What with the Harry Potter movie looming close (and possibly even out, I don't actually know), it's only natural that people will be asking what it's about. There may be some people on this planet who don't know that, for example, Harry Potter is ... a wizard. I personally have met some people who thought he was a baker. And that's why I'm here (not because there are some people who think Harry Potter is a baker, because frankly they're too stupid to ever be redeemed), because some people don't know what all the hype is about. I've written this page to tell them.
I'm going to start off with a brief summary of the first book in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
The book centres around Harry Potter, which would initially seem obvious but is not necessarily the case. For example, I can think of numerous books wherein the title is not really connected to the events in that book. For example, ummm, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. This title is rather irrelevant. As I remember, the phrase is used once in the book, but it isn't actually connected to anything at all. So, we shouldn't take it for granted that just because the book is called Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, that it's actually about Harry Potter. It is, of course, but we shouldn't take it for granted that it is, otherwise by the time Book 7 rolls around, J. K. Rowling (that's the author, for the uninitiated among us) might be churning out biochemistry textbooks and entitling them 'Harry Potter and the Witch of Wurzluke'. Not that I think she would. It's just we shouldn't take it for granted that she wouldn't, that's all.
Right. So, Harry Potter is a wizard, which again would seem self-evident for those who have read the book, or indeed know anything at all about Harry Potter, but for those who don't, then it's not quite as obvious as it first appears. I mean, there isn't really anything in the name 'Harry Potter' to suggest that he's a wizard, is there? So, we shouldn't take it for granted that he is. I mean, he is, but we shouldn't take it for granted that he is.
Anyway. Harry Potter, being a wizard, became a wizard because his father was a wizard and his mother was a witch. Now, this too would seem obvious, but it's not necessarily the case. I mean, Hermione Granger, in the same series of books that we are currently talking about (Harry Potter books, for the forgetful among us), is a witch, but her parents weren't. And also, Willow, in a particularly good television series entitled 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' is a witch, but her parents aren't. So, we shouldn't take it for granted that just because Harry Potter is a wizard that his parents were a wizard and a witch respectively. I mean, they were, but we shouldn't take it for granted that they were.
So Harry Potter's parents were a witch and a wizard, and they got in a little bit of an altercation with a wizard called Voldemort. Now, everyone who has read the books or heard the name Voldemort probably knows that he's a Dark Wizard - indeed, a baddy. But for those of us who haven't, it's not as obvious as it might seem. As with Harry Potter, there isn't anything in the name 'Voldemort' that immediately suggests 'Dark Wizard', is there? (Not that Harry Potter is a Dark Wizard, although he could be. But he isn't. It's just we shouldn't take it for granted that he isn't, that's all.) So, just because we know Voldemort is a Dark Wizard, we shouldn't automatically assume that he IS a Dark Wizard. I mean, he is, but we shouldn't just take it for granted that he is.
Right, so, Harry Potter's parents have this fight with Voldemort almost as soon as Harry is born. The official theory among the wizards is that Voldemort was trying to kill Harry Potter. We shouldn't however, just take this for granted. Just because Voldemort is a Dark Wizard doesn't mean he was trying to kill Harry Potter himself. I mean, what would his motive be? Harry is just a baby. Are we supposed to assume that Voldemort is just a big, bad baddy who likes killing babies? Well ... no, actually. As far as I remember, there was a prophecy that said that Harry would be the one to defeat Voldemort. So Voldemort, supposedly, attacks Harry Potter's parents to get to Harry. But we shouldn't just assume that this is his motive. I mean, it is, but we shouldn't just take it for granted, that's all.
Right, I think I'll stop at this point, because, as we can all see, I'm really not getting anywhere. Summarising 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone' is a task too difficult for me. Which is frankly rather worrying, as one of my next history assignments here is one which includes summarising a text considerably more complex than 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone', so I think I'll go away and panic about that now.