this site, but overall, it seemed to be the most logical place of hiding. James hated hiding there and often snuck off, as Lily related to Sirius in writing, but he was a good father and he doted on his son. Lily did the same level of doting. They were a normal family by many extents of the imagination-a father, a wife, a son, and a cat. But they were in hiding, held in secrecy by the fidelius charm, and only Peter Pettigrew knew the location.
Pettigrew knowing the location worked against them the most.
Three months after his first birthday-to the date-Lord Voldemort showed up at the Potter home. James attempted to fight Voldemort off on his own, but without his wand his efforts were futile. Voldemort followed Lily into the room with Harry and attempted to give Lily reason to stay alive for the sake of Severus Snape. However, Lily Potter was an obstinate woman and would not allow for her son to die. Her protection was granted to Harry in her final moments, and was one of the main reasons why he lived. The other reason was that a piece of Voldemort’s soul slipped inside of Harry. The mark of this occurrence existed in a scar on the boy’s forehead, though he was unaware of its importance for a good portion of his life-that is, until he turned eleven.
On the night of his parents’ death, Harry was brought to Petunia and Vernon Dursley’s house for them to raise Petunia’s sister’s son. There was a letter that directly stated that Harry needed to enjoy his time of living with the Dursleys so that Lily’s protection would continue to extend over him. However, the Dursleys were an extremely judgmental-and even jealous-couple that looked at Harry as a monster and a nuisance. Instead of welcoming him into their home and raising him as one of their own along side their son Dudley, they had him live in the cupboard under the stairs. He did chores; he cooked; he cleaned. Many of the things that boys don’t even learn how to do if their mothers nag him were the chores that he often had to perform.
Aside from the ridicule at home, Potter, like many Muggleborn children that would go on to learn just how different they are, went to school and received quite a bit of mocking. His clothing, hand-me-downs from Dudley, was much too large. His glasses broke often. He also was the cause for numerous circumstances, including the time that he ended up on the roof of the school. He was a “bad kid” because of all these weird occurrences, and his ability to draw attention to himself made him even more of a bother to the Dursleys. They abused him more because of the bullying and his accidental-and, though he didn’t know yet, magical-reactions to all these events.
For the most part, Harry had no choice but to take this in stride. He had a bit of a sharp tongue on him and he knew it was wrong that they were treating him that way. He wasn’t thankful for their treatment, but he didn’t believe he had way of getting out of it. But all of that changed around his eleventh birthday. Not long after the destructive trip to the zoo where he spoke to the Brazilian snake that broke free after Harry accidentally removed the glass, numerous owls started arriving at the Dursley home. Vernon took every effort to avoid these owls from the mysterious Hogwarts-including boarding up the house-but he failed in these efforts. Eventually, the family went to get a house away from where they lived, but even that failed-as Hagrid showed up.
A giant of a man, the man came in and surprised Harry and his family quite a bit. He was disgusted by the behavior and treatment of the Dursleys and ended up informing Harry about his family. The end of the circumstance left Dudley with a pigtail and Harry finally understanding the full gravity of his life. He took down a horrible person named Voldemort; he was going to go to a new school; he had a whole life that he never knew about. He was a hero. All of it was a little overwhelming, but Harry took it in stride (the best he could, but he was always good about that). He went to Diagon Alley with Hagrid that day to be greeted by many admiring fans. But even more, he learned about the wizarding world-both the good parts and the bad parts (the latter thanks to the aid of one Draco Malfoy). Afterward, he had to return home until September 1 and the start of his first year at Hogwarts.
The first year of Hogwarts for Harry was trying. He had a difficult, if nervous, Defense Against Dark Arts professor, but he first experienced what it was like to have a lot of fame tossed on his shoulders. From his very first day, though, he seemed to reject many of the possibilities of that fame through rejecting any kind of friendship with Draco Malfoy. The idea of being around someone like that disgusted Harry, and he found himself falling into a rather easy friendship with Ronald Weasley rather immediately. He and Ron got on rather well with one another on the train, though they found themselves immediately ridiculing the girl named Hermione Granger. She was, in many ways, a know-it-all. She was bossy and had read all of the books, and seemed as if she knew better than them-and always would. They were eleven-year-old boys who didn’t take very well to that, and almost immediately chose to avoid her as a result.
After the first train ride, Harry went to be sorted, and being sorted was one of the most impacting experiences of his life. While many are tossed between houses, Harry found himself wavering between Gryffindor and Slytherin. The Sorting Hat seemed convinced that he would make a very good Slytherin, but Harry chose Gryffindor-and thus, seemed to choose his fate. He found himself a very capable member of Gryffindor fairly early on. He was noble and he got in a lot of trouble; he was courageous and he cared for his friends (once he started earning them-he didn’t have many back home due to the ridicule). It was very much what Harry needed.
But it was not intellectual prowess or bravery that immediately earned Harry even more fame among his fellow Gryffindors, but his quidditch abilities. After a flying lesson where he ended up having to fly against Draco Malfoy, Harry proved himself to be a more than capable-and even natural-flyer for the team. McGonagall requested that he play for the team and even purchased him the best broom available. He went on to aid Gryffindor quite a bit that year, even if they didn’t have complete success at the end. Known as one of the best Seekers to ever come into Hogwarts, he was made to seem much like his father-who had also been a quidditch star, even if he was a Chaser.
There were numerous trials for Harry, as well. His DADA professor was terrible, the Potions professor hated him and called him arrogant, Draco Malfoy was constantly breathing down his neck, and there were trolls loose in the school. Even further, he and his friend Ron got into trouble-and in getting into trouble, they obtained the friendship of Hermione Granger after they took down a troll together. Later in the year, they found Voldemort trying to steal the Philosopher’s Stone, the known alchemic stone that could grant immortality through delivering the elixir of life. Harry managed to fight off Voldemort in this moment-who asked him to join him-and he was named a hero for it. Gryffindor won the house cup as a result of his bravery, and he reluctantly had to go home.
Prior to his second year, Harry goes to stay with the Weasleys for a short while and they go shopping at Diagon Alley together. During this trip, Ginny Weasley has a diary placed on her person, and this diary becomes the largest problem for Harry and his friends during his second year. Ginny has quite a crush on Harry Potter, and the diary-or the being in the diary-uses this crush against her so that he can get to Harry Potter, to some extent, and also be brought back. The being would later be revealed to be none other than Tom Riddle-or, as he would later be known, the sixteen-year-old Lord Voldemort who left a piece of himself in the diary (the piece itself would be later revealed not as a memory, but a piece of his soul, ripped for the sake of maintaining his immortality no matter what).
Very little of Harry’s second year was pleasant. On the front of the teachers, he had to deal with a horrible professor by the name of Gilderoy Lockhart. Proud, arrogant, vain, and someone who believed he had a kinship in Harry Potter, he made his life painful. It turns out later that Lockhart gains fame through stealing other people’s exploits and then obliviating them. How he gained the logic to do this is astounding, but it appears that he does it quite successfully and quite cunningly. Harry observes this with quite a bit of ridicule, even though Hermione seemed to admire Lockhart quite a bit despite the fact that he seemed to be quite a bit of a flake in lessons. Lockhart’s failures would come to work against them in the end-but more against himself, as he would go on to ruin his career because of his lies and willingness to sacrifice others for himself.
The most traumatic circumstances in Harry’s second year had little to do with Lockhart-or the fact that Draco Malfoy seemed to be able to buy his way onto the quidditch team-but rather the fact that students were being petrified. After a while, Harry seems to be blamed for this because of his ability to speak to a snake during dueling lessons (as parseltongue was not an ability that often appeared outside of the Slytherin bloodline). Many of the students fear and blame him or petrifying his classmates-that is, until Hermione herself is petrified. In her final moments, she seems to help them realize what it is that they need to do to stop the petrification, even if she can’t say it herself. Harry and Ron figure out how to get to the thing that is causing the pertification-a basilisk, hidden within the school by Salazar Slytherin years prior-and it’s through the girl’s bathroom that many avoid because of the ghost named Myrtle. An epic battle ensues and Harry meets Tom Riddle face to face-but he manages to destroy the semblance of him that is forming with the tooth of the basilisk that he destroys.
There are many connected events to this, of course. Ginny’s diary is the most connected because she speaks to Tom through it and he charms her, making her believe that she has a friend in him. He takes advantage of her self-conscious nature regarding Harry Potter, even if Ginny is actually a brilliant and bold witch otherwise. Though the diary eventually lands in Harry’s hands, Ginny steals it back, and through manipulating her, Tom seems to have a hold on her so much that she’s on the verge of dying by time Harry finally gets around to saving her. Had she died, Tom would have lived, and Voldemort would have returned in those moments. It turns out that all of these actions were manufactured by one Lucius Malfoy, even if he does his best to hide his involvement.
Near the beginning of his third year, Harry runs away from the Dursleys after accidentally blowing up Petunia’s sister after she verbally abuses him during a dinner. He ends up at the Leaky Cauldron and soon meets up with Hermione and Ron. There, he also learns of the release of Sirius Black from prison-the criminal supposedly responsible for the deaths of his parents (or it seemed to be that way). On the way back to school, Harry is attacked, to some degree, by dementors, and he realizes his true fear. In many ways, his true fear is having what little bit of happiness ripped away from him despite all his years of tragedy and unhappiness. Much of the earlier parts of Harry’s life are painful, and he is ripe for the attention of the dementors who feed upon the unhappiness of people. Remus Lupin, an old friend of his father’s, comes to his rescue from these creatures, and he’s able to return to school.
School during his third year is no different from the previous years-except now he has a good Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Remus Lupin is a kind man who seems to understand Harry. He reaches out to him, especially since Harry finds himself unable to enjoy many of the things that the other kids can enjoy (like going to Hogsmeade-his guardians refused to sign the slip for Hogsmeade, so he is unable to go). Harry also grows up quite a bit during his third year, and starts noticing girls. Not Ginny Weasley-who, secretly, continued to pine after him-but the Ravenclaw Cho Chang. He develops a crush on her, though he never quite realizes it for some time.
The major tragedy of his third year is connected to the aforementioned Sirius Black. Not actually a villain as many seem to imagine, he shows himself in an act of trying to get revenge for his best friend, James Potter, by attacking Ron’s rat. The rat itself turns out to be Peter Pettigrew. A battle ensues between Remus, Sirius, and Peter-and through this, it is revealed that Peter betrayed his best friends to Voldemort. He killed all the Muggles and left Sirius laughing in his final moments (and did it without the fingers on his hand that were apparently the indicators of his death). Pettigrew eventually gets away, much to the dismay of the others, but there was an even bigger problem: Sirius gets found and the dementors are on their way. Needing a way out of this, Hermione and Harry relive a large portion of the day thanks to the Time-Turner needed to attend all her classes. They manage to go and save the Harry stuck in the future from the dementors that are coming. At the end of the year, Harry has to say good-bye to Lupin, who is off to live with and keep Sirius Black safe from the wizarding people looking for him.
Fourth year starts with the Wizarding World Cup-and the return of the Death Eaters. Harry and the Weasleys go to the World Cup itself and, for the most part, it seems to be a sign that things will be good for him that year. However, that night, chaos happens and the Death Eaters march through the camp and a Dark Mark rises in the air. In light of the fact that there is a mysterious event coming to Hogwarts, this seems rather foreboding. Harry’s wand is used for the sake of making this Dark Mark, which puts him in a rather bad light considering the events that have passed in his past.
Upon arriving to Hogwarts, Harry and his friends learn of the Tri-Wizard Tournament and the appointment of Mad-Eye Moody (or who seemed to be Mad-Eye Moody) as their professor. There is quite a bit of havoc surrounding the Tournament, but even more considering the fact that there’s a ball right in the middle of the tournament that everyone must attend. On a social aspect, Harry hopes to attend with Cho Chang, but soon learns that she is going with Cedric Diggory, the school hero, who happened to ask her first. Since Harry respected Cedric, he didn’t feel too bitter about this, though he was a little put-off of going as a result of that. However, since prior to this he was named one of the Champions of the school, he was forced to go to the ball.
Being named Champion was not something that was supposed to happen. In order to enter their names, students had to be over the age of seventeen or the age line would affect them. Mad-Eye Moody-or Barty Crouch Jr., as he really was-managed to put Harry’s name into the pot and set it up for him to experience a great deal of misery. Despite doing this, Moody seemed to be willing to be Harry’s mentor to some degree. He helps him throughout the tournament, first through making it possible for Harry to find out about the dragons and the proper charm to defeat them, but also about the mermaids (through Dobby) and finally, leading him headway into the maze itself at the end with the assurance that he would end up getting the cup. Harry was told by Sirius that he had no choice but to deal with these events as they came at him. But “dealing” with them meant that he was faced with quite a bit of ridicule. After his troubles in his second year with the Hufflepuffs who believed him the cause of the petrification, he found himself facing the ridicule of Ernie MacMillan and Hannah Abbott once more as they passed around Potter Stinks badges. Draco Malfoy was also quite fond of these, though Cedric Diggory-the apparent “true” Champion of Hogwarts, did not approve of them in the least.
Many damaging and unusual circumstances happened during Harry’s fourth year at Hogwarts. Bartemius Crouch Sr. was found dead and Harry found himself unable to interact with his best friend for some time. Ron was wrought with a mixture of jealousy over the fact that Harry would actually leave his name inside of the Cup for becoming a Champion. Eventually, they reconcile their differences, but it is still a trying time for Harry. The Yule Ball is also problematic because Harry is not good in situations like that, and he spends most of the evening pining after Cho.
But the worst part of the year, and the most damaging of his life so far, is the fact that he has to go through the maze and is transported to the graveyard containing Tom Riddle Sr.’s grave. He and Cedric grab the Tri-Wizard Cup at the same time, and it turns out to be a Portkey. Startled by the circumstances, Cedric thinks that this must be another part of the tournament-until Voldemort directs Peter Pettigrew to “kill the spare.” Harry witnesses and fully feels the impact of his first death, even if there would be many to follow. Harry’s blood is used to bring Voldemort back. In the final moments of their fight, Voldemort is defeated by the overwhelming presences that he has killed and Harry is able to retrieve Cedric’s body and take off. At the end of the year, Dumbledore announces that Voldemort has returned to the wizarding world and requests that everyone, in light of these traumatic circumstances, remember Cedric Diggory. When things would get difficult and people might not remember how to keep their heads high, they should remember Cedric Diggory. He was a positive influence in the lives of many-including Harry’s-and he would be sorely missed. Harry is sent home, much to his chagrin after that, but he knows that the worst is yet to come.
It seems that Harry is not allowed to know what the worst is. During that summer, Harry hears nothing-no letters, no indication that his friends still cared about him. Instead of getting letters from his friends, he gets a visit from dementors, and they come and almost end up giving Dudley the kiss until Harry’s forced to use the Patronus Charm to save him. Upon returning home, Harry receives a string of owls that eventually end with him needing to keep his wand and him needing to go to a hearing. That night, the Order of the Phoenix comes to retrieve Harry from his house. It is comprised of numerous individuals that Harry has never met, including Sirius’ second cousin, Tonks, Kingsley, and Hestia-as well as the actual Mad-Eye Moody. They fly through the clouds to get to a house in London, though Harry remains oblivious to much of this. Angry that no one has told him anything, he arrives at the house clueless and without anyone willing to explain much of it to him. Ron and Hermione explain that they were directed by Dumbledore to say nothing to him-and this is the first of many faults that Dumbledore does. Dumbledore, after all, is self-righteous and doesn’t always know what is best for Harry.
Harry learns of the existence of the Order of the Phoenix. He learns that it was developed during the first war and that his mother and father were members of it-and so were the Longbottoms. He learns that many of the people involved were killed, and that they were all heroes despite it. He learns that it has started up again, but Molly Weasley does not want him involved. Sirius, being Sirius, believes that he should naturally be involved-he should always be a part of it, but it seems that it might be in part because of his inability to grow up and realize that Harry is not his son, but his godson and therefore James’ son. He will not be James and he should not be treated in that matter. This irritates Harry a bit-not being treated that way, but not being allowed to be a member because he wants nothing more than to be able to fight. But there are larger concerns according to the Order members-like the fact that he might be kicked out of Hogwarts.
As expected, Harry goes to the hearing and gets let off-thanks to the wonderful Amelia Bones. She points out the fact that it’s unusual for a teenager like him to be using that level of magic and is impressed that he is able to pull it off. That, after all, is the most important part. It is not the fact that he was doing underage magic. It is revealed that Fudge, who was once rather sympathetic to him, is rather against him. He is paranoid and forced to believe that Dumbledore mentioned Voldemort’s return out of a wanting for his position, so Fudge is crusading against Harry. This crusade extends to the Daily Prophet and much of the wizarding public that seems uncertain as to whether Harry was telling the truth about Voldemort’s return or if he and Dumbledore are incorrect. The doubt in Harry’s position is something he has to struggle with, especially since he is already questioning himself. Dumbledore won’t tell him anything, Sirius can’t get him into the Order, and he is forced to return to school without any answers and has to face this-and the trials that often come with the typical school year.
The “typical trials” come in the form of one Dolores Umbridge. A terrible human being with a dislike for half-breed individuals, she comes into Hogwarts to represent the “Ministry opinion.” She teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts and makes it a miserable class. Harry is forced to attend detention with her, and during the detention, he has to write “I must not tell lies” numerous times-and it appears on his hand while he’s writing because of the special quill that she provides him with. Given the fact that the notorious OWL exams are coming in the future, it seems as if her existence simply provides another roadblock for Harry and his friends from being able to achieve something with their lives. After all, there is nothing practical about the DADA classes. Furthermore, despite being the star of the Gryffindor quidditch team, Harry finds himself kicked off the team along with the twins. Andrew Kirke, Jack Sloper, and Ginny Weasley take their places. Kirke and Sloper are not brilliant at quidditch, but the team captain, Angelina, has no choice but to take on these new members to the team. Also, just as he had been for some time, Harry finds himself still focused on Cho Chang. He has a crush on her still, and she seems interested in him-even if she is still mourning over Cedric’s death.
In response to these trials, especially the DADA one, Harry is encouraged to start a private class for Defense lessons. It eventually earns the title “Dumbledore’s Army” and it meets in secrecy to teach various students (with the exception of Slytherin students) how to defend themselves. Some of the students-like Ginny-are quite good at these lessons, whereas others-Zacharias Smith, for example-were not very good at all. Still, Harry proved to be a good leader and garnered quite a bit of respect from the fellow students. Through the DADA, he also grew closer with Cho, though their relationship with one another would never quite become that despite a very wet kiss that was what it was because of the tears that were streaming down her face. Dumbledore’s Army meetings go very well for a while, until Marietta Edgecombe is forced to out the rest of the group-and earns the permanent marking of “Sneak” on her forehead. Since the group seems to be meeting for the sake of developing an army for Voldemort, Fudge attempts to arrest Voldemort, but ultimately fails.
The main problem that Harry experiences throughout the year has little to do with all of this. Most of it is internalized. At night, Voldemort sends him visions of the Department of Mysteries and it makes his scar hurt more than ever. This comes to a climax near the holidays when he has a dream of a snake that attacks Arthur Weasley. He is able to alert others of the fact that Arthur got hurt, but he feels as if he is slipping because Voldemort is able to get close to him. Dumbledore still seems not to tell him anything about it, but he is forced to enter Occulmency lessons with Severus Snape. Throughout the course of these lessons, Harry learns the true nature of his father, James, and the fact that he was a complete jerk. Harry, in response to this, decides that his father wasn’t as wonderful as everyone made him out to be and experiences an internal struggle as a result of it. After all, Harry is already feeling like he is slipping-and then his father turns out to be a terrible human being in a lot of ways, even being disliked by his mother when they were younger. He doesn’t understand this a lot, and seems to feel even angrier about himself. Voldemort takes advantage of this internal conflict inside of Harry and uses it against him. During his History OWL, Harry finds himself passing out because he receives a vision from Voldemort that Sirius is with him. In desperation, he and his friends prepare a plan that ends up hurting half of the Inquisitorial Squad-which Umbridge started to counteract the Dumbledore’s Army-and almost getting Umbridge killed by the centaurs in the woods who hate her because of her anti-halfbreed legislation that she promoted within the Ministry.
Harry and his friends-Luna, Neville, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny-board the thestrals (which Harry could only see because of witnessing Cedric’s death) to head to the Ministry of Magic. They get into the Department of Mysteries only to find that Sirius is not there and Harry acted too impulsively. The Death Eaters show up and an epic battle ensues, which ends with Harry learning about the existence of the prophecy regarding his birth (and the fact that it has some connection to Neville as well). During this disastrous fight, Bellatrix Lestrange hits his godfather, Sirius, with a spell of red that throws him back into the veil from which numerous voices were calling to him. Remus Lupin is forced to hold Harry back even though he wishes to run after Bellatrix. Thus, as a result of this, Harry loses the last family member in his life, and the only father figure he ever truly had. He attempts to torture Bellatrix Lestrange, but at this point in his life, Harry doesn’t have it in him to “mean it” when he moves to torture her. He will later on, of course. Voldemort and Dumbledore fight for some time and Voldemort attempts to work against Harry once again, but Dumbledore prevails and many of the Ministry individuals pop in just to see Voldemort vanishing from the premises of the building.
Harry’s anger comes to a head after this scene when he is in Dumbledore’s office. He tears it up, letting his anger out on every part of it before yelling at Dumbledore himself. Dumbledore never told him about the prophecy and the fact that he was always destined to destroy Voldemort-that there would never be someone else. He hated being thrust into the position suddenly, but it was probably because he knew that it would happen (and feared it-after all, the thing Harry wanted most for himself was to be normal, and every part of his life seemed to deny this possibility). He was sent home for the summer, angry with Dumbledore and angry that he still had to return, but he did it anyway. He had no choice.
For the most part, he spends a large part of his summer mourning Sirius. He thinks of all the deaths he has caused and the fact that he hasn’t been able to do a whole lot of good in saving people. He also thinks bitterly upon Dumbledore, who hasn’t been doing a very good job of telling him things. Little does he know that this will change in the near future. Over the summer, the Death Eaters proved to be more of an active force in the world. They start killing mass amounts of Muggles-circumstances covered up as accidents-and they start killing main political figures in the world. Rufus Scrimgeour takes over for Minister of Magic after Fudge ends up resigning from the position. It is very much the beginning of a major descent into a veil of darkness over the wizarding world. Harry remains partly clueless about it, but Dumbledore comes to take him from the Dursleys instead of leaving him in the dark. It is a sign that Dumbledore really does care for him, even after his many mistakes (like not giving Harry Prefect during a year when many believed that he deserved it over his best friend, Ron).
Harry and Dumbledore leave the Dursley home to go visit Horace Slughorn, a morally ambiguous man who had a strange fondness for Harry’s mother. Taken quite a bit by the fame of Harry, he agrees to return to the school as the Potions Master-and it turns out that Severus Snape has become the new DADA professor. Given the curse surrounding the position that Harry finds out about later, it makes sense that Severus would not be given the post until it is almost too late. After all, he wouldn’t have been able to work at the school and keep an eye on Harry-who he seemed to hate-if he hadn’t been given the position sooner. Harry isn’t privy to any of this yet-and won’t be until more than a year after that-so he remains disdainful of the fact that he has to take his best class from the man who seems to hate him most.
Aside from that, though, Harry’s year is largely uneventful. Before entering into the school, he sees Draco Malfoy attempting to hide his arm-the same one which typically holds the Dark Mark-while trying to get sized for robes. It gives Harry the first indication that Draco might be a Death Eater now. These hints seem to pile up throughout the whole of the year, and Harry tries numerous times to figure out how it is that many people almost get killed or hurt-including Ron and Katie Bell-with a mysterious person behind it. Harry seems to stalk and obsess over the notion that Draco is involved, even if everyone else writes off his involvement because he is Draco Malfoy. In the past, he hasn’t proved to be that clever, and these circumstances don’t seem to be done with his trademark lack of subtle movements. But Harry doesn’t change his mind regarding them.
Draco’s involvement in his life aside, Harry obtains a book that was once owned by someone named the Half-Blood Prince. Not realizing that this person might be dangerous, Harry procures several spells from the book, including the Sectumsempra spell, that will eventually prove damaging in the future (especially the Sectumsempra spell, since he unknowingly uses it on Draco in response to the other boy’s cruciatus curse). He obsesses over this book to some degree, curious about who the owner is, and unwilling to let the book be taken from him and replaced by another one Hermione seems to dislike that Harry continues ownership over the book, but he refuses to let go of it.
These parts aside, Harry’s school year is largely unexciting. As expected after not being given Prefect, he receives the title of quidditch Captain. He seems able to do quite well in this position, but he ends up letting Cormac McLaggen onto the team as a secondary Keeper which works against him in the future. He starts developing feelings for Ginny Weasley, though he tries to stymie these to the best of his ability. And throughout the course of the year, he has private lessons with Dumbledore through which he learns the true nature of Voldemort. Dumbledore does not wish to make Harry sympathize with Voldemort, but understand that they were not from different lives-they were both orphans, after all-but Voldemort was a monster from the beginning of his life. Near the end of these lessons, Harry learns about the horcruxes and is invited along to learn about them. Before that devastating adventure occurs, Harry eventually ends up hooking up with Ginny for a short three-weeks and the two share a very passionate relationship (and often very much in the open, given their bold nature regarding one another). When Harry is invited along on the adventure, he willingly goes without realizing the full weight of the situation.
Both Harry and Dumbledore arrive at a cave and Dumbledore explains what will happen. When they get inside of the cave, they have to carefully cross over a lake until they reach a basin. Dumbledore makes Harry force the potion within the basin inside of him, even if it seems as if it is rapidly killing him. They manage to obtain the locket-believing that it is Slytherin’s-from the bottom of it and quickly move to return to Hogwarts. Harry apparates them back to Hogsmeade, but they learn that the Dark Mark has risen above the school by time they return. Snape is requested for a potion, but it seems that it might be too late for that. Numerous events pass, but the worst of them all is that Severus Snape comes in and is forced to kill Albus Dumbledore instead of making Draco Malfoy do it. It keeps him alive, and it makes it so that Draco’s soul is not affected by his first kill. The Death Eaters move to flee after this event, but Harry chases after Snape-who berates him for his inability to actually injure him. Harry calls him a coward, which hurts Snape greatly because of all the sacrifices he has made.
Afterward, Hogwarts quickly enters a state of mourning in response to the surprise of Dumbledore’s death. Harry ends his relationship with Ginny and Ron and Hermione tell him that they have every intention of going on his quest to find all of the horcruxes. They realize that Snape was the Half-Blood Prince. Harry returns home and waits for the preparations to leave the home on the arrival of his seventeenth birthday-and therefore, his release from protection in the home.
The night of that birthday, several people show up and polyjuice themselves into Harry so they can get away. Just as they’re leaving, it’s revealed that the plan was foiled somehow-likely by Snape, in some way-and the Death Eaters show up. Harry reveals himself by using the expelliarmus spell and Hagrid almost gets killed as a result of this (and Hedwig actually is killed). He shows up at the Tonks home and is taken care of before going to the Burrow to find out that Mad-Eye Moody was killed and George has lost an ear. Remus admonishes him for using such a spell and says that he needs to be a little less careless about that in the future. Harry stays at the burrow and they start making preparations for the wedding of Bill and Fleur. Prior to the wedding, Rufus Scrimgeour shows up and leaves several things to Harry and his friends-one of which is the Snitch from Harry’s first quidditch game. Not knowing the full meaning of this, Harry merely cherishes the snitch to some degree. Also, during this time, Ginny gives Harry a birthday present-but it doesn’t go as well as planned.
During the wedding, it is reported that Scrimgeour has been killed. There is trouble on the way and it would only make sense for them to be ready. During this, Hermione makes it clear that it’s time to break free and Ron, Hermione, and Harry leave to head to Grimmauld Place. After ending up in a restaurant, Hermione makes the mistake of saying Voldemort’s name-not knowing that it could actually be a jinx now-and several Death Eaters show up. They move to live in Grimmauld Place, and while there, Harry learns the true meaning of the RAB mentioned in the false locket that he obtained from the cave. From Kreacher, he learns of the truly heroic nature of Regulus Black. Despite being a coward, he used the last time in his life to try and destroy the locket. But Mundungus Fletcher ended up stealing the locket and selling it, and the locket itself ended up in the hands of Dolores Umbridge.
Knowing that they needed to get into the Ministry to get at Umbridge, Harry and his friends devise a plan to get inside. It wasn’t a very well-thought out plan, but they manage to get in, and as a result, they manage to get the locket (and to save some people at the same time). They learn of the true issues going on in the wizarding world and how much of a hold that the Death Eaters actively have in the Ministry. In every way, it seems that the Death Eaters control the political situation, even if the Order of the Phoenix is still actively working against it. Because of their mistakes in the Ministry, Harry and the others are no longer able to hide at Grimmauld Place and go on the run-which essentially leads to an extended camping trip. It is miserable, for the most part, and Ron ends up leaving them because their camping isn’t getting them anywhere.
Hermione and Harry end up going to Godric’s Hollow without him, and while there, Harry attempts to learn the meaning behind the unusual symbol in the book that Dumbledore gave Hermione. He goes to the woman there that seemed to know Dumbledore, but she has been possessed-for lack of a better word-by Nagini. Nagini almost kills him and Harry’s wand gets destroyed, but he and Hermione manage to get away from the circumstance. Not long after, the locket starts to hurt Harry quite a bit, but Ron manages to show up to save him from it at the last moment. The Sword of Gryffindor appears to Ron and he destroys it, even though the locket is trying to make Ron feel bad through manipulating him. Ron stays with the group, and they continue on their way.
The next mistake-caused by Harry, of course-is after Harry says Voldemort, and they’re captured by Death Eaters. They’re taken to the Malfoy house and are almost killed, but they manage to get away. They find Peter Pettigrew there, who dies in the final moments of his life. Harry obtains Draco Malfoy’s wand throughout this and finally has a wand that works well for him again. They end up escaping-with Ollivander and Luna-and they go to Bill and Fleur’s house. In escaping, Dobby is hit by a knife and killed almost instantly. They hold a small service for them and learn about where the Hufflepuff Cup is supposed to be held (at Gringotts). They leave Bill and Fleur’s home to break into Gringott’s. In the process, they almost get attacked, but manage to get away-even if it is without the Sword of Gryffindor, they do get the Hufflepuff Cup.
Not long after that, they go to Hogsmeade and learn of the various struggles by the students within the school. Neville turns out to be the leader of these rebellions, and when Harry sees him, he’s beat up, scratched, but still very much a hero. They sneak into the school through a secret passageway and learn of the true state of things regarding what’s going on in the school. It was the beginning of the Battle of Hogwarts in many ways, and it was a sign of even worse things to come. Harry and the others search through Hogwarts for the possible remaining horcruxes and accidentally reveal that there might be another within the school. Many things happen in the following events-Harry tortures one of the Carrows with the cruciatus curse, showing a great change within him, Severus Snape tries to escape and dies in the process, and the battle starts thriving. Harry learns of the truth between Snape and Lily’s relationship including the part where his Aunt Petunia wanted to go to Hogwarts but did not have the ability to do it because she was not magically gifted like her sister. The “boy” who Petunia mentioned earlier on as being a nuisance is revealed not to be James Potter, but actually Severus Snape. They were best friends, after all. Lily seems to not forgive Snape for his constant negative words and ends up breaking their friendship. This makes Severus hate James Potter more. Harry learns of all these facts not long before Snape passes on and in Snape’s final moments, he’s asked to have the opportunity to look into Harry’s eyes.
Not long after, Harry appears to sacrifice himself to Voldemort and Voldemort “kills” him-or destroys the horcrux inside of him. Narcissa Malfoy is the one told to check on him, and she says she won’t tell Voldemort that he’s alive as long as Draco is still alive inside of the school. She basically makes it possible for Harry to go fight Voldemort, obtain the Elder Wand, and destroy the Dark Wizard once and for all (since Neville had gone a long way in helping by destroying Nagini). Afterward, Harry is proclaimed a hero and uses the Elder Wand to fix his own wand before returning the want to the tomb of Dumbledore.
[character abilities]: Harry is a wizard, thus lending him the ability to use multiple spells rather well, fly on a broomstick, Apparate (which is a form of teleportation), and sometimes involuntarily draw out responses in things. He's aware of the ability to block his mind, but is rather bad at it. His strengths are in the flying and in the offensive sort of magic that comes with the territory of being defense against the dark arts. He's rather powerful, really, with his parentage, and shows talent far beyond his years. He's still learning, though.
[character personality]: On the surface, Harry comes off as unassuming as his appearance-a normal boy, if not even on the extreme spectrum of a normal teenage boy, he's talkative at times, but never loud, wry when he's sniped at, and generally a little boring at first glance. He's not overly intelligent, but intelligent enough, his experience helping him and maturing him enough; outside of this, however, there's nothing unusual, the "normal boy" coming and surfacing often enough. That's the thing about Harry Potter: looking at him, you'd never be able to figure out underneath the occasional awkwardness and silently strong way of handling himself, that he's the hero of the wizarding world (several times over) and someone who has come up against the most dangerous wizarding curse and managed to live. Twice. He's someone who used to seek normalcy, wanting to not be an orphan who lived in a cupboard and was bullied at school, but certainly not wanting to be under the eye of everyone in the world, with them watching and following his every step. But n a way, he's grown past that; though a life without danger seems more than appealing, he also knows his role in the world and understands what he must do.
For that reason, Harry Potter is anything but normal.
To those who know Harry beyond this surface of "normalcy," he is steadfast and determined, a true hero, driven to any lengths necessary in order to help others and keep the world safe. He is someone who carries the burdens of the world on his shoulders, while stll trying to pursue a life with friends. Harry has never really been built to be normal-he grew up an orphan while experiencing a great amount of abuse. Somehow, his inner-strength managed to make him strong despite this, constantly ridiculing and contradicting his aunt and uncle and cousin, seeing their flaws and somehow managing to keep his head up despite that. It is a sign of Harry's strength that he overcame this first challenge and managed to enter school to become a wizard-a great wizard-and that he managed to keep his spine, his determination, and his ability to bite back at all times. After all, it is with these qualities that Harry was able to develop and hone his sense of purpose to the world, the ability and understanding that he must keep fighting on no matter what, no matter the difficulties, because that is his role.
With this strength does come that aforementioned bite. Though it has not always been the best way of handling a circumstance, Harry is someone who can seem rather temperamental, angry, because of the way a circumstance is going and how he wishes to prove a point. His capacity to say "Voldemort" instead of other variations of "You-Know-Who" is just one indication of this obstinacy. His bite is sometimes a bit lighter, carried with a strong sense of wit and able to trade barbs with most individuals who challenge him. Even if someone is insulting him and his friends, he is able to keep himself together for the sake of this, shooting back carefully worded insults and never sounding particularly dumb about it. Of course, there is a darker angle to all this. Harry himself is capable of using Unforgivable curses with ease (the curses themselves being quite indicative of their name). They are curses that force the user to truly want the pain, the control, or even the death to come as a result of them. Harry initially uses the one that induces pain to little success, but he eventually does it with ease, a sign of his growing control and the fact that he is able to do this. His anger can be channeled well enough, after all, and Harry is not without this darker side, making him a true product of all the pain, deaths, and strife that he has had to experience.
But Harry is not all this doom and gloom that's made him into a stronger person. At his core, he is a Gryffindor-courageous and a protector in many ways, aiming to help others while still being bold in his actions. He is genuinely a good person, sometimes awkward and unsure in how he should pursue things, but willing to give others a chance (though still being somewhat critical of others, as well-he is always quick to notice someone's flaws, after all). To his fellow Gryffindors, as well as friends outside, he is truly a noble person, someone who's nice to have around. He can have fun in a casual situation and enjoy himself to the best of his ability. It is with them that his normal side truly tends to shine, but there is always a sense of something more to what he does. Of course, despite all this, Harry isn't the most incredibly social individual. He'll give many others the time of day and be nice, but Harry really does keep to his core of friends-Ron and Hermione at the head of that, with Ginny, the twins, and Luna following very closely behind. He'll speak to others but not always gain the best connection, a sign that those early years of his life likely did some toll, but he's comfortable all the same.
There are things, of course, that bring yet more personality traits out of him. His gift with defensive magic (against dark arts, specifically) has made him rather confident in his abilities with magic. But it's always important to note that despite his ability to perform darker curses, Harry is someone who would rather disarm someone than cause them pain. He has done his best to move past that, but it is ingrained in him and instinctive-and disarming a villain has served him well numerous times. This confidence eventually led him to being able to lead a defensive magic group in Hogwarts while the world was truly being shrouded in darkness, and this group was eventually able to help many others, especially when Hogwarts itself was in quite a bit of pain. He was an awkward leader at first, but eventually, he did all he could to help them. Much to his own surprise, he even slipped into the role rather well-because despite his rather exclusive nature regarding his closest friends, he is able to lead. This showed rather well in how he was also a Gryffindor captain of the Quidditch team. Quidditch is something that Harry does pride himself on to the point of arrogance, because he does know he's rather good. Playing and flying is rather important to him, after all. It can be said that his confidence does verge on arrogance at times when he's moving to be bold in either of these areas, but with him, there is always a reason (unlike his father, who could easily be defined by his arrogance).
Purposeful, driven, determined, a hero in every right and brash in many ways in order to fulfill these roles-these are all ways to describe Harry in a summary. He is proud at times and not without his weight of problems, understanding that "anything necessary" sometimes truly does include anything, but striking a good noble balance between the two. He has always been good about playing hero, about being the one to seemingly look for trouble, but it all comes down to that being who he is. Normal person with a good sense of wit and a backbone on the surface, but multi-faceted and flawed beneath becaue of his temper, his obstinacy, and his way of doing things.
But above all, Harry Potter is just Harry Potter-and after his long journey of trouble, loss, grief, pain, and heroic behavior, he's accepted all this about himself.
[point in timeline you're picking your character from]: Post the events of Deathly Hallows, but pre-epilogue.
[journal post]: voice;
I guess I should have expected something like this. Trouble, I mean, after everything. I realise it's a bit too much to go on, but I've never expected to end up in a place like this. I suppose there might be a reason for it, in the end, but I won't worry about it too much. I've never been very good at just sitting around and thinking about something. A good friend of mine never really liked that, but after a while, she even understood why that wasn't a good idea.
There really isn't much else to say. My name's Harry and I'm a new arrival. I was found in a fountain, which apparently happens a lot, and now I'm a little more dry and a little less hungry.
Hello.
[third person / log sample]:
His last words truly signaling the end of his journey will always ring in his mind: he’s tired of trouble. The feeling of responsibility will never leave him, as he enters the world as a hero; despite what role he may take from this moment forth, he only knows that he never wishes to walk that path. It is a path he’s walked since his birth, since being holed up in a cupboard and attempting to keep himself together. “Trouble,” in a sense, could define the nature of his life. From that cupboard to his first year at Hogwarts, followed by omens and a potential for bad luck at bad times, he’s always been confronted by it. Every action has had to have an equal and opposite reaction, every step in the direction of selfishness has been met with consequences, as he found himself struggling with the burgeoning responsibility laid upon his shoulders.
There had once been overwhelming bitterness over this responsibility, but Harry understands now, quite easily, why he felt that way. He was growing tired before he had even begun, had felt like he was thrust into this definition without having any choice himself. His perspective is much different now, replacing that bitterness with a well-placed sense of ease. He has reached this point in his life because he chose it. Dumbledore had been the one to place emphasis on choice, ensuring that despite any prophecy, despite anything to come, every bend in the road could lead to a fork when you least expected it. Though Harry himself has often failed in making the right choices, he believes he’s reached the end of the road for a reason, and it is where he can make a new choice, to finally step off that path and embrace something new.
Of course, it’s not like Harry has any intention of avoiding who he is, what he has done: a life without trouble defining his actions does not mean he will be devoid of heroism or making a stand for others. He is a true Gryffindor, through and through, and no Gryffindor, especially not him, lies in wait, hoping that he will eventually slip into the shadows waiting for all to be well. And the world outside of Hogwarts has been permanently scarred by the actions of Voldemort-or even mention who aspire to be like him, or men who have been informed by similar teachings to his.
For this reason, Harry has no problem taking up a role in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement-of becoming the head of the Aurors. Stepping into the role itself is awkward enough; he is very much a seventeen-year-old boy among adults. His fame and glory do not prepare him for the organization (and neither does Dumbledore’s Army), but he walks in with a sense of determination. It will take time, it will take patience, but he’ll be able to handle it. He’s handled worse, and no aspect of working in an office and figuring out a filing system is the same as lurking in England’s countryside, moving constantly while trying to remain unseen.
Of course, all these thoughts of responsibility and moving forward don’t make sitting in an office any easier on him. Harry remembers the dashing images of Aurors in his head, the fierce facial expressions and how impressive he could be, standing up and taking out the Dark Wizards. There are a great number of them still out there, but his role doesn’t dictate that he be in charge of taking them down-not yet. This is all transitional, all circumstantial as he tries to parse out his part in all of this, and really, he is just left figuring out the best way to alphabetize his cases. By the type or by the name? The last few years have left the office in a certain disarray, and he almost wishes he took Hermione up on her offer to come here and help out.
Surely enough, she would enjoy it.
“Bored, Harry?”
There are only a few people in the office who call him by his first name-it’s usually “Mister Potter” this and “Mister Potter” that, a sign of overwhelming respect that he’s used to, but doesn’t want to be-so he recognizes the voice easily enough. It’s a Ravenclaw boy from three years ahead of him, but he gets stuck in the office all the same. Inexperienced, they tell Harry, and whisper softly that it’s a fluke he made it through the training. Harry, of course, was currently excused from such things (as unfair as he viewed it, they all made a point of saying Harry had more experience than most of the Aurors in the office had in their lifetimes).
“A little,” he admits, glancing toward the freckled face of his colleague. “I wish I had more to do than these.” This is nothing more than small talk, and Harry rises up, leaving the file on his desk, and moving impatiently toward the exit. He doesn’t pass through it yet, but he stands there with a thoughtful curve to his lips.
The curve turns toward a somewhat wry smile as he turns back to the other guy in the office. “Yeah, I think I’ve made up my mind. I’ll leave work early today. It’s not like anyone else is here. Willing to come with me to the Leaky Cauldron?”
“A-are you sure, Harry?”
“Well, it’s better than sitting around here. I’ve been caught up in places like this for a while with people trying to protect me. I’ve never been very good at sitting still.” Harry slides his fingers into his robe to check for his wand. “And I figure if anyone out there is still lurking around, they’ll find us.”
It’s not Ron he’s offering this to, and in many senses, it’s asking for trouble, but it’s doing his job. If he isn’t going to skirt around responsibility, he certainly isn’t going to sit in an office waiting for what could come next. Trouble is different, after all, trouble is the weight that bears down for years on end. This is the start of his new chapter, his new life-it’s one he’s earned for a reason, after all.
[character]: Harry Potter
[character history / background]: Harry James Potter was born in July 31, 1980 to parents James and Lily Potter. Though James was a hero in his own right, Harry would inevitably go on to become one of the most notable heroes of the wizarding world-as famous as, if not more famous, than the famous Albus Dumbledore. The first year of Harry’s life was spent in hiding in a house in Godric’s Hollow. The village itself was actually the root of his ancestors-not the Gryffindors, but the Peverells. Their graves were located at this site, but overall, it seemed to be the most logical place of hiding. James hated hiding there and often snuck off, as Lily related to Sirius in writing, but he was a good father and he doted on his son. Lily did the same level of doting. They were a normal family by many extents of the imagination-a father, a wife, a son, and a cat. But they were in hiding, held in secrecy by the fidelius charm, and only Peter Pettigrew knew the location.
Pettigrew knowing the location worked against them the most.
Three months after his first birthday-to the date-Lord Voldemort showed up at the Potter home. James attempted to fight Voldemort off on his own, but without his wand his efforts were futile. Voldemort followed Lily into the room with Harry and attempted to give Lily reason to stay alive for the sake of Severus Snape. However, Lily Potter was an obstinate woman and would not allow for her son to die. Her protection was granted to Harry in her final moments, and was one of the main reasons why he lived. The other reason was that a piece of Voldemort’s soul slipped inside of Harry. The mark of this occurrence existed in a scar on the boy’s forehead, though he was unaware of its importance for a good portion of his life-that is, until he turned eleven.
On the night of his parents’ death, Harry was brought to Petunia and Vernon Dursley’s house for them to raise Petunia’s sister’s son. There was a letter that directly stated that Harry needed to enjoy his time of living with the Dursleys so that Lily’s protection would continue to extend over him. However, the Dursleys were an extremely judgmental-and even jealous-couple that looked at Harry as a monster and a nuisance. Instead of welcoming him into their home and raising him as one of their own along side their son Dudley, they had him live in the cupboard under the stairs. He did chores; he cooked; he cleaned. Many of the things that boys don’t even learn how to do if their mothers nag him were the chores that he often had to perform.
Aside from the ridicule at home, Potter, like many Muggleborn children that would go on to learn just how different they are, went to school and received quite a bit of mocking. His clothing, hand-me-downs from Dudley, was much too large. His glasses broke often. He also was the cause for numerous circumstances, including the time that he ended up on the roof of the school. He was a “bad kid” because of all these weird occurrences, and his ability to draw attention to himself made him even more of a bother to the Dursleys. They abused him more because of the bullying and his accidental-and, though he didn’t know yet, magical-reactions to all these events.
For the most part, Harry had no choice but to take this in stride. He had a bit of a sharp tongue on him and he knew it was wrong that they were treating him that way. He wasn’t thankful for their treatment, but he didn’t believe he had way of getting out of it. But all of that changed around his eleventh birthday. Not long after the destructive trip to the zoo where he spoke to the Brazilian snake that broke free after Harry accidentally removed the glass, numerous owls started arriving at the Dursley home. Vernon took every effort to avoid these owls from the mysterious Hogwarts-including boarding up the house-but he failed in these efforts. Eventually, the family went to get a house away from where they lived, but even that failed-as Hagrid showed up.
A giant of a man, the man came in and surprised Harry and his family quite a bit. He was disgusted by the behavior and treatment of the Dursleys and ended up informing Harry about his family. The end of the circumstance left Dudley with a pigtail and Harry finally understanding the full gravity of his life. He took down a horrible person named Voldemort; he was going to go to a new school; he had a whole life that he never knew about. He was a hero. All of it was a little overwhelming, but Harry took it in stride (the best he could, but he was always good about that). He went to Diagon Alley with Hagrid that day to be greeted by many admiring fans. But even more, he learned about the wizarding world-both the good parts and the bad parts (the latter thanks to the aid of one Draco Malfoy). Afterward, he had to return home until September 1 and the start of his first year at Hogwarts.
The first year of Hogwarts for Harry was trying. He had a difficult, if nervous, Defense Against Dark Arts professor, but he first experienced what it was like to have a lot of fame tossed on his shoulders. From his very first day, though, he seemed to reject many of the possibilities of that fame through rejecting any kind of friendship with Draco Malfoy. The idea of being around someone like that disgusted Harry, and he found himself falling into a rather easy friendship with Ronald Weasley rather immediately. He and Ron got on rather well with one another on the train, though they found themselves immediately ridiculing the girl named Hermione Granger. She was, in many ways, a know-it-all. She was bossy and had read all of the books, and seemed as if she knew better than them-and always would. They were eleven-year-old boys who didn’t take very well to that, and almost immediately chose to avoid her as a result.
After the first train ride, Harry went to be sorted, and being sorted was one of the most impacting experiences of his life. While many are tossed between houses, Harry found himself wavering between Gryffindor and Slytherin. The Sorting Hat seemed convinced that he would make a very good Slytherin, but Harry chose Gryffindor-and thus, seemed to choose his fate. He found himself a very capable member of Gryffindor fairly early on. He was noble and he got in a lot of trouble; he was courageous and he cared for his friends (once he started earning them-he didn’t have many back home due to the ridicule). It was very much what Harry needed.
But it was not intellectual prowess or bravery that immediately earned Harry even more fame among his fellow Gryffindors, but his quidditch abilities. After a flying lesson where he ended up having to fly against Draco Malfoy, Harry proved himself to be a more than capable-and even natural-flyer for the team. McGonagall requested that he play for the team and even purchased him the best broom available. He went on to aid Gryffindor quite a bit that year, even if they didn’t have complete success at the end. Known as one of the best Seekers to ever come into Hogwarts, he was made to seem much like his father-who had also been a quidditch star, even if he was a Chaser.
There were numerous trials for Harry, as well. His DADA professor was terrible, the Potions professor hated him and called him arrogant, Draco Malfoy was constantly breathing down his neck, and there were trolls loose in the school. Even further, he and his friend Ron got into trouble-and in getting into trouble, they obtained the friendship of Hermione Granger after they took down a troll together. Later in the year, they found Voldemort trying to steal the Philosopher’s Stone, the known alchemic stone that could grant immortality through delivering the elixir of life. Harry managed to fight off Voldemort in this moment-who asked him to join him-and he was named a hero for it. Gryffindor won the house cup as a result of his bravery, and he reluctantly had to go home.
Prior to his second year, Harry goes to stay with the Weasleys for a short while and they go shopping at Diagon Alley together. During this trip, Ginny Weasley has a diary placed on her person, and this diary becomes the largest problem for Harry and his friends during his second year. Ginny has quite a crush on Harry Potter, and the diary-or the being in the diary-uses this crush against her so that he can get to Harry Potter, to some extent, and also be brought back. The being would later be revealed to be none other than Tom Riddle-or, as he would later be known, the sixteen-year-old Lord Voldemort who left a piece of himself in the diary (the piece itself would be later revealed not as a memory, but a piece of his soul, ripped for the sake of maintaining his immortality no matter what).
Very little of Harry’s second year was pleasant. On the front of the teachers, he had to deal with a horrible professor by the name of Gilderoy Lockhart. Proud, arrogant, vain, and someone who believed he had a kinship in Harry Potter, he made his life painful. It turns out later that Lockhart gains fame through stealing other people’s exploits and then obliviating them. How he gained the logic to do this is astounding, but it appears that he does it quite successfully and quite cunningly. Harry observes this with quite a bit of ridicule, even though Hermione seemed to admire Lockhart quite a bit despite the fact that he seemed to be quite a bit of a flake in lessons. Lockhart’s failures would come to work against them in the end-but more against himself, as he would go on to ruin his career because of his lies and willingness to sacrifice others for himself.
The most traumatic circumstances in Harry’s second year had little to do with Lockhart-or the fact that Draco Malfoy seemed to be able to buy his way onto the quidditch team-but rather the fact that students were being petrified. After a while, Harry seems to be blamed for this because of his ability to speak to a snake during dueling lessons (as parseltongue was not an ability that often appeared outside of the Slytherin bloodline). Many of the students fear and blame him or petrifying his classmates-that is, until Hermione herself is petrified. In her final moments, she seems to help them realize what it is that they need to do to stop the petrification, even if she can’t say it herself. Harry and Ron figure out how to get to the thing that is causing the pertification-a basilisk, hidden within the school by Salazar Slytherin years prior-and it’s through the girl’s bathroom that many avoid because of the ghost named Myrtle. An epic battle ensues and Harry meets Tom Riddle face to face-but he manages to destroy the semblance of him that is forming with the tooth of the basilisk that he destroys.
There are many connected events to this, of course. Ginny’s diary is the most connected because she speaks to Tom through it and he charms her, making her believe that she has a friend in him. He takes advantage of her self-conscious nature regarding Harry Potter, even if Ginny is actually a brilliant and bold witch otherwise. Though the diary eventually lands in Harry’s hands, Ginny steals it back, and through manipulating her, Tom seems to have a hold on her so much that she’s on the verge of dying by time Harry finally gets around to saving her. Had she died, Tom would have lived, and Voldemort would have returned in those moments. It turns out that all of these actions were manufactured by one Lucius Malfoy, even if he does his best to hide his involvement.
Near the beginning of his third year, Harry runs away from the Dursleys after accidentally blowing up Petunia’s sister after she verbally abuses him during a dinner. He ends up at the Leaky Cauldron and soon meets up with Hermione and Ron. There, he also learns of the release of Sirius Black from prison-the criminal supposedly responsible for the deaths of his parents (or it seemed to be that way). On the way back to school, Harry is attacked, to some degree, by dementors, and he realizes his true fear. In many ways, his true fear is having what little bit of happiness ripped away from him despite all his years of tragedy and unhappiness. Much of the earlier parts of Harry’s life are painful, and he is ripe for the attention of the dementors who feed upon the unhappiness of people. Remus Lupin, an old friend of his father’s, comes to his rescue from these creatures, and he’s able to return to school.
School during his third year is no different from the previous years-except now he has a good Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Remus Lupin is a kind man who seems to understand Harry. He reaches out to him, especially since Harry finds himself unable to enjoy many of the things that the other kids can enjoy (like going to Hogsmeade-his guardians refused to sign the slip for Hogsmeade, so he is unable to go). Harry also grows up quite a bit during his third year, and starts noticing girls. Not Ginny Weasley-who, secretly, continued to pine after him-but the Ravenclaw Cho Chang. He develops a crush on her, though he never quite realizes it for some time.
The major tragedy of his third year is connected to the aforementioned Sirius Black. Not actually a villain as many seem to imagine, he shows himself in an act of trying to get revenge for his best friend, James Potter, by attacking Ron’s rat. The rat itself turns out to be Peter Pettigrew. A battle ensues between Remus, Sirius, and Peter-and through this, it is revealed that Peter betrayed his best friends to Voldemort. He killed all the Muggles and left Sirius laughing in his final moments (and did it without the fingers on his hand that were apparently the indicators of his death). Pettigrew eventually gets away, much to the dismay of the others, but there was an even bigger problem: Sirius gets found and the dementors are on their way. Needing a way out of this, Hermione and Harry relive a large portion of the day thanks to the Time-Turner needed to attend all her classes. They manage to go and save the Harry stuck in the future from the dementors that are coming. At the end of the year, Harry has to say good-bye to Lupin, who is off to live with and keep Sirius Black safe from the wizarding people looking for him.
Fourth year starts with the Wizarding World Cup-and the return of the Death Eaters. Harry and the Weasleys go to the World Cup itself and, for the most part, it seems to be a sign that things will be good for him that year. However, that night, chaos happens and the Death Eaters march through the camp and a Dark Mark rises in the air. In light of the fact that there is a mysterious event coming to Hogwarts, this seems rather foreboding. Harry’s wand is used for the sake of making this Dark Mark, which puts him in a rather bad light considering the events that have passed in his past.
Upon arriving to Hogwarts, Harry and his friends learn of the Tri-Wizard Tournament and the appointment of Mad-Eye Moody (or who seemed to be Mad-Eye Moody) as their professor. There is quite a bit of havoc surrounding the Tournament, but even more considering the fact that there’s a ball right in the middle of the tournament that everyone must attend. On a social aspect, Harry hopes to attend with Cho Chang, but soon learns that she is going with Cedric Diggory, the school hero, who happened to ask her first. Since Harry respected Cedric, he didn’t feel too bitter about this, though he was a little put-off of going as a result of that. However, since prior to this he was named one of the Champions of the school, he was forced to go to the ball.
Being named Champion was not something that was supposed to happen. In order to enter their names, students had to be over the age of seventeen or the age line would affect them. Mad-Eye Moody-or Barty Crouch Jr., as he really was-managed to put Harry’s name into the pot and set it up for him to experience a great deal of misery. Despite doing this, Moody seemed to be willing to be Harry’s mentor to some degree. He helps him throughout the tournament, first through making it possible for Harry to find out about the dragons and the proper charm to defeat them, but also about the mermaids (through Dobby) and finally, leading him headway into the maze itself at the end with the assurance that he would end up getting the cup. Harry was told by Sirius that he had no choice but to deal with these events as they came at him. But “dealing” with them meant that he was faced with quite a bit of ridicule. After his troubles in his second year with the Hufflepuffs who believed him the cause of the petrification, he found himself facing the ridicule of Ernie MacMillan and Hannah Abbott once more as they passed around Potter Stinks badges. Draco Malfoy was also quite fond of these, though Cedric Diggory-the apparent “true” Champion of Hogwarts, did not approve of them in the least.
Many damaging and unusual circumstances happened during Harry’s fourth year at Hogwarts. Bartemius Crouch Sr. was found dead and Harry found himself unable to interact with his best friend for some time. Ron was wrought with a mixture of jealousy over the fact that Harry would actually leave his name inside of the Cup for becoming a Champion. Eventually, they reconcile their differences, but it is still a trying time for Harry. The Yule Ball is also problematic because Harry is not good in situations like that, and he spends most of the evening pining after Cho.
But the worst part of the year, and the most damaging of his life so far, is the fact that he has to go through the maze and is transported to the graveyard containing Tom Riddle Sr.’s grave. He and Cedric grab the Tri-Wizard Cup at the same time, and it turns out to be a Portkey. Startled by the circumstances, Cedric thinks that this must be another part of the tournament-until Voldemort directs Peter Pettigrew to “kill the spare.” Harry witnesses and fully feels the impact of his first death, even if there would be many to follow. Harry’s blood is used to bring Voldemort back. In the final moments of their fight, Voldemort is defeated by the overwhelming presences that he has killed and Harry is able to retrieve Cedric’s body and take off. At the end of the year, Dumbledore announces that Voldemort has returned to the wizarding world and requests that everyone, in light of these traumatic circumstances, remember Cedric Diggory. When things would get difficult and people might not remember how to keep their heads high, they should remember Cedric Diggory. He was a positive influence in the lives of many-including Harry’s-and he would be sorely missed. Harry is sent home, much to his chagrin after that, but he knows that the worst is yet to come.
It seems that Harry is not allowed to know what the worst is. During that summer, Harry hears nothing-no letters, no indication that his friends still cared about him. Instead of getting letters from his friends, he gets a visit from dementors, and they come and almost end up giving Dudley the kiss until Harry’s forced to use the Patronus Charm to save him. Upon returning home, Harry receives a string of owls that eventually end with him needing to keep his wand and him needing to go to a hearing. That night, the Order of the Phoenix comes to retrieve Harry from his house. It is comprised of numerous individuals that Harry has never met, including Sirius’ second cousin, Tonks, Kingsley, and Hestia-as well as the actual Mad-Eye Moody. They fly through the clouds to get to a house in London, though Harry remains oblivious to much of this. Angry that no one has told him anything, he arrives at the house clueless and without anyone willing to explain much of it to him. Ron and Hermione explain that they were directed by Dumbledore to say nothing to him-and this is the first of many faults that Dumbledore does. Dumbledore, after all, is self-righteous and doesn’t always know what is best for Harry.
Harry learns of the existence of the Order of the Phoenix. He learns that it was developed during the first war and that his mother and father were members of it-and so were the Longbottoms. He learns that many of the people involved were killed, and that they were all heroes despite it. He learns that it has started up again, but Molly Weasley does not want him involved. Sirius, being Sirius, believes that he should naturally be involved-he should always be a part of it, but it seems that it might be in part because of his inability to grow up and realize that Harry is not his son, but his godson and therefore James’ son. He will not be James and he should not be treated in that matter. This irritates Harry a bit-not being treated that way, but not being allowed to be a member because he wants nothing more than to be able to fight. But there are larger concerns according to the Order members-like the fact that he might be kicked out of Hogwarts.
As expected, Harry goes to the hearing and gets let off-thanks to the wonderful Amelia Bones. She points out the fact that it’s unusual for a teenager like him to be using that level of magic and is impressed that he is able to pull it off. That, after all, is the most important part. It is not the fact that he was doing underage magic. It is revealed that Fudge, who was once rather sympathetic to him, is rather against him. He is paranoid and forced to believe that Dumbledore mentioned Voldemort’s return out of a wanting for his position, so Fudge is crusading against Harry. This crusade extends to the Daily Prophet and much of the wizarding public that seems uncertain as to whether Harry was telling the truth about Voldemort’s return or if he and Dumbledore are incorrect. The doubt in Harry’s position is something he has to struggle with, especially since he is already questioning himself. Dumbledore won’t tell him anything, Sirius can’t get him into the Order, and he is forced to return to school without any answers and has to face this-and the trials that often come with the typical school year.
The “typical trials” come in the form of one Dolores Umbridge. A terrible human being with a dislike for half-breed individuals, she comes into Hogwarts to represent the “Ministry opinion.” She teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts and makes it a miserable class. Harry is forced to attend detention with her, and during the detention, he has to write “I must not tell lies” numerous times-and it appears on his hand while he’s writing because of the special quill that she provides him with. Given the fact that the notorious OWL exams are coming in the future, it seems as if her existence simply provides another roadblock for Harry and his friends from being able to achieve something with their lives. After all, there is nothing practical about the DADA classes. Furthermore, despite being the star of the Gryffindor quidditch team, Harry finds himself kicked off the team along with the twins. Andrew Kirke, Jack Sloper, and Ginny Weasley take their places. Kirke and Sloper are not brilliant at quidditch, but the team captain, Angelina, has no choice but to take on these new members to the team. Also, just as he had been for some time, Harry finds himself still focused on Cho Chang. He has a crush on her still, and she seems interested in him-even if she is still mourning over Cedric’s death.
In response to these trials, especially the DADA one, Harry is encouraged to start a private class for Defense lessons. It eventually earns the title “Dumbledore’s Army” and it meets in secrecy to teach various students (with the exception of Slytherin students) how to defend themselves. Some of the students-like Ginny-are quite good at these lessons, whereas others-Zacharias Smith, for example-were not very good at all. Still, Harry proved to be a good leader and garnered quite a bit of respect from the fellow students. Through the DADA, he also grew closer with Cho, though their relationship with one another would never quite become that despite a very wet kiss that was what it was because of the tears that were streaming down her face. Dumbledore’s Army meetings go very well for a while, until Marietta Edgecombe is forced to out the rest of the group-and earns the permanent marking of “Sneak” on her forehead. Since the group seems to be meeting for the sake of developing an army for Voldemort, Fudge attempts to arrest Voldemort, but ultimately fails.
The main problem that Harry experiences throughout the year has little to do with all of this. Most of it is internalized. At night, Voldemort sends him visions of the Department of Mysteries and it makes his scar hurt more than ever. This comes to a climax near the holidays when he has a dream of a snake that attacks Arthur Weasley. He is able to alert others of the fact that Arthur got hurt, but he feels as if he is slipping because Voldemort is able to get close to him. Dumbledore still seems not to tell him anything about it, but he is forced to enter Occulmency lessons with Severus Snape. Throughout the course of these lessons, Harry learns the true nature of his father, James, and the fact that he was a complete jerk. Harry, in response to this, decides that his father wasn’t as wonderful as everyone made him out to be and experiences an internal struggle as a result of it. After all, Harry is already feeling like he is slipping-and then his father turns out to be a terrible human being in a lot of ways, even being disliked by his mother when they were younger. He doesn’t understand this a lot, and seems to feel even angrier about himself. Voldemort takes advantage of this internal conflict inside of Harry and uses it against him. During his History OWL, Harry finds himself passing out because he receives a vision from Voldemort that Sirius is with him. In desperation, he and his friends prepare a plan that ends up hurting half of the Inquisitorial Squad-which Umbridge started to counteract the Dumbledore’s Army-and almost getting Umbridge killed by the centaurs in the woods who hate her because of her anti-halfbreed legislation that she promoted within the Ministry.
Harry and his friends-Luna, Neville, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny-board the thestrals (which Harry could only see because of witnessing Cedric’s death) to head to the Ministry of Magic. They get into the Department of Mysteries only to find that Sirius is not there and Harry acted too impulsively. The Death Eaters show up and an epic battle ensues, which ends with Harry learning about the existence of the prophecy regarding his birth (and the fact that it has some connection to Neville as well). During this disastrous fight, Bellatrix Lestrange hits his godfather, Sirius, with a spell of red that throws him back into the veil from which numerous voices were calling to him. Remus Lupin is forced to hold Harry back even though he wishes to run after Bellatrix. Thus, as a result of this, Harry loses the last family member in his life, and the only father figure he ever truly had. He attempts to torture Bellatrix Lestrange, but at this point in his life, Harry doesn’t have it in him to “mean it” when he moves to torture her. He will later on, of course. Voldemort and Dumbledore fight for some time and Voldemort attempts to work against Harry once again, but Dumbledore prevails and many of the Ministry individuals pop in just to see Voldemort vanishing from the premises of the building.
Harry’s anger comes to a head after this scene when he is in Dumbledore’s office. He tears it up, letting his anger out on every part of it before yelling at Dumbledore himself. Dumbledore never told him about the prophecy and the fact that he was always destined to destroy Voldemort-that there would never be someone else. He hated being thrust into the position suddenly, but it was probably because he knew that it would happen (and feared it-after all, the thing Harry wanted most for himself was to be normal, and every part of his life seemed to deny this possibility). He was sent home for the summer, angry with Dumbledore and angry that he still had to return, but he did it anyway. He had no choice.
For the most part, he spends a large part of his summer mourning Sirius. He thinks of all the deaths he has caused and the fact that he hasn’t been able to do a whole lot of good in saving people. He also thinks bitterly upon Dumbledore, who hasn’t been doing a very good job of telling him things. Little does he know that this will change in the near future. Over the summer, the Death Eaters proved to be more of an active force in the world. They start killing mass amounts of Muggles-circumstances covered up as accidents-and they start killing main political figures in the world. Rufus Scrimgeour takes over for Minister of Magic after Fudge ends up resigning from the position. It is very much the beginning of a major descent into a veil of darkness over the wizarding world. Harry remains partly clueless about it, but Dumbledore comes to take him from the Dursleys instead of leaving him in the dark. It is a sign that Dumbledore really does care for him, even after his many mistakes (like not giving Harry Prefect during a year when many believed that he deserved it over his best friend, Ron).
Harry and Dumbledore leave the Dursley home to go visit Horace Slughorn, a morally ambiguous man who had a strange fondness for Harry’s mother. Taken quite a bit by the fame of Harry, he agrees to return to the school as the Potions Master-and it turns out that Severus Snape has become the new DADA professor. Given the curse surrounding the position that Harry finds out about later, it makes sense that Severus would not be given the post until it is almost too late. After all, he wouldn’t have been able to work at the school and keep an eye on Harry-who he seemed to hate-if he hadn’t been given the position sooner. Harry isn’t privy to any of this yet-and won’t be until more than a year after that-so he remains disdainful of the fact that he has to take his best class from the man who seems to hate him most.
Aside from that, though, Harry’s year is largely uneventful. Before entering into the school, he sees Draco Malfoy attempting to hide his arm-the same one which typically holds the Dark Mark-while trying to get sized for robes. It gives Harry the first indication that Draco might be a Death Eater now. These hints seem to pile up throughout the whole of the year, and Harry tries numerous times to figure out how it is that many people almost get killed or hurt-including Ron and Katie Bell-with a mysterious person behind it. Harry seems to stalk and obsess over the notion that Draco is involved, even if everyone else writes off his involvement because he is Draco Malfoy. In the past, he hasn’t proved to be that clever, and these circumstances don’t seem to be done with his trademark lack of subtle movements. But Harry doesn’t change his mind regarding them.
Draco’s involvement in his life aside, Harry obtains a book that was once owned by someone named the Half-Blood Prince. Not realizing that this person might be dangerous, Harry procures several spells from the book, including the Sectumsempra spell, that will eventually prove damaging in the future (especially the Sectumsempra spell, since he unknowingly uses it on Draco in response to the other boy’s cruciatus curse). He obsesses over this book to some degree, curious about who the owner is, and unwilling to let the book be taken from him and replaced by another one Hermione seems to dislike that Harry continues ownership over the book, but he refuses to let go of it.
These parts aside, Harry’s school year is largely unexciting. As expected after not being given Prefect, he receives the title of quidditch Captain. He seems able to do quite well in this position, but he ends up letting Cormac McLaggen onto the team as a secondary Keeper which works against him in the future. He starts developing feelings for Ginny Weasley, though he tries to stymie these to the best of his ability. And throughout the course of the year, he has private lessons with Dumbledore through which he learns the true nature of Voldemort. Dumbledore does not wish to make Harry sympathize with Voldemort, but understand that they were not from different lives-they were both orphans, after all-but Voldemort was a monster from the beginning of his life. Near the end of these lessons, Harry learns about the horcruxes and is invited along to learn about them. Before that devastating adventure occurs, Harry eventually ends up hooking up with Ginny for a short three-weeks and the two share a very passionate relationship (and often very much in the open, given their bold nature regarding one another). When Harry is invited along on the adventure, he willingly goes without realizing the full weight of the situation.
Both Harry and Dumbledore arrive at a cave and Dumbledore explains what will happen. When they get inside of the cave, they have to carefully cross over a lake until they reach a basin. Dumbledore makes Harry force the potion within the basin inside of him, even if it seems as if it is rapidly killing him. They manage to obtain the locket-believing that it is Slytherin’s-from the bottom of it and quickly move to return to Hogwarts. Harry apparates them back to Hogsmeade, but they learn that the Dark Mark has risen above the school by time they return. Snape is requested for a potion, but it seems that it might be too late for that. Numerous events pass, but the worst of them all is that Severus Snape comes in and is forced to kill Albus Dumbledore instead of making Draco Malfoy do it. It keeps him alive, and it makes it so that Draco’s soul is not affected by his first kill. The Death Eaters move to flee after this event, but Harry chases after Snape-who berates him for his inability to actually injure him. Harry calls him a coward, which hurts Snape greatly because of all the sacrifices he has made.
Afterward, Hogwarts quickly enters a state of mourning in response to the surprise of Dumbledore’s death. Harry ends his relationship with Ginny and Ron and Hermione tell him that they have every intention of going on his quest to find all of the horcruxes. They realize that Snape was the Half-Blood Prince. Harry returns home and waits for the preparations to leave the home on the arrival of his seventeenth birthday-and therefore, his release from protection in the home.
The night of that birthday, several people show up and polyjuice themselves into Harry so they can get away. Just as they’re leaving, it’s revealed that the plan was foiled somehow-likely by Snape, in some way-and the Death Eaters show up. Harry reveals himself by using the expelliarmus spell and Hagrid almost gets killed as a result of this (and Hedwig actually is killed). He shows up at the Tonks home and is taken care of before going to the Burrow to find out that Mad-Eye Moody was killed and George has lost an ear. Remus admonishes him for using such a spell and says that he needs to be a little less careless about that in the future. Harry stays at the burrow and they start making preparations for the wedding of Bill and Fleur. Prior to the wedding, Rufus Scrimgeour shows up and leaves several things to Harry and his friends-one of which is the Snitch from Harry’s first quidditch game. Not knowing the full meaning of this, Harry merely cherishes the snitch to some degree. Also, during this time, Ginny gives Harry a birthday present-but it doesn’t go as well as planned.
During the wedding, it is reported that Scrimgeour has been killed. There is trouble on the way and it would only make sense for them to be ready. During this, Hermione makes it clear that it’s time to break free and Ron, Hermione, and Harry leave to head to Grimmauld Place. After ending up in a restaurant, Hermione makes the mistake of saying Voldemort’s name-not knowing that it could actually be a jinx now-and several Death Eaters show up. They move to live in Grimmauld Place, and while there, Harry learns the true meaning of the RAB mentioned in the false locket that he obtained from the cave. From Kreacher, he learns of the truly heroic nature of Regulus Black. Despite being a coward, he used the last time in his life to try and destroy the locket. But Mundungus Fletcher ended up stealing the locket and selling it, and the locket itself ended up in the hands of Dolores Umbridge.
Knowing that they needed to get into the Ministry to get at Umbridge, Harry and his friends devise a plan to get inside. It wasn’t a very well-thought out plan, but they manage to get in, and as a result, they manage to get the locket (and to save some people at the same time). They learn of the true issues going on in the wizarding world and how much of a hold that the Death Eaters actively have in the Ministry. In every way, it seems that the Death Eaters control the political situation, even if the Order of the Phoenix is still actively working against it. Because of their mistakes in the Ministry, Harry and the others are no longer able to hide at Grimmauld Place and go on the run-which essentially leads to an extended camping trip. It is miserable, for the most part, and Ron ends up leaving them because their camping isn’t getting them anywhere.
Hermione and Harry end up going to Godric’s Hollow without him, and while there, Harry attempts to learn the meaning behind the unusual symbol in the book that Dumbledore gave Hermione. He goes to the woman there that seemed to know Dumbledore, but she has been possessed-for lack of a better word-by Nagini. Nagini almost kills him and Harry’s wand gets destroyed, but he and Hermione manage to get away from the circumstance. Not long after, the locket starts to hurt Harry quite a bit, but Ron manages to show up to save him from it at the last moment. The Sword of Gryffindor appears to Ron and he destroys it, even though the locket is trying to make Ron feel bad through manipulating him. Ron stays with the group, and they continue on their way.
The next mistake-caused by Harry, of course-is after Harry says Voldemort, and they’re captured by Death Eaters. They’re taken to the Malfoy house and are almost killed, but they manage to get away. They find Peter Pettigrew there, who dies in the final moments of his life. Harry obtains Draco Malfoy’s wand throughout this and finally has a wand that works well for him again. They end up escaping-with Ollivander and Luna-and they go to Bill and Fleur’s house. In escaping, Dobby is hit by a knife and killed almost instantly. They hold a small service for them and learn about where the Hufflepuff Cup is supposed to be held (at Gringotts). They leave Bill and Fleur’s home to break into Gringott’s. In the process, they almost get attacked, but manage to get away-even if it is without the Sword of Gryffindor, they do get the Hufflepuff Cup.
Not long after that, they go to Hogsmeade and learn of the various struggles by the students within the school. Neville turns out to be the leader of these rebellions, and when Harry sees him, he’s beat up, scratched, but still very much a hero. They sneak into the school through a secret passageway and learn of the true state of things regarding what’s going on in the school. It was the beginning of the Battle of Hogwarts in many ways, and it was a sign of even worse things to come. Harry and the others search through Hogwarts for the possible remaining horcruxes and accidentally reveal that there might be another within the school. Many things happen in the following events-Harry tortures one of the Carrows with the cruciatus curse, showing a great change within him, Severus Snape tries to escape and dies in the process, and the battle starts thriving. Harry learns of the truth between Snape and Lily’s relationship including the part where his Aunt Petunia wanted to go to Hogwarts but did not have the ability to do it because she was not magically gifted like her sister. The “boy” who Petunia mentioned earlier on as being a nuisance is revealed not to be James Potter, but actually Severus Snape. They were best friends, after all. Lily seems to not forgive Snape for his constant negative words and ends up breaking their friendship. This makes Severus hate James Potter more. Harry learns of all these facts not long before Snape passes on and in Snape’s final moments, he’s asked to have the opportunity to look into Harry’s eyes.
Not long after, Harry appears to sacrifice himself to Voldemort and Voldemort “kills” him-or destroys the horcrux inside of him. Narcissa Malfoy is the one told to check on him, and she says she won’t tell Voldemort that he’s alive as long as Draco is still alive inside of the school. She basically makes it possible for Harry to go fight Voldemort, obtain the Elder Wand, and destroy the Dark Wizard once and for all (since Neville had gone a long way in helping by destroying Nagini). Afterward, Harry is proclaimed a hero and uses the Elder Wand to fix his own wand before returning the want to the tomb of Dumbledore.
[character abilities]: Harry is a wizard, thus lending him the ability to use multiple spells rather well, fly on a broomstick, Apparate (which is a form of teleportation), and sometimes involuntarily draw out responses in things. He's aware of the ability to block his mind, but is rather bad at it. His strengths are in the flying and in the offensive sort of magic that comes with the territory of being defense against the dark arts. He's rather powerful, really, with his parentage, and shows talent far beyond his years. He's still learning, though.
[character personality]: On the surface, Harry comes off as unassuming as his appearance-a normal boy, if not even on the extreme spectrum of a normal teenage boy, he's talkative at times, but never loud, wry when he's sniped at, and generally a little boring at first glance. He's not overly intelligent, but intelligent enough, his experience helping him and maturing him enough; outside of this, however, there's nothing unusual, the "normal boy" coming and surfacing often enough. That's the thing about Harry Potter: looking at him, you'd never be able to figure out underneath the occasional awkwardness and silently strong way of handling himself, that he's the hero of the wizarding world (several times over) and someone who has come up against the most dangerous wizarding curse and managed to live. Twice. He's someone who used to seek normalcy, wanting to not be an orphan who lived in a cupboard and was bullied at school, but certainly not wanting to be under the eye of everyone in the world, with them watching and following his every step. But n a way, he's grown past that; though a life without danger seems more than appealing, he also knows his role in the world and understands what he must do.
For that reason, Harry Potter is anything but normal.
To those who know Harry beyond this surface of "normalcy," he is steadfast and determined, a true hero, driven to any lengths necessary in order to help others and keep the world safe. He is someone who carries the burdens of the world on his shoulders, while stll trying to pursue a life with friends. Harry has never really been built to be normal-he grew up an orphan while experiencing a great amount of abuse. Somehow, his inner-strength managed to make him strong despite this, constantly ridiculing and contradicting his aunt and uncle and cousin, seeing their flaws and somehow managing to keep his head up despite that. It is a sign of Harry's strength that he overcame this first challenge and managed to enter school to become a wizard-a great wizard-and that he managed to keep his spine, his determination, and his ability to bite back at all times. After all, it is with these qualities that Harry was able to develop and hone his sense of purpose to the world, the ability and understanding that he must keep fighting on no matter what, no matter the difficulties, because that is his role.
With this strength does come that aforementioned bite. Though it has not always been the best way of handling a circumstance, Harry is someone who can seem rather temperamental, angry, because of the way a circumstance is going and how he wishes to prove a point. His capacity to say "Voldemort" instead of other variations of "You-Know-Who" is just one indication of this obstinacy. His bite is sometimes a bit lighter, carried with a strong sense of wit and able to trade barbs with most individuals who challenge him. Even if someone is insulting him and his friends, he is able to keep himself together for the sake of this, shooting back carefully worded insults and never sounding particularly dumb about it. Of course, there is a darker angle to all this. Harry himself is capable of using Unforgivable curses with ease (the curses themselves being quite indicative of their name). They are curses that force the user to truly want the pain, the control, or even the death to come as a result of them. Harry initially uses the one that induces pain to little success, but he eventually does it with ease, a sign of his growing control and the fact that he is able to do this. His anger can be channeled well enough, after all, and Harry is not without this darker side, making him a true product of all the pain, deaths, and strife that he has had to experience.
But Harry is not all this doom and gloom that's made him into a stronger person. At his core, he is a Gryffindor-courageous and a protector in many ways, aiming to help others while still being bold in his actions. He is genuinely a good person, sometimes awkward and unsure in how he should pursue things, but willing to give others a chance (though still being somewhat critical of others, as well-he is always quick to notice someone's flaws, after all). To his fellow Gryffindors, as well as friends outside, he is truly a noble person, someone who's nice to have around. He can have fun in a casual situation and enjoy himself to the best of his ability. It is with them that his normal side truly tends to shine, but there is always a sense of something more to what he does. Of course, despite all this, Harry isn't the most incredibly social individual. He'll give many others the time of day and be nice, but Harry really does keep to his core of friends-Ron and Hermione at the head of that, with Ginny, the twins, and Luna following very closely behind. He'll speak to others but not always gain the best connection, a sign that those early years of his life likely did some toll, but he's comfortable all the same.
There are things, of course, that bring yet more personality traits out of him. His gift with defensive magic (against dark arts, specifically) has made him rather confident in his abilities with magic. But it's always important to note that despite his ability to perform darker curses, Harry is someone who would rather disarm someone than cause them pain. He has done his best to move past that, but it is ingrained in him and instinctive-and disarming a villain has served him well numerous times. This confidence eventually led him to being able to lead a defensive magic group in Hogwarts while the world was truly being shrouded in darkness, and this group was eventually able to help many others, especially when Hogwarts itself was in quite a bit of pain. He was an awkward leader at first, but eventually, he did all he could to help them. Much to his own surprise, he even slipped into the role rather well-because despite his rather exclusive nature regarding his closest friends, he is able to lead. This showed rather well in how he was also a Gryffindor captain of the Quidditch team. Quidditch is something that Harry does pride himself on to the point of arrogance, because he does know he's rather good. Playing and flying is rather important to him, after all. It can be said that his confidence does verge on arrogance at times when he's moving to be bold in either of these areas, but with him, there is always a reason (unlike his father, who could easily be defined by his arrogance).
Purposeful, driven, determined, a hero in every right and brash in many ways in order to fulfill these roles-these are all ways to describe Harry in a summary. He is proud at times and not without his weight of problems, understanding that "anything necessary" sometimes truly does include anything, but striking a good noble balance between the two. He has always been good about playing hero, about being the one to seemingly look for trouble, but it all comes down to that being who he is. Normal person with a good sense of wit and a backbone on the surface, but multi-faceted and flawed beneath becaue of his temper, his obstinacy, and his way of doing things.
But above all, Harry Potter is just Harry Potter-and after his long journey of trouble, loss, grief, pain, and heroic behavior, he's accepted all this about himself.
[point in timeline you're picking your character from]: Post the events of Deathly Hallows, but pre-epilogue.
[journal post]: voice;
I guess I should have expected something like this. Trouble, I mean, after everything. I realise it's a bit too much to go on, but I've never expected to end up in a place like this. I suppose there might be a reason for it, in the end, but I won't worry about it too much. I've never been very good at just sitting around and thinking about something. A good friend of mine never really liked that, but after a while, she even understood why that wasn't a good idea.
There really isn't much else to say. My name's Harry and I'm a new arrival. I was found in a fountain, which apparently happens a lot, and now I'm a little more dry and a little less hungry.
Hello.
[third person / log sample]:
His last words truly signaling the end of his journey will always ring in his mind: he’s tired of trouble. The feeling of responsibility will never leave him, as he enters the world as a hero; despite what role he may take from this moment forth, he only knows that he never wishes to walk that path. It is a path he’s walked since his birth, since being holed up in a cupboard and attempting to keep himself together. “Trouble,” in a sense, could define the nature of his life. From that cupboard to his first year at Hogwarts, followed by omens and a potential for bad luck at bad times, he’s always been confronted by it. Every action has had to have an equal and opposite reaction, every step in the direction of selfishness has been met with consequences, as he found himself struggling with the burgeoning responsibility laid upon his shoulders.
There had once been overwhelming bitterness over this responsibility, but Harry understands now, quite easily, why he felt that way. He was growing tired before he had even begun, had felt like he was thrust into this definition without having any choice himself. His perspective is much different now, replacing that bitterness with a well-placed sense of ease. He has reached this point in his life because he chose it. Dumbledore had been the one to place emphasis on choice, ensuring that despite any prophecy, despite anything to come, every bend in the road could lead to a fork when you least expected it. Though Harry himself has often failed in making the right choices, he believes he’s reached the end of the road for a reason, and it is where he can make a new choice, to finally step off that path and embrace something new.
Of course, it’s not like Harry has any intention of avoiding who he is, what he has done: a life without trouble defining his actions does not mean he will be devoid of heroism or making a stand for others. He is a true Gryffindor, through and through, and no Gryffindor, especially not him, lies in wait, hoping that he will eventually slip into the shadows waiting for all to be well. And the world outside of Hogwarts has been permanently scarred by the actions of Voldemort-or even mention who aspire to be like him, or men who have been informed by similar teachings to his.
For this reason, Harry has no problem taking up a role in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement-of becoming the head of the Aurors. Stepping into the role itself is awkward enough; he is very much a seventeen-year-old boy among adults. His fame and glory do not prepare him for the organization (and neither does Dumbledore’s Army), but he walks in with a sense of determination. It will take time, it will take patience, but he’ll be able to handle it. He’s handled worse, and no aspect of working in an office and figuring out a filing system is the same as lurking in England’s countryside, moving constantly while trying to remain unseen.
Of course, all these thoughts of responsibility and moving forward don’t make sitting in an office any easier on him. Harry remembers the dashing images of Aurors in his head, the fierce facial expressions and how impressive he could be, standing up and taking out the Dark Wizards. There are a great number of them still out there, but his role doesn’t dictate that he be in charge of taking them down-not yet. This is all transitional, all circumstantial as he tries to parse out his part in all of this, and really, he is just left figuring out the best way to alphabetize his cases. By the type or by the name? The last few years have left the office in a certain disarray, and he almost wishes he took Hermione up on her offer to come here and help out.
Surely enough, she would enjoy it.
“Bored, Harry?”
There are only a few people in the office who call him by his first name-it’s usually “Mister Potter” this and “Mister Potter” that, a sign of overwhelming respect that he’s used to, but doesn’t want to be-so he recognizes the voice easily enough. It’s a Ravenclaw boy from three years ahead of him, but he gets stuck in the office all the same. Inexperienced, they tell Harry, and whisper softly that it’s a fluke he made it through the training. Harry, of course, was currently excused from such things (as unfair as he viewed it, they all made a point of saying Harry had more experience than most of the Aurors in the office had in their lifetimes).
“A little,” he admits, glancing toward the freckled face of his colleague. “I wish I had more to do than these.” This is nothing more than small talk, and Harry rises up, leaving the file on his desk, and moving impatiently toward the exit. He doesn’t pass through it yet, but he stands there with a thoughtful curve to his lips.
The curve turns toward a somewhat wry smile as he turns back to the other guy in the office. “Yeah, I think I’ve made up my mind. I’ll leave work early today. It’s not like anyone else is here. Willing to come with me to the Leaky Cauldron?”
“A-are you sure, Harry?”
“Well, it’s better than sitting around here. I’ve been caught up in places like this for a while with people trying to protect me. I’ve never been very good at sitting still.” Harry slides his fingers into his robe to check for his wand. “And I figure if anyone out there is still lurking around, they’ll find us.”
It’s not Ron he’s offering this to, and in many senses, it’s asking for trouble, but it’s doing his job. If he isn’t going to skirt around responsibility, he certainly isn’t going to sit in an office waiting for what could come next. Trouble is different, after all, trouble is the weight that bears down for years on end. This is the start of his new chapter, his new life-it’s one he’s earned for a reason, after all.