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fandomhigh_ooc2007-05-27 02:22 pm
smartestone) wrote in fandomhigh_ooc2007-05-27 02:22 pm
Entry tags:
Spotlight on Fandoms: Harry Potter
So hi again! I'm not sure if there's anyone here who actually doesn't know Harry Potter, at least slightly, mostly because I know I couldn't avoid it before I got into it myself. But for the newbies, and people who just like to read this stuff, I bring you babble! Lots of it!
Spoilers for the first six books below, because it's just impossible to do this without them. You've been warned.
WHAT IS HARRY POTTER, ANYWAY?
Harry Potter is a series of soon-to-be seven books written by J.K. Rowling that kind of became a little phenomenon unto itself. The first book was published in 1997, and I'm not really sure when the whole thing took off? I just know that when I was at a Scaper gathering in 2000, we had to go to get Goblet of Fire at midnight because we'd unthinkingly scheduled it for the weekend of the book's release, and one girl stayed up literally all night so she could finish it before we went out to do anything the next day. So yeah, people get kind of into it.
The series has spawned four movies, video games, a rabid fan culture, books explaining more details of the books, and merchandise like woah. There are websites that give every little detail about the books/book and movie production, there are coordinated events for the books' release, and probably the biggest thing is that the books have actually gotten a lot of kids reading because they want to. Niiiice!
THE PREMISE
So way back in the day, a Dark Wizard named Voldemort came to hunt down a baby boy named Harry Potter, who was prophesied to bring him down. This totally failed, Voldemort was banished, and Harry was placed with relatives who didn't tell him any of this until he learned on his eleventh birthday that he was a wizard, and could get the hell away from them.
Harry ends up at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where he makes new friends, takes up a sport, gets a couple mentor figures, and finds out Voldemort's trying to make a comeback and as like in all good stories, Harry's going to have to be the one to take him down.
No pressure, or anything. Especially for a kid who'll be a whopping seventeen years old at the end of book seven.
THE CHARACTERS
There are about eight billion of them, but I'll try to keep it short. Er. Relatively.
Harry Potter- Meet the Boy Who Lived. Harry's bespectacled with really bad hair and is your average kid... except for the prophecy and the whole orphan thing and the wizard bit and how he's kind of famous and he's much friendlier with some of his teachers than any growing child has a right to be. Okay, whatever. He's still a clueless kid who would rather goof off or play Quidditch than learn things, and okay, maybe he gets a little angsty and capslocky in book five. He grew up and got better, didn't he? Yeah, I thought so.
Ron Weasley- Harry's BFF, Ron is a boy. And I mean that in omg, he is just such a teenage boy he's both adorable for it and occasionally needs to be thwapped. He doesn't have the best self-confidence and is occasionally prone to being jealous of his famous best friend, or anyone who might like Hermione, but he's a good friend who sticks close when he's really needed. Also, he gets points for having the best family ever. Totally counts.
Hermione Granger- Hermione had a very normal Muggle upbringing until she found out she was a witch and went to Hogwarts. Despite this, she studied like a mofo to end up being the brightest witch in her year. A bossy little know-it-all who even in the books I can picture having the world's best eyeroll, Hermione is very big on helping those who need it. She also does eventually lighten up in her attitude towards rule-breaking (especially when it comes to Ron and Harry), probably making everyone around her want to smack her less.
Albus Dumbledore- Dumbledore is your archetypal mentor figure. The headmaster of Hogwarts, he's the leader of the fight against Voldemort, and was the person who placed Harry with his relatives when his parents died. He keeps a close eye on Harry at Hogwarts, serving as a guide and preparing him (sometimes wrongly, oops) for his fight with Voldemort.
Voldemort- Once upon a time he was Tom Riddle, a half-blood with daddy issues who went on to become a seriously Dark Wizard with his own band of pureblood thugs called Death Eaters who had a grudge against half-bloods and Muggle-borns. He sounds nice, huh? Not at all like any mass-murdering genocidal historical figures, right? Yeah. So anyway, not killing Harry banished him for twelve years, till a servant of his managed to bring him back. Now, er, slightly deformed, he's back and is trying to pick up where he left off. Also, kinda pissy that he got thwarted by a baby.
Severus Snape- Head of Slytherin House, Snape is the Potions master (primarily, anyway), and transferred his hate of Harry's dad onto Harry like all good, well-adjusted adults do. He was a Death Eater when Voldemort was the new big thing, but acted as a double agent for Dumbledore's side. Harry never trusted him, and his current status is up for debate.
Draco Malfoy- A spoiled rich pureblood, Malfoy (at least in the books; he's more widely known as Draco in the fandom) is the ringleader of the Slytherin boys in Harry's year, and he and Harry got off to a bad start right away. His dad went to jail at the end of his fifth year, which kinda put a little bit of pressure on him.
Sirius Black- Sirius was a friend of Harry's dad from his Hogwarts days (the Marauders, who learned how to turn themselves into animals... save for the werewolf who could do that anyway) and also, Harry's godfather. But he didn't get Harry when his parents died because he was arrested and sent to the wizard prison Azkaban for being a Death Eater. Only he was a good guy. Oops. He broke out, and helped Harry while on the run afterwards, until he figured out too late he probably should have stayed indoors one particular day.
Hagrid- Originally the Hogwarts groundskeeper, Hagrid is a half-giant with a liking for big and/or dangerous animals that he's more than happy to unleash on his students when he takes over as the Care of Magical Creatures professor. He's not very good at it. He became a good friend to the trio and Dumbledore trusts him like woah, even if he makes really huge mistakes sometimes. (See also, Care of Magical Creatures.)
Neville Longbottom- Neville is so the kid that gets picked last in sports, and you're kinda not sure why he tries, except that he's totally got it in him to do so. His parents were members of the Order, which effectively led to him being orphaned, and that wouldn't really be important except he might have been the one meant to defeat Voldemort and not Harry. Oops.
Ginny Weasley- The youngest Weasley and only girl, Ginny starts off as a kind of barely-there character who later gets possessed by Tom Riddle, is barely-there again, and finally gets a personality. And the boy. (I wouldn't spoil which boy, except it may have been impossible to miss the shipping wars of summer '05, so. La.)
Still notable, because omg, you try to list out who's important/needed and the list just keeps on freaking going:
Luna Lovegood- A Ravenclaw in Ginny's year, Luna gives off the impression of not operating with all of her screws tightened exactly right. She's a bit on the eccentric side, but went along with Harry and the others to the Department of Mysteries and helped out. And I don't think JKR brings in characters for stuff like that without having a plan.
Minerva McGonagall- Deputy Headmistress, Head of Gryffindor and Transfiguration teacher, McGonagall (not McGoogles, thank you so very much, SBP, for that typo) is Dumbledore's second in command and a member of the Order. Also, she can turn into a cat. Wow, that feels random.
Peter Pettigrew- Peter, aka Wormtail, was a Marauder who went Death Eater when no one was looking. He's the one who actually told Voldemort where James and Lily were, and Sirius went to prison for him. And Wormtail went into hiding after Voldemort was beaten, resurfacing in order to bring him back. The dummy.
The other Weasleys- There are nine of them. Nine. Which would be why they don't have a lot of money. There's Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred and George (in addition to Ron and Ginny), and they all kind of rule. Except Percy, who can DIE IN A FIRE. The Weasleys deserve a better kid. Anyway, dad Arthur works at the Ministry and is completely obsessed with all things Muggle, and mom Molly is a housewife in charge of keeping all the kids in line. They kind of unofficially adopt Harry, and are just a great family. I totally wanna be a Weasley.
James and Lily Potter- So James and Lily met at Hogwarts, got married, had Harry, went to work for the Order, faced down Voldemort a few times, and ended up getting betrayed and killed for it. Woe. Lily could have let Voldemort kill Harry and lived herself, but instead she died trying to save him, and thusly protected him with that.
Remus Lupin- Once a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Lupin resigned after it got out that he was a werewolf. Another Marauder, he's one of the members of the Order of the Phoenix and is still around which is good because I lurve him. And I just can't put the other Marauders up here without him. I can't. Shut up.
Cedric Diggory- A Hufflepuff, Cedric didn't really have much to do until the Triwizard Tournament, in which he was selected as the first champion for Hogwarts. He and Harry clashed a little on Harry's inclusion into the tournament, but ended up helping each other out and even decided to win together to take the victory for Hogwarts. Except that's when Voldemort decided to come back, and he hadn't intended for Cedric to be there, so he made sure Cedric didn't stay there for long. Woe.
Cho Chang- Harry's crush from his fourth year, she was also Cedric's girlfriend and had a rough time of it when he died. Regardless, she and Harry eventually hooked up for a short little trainwreck. She cries a lot. Like, a lot. Cheer up, emo kid.
Rita Skeeter- Ah, Rita. A reporter for the Daily Prophet, she and her Quick Quotes Quill both raised Harry up in the media spotlight and tore him down, until Hermione screwed her over but good. And she came back, yay. Okay, you know what, she's not really necessary, but she's fabulous.
The Dursleys- Harry's family. His aunt Petunia was Lily's sister, and she married Vernon, and they have a son, Dudley, who is Harry's age and like, three times his size. The whole family's nasty, they don't want Harry around, and are really kind of cruel to him unless Harry stands up for himself/someone does it for him.
And seriously, I could be here all day talking about Umbridge and Dobby and Trelawney and Moody and Lucius and Parvati and Lavender and and blah blah blah blah blah, but I think I've A) covered everyone who's gone to FH and 2) THIS IS LONG ENOUGH OMG.
THE BOOKS
And this would be a quick rundown, as spoiler-free as I can. Not like I didn't spoil the hell out of everyone with the character section.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's/Sorceror's Stone- (1997) Harry leaves his very normal Muggle family in order to learn to be a Wizard at Hogwarts. He makes friends, makes enemies, joins the Quidditch team way early, and ultimately faces Voldemort for the first time in the form of a possessed teacher. A Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher dies, and Harry goes back home at the end of the year.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets- (1998) Harry returns for his second year, where people start getting petrified mysteriously and someone is threatening "Mudbloods", aka people with non-magical parents. Harry faces Voldemort for the second time in the form of his younger self. A Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher goes batty, and Harry goes home at the end of the year.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban- (1999) Harry returns for his third year, where he and his friends actually get to leave campus from time to time, woo. Harry comes upon a very usefulplot device map, learns a few new useful spells, thwarts Dementors, and finds out his godfather isn't such a bad guy after all. Voldemort stays quiet for once. A Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher quits, and Harry goes home at the end of the year.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire- (2000) Harry returns for his fourth year, where Hogwarts is kicking things up a notch by inviting other schools to participate in the Triwizard Championship. Harry should be too young to be in it, but he's selected to be a champion mysteriously. The kids discover hormones, Harry fights a dragon, and Voldemort returns. A Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, um, leaves, and Harry goes home at the end of the year, which is kind of lucky for him when you think about it.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix- (2003) Dementors come looking for Harry during the summer, he's taken to stay with Sirius and the other members of the group plotting to take out Voldemort and stop the upcoming wizarding war. He goes on trial, then returns to Hogwarts for his fifth year, where he's not that popular for saying Voldemort's back and he killed a kid. Harry starts a new club, gets his first kiss, has to deal with a closed-minded racist bitchy little new DADA teacher, is capslocky with rage and angst, and learns a couple new skills except he's too stubborn to listen. He faces Voldemort for a fourth time, loses someone close to him, finds out about a prophecy, and generally has the worst day ever. A Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is GONE! GONE LIKE A GONE THING! And Harry goes home at the end of the year.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince- (2005) The wizarding world is stuck dealing with Voldemort's attacks, and DENY HIS RETURN NOW, MINISTRY, HA! Ahem. Harry returns for his sixth year, much less capslocky, where he investigates Voldemort's past, learns how not to suck at Potions, decides Malfoy is a Death Eater, learns to Apparate, gets a girlfriend, Ron is a total boy (as is Blaise Zabini, oops), and the fandom explodes in both shippy glee AND outrage. Harry loses someone else close to him, a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, um, isn't around at the end, and Harry decides he has something to do that isn't school.
WHY YOU SHOULD READ/WATCH
The Harry Potter books are marketed for kids, but they're not really for kids. I started reading the books at 23 and became wholly addicted. Lemme put it this way: my mom got hooked on it after book five. The characters seem very real to me, in that they both have their good and bad moments, sometimes need a hug and sometimes need to be smacked. And while the format of the books may seem formulaic (see above), I have to give credit for a series that can still make me flail regardless of that.
Or you should read so you finally have some idea wtf everyone else is talking about.
HOW TO GET IT
All six published books are available from Scholastic, on Amazon or at your local bookstore, Target, Wal-Mart... I've seen them at Best Buy and in the grocery store even. The movies (Sorcerer's Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban and Goblet of Fire) are available pretty much anywhere you find movies, and GOF is getting a lot of play on cable right now.
Now. The final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, is going to be released on July 21, 2007. This is a week after the fifth movie, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, is released on July 13, 2007. Hello, oversaturation! (It should be noted that while I ran screaming from the fandom myself, I will be GLUED TO THE INTERNET (and also, F_W) in July.)
A trailer for OOTP can be seen here. It actually kinda looks awesome, IMO. Tickets will undoubtedly be up for presale and midnight showings.
Supplemental books Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and Quidditch Through the Ages are available at Amazon, either separately or as a set.
The Deathly Hallows is available for preorder at Amazon, along with most bookstores.
Okay. *breathes* Any comments, questions, apologies for any characters, etc. etc.?
I gotta tell you, my spellcheck hated all of that.
Spoilers for the first six books below, because it's just impossible to do this without them. You've been warned.
WHAT IS HARRY POTTER, ANYWAY?
Harry Potter is a series of soon-to-be seven books written by J.K. Rowling that kind of became a little phenomenon unto itself. The first book was published in 1997, and I'm not really sure when the whole thing took off? I just know that when I was at a Scaper gathering in 2000, we had to go to get Goblet of Fire at midnight because we'd unthinkingly scheduled it for the weekend of the book's release, and one girl stayed up literally all night so she could finish it before we went out to do anything the next day. So yeah, people get kind of into it.
The series has spawned four movies, video games, a rabid fan culture, books explaining more details of the books, and merchandise like woah. There are websites that give every little detail about the books/book and movie production, there are coordinated events for the books' release, and probably the biggest thing is that the books have actually gotten a lot of kids reading because they want to. Niiiice!
THE PREMISE
So way back in the day, a Dark Wizard named Voldemort came to hunt down a baby boy named Harry Potter, who was prophesied to bring him down. This totally failed, Voldemort was banished, and Harry was placed with relatives who didn't tell him any of this until he learned on his eleventh birthday that he was a wizard, and could get the hell away from them.
Harry ends up at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where he makes new friends, takes up a sport, gets a couple mentor figures, and finds out Voldemort's trying to make a comeback and as like in all good stories, Harry's going to have to be the one to take him down.
No pressure, or anything. Especially for a kid who'll be a whopping seventeen years old at the end of book seven.
THE CHARACTERS
There are about eight billion of them, but I'll try to keep it short. Er. Relatively.
Harry Potter- Meet the Boy Who Lived. Harry's bespectacled with really bad hair and is your average kid... except for the prophecy and the whole orphan thing and the wizard bit and how he's kind of famous and he's much friendlier with some of his teachers than any growing child has a right to be. Okay, whatever. He's still a clueless kid who would rather goof off or play Quidditch than learn things, and okay, maybe he gets a little angsty and capslocky in book five. He grew up and got better, didn't he? Yeah, I thought so.
Ron Weasley- Harry's BFF, Ron is a boy. And I mean that in omg, he is just such a teenage boy he's both adorable for it and occasionally needs to be thwapped. He doesn't have the best self-confidence and is occasionally prone to being jealous of his famous best friend, or anyone who might like Hermione, but he's a good friend who sticks close when he's really needed. Also, he gets points for having the best family ever. Totally counts.
Hermione Granger- Hermione had a very normal Muggle upbringing until she found out she was a witch and went to Hogwarts. Despite this, she studied like a mofo to end up being the brightest witch in her year. A bossy little know-it-all who even in the books I can picture having the world's best eyeroll, Hermione is very big on helping those who need it. She also does eventually lighten up in her attitude towards rule-breaking (especially when it comes to Ron and Harry), probably making everyone around her want to smack her less.
Albus Dumbledore- Dumbledore is your archetypal mentor figure. The headmaster of Hogwarts, he's the leader of the fight against Voldemort, and was the person who placed Harry with his relatives when his parents died. He keeps a close eye on Harry at Hogwarts, serving as a guide and preparing him (sometimes wrongly, oops) for his fight with Voldemort.
Voldemort- Once upon a time he was Tom Riddle, a half-blood with daddy issues who went on to become a seriously Dark Wizard with his own band of pureblood thugs called Death Eaters who had a grudge against half-bloods and Muggle-borns. He sounds nice, huh? Not at all like any mass-murdering genocidal historical figures, right? Yeah. So anyway, not killing Harry banished him for twelve years, till a servant of his managed to bring him back. Now, er, slightly deformed, he's back and is trying to pick up where he left off. Also, kinda pissy that he got thwarted by a baby.
Severus Snape- Head of Slytherin House, Snape is the Potions master (primarily, anyway), and transferred his hate of Harry's dad onto Harry like all good, well-adjusted adults do. He was a Death Eater when Voldemort was the new big thing, but acted as a double agent for Dumbledore's side. Harry never trusted him, and his current status is up for debate.
Draco Malfoy- A spoiled rich pureblood, Malfoy (at least in the books; he's more widely known as Draco in the fandom) is the ringleader of the Slytherin boys in Harry's year, and he and Harry got off to a bad start right away. His dad went to jail at the end of his fifth year, which kinda put a little bit of pressure on him.
Sirius Black- Sirius was a friend of Harry's dad from his Hogwarts days (the Marauders, who learned how to turn themselves into animals... save for the werewolf who could do that anyway) and also, Harry's godfather. But he didn't get Harry when his parents died because he was arrested and sent to the wizard prison Azkaban for being a Death Eater. Only he was a good guy. Oops. He broke out, and helped Harry while on the run afterwards, until he figured out too late he probably should have stayed indoors one particular day.
Hagrid- Originally the Hogwarts groundskeeper, Hagrid is a half-giant with a liking for big and/or dangerous animals that he's more than happy to unleash on his students when he takes over as the Care of Magical Creatures professor. He's not very good at it. He became a good friend to the trio and Dumbledore trusts him like woah, even if he makes really huge mistakes sometimes. (See also, Care of Magical Creatures.)
Neville Longbottom- Neville is so the kid that gets picked last in sports, and you're kinda not sure why he tries, except that he's totally got it in him to do so. His parents were members of the Order, which effectively led to him being orphaned, and that wouldn't really be important except he might have been the one meant to defeat Voldemort and not Harry. Oops.
Ginny Weasley- The youngest Weasley and only girl, Ginny starts off as a kind of barely-there character who later gets possessed by Tom Riddle, is barely-there again, and finally gets a personality. And the boy. (I wouldn't spoil which boy, except it may have been impossible to miss the shipping wars of summer '05, so. La.)
Still notable, because omg, you try to list out who's important/needed and the list just keeps on freaking going:
Luna Lovegood- A Ravenclaw in Ginny's year, Luna gives off the impression of not operating with all of her screws tightened exactly right. She's a bit on the eccentric side, but went along with Harry and the others to the Department of Mysteries and helped out. And I don't think JKR brings in characters for stuff like that without having a plan.
Minerva McGonagall- Deputy Headmistress, Head of Gryffindor and Transfiguration teacher, McGonagall (not McGoogles, thank you so very much, SBP, for that typo) is Dumbledore's second in command and a member of the Order. Also, she can turn into a cat. Wow, that feels random.
Peter Pettigrew- Peter, aka Wormtail, was a Marauder who went Death Eater when no one was looking. He's the one who actually told Voldemort where James and Lily were, and Sirius went to prison for him. And Wormtail went into hiding after Voldemort was beaten, resurfacing in order to bring him back. The dummy.
The other Weasleys- There are nine of them. Nine. Which would be why they don't have a lot of money. There's Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred and George (in addition to Ron and Ginny), and they all kind of rule. Except Percy, who can DIE IN A FIRE. The Weasleys deserve a better kid. Anyway, dad Arthur works at the Ministry and is completely obsessed with all things Muggle, and mom Molly is a housewife in charge of keeping all the kids in line. They kind of unofficially adopt Harry, and are just a great family. I totally wanna be a Weasley.
James and Lily Potter- So James and Lily met at Hogwarts, got married, had Harry, went to work for the Order, faced down Voldemort a few times, and ended up getting betrayed and killed for it. Woe. Lily could have let Voldemort kill Harry and lived herself, but instead she died trying to save him, and thusly protected him with that.
Remus Lupin- Once a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Lupin resigned after it got out that he was a werewolf. Another Marauder, he's one of the members of the Order of the Phoenix and is still around which is good because I lurve him. And I just can't put the other Marauders up here without him. I can't. Shut up.
Cedric Diggory- A Hufflepuff, Cedric didn't really have much to do until the Triwizard Tournament, in which he was selected as the first champion for Hogwarts. He and Harry clashed a little on Harry's inclusion into the tournament, but ended up helping each other out and even decided to win together to take the victory for Hogwarts. Except that's when Voldemort decided to come back, and he hadn't intended for Cedric to be there, so he made sure Cedric didn't stay there for long. Woe.
Cho Chang- Harry's crush from his fourth year, she was also Cedric's girlfriend and had a rough time of it when he died. Regardless, she and Harry eventually hooked up for a short little trainwreck. She cries a lot. Like, a lot. Cheer up, emo kid.
Rita Skeeter- Ah, Rita. A reporter for the Daily Prophet, she and her Quick Quotes Quill both raised Harry up in the media spotlight and tore him down, until Hermione screwed her over but good. And she came back, yay. Okay, you know what, she's not really necessary, but she's fabulous.
The Dursleys- Harry's family. His aunt Petunia was Lily's sister, and she married Vernon, and they have a son, Dudley, who is Harry's age and like, three times his size. The whole family's nasty, they don't want Harry around, and are really kind of cruel to him unless Harry stands up for himself/someone does it for him.
And seriously, I could be here all day talking about Umbridge and Dobby and Trelawney and Moody and Lucius and Parvati and Lavender and and blah blah blah blah blah, but I think I've A) covered everyone who's gone to FH and 2) THIS IS LONG ENOUGH OMG.
THE BOOKS
And this would be a quick rundown, as spoiler-free as I can. Not like I didn't spoil the hell out of everyone with the character section.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's/Sorceror's Stone- (1997) Harry leaves his very normal Muggle family in order to learn to be a Wizard at Hogwarts. He makes friends, makes enemies, joins the Quidditch team way early, and ultimately faces Voldemort for the first time in the form of a possessed teacher. A Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher dies, and Harry goes back home at the end of the year.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets- (1998) Harry returns for his second year, where people start getting petrified mysteriously and someone is threatening "Mudbloods", aka people with non-magical parents. Harry faces Voldemort for the second time in the form of his younger self. A Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher goes batty, and Harry goes home at the end of the year.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban- (1999) Harry returns for his third year, where he and his friends actually get to leave campus from time to time, woo. Harry comes upon a very useful
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire- (2000) Harry returns for his fourth year, where Hogwarts is kicking things up a notch by inviting other schools to participate in the Triwizard Championship. Harry should be too young to be in it, but he's selected to be a champion mysteriously. The kids discover hormones, Harry fights a dragon, and Voldemort returns. A Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, um, leaves, and Harry goes home at the end of the year, which is kind of lucky for him when you think about it.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix- (2003) Dementors come looking for Harry during the summer, he's taken to stay with Sirius and the other members of the group plotting to take out Voldemort and stop the upcoming wizarding war. He goes on trial, then returns to Hogwarts for his fifth year, where he's not that popular for saying Voldemort's back and he killed a kid. Harry starts a new club, gets his first kiss, has to deal with a closed-minded racist bitchy little new DADA teacher, is capslocky with rage and angst, and learns a couple new skills except he's too stubborn to listen. He faces Voldemort for a fourth time, loses someone close to him, finds out about a prophecy, and generally has the worst day ever. A Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is GONE! GONE LIKE A GONE THING! And Harry goes home at the end of the year.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince- (2005) The wizarding world is stuck dealing with Voldemort's attacks, and DENY HIS RETURN NOW, MINISTRY, HA! Ahem. Harry returns for his sixth year, much less capslocky, where he investigates Voldemort's past, learns how not to suck at Potions, decides Malfoy is a Death Eater, learns to Apparate, gets a girlfriend, Ron is a total boy (as is Blaise Zabini, oops), and the fandom explodes in both shippy glee AND outrage. Harry loses someone else close to him, a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, um, isn't around at the end, and Harry decides he has something to do that isn't school.
WHY YOU SHOULD READ/WATCH
The Harry Potter books are marketed for kids, but they're not really for kids. I started reading the books at 23 and became wholly addicted. Lemme put it this way: my mom got hooked on it after book five. The characters seem very real to me, in that they both have their good and bad moments, sometimes need a hug and sometimes need to be smacked. And while the format of the books may seem formulaic (see above), I have to give credit for a series that can still make me flail regardless of that.
Or you should read so you finally have some idea wtf everyone else is talking about.
HOW TO GET IT
All six published books are available from Scholastic, on Amazon or at your local bookstore, Target, Wal-Mart... I've seen them at Best Buy and in the grocery store even. The movies (Sorcerer's Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban and Goblet of Fire) are available pretty much anywhere you find movies, and GOF is getting a lot of play on cable right now.
Now. The final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, is going to be released on July 21, 2007. This is a week after the fifth movie, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, is released on July 13, 2007. Hello, oversaturation! (It should be noted that while I ran screaming from the fandom myself, I will be GLUED TO THE INTERNET (and also, F_W) in July.)
A trailer for OOTP can be seen here. It actually kinda looks awesome, IMO. Tickets will undoubtedly be up for presale and midnight showings.
Supplemental books Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and Quidditch Through the Ages are available at Amazon, either separately or as a set.
The Deathly Hallows is available for preorder at Amazon, along with most bookstores.
Okay. *breathes* Any comments, questions, apologies for any characters, etc. etc.?
I gotta tell you, my spellcheck hated all of that.
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You forgot to talk about Harry's half-sister, Sapphire Marie Evans-Snape, the lovechild of Lily and Sevvy (YES, SEVVY) who was raised in sekrit by Remus. She has eyes that change with her mood and an UNICORN.
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AHAHAHAHAHAHAA! Oh, the wank that sprung from Blaise being a boy. Oh, HP.