Harry Potter

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Early Life
Harry Potter was born on 31 July, 1980 to Lily and James Potter, members of the original Order of the Phoenix at the height of the First Wizarding War. From birth, he lived in hiding with his parents after Voldemort marked them for death. They lived in the village of Godric's Hollow in a home put under a Charm set by Albus Dumbledore to keep them hidden. They also made Peter Pettigrew their Secret-Keeper. In a terrible turn of fate, it happened that Pettigrew was a spy for Voldemort. He betrayed James and Lily to his master, faked his own death, and then framed Sirius Black for both.

On the evening of Hallowe'en in 1981, Voldemort arrived at Godric's Hollow and murdered James and Lily. He murdered James first, then advanced on Lily, who died trying to protect Harry. Her loving sacrifice prevented the Killing Curse from working on Harry. When Voldemort attempted the curse on Harry it backfired and instead of killing Harry, Voldemort lost all his powers and his physical form was obliterated, but was saved from death by the five Horcruxes he had made up to that point. Voldemort not only gave part of his abilities to Harry accidentally, he also gave Harry part of his soul. This event made Harry the only person to have survived the Killing Curse, thus giving him the title "The Boy Who Lived". The failed curse left a lightning-bolt scar on his forehead. The scar would be a bane and also a blessing to Harry in the years to come, as it opened a telepathic link between Lord Voldemort and himself.

Hagrid rescued Harry from the ruined house, and was given specific orders to take him to his aunt and uncle. Sirius reluctantly gave Hagrid his flying motorcycle to take Harry to Privet Drive. Dumbledore left a letter of explanation to the Dursleys, but they never relayed it to Harry. Instead, Harry spent the next decade of his life in their strict and miserable home without knowing that he was a wizard.

Harry's life at Privet Drive was miserable and difficult. As they were Muggles, they had no understanding of magic, and even though his aunt and uncle knew about his lineage, they wanted absolutely nothing to do with it. The Dursleys lied to Harry about his parents, claiming they had died in a car crash. It is unknown how they hid the suspicion behind Harry's lightning scar. Petunia and Vernon forbade Harry from asking questions, particularly those regarding his parents. They resented Harry for his magic, which was sporadic, but evident. They discouraged any sort of imagination, insisting upon "stamping that rubbish out", and screamed at or punished Harry — sometimes by depriving him of meals — whenever something "unusual" occurred. The way he was treated bordered on abuse, but was left unreported to authorities. In his youth, Harry could make strange things happen without understanding why he could, as no one had told him that he was a wizard.

The Dursleys spoiled and pampered their son Dudley and paid almost no attention to Harry; indeed, what little attention they did pay to him was negative in its entirety. All his clothes were hand-me-downs from Dudley. He was forced to sleep in the cupboard under the stairs, while his cousin got two bedrooms to himself. They also made Harry do household chores for them, such as making food and getting the post. In time, Dudley started bullying Harry due to the encouragement from his parents. The Dursleys also hid evidence of Harry's existence by not having pictures of him in the house. During the times that Harry was not being made to work or bullied, he was provided with little entertainment and sometimes tried to entertain himself by playing with toy horses.

Harry's hardship was made so because by returning to live with his mother's only living blood relative, the protection that Lily gave Harry would continue. While Harry could call that place home, he could not be harmed. However, this charm would be broken when Harry turned seventeen years old.

On Dudley's eleventh birthday, the Dursleys went to the zoo. Unfortunately for the Dursleys, they had to take Harry with them, as there was no one to watch over Harry and they refused to leave him alone in their house. At the zoo, Harry unintentionally made the glass of an enclosure containing a boa constrictor (possibly Nagini) disappear. This allowed the snake to slither out of her cage which scared Dudley into thinking it was after him. Harry was able to communicate with the freed boa in Parseltongue, which thanked Harry briefly, then slithered out of the reptile house calmly. After this incident, the enraged Dursleys sentenced Harry to his cupboard until the beginning of the summer holidays.

Discovery of Being a Wizard
Harry had no birthday celebrations until the day he turned 11, which was the same day that he discovered the reality about his identity. On the week of Harry's birthday, hundreds of letters began arriving at the Dursleys's home, addressed to him from a place called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. When the Dursleys saw the first letter was addressed as "cupboard under the stairs", they panicked at the thought of Harry's ill treatment being observed, and that wizards were trying to contact Harry. Because of this, Vernon tried to destroy the letters in a futile attempt to keep Harry from his destiny. But the letters kept coming in increasingly larger quantities, to the point where they literally started flying out of the fireplace by the dozens, and as they did, the Dursleys saw no alternative, but to flee from them. As such, the Dursleys relocated themselves to a shack on a rocky island at the edge of the sea.

At midnight on Harry's birthday, Rubeus Hagrid appeared in person to find out why Harry had not received his letter. He was infuriated by the Dursleys and explained to Harry, in spite of Vernon's obstinate protests, that he was a wizard, how his parents died, and that he was to be sent to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This would be Harry's first birthday celebration, and Hagrid gave him a small homemade birthday cake and later, a snowy owl, whom Harry named Hedwig. Hagrid took Harry to the Leaky Cauldron, where he learned that he was famous. He met Quirinus Quirrell, his soon-to-be Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts, the Inn-keeper Tom, a witch named Doris Crockford, and Dedalus Diggle — the man who Harry had met years before. Hagrid then took Harry to Diagon Alley, where he learned more about his fame in the Wizarding world and that his parents had left him a small fortune in a vault at Gringotts Wizarding Bank.

Harry bought his first wand from Ollivander's that very day. The wand that chose Harry was made of holly wood and had a phoenix feather core; it was 11", nice and supple. The phoenix feather at its core came from Dumbledore's phoenix Fawkes. It was crafted by Garrick Ollivander, who had also created a twin wand. This wand had been made from yew, and contained the only other feather supplied by Fawkes. This twin wand had long ago chosen Tom Riddle as its wielder. But Riddle, after he turned to evil and assumed the alias of Lord Voldemort, ended up using this wand to attack Harry and his parents. The two wands, sharing the same phoenix origin, had a unique connection which would prevent them from successfully dueling against each other in the years to come.

First Year
Harry Potter was further guided by destiny when he met his lifelong best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, while riding the Hogwarts Express on 1 September, 1991. The Sorting Hat took a while to decide where to place Harry — making him a hatstall. It considered putting Harry into Slytherin, but changed its mind at Harry's insistence, as Harry had heard about the Dark Wizards who had been in the house from the Slytherin-prejudiced Ron. Both Harry, Ron, and Hermione were Sorted into Gryffindor House on their first evening at school. While Harry immediately took to Ron, he did not immediately befriend Hermione, though he was nicer to her than Ron was. On Hallowe'en, a Mountain Troll was let into the school. The students were sent back to their Common Rooms, but Harry realized that Hermione did not know about the Troll, since she was in the bathroom crying as Ron had made fun of her earlier in the day. Harry and Ron went to the girls' bathroom and found the troll bearing down on Hermione. After Harry stuck his wand up its nose, Ron was able to knock the troll out with its own club using Wingardium Leviosa. Hermione lied to the professors when they came to investigate — to keep Harry and Ron out of trouble. From that point on, the three were best friends.

Harry discovered at his first broomstick flying lesson that he was a natural flyer. When Draco Malfoy took Neville Longbottom's Remembrall, Harry retrieved it using his broom to fly up and catch it. He was so skilled that he was able to join the Gryffindor Quidditch team, becoming the youngest Seeker in a century, since first year students normally were not allowed to have their own broomsticks. Before Harry's first Quidditch match, he received the new Nimbus 2000, a top of the line racing broom, from Professor McGonagall. During that Quidditch match, Harry's broom was jinxed, and he lost control, which caused him to nearly fall off.

Ron and Hermione saw Severus Snape staring at Harry and mumbling an incantation. Hermione went to Snape's row and under his seat and cast Lacarnum Inflamarae, causing the end of his robes to catch on fire. As soon as Snape stopped making eye contact with Harry, he regained control of his broom and zoomed toward the ground. On his way, he caught the snitch in his mouth, almost swallowing it, ending the match, and rending Gryffindor victorious. It was later revealed that Quirrell was the one jinxing Harry's broom, and Snape was trying to perform a counter-jinx, much to Harry, Ron, and Hermione's surprise. Meanwhile, Lord Voldemort, long presumed dead by most, was secretly mounting a return using Quirinus Quirrell; as a host body, he was able to search for the Philosopher's Stone, which he believed would restore him to his body and grant him everlasting life. On 4 June Voldemort was thwarted by Harry, with the help of Ron and Hermione. The trio suffered a series of exhausting and difficult challenges down in the Philosopher's Stone chambers in an attempt to stop the stone being stolen and Voldemort returning to power.

Throughout the challenges, Ron was injured, and Hermione was sidetracked. In the final task, Harry was left on his own when Hermione was unable to pass through, this left Harry to face Voldemort alone. Voldemort then ordered his servant, Quirrell, to murder Harry. Harry and Quirrell (who had been harbouring Voldemort with him all year) fought one another and Harry learned of his mother's protective charm, when he blistered Quirrell's face by touching it with his hands. Quirell began to crumple, and his corpse fell to the ground.

At that moment, Voldemort made for Harry,.Overcome by his struggle for the Stone and his injuries, Harry then passed out, just as Dumbledore arrived and took the Stone. When Harry awoke in the hospital three days later, Dumbledore informed him that Quirrell had been abandoned by Voldemort, leaving him to die. At the End-of-Term Feast, Harry was awarded an extra 60 points for Gryffindor by Dumbledore for "pure nerve and outstanding courage," Ron and Hermione were awarded 50 points each and Neville Longbottom 10. With an extra 120 points, Gryffindor won the House Cup, breaking Slytherin's chance of winning for a seventh year in a row.

Second Year
Harry's second year started out badly, and gradually got worse. Throughout the preceding summer, Harry had not been in contact with any of his friends, had heard no news from the wizarding world, and had been mistreated by his aunt, uncle, and cousin, as usual. The Dursleys had gone so far as to ban Harry from saying words pertaining or related to magic in general. The Dursleys had also gained a fear of Harry's newly discovered magical abilities, which he often exploited in order to get them to leave him alone. On the evening of his twelfth birthday, Harry learned that the reason his friends had not been in contact with him was that a house-elf named Dobby had been stopping letters from coming to Harry. When Harry questioned Dobby as to why, Dobby told him that Harry Potter must not return to Hogwarts. Harry refused, saying the wizarding world was where he belonged, and Dobby set out to cause him trouble. During a business meeting between Vernon and Mr. Mason, who had brought his wife with him, Dobby used his magical powers to drop Petunia's master piece of a pudding, and then shortly afterwards disappeared, framing Harry for the chaos. Dobby's act of magic caused Harry to receive a warning from the Ministry of Magic and to be imprisoned in his room by the Dursleys. Despite their efforts, Harry was rescued by Ron and his brothers, Fred, and George. Harry had packed his bags and loaded the Weasleys' magic flying car. Harry and the brothers arrived at the Burrow in the early hours of the morning, hoping not to be noticed. However, they were, and Mrs. Weasley was furious at her boys.

Dobby's first attempt at stopping Harry from returning had failed, so he continued trying. When Harry and the Weasleys arrived at King's Cross Station, Dobby sealed the entrance to Platform 9¾ early and stopped Harry and Ron from passing through the wall to get to the Hogwarts Express. However, this did not stop Harry from returning to Hogwarts, as he and Ron used the Weasleys' Flyincar (the same one which had saved Harry) to follow the train to Hogwarts. They arrived later than they had hoped, but all in one piece; until Ron accidentally drove the flying car into the Whomping Willow and broke his wand.

However, Harry's year at Hogwarts was destined not to improve in the least. Throughout the year, the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Gilderoy Lockhart, humiliated Harry repeatedly by dragging Harry into the spotlight against his will. During a duelling class led by Lockhart, Harry accidentally (and unknowingly) revealed himself to his fellow students and members of staff to be a Parselmouth, an uncommon skill that was normally associated with dark wizards like Salazar Slytherin and Voldemort. This brought on a great deal of trouble for Harry, since the Chamber of Secrets had been re-opened, and it was the "Heir of Slytherin" who was deemed responsible. Once the chamber had been unsealed, there were various attacks on Muggle-born pupils, including a future attack on Harry's best friend Hermione Granger.

These attacks were believed to have been carried out by the heir, whom many believed to be Harry, but Harry, Ron, and Hermione believed that Draco Malfoy was responsible. In order to prove their hypothesis, Hermione brewed the Polyjuice Potion, that Harry and Ron used to change their physical appearances to the ones of Crabbe and Goyle, so they could try to get information from Draco Malfoy. Later they learned that Malfoy was not the heir and that he had no idea who the attacker was. Hermione, however, did not join the boys in this adventure as she had accidentally used cat hair in her potion, causing her to spend weeks in the hospital wing as animal transformations were not to be used with the potion. Prior to Valentine's Day, Harry discovered a diary, and while writing in it, Harry learned that the Chamber had been opened fifty years ago and that his friend Hagrid had been accused of the crime.

By this time, Hermione had a different theory. She believed that the monster responsible for these attacks was a Basilisk and conducted research into her theory. The morning Hermione was attacked, she and Penelope Clearwater had been using a mirror to look around corners for any attacking predator. Hermione had done enough research to figure that the basilisk had been moving around the school using the pipe system and scribbled her theory down on a scrap piece of paper torn out of a book. She was attacked the same day, and her petrified body was taken to the school's hospital wing.

Separated from Ron and Lockhart, Harry ventured on alone. He soon found Ginny's unconscious body lying on the floor of the main Chamber. As he had hoped she was not dead, but the life was slowly being drained from her. Harry was greeted by Tom Riddle, who had come to a simulation of life from a combination of the memories stored in the diary and the absorption of Ginny's life force. Revealing his history and true nature as Lord Voldemort, Riddle set the Basilisk upon Harry. A deadly game of cat and mouse began, the Basilisk proceeded to hunt him through the pipes located near the main chamber. Fawkes (Dumbledore's phoenix) came to Harry's aid and blinded the Basilisk. With Fawkes's help and the Sword of Godric Gryffindor Harry slayed the massive serpent.

However, Harry was bitten by the Basilisk as he had slain the wretched creature. Fawkes flew over to Harry and wept upon his wound. As phoenix tears had healing powers, Harry survived. Harry then stabbed the diary three times with the Basilisk fang to rid himself of Riddle, unknowingly destroying one of Voldemort's Horcruxes in the process. Riddle's manifestation exploded, therefore foiling his attempt to come back to life. Once the emergency was over, Fawkes flew Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Lockhart to safety (they can carry immensely heavy loads). Harry spoke with Dumbledore on the events that had taken place, and explained to him that Ginny was not to blame and that Lockhart was a fraud. Harry and Ron both received the Special Award for Services to the School and two hundred points a piece for Gryffindor House — winning the house cup for Gryffindor for the second year in a row.

After interpreting Dobby's strange actions in Dumbledore's office, Harry realised Lucius Malfoy was the ultimate culprit for opening the Chamber. Before the term started, he had planted Tom Riddle's diary in Ginny's cauldron in the hope of indirectly opening the Chamber of Secrets. At this time, he did not know the diary was one of Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes. Afterwards, Harry was able to trick Lucius into freeing his mistreated house-elf, Dobby (who had been attempting to protect Harry all year) by giving him one of his socks. Malfoy was subsequently sacked as a school governor for his actions and all was well, for the time being.

Third year
In the summer of 1993, Sirius Black — who had been wrongly imprisoned 12 years earlier for allegedly betraying James, Lily, and Harry to Voldemort and murdering twelve Muggles — escaped from Azkaban. This created a tense climate in the wizarding world, and many believed that murdering Harry was the objective of Black’s escape. As such, he was treated leniently when, late in the summer, he inadvertently inflated his Aunt Marge and sent her away. That evening he ran away from the Dursleys, and after an enlightening journey aboard the Knight Bus, he arrived at the Leaky Cauldron, where the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge was awaiting him. After spending several days at the Leaky Cauldron, Harry met up with his friends Ron and Hermione, along with the entire Weasley family, who had just returned from a holiday in Egypt. That night, Harry overheard Mr. and Mrs. Weasley arguing and learned of the Ministry’s fears that Harry was the target of Sirius Black. Harry himself was not overly worried about being Sirius Black’s supposed target.

Prior to their departure aboard the Hogwarts Express, Mr. Weasley pulled Harry aside and warned Harry not to go looking for Black. Harry found it necessary to point out that he “was not stupid enough to go looking for someone who wanted to kill him”. Finding only one open compartment, Harry and his friends shared their ride with the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Remus Lupin. The train suddenly stopped well before it should have and was searched by Dementors looking for Black. Harry reacted poorly to the appearance of the Dementors, passing out, and beginning a pattern that would last for most of the year. While he was unconscious, a Dementor might possibly have stripped him of his soul had Remus Lupin not repelled it when he did. This was also the trio’s first time meeting Professor Lupin.

The following day, Harry and his classmates began their new classes. Among the first was Divination, where Professor Sybill Trelawney told Harry that he had the Grim in his tea leaves. Trelawney also made a frequent habit of predicting very gruesome deaths for Harry, much to Harry’s annoyance. On the other hand, there were courses in Care of Magical Creatures, during which Rubeus Hagrid, the new professor, taught them about hippogriffs. Unfortunately, Draco Malfoy, hoping to get Hagrid expelled, got himself injured by the hippogriff, Buckbeak. Professor Lupin soon proved to be an excellent teacher in Defence Against the Dark Arts, where he taught the students how to combat various dark creatures. On Halloween, the third year students went on their first visit to Hogsmeade village. Harry was not allowed to go, as he had not had his permission form signed. In light of Harry’s difficulties, Ron and Hermione, who had been fighting over Hermione’s new cat, Crookshanks, put aside their differences. While his friends were enjoying themselves in Hogsmeade, Harry visited with Professor Lupin. A few weeks later, Harry played in the first Quidditch match of the year versus Hufflepuff. In the pouring rain and storms, the teams played nonetheless. Suddenly, Harry tumbled off his broom fifty feet above the ground, and his Nimbus 2000 was destroyed in the process. This was the first and only match that he ever lost. In response Harry asked Lupin to help teach him how to fight them.

Just before Christmas, the school had another Hogsmeade visit. This time Harry sneaked out of the castle using the Marauder’s Map, which the Weasley twins presented to him in his time of need. During his illicit visit to Hogsmeade, Harry overheard a conversation between Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge and several of the Hogwarts teachers. Fudge told them that Black had betrayed the Potters and that Black was still Harry’s godfather. This revelation caused Harry great distress. He said that he wanted Sirius to find him, so he could avenge his parents. To relieve Harry of some of his troubles, the trio went to visit Hagrid, where they learned that Buckbeak was to be put on trial, and they promised to help his defense. Soon after, on Christmas Day, Harry received a Firebolt, a broom of extreme quality and high price, from an anonymous benefactor. Believing it to be from Sirius Black, Hermione reported it to Professor McGonagall, causing Harry and Ron to stop talking to her, even though Harry understood the reasons behind her actions.

Following the break, Lupin began his lessons with Harry. While Harry made progress, he regretted his inability to create a corporeal Patronus many lessons in. However, that same evening, Ron’s rat, Scabbers, disappeared, and Ron blamed Crookshanks. Harry and Ron did not reconcile with her until after the next Hogsmeade visit, when Harry was almost caught. After receiving a stern talking to for sneaking out of the school, Harry and Ron emerged from Professor Lupin’s office to find Hermione standing there looking distraught. She told them that Lucius Malfoy had used his influence and Buckbeak had been convicted and sentenced to execution.

The Quidditch final was soon upon them, and Harry played in the dirtiest game of his career. He managed to catch the Golden Snitch after Gryffindor was sufficiently ahead, and Gryffindor won the Quidditch Cup. They could not celebrate for long, as finals were right around the corner. Harry ended up doing well on his exams, and following his last final in Divination, on 6 June, Professor Trelawney went into a trance and predicted her second prophecy. The prophecy stated that the servant would return to Lord Voldemort and help him return to power. The same day, Buckbeak’s appeal had taken place in the castle, where the hippogriff was, again, sentenced to death. Against the advice of Hagrid, the trio went down to his cabin to comfort him. While there, Scabbers resurfaced. When he discovered that the Ministry officials were on their way, Hagrid rushed Harry, Ron, and Hermione out the back. While they made their way back to the castle, the sound of a swishing blade rent the air, and it seemed as though Buckbeak had been executed.

Immediately afterwards, Scabbers bit Ron and attempted to escape, causing Ron to chase the rat into the shadow of the Whomping Willow. Once there, he was attacked by a large black dog who dragged Ron and Scabbers into a tunnel under the Willow. While struggling with the black dog Ron’s ankle was broken. Harry and Hermione followed them into the tunnel, which led them to the Shrieking Shack. There, they followed the sound of Ron and discovered him in an upstairs bedroom, where they were ambushed by Sirius Black, who was revealed to be an Animagus that could turn into a dog. They were saved by Professor Lupin, but then the situation turned on its head when he embraced Black like a brother, and they began talking about the long dead Peter Pettigrew. When asked to explain, they revealed that Lupin, Black, and Pettigrew went to Hogwarts with Harry’s father, that they had all become Animagi to help Lupin with his lycanthropy, and that in fact it was Peter Pettigrew who had betrayed the Potters. This was proven when Black and Lupin forced Scabbers to become Pettigrew.

After questioning, Pettigrew confessed, but Harry prevented Black and Lupin from killing him. Determined to turn Pettigrew over, the whole group set off for the castle. Along the way, the moon came out from behind the clouds, and Lupin transformed into a werewolf, since he had not drunk his Wolfsbane Potion. Seeing the danger, Black and Snape both attempted to protect Harry and his friends, but were badly injured. When Harry and Hermione went to look for him, hundreds of Dementors fell upon them, trying to perform the Dementor’s Kiss both on Sirius and Harry. Sirius quickly passed out, as Harry tried casting the Patronus Charm (using the thought that he would leave the Dursleys and move in with Sirius to try and conjure it) and, after some struggle, cast his strongest Patronus yet, sending away all the Dementors and saving Harry, Sirius, and Hermione. . tried to make Hermione think of something happy and cast it as well. The Dementors were quickly descending on them, and as Harry finally conjured a fog Patronus, Hermione passed out, leaving Harry to fight the Dementors alone. After trying to hold them off, Harry was quickly overwhelmed.

Later, Harry and Hermione awoke to find themselves in the infirmary and that Sirius was about to be subjected to the Dementor’s Kiss. They pleaded with Dumbledore, who instructed them that nothing could be done without more time. With this clue, Hermione grabbed Harry and used her Time-Turner to send them back in time three hours. Once there, they hid out until the time was right to rescue Buckbeak, whom they saved just prior to his execution. Afterwards, they waited for the appropriate moment to save Sirius. While they sat in the woods, Harry tried to tell Hermione that he thought his father might have saved them. They ran for safety to Hagrid’s Hut when the werewolf Lupin was on the loose, and Harry, desperate to see who had saved him, left to observe the situation. Harry arrived at the lake watching the Dementors attack his past self, until he — in a flash of clarity — realised that he had been the one he had seen cast the Patronus Charm that had saved his life. Stepping forward, Harry cast the Patronus and produced a fully fledged stag Patronus that drove all of the Dementors back — saving his past self, Hermione, and Sirius. Once reunited, the pair rode Buckbeak to Sirius’s window and saved him.

Harry’s future at Hogwarts was brightened when he received a letter from Sirius. Inside there was permission for him to go to Hogsmeade, and Harry was delighted to have a godfather. Soon after, Harry recieved a Firebolt from Sirius, shortly before he returned to the Dursleys.

Fourth year
On 25 August, 1994 Harry, the Weasley family and Hermione attended the Quidditch World Cup. At Stoatshead Hill, Cedric Diggory and his father, Amos joined them. Once at the camp grounds, they met Ludo Bagman, Barty Crouch Sr., and many other Hogwarts students and their families, including Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, Oliver Wood, and Draco Malfoy. They were able to see the match between the Irish and Bulgarian national teams up close, because Harry, the Weasleys, and Hermione had seats in the Top Box.

The night after the match, while the Irish team's supporters were still celebrating, a group of black-cloaked, hooded figures invaded the camp site. On Mr Weasley's orders, Harry and the others fled. The group was separated in the woods, and in the chaos, Harry had lost his wand. Later, Harry learned that Barty Crouch Jr. had stolen his wand from his pocket. While in a clearing in the woods, Harry, Ron, and Hermione heard someone shout the incantation Morsmordre, casting the Dark Mark — a green skull with a snake protruding from its mouth like a tongue — into the sky. Although Harry did not immediately recognize it, he soon learned that the Dark Mark had evil implications. Then, Barty Crouch Sr., Amos Diggory, and other Ministry of Magic employees Apparated into the clearing and began to question Harry, Ron, and Hermione about the Dark Mark. After Harry mentioned he had heard another voice conjure the Dark Mark.

Aboard the Hogwarts train, Harry also encountered Cho Chang for the first time. At the Hogwarts start-of-term feast, Professor Dumbledore announced that Hogwarts would host the Triwizard Tournament, a recently revived inter-school competition in which the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and the Durmstrang Institute would also participate. New rules stated that only students seventeen and older could compete. Also, during the start of term feast, Dumbledore introduced "Mad-Eye" Moody, an ex-Auror, as the newly appointed Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. This news was greeted with a mixture of responses, as Moody was known to be a great Auror, a little crazy, and to have a magical eye, earning him the nickname "Mad-Eye" Moody. Around Hallowe'en, the students from Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and Durmstrang Institute arrived at the school, and Viktor Krum, Fleur Delacour, and Cedric Diggory were all chosen to represent their respective schools in this tournament. However, Harry was mysteriously chosen as a fourth competitor, even though he was under-age and even though he had never entered his name into the Goblet of Fire during the selection process. Many people, even Ron, did not believe Harry's story, believing this to be nothing but another attempt to gain fame. This caused extreme tension between the two friends. Hermione, on the other hand, "accepted his story without question", and assisted Harry in preparing for the Tournament by teaching him useful spells, such as the Summoning Charm, which Harry used in the first task of the Tournament. The champions were to face three dangerous challenges on their way to the Triwizard Cup. A few days after his name came out of the Goblet, Harry attended the Wand weighing ceremony. There he was cornered by the notorious Daily Prophet reporter Rita Skeeter, who asked him many leading questions and wrote a ludicrous article about him.

In the first task, each champion needed to get past a dragon in order to collect a golden egg. Harry received help from Hagrid, who showed the dragons to him. Realising that every champion but Cedric had found out about the dragons, Harry told Cedric about the first task, trying to level the playing field. The newly appointed Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Alastor Moody, witnessed Harry telling Cedric, but did not report him. Instead he advised Harry to play to his strengths, hinting that he should use his flying ability to get the golden egg. Four different dragons were chosen for each of the champions to face. On 24 November, Fleur ended up with the Common Welsh Green, Cedric with the Swedish Short-Snout, Viktor Krum with the Chinese Fireball, and Harry faced the Hungarian Horntail (the most dangerous of the four). Harry used a Summoning Charm to bring him his Firebolt and dodged the Hungarian Horntail to get the golden egg. Harry and Viktor Krum tied for first at the end of the task. After seeing how dangerous the task was, Ron, as well as the other students, made amends with Harry, with Ron telling him, "I reckon someone is trying to do you in". Harry managed to complete the first task with only an injured arm. His flying skills also impressed several members of the audience.

Between the first and second tasks, the Yule Ball, a Triwizard Tournament tradition took place on Christmas. Ron, dismayed to discover that Viktor Krum had asked Hermione to go with him, called her out for "consorting with the enemy" though he and Hermione acted as if they had not fought the following day. Harry asked his long-time crush Cho Chang to attend the Yule Ball with him, but was disappointed to learn that she had already accepted an invitation from Cedric Diggory. Harry and Ron ended up attending with Parvati and Padma Patil, respectively. They both ended up neglecting their dates, as Harry watched Cho with Cedric, and Ron was overcome with jealousy for Viktor Krum, who danced with Hermione. After the Yule Ball, Rita Skeeter struck again. She had overheard Hagrid telling Madame Maxime about his family. She then wrote an article exposing Hagrid as a half-giant, and he was so ashamed that he stopped teaching. Only after Harry, Ron, and Hermione proved that they still liked and that it did not matter to them did he finally return to work.

To prepare for the second task, Harry was told that he had to open the egg he had won from the dragon, but every time he did, it let out a horrifying screech. His rescue from that particular problem came when Cedric Diggory paid him back with the information that he would figure it out if he were to "mull things over in the hot water" with the egg. Harry followed this advice and decided to take a bath in the Prefects' bathroom. He had an uncomfortable exchange with Moaning Myrtle, and on the way back to the Common Room, he ran into Professors Snape and Moody. The latter informed Harry of Barty Crouch Sr's obsession with catching Dark Wizards. Harry learned that the second task was going into the Black Lake to rescue "the thing they would miss most" from the Merpeople. Harry's new problem was that he had no idea of how to survive underwater for an hour. He got his answer in the form of gillyweed from Dobby, who had come to work at Hogwarts. The second task took place on 24 February. Harry was to save his best friend Ron but when he reached him, he was shocked to find Hermione, Cho, and Gabrielle Delacour, Fleur's sister, there as well. After Cedric had rescued Cho and Viktor had rescued Hermione, Harry hung around, and, concerned for Gabrielle, he saved her as well as Ron, landing him outside the hour that had been allotted, although doing so earned him extra points for "moral fibre". After the second task had finished, Harry and Cedric were tied for first, Viktor was in second, and Fleur was in last place.

A month before the final task, the Champions were shown the beginnings of the challenge. They were told the third and final task was going into a maze filled with obstacles to find the Triwizard Cup. On the way back to the castle, Krum took Harry aside to ask him something. Thinking that this was something important, Harry went with him. Krum then asked Harry about his relationship with Hermione, in whom Krum was deeply interested. Harry told him that there was nothing between him and Hermione and that she was just a friend. He also told Krum not to believe anything Rita Skeeter, who had recently written in Witch Weekly that there was a Harry-Hermione-Krum love triangle, wrote about him. At that moment, Barty Crouch Sr. appeared in the forest disoriented and asking for Dumbledore. He disappeared when Harry went to fetch Dumbledore.

During this final event, Hogwarts champions Cedric Diggory and Harry both showed supreme sportsmanship and cooperation despite the tension brought on by the maze and agreed to touch the Triwizard Cup simultaneously, planning to tie for first place. They were unaware that the cup was actually a portkey and were transported to the graveyard in Little Hangleton, the Riddle family's final resting place, where Lord Voldemort was waiting. On Voldemort's orders, his servant Wormtail murdered Cedric with the Killing Curse while Harry screamed in terror.

Harry was bound to Tom Riddle Sr.'s tombstone and was forced to witness a ritual in which Pettigrew used some of Harry's blood to restore Voldemort's body. At which time, the Death Eaters were summoned to the cemetery. After Voldemort regained a full-size human form and confronted his Death Eaters for not trying to find him, he engaged Harry in a duel. Voldemort then tortured Harry by briefly subjecting him to the Cruciatus Curse and then tried to murder him using the Killing Curse. Harry fired the Disarming Charm simultaneously, and the nature of their wands' mystical connection caused their magical streams to interlock, which created an effect called Priori Incantatem. After a battle of wills with Voldemort, Harry was momentarily shielded by the echoes of Lord Voldemort's previous victims, including Harry's parents and Cedric, with the last of whom asking Harry to return his body to his parents, which allowed Harry some time to grab Cedric's body and the Portkey and escape back to Hogwarts.

It was uncovered that Barty Crouch Jr., who had willingly taken the Dark Mark, was throughout the school year disguised as Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher Alastor Moody. Because Crouch was killed, he could not give testimony, and the Ministry of Magic began to dispute Harry's and Dumbledore's insistence that Voldemort had returned.

Fifth year
Witnessing Cedric Diggory's murder was very difficult for Harry, and it was not helpful that he was forced back to number 4 Privet Drive in the school holidays. To make things worse than they were already, on 2 August, 1995 someone sent Dementors to attack Harry in the Muggle town of Little Whinging, in an attempt to neutralise him. He was forced to perform a Patronus Charm in order to save Dudley and himself. Subsequently, Harry was accused of performing underage magic in the presence of a Muggle and was expelled, but thanks to Albus Dumbledore's intervention, this was changed to a disciplinary hearing in front of the entire Wizengamot at the Ministry of Magic. Harry was able to make it there just minutes late. He was threatened with expulsion from Hogwarts, but thanks to Dumbledore he was "convcited of all charges."

In retaliation against Dumbledore, Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge appointed Umbridge, then Senior Under-Secretary to the Minister of Magic, as the new Hogwarts Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher so that she could spy on the school. She was later appointed Hogwarts High Inquisitor, empowered to arbitrarily change and impose school rules whenever she chose. Moreover, every time Harry spoke out of turn, or even mentioned Voldemort, Umbridge threw him into detention, forcing him to write with her quill, that scribed the message "I must not tell lies" onto the back of his hand. Later in the year, Ron was chosen to be a prefect, not him. It was later revealed that Ron was chosen instead of Harry because Dumbledore thought that Harry had "enough responsibility to be going on with". Although this made Harry jealous, he felt better when he discovered that his father was also not chosen as a prefect at school. This suggests that Harry's desire in becoming prefect was to emulate his father, not to inflate a sense of his own importance.

Because Fudge stubbornly believed that Dumbledore was training an army to overthrow him, Umbridge had the Defence Against the Dark Arts class reduced to reading textbooks. Urged by Hermione, Harry secretly trained a group of students in practical defensive magic. In an attempt to make light of the Ministry's fears, the group called themselves Dumbledore's Army (or the D.A.). Feeling highly anxious and frustrated most of the time, Harry found that the D.A. was now his chief source of happiness, and the thing to which he looked forward throughout his school day. This happiness was felt by most members, as all of them, particularly Neville Longbottom, gained a lot of skills under Harry's tutelage. Cho Chang became a member, and before the Christmas holidays, she and Harry kissed under the mistletoe in the Room of Requirement after a D.A. meeting. This moment was confusing to Harry, as Cho, clearly still suffering from Cedric Diggory's death, had been crying during their kiss. Cho's crying during the kiss also caused concern in Harry. He talked to Ron and Hermione, and Hermione had partially useful answers about Cho's behavior.

However, Harry took on some much more pressing worries later that night. Lord Voldemort had heard of a prophecy hidden in the Ministry's Department of Mysteries concerning both of them. Voldemort had been obsessing over the door to the Hall of Prophecy for the past few months, and had been inadvertently allowing Harry to read his thoughts through Legilimency. The link between Harry and Voldemort's minds had been growing stronger for quite a while. As a result, after falling asleep on the night of his kiss with Cho, Harry witnessed Nagini attack Arthur Weasley in his dream, and felt almost as if he had been the snake. Realizing what could happen if the link grew more powerful, Dumbledore commissioned Snape to train Harry in Occlumency in an effort to prevent further problems. Unfortunately, Harry did not enjoy having his mind peered into and did not focus on using Occlumency, having indeed been extremely curious about the door himself. During a lesson in Occlumency, Snape used the spell, but Harry finally succeeded in backfiring it. He witnessed Snape's memories, and, to his dismay, Harry found images of his father bullying Snape. Snape saw the images simultaneously. Traumatized by them, Snape refused to give him any more Occlumency lessons, something that Harry was not particularly concerned about and something he did not inform anyone of.

As the second term progressed, Harry's relationship with Cho became more strained. When Draco and Umbridge spied Luna entering the Room of Requirement, the members were all punished and forced to end their meetings. Harry was furious. At this point, Cho's and Harry's relationship "fell apart", and the two no longer saw each other romantically.

During the final Quidditch match of the year — in which Harry did not play as Umbridge had banned him for life — Hagrid, who had returned to the school months into the term, introdcued Harry, Ron, and Hermione to a giant named Grawp, was Hagrid's half-brother. He made Harry and Hermione promise that they would look after Grawp should Hagrid be forced to leave the school. Hagrid was attacked and left the school during O.W.L. examinations, and Harry never had to go down to Grawp in the forest.

Eventually, late in the O.W.L. examinations on 18 June, Fred and George burst in and conjured fireworks to distract Umbridge and destroy the frames with all of Umbridge's strict rules. Harry applauded the Weasley twins as they escaped the building, but then dozed off and received a vision of Voldemort torturing Sirius and ordering him to get the prophecy. Harry was prepared to go to the Ministry immediately, but Hermione advised him to check Grimmauld Place first to see if Sirius was still there. Harry used the Floo Network in Umbridge's office to peer into Grimmauld Place, but Umbridge caught Harry and his friends before they could do so. She asked Snape to extract information from Harry through the use of Veritaserum, but Snape claimed to have none left in his stocks. Umbridge then resorted to the Cruciatus Curse, revealing that it was she who set the Dementors loose on Harry. Hermione managed to save him by luring Umbridge into the Forbidden Forest. Once in the forest Umbridge was dragged off by centaurs for calling them "filthy half-breeds! Beasts!". Harry and Hermione escaped when Grawp stumbled into the centaur camp looking for Hagrid. The trio, along with D.A. members Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom, and Luna Lovegood used Thestrals to fly to London.

After reaching the Department of Mysteries, Harry led them all through various rooms in search of Sirius, without finding him. The group became doubtful until they came across a room filled with crystal balls, later to be known as prophecies. One of the prophecies had Harry's name on it, and he picked it up, much to the displeasure of Hermione. Upon picking up the prophecy Death Eaters appeared, revealing that the dream never happened and was merely a ruse to bring him there. A brief battle ensued, which ended with everyone in chains. Then reinforcements from the Order of the Phoenix arrived to help aid in the battle. In the ensuing fighting, Harry joined Sirius Black in dueling Lucius Malfoy. Despite defeating Lucius, Sirius was ambushed and murdered by a killing curse from his cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange. Harry's godfather fell through a mysterious stone arch. Harry, enraged, pursued Bellatrix, using the Cruciatus Curse, but he was unable to kill her.

Voldemort appeared and disarmed Harry immediately. He was about to kill Harry when Dumbledore arrived and saved him. As he began an epic duel with the Dark Lord, Harry backed away to a wall, and Bellatrix escaped. Voldemort attempted to redirect his Killing Curses at Harry while locked with Dumbledore, but failed. Harry then attempted to rejoin the battle, but was magically repelled away. Realizing he could not defeat Dumbledore, Voldemort faked Appiration and then fully possessed Harry, hoping that Dumbledore would sacrifice Harry in order to kill Voldemort. However, Voldemort was forced to leave Harry's body when Harry's grief for Sirius became too overwhelming to bear, as Voldemort did not understand the concept of love. Voldemort then grabbed Bellatrix and Disapparated, but not before the Minister and Ministry employees saw him and finally accepted that he was back.

Back at Hogwarts, Harry appeared in Dumbledore's office and tried to get out after Phineas Nigellus Black mentioned Sirius, only to find the door locked. Harry was none too pleased about Dumbledore's name being mentioned by the portraits. When the Headmaster returned, Harry lost his temper and started destroying Dumbledore's possessions, trying to get Dumbledore to let him out; Dumbledore refused, asking Harry to sit down and listen to what Dumbledore needed to say.

Dumbledore explained to Harry the real reason why Voldemort tried to kill him as an infant. A prophecy stated that he was destined to defeat the Dark Lord, for he had powers Voldemort did not: the ability to love, something that the Department of Mysteries was trying to research in a locked room. As a result of the battle, the Ministry of Magic realised that Lord Voldemort had indeed returned, and Harry and Dumbledore were vindicated. Serious steps were taken following this change in policy, such as the dismissal of Dolores Umbridge. However, this was not a sea of change, as the Ministry still had a mistrust of Dumbledore.

Sixth year
In the wake of the Battle of the Department of Mysteries Harry was sent home to 4 Privet Drive for the summer holidays. There, he obsessed over his godfather's death where he hardly left his room and refused meals. As the battle had taken place at one point in the famed Hall of Prophecy, many in the wizarding community including the Daily Prophet began to speculate about the relationship between Harry and that place, leading to, accidentally correct reports calling Harry "the Chosen One", the one destined to defeat Voldemort.

Early in his summer, Dumbledore requested that Harry join him in some unknown adventure and arrived to pick Harry up on a Friday, late in the evening. However, they could not depart immediately, because there was a piece of business to attend to: Sirius's will. Much to his chagrin, Harry inherited his godfather Sirius Black's estate, including Grimmauld Place and the Blacks' melancholic and half-crazed house elf, Kreacher. They soon were off, and Dumbledore Apparated Harry to another village, where Harry was introduced to Horace Slughorn. In their time together, Harry and Slughorn discussed some of the professor's old students and the improved security at Hogwarts. When Harry and Dumbledore made to leave, Slughorn agreed to return to the school if he got a raise and a larger office. Following their visit, Dumbledore dropped Harry off at the Burrow, where Harry spent the rest of the summer. Later in the summer Harry learned that he had achieved seven O.W.L.s; one 'Outstanding', five 'Exceeds Expectations', and one 'Acceptable'. He also received a surprise when he was made Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, which put him at equal standing with prefects.

On 30 June, Dumbledore led Harry out of the castle in search of a Horcrux. From Hogsmeade, they Apparated to a sea-side cave. The cave was difficult to enter with a toll paid in blood, and to get to the island in the center of the cave there was only a small boat, only made to fit one. Once on the island, Dumbledore found a basin from which he could not remove the Horcrux without drinking the emerald potion that the Horcrux resided in. Dumbledore extracted a promise from Harry that he would force him to drink, no matter how much he tried to persuade him not to. With this promise, Dumbledore drank and Harry watched as Dumbledore was driven out of his mind, but upheld his promise. When the basin was empty Dumbledore asked for water which Harry was forced to get from the lake, triggering the Inferi that were waiting there. Panicking, Harry was dragged below, but was saved when an incredibly weakened Dumbledore conjured a firestorm that fended off the Inferi. They Apparated atop the Astronomy Tower to discover that Hogwarts had been invaded by Death Eaters. The D.A. members battled alongside the Order of the Phoenix, on the floor below Harry and Dumbledore. Dumbledore had stopped Harry from fighting and frozen him against a wall, so all he could do was watch.

Harry witnessed the death of Albus Dumbledore at the hands of Severus Snape, and Dumbledore's body then plummeted from the tallest tower at Hogwarts. With Dumbledore dead, Harry was free of the spell that petrified him. Hoping to avenge Dumbledore's death, Harry immediately set off after Snape. As the Death Eaters made their way out of Hogwarts Castle and on to the grounds, Harry pursued and faced off against Snape. Harry fired a stunning spell, which Snape blocked. Bellatrix Lestrange, who was with Snape, then fired an unknown spell that projected a yellow beam. Harry got to his feet and fired "Sectumsempra," which Snape threw back at Harry, knocking him to the ground, but causing no blood. Snape then identified himself as the Half-Blood Prince, and escaped Hogwarts with Draco Malfoy and the other Death Eaters. Hagrid found Harry and together they managed to extinguish the fire that burnt Hagrid's hut (caused by Bellatrix Lestrange). Harry then told Hagrid that "Snape killed Dumbledore", but Hagrid refused to believe him. Harry (along with Hagrid) returned to the castle to find people staring at Dumbledore's crippled and lifeless body. Harry moved forward and found his mentor's body lying completely still on the ground and Hagrid finally believed him. Harry started to cry over Dumbledore's body where he was comforted by Ginny.

Harry took the locket from Dumbledore's robes and was beside himself when he learned it was just a plain bit of jewelry, a decoy; there was a note inside the locket that revealed the real Horcrux was taken by someone called "R.A.B.". It appeared to Harry that Dumbledore had died in vain and that they had achieved nothing that night. Ginny escorted Harry to the hospital Wing on McGonagall's orders, where he found several of his friends apparently asleep in bed, and Ron's brother Bill Weasley who had been horribly scarred by Fenrir Greyback. When Ginny announced that Dumbledore was dead, everyone appeared horrified. Harry explained to everyone what had happened on the Astronomy Tower and when he was finished, they were all shocked by what he had said.

Following the death of Albus Dumbledore, his funeral was carried out. Knowing that he would have to hunt down Voldemort's Horcruxes and fearing for her safety, Harry took Ginny aside, and broke off their romance. Ginny told him that she did not care about the danger of being his girlfriend, but Harry still thought it was best if the two stopped seeing each other. He then spoke to Ron and Hermione, who committed to forgoing their final year at Hogwarts in order to accompany him, despite his protests.

The Search Begins
After Albus Dumbledore’s death (Dumbledore was the one who began the hunt) at the hands of Severus Snape during the Battle of the Astronomy Tower, the mission fell to Harry Potter to complete. He was joined by Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. With four Horcruxes remaining (plus the unknown soul fragment residing inside Harry) the trio made plans. They all remained committed to their goal to locate and destroy Voldemort’s Horcruxes. To protect their families Hermione altered her parents’ memories so that they forgot about her. Harry’s aunt and uncle were taken into hiding by several members of the Order of the Phoenix, despite many misgivings from the Dursleys.

Harry stayed at 4 Privet Drive for a time, but the Order of the Phoenix needed to evacuate him to the Burrow before he turned seventeen. On 27 July the Order sent the Dursleys into hiding first. Six out of thirteen of Harry’s escorts took Polyjuice Potion to take on Harry’s appearance in order to be diversions if they were attacked. Upon leaving, the group was attacked by over 30 Death Eaters. Harry rode with Hagrid on his godfather Sirius’ old motorbike, and they were attacked by multiple Death Eaters and eventually Lord Voldemort himself. Harry’s owl Hedwig was hit by a stray Killing Curse. When Voldemort caught up with them, Harry thought this was the end, but his wand acted on its own to strike out at his relative and archenemy, engaging in Priori Incantetem briefly before destroying Voldemort’s borrowed wand. The chaos ended when Harry and Hagrid passed the protective enchantments placed over the house of Nymphadora Tonks’ parents, although Harry was still completely grief-stricken over the death of his beloved owl. After finding Hagrid safe and sound, the pair entered the Burrow, where he found a worried Molly and Ginny Weasley standing watch outside.

Harry was relieved to see that Hermione and Ron were fine, but was shocked when Remus Lupin arrived with George Weasley, who had lost an ear. Everyone else arrived safely, but Alastor Moody had been murdered. Many amongst those gathered at the Burrow believed that they had been betrayed, but Harry refused to believe any of those he loved would sell him to Voldemort, much to the chagrin of Remus Lupin. Harry then stormed outside, where he told Ron the Horcrux hunt had to begin soon. However, Ron insisted they could not leave without Hermione. Later that night, Harry was struck by a vision of Voldemort torturing Ollivander.

Once settled in at the Burrow, Harry, Ron, and Hermione helped prepare the wedding ceremony of Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour. The day before the wedding, Ginny also gave him a passionate kiss to remember her by during the Horcrux hunt. The pair was then interrupted by Fred Weasley. At the party that night, Minister Rufus Scrimgeour arrived to release the contents of Albus Dumbledore’s will. Harry was left the first Snitch he had ever caught in a Quidditch match and Godric Gryffindor’s Sword; Scrimgeour withheld this second gift, claiming that it was a historical item and was not exclusively Harry’s property. Noting that Harry, Ron, and Hermione were the only students mentioned by name in the will, he asked the trio why this was; the three were unable to give him an answer. On 1 August, Harry attended Bill and Fleur’s wedding. The reception was interrupted when the Patronus of Kingsley Shacklebolt arrived and announced the fall of the Ministry of Magic and the death of Rufus Scrimgeour. Chaos erupted and guests started to flee, while Harry and Hermione drew their wands and grabbed Ron before Disapparating to Tottenham Court Road. There, Hermione revealed that she had planned ahead, packing supplies in her bag, which had an Undetectable Extension Charm on it. Ron changed, and the three then entered a nearby café to hang low for a while. Whilst at the café, Ron and Hermione discussed the events of the wedding. Hermione unwittingly broke the Taboo curse that had been placed on Voldemort’s name when the Death Eaters overthrew the Ministry of Magic, alerting Death Eaters Antonin Dolohov and Thorfinn Rowle to their location. After a brief duel, the trio defeated the Death Eaters, whose memories Hermione wiped at Harry’s suggestion. Harry, Ron, and Hermione then found refuge at 12 Grimmauld Place.

Obtaining the locket
"You’re lying Dolores, and one mustn’t tell lies. Stupefy!"

- Harry to Dolores, right before the fight

Having found no leads regarding the Horcruxes over the summer, Harry discovered R.A.B. during the trio’s first morning at 12 Grimmauld Place. Once Hermione remembered that the locket had been in the house during its occupation by the Order of the Phoenix, Harry found Kreacher spying on them, and they learned that it had been stolen by Mundungus Fletcher. When the trio questioned him about it, he revealed that it was now in the possession of Dolores Umbridge.

For the following month, the trio would remain at Grimmauld Place. On 2 September after formulating their plans, they managed to infiltrate the Ministry. Using Polyjuice Potion Harry transformed into Albert Runcorn. He searched Umbridge’s office but did not find the locket. Finding Umbridge trying Muggle-borns for “stealing” magic, Hermione located the locket around Umbridge’s neck. Harry quickly stunned both her and Yaxley. He and Hermione freed the Muggle-borns who were being held by the Muggle-Born Registration Commission, and Hermione snatched the locket herself. They met up with Ron again and escaped, though Yaxley grabbed Hermione’s arm while they were Disapparating. Although she evaded him, their hideout was revealed to him and they were forced to abandon it. But instead Hermione took them to the woods that were once the location of the Quidditch World Cup.

After securing the locket, the three friends took turns wearing it, to ensure it was not lost or rendered one of them irrational. The locket had a negative influence on all of them, straining relations and causing them to all act moody and inclined to get into petty arguments. They knew they still needed to trace the location of the Sword of Gryffindor.

Harry and Hermione were excited at knowing what object they could use to destroy Horcruxes, but the locket’s negative energy pushed Ron over the edge. Knowing that they now had something they were not close to destroying, Ron and Harry got into a horrible row. Ron accused Harry of not knowing what he was doing and telling him and Hermione that he gave up on the search, as nothing had turned up. Ron then abandoned his friends accusing Hermione of preferring Harry to himself. Ron’s departure left both Harry and Hermione depressed. After some listless time in which they accomplished nothing, they decided to head to Godric’s Hollow, as Harry wanted to visit his parents graves, and Hermione believed that Dumbledore might have entrusted the Sword of Gryffindor to Bathilda Bagshot, a magical historian who lived there and who had been friendly with the Potters and the Dumbledores.

Horcrux attack
They arrived on Christmas Eve. After seeing the memorial dedicated to his parents and himself, Harry and Hermione searched the graveyard for the Potters’s grave and came across the grave of Kendra and Ariana Dumbledore and that of Ignotus Peverell. Upon discovering Harry’s parents’s grave Hermione called out to him and comforted Harry when he reached the grave. After placing a wreath on his parents’s graves, the two then met Bathilda Bagshot, who motioned for them to follow her into her home. Believing Bathilda wanted to give him the Sword, Harry accompanied her upstairs alone. Once there, she questioned Harry in what he did not realise was Parseltongue, revealing herself to in fact be Nagini, Voldemort’s snake. Voldemort had murdered Bathilda and animated her corpse to hide Nagini, who attacked Harry, biting and coiling herself around Harry. Hermione raced upstairs and repelled the snake, while Harry’s scar burned, alerting him to Voldemort’s approach. The pair managed to escape, but Harry was knocked unconscious and such a close call with Voldemort caused the connection to re-open. And in the scuffle, Harry’s wand was accidentally broken by Hermione’s Blasting Curse.

After escaping Voldemort, Harry and Hermione camped out in the Forest of Dean, where Hermione healed Nagini’s bite with Dittany. When they were camped out there, Harry and Hermione read parts of Rita Skeeter’s biography of Dumbledore, The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore which Hermione had stolen from the home of Bathilda Bagshot. Upon reading, Harry felt betrayed, because Dumbledore had not shared this information with him. Soon, Harry became quite disillusioned.

A couple nights later, while standing guard outside the tent, Harry was led by a silver doe Patronus to a frozen pool into which someone had placed the Sword of Gryffindor, which leads Harry to strip to his underwear and jump in the pool. While trying to acquire the sword, the locket attempted to strangle him, but he was rescued by Ron, who had returned through the use of his Deluminator. During the brief skirmish with the Horcrux, the Horcrux created false images of Harry and Hermione taunting Ron, while on Harry’s side naked imagines of Harry and Hermione began to kiss passionately. Ron then destroyed the Horcrux with the sword, casting the two away. As Ron had saved his life, Harry forgave him for leaving, and after seeing the Horcrux torture Ron, explained that he had no feelings for Hermione beyond that of a sibling. Hermione, who had been inside the tent during the destruction of the Horcrux, was angry with Ron for a longer period.

Capture by Snatchers and Skirmish at Malfoy Manor
At some point, Harry became convinced that the Resurrection Stone was encased within the Golden Snitch bequeathed to him by Dumbledore. He also determined that Voldemort was seeking the Elder Wand through several visions about Mykew Gregorovitch, Gellert Grindelwald, and Ollivander. On 30 December at Hermione’s request, the three friends traveled to Luna Lovegood’s home to question Xenophilius Lovegood. They asked about a triangular symbol Dumbledore had left them to decipher in the book he bequeathed to Hermione. After learning of the Deathly Hallows, Xenophilius said Voldemort’s name and summoned Death Eaters in an attempt to persuade them to return his abducted daughter. Hoping to escape, Hermione blasted the floor open to show them Harry. Captured by a gang of Snatchers led by Scabior, the trio were questioned about who they were. Hermione had previously hit Harry in the face with a Stinging Hex, attempting to conceal their true identities, but it all amounted to nothing as the Snatchers then found the Sword of Gryffindor. After Greyback and Scabior realised that they had caught Harry Potter, the trio were taken to Malfoy Manor. The Snatchers decided to forgo taking Harry to the Ministry, but instead to Voldemort directly. When Bellatrix Lestrange learned that Harry had been caught, she sought to summon Voldemort, until she noticed one of the Snatchers had the Sword of Gryffindor, which was supposed to be in her vault at Gringotts Wizarding Bank. From her drastic change in tone of voice and her worries that they were doomed, Harry determined that another Horcrux was hidden there. Bellatrix interrogated Hermione, stating that she wished to talk “girl to girl” with her and proceeded to torture her with her knife. While being tortured Hermione lied, claiming that the Sword was just a copy. Harry convinced Griphook (a goblin prisoner) to support this story, knowing that Bellatrix would interrogate Griphook next.

In panic as Hermione screamed in pain upstairs, Harry called out for help — a cry heard by Aberforth Dumbledore through a fragment of a two-way mirror linked to Harry. Aberforth sent Dobby the house-elf to rescue the prisoners. Harry had him take Luna Lovegood and Garrick Ollivander to Shell Cottage, while he and Ron went to rescue Hermione. On the way, they had to fight Peter Pettigrew, who was killed by a spell from Dobby when he attempted to hurt Harry and Ron. A skirmish ensued upstairs, during which Harry took Draco Malfoy’s wand from him, and he and Ron saved Hermione and Griphook with Dobby’s assistance.

As they escaped Malfoy Manor by Apparition, Bellatrix Lestrange threw a silver dagger to where they were Disapparating. Harry was initially relieved to realize he had managed to apparate to Shell Cottage with Ron, Hermione, and Dobby in tow, but was horrified to see the knife protruding from the elf’s chest. Harry managed to lie him on the sand, where Dobby collapsed and died in Harry’s arms his last words being Harry’s name. Harry decided that he would not dig Dobby’s grave with magic, opting instead to do so manually, using a shovel; this was his way of both repaying Dobby’s bravery and ebbing his own grief. Harry, his scar now burning temptingly threatening to have Voldemort’s thoughts engulf him, was finally able to learn control of denying Voldemort’s entry into his mind. He attributed this to his grief and love for Dobby while digging the grave. During the funeral, Harry managed to say his final goodbye to one of his most loyal friends.

Break-in of Gringotts
Following the death of Dobby, Harry, Ron, and Hermione stayed at Shell Cottage for some time. During their stay, the trio formed a plan to break into the Lestrange Vault to obtain the Horcrux within, with the help of Griphook. Due to the fact that Griphook would only help in exchange for Godric Gryffindor’s Sword, Harry decided to word his request so that the handover would not take place until after Harry had used it to dispose of the remaining Horcruxes. Harry also found out information regarding the Elder Wand from Ollivander. He learned that the Elder wand was real and that Voldemort was going abroad to seach for it was correct. Harry also learned some wandlore, such as wand happens when a wand’s alligence changes to that of another.

Although feeling guilty for the deception, Harry knew that the sword was their only known weapon against the Horcruxes. The other residents of Shell Cottage could not fail to notice the trio’s behavior. Bill Weasley took Harry aside and advised Harry to be cautious when making deals with Griphook who Harry was increasingly disliking. Around the same time, Remus Lupin came to Shell Cottage bearing tidings of new birth. He asked Harry to be the godfather of his newborn child, Edward Lupin.

The trio and Griphook left Shell Cottage early in the morning to break into Gringotts. Hermione disguised herself as notorious Death Eater Bellatrix Lestrange, using Polyjuice Potion. The goal was to try and fool the goblins at Gringotts into believing that it was really Bellatrix who was entering the vault. The trio had Bellatrix’s wand that Harry had captured at Malfoy Manor as further proof for the disguise. Ron was Transfigured to look like a wizard named Dragomir Despard, and Harry had Griphook on his shoulders; both were under the Invisibility Cloak.

Their plan proceeded reasonably well; Hermione made a convincing Bellatrix. Inside, the Goblins requested Bellatrix’s identification. When Hermione hesitated, one said that her wand was sufficient proof, though Hermione claimed it was new. Griphook told Harry to use the Imperius Curse, he complied and Bogrod then accepted the wand as being correct. Bogrod requested the Clankers, and then led the trio, Griphook, and Ron into a passageway. Bogrod, still under the Imperius curse, summoned a cart that descended deep within Gringotts. After many twists and turns, the cart passed through Thief’s Downfall, a security waterfall that washed away all illusion charms. When the cart overturned and dumped them out, Hermione and Ron had been reverted to themselves. Still, Harry wanted to continue. The trio and Griphook found the vault guarded by an aged dragon. Griphook subdued it using the Clankers. Hearing pursuit approaching, Harry forced Bogrod to open the vault, which was filled with precious objects. Hermione screamed in pain, and they discovered that the vault’s protective charms caused the contents to multiply and become searing hot every time something was touched. Because Hufflepuff’s Cup, the Horcrux, was out of reach, Harry climbed a pile of cloned jewels and he snagged the Cup by using Gryffindor’s Sword. Meanwhile Hermione, Ron, Griphook, and Bogrod all struggled to stay above the searing-hot multiplying objects below. As Harry was setting himself down, he dropped both the Sword and the Cup. Griphook grabbed Gryffindor’s Sword, and flipped Hufflepuff’s cup up into the air. Harry caught it, ignoring the searing heat. Griphook then proceeded to run off with Gryffindor’s Sword, yelling that thieves were in the vault. Harry released the dragon and the three jumped on its back. The freed dragon took flight, destroying the ceiling to fly through as they made their escape.

Battle of Hogwarts
A vision from Voldemort helped Harry realize that the third Horcrux, whilst unbeknownst to him at the time, Ravenclaw’s Diadem, remained at Hogwarts. Harry, Ron, and Hermione set out on their final mission to return to the school and obtain the diadem, inadvertently tripping the Caterwauling Charm upon Apparating to Hogsmeade and thereby alerting the waiting Death Eaters to their presence. Due to the trio being under the Invisibility cloak, however, the Death Eaters resorted to unleashing Dementors into the streets to try to force the intruders out of hiding. Having no choice, Harry conjured his Patronus to protect himself and his friends, automatically giving away their position and confirming their identities (the Death Eaters having been warned that Harry Potter’s Patronus took the form of a stag). As Death Eaters began to close in on the still invisible trio, Aberforth Dumbledore emerged from the Hog’s Head, hurriedly telling the three to enter his pub. While Harry, Ron, and Hermione did so, Aberforth remained outside, proclaiming to the Death Eaters that it was he who tripped the alarm (by letting his cat out) and conjured the Patronus to ward off the Dementor threat; mockingly contradicting a Death Eater, saying that what he had seen was a goat Patronus rather than a stag. The incensed Death Eaters believed this and retreated.

After Aberforth re-entered his pub and home, he scolded them for coming to Hogsmeade advising them to leave the country. After Harry engaged in a fierce argument with him, he led the grateful trio directly into Hogwarts through a secret entrance behind the portrait of his deceased sister, Ariana Dumbledore. Neville Longbottom, acting as their escort, then guided them into the Room of Requirement, where they were greeted by the reconstituted Dumbledore’s Army; most of which were beaten and bruised yet ready to fight the Death Eaters controlling the school. Harry tried to tell them that he, Ron, and Hermione only returned to find something, but Neville contacted other allies with a call to arms. Harry was initially reluctant to allow the others to help, but in an attempt to be a better man than Dumbledore, and after some discussion with Ron and Hermione, he allowed it.

Harry hesitantly asked the room at large if they had ever heard of any sort of legendary artifact belonging to one of the Founders of Hogwarts. Luna Lovegood then elaborated on the fabled Diadem of Ravenclaw, pronouncing that a statue in Ravenclaw Tower depicted Rowena Ravenclaw wearing a diadem. Harry, having no idea of what the diadem looked like, was led by Luna to the Ravenclaw Common Room to observe the statue. Harry then told McGonagall about the mission Dumbledore had left him, and she offered to hold Voldemort and his invading forces off, buying him the time he needed to search for the Horcrux. All students of age, the D.A., and the members of the Order of the Phoenix who had arrived to fight prepared themselves for the impending siege. The Battle of Hogwarts began as Voldemort and his army approached the outer boundaries of the school.

On 2 May, Lord Voldemort upon arrival at Hogwarts, demanded that the school turn over Harry, and the Battle of Hogwarts began. Harry realised that the positioning of Alecto Carrow in Ravenclaw Tower confirmed the Horcrux’s identity. It was the lost diadem of Ravenclaw. After thinking on it for some seconds, he went to ask the Grey Lady about the diadem. From her information, Harry surmised that the Horcrux had been hidden in the Room of Requirement. Harry, in the meantime, was worried about Hermione and Ron, who seemed to have disappeared. They had gone into the Chamber of Secrets, where Hermione destroyed Helga Hufflepuff’s Cup with a basilisk fang, which were one of the few weapons able to destroy Horcruxes.

The trio quickly headed for the Room of Requirement where Harry remembered seeing the Diadem the previous year. However, Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe, and Gregory Goyle ambushed them. After a skirmish, the entire room was destroyed by the cursed fire Goyle unleashed but could not control. Harry managed to fly himself and Malfoy out, while Ron and Hermione grabbed Crabbe, but Goyle perished in the flames that also destroyed the diadem. With one Horcrux remaining, Harry, Ron, and Hermione continued their pursuit of Nagini, but before they could go search for it, they witnessed the death of Fred Weasley.

They fought their way to the Shrieking Shack. Along the way, Harry witnessed many scenes of horror. On the grounds, Voldemort’s Dementors were waiting. After having seen so much pain and death, Harry could not summon the happiness required to conjure a Patronus. Neither could Hermione or Ron. But, then Aberforth and Kingsley intervened and drove the Dementors away with their own Patronuses. Once the trio arrived at the Shrieking Shack, they witnessed Voldemort order Nagini to kill Severus Snape, as he believed that Snape was preventing him from being the true owner of the Elder Wand. Before he died, Snape gave Harry memories to view in the Pensieve. Upon returning to the castle, Harry saw the corpses of Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks near Fred’s, and he felt devastated. He left his friends behind to use Albus Dumbledore’s Pensieve, welcoming the time in another’s head to distract him from what was happening in his own.

During a one-hour ceasefire, Harry viewed the memories given by a dying Snape, whose somewhat tampered properties revealed to him that he had inadvertently been turned into a Horcrux himself and that Voldemort had to kill him in order to be rendered mortal himself. Harry was deceived into thinking that Snape was, all along, with Dumbledore because he loved Lily Evans; it is unknown whether or not he eventually learned this. It was clear that Harry’s life span had always been determined by how long it took to get rid of the Horcruxes, and that it was an elegant plan not to waste any more lives but to give the tasks to the boy who had already been marked for death, and whose death would not be tragic but simply another blow against Voldemort. Heavy of heart, Harry courageously slipped off on his own to carry out this dreadful task. He felt ghostly as he strode through the castle’s empty halls.

As Harry passed the Great Hall, he told Ron and Hermione what he was doing, but could not see the other Weasleys, nor Luna. He felt he would have given anything for one last look at them, but then he thought he would never be able to stop looking. He also came to realize that Luna had become one of his closest and dearest friends. Harry then entered the Forbidden Forest, where he managed to open the Golden Snitch, which said on it, “I open at the close;” and the words to open it were, “I’m about to die”; this revealed the Resurrection Stone contained within. Harry used it to speak to the spirits of his parents, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin, who offered him comfort before he met Voldemort. As Harry approached the Death Eater camp, he dropped the Resurrection Stone. Harry offered no resistance as Voldemort struck him with the Killing Curse.

However, the “death” he met was not permanent: the blood Voldemort had taken from Harry to restore his physical form in 1995 still contained the Bond of Blood, anchoring him to life and protecting Harry from Voldemort’s curse, and his willingness to die triggered protections on the people of Hogwarts similar to the protections he received from his mother’s sacrifice. Also, since he had part of Voldemort’s soul in him, Voldemort’s Killing Curse destroyed the part of Voldemort’s soul, leaving one Horcrux left. Harry entered a state of limbo, where he met the spirit of Albus Dumbledore and the piece of Voldemort’s soul that had just been destroyed. Dumbledore explained everything to Harry. After reconciling with his mentor, Harry made the choice to return to the physical world rather than go on to the afterlife with Dumbledore.

Endgame
Harry woke up, but feigned death. He was assisted in this by Narcissa Malfoy, who had secretly turned against Voldemort by telling him Harry was dead in order to protect her son, because she knew the only way she would be permitted to enter Hogwarts was with the rest of the Death Eaters in their victory march. Voldemort then forced Hagrid to carry Harry’s body back to Hogwarts, proclaiming Harry dead and demanding surrender. At first, the surviving fighters were heartbroken, especially Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Professor McGonagall. Nevertheless, they remained defiant.

Neville Longbottom courageously stood up to Voldemort, and when the latter offered Neville a rank in his Death Eater society, Neville proudly refused and gave a speech to Voldemort, who listened, but then rebuffed him. This distracted Voldemort’s Death Eaters, and Neville was able to pull off the Sorting Hat, and from its depths he received the Sword of Godric Gryffindor. Harry revealed himself by jumping from Hagrid’s arms as Voldemort looked on. Harry fired a Blasting Curse at Nagini, but it rebounded on several Death Eaters behind Voldemort. Next, Harry dashed through the Courtyard as Voldemort followed, firing explosions at him. As a fraction of Death Eaters retreated, Harry dashed into the Entrance Hall as the battle recommenced. Harry ran up the Grand Staircase; Voldemort stunned Neville, then grabbed Nagini and Disapparates in pursuit. Meanwhile, Death Eaters started to fold under sheer weight of numbers as the house elves in the kitchen joined the battle. During the ensuing mêlée, Molly Weasley defeated Bellatrix Lestrange.

Harry ran through a seventh floor corridor. When he heard a noise out of his line of sight, he turned and fired an explosion at it. He then ran and hid near the main staircase just as Voldemort Apparated with Nagini in tow. Unbeknownst to Voldemort, mastery of the Elder Wand, which he had stolen from Dumbledore’s grave, had not been taken from Dumbledore by Snape, but by Draco Malfoy. Thus, when Harry had disarmed Malfoy in Malfoy Manor weeks earlier, he had become the true master of the Elder Wand. When Harry and Voldemort faced off for the last time within Hogwarts School, in which Nagini finally deserted, Harry tried to tell him this. Harry also asked him to feel some remorse, which Voldemort rejected. After diving off a ledge and crash-landing in a courtyard, Voldemort cast the Killing Curse, and Harry countered with the Disarming Charm. Meanwhile, Neville was able to destroy Nagini when she attacked Ron and Hermione. Moments later, the Killing Curse rebounded, destroying Voldemort once and for all. Soon after, victory celebrations began and Harry was an indispensable part of the grief and celebration. Everyone wanted him there with them, their leader, symbol, and guide. He must speak to the bereaved and witness their sadness, and hear the news that the Imperiused all over the nation had come back to normal. The Death Eaters were fleeing or else captured, the innocent in Azkaban were being released, and Kingsley Shacklebolt had been named temporary Minister for Magic, but Harry soon grew weary. Luna created a distraction so that he could slip away in order to find Ron and Hermione. The trio headed out onto a bridgr, and along the way he explained everything to his two best friends. Harry decided to prevent the Deathly Hallows from ever being reunited again by keeping the Cloak of Invisibility, leaving the Resurrection Stone where it lay in the Forbidden Forest, and destroying the Elder Wand for good. When Voldemort destroyed the piece of his soul residing in Harry, Harry lost the ability to speak Parseltongue. In addition, the scar on his forehead no longer held magical powers, nor did it ever cause him pain again.

Later Life
At the end of the Second Wizarding War, Harry was recruited by the new Minister for Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt and became an Auror at the Ministry of Magic. Kingsley permitted those who had fought in the final battle to become Aurors without getting their N.E.W.T.s. In 2007, Harry became the youngest Head of the Auror Office at the age of 26. Along with his friend Ron Weasley, Harry was considered an “expert” and helped reform and revolutionise the Auror department and the rest of the Ministry, along with Hermione Granger (who became a high ranking official in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement). At some point, all three of them were featured on Chocolate Frog Cards for their accomplishments. Following the war, he aided in the care of his godson, Teddy Lupin, thus fulfilling the role that his own godfather, Sirius Black, never got to play. Harry had married Ginny sometime before 2014. By 2017, the couple had three children of their own: two sons James II and Albus Severus, and one daughter Lily Luna. Harry attended the final of the 427th Quidditch World Cup in early July of 2014 in the Patagonian Desert. Harry, James, and Albus joined Ginny Potter, who had been in Patagonia since the start of the Cup, in her capacity of special Quidditch correspondent to the Daily Prophet. Harry along with his family (including Teddy Lupin) and Dumbledore’s Army were granted access to the VIP section of the campsite. Harry embraced Viktor Krum, who was competing again after being retired for a few years, upon meeting him and introduced him to his sons, James and Albus. He also supported Bulgaria in the match together with the rest of his family (save for Albus) and looked “emotional” when Viktor Krum and his team had won the match.

On 1 September, 2017 Harry and Ginny took their three children to King’s Cross Station to see James and Albus off to Hogwarts. There, they met Ron and Hermione and their two children, Harry’s niece Rose and nephew Hugo. When Albus expressed a fear that he might be Sorted into Slytherin house, Harry told his son that Albus was named after two Hogwarts Headmasters of whom one was a Slytherin and “probably the bravest man [he] ever knew.” Harry assured him that his parents would be proud of him regardless of where he was Sorted. He also told him that the Sorting Hat would take his preferences into consideration, which happened to him when he was being Sorted.

Harry had Severus Snape’s portrait hung in the Headmaster’s office at Hogwarts. He also made occasional visits to the school to give lectures to the students on Defense Against the Dark Arts. Harry was also on “Christmas card” terms with his cousin Dudley Dursley and his family, and occasionally visited him, which were occasions dreaded by his own children. Harry also made peace with his former rival Draco Malfoy, something that his father and his friends were never able to do with Severus Snape. They were civil towards each other; however, their schoolboy enmity meant that they would never truly become friends.

Personality and Traits
Harry Potter was an extremely brave, loyal, and selfless person who possessed tremendous strength of character. He willingly went to what he truly believed to be his death because he believed that this was the only way to defeat the Dark Lord. Harry was also marked by what Lord Voldemort once deemed a “weakness for heroics” — he would go to great lengths and take great risks in order to help others, particularly his loved ones. Notably, this was taken advantage of by Voldemort in 1996, when he lured Harry to the Department of Mysteries by making him believe that his godfather was in danger. Harry was also very strong-willed and unafraid to stand up for himself. The fact that he was capable of repelling the Imperius Curse suggests that he had an unusually strong sense of himself and his morals. Dumbledore once made parallels between Harry’s traits and qualities that Salazar Slytherin looked for in his own hand-picked students, but noted that Harry’s choice not to draw on those qualities really defined who he was rather than the simple fact that he had them. "Hmm. Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. There’s talent, oh, yes — a thirst to prove yourself... But where to put you?"

- The Sorting Hat looking into Harry’s mind

Harry was perfectly prepared to put his friends’ needs and best interests first, shown by how he ended his relationship with Ginny Weasley, due to his concern for her well being (even though being with her was one of the best things that ever happened to him). The amount of trust that Harry put into his friends was so strong that he absolutely refused to consider that any of them would betray him to Voldemort. Considering that Harry knew a person who had betrayed all of his closest friends to Voldemort, his closest friends being Harry’s parents, godfather, and Remus Lupin who was there when Harry declared his trust in him, proves Harry’s ability to love so unconditionally. The closeness that Harry felt for many was great enough for him to behave violently if any of them were harmed. When his godfather was murdered by Bellatrix Lestrange, Harry attacked her in a grief-stricken rage of righteous anger and attempted to use the Cruciatus Curse on her. He also attacked Severus Snape after the latter murdered Albus Dumbledore. Ironically, the only people with whom Harry ever initiated a duel were Snape and Bellatrix and he only desired to do so right after they killed someone he loved. This highlights Harry’s bravery even further because Harry was fully aware that Snape and Bellatrix were two very skilled and experienced duelists, but did not hesitate to harm them as soon as he was pushed into it.

However, Harry was also accused of being arrogant, in particular by Severus Snape (although in fairness, Snape was extremely biased, and Harry often found being famous and admired very difficult), and could be hot-tempered and impulsive. This could sometimes make him rude to authority figures such as Professor Snape and Minister for Magic Rufus Scrimgeour. In contrast, Dumbledore stated that “many teachers report that [Harry’s] modest, likeable, and reasonably talented”. Harry was prone to moodiness and unkind remarks towards even his friends during his adolescence, though this is likely the result of the great emotional stress and trials he endured during this period. Harry was also not one to let bygones be bygones and had at best, a vengeful and at worst, a spiteful streak towards those who did him wrong. This varied from wanting to murder/torture those whom had performed unforgivable acts like Bellatrix, Voldemort, and Dolores Umbridge to a desire for pettiness towards Ron, Draco, Snape and the Dursleys. Harry even wanted Sirius (before learning of his innocence) and Pettigrew to suffer the Dementor’s kiss for their crimes and spent the entirety of the Horcrux hunt mad at Dumbledore for the latter’s lack of trust.

Harry possessed an instinctual, intuitive intelligence that allowed him to make intellectual leaps, as opposed to the logical intelligence of Hermione. For example, Harry divined the truth about the Deathly Hallows, well before Hermione would accept it. And although he was clever, Harry lacked intellectual curiosity, rarely putting forth effort into school work; for example, he relied on the notes of the Half-Blood Prince to get ahead in his sixth year Potions class rather than devoting time to studying (although he did study reasonably hard for his Ordinary Wizarding Levels, the only set of wizarding qualifications he sat at Hogwarts), and generally did his best magical work when tackling practical exams rather than theoretical ones. This could be a result of the lack of confidence that Harry developed from growing up with the Dursleys.

Barty Crouch Jr. (disguised as Alastor Moody) remarked that Harry possessed a streak of pride and independence that almost cost him the Triwizard Tournament. His pride didn’t allow him to ask for help regarding the problem of breathing underwater for an hour, which was required for the Second task that took place in the Black Lake, was what almost cost him the competition. Harry was also known for wanting to tackle challenges and obstacles on his own, without the aid or interference of others. His friends had to frequently remind him that he needed their assistance and that he “did not always have to go it alone”.

Harry also seemed to have a bit of an obsessive personality, a trait he shared with his arch enemy Lord Voldemort. He could be somewhat nosy and was known for sleuthing around and getting involved in things that did not concern him. For instance, during his sixth year Harry became intensely preoccupied with finding out what Malfoy was doing in his free time. He also developed on unhealthy obsession with the Deathly Hallows, to the point where he was listless with longing for the three artifacts. This period of listlessness lasted for many weeks during the hunt for Lord Voldemort’s Horcruxes.

Harry’s greatest strength was his ability to feel love, despite having a miserable childhood of neglect. Harry was extremely loyal to and protective of his loved ones and that love was what allowed him to overcome Voldemort. Dumbledore noted that Harry’s strength of will at resisting the temptation of the Dark Arts, even when granted a direct insight into Voldemort’s mind and methods was due to Harry’s ability to love. Harry even claimed that he felt sorry for Voldemort because of his inability to feel or understand love.

Harry was unfailingly kind and compassionate. This is shown by how he freed Dobby from the Malfoys and by standing up for Muggle-borns, half-bloods, and half-breeds (like Hagrid). This is likely attributable to his childhood, during which the Dursleys deprived him of compassion and discriminated against him due to his magical abilities. Also, Harry was not a cruel person and he never wished anyone harm. He rarely initiated duels, instead fighting in self-defense. Even after Bellatrix Lestrange had murdered his godfather, Harry failed to cast the Cruciatus Curse on her. Bellatrix noted the he had failed to cast the curse properly because he had cast it out of righteous anger and not malicious intent. In addition, he saved Peter Pettigrew from being killed by his (Pettigrew’s) former friends Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, though this was not done for humanitarian reasons but for the memory of his father. Harry had very good and nearly always right instincts. Harry had a strong awareness of the incalculable power of certain acts, which is never more apparent than when he realized that Ron Weasley was meant to destroy Slytherin’s locket.

In some ways, Harry can become extremely intimidating toward people such as Gilderoy Lockhart, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley. It is seen that Harry can become extremely frightening when pushed to the point of anger or extreme annoyance. When in a bad mood and argumentative, even Harry’s closest friends have been shown to be wary of him, usually replying to his angry tone in a calm and appeasing voice. The only person who does not appear to be afraid of him when he is angry (other than his teachers and other authority figures in his life) is Ginny Weasley. Harry seems to have good and long memory, as he remember the motorbike ride to Privet Drive with Hagrid when he was eleven and could remember the deaths of his mother and Voldemort’s laughter when the events occurred ten years earlier. Harry possessed a tremendous eyesight as well, he was able to locate the Golden Snitch (which was the size of a golf ball) in a massive Quidditch field. Harry also cared very much for his children. He made sure his younger son Albus Potter would not be teased a lot by Harry’s older son, James Potter.

Although never as given to sarcasm or humour as his best friend Ron, Harry often displayed a dry wit. For instance, on finding out that Hermione Granger intended to take twelve O.W.Ls, he asked her if she planned to eat or sleep at all that year. This humor often became more cutting when applied to people Harry disliked. When Harry first encountered Crookshanks, he remarked that he was either “a very large cat or quite a small tiger”. He was also known to apply his cutting wit to Severus Snape as well. During his first Potions lesson, Snape antagonized Harry with question after question, until Harry responded with “I don’t know. I think Hermione does, though, why don’t you try her?”

Although he never sought power himself and would be content with a normal life, when a situation required him to step up he would do so. Such as when he, Ron, and Hermione discovered Voldemort and Quirrell’s attempt to steal the Philosopher’s Stone and his time as teacher/leader of Dumbledore’s Army. Harry has shown not-inconsiderable leadership abilities, nerver seeking power for himself but simply having to assume the mantle of leadership due to circumstances beyond his control and found in the process that he did it well.

During his youth, Harry tended to see things in a rather stark, absolute manner, particularly when it came to the Hogwarts’ Houses. Harry generally regarded members of Slytherin House as evil and therefore his enemies, while Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs were allies. The former part could be due to his own status as a Gryffindor and that many of the Slytherins he encountered, such as Lord Voldemort, Draco Malfoy, and Severus Snape, were significant enemies of his during this period. In addition, many of his friends and allies, such as Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore, and Hagrid, were fellow Gryffindors. However, this mentality eroded as he aged, since he encountered both allies among Slytherin, such as Horace Slughorn (and later, Snape), and enemies among the other three Houses, such as Peter Pettigrew (a fellow Gryffindor) and Quirinus Quirrell (a Ravenclaw). By 2017, Harry had adopted a more moderate attitude on the Houses, telling his younger son Albus Potter that “it doesn’t matter to us” if Albus was Sorted in Slytherin or Gryffindor. In addition, Harry named that same son after Severus Snape, whom he recounted as “the bravest man [he] ever knew”.

Powers and Abilties
Harry was seen and had proven himself to be a very talented and powerful wizard. His power was evident from the start: he demonstrated immediate command of a broomstick, was able to conjure a corporeal Patronus at an exceptionally young age (a mark of superior magical ability), and even survived numerous encounters with Lord Voldemort. He mastered a wand made of hawthorn, which one should only ever consider placing in the hands of a witch or wizard of proven talent. Harry was also a very gifted flyer and Quidditch player.

Harry's greatest power of all was his ability to love. In spite of being raised by a family that treated him with anything but affection, Harry remarkably turned out capable of very strong love. For example, Harry's love for his friends caused him to sacrifice himself to Lord Voldemort. His love also caused him to feel no concern for his own well being or happiness when they were at risk, and put himself in danger many times to protect them. This loving sacrifice conferred a certain amount of protection onto his allies, making it so that spells Voldemort tried to place on them quickly wore off. Harry's ability to love has also protected and helped him on several occasions, such as when he defeated Quirrell by causing his skin to burn (due to the magical protection from his mother's sacrifice), produced a Patronus that could drive hundreds of Dementors away, repelled Voldemort himself when he possessed him, and allowed him to close the connection between him and Voldemort when he was unable to perform Occlumency. His love was strongest when directed at Ginny Weasley, who was the driving force that kept him going until Voldemort was defeated.

Harry was extremely adept in Defence Against the Dark Arts, having mastered all manners of spells, such as the: Stunning Spell, Disarming Charm, Impediment Jinx, Full Body-Bind Curse, and Reductor Curse. In fact, his Stunning Spell was so strong that opponents would get knocked out by it. He was also skilled at defending himself against Dark creatures such as Grindylows, Boggarts, and Dementors. In his fifth year, Professor Lupin said he showed a “pronounced aptitude” for the subject, and that he had “achieved high marks on all his Defence Against the Dark Arts tests.” Indeed, Harry was so good at DADA that when the Ministry of Magic prevented the subject from being taught effectively in 1995, he set up his own DADA club and successfully taught members how to defend themselves against the Dark Arts. He became an Auror after the Second Wizarding War, which also required considerable skill in both defensive and offensive magic. Harry also developed a high level of resistance to the Imperius Curse as well.

Despite his young age, Harry was an accomplished and skillful duelist. He was able to defeat Death Eaters and even survive numerous encounters with Lord Voldemort himself, whom he eventually defeated. In many battles of the Second Wizarding War, he was able to incapacitate more experienced Death Eaters. During the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, he was the only one of the six D.A. members to not be neither injured and, along with Remus Lupin, was the only fighter on their side to emerge from the battle physically unscathed. In that time he had defeated Lucius Malfoy and had defeated the infamous Antonin Dolohov twice. In 1997, Harry defeated Yaxley, Fenrir Greyback, and Thorfinn Rowle. During the Skirmish at Malfoy Manor he overpowered Lucius, Draco, and Narcrissa Malfoy and avoided direct conflict damage all throughout the Battle of Hogwarts (ensuring that mastery of the Elder Wand did not leave him). He was known to be a very quick draw and had an aggressive dueling style, even employing Unforgivable Curses (most notably against Bellatrix Lestrange and Bogrod). He has never used the Killing Curse, even against Voldemort. He was also known to taunt his opponents and get them to talk at length, angering them and throwing them mentally off-balance, buying himself more time or lulling them into lowering their guard. Harry was especially skilled in the Disarming Charm and it was his favorite spell. His most notable uses of this spell were when he formed Priori Incantatem with Voldemort and when he finally killed the Dark Lord. At the remarkably young age of seventeen Harry became an Auror and was promoted to Head of the Auror Office at only 26 years of age. Harry was one of the few non-Dark Wizards who was highly proficient in the Dark Arts at all levels. On top of being able to cast simple curses and jinxes, he could cast more powerful spells such as the Blasting Curse. He was also able to flawlessly cast the jinxes and curses in the Half-Blood Prince’s copy of Advanced Potion-Making.

Harry had inherited his father's talent for flying and for Quidditch. Harry showed immediate command of a broomstick in his first year, which made him a naturally good Seeker. This was the first magical skill for which he discovered an aptitude, as he found in 1991. In fact, at the mere age of eleven, Harry became the youngest Seeker in a century. His flying skills aided him when he had to capture Winged Keys to get past a challenge in the Philosopher's Stone Chambers, and also helped him in the Triwizard Tournament, and during the Battle of Hogwarts, during which he managed to escape a Fiendfyre inferno.

Because he carried a piece of Voldemort’s soul within himself, Harry was able to look into Voldemort’s mind from time to time up until 1998. He sometimes used this ability to monitor what Voldemort was doing. However, the ability was dangerous as well; Voldemort once used it, along with Legilimency, to plant a false vision in Harry’s mind of Sirius Black being tortured, which he used to lure Harry into a trap. Additionally, because of their connection, Harry felt a burning pain in his scar whenever he and Voldemort were in close proximity or whenever Voldemort felt strong emotions. Harry could also speak and understand Parseltongue for the same time period and reasons. Ultimately, Harry lost both abilities when the soul fragment in him was destroyed, as was Voldemort himself.

Harry mastered all three Deathly Hallows and accepted his own death. First, he inherited the Cloak of Invisibility from his father, James. Then, he inherited the Resurrection Stone from Dumbledore, which was inside a snitch. Finally, he won the Elder Wand from Draco Malfoy during the Skirmish at Malfoy Manor. All three were directly or indirectly employed by Harry in the Forbidden Forest: he was wearing the Cloak, using the Stone, and was preparing to be killed by the Wand. The only Hallow he choose to keep was the cloak due to his history with it; the stone was lost in the forest and the wand destroyed personally.

Harry's Potions ability was apparently better than it appeared. He achieved an 'Exceeds Expectations'[72] on his O.W.L. exam — proof of his proficiency in the subject. He was one of only twelve students able to reach the required level to take N.E.W.T. Potions.[73] He improved greatly during his sixth year when he came into possession of the Half-Blood Prince's copy of Advanced Potion-Making, that had revised versions of potions curtsey of the Half-Blood Prince (Severus Snape). However, the usage of this textbook was noted by both Hermione and Snape to be cheating, and when forced to hide it Harry's potion skills suffered. It was revealed, though, that even without the Prince's book, Harry was still able to do a decent enough job at potion-making that Slughorn's suspicions were not raised. Apparently, Harry had no problems with potions at all as long as Snape was not around.

Harry achieved an 'Exceeds Expectations' on his O.W.L. exam, showing proficiency in the subject and advanced to N.E.W.T.-level. He was able to perform Conjuration an advanced type of Transfiguration. In his sixth year Harry demonstrated this by conjuring ropes and water.[75] He could also vanish objects, which is one of the most complicated spells taught at Ordinary Wizarding Level. In 1996, Harry vanished the whole of an iguana and in 1997 a snake that crossed his path. He could also transform objects into other objects for example, he can cast the Avifors Spell. Harry is also skilled enough to perform human Transfiguration, which is noted to be "immensely difficult". He accomplished this during a 1996 Transfiguration lesson, were he succeeded in turning his eyebrow bright yellow. Minerva McGonagall herself complimented him on his Transfiguration ability.

Harry achieved an 'Exceeds Expectations'[78] on his O.W.L. exam and advanced to N.E.W.T.-level. He proved to be particularly talented in this subject. Harry frequently used the Summoning Charm successfully, would occasionally cast the protective enchantments that Hermione used during the Horcrux hunt, and was able to cast the Confundus Charm.[67] He displayed an impressive mastery of the Shield Charm surpassing that of many Ministry employees:[81] his Shield Charms were so powerful that they were able to deflect curses from Lord Voldemort himself. During the Battle of the Seven Potters, he was able to levitate a side-car with himself in it for a long stretch of time. He could also cast simpler charms such as the; Wand-Lighting Charm, Colour Change Charm, Banishing Charm, Refilling Charm, and various others. Under the teaching of Remus Lupin, Harry was able to conjure an extremely powerful corporeal Patronus in his third year (in the form of a stag), which was a remarkable feat and yet another proof of his talent, given that many adult wizards were unable to cast the difficult charm successfully Harry was able to effectively cast healing spells. He fixed Demelza Robins' broken lip in 1996 with a spell used to treat mild to moderate injuries.[82] He also used the healing spell for clearing up dried blood from a bleeding wound.

Harry had not earned a license to apparate, but he used the ability frequently during 1997 and 1998 to great success, even when forced to apparate with only a few seconds' notice or while guiding others.[18] He also used apparition in his sixth year to a very impressive degree to get himself and a weakened Albus Dumbledore over an incredibly vast distance even though he was inexperienced.

In 1995, when the Dementors attacked in Little Whinging, Dudley had knocked Harry's wand out of his hand when he punched him moments before. In desperation, Harry calls out "Lumos!" Although his wand was not in his hand, the wand tip lit up. During 1997 and 1998, Harry began using spells non-verbally and became quite proficient at it when Snape was not bothering him. He used both non-verbal and wandless magic in 1991, when he caused the glass window of a snake's cage at the zoo to vanish, and again in 1993, when he inflated Marge Dursley, although both of these occurrences were accidents fuelled by pure anger. Few other wizards have exhibited this power, although Dumbledore and Voldemort were among them. This further testifies to Harry's skill, as only some of the most powerful wizards of his time were able to do so.

Harry achieved an 'Exceeds Expectations' on his O.W.L. exam, he has shown on more than one occasion to have good skill in handling numerous sorts of magical creatures. For example, he was the first in his class to tame a Hippogriff, which he did very excellently.[86] He befriended the Hippogriff, Buckbeak, to the extent that Buckbeak defended him when he was in danger. Harry has also shown on three occasions that he is quite competent at dealing with dragons. This is shown when he was able to help Hagrid take care of baby Norbert the dragon, outsmart the Hungarian Horntail in the Triwizard Tournament, and tame a half-blind dragon into helping the trio escape Gringotts by flying out on its back. He was also one of very few in his class who was able to see Thestrals, and had no trouble mounting his in June 1996. Harry was also good with House-elves, befriending the house-elf Dobby and eventually freeing him, which made the little elf so loyal to him that he gave his life to save him.[57] He also earned the respect and loyalty of Kreacher, a very difficult task.

Harry attended N.E.W.T. Herbology classes. He achieved an 'Exceeds Expectations'[87] on his O.W.L. exam, showing aptitude in the subject. In 1998 Harry was able to recognise a Snargaluff plant at the Lovegood House and knew to gave it a wide berth of space.[88] He also had knowledge of plants such as: Devil's Snare, Gillyweed, Venomous Tentacula, and Fanged Geranium from hands on experience. He could cast plant-related spells such as the Fire-Making Spell[89] and Herbivicus Charm. Though not excellent at Astronomy, Harry was able to pass his O.W.L. exam with an 'Acceptable'.[90] Although it was stated that he didn't finish his exam, due to the fact that he was distracted by Dolores Umbridge's attempt to arrest Hagrid during the time the exam was being taken. It is not known if he was able to advance to the N.E.W.T class or not, seeing as he did not apply for advancement.

Harry was able to use Hermione's wand after his was broken during the Attack at Godric's Hollow in 1997. He was able to use spells such as: the Wand-Lighting Charm, the Shield Charm, and the Severing Charm at full strength, despite not having won the wand's allegiance. He also gained the allegiance of Draco Malfoy's wand, the Elder Wand, and quite possibly Voldemort's wand by defeating the previous masters.

Harry, along with Ron and Hermione, was also a formidably talented investigator. While in school, the trio had a knack for solving difficult mysteries and discovering the truth despite all attempts by others to conceal it, with Hermione generally finding the background information while Harry put the pieces together to make a coherent picture. In his first year, Harry uncovered the truth about the Philosopher's Stone and saved it from Voldemort. Over the next six years, he would solve the mystery of the Chamber of Secrets,[92] find the truth about the prophecy, and hunt down and destroy all of Voldemort's Horcruxes using his amazing deductive skills. Harry's deductive skills also allowed him to uncover the mystery of the Deathly Hallows[46] and learn that he mastered the three of them when even Ron and Hermione were initially sceptical of their existence. Harry also had a knack for spotting things that others did not, and had a sharp eye for details, as he was able to tell that Luna Lovegood had not been home in weeks by the state of her room, and he became suspicious when Dobby revealed that he had known that Harry was not getting any letters in 1992. His intelligence allowed him to intuitively know that Draco Malfoy had been branded with the Dark Mark despite no solid proof, that Malfoy was using the Room of Requirement as a work shop, and that he was having Crabbe and Goyle use Polyjuice Potion in order to disguise themselves as girls while keeping watch outside the room.

Harry showed resourcefulness in many different situations. In his first year, Harry impersonated the Bloody Baron, warning Peeves to stay away from the third floor that night so he wouldn't inconvenience the trio on their quest to save the Philosopher's Stone.[95] In his second year, when encountering Professor McGonagall on his and Ron's way to Moaning Myrtle's Bathroom, he lied and said that that they were on their way to see Hermione in the Hospital wing[96] also in his second year, he used a basilisk fang to destroy Riddle's Diary.[97] In his fifth year, while under interrogation from Umbridge, he relayed a coded message to Snape in an attempt to warn him and by extension the Order, that Voldemort had Sirius. In the same year, while surrounded by Death Eaters Harry came up with the plan to smash the shelves in the Hall of Prophecy as a distraction so that he and the D.A. could try and escape. During the hunt for Horcruxes, he used the Godric Gryffindor's Sword as a way of retrieving Helga Hufflepuff's cup from the mounds of burning treasure and used the half-blind Dragon as a means to escape from Gringotts Wizarding Bank.[67] Harry was also cunning enough that the Sorting Hat heavily considered Sorting him into Slytherin house.[98]

While Harry never deliberately set out to be a leader to others, he had often taken charge when the situation required it, beginning with his impulsive decision to find and warn Hermione about the presence of a troll in the school during the 1991 Halloween feast and progressing to the point where over thirty students, some of them older than Harry, respect him as a teacher in Dumbledore’s Army despite his age. Dumbledore later noted that Harry was a superior leader to him as Dumbledore had deliberately sought power in his youth, while Harry had leadership thrust upon him and accepted the burden, acknowledging his responsibilities towards those who “followed” him regardless of how uncomfortable he might feel about the prospect and coordinating his efforts against his enemies well, when left with no other option but to take control. Having mastered many spells at a young age, Harry was a good teacher, even when he himself was still a student. Harry appears to possess an unbreakable spirit and, though not above depression, he has never truly given up on any mission. He's been shown to rise from defeat and loss, such as the deaths of many loved ones, even stronger than before. His indomitable will is exemplified by his ability to resist the Imperius Curse, and also by the fact that he had never begged for mercy even in life-and-death situations, but fought back in defiance, as well as perform non-verbal spells flawlessly. His inability to perform Occlumency, despite possessing the required willpower, is due to his inability to keep his emotions under control at times, and only once, during his lessons with Snape, did he managed to slightly escape Legilimency, but faltered again in the subsequent attempt.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2