Everything You Need to Know About the Harry Potter Series

by Charles River Editors

  Harry, Ron and Hermione immediately suspect that Draco is behind the attack, but before they can learn the truth, it is revealed that Harry can speak parseltongue. Parseltongue, the language of snakes, is a rare talent for which Slytherin was renowned. Now the gossip has turned on Harry, and even he starts to believe he could somehow be the evil heir of the founder.

  Fear and paranoia descend on the once-happy school, and Harry is miserable. Then muggle-born students start getting attacked, and the gossip intensifies. Harry discovers an old diary and is pulled into the diary’s “memories.” Through the eyes of former student Tom Riddle, Harry learns that the Chamber had been opened once before 50 years ago, and a student died. To Harry’s horror, Tom shows him that it was Hagrid, a student at the time, who released the monster and was expelled from Hogwarts.

  Harry can’t believe that Hagrid would intentionally harm anyone, although he has always had strange taste is “pets.” But after Hermione is the latest student found petrified, Harry and Ron desperately go to Hagrid demanding answers. They’re not the only ones who suspect Hagrid, and Harry and Ron hide as Mr. Malfoy drags the gentle gamekeeper—often derided because of his huge size and expulsion from Hogwarts—away to the feared wizard prison, Azkaban. Mr. Malfoy also informs Dumbledore that the board has voted to remove him as headmaster. With Dumbledore gone, Harry thinks there’ll be nothing stopping the monster from attacking students. With help from vague clues left by Hagrid and the tenacious research done by Hermione before being petrified, Harry and Ron learn the monster from the Chamber is a basilisk, a giant snake that uses the school’s pipes to stalk students.

  Ron and Harry rush to tell the professors what they’ve learned, but they instead overhear devastating news: Ron’s younger sister, Ginny, has been dragged by the basilisk into the hidden Chamber and Hogwarts is likely closing. Harry can’t imagine life without Hogwarts, so he and Ron descend into the bowels below the school to search for the Chamber and Ginny.

  Deep underground, Harry is separated from Ron. He finds Ginny unconscious next to the diary. But he’s not alone. Tom Riddle is there, and he has a question for Harry: “How is it that you—a skinny boy with no extraordinary magical talent—managed to defeat the greatest wizard of all time? How did you escape with nothing but a scar, while Lord Voldemort’s powers were destroyed?” (“Chamber of Secrets,” page 313) Then the apparition of Tom Marvolo Riddle, which is acting as a parasite on Ginny’s soul, uses his wand to spell out and rearrange the letters of his name: I Am Lord Voldemort.

  Harry desperately fights the basilisk that attacks on Riddle’s command, and Harry is close to defeat when Dumbledore’s pet phoenix, Fawkes, soars into the Chamber and drops the ancient Sorting Hat into Harry’s lap. Harry pulls a sword out of the hat and uses it to kill the basilisk and then destroys the diary from which Tom Riddle emerged.

  Harry went through trials during this year at Hogwarts—for the first time people weren’t whispering about him just because he was the Boy Who Lived—but he came out stronger. For much of “Chamber of Secrets” Harry doubts himself and is afraid there is something evil about him. He obsesses over his house sorting as a first year, when the Sorting Hat considered placing him in Slytherin. While Dumbledore admits that he suspects part of Voldemort—the true heir of Slytherin—was transferred to Harry on the night he was attacked as a baby, Harry made a choice to be a Gryffindor. “It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities,” the Headmaster tells him. (“Chamber of Secrets,” page 333) And, as Dumbledore says, only a true Gryffindor would pull Godric Gryffindor’s sword out of the Sorting Hat. That theme of choosing your own destiny is one explored throughout the series by a number of characters—the most important being Harry.

  As Harry leaves Hogwarts for another summer with the Dursleys, he’s no longer just famous for something he did as a baby, now he knows he is a brave, loyal Gryffindor. It’s something he’ll need for his upcoming adventures.

  Character Spotlight: Hermione Granger

  Hermione Granger is intelligent, often called the smartest witch of her generation. But she is also muggle-born (her parents are dentists), and that lowers her in the estimation of some. In this book, that contingent of the wizarding world is represented by Draco Malfoy. He calls her a mudblood, which is a derogatory word for a muggle-born witch or wizard. Later in the series, Hermione faces not just the overt prejudice from people like Draco but from adults who will admit she’s smart … for a muggle-born.

  At first, Hermione’s confidence is kept solely to the classroom. She reads every school book ahead of time, tries to answer every question and is considered an insufferable, bossy know-it-all. But she is terrified of failing—something she battles for much of the series. As Hermione grows up, she becomes a strong, confident woman who isn’t afraid to let her opinion be known. She is the logical thinker of the group who is able to see conclusions others can’t. She also is a fierce defender of vulnerable people and creatures, for example starting an organization to demand rights for house elves. Rowling has said Hermione is based off of herself as a child.

  Myth and Magic

  Creatures play a larger role in this installment of the Harry Potter series. Readers are introduced to the giant basilisk, Dumbledore’s pet phoenix and Dobby the house elf. The treatment of creatures is an example of the various types of prejudice the books explore. Dobby, for example, becomes an important character that rises above those who would master him. At the end of “Chamber of Secrets,” Harry frees Dobby from enslavement (it is revealed Mr. Malfoy is his master) by giving him clothing. And astute readers won’t forget Tom Riddle’s sentient diary that is able to possess Ginny Weasley—it is an object that hints to the larger plot of the series.

  “Chamber of Secrets” delves deeper into the history of Hogwarts. Readers learn about the four founders of the school and learn that prejudices against those whose blood isn’t “pure” started long ago. The disagreement between Hogwarts’ founders led to Slytherin leaving the school and created divisions between the houses. It is something Dumbledore speaks out against—he says Voldemort’s true success was in spreading enmity and discord, and only if the wizarding world sticks together will it be able to triumph over evil. However, Draco and his family are just one of many wizarding families who believe they are better than people like Hermione, who is muggle-born. These prejudices and those who fight against them inform much of the overall plot of the series.

  Chapter 4: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

  Introduction

  The third installment of the Harry Potter series, “Prisoner of Azkaban,” was the last released separately in the U.K. and the U.S. This also marks the point where the series shifts from purely children’s stories to something more adult. The tone becomes subtly—and progressively—darker as Harry grows up and the stakes become higher.

  “Prisoner of Azkaban” explores themes of forgiveness and the courage to face the unknown. The effect of prophecy is also explored for the first time, as characters face the path between believing in destiny or free will. It also is a good example of Rowling’s use of the detailed long plot. In the first chapter of “Sorcerer’s Stone,” Rowling mentions a character in passing—Sirius Black—who becomes a main player in “Prisoner of Azkaban.” Likewise, she also introduces Ron’s pet rat Scabbers in the first book, although the rat doesn’t become important to the story until this installment.

  Plot

  Thirteen-year-old Harry Potter knows he mustn’t lose control. He’s already been reprimanded once by the Ministry of Magic for performing underage magic outside of school. But the more Uncle Vernon’s visiting sister, Marge, spits venom about Harry’s dead parents, the angrier he becomes. He finally snaps and blows her up. Literally. Marge inflates like a balloon, and Harry—sure he’s going to be expelled from Hogwarts—flees. He’d rather face the unknown than spend another second with the dreadful Dursleys.

  Alone in the dark streets, Harry thinks
he sees a giant, black dog, but then it disappears. He winds up in the entrance to Diagon Alley, where Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge overlooks Harry’s illegal magic and simply seems relieved he’s safe. Soon, the Weasleys and Hermione join Harry. Things are going well—save for Hermione’s new pet cat trying repeatedly to eat Ron’s aged, ailing pet rat Scabbers—until Harry overhears Ron’s parents arguing. Notorious mass murderer Sirius Black has broken out of Azkaban, and he apparently has one goal: to kill Harry.

  Aboard the Hogwarts Express, students are buzzing with the gossip about Black, who killed 13 people with a single curse. But Harry soon has other things to worry about. Dementors, the sightless guards of Azkaban who feed off the emotions of their victims, board the train looking for Black. The cloaked beings glide through the train taking rattling breaths that seem to suck heat and happiness from everything. Harry faints as a dementor closes in, and as he does, he hears a woman screaming.

  It’s Remus Lupin, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, who helps Harry recover. The teacher looks ragged and tired, but he seems to know what he’s talking about—that would be a first for the position. Lupin may be an intelligent professor, but it is immediately clear that Professor Severus Snape is angrier than ever that he wasn’t given the Defense Against the Dark Arts job. There’s another new professor, too: Hagrid has been given the Care of Magical Creatures post.

  It’s a new school year, which means new classes. But no one seems to be taking more classes than Hermione, whose schedule is jam-packed and nearly impossible. One of the first new classes is Divination, where Harry learns about the Grim, a giant, black dog that foretells death. Between seeing what was possibly the Grim and learning a notorious madman is after him, Harry isn’t entirely sure this year at Hogwarts will be any less eventful than the last two.

  Things don’t improve from there: Black breaks into the castle, Harry sees the Grim again, and he has another run-in with dementors. It’s his reaction to dementors that unnerves him the most. He visits with Professor Lupin and the two discuss the feared Azkaban guards. The dementors affect Harry worse than others because he has more painful memories, but Lupin promises to teach Harry how to repel them. It is partly because of Black that Harry has such memories. Harry learns that Black was his dad’s best friend in school, but he was a spy and gave the Potters up to Voldemort. When their friend Peter Pettigrew confronted Black, the madman blew up an entire street full of muggles, and all that was ever found of Pettigrew was his finger.

  Christmas comes, but it isn’t entirely joyful. Hermione is breaking under the stress of her loaded schedule and tattles on Harry after he receives an anonymous gift that she suspects is from Black. Ron and Harry are mad at Hermione, and after Hermione refuses to apologize for her cat attacking Scabbers, the two boys snub her entirely. Hagrid presses them to forgive Hermione, but they refuse. It’s only much later when they learn that Hagrid’s pet hippogriff, Buckbeak, is to be executed for attacking a student that they realize their argument is petty.

  The one bright spot is Harry’s private lessons with Lupin who, although he remains worn and haggard, is an excellent professor. Lupin teaches Harry the difficult Patronus Charm to ward off dementors. And it’s just in time. After a disastrous Divination exam where his professor utters a strange prophecy about the Dark Lord returning, Harry, Ron and Hermione rush to Hagrid’s to console him as Buckbeak is executed. But Ron is in for a surprise as Scabbers bolts from a hiding place.

  Ron tears after the rat just as the giant, black dog pounces on him, and his leg breaks as the dog drags him into a hidden tunnel. Harry has no idea what lays ahead, but he rushes to save his best friend. This is an example of Harry’s growing boldness. Even when he doesn’t know what’s around the corner, he is willing to do anything to save those he cares about. Harry and Hermione follow the tunnel into an abandoned house where they find Ron, but the dog that attacked him is gone. And in its place is Sirius Black. Harry, Ron and Hermione fight Black and disarm him, but before Harry can avenge his parents, Lupin strides in. He and Black stare at each other, then embrace.

  Harry is enraged and betrayed, but Lupin pleads with them to let Sirius explain. Sirius is focused on Scabbers, but with difficulty they tell Harry the truth. Lupin is a werewolf, and his three best friends at Hogwarts secretly became unregistered animagi—or wizards that can become animals—to keep him company when he transformed each month: Sirius as a black dog; James as a stag; and Peter Pettigrew as a rat. But their school enemy Severus Snape suspected Lupin’s condition, and Sirius tried pulling a nearly fatal prank on him. It was James who stopped Sirius, saving Snape’s life. Harry, Ron and Hermione have listened patiently, but so has someone else. Snape emerges from under Harry’s invisibility cloak and promises to deliver Sirius to the dementors, even if he is innocent. He is unable to see past his childhood hatred of Sirius, James and Lupin. Even after all these years, he is prepared to let an innocent man die because he is unwilling to forgive.

  Harry, Ron and Hermione disarm Snape and he is knocked out, but Sirius’ attention is back on Scabbers—a rat who’s lived with the Weasleys for 12 years. A rat who betrayed James and Lily Potter to Lord Voldemort then framed Sirius for the massacre. Lupin forces Scabbers to transform back into Peter Pettigrew, and the sniveling, shriveled man finally confesses. Triumphant, the group heads back toward Hogwarts to prove Sirius’ innocence, and Sirius shares with Harry that he is his godfather. Happiness explodes within Harry as he thinks of finally leaving the Dursleys, but the night is far from over.

  As they leave the tunnel, the full moon is shining and Lupin changes into a werewolf. Sirius transforms into the giant dog to protect the children, but in the chaos Pettigrew turns back into a rat and disappears. Harry and Hermione take off after Sirius and are immediately surrounded by dementors. Harry tries to repel them with his Patronus Charm, but he is weak. He’s close to fainting when he sees a massive, powerful Patronus in the form of a stag repelling the dementors.

  Harry awakes in the infirmary and overhears Snape and the Minister of Magic discussing the capture of Sirius Black and the fact that he’s about to receive the fatal Dementor’s Kiss—his soul will be sucked from his body. Harry and Hermione try to argue Sirius’ innocence, but the adults won’t accept the word of children. This illustrates an ongoing theme of the incompetence of adults and their inability to trust the strength and intelligence of children. Dumbledore arrives and locks Harry and Hermione in the infirmary, but leaves them with a strange command that Harry doesn’t understand. Hermione, however, does. She pulls out a chain with an hourglass pendant—it’s a time-turner she’s been using all year to attend her over-lapping classes. She turns it three times and she and Harry travel back in time.

  The two save Buckbeak the hippogriff from the executioner’s axe then watch from the trees as they are attacked by dementors. In a moment of clarity, Harry realizes he saved them, and he produces an immensely strong Patronus in the shape of his father’s stag animagus. The duo fly Buckbeak to the tower where Sirius is being held and break him free. Sirius hasn’t been proven innocent, but he is saved.

  They protected two lives, but they can’t save Lupin. Snape has spread the word that he’s a werewolf, and Lupin resigns. Peter Pettigrew has escaped, and if the Divination professor’s prediction is to be believed, he is going to return to Voldemort. Still, Harry thinks of Sirius—his godfather—and feels hope for the future. He is more connected than ever to his parents and his place in the wizarding world. And somewhere out there, he knows he has family who love him.

  Character Spotlight: Rubeus Hagrid

  Hagrid is a study in contradictions. He is gentle and sweet, yet is literally a half-giant, a race of creatures known for their brutality. He has wild hair and a bushy beard, yet carries the broken remains of his wand—which was snapped when he was expelled from Hogwarts—concealed in a frilly, pink umbrella.

  Hagrid has been ostracized most of his life, and that has in turn made him defend creature
s that, like him, are misunderstood. Others—even Harry—would call them monsters, but to Hagrid they are beautiful. He raised a baby dragon and tamed a three-headed guard dog in the first book. It was revealed in the second that he was expelled from Hogwarts after being accused of harboring the monster from the Chamber of Secrets. In fact, he was raising a giant, carnivorous spider. No one except Hagrid would find such a creature cuddly. In this third installment, he has a pet hippogriff.

  From the very first chapter, Hagrid is a constant in Harry’s life. He was the one who pulled baby Harry from the rubble of his destroyed house and brought him to the Dursleys, and he was the one who finally told Harry he was a wizard. He stands by Harry until the very end. Like the monsters he loves, Hagrid recognizes in Harry a kindred soul—someone who is often misunderstood. Hagrid offers his unconditional support and love.

  Myth and Magic

  “Prisoner of Azkaban” introduces dementors, one of the most frightening of the series’ monsters. Dementors, unlike many of the series’ other creatures that are rooted in real myths, are a creation of Rowling. According to a 2003 BBC News report, Rowling’s battle with depression influenced the conception. Dementors feed off of emotions, forcing victims to relive their most horrible memories. Rowling has explained that they grow like fungi in dark places and cannot be killed, only repelled by the difficult Patronus Charm.

  This book also introduces a powerful tool that Harry uses for the rest of the series: the Marauder’s Map. The magical map was created by Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, later revealed to be the nicknames of childhood friends Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black and James Potter. Given to Harry by Ron’s twin brothers, mischief makers Fred and George, the map aids Harry’s Hogwarts adventures and often helps him stay out of trouble. “Prisoner of Azkaban” is, however, the only instance in which a time-turner is used.