Harry Potter

From the Encyclopedia of Speculative Fiction - http://encyclopedia.wizards.pro

Character
Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter
Gender	Male
Date of birth	July 31, 1980
House	Gryffindor
Occupation	Student
Parentage	Half-blood
Loyalty	Dumbledore's Army
Film portrayer	Daniel Radcliffe
First appearance	Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Harry James Potter (born July 31, 1980), the only son of James Potter and Lily Potter, is the protagonist and main character of the Harry Potter series.

Harry Potter is dramatized by British actor Daniel Radcliffe in currently four films based on the book series, the most recent of which is Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which was release in the United States on November 18th, 2005. Further installments of the movie series are expected; however, Radcliffe's appearance in these has not yet been confirmed.

Biography

Harry Potter is famous in the wizarding world for his encounter with the evil Lord Voldemort, the primary antagonist in the series, when he was just a year old, an encounter which lost Voldemort, one of the most powerful sorcerers of all time, his powers.

Harry's mother, Lily, was killed while attempting to protect Harry from Voldemort, and her dying act of love placed Harry under a spell of protection. Voldemort attempted to kill Harry with the killing curse, Avada Kedavra, which he had used to kill Harry's parents. Fortunately, the spell rebounded due to the ancient magic of Lily’s sacrifice, striking Voldemort instead. Voldemort, who had spent several years using powerful dark magicHorcrux in an ongoing attempt to achieve immortality, was able to survive the spell, but only as a pale shadow of his former self. Beaten and powerless, Voldemort went into hiding, and Harry became a celebrity in the wizarding world known as "The Boy Who Lived,” especially famous for the lightning-shaped scar Voldemort's curse left on his forehead in what some say marked him as his equal.

This protection aided Harry ten years later in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, when Lord Voldemort returned searching for the Philosopher's Stone. Using Hogwarts instructor Professor Quirrell as a vessel, Voldemort returned to Hogwarts to find the stone. Voldemort attempted to kill Harry again, but Lily Potter's protection lingered in his veins, and Voldemort was unable to touch Harry. The Dark Lord was forced to flee again, leaving Quirrell to die.

Harry was raised by Petunia and Vernon Dursley, who neglected him in favor of their own son Dudley and in their attempt to remove all traces of his magical self to make him "normal," kept him fully isolated from the wizarding world. Harry did not even know that he was a wizard until his eleventh birthday, when the half-giant Rubeus Hagrid, Hogwarts gamekeeper and friend of Dumbledore, explained to him the extent to of his legend and the valiance of his parents to have thrice defied "HE-WHO-MUST-NOT-BE-NAMED."

Harry is not in the least taken to his popularity and does not consider himself a celebrity or a notable person he has remained humble, despite the fact that people like Gilderoy Lockhart and Colin Creevey treat him as such. In fact, Harry is annoyed by his fame, as it has caused many people to either to love or hate him for it.

In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry is starting to change. He is [angst|[angsty]] because he believes Sirius Black got his parents until Remus Lupin corrects him.

Harry's greatest desire is to be normal and that his friends are kepts out of harms way. Harry often subjects himself to great danger on behalf of others and often tries to convince others not to put themselves in danger. For example, in the first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, he does not want Ron and Hermione to attempt to locate the Philosopher's Stone with him. This occurs once again in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix when Ginny, Neville, and Luna wish to join Harry, Ron, and Hermione on a rescue mission.

Though Harry is the primary protagonist of the books he is possessed of many character flaws. He has a short temper when his parents or others whom he cares about are offended, or when people do not believe him. As with his best mate Ron, he is not very diligent with his studies. In Order of the Phoenix, Harry appears more disturbed and troubled, and is extremely temperamental, as he has to endure the entire wizarding world believing him to be an attention-seeking liar due to the lies spread by the Ministry of Magic and the Daily Prophet, in addition to the normal difficulties of youth. Occasionally, Harry will even become irritated with Ron and Hermione, especially when they disagree with him.

Harry is fiercely loyal to his friends and expects the same in return. Because of this Harry is oft prevented from looking at things objectively, he does not take lightly to criticism.

Harry seems to be rather passionate concerning trustworthiness. For example, Harry is reluctant to trust Severus Snape, the Potions Master, despite Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore's faith in Snape. Since Harry has been raised by the Dursleys, and has experienced nightmarish events, including the deaths of classmate Cedric Diggory in Goblet of Fire and godfather Sirius Black in Order of the Phoenix, Harry seems to feel rather misunderstood. Harry's feelings of isolation increase, when, at the end of Order of the Phoenix, he learns that he alone may be able to defeat Voldemort.

Ginny Weasley was the first person to take a romantic interest in Harry, having a crush on him in Chamber of Secrets, though she was too tongue-tied to even speak to him. In Goblet of Fire, Harry develops a crush on Cho Chang, and in his fifth year, he kisses her under the mistletoe. She and Harry split up at the end of the year, due to Harry's naïveté, Cho's jealousy, and Marietta Edgecombe's betrayal of Dumbledore's Army. As of the sixth installment in the series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Harry greatly resembles his father, but he is frequently told that he has his mother's eyes. Some have speculated that Harry having eyes similar to his mother's will play a significant role in the last book due it being a running bit throughout the books.

Harry shares his dormitory at Hogwarts with fellow Gryffindors, Ron Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas.

Family tree of Harry Potter

    Potter               Evans                          Dursley
      |              ______|______                 ________|________
      |             |             |               |                 |
James Potter + Lily Evans   Petunia Evans + Vernon Dursley   Marjorie Dursley
             |                            |
        Harry Potter                Dudley Dursley