This is material written by Olia Lempert in message #733 and reformatted in MS WORD to an HTML file.� It was an answer to a question asking about Harry Potter in detail.

 

hi!
i'll try to , although it's hard to write up it from the beginning. maybe you should watch the movie - it's the fastest, easiest way to understand the plot.

anyway - you are right, Harry Potter is a wizard. except that he didn't know that until he turned 11. he lives with his Muggle (not magical) aunt Petunia and uncle Vernon and his fat horrible cousin Dudley. they all live in 4, Privet Drive. that's a horribly Muggle place. all this family he lives with is perfectly horrid and they hate to admit that Petunia's sister Lily was a witch who went to Hogwarts, the school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. they hate everything to do with magic and forbid Harry to say that word at home. they used to tell him his parents had died in a carcrash when he was 1 y"o and that this carcrash was the reason he has a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead. he believed that until on his 11th birthday he met Rubeus Hagrid, the Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts (expelled in his third year for something he didn't really do), who told him that his parents Lily and James were wizards, that they were killed by a horrible Dark wizard Lord Voldemort (real name - Tom Riddle), who had been almost the ruler of the wizard world, liked to kill Muggles and wizards for fun and all sorts of other stuff. Voldemort (or You-Know-Who/He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, as most wizards call him, they are so afraid of him) tried to kill baby Harry too, but the spell rebounded and nearly killed him instead, ridding him of his body and power. Harry had become famous in the wizarding world, everyone knew about his scar and all, but he was left to live with the Muggles who hated and discriminated him.

when Harry found all that out he also found out about Hogwarts. every potential wizard or witch (Muggle-born or wizard-born kids who have magic powers) gets a letter from Hogwarts when they're eleven, inviting them to start learning and including a list of required supplies. Harry thought he couldn't go, as the Muggles obviously wouldn't by his stuff, but Hagrid took him to London, showed him a magical pub - the Leaky Cauldron, from where a gate to Diagon Alley, a wizard shopping street, opened. Harry found out that his parents had left him a small fortune in the Gringotts bank, run by goblins, in gold Galleons, silver Sickles and bronze Knuts. They then got his school robes, his cauldrons for the Potions lesson, his other Potions supplies, his books (The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1, by Miranda Goshawk, and the likes), and, most importantly, his wand. those are bought at Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands Since 382 BC. every wand has its own special length, wood and a core - phoenix feather/unicorn hair/dragon's nail or whatever else. Harry tried half the shop before he found his - it was 11", holly and phoenix feather, and that phoenix had turned out to give only one more feather - for VOLDEMORT'S wand!

then Hagrid got Harry his birthday present - his own very special snowy owl, he called her Hedwig. every student is allowed a pet cat/rat/toad/owl, owls are the most popular and expensive pet, they are the way wizards get their letters and newspapers like the Witch Weekly or the Daily Prophet - by owl post!

when Harry came to King's Cross to get onto the red steam-engine (Hogwarts Express), he was surprised to see it was due on platform 9 3/4! obviously, there was no such platform in sight, so he looked around for help. that's when he met the third of his future best friends (Hagrid and Hedwig first!) - Ron Weasley. Ron is the second-youngest kid in the huge family of red-hairs, they are quite poor and live in a funny house called The Burrow. Molly Weasley, their Mom, explained you had to walk or run through the barrier between platforms 9&10 to get there, and they did that with Ron, right after his older brothers, twins and pranksters, Fred and George. They are two years older. Also there's Percy, he studies a lot, became Prefect in their first (his 5th) year and Head Boy later on. Then there are Charlie and Bill, they work - Bill in Egypt for Gringotts, Charlie in Romania with dragons. Ginny - the youngest - only got to Hogwarts when Harry was 2nd year, she's in love with him. Arthur Weasley, the father, works for the Ministry of Magic, in the department of Misuse of Muggle Artifacts, he is mad about Muggles.

so, when Harry and Ron were sitting on the train, eating magical sweets Harry had bought them (like Chocolate Frogs, they really jump and you get a collectable card in each, with a picture of a wizard and his description; or Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans - and they mean it, EVERY flavour, including spinach and earwax), Harry found a card of Albus Dumbledore, the greatest good wizard, Headmaster of Hogwarts. he was the one that decided to put Harry with the Muggles, because that gave him some kind of magical protection. Dumbledore was smiling and winking, because wizard pictures and photos always move.

and then Hermione Granger and Neville Longbottom showed up in search of Neville's toad Trevor. Neville is a loser in every lesson except Herbology (like Botany), he always loses and forgets stuff and is not quite brave. Hermione, on the other hand, is a great learner, knows every book by heart, seems to be the only person who's read Hogwarts: A History, spends half her life in the library, she had come out the top student of the year every year, she cares a lot about rules and Harry and Ron thought her to be boring at first, but then she became their best friend.

Draco Malfoy had also shown up with his sidekicks Crabbe and Goyle. those three are Harry, Ron and Hermione's worst enemies, they hate Muggle-born wizards like Hermione, whom they call Mudbloods (that should be censored), their parents had been Voldemort's supporters, "Death Eaters", but after he's been defeated, they came running back to the good side.

now: we're done with history, time to explain Hogwarts.

first of all - the grounds. there's a lake, Hagrid's hut, the greenhouses (Herbology place), the Forbidden Forest (dangerous), and the castle itself. there is also Hogsmeade, an all-wizard village, the students go on trips there since their third year. in the castle: the Great Hall (food, feasts, Sorting), the Entrance Hall, a house with dormitories and a common room for each house. the entrance into each tower is covered by a portrait (Gryf. - the Fat Lady), that won't move unless told the password. those change frequently. there's lots of corridors that change places, stairs with vanishing steps, password or magic-protected entrances, live statues and paintings and all sorts.

there are 4 houses into which the students are sorted: Gryffindor (Harry and his friends, the good guys; head Professor Minerva McGonagall), Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin (the bad guys, Malfoy and Co.; head Professor Severus Snape). when new students arrive, they are sorted into houses by the Sorting Hat, it's sort of alive, every new person puts it on, it looks into their minds and sorts them. it tried to sort Harry into Slytherin, he begged it not to and it sorted him into Gryffindor.

every year a House Cup is being awarded to the house that gets the most points. you get points for doing things and knowing things. you lose points for breaking rules (you get a detention too sometimes), for annoying teachers, in Snape's case, for being Harry, Ron, Hermione or other Gryffindors.

the lessons:

Potions - like Chemistry - Professor Snape, hates Harry and all Gryffindors - *in the dungeons.

Herbology - like Botany - Professor Sprout - *the greenhouses.

Charms - Magic Spells - Professor Flitwick.

History of Magic - History - Professor Binns, a ghost.

Care of Magical Creatures - like Zoology - Hagrid since the third year - *near Hagrid's hut.

Transfiguration - changing things into other things - Professor McGonagall, who is an Animagus, a wizard who can turn into one breed of animal, in McGonagall's case, a tabby cat. Animagi are registered with the Ministry, every case is known (or so they think).

Flying - flying broomsticks - Madam Hooch - *outside.

Defense Against the Dark Arts - more magic - teacher changes every year, they've had Professors Quirell, Guilderoy Lockhart, Remus Lupin (friend of late James Potter, Animagus, werewolf)&Alastor (Mad-Eye) Moody. in this exact succession.

since their third year, students are allowed to choose their additional subjects.

Divination - Seeing into the Future Crap - Professor Trelawney - *her tower.

Arithmancy - Who Knows - Some Professor - Hermione does that, she seems to go alone!

Runes - Runes - see above.

Muggle Studies - back to the Zoo - see above.

there are also ghosts in Hogwarts, every house has its own:

Nearly Headless Nick (Sir Nicholas De Mimsy-Porpington) (Gryffindor), The Bloody Baron (Slytherin), The Fat Friar, Professor Binns and Peeves, the annoying poltergeist, whom only the Baron can control.

other adults and creatures:

Argus Filch - the caretaker, owns Mrs Norris, a spying cat, hates students. he is a Squib - opposite to Muggle-born wizard, a wizard-born Muggle.

Madam Pomfrey - the doctor, resides in the hospital wing.

Bartholomeus Crouch - Minister of Magic

Dobby - a freed house-elf, used to belong to the Malfoys. House-elves are creatures who each belong to a household. It is in their nature to work, they cannot speak ill of their masters, they have powerful magic of their own, but can't use it if their masters don't allow them - not DON'T, they really CAN'T. they do all sorts of household chores, in Hogwarts there are hundreds of them, Hermione thinks it's slavery, but for a house-elf there is no worse thing than to be given clothes. if their master gives them so much as an old sock (Dobby's case), they are free. most house-elves resent "freedom", but Dobby likes it. he is now employed at Hogwarts for real money.

Winky - Crouch's freed house-elf. she hates her position.

Sirius Black - an escaped prisoner, late James' friend, Harry's godfather, was imprisoned for blowing up half a street-ful of Muggles, but actually hasn't done that. currently hiding-out. unregistered Animagus (big black dog).

Peter Pettigrew - the real blower-up, serves Voldemort, ex-friend, unregistered Animagus (rat). considered dead by most wizards. used to be Ron's pet rat, called Scabbers, until discovered and escaped.

and bunches of others.

Rita Skeeter - an annoying reporter of the Daily Prophet, uses illegal ways of finding out information and always lies for a story. the last unrigestered Animagus we know about (bug), discovered by Hermione in the end of book 4, currently imprisoned in a jar. oh, of course: James Potter has also been an unregistered Animagus (stag). they used to call him and his gang of friends Moony (Lupin), Wormtail (Pettigrew), Padfoot (Black, and Prongs (Potter).

Nicholas Flamel - friend of Dumbledore's, creator of the Philosopher's Stone, that alchemists have been trying to create for centuries - it turns metals into gold and produces an elixir of life that makes the drinker immortal. Flamel must be dead now, because he destroyed the Stone and is too old to live without the Elixir (far over 600).

the Dementors: horrible creatures, guards of Azkaban, the almost unescapable wizard prison. they feed on emotions and can perform The Kiss - a soul-extracting operation.

Moaning Myrtle - a ghost of a girl, haunts a bathroom.

NOW QUIDDITCH:

this is a wizard sport, played on broomsticks, it's very popular, world championships are held, every house has its own team that fights for the Quidditch Cup.

the rules: 4 balls: the red Quaffle, the black heavy Bludgers and the small winged Golden Snitch. six hoops, three to each team.

every team has two Chasers (Gryf. - Katie Bell and Angelina Johnson), that try to put the Quaffle through the other team's hoops - 10 points each time. a Keeper (Gryf. - Oliver Wood, captain), who protects the hoops. the Bludgers fly around by themselves trying to hit people and knock them off their brooms, therefore there are two Beaters on each team (Gryf. the Weasley twins), who try to keep those away from their teammates and use their bats to knock the balls over to the other team. and the Snitch flies around very fast, you almost can't see it. there is a Seeker on each team who tries to catch it and thus earn their team 150 points. when the Snitch is caught, the game is over. the team who got the Snitch usually wins, unless the other has put the Quaffle through so many times that they have more points.

when Harry had his first flying lesson, he proved to be a natural flyer and Seeker. McGonagall took him to Wood and then bended the rules so that he could get on the team, although usually first-years aren't even allowed broomsticks. Harry, however, got a Nimbus Two-Thousand, the best broom ever, from the school.

the judge is Madam Hooch, the commentator is Lee Jordan, fellow Gryffindor.

 

and so, every year Harry, Ron and Hermione had to face dangers, every year those had to do with Voldemort, every year they had defeated him. in the end of year four, he had regained his body and power and killed Cedric Diggory, a Hufflepuff. presently it is thought that he shall seek power again and thus good wizards unite to be ready to face him. retelling the plots would take too much time. in short:

1st year: Voldemort tries to get the Philosopher's stone so that he can regain power, uses Quirrel's body to move around. Harry and his friends stop him, although they think it's Snape doing it until the last second. only Harry actually faces Voldemort, retrieves the Stone that has been hidden, ends up in the hospital wing, but is saved by the powerful protection magic his mother's love cast upon him.

2nd year: the Chamber of Secrets has been opened, which only could be done by the heir of Salazar Slytherin, evil wizard, founder of Slytherin house. a horrible monster is said to be lurking inside. a series of mysterious accidents follow, students, cats and ghosts being Petrified (a horrible way of freezing/turning to stone). Harry and his friends (and stupid fame-hungry Lockhart) face the monster which turns out to be a Basilisk, and with the help of Dumbledor's phoenix Fawkes (the one that gave those two feathers) defeat him. Ginny Weasley plays an important part here, being affected by Tom Riddle's magic diary. We also meet Dobby.

3rd year: Harry blows up his Muggle Aunt Marge and is forced to run away from home, aware of the fact that he has nowhere to go and will probably be expelled, as underage wizards aren't allowed to practice nagic outside Hogwarts. to his surprise, Harry is not punished in any way. he finds out that is because Sirius Black is out of Azkabann and supposed to be after him, while really Sirius is after Peter Pettigrew. after a series of dangerous events Harry and his friends save both Black and Buckbeak, a Hypogryff who has been sentenced to death after Malfoy fakes an injury during Hagrid's lesson. the two escape and hide out. in this book Harry first finds out about Lupin being a werewolf and his three friends becoming those too to help him out. he also meets the Dementors who turn out to have a strange effect on him: he hears his parent's screams, sees them murdered and faints. he learns a powerful Expecto Patronum spell that produces a creature that turns Dementors away. his turns out to be a stag - a copy of his father.

4th year: at the World Quiditch Championship Death Eaters show up and a Death Mark, a sign of Voldemort's, is being conjured. we meet Winky, who is found with Harry's lost wand and is thought to be responsible for the Mark; she is freed. the Triwizard Tournament is being held at Hogwarts, a schoolyear-long magic tournament of several dangerous tasks between three magic schools: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. only one champion is allowed from each school and he must be at least 17 years old. ***the Durmstrang champion, world-famous Seeker Viktor Krum falls in love with Hermione and invites her to a Ball that's being held.*** however, Crouch's son, disguised as the new DADA teacher, Moody, manages to put Harry's name in too and he is elected fourth champion. after he nearly dies in each task he ties in the first place with Cedric Diggory. they both have helped each other throughout the tournament and decide to share the Cup and the prize money - a 1000 Galleons. however, the Cup turns out to be designed for Harry, Crouch junior has been trying with all his might to make Harry reach it first. it is a Portkey, an item that carries the toucher into a programmed place and back. the Cup takes Harry and Cedric to Voldemort, who has almost regained power. using his father's bone from his tomb, Pettigrew's flesh and Harry's blood, Voldemort regains it completely. Cedric is killed. after a magic duel during which a powerful charm happens between the two brother wands, Harry escapes back to Hogwarts, taking Cedric's body with him. Voldemort is back. everyone is worried. Harry gives the Weasley twins the prize money to open a joke-shop which they have been longing to do.

 

lastly, some more words and items:

Expelliarmus - a spell to disarm your opponent.

Alohomora - to open locks.

Accio - to make an item fly over to you.

Wingardium leviosa - a levitating charm.

Lumos - to make your wand make light.

Nox - to stop the light.

Stupefy - to freeze your opponent.

CRUCIATUS - one of the forbidden curses, totures a person with horrible pain. Neville's parents have been tortured to insanity.

AVADA KEDAVRA - the most horrible forbidden curse. kills.

there are lots more, but i forgot without the book.

Quick-Quotes Quill - a quill that expands your thoughts and writes them down Skeeter-style. she used one.

Dr. Filibuster's Waterproof No-Heat Fireworks - the twins like that prank.

Cockroach cluster - a disgusting sweet.

Butter beer - tasty stuff!

Hogwarts' hymn - Hogwarts, Hogwarts, hoggy-woggy Hogwarts, / Teach us something please! / Whether we be old and bald / Or young with scabby knees / Our heads could do with filling, / With some interesting stuff, / For now they're bare and full of air, / Dead flies and bits of fluff. / So teach us things worth knowing, / Bring back what we've forgot, / Just do your best, we'll do the rest / And learn until our brains all rot! --- sung to any melody you like.

Knockturn Alley - another magical place in London.

Floo powder - for traveling, transports you through fireplaces.

Apparating - another way of traveling, more convenient, you just disappear in one place and appear in another. you need a license. impossible in Hogwarts grounds due to protective magic.

Kwikspell - a course for Squibs to improve their spellwork.

Feasts - Hallowe'en, Christmas, beginning and end of year.

Whomping Willow - tree that wallops everything that comes near.

Mandrake - a plant whose root looks like a baby, screams a deadly scream, powerful restorative. a potion is made of it that cures Petrified people.

Shrieking Shack - a pub in Hogsmeade.

Zonko's - a joke shope in Hogsmeade. there's also a great sweets shop but i can't recall the name. it's kinda hard, doing this without the book.

Deathday Party - one that Nearly Headless Nick held, Harry and friends attendet it.

the Head Hunt - a club of headless ghosts that won't accept Nick, because his neck is severed, but his head hangs on a bit of skin.

Hogwarts: A History - Hermione's favourite book.

i just can't think of other things right now. as soon as anything you don't understand comes up, contact me, okay? and i still think you oughta read the books or at least see the movie...

phew!!!!!

the last thing i have to tell you:

         Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titilandus!
(Never Tickle a Sleeping Dragon, the words on the Hogwarts shield)