Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Plot

Leaving the Dursleys

Acting on information received from Severus Snape, Lord Voldemort and his followers plot to ambush Harry Potter when he leaves the Dursleys' home for the last time. Voldemort also seeks a new wand that can defeat Harry's. Shortly before Harry's protection expires on his seventeenth birthday, the Dursleys are sent to an undisclosed location, and Order of the Phoenix members arrive to escort Harry to a safe house. Six Harry-lookalike decoys are used, but the real Harry is identified en route and attacked by Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Harry narrowly escapes to The Burrow, but Hedwig and Mad-Eye Moody are killed.

A few days later, Minister of Magic Rufus Scrimgeour arrives to give Harry, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger their bequests from Albus Dumbledore's will. Ron receives Dumbledore's Deluminator, and Hermione has been left a book of fairy tales. Harry inherits Godric Gryffindor's sword and the Snitch he caught in his first-ever Quidditch match, although Scrimgeour withholds the sword, claiming it never belonged to Dumbledore. Later, the Snitch reveals a cryptic inscription in Dumbledore's handwriting: "I open at the close." Although the trio are unable to determine why Dumbledore left them these particular items, they believe they are intended to somehow help them find Voldemort's horcruxes.

Search for the Horcruxes

During Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour's wedding reception, Kingsley Shacklebolt's Patronus appears with a warning that the Ministry has fallen and the Death Eaters are coming. Harry, Ron and Hermione escape by Disapparating, eventually taking refuge in the deserted Order of the Phoenix headquarters at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, the house Harry inherited from Sirius Black. While there, Harry discovers that Sirius's late brother, Regulus Black, shares the same initials with "R.A.B", the person who removed the locket Horcrux from the hidden sea cave.[HP6] Hermione recalls seeing a locket amongst house elf Kreacher's possessions. Kreacher fetches Mundungus Fletcher, who admits he stole the locket from the house elf and used it to bribe Dolores Umbridge. Convinced it is the Horcrux, the trio infiltrate the Ministry of Magic disguised by Polyjuice Potion. They find the locket, but their hiding place at Grimmauld Place is uncovered.

The trio are forced to go on the run. Unable to open or destroy the locket, they take turns wearing it to keep it safe. They learned that the sword confiscated by the Ministry is actually a replica; the real Gryffindor sword can destroy Horcruxes. Harry wants to search for it, but Ron, fearing for his family's safety and frustrated that Harry has no real plan, leaves the group. Harry and Hermione go to Godric's Hollow to look for the sword. They are ambushed by Nagini and Voldemort. As they escape, Hermione accidentally breaks Harry's wand.

In the Forest of Dean, Harry sees a doe-shaped Patronus near their camp. It leads him to an icy pond containing Gryffindor's sword. As Harry attempts to retrieve it, the locket Horcrux tightens around his neck, strangling him. Meanwhile, Ron uses the Deluminator to locate Harry and Hermione. He returns in time to rescue Harry, then destroys the locket with the sword. Ron says that Voldemort's name is now Tabooed - anyone uttering it reveals their location.

The Deathly Hallows

The trio go to Xenophilius Lovegood, Luna's father, to ask about a symbol they saw him wearing that matches the hand drawn one in Hermione's book of fairy tales. Lovegood says it represents the Deathly Hallows, three legendary objects that conquer death: the Elder Wand, Resurrection Stone, and Invisibility Cloak. When pressed about Luna's absence, Lovegood admits that Death Eaters abducted her; he tells them he has alerted the Death Eater-controlled Ministry that they are there, and they escape.

Bounty hunters capture the trio at their camp after Harry inadvertently speaks Voldemort's name. They are imprisoned at Malfoy Manor, along with Luna Lovegood, Dean Thomas, Ollivander the wandmaker, and Griphook the goblin. Finding Gryffindor's sword among the trio's possessions, Bellatrix Lestrange suspects they have broken into her vault at Gringotts Bank and tortures Hermione for information. Dobby apparates into the cellar to rescue the prisoners. Peter Pettigrew enters to investigate the noise. He chokes Harry, who tells him he is owed a life debt.[HP3] Pettrigrew loosens his grip, and his own silver hand strangles him to death in retribution. Harry and Ron rush upstairs to rescue Hermione. Ron disarms Bellatrix and Harry takes Draco's wand. Dobby reappears and they apparate to Bill and Fleur Weasley's home. During their escape, Bellatrix throws a knife and fatally wounds Dobby.

While at the cottage, Ollivander confirms the Elder Wand's existence and says that a wand can change its allegiance if the previous owner is defeated or disarmed. Bellatrix's behaviour convinces the trio that another Horcrux is hidden in the Lestrange vault. Aided by Griphook, they infiltrate Gringotts, gain entry into the vault and retrieve Helga Hufflepuff's Cup Horcrux; Griphook takes the sword, claiming it rightfully belongs to the Goblins, and the trio escape with the Horcrux. Meanwhile, Voldemort, who has stolen the Elder Wand from Dumbledore's tomb, now realises that his Horcruxes are being destroyed. His mind link with Harry unintentionally reveals that one is hidden at Hogwarts, which Harry soon learns is Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem.
The Battle of Hogwarts

In Hogsmeade, Aberforth Dumbledore helps the trio to sneak into Hogwarts. Harry alerts the staff to Voldemort's impending invasion. The Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore's Army, and former and current Hogwarts students arrive as Voldemort's allies attack; among the many casualties are: Fred Weasley, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks Lupin, and Colin Creevey. As Harry searches for the diadem, Ron and Hermione enter the Chamber of Secrets to retrieve basilisk fangs. Hermione uses one to destroy the Cup Horcrux. Harry remembers seeing the Diadem in the Room of Requirement. While there, the trio are attacked by Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle; Crabbe mishandles the powerful Fiendfyre spell, killing himself and destroying the diadem.

Harry glimpses Voldemort's mind again, and the trio go to the Shrieking Shack. They overhear Voldemort telling Snape that he believes the Elder Wand fails to work properly for him because Snape became its master when Snape killed the wand's former owner, Dumbledore.[HP6] Convinced that Snape's death will transfer the wand's allegiance to him, Voldemort orders Nagini to kill him, then leaves. As Snape lies dying, he gives Harry his memories; they reveal that Snape, although not entirely good, was loyal to Dumbledore, motivated by his lifelong love for Lily Potter, Harry's mother. Dumbledore, who was doomed to die after being cursed by Gaunt's ring Horcrux, had ordered Snape to kill him, if necessary, to protect Snape's role in the Order of the Phoenix and also to spare Draco Malfoy from fulfilling Voldemort's task to murder the headmaster. It was Snape who sent the doe Patronus that led Harry to Gryffindor's sword. The memories also reveal that Harry himself is a Horcrux; Voldemort cannot die while Harry lives.

Resigned to his fate, Harry goes alone to the Forbidden Forest where Voldemort awaits. Along the way, he deciphers the Snitch's clue, and it opens to reveal the Resurrection Stone. Harry summons the spirits of his parents, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin, who provide comfort and accompany him to Voldemort's camp. He then willingly allows Voldemort to strike him with the Avada Kedavra curse. Awakening in an otherworldly place, Harry is uncertain whether he is alive or dead. Albus Dumbledore appears and explains that Voldemort's Horcrux was within Harry and has been destroyed by the killing curse. He says that just as Voldemort cannot die while his soul fragments remain, Harry cannot be killed while his blood resides in Voldemort's body. Harry, having "mastered death" by uniting the Deathly Hallows, is given the choice to "go on" or return to the living world.

Harry revives, although he pretends to be dead. Voldemort has him carried to Hogwarts as a trophy. Neville pulls Gryffindor's sword from the Sorting Hat and beheads Nagini, destroying the final Horcrux, and the fighting resumes. Harry covers himself with the Invisibility Cloak. The Hogsmeade villagers, Centaurs, and Hogwarts' house elves join the battle against the Death Eaters who eventually fold under superior numbers. Inside the castle, McGonagall, Kingsley, and Slughorn duel Voldemort as Ginny, Hermione, and Luna are simultaneously fighting Bellatrix Lestrange. When a killing curse nearly hits Ginny, Molly Weasley pushes the girls aside and fiercely battles Bellatrix, fatally cursing her. Harry reveals himself and challenges Voldemort, knowing that Voldemort was never the Elder Wand's true master. When Draco Malfoy disarmed Dumbledore on the Astronomy Tower, Draco unknowingly won the Elder Wand's allegiance; when Harry later captured Draco's own wand, he became the Elder Wand's new master. Voldemort casts a Killing Curse at Harry as Harry conjures a Disarming Spell, but the Elder Wand protects its master by rebounding Voldemort's curse, killing him.

Following the battle, Harry visits Dumbledore's portrait. He tells the late headmaster that he will keep the Invisibility Cloak, but to prevent the Deathly Hallows from being reunited again, the Resurrection Stone will be left where it was dropped in the Forbidden Forest, and the Elder Wand is to be returned to Dumbledore's tomb. If Harry dies undefeated, the Elder Wand's power will be extinguished with his death. Dumbledore nods his approval. Before placing the Elder Wand into the tomb, Harry uses it to repair his own broken wand.

Epilogue

Nineteen years later, Harry is married to Ginny Weasley, and they have three children: James, Albus Severus, and Lily. Ron and Hermione are also married and have two children, Rose and Hugo. The families meet at King's Cross station, where a nervous Albus is departing for his first year at Hogwarts. James, the eldest, is already familiar with school while Lily will start in two years' time. Harry's nineteen-year-old godson, Teddy Lupin, is found kissing Victoire Weasley (Bill and Fleur's daughter) in a train compartment. Teddy is apparently very close to the Potters, with Harry remarking, "He already comes round for dinner about four times a week." Harry spots Draco Malfoy and his unnamed wife with their son, Scorpius; Malfoy acknowledges Harry with a curt nod, then turns away. Harry comforts Albus, who is worried he will be sorted into Slytherin, by telling him that his namesake, Severus Snape, was a Slytherin and the bravest man he ever met. He adds that the Sorting Hat takes one's own choice into account. Neville Longbottom is now the Hogwarts Herbology professor and is close friends with Harry. The book concludes with the words: "The scar had not pained Harry for nineteen years. All was well."

Plot
Before school starts

Voldemort and his Death Eaters openly wreak havoc and chaos throughout Britain. Following public outcry over Cornelius Fudge's mishandling of the Voldemort situation, he is forced to resign, and is succeeded by Rufus Scrimgeour as the new Minister for Magic. As a result, Arthur Weasley receives a promotion.

At his home in Spinner's End, Severus Snape receives a visit from Draco Malfoy's mother Narcissa and her annoyed sister, Bellatrix Lestrange. Narcissa swears Snape to an Unbreakable Vow, ensuring he will protect Draco during his task assigned by the Dark Lord and, should her son fail, complete his mission for the Dark Lord.

Albus Dumbledore arrives at the Dursleys' and asks Harry Potter to accompany him to see retired professor Horace Slughorn. With unwitting help from Harry, Dumbledore persuades Slughorn to resume his old teaching post at Hogwarts. Harry then spends the remaining summer months at The Burrow with the Weasleys and Hermione, who is also visiting. To his family's dismay (mainly Ginny, Mrs Weasley, and Fred & George), Bill Weasley has become engaged to Fleur Delacour, the Beauxbatons champion in the Triwizard Tournament. During this summer Harry spends time with Ginny and experiences the stirring of feelings for her. Harry, Ron, and Hermione receive their O.W.L. results. Hermione receives high marks in all her subjects, but Ron and Harry fail Divination and History of Magic. They are also unable to take N.E.W.T.-level Potions because Snape only accepts "O" (Outstanding) grades. The course is a requirement to Harry's ambition of becoming an Auror. While in Diagon Alley buying supplies for their upcoming year at Hogwarts, Harry, Ron and Hermione spot Draco Malfoy sneaking off into Knockturn Alley, where they follow him and spy on him. They see him enter Borgin and Burkes, a dark magic shop, and witness him harassing Mr Borgin about repairing one item and keeping another safe for him.

At Hogwarts

As school begins, Snape is unexpectedly announced as the new Defence Against the Dark Arts instructor, while Slughorn takes his place as the Potions teacher. Since Slughorn only requires a minimum "E" grade (Exceeds Expectations) at O.W.L. to take his N.E.W.T.-level Potion classes, Harry and Ron are now able to sign up. Not having expected this, they haven't bought any teaching material beforehand, and so Slughorn lends them old Potions textbooks. Harry's copy is marked as the property of "The Half-Blood Prince." The talented former owner's handwritten notes help Harry excel in the class. As a reward, Slughorn gives him a small vial of Felix Felicis, a good luck potion.

As the year progresses, more Death Eater attacks occur which may be linked to events happening at Hogwarts. On the first Hogsmeade visit, Katie Bell, a Gryffindor student, is seriously injured when she is forced to carry a cursed necklace while under the Imperius Curse. Harry suspects Malfoy or another Death Eater is involved. In another incident, Ron is accidentally poisoned when he drinks mead that was intended for Dumbledore — Harry's quick thinking saves his life when he forces a bezoar, a poison antidote, into his mouth. Prior to this Ron and Hermione had engaged in a vicious feud wherein Ron had dated Lavender Brown mostly to annoy and anger Hermione for having kissed Viktor Krum, and Hermione had retaliated by using Cormac McLaggen as her date for Slughorn's Christmas Party, which backfired so horribly on her that even Harry chastised her for her behaviour. Ron and Hermione's continual bickering had caused Harry to fear they would never reconcile. However, Hermione is so upset and distraught over Ron's near poisoning that she reconciles with him, and Ron eventually breaks up with Lavender. In the meantime, Harry discovers the real nature of his feelings for Ginny, now the Quidditch team's Chaser, when he jealously observes her kissing her boyfriend, Dean Thomas. However, Harry hesitates to do anything because of Ginny's relationship with Dean and a fear that Ron would not react well to Harry dating his only sister.

Horcruxes

Dumbledore begins tutoring Harry privately, using his Pensieve to view collected memories about Voldemort's past. A memory belonging to Slughorn is partially missing. Aided by the Felix Felicis potion, Harry retrieves it from him. Dumbledore speculates that Voldemort has split his soul into seven fragments, storing six pieces in Horcruxes to grant himself immortality, while leaving the seventh in his own body. Two Horcruxes have been destroyed (Tom Riddle's diary by Harry[HP2] and Marvolo Gaunt's ring by Dumbledore).

When Harry finds Malfoy sobbing in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, they begin hurling curses at each other. Harry casts Sectumsempra (a spell gleaned from the Half-Blood Prince's annotations), causing large gashes across Malfoy's body. Snape arrives and saves Malfoy. Recognising the spell, he orders Harry to hand over his Potions book. Harry instead gives him Ron's copy. Snape assigns Harry detention every Saturday for the remainder of the term, and incidentally, the first of which is on the same day as the Quidditch finals. After detention, Harry learns that Gryffindor has won the finals, with Ginny Weasley as their substitute Seeker. During the victory celebration, Harry's suppressed feelings for Ginny are revealed when he spontaneously kisses her; Ginny had broken up with Dean Thomas several days before, and she and Harry begin dating.

Harry has suspected all year that Malfoy may be a Death Eater and has confided his suspicions to Dumbledore, who seemed unconcerned. He learns later that Dumbledore had Snape investigate Malfoy. One day, Harry learns from Professor Trelawney that it was Snape who had passed information to Voldemort about Harry's parents fifteen years before; enraged, Harry confronts Dumbledore about trusting Snape after what he had done. Dumbledore stands firmly with his argument of unknown evidence and then brings Harry up to date by informing him that he has learned the location of one of the Horcruxes, and invites Harry to accompany him in retrieving it. Believing Malfoy and Snape are involved in something sinister, Harry asks Ron, Hermione, Luna Lovegood, Neville Longbottom and Ginny to patrol the halls while he and Dumbledore are gone and gives them the remaining Felix Felicis potion to keep them safe. Harry then disapparates with Dumbledore to a secret cave. Upon retrieving the Horcrux (seemingly, Salazar Slytherin's locket), Dumbledore is seriously weakened by a potion he drank in order to uncover the locket inside a basin.

Battle at Hogwarts

Returning to Hogsmeade, Harry and Dumbledore see Lord Voldemort's Dark Mark hovering over Hogwarts. They borrow broomsticks from Madam Rosmerta, whom they later discover to be under the Imperius Curse of Malfoy. They fly to the Astronomy Tower where they are ambushed by Draco Malfoy. Dumbledore paralyses Harry, who is under his Invisibility Cloak, just before Draco disarms Dumbledore. Draco reveals that he helped the Death Eaters enter Hogwarts via a vanishing cabinet located in Knockturn Alley and Hogwarts, although Dumbledore discerns that the obviously frightened boy was coerced into aiding Voldemort's followers. In the meantime, members of the Order of the Phoenix (including Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, Professor McGonagall, and Bill Weasley) battle the Death Eaters down below in the main school.

Death Eaters appear on the Astronomy Tower where the Dark Mark is and urge Draco to fulfill his mission — killing Dumbledore — but Draco is reluctant and apparently scared. Snape arrives; still weak from the potion, Dumbledore entreats Snape with an ambiguous plea. Snape kills Dumbledore with the Avada Kedavra killing curse. The spell's force hurls Dumbledore's body over the tower wall. Upon Dumbledore's death, Harry is freed from the paralysing spell. The Death Eaters flee, and Harry pursues Snape, who identifies himself as the Half-Blood Prince in a short-lived duel before escaping with Malfoy. Snape also states that Harry doesn't have the strength to defeat him and is weak just like his father, enraging Harry even more.

Harry recovers the locket from Dumbledore's body only to discover that it is a fake. Inside is a note from someone with the initials "R.A.B." who has stolen the real Horcrux and has vowed that it will be destroyed with the hope that when Voldemort meets his match he "will be mortal once more".

The school year ends abruptly with Dumbledore's funeral, which is attended by hundreds of people, including the students past and present, teachers, and magical creatures that live in the Forbidden Forest. Professor McGonagall is appointed Hogwarts' interim headmistress, although the school may not reopen. Professor Slughorn replaces Snape as the head of Slytherin house. Regardless, Harry decides to leave Hogwarts forever to search for the remaining Horcruxes. Ron and Hermione vow to accompany him, while Harry ends his relationship with Ginny in an attempt to protect her from Voldemort. The book concludes as Harry looks forward to Bill and Fleur's wedding and being comforted that "...there was still one last golden day of peace left to enjoy with Ron and Hermione."

Harry Potter And The Order Of Phoenix

Plot

Trouble before school

Harry is spending another miserable summer at Privet Drive: not only is he bracing himself for Voldemort's return, but he has had little contact from the wizarding world. When Harry and his cousin Dudley are attacked by Dementors in Little Whinging, Harry repels them with a Patronus Charm. An owl letter soon arrives stating Harry has been expelled from Hogwarts for performing magic outside school. Several more letters arrive in quick succession: Arthur Weasley and Sirius Black instruct Harry to remain in the house, while another overturns his expulsion and orders him to appear at a hearing at the Ministry of Magic.

Order of the Phoenix members arrive to escort Harry to their secret headquarters at the Black family home, Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place in London. The Weasley family, Hermione Granger, and Harry’s godfather Sirius Black are there. Harry learns that Voldemort is building an army and is attempting to retrieve a "weapon". A few days later, Arthur Weasley escorts Harry to his hearing where he is cleared after testimony from Albus Dumbledore and Harry's neighbour, Arabella Figg.

Problems at Hogwarts

Ron and Hermione are named prefects, leaving Harry somewhat jealous. At Hogwarts, they are surprised that Dolores Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister and who presided at Harry's hearing, has been appointed as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Hermione infers that the Ministry is interfering with Hogwarts, and it is soon apparent that Hermione is correct; Umbridge teaches only Ministry approved theory rather than practical defence methods, and appears to be there primarily to spy on the school. She is soon appointed as High Inquisitor, arbitrarily imposing strict rules and regulations. She also harbours racial hatred for "half-breeds," such as centaurs, werewolves, and similar creatures. She considers Rubeus Hagrid (a half-giant) and Sybill Trelawney incompetent, who is soon sacked. Hagrid is dismissed later as well. Although Dumbledore is unable to prevent Trelawney's dismissal, he invokes his authority to allow her to remain in the castle and appoints a new Divination teacher — the centaur, Firenze.

Harry has been having disturbing dreams about running down a hallway and attempting to open a door in the Ministry of Magic's Department of Mysteries. He also dreams he is a snake attacking Ron's father. Mr. Weasley is indeed found injured at the Ministry, suffering from severe venomous snake bites, which causes Harry to fear that he is being possessed by Voldemort. In response, Dumbledore has Severus Snape teach Harry Occlumency to block his mind from intrusion, but their mutual animosity ends their lessons prematurely.

Hermione blackmails journalist Rita Skeeter into writing a favourable article about Harry witnessing Voldemort's return. Ravenclaw student Luna Lovegood's father publishes the story in his magazine, The Quibbler. Furious, Umbridge bans the tabloid from the school. The story spreads rapidly, however, gathering support for Harry.

Dumbledore's Army and the Student Revolt

Hermione convinces Harry to secretly teach students Defense Against the Dark Arts. They name their clandestine group "Dumbledore's Army", or "D.A." for short, to mock the Ministry of Magic, which fears Dumbledore is creating a secret wizard army. Under Harry's tutoring, the group, consisting of Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs, learn how to defend themselves against the Dark Arts. When Umbridge uncovers the group's meetings, Dumbledore claims that he organized it, to protect the students from reprisal. Confronted by two Aurors (Dawlish and Shacklebolt), Minister Fudge, Percy Weasley and Umbridge, Dumbledore easily overpowers them and is spectacularly whisked away by his phoenix, Fawkes.

Umbridge is appointed Headmistress and imposes even tighter control on the school. Fed up, The Weasley twins instigate and lead a revolt, creating non-stop chaos throughout the school. The staff purposely do nothing to help Umbridge regain control. Fred and George are caught, but summoning their confiscated brooms, they zoom off, leaving the school for good to open their own joke shop in Diagon Alley, Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.

Visions

Harry receives a vision that Sirius is being tortured at the Department of Mysteries, although Hermione suspects it may be a trap. Harry desperately attempts to contact Sirius at Grimmauld Place via the Floo Network in Umbridge's office fireplace, but he is caught. Umbridge reveals it was she who sent the Dementors to attack Harry during the summer. As she is about to use the illegal Cruciatus Curse on him, Hermione claims that Dumbledore has hidden a powerful weapon in the Forbidden Forest. She leads Harry and Umbridge into the forest where they encounter the centaurs. Umbridge foolishly insults them and an angry centaur picks up Umbridge and carries her off screaming into the woods. When Hagrid's giant half-brother, Grawp, crashes onto the scene, Hermione and Harry escape amid the chaos. Harry, Ron, and Hermione, along with fellow D.A. members Ginny, Neville, and Ravenclaw Luna fly to the Ministry of Magic on the school's Thestrals, unaware they are being lured into a trap.

Battle at the Department of Mysteries

When they arrive at the Department of Mysteries, they are ambushed by Death Eaters. The students heroically defend themselves, but are outmatched. As they are nearly defeated, Order members arrive. During the ensuing battle, the glass prophecy sphere that Voldemort was seeking is shattered and the prophecy lost. Sirius is blasted with a spell by his Death Eater godfather , Bellatrix Lestrange, and falling backwards, disappears through a mysterious veiled archway. Lupin restrains Harry, who tries to rescue Sirius, telling him Sirius is dead. The Death Eaters are captured, except for Bellatrix Lestrange, who Harry pursues into the atrium. Lord Voldemort appears and attacks Harry, but he is saved by Dumbledore, who duels Voldemort. Ministry of Magic employees arrive in time to see the Dark Lord before he Disapparates, taking Lestrange with him. Cornelius Fudge finally admits that Voldemort has returned, and Rita Skeeter's story is reprinted in the Daily Prophet, exonerating Harry and Dumbledore.

Later, Dumbledore apologizes to Harry for withholding information over the past five years. He reveals the lost prophecy given to him by Sybill Trelawney, for it was to him that it was first told: either Harry or Voldemort must die at the hands of the other, for neither can live while the other survives. Dumbledore also reveals that, due to when the boy was predicted to be born, Neville Longbottom could also have been the child in the prophecy. Dumbledore believes Voldemort chose to attack Harry because he is a half-blood like himself; Neville is a pureblood. In so doing, the Dark Lord marked Harry as his equal. Dumbledore also discloses why he continues to send Harry back to the Dursleys' home for the summer. He tells Harry that when his mother died to protect him, this initiated an ancient magic. As long as Harry stays at the house of his blood-relative long enough to call it a home, it would provide for him a shield protection not even Voldemort is able to overcome. Furthermore, Dumbledore explains to Harry why he had not made him a prefect: he thought that Harry had enough to worry about and did not want to burden him with more responsibilities.

Dealing with loss

Shortly before the school year ends, Harry seeks Nearly Headless Nick. He asks him if Sirius can come back as a ghost. Nick explains that Sirius "will have...gone on", as it is only those wizards and witches who fear death that choose to remain on Earth as ghosts. Still grieving, Harry finds Luna Lovegood hanging posters in the hall asking about the whereabouts of her missing possessions. She tells Harry that while some students harass her by taking her things and hiding them, she says that, "They'll come back in the end, they always do." Taking this in context with his recent loss, Harry feels slightly better.

At King's Cross station, several Order members escort Harry to meet the Dursleys. Alastor Moody warns Vernon Dursley that if they give Harry any trouble over the summer, they will intervene. Harry leaves with the Dursleys to head back to 4 Privet Drive

Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire

Plot

Before school

The fourth book opens as Frank Bryce, the Riddle manor's elderly caretaker, sees lights inside the abandoned house. Investigating, he overhears Lord Voldemort and Peter Pettigrew (Wormtail) plotting Harry Potter's death. Frank is discovered and killed; at that same moment, Harry awakes with his scar hurting and having seen the murder in his dream.

Soon after, Harry departs for the Quidditch World Cup with Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, the Weasley family and Amos and Cedric Diggory. Following the match, Death Eaters, Lord Voldemort's servants, storm the camp, creating panic and mayhem. The trio flee into the forest where they see the Dark Mark, Lord Voldemort's sign, shot into the night sky. Barty Crouch, the head of the Department Of International Magical Co-operation, arrives and accuses the trio of conjuring it, but upon investigating, Crouch's house elf, Winky, is found clutching Harry's stolen wand. Crouch is furious and fires Winky.

Triwizard Tournament

Picture of contenders in the Triwizard Tournament.

When it was Harry's fourth year at Hogwarts, Professor Dumbledore announces that the Triwizard Tournament will be held at Hogwarts during the Welcoming Feast. The centuries old inter-school competition was discontinued because it became too dangerous, but has been recently revived. The tournament includes three difficult tasks, one held during each school term.

The Goblet of Fire chooses one student from each competing school. Because the tournament is so dangerous, students must be at least 17 years old to enter. Cedric Diggory is chosen as Hogwarts' champion, Fleur Delacour is selected for Beauxbatons Academy and Durmstrang Institute is represented by Viktor Krum. The Goblet unexpectedly selects a fourth champion — Harry Potter — even though Harry never entered and is underage. This leads to a falling out with Ron, who thinks Harry cheated to enter.

Harry is guided through the tournament by Professor Alastor Moody, the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher and a former Auror. In the first task, the champions must retrieve a golden egg from a dragon. With advice from Hagrid, Moody, and Hermione, Harry uses his broom to fly past the dragon and capture the egg, earning high marks. Seeing how dangerous the task was, Ron realizes Harry would not have cheated, and they reconcile. Meanwhile, Hermione begins S.P.E.W., the Society For the Protection of Elfish Welfare.

The champions are required to attend the Yule Ball, a tradition associated with the Triwizard Tournament. Harry wants to invite Cho Chang, but when he learns she is attending with Cedric Diggory, he agrees to take Parvati Patil, while her twin sister, Padma, goes with Ron. Hermione Granger attends with Viktor Krum — sparking Ron's jealousy, made worse by Hermione's unexpectedly beautiful appearance at the Ball.

The second task requires retrieving something important to each champion that is hidden in Hogwarts' lake. Harry has delayed in finding a way to stay submerged for an hour. As the event is about to begin, Dobby, the Malfoys' former house-elf, gives Harry gillyweed so he can breathe underwater. Harry rescues Ron, but when the other champions do not appear, he releases the other "prisoners", losing time and leaving him tied for first place with Cedric.

For the third task, the champions must navigate a large maze filled with dangerous obstacles. Shortly before the event, Harry and Viktor Krum are startled when a dishevelled Mr. Crouch emerges from the forest, mumbling incoherently and demanding to see Dumbledore. Harry runs for help, but when he returns with Dumbledore, they find Krum unconscious and Crouch missing. While waiting in Dumbledore's office, Harry peers inside a pensieve containing the professor's memories. In one, Harry sees a wizarding trial in which Barty Crouch, Jr., a Death Eater, is sentenced to Azkaban by his father, Crouch Sr. Harry also hears testimony that Severus Snape was once a Death Eater.

Little Hangleton graveyard

During the third task, Harry and Diggory successfully navigate the maze. Because they helped each other, they agree to grab the Cup simultaneously. Unknown to them, it is actually a portkey that transports them to an old cemetery in Little Hangleton. Awaiting is Peter Pettigrew, who is carrying what appears to be a deformed infant, who is actually Lord Voldemort. Voldemort orders Pettigrew to kill Diggory, which he does. Harry is then tied from head to toe to a tombstone, and Pettigrew uses Harry's blood, a bone from Voldemort's long-dead father, and his own severed hand in a bizarre ritual that restores Lord Voldemort to his full body and power. Voldemort now carries Harry's blood within him and is no longer affected by the magic that has protected the boy since infancy.

Voldemort reveals that his servant at Hogwarts ensured Harry would win the tournament and be brought to the graveyard. After summoning his Death Eaters, Voldemort challenges Harry to a duel. Unknown to Voldemort, his and Harry's wands are "twins", each containing the same magical core (a tail feather from Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes). As the wands' streams interlock, a Priori Incantatem effect occurs, causing the spirit echoes of Voldemort's victims, including Cedric Diggory, Bertha Jorkins, James and Lily Potter, and even Muggle Frank Bryce, to spill out from his wand. The echoes momentarily protect Harry by distracting Voldemort, allowing him to grab the portkey and escape to Hogwarts with Diggory's body.

Aftermath

After Harry returns to the school grounds through the portkey, Moody takes Harry to his office immediately. He reveals that he has been helping Harry throughout all the tournament's events, including giving the gillyweed to Dobby, and helping Harry pass some obstacles in the maze from the exterior. He tells Harry that he did this, so that Harry would reach the portkey, and thus send him to the cemetery, giving Voldemort his chance to revive. After the explanation, the Imposter-Mad-Eye tries to attack Harry. However, he is saved by Dumbledore, Snape and McGonagall. Dumbledore states that when he saw Moody take Harry out of sight after returning from the maze, he knew instantly that something was not right, and thus he followed. When Snape feeds Moody a bottle of Veritaserum, a truth potion, Moody is exposed as Barty Crouch, Jr. who escaped Azkaban and used a Polyjuice Potion to impersonate the real Alastor Moody, who is trapped in a magical trunk in his office. Crouch Jr. murdered his father and entered Harry's name into the Goblet of Fire, covertly ensuring that Harry completed each difficult task. Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, arrives at Hogwarts accompanied by a Dementor. Fudge denies Dumbledore's claim that Voldemort has returned and before Crouch can repeat his confession, the Dementor performs the Dementor's Kiss on him.

Dumbledore swiftly and urgently revives the Order of the Phoenix, in the wake of Voldemort's rising. He tells the Weasley family and Professor McGonagall to alert friends and allies of old, at a meeting in the hospital wing where Harry is staying. At Cedric's memorial, Dumbledore, against the Ministry's orders, tells students the truth about Cedric's death and that Voldemort has returned, stating "It would be an insult to his memory" to claim otherwise.

Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban

Plot

Disturbing news

J.K. Rowling's third book opens with Harry Potter enduring another unhappy summer at the Dursleys'. One day, Harry overhears a news report about escaped convict, Sirius Black. When Uncle Vernon's sister, Marge, viciously insults Harry, his anger causes her to inflate and float to the ceiling. Upset, Harry runs away. On a dark street, he sees a large black dog ominously watching him from the bushes, but the Knight Bus suddenly appears and takes him to Diagon Alley. During the trip, Harry learns that Black murdered thirteen people with one curse and is a supporter of Lord Voldemort. He is met by Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, who Harry is certain will expel him from Hogwarts for using under-age magic. Surprisingly, the matter is dropped. While staying at the Leaky Cauldron, Harry hears Mr. and Mrs. Weasley arguing over whether he should be warned about Black.

There are a few changes at Hogwarts as Harry begins his third year. For one, Hermione is taking nearly twice as many classes, including some taught at the same time. In addition, two new teachers join the staff: Professor Remus J. Lupin for Defence Against the Dark Arts and Rubeus Hagrid for Care of Magical Creatures. While Lupin's lessons are enjoyable, Hagrid's soon become dreary. During the first class, Draco Malfoy deliberately provokes the hippogriff Buckbeak, a half-horse, half-bird creature, into attacking him. Draco's father, Lucius Malfoy, files a complaint against Hagrid.

Rising tensions

Because Black is still at large, Dementors, the inhuman Azkaban prison guards, patrol Hogwarts. Dementors drain happiness from anything they approach. Harry is particularly affected, and Professor Lupin teaches him the Patronus charm that repels them. During a Quidditch match, several Dementors approach Harry, causing him to faint and fall off his broomstick. Albus Dumbledore stops Harry's fall, but his Nimbus 2000 flies into the Whomping Willow and is destroyed.

Meanwhile, tension grows between Hermione and Ron when Hermione's cat, Crookshanks, continually torments Ron's rat, Scabbers. At Christmas, Harry receives a superb Firebolt broomstick, although Hermione suspects Black was the anonymous donor. She reports it to Professor Minerva McGonagall, who confiscates the broom for testing. Harry and Ron are furious with Hermione. The broom is returned some months later, and they try to make up with her. It goes wrong, however, when Ron discovers Scabbers is missing and blames Crookshanks.

Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot & Prongs

Shortly before Christmas, the Weasley twins give Harry their Marauder's Map, a magical document that shows every person's location within Hogwarts as well as secret passageways in and out of the castle. Harry uses a tunnel to sneak into Hogsmeade village where he overhears a disturbing conversation that Black was his parents' best friend and is his godfather and legal guardian. He supposedly divulged the Potters' secret whereabouts to Lord Voldemort and murdered their friend Peter Pettigrew, as well as the twelve Muggle bystanders.

As Harry is talking with Professor Trelawney, she goes into a trance and predicts that the Dark Lord's servant will return to him that night. Harry and Ron finally make peace with Hermione, but the Trio soon learn that Buckbeak will be executed. When they visit Hagrid to console him, Scabbers turns up, although Crookshanks chases him to the Whomping Willow. A large dog attacks Ron and drags him and Scabbers into a hole at the tree's base. Harry and Hermione follow, finding a tunnel leading to the Shrieking Shack. Inside, Harry confronts Sirius Black, who, as an unregistered, and therefore illegal Animagus, can transform into an animal at will. Lupin, who spotted the group on the Marauder's Map, suddenly bursts in and embraces his old friend Black. Confronted by Hermione, Lupin admits to being a werewolf and also the Map's creator, along with Black, Pettigrew and James Potter, the latter two also being illegal Animagi (a rat and a stag, respectively). Lupin and Black explain that Scabbers is actually Peter Pettigrew in his Animagus form. He is Voldemort's servant, and he betrayed the Potters, framing Black for the crimes. Harry is skeptical until Black and Lupin force Pettigrew back into his human form. Black explains he discovered that Pettigrew was still alive and escaped Azkaban to kill him.

Saving the innocent

As the group heads back to the castle, the full moon rises, causing Lupin to turn into a werewolf. During the ensuing commotion, Pettigrew escapes. Black turns into his dog form to protect the others from Werewolf Lupin. Lupin flees, leaving Black badly injured. As Dementors move in to attack Black, Harry and Hermione see a mysterious figure in the distance cast a powerful stag-shaped Patronus, scattering the vicious creatures. Harry becomes convinced it is his father, or at least his father's spirit, who produced the Patronus. Black is then captured and taken to the castle where the Dementors intend to suck out his soul.

Hermione reveals to Harry that Dumbledore has entrusted her with a time-traveling device, which is how she was able to attend two lessons occurring at the same time. Prompted by Dumbledore, she and Harry travel three hours into the past, watching themselves go through the night's previous events. They set Buckbeak free and return to the Whomping Willow. As the dementors are about to attack the "other" Harry and Black, Harry realises that the mysterious figure he saw earlier was actually himself. He casts the powerful Patronus that repels the dementors. Harry and Hermione free Black, who escapes on Buckbeak as the timeline restores itself to normal

Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets

Plot

An unusual summer

While home with the Dursleys for the summer, Harry Potter is not getting any mail from his friends, Ron and Hermione. On his twelfth birthday (July 31) Harry is visited by Dobby, a house-elf, who warns Harry that he will be in mortal danger if he returns to Hogwarts. Harry ignores Dobby's dire warning and is determined to return. It turns out that Dobby has been collecting Harry's letters to make it seem as though his friends had forgotten him, hoping Harry might then not want to return to Hogwarts. Seeing that he will have to use force, Dobby decides to destroy, by the use of a charm, a pudding that Aunt Petunia has made for an important dinner party attended by a potential client and his wife of Vernon Dursley. Harry is blamed by the Ministry of Magic for Dobby's charm, and is told that if he does magic outside school again, he will be expelled. On learning that Harry cannot perform magic outside school, the Dursleys, previously fearful of his wizarding, lock Harry’s books and wand away and Vernon Dursley fits bars onto his bedroom window, making Harry a prisoner.

A few days later, Fred, George and Ron Weasley come to his rescue in their father's enchanted Ford Anglia. After a pleasant summer together in the the Weasley house, everyone heads to Platform 9¾ to take the Hogwarts Express back to school. To their shock, Harry and Ron are unable to enter the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. In desperation, they fly to Hogwarts in the car, crashing into the Whomping Willow and damaging Ron's wand. The semi-sentient car ejects them and their belongings and disappears into the Forbidden Forest.


Controversy at Hogwarts

Harry Potter soon finds he is the unwanted centre of attention of three people: the vain new Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, Gilderoy Lockhart (a wizard perpetuating his own legend), admirer Colin Creevey (a young first year Gryffindor who endlessly takes photos of Harry and begs for autographs), and Ron's sister, Ginny Weasley, who fancies Harry. Events take a turn for the worse when the Chamber of Secrets is opened and a monster stalks the castle, with the power to turn people to stone. To the horror of Hogwarts, the monster petrifies several students. According to legend, the Chamber was built by Salazar Slytherin and can only be opened by his heir, in order to purge Hogwarts of students who are not pure-blood wizards. Many suspect Harry is the heir of Slytherin, especially after he inadvertently speaks Parseltongue (the language of snakes), a rare ability Harry gained after Voldemort's failed murderous attack upon him when he was an infant.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione attempt to discover the Heir of Slytherin's true identity. Using Polyjuice Potion brewed by Hermione, they disguise themselves as Slytherin students, Crabbe and Goyle, hoping to learn from Draco Malfoy the identity of the Heir. Malfoy, they learn, does not know who the Heir of Slytherin is, but he inadvertently provides Harry and Ron with an important clue about the Chamber of Secrets.

Unfortunately, the hair that Hermione took from Millicent Bullstrode's uniform was from a cat, and as the Polyjuice Potion is only intended for human transformations she assumes a feline appearance; it takes several weeks to restore her normal human form. During her time in the hospital wing, the shades are pulled around Hermione's bed so that she does not have to endure the shame and humiliation of being stared at by other students, with rumours going around about her disappearance, and Harry and Ron bring Hermione her homework at her request. She is released from the hospital wing in early February, her normal appearance restored, and looks over the diary of Tom Riddle when Harry shows it to her, but she cannot make much of it.

The Chamber of Secrets

The attacks increase throughout the year, petrifying more students, including Hermione. Most horribly, a message written on a wall declares that Ginny Weasley has been taken into the Chamber, where "her skeleton will lie forever."

With the help of Ron and Moaning Myrtle, Harry discovers the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. They force Gilderoy Lockhart, a fraud who wipes clean other wizards' memories and claims their achievements, to go with them. Once they find the entrance to the Chamber, Lockhart attempts to use Ron's broken wand to erase Harry and Ron's memories, but the spell backfires on to himself and brings the ceiling caving in, separating Harry from Ron and Lockhart. Lockhart revives, but has now lost his own memory.

Harry makes it to the Chamber where he finds an unconscious Ginny. He also meets a young man named Tom Riddle, who claims to be a "memory". Harry learns that Ginny, under the control of Lord Voldemort, opened the Chamber. Voldemort, whose real name is Tom Marvolo Riddle (the anagram of which is "I am Lord Voldemort"), imprinted his memory in an enchanted diary, in order to one day continue the work he began when he opened the Chamber fifty years ago — ridding Hogwarts of non-pureblood witches and wizards. It was Hagrid, a Hogwarts student at the time, who was blamed for the attacks and expelled.

Tom Riddle's memory grows more powerful as it steals life from Ginny's body, and it tries to kill Harry by setting loose a basilisk (the monster responsible for petrifying the students). But Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes, arrives carrying the Sorting Hat, from which Harry draws out the sword of Godric Gryffindor. Fawkes blinds the basilisk, destroying its fatal gaze, and Harry slays it with the sword. In attempting to slay the basilisk Harry's arm has been pierced by the creature's fang. Harry seems to be dying quickly from the venom but Fawkes comes to heal Harry with his tears (phoenix tears have healing power). Harry stabs the diary with one of the basilisk's fangs, and the memory of Riddle is destroyed, while Ginny revives from her near-death state. She recovers fully, along with Hermione, Mrs Norris, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Nearly Headless Nick, Colin Creevey, and Penelope Clearwater.

Resolution

Harry realises it was Lucius Malfoy, Draco Malfoy's father, who slipped the diary into Ginny's cauldron when he encountered the Weasleys in a Diagon Alley bookshop, but he is unable to prove it. Dobby reveals he is the Malfoys' servant, and knowing their treachery, had been trying to protect Harry all year. In gratitude, Harry wraps the diary in one of his old socks and hands it to Lucius. Lucius throws away the sock, but Dobby catches it. This constitutes, in Dobby's eyes, a gift of clothing — the traditional manner in which a master frees a house-elf from servitude. The freed Dobby declares he is eternally grateful to Harry and protects him from an attempted reprisal from Lucius.

Dumbledore dispels Harry's fears that he could have been put into Slytherin rather than into Gryffindor when he tells Harry that it is his choices that define him and not his abilities, and that Harry could not have wielded the sword of Gryffindor if he did not truly belong to that house.

Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone

Beginning

Lord Voldemort, an evil and powerful dark wizard, has just been defeated. When he tried to kill a one-year-old boy, Harry Potter, the killing curse rebounded upon him, destroying his body. Harry is left an orphan with a lightning-bolt scar on his forehead, Voldemort having killed his parents, Lily and James Potter. Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall and Gamekeeper Hagrid leave him on the doorstep of his ultra-conventional, insensitive, negligent Muggle (non-magical) relatives, the Dursley family, who take him in. Harry's relatives decide to conceal his magical heritage from him and make him live in a cupboard (closet) under the stairs for ten years.

Shortly before Harry's eleventh birthday, he receives a letter addressed specifically to him. His outraged uncle, however, reads and burns it before Harry has a chance to look at the contents. The sender does not give up, and the Dursleys receive successively larger numbers of the same correspondence. Soon, his uncle becomes so paranoid that the Dursleys, with Harry in tow, hide in a hut on a small island to escape. That night (which happens to be before Harry's birthday), he is visited by an enormous man named Hagrid who bursts through the locked door of the hut. With Hagrid holding the Dursleys at bay, Harry finally reads his letter, in which he learns he has been invited to study magic at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The next day Harry and Hagrid leave the hut and head to Diagon Alley in London (the secret magical location hidden behind the famous wizarding pub The Leaky Cauldron). Harry enters the wizarding world for the first time, learns to his surprise that he is famous, and meets the new Hogwarts Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Quirrell. He takes the train to Hogwarts from Platform Nine and three-quarters, befriending Ron Weasley, and meeting Neville Longbottom and Hermione Granger, a Muggle-born witch.

Admission to Hogwarts

Upon arrival, the Sorting Hat places Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville in Gryffindor House. Draco Malfoy, an arrogant and elitist student whom Harry had met at Diagon Alley, gets placed in Slytherin. At the end of his first week at Hogwarts, Harry and Ron discover that the wizarding bank Gringotts was robbed, and a vault that Harry and Hagrid visited had been the subject of the burglary. Later, Harry discovers he has a talent for riding broomsticks, and after a broom-mounted game of keep away with Malfoy, is recruited to join Gryffindor's Quidditch team as a Seeker. He is the youngest Quidditch player at the school in a century, much to Malfoy's displeasure.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville are out in Hogwarts' halls late at night waiting for Harry's duel challenger Malfoy to arrive. When the caretaker Filch startles them, they flee and accidentally stumble across the door to a corridor, finding themselves near a monstrous three-headed dog, christened Fluffy by Hagrid, that guards a trapdoor. On Halloween, Quirrell informs everyone that a troll has entered the castle; Ron and Harry lock the troll in the girls' bathroom, where unknowing to them, Hermione is crying after Ron had insulted her. Realising their mistake, Harry and Ron fight the troll to save Hermione, and the three become best friends.

Suspicions

At Harry's first Quidditch match, Harry's broom becomes possessed, nearly knocking him off. Hermione sees Professor Severus Snape, the sinister Potions master, staring at Harry and mouthing words, making her believe that Snape has caused the broom to misbehave with a dark curse. Hoping to save Harry, Hermione sets Snape's robes on fire, distracting him and others and allowing Harry to survive.

At Christmas, Harry receives an Invisibility Cloak, once belonging to his father, which renders its wearer invisible. Harry uses it to explore the Restricted Section in the library to research information on Nicolas Flamel, a name Hagrid lets slip when confronted about his knowledge of Fluffy. On being discovered in the library by caretaker Argus Filch, Harry escapes to a disused classroom in which he finds the Mirror of Erised which shows Harry's family. After three nights of returning to the mirror, once accompanied by Ron, Harry is confronted by Dumbledore though he is not angry at Harry. Dumbledore explains that mirror shows the deepest desires of our Hearts; Harry can see his family. Dumbledore then tells Harry the mirror is to be moved and if he sees it again he will be prepared. Harry then asks Dumbledore what he saw when he looked in the mirror and he answers a pair of wollen socks, he says every Christmas holidays he is given books and for once he would like some nice wollen socks. However, Harry suspected that this was the only question that Dumbledore did not answer honestly in their friendship. Eventually, Harry learns that "Nicolas Flamel is the only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone, which produces the Elixir of Life which will make the drinker immortal."[1]

Harry sees Snape trying to get information from Quirrell about getting past Fluffy; Quirrell says he does not know what he's talking about. Harry, Ron, and Hermione are sure that Snape is trying to steal the Philosopher's Stone in order to restore Lord Voldemort to power, but Hagrid denies it. While at Hagrid's hut, the trio discover a dragon egg Hagrid was nursing in a fire. Later the egg hatches a Norwegian Ridgeback dragon, and Hagrid decides to call him "Norbert". The friends are nervous for Hagrid, since dragon breeding had long been outlawed in the wizarding world, and Hagrid had something of a reckless nature, who has long since nursed a strong desire for a dragon. Finally, Harry, Ron, and Hermione are able to convince Hagrid to let Norbert go live with other dragons of his kind in Romania, and arranged for the dragon, (now quite large in size), to be picked up by Ron's older dragon trainer brother, Charlie.

Harry, Hermione, Neville, and Draco are caught out late at night (Ron is meanwhile in the hospital wing, being treated for a bite from Norbert), and are forced to serve detention with Hagrid in the Forbidden Forest. Harry sees a hooded figure drink the blood of an injured unicorn, which makes Harry's forehead scar start burning. Firenze, a centaur, tells Harry that it is a monstrous thing to slay a unicorn, let alone drink its blood. He also tells Harry that unicorn blood sustains life but gives the drinker a cursed life and that the hooded figure is in fact Voldemort.

The Philosopher's Stone

Harry, Hermione and Ron find out that Hagrid, while he was drunk in a pub, has told a hooded stranger how to get past Fluffy, and they believe the theft of the Stone is imminent. Rushing to finally confide in Professor Dumbledore their news, they meet Professor McGonagall, who is shocked to find out how much they knew about the Stone, but reassures them all the same that it is safe in the castle. She also tells them that Dumbledore has been sent away on an important mission by the Ministry of Magic. Positive that Dumbledore's summons was a red herring to take Professor Dumbledore away from Hogwarts, the trio make plans to thwart Snape's theft of the stone. They set out to reach the stone first, navigating the security system set up by the school's staff, which is a series of complex magical challenges. The three make it through together until finally, Harry must enter the inner chamber alone. There he finds that meek Professor Quirrell, not Snape, is attempting to steal the Stone who then uses magic to tie Harry up. Realising that Snape was trying to protect him from harm all along, Harry confronts Quirrell and survives a second encounter with Lord Voldemort, who has possessed Quirrell and appears as a ghastly face on the back of Quirrell's head. Quirrell gets blisters when he touches Harry's skin, and Harry suffers because of his close proximity to Lord Voldemort. Dumbledore arrives just in time to rescue Harry. Voldemort then pitilessly abandons Quirrell, who dies in the aftermath of his possession.

Aftermath

Dumbledore reveals to Harry that Harry's mother died to protect Harry as an infant. Her pure, loving sacrifice provides Harry with an ancient magical protection from Voldemort's lethal spells and also prevents Voldemort from touching Harry without suffering terribly. Dumbledore also says that the Philosopher's Stone has been destroyed to prevent future attempts by Voldemort to steal it.

Whilst in the Hospital wing Harry asks Dumbledore why Voldemort attempted to kill him when he was a young child. Dumbledore tells Harry when he is old enough he will tell him why.

Finally, at the end-of-year feast, the House Points totals are given: Gryffindor is in last place. However, Dumbledore gives a few "last-minute additions", granting points to Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville, so that Gryffindor wins the House Cup.