Thursday, August 20, 2009

Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince


Having returned to power, Death Eaters attack both the Muggle and Wizarding worlds, while Lord Voldemort has given Draco Malfoy an assignment. Bellatrix Lestrange goads Severus Snape into making an Unbreakable Vow with Draco's mother, Narcissa, to protect Draco while he works to carry out the assignment if he fails. Scarred by his experience at the Ministry of Magic with Voldemort, Harry is reluctant to return to school. Dumbledore encourages Harry to continue and takes his help in enticing former Potions Professor Horace Slughorn to return to Hogwarts. Later, while leaving Fred and George's new shop in Diagon Alley, Harry, Ron and Hermione notice Draco associating with Bellatrix Lestrange, Fenrir Greyback and Narcissa Malfoy in Borgin and Burkes, leaving Harry suspicious.

On the Hogwarts Express, Harry follows Malfoy suspiciously under the Invisiblity Cloak and overhears him saying he has an important job to do. Malfoy works out Harry is there and paralyses him with the Body-Binding Curse. Malfoy breaks his nose and hides him under the Cloak so that he will be taken back to London while unable to move. He is however saved by Luna Lovegood.

At Hogwarts, Harry and Ron borrow textbooks from the school for Slughorn's Potions class. The previous owner of Harry's copy, the "Half-Blood Prince", has annotated the book with additional instructions and spellcraft that allow Harry to excel in class and win a vial of the luck potion Felix Felicis. After making it as Keeper in the Quidditch team, Ron becomes a Quidditch hero and he forms a relationship with Lavender Brown, which leaves Hermione heartbroken. At the same time, Ginny Weasley is in a relationship with Dean Thomas, which in turn, leaves Harry distraught. He hides his feelings from all but Hermione, however, knowing Ron is very protective of Ginny and would never allow a relationship between them. Harry spends Christmas Break with the Weasleys, during which he discusses the situation at Hogwarts with Order of the Phoenix members Arthur Weasley, Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks. During this time, he becomes closer to Ginny, who has since broken up with Dean Thomas. Bellatrix Lestrange and Fenrir Greyback attack the Burrow and attempt to kidnap Harry. The Order is able to keep everyone safe, but the Death Eaters set fire to the Burrow.

Draco continues to elude Harry while perfecting the use of a Vanishing Cabinet inside the Room of Requirement. Harry suspects Draco is behind two attempts on Dumbledore's life: one through a cursed necklace (which accidentally hospitalizes Katie Bell), and another through a bottle of poisoned mead which nearly kills Ron. In his semi-comatose state, Ron mumbles Hermione's name, causing his relationship with Lavender to end.

During a confrontation with Draco, Harry hits him with a curse from the Half-Blood Prince's book which severely injures him. Snape arrives and heals Draco as Harry retreats. Fearing that the book may be filled with more Dark Magic, Ginny convinces Harry to leave the book in the Room of Requirement to prevent using it ever again. While Harry closes his eyes, Ginny hides the book and before he opens his eyes, she kisses him passionately, starting a relationship between them.

During private meetings held throughout the year, Dumbledore shows Harry memories of a young Tom Riddle and reveals Slughorn retains a memory critical to Voldemort's defeat. Harry manages to retrieve the memory using Felix Felicis. The memory reveals that Voldemort had been seeking information creating seven Horcruxes, devices that safeguard a portion of the creator's soul, thereby granting him immortality until the Horcruxes are destroyed. Dumbledore reveals that two of Voldemort's Horcruxes have already been destroyed: Tom Riddle's diary, and his mother's ring. After locating another Horcrux, Dumbledore requests Harry's help to retrieve it. Deep inside a seaside cave, Harry is forced to make Dumbledore drink a foul, mind-altering potion that hides the Horcrux, a locket. Though gravely weakened by the liquid, Dumbledore is able to defend them from a horde of Inferi and Apparates himself and Harry back to the Astronomy Tower at Hogwarts.

Once there, Dumbledore first tells Harry to fetch Snape for help, but tells him to hide when footsteps approach. Draco appears and reveals that Voldemort has chosen him to kill Dumbledore, but is unable to follow through. Snape arrives, motions to Harry to stay hidden, and joins the throng of Death Eaters that arrive through the Vanishing Cabinet and surround Draco as he hesitates. To Harry's horror, Snape casts the Avada Kedavra curse to kill Dumbledore and then escapes from the castle with the other Death Eaters. In their wake, they cast the Dark Mark, wreck the Great Hall, and set fire to Hagrid's Hut. Harry tries to stop them, but Snape deflects Harry's spells and Bellatrix stuns him. Before departing, Snape reveals to Harry that he is the Half-Blood Prince. Harry returns to the school to find the staff and students mourning Dumbledore, and walks over to the body, eventually breaking down in tears as Ginny comforts him. Everyone raises their wands in respect of their headmaster.

While Hogwarts mourns Dumbledore's death, Harry reveals to Ron and Hermione that the locket Horcrux was a fake. The locket contains a message from an "R.A.B." stating he has already taken the real Horcrux and hopes to destroy it and the rest of the Horcruxes. Rather than return for their final year at Hogwarts, Harry and his friends vow to seek out R.A.B. and the remaining Horcruxes as Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes, flies into the horizon.

Harry Potter and The order of The Phoenix


Harry Potter and his cousin Dudley Dursley are attacked by Dementors, but Harry drives them off with a Patronus charm. The Ministry of Magic detects the underage wizardry and expels Harry from Hogwarts, but this is modified to a trial later in the summer. Harry is later awoken by the arrival of a number of wizards who escort him to the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, a secret organisation founded by Dumbledore. Harry learns that under the Ministry's influence The Daily Prophet has launched a campaign against anyone who claims that Lord Voldemort has returned.

Harry and Arthur Weasley head to the court for Harry's trial. With the help of Dumbledore and Harry's neighbour, Mrs. Figg, Harry is cleared of all charges and returns to school. Upon arrival, Harry sees creatures pulling the carriages to Hogwarts. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville share a carriage with Luna Lovegood, an odd but kind girl who claims she can also see the creatures. The Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge appoints a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Dolores Umbridge, a senior Ministry official who refuses to teach practical magic, as the Ministry fears Dumbledore will organise his own wizard army. For claiming Voldemort has returned, Harry is forced to write, "I must not tell lies," repeatedly in his own blood, creating a scar on his hand.

Harry sees Luna in the forest with the creatures that pulled the Hogwarts carriages. She tells him that they are called Thestrals and can only be seen by those who have seen death. Luna mentions that the Thestrals are very gentle, but people avoid them because of their evil looks.

As Umbridge's control over the school increases, Ron and Hermione aid Harry in forming a secret group to train students in defensive spells, calling themselves "Dumbledore's Army" or D.A. The Slytherin students are recruited by Umbridge to uncover the group. Meanwhile, Harry and Cho develop romantic feelings for each other.

Harry has a nightmare involving an attack upon Arthur Weasley in the Department of Mysteries that echoes an actual attack. Fearing Voldemort will exploit his connection to Harry, Dumbledore instructs Professor Snape to give Harry Occlumency lessons to block his mind from Voldemort's influence.

Bellatrix Lestrange, Sirius Black's deranged cousin, escapes from Azkaban along with nine other Death Eaters. At Hogwarts Umbridge, Filch and her Inquisitorial Squad uncover Dumbledore's Army after interrogating Cho. Dumbledore is questioned and escapes as Fudge orders his arrest. With Dumbledore gone, Umbridge becomes the new Headmistress.

With Hagrid likely to be fired due to Umbridge's prejudice against "half-breeds", he shows Harry, Ron and Hermione Grawp, his Giant half-brother. Hagrid asks them to take care of Grawp if anything happens to him.

During an exam the Weasley twins revolt and set off fireworks in the Great Hall, causing chaos for Umbridge. Harry has a vision of Sirius being tortured by Voldemort within the Department of Mysteries. Harry, Ron, and Hermione rush to search for Sirius, but Umbridge catches them and begins interrogating Harry. Hermione deceives Umbridge into entering the Forbidden Forest along with Harry and her in search of a weapon, leading her to the hiding place of Grawp only to find him missing. Centaurs, who have their own issues with the Ministry, emerge and carry the Headmistress into the darkness after she attacks them. Harry, Hermione, Ron, Luna, Neville and Ginny fly to the Ministry of Magic on the Thestrals' backs to save Sirius.

The six enter the Department of Mysteries, where they uncover a prophecy involving Harry and Voldemort, but are ambushed by Death Eaters including Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange. Lucius reveals that Sirius isn't in any danger and that Harry only saw what Voldemort wanted him to see. Lucius attempts to persuade Harry to give him the prophecy, telling him it will reveal why Voldemort tried to kill him when he was an infant. Harry refuses and a fight between the D.A. and the Death Eaters ensues. The Death Eaters take everyone except Harry as hostages, threatening to kill them if he does not surrender the prophecy. The Order of the Phoenix appears and attacks the Death Eaters. Lucius drops the prophecy, destroying it. A battle erupts and Bellatrix kills Sirius. Harry corners Bellatrix in the Atrium and attempts to torture her with the Cruciatus Curse, but to no avail. Voldemort appears, tempting Harry to give in to his hatred for Bellatrix. Harry turns his wand on Voldemort who disarms him. Before Voldemort can kill Harry, Dumbledore emerges.

A duel between Voldemort and Dumbledore ensues. After it ends in a stalemate Voldemort attempts to possess Harry but is repelled by the love Harry has for his friends and Sirius. Ministry officials arrive via the Floo Network moments before Voldemort disapparates. Fudge is forced to admit that Voldemort has returned. Harry is vindicated, Umbridge is suspended, and Dumbledore returns as headmaster.

Dumbledore explains that he distanced himself from Harry all year hoping it would lessen the risk of Voldemort using their connection. Harry comes to terms with the prophecy; he or Voldemort will kill the other. Going home for the summer, Harry tells his friends that they have one thing Voldemort does not have: love, something worth fighting for.

Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire


Harry Potter dreams about an event while it takes place. He sees an elderly man investigate a light that is shining in the house he cares for and overhears Lord Voldemort making plans with Peter Pettigrew and another man that Harry does not recognize. The caretaker is caught and killed by Voldemort. Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger express concern over Harry's dreams. The Quidditch World Cup permits Harry a distraction from his nightmares. However, followers of Voldemort known as Death Eaters attack and destroy the spectators' campsites after the match.

At Hogwarts, headmaster Albus Dumbledore introduces a new teacher, a man known for his powerful magic and his all-seeing glass eye, the auror Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody. Harry, along with his classmates, notices Moody frequently drinking from a flask. Dumbledore also announces that the school will host the Triwizard Tournament, in which one wizard from each of three schools competes in three difficult tasks. The champions are selected by the Goblet of Fire, a magical cup into which the names of candidates are placed. Cedric Diggory is chosen to represent Hogwarts, Quidditch champion Viktor Krum is chosen to represent Durmstrang Institute, and Fleur Delacour is selected to represent Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. The goblet unexpectedly chooses a fourth champion, Harry. As Harry is underage and therefore should have been ineligible to compete, Hogwarts teachers and fellow students alike are suspicious.

In their first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson, the students learn of the three Unforgivable Curses. The Imperius Curse causes absence of free will, the Cruciatus Curse causes unbearable pain, and the final curse, Avada Kedavra, causes death.

In the first task, each of the four champions are instructed to retrieve a golden egg guarded by a dragon. Moody probes Harry about which talent he should use to overcome the dragon, and the two ultimately decide upon flying. Harry summons his broomstick and retrieves the egg, which contains information about the second challenge. In exchange for previous aid, Cedric Diggory provides him with a clue that prompts him to open the egg underwater. With help from Moaning Myrtle, he learns that the second task entails the retrieval of "something precious" to each of the competitors from mermaids in the nearby Black Lake. In last-minute preparation for the task, long-time friend Neville Longbottom provides Harry with Gillyweed, which allows him to breathe underwater. Harry is the first to arrive at the location, and finds Ron, Hermione, Cho Chang and Fleur's sister, Gabrielle Delacour, in suspended animation. Finishing last in an attempt to free all four at once, Harry is awarded second place for "outstanding moral fiber."

Ministry official Barty Crouch is found dead shortly after the second task. While waiting in Dumbledore's office, Harry's curiosity leads him to look into Dumbledore's pensieve, causing him to revisit one of Dumbledore's memories. He witnesses a trial before the Wizengamot (Wizard Court) in which captured Death Eater Igor Karkaroff, the current headmaster of Dumstrang, denounces a number of Death Eaters, including both Severus Snape and Barty Crouch Jr. While Dumbledore vouches for Snape's integrity, Crouch Sr. is horrified at this revelation and denounces his son, sending him to Azkaban. Upon returning to reality, Dumbledore tells Harry that he is searching his memories for a clue as to why extraordinary events have taken place at Hogwarts since the start of the Triwizard Tournament. While walking the halls Harry is confronted by Snape, who believes Harry has stolen the ingredients for Polyjuice Potion, by which a person can change their appearance.

In the Triwizard Cup's third and final task, the four competitors are placed inside a large hedge maze, the challenge being to reach the cup first. Viktor Krum, acting under the Imperius curse, incapacitates Delacour and attempts to do the same to Cedric. Harry stops Cedric from attacking Krum, and the two run for the cup. When Cedric is trapped by vines, Harry frees him and the two claim a draw and touch the cup together.

The Triwizard Cup transports the two champions to a graveyard where Voldemort is waiting for Harry. Peter Pettigrew kills Cedric and traps Harry. Pettigrew performs a ritual that rejuvenates Voldemort, who then summons the Death Eaters and bids them witness a duel between their lord and his nemesis. As Harry repels Voldemort's killing curse, a connection called Priori Incantatem occurs between their wands. Harry's wand forces Voldemort's to disgorge the spirits of the people Voldemort has most recently killed, including Harry's parents and Cedric. Harry is briefly protected by the spirits and escapes with Cedric's body using the cup.

Upon his return, Harry tells Dumbledore and Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge that Voldemort has returned and is responsible for Cedric's death. Moody leads Harry back to the castle, where his questions make Harry suspicious. Upon the arrival of Dumbledore, Snape and McGonagall, Moody transforms into Barty Crouch Jr.; the Polyjuice Potion he kept in his flask wears off. The real Alastor Moody has been kept prisoner in a trunk.

As the representatives from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons depart, Dumbledore exhorts them to stand together against Voldemort, telling them that "Dark and difficult times lie ahead. Soon we must all face the choice between doing what is right, and what is easy."

Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban


The story opens with Harry Potter enduring another unhappy summer at the Dursleys'. When Uncle Vernon's visiting sister, Marge, viciously abuses Harry and insults his parents, Harry loses his temper, inadvertently causing Marge to inflate and float into the air. Harry runs away and is picked up by the Knight Bus that takes him to Leaky Cauldron, but not before he glimpses a dangerous-looking creature lurking in the nearby bushes. Reaching Diagon Alley, he is met by Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge, who surprisingly assures Harry that the matter involving Marge is resolved. While at the Leaky Cauldron, Harry overhears Mr. and Mrs. Weasley arguing over whether or not Harry should be warned about Sirius Black, a fugitive from Azkaban, the wizard prison, who may be intending to murder him.

At Hogwarts, there are two new teachers: Professor Remus Lupin for Defense Against the Dark Arts and, to Harry, Ron, and Hermione's delight, Hagrid for Care of Magical Creatures. With Black still at large, creatures called Dementors patrol the school. Dementors drain happiness from anyone nearby, and Harry is particularly vulnerable to their presence because "there are horrors in [Harry's] past that others don't have", prompting Lupin to teach him the Patronus charm to repel them.

While all this is happening, tension builds as Buckbeak, Hagrid's Hippogriff is sentenced to execution.

Unable to witness the execution, Harry, Ron, and Hermione walk away towards the castle. However, Scabbers, Ron's rat, escapes from his pocket and they chase it to the Whomping Willow, an aggressive tree that attacks anyone who goes near it. Just as Ron catches Scabbers, a huge black dog appears and starts attacking Harry. Ron tries to help Harry, and the dog attacks him instead, dragging him to a tunnel under the Whomping Willow, and breaking his leg in the process. Harry and Hermione follow the dog in the hope of rescuing Ron.

The tunnel leads to the Shrieking Shack where Harry confronts Sirius Black, an Animagus who is able to transform into an animal at will. Lupin, who spotted the group on the Marauder's Map, suddenly bursts in and embraces his old friend Black. Confronted by Hermione, Lupin admits to being a werewolf and the Map's creator, along with Black, Pettigrew, and James Potter, the latter two also being illegal Animagi (a rat and a stag, respectively). Lupin and Black explain that Scabbers is actually Peter Pettigrew in his Animagus form. Pettigrew is Voldemort's servant, and it was he who betrayed the Potters, framing Black for the crimes. Black escaped Azkaban seeking revenge. Harry halts Black and Lupin from executing Pettigrew, preventing his father's two best friends from becoming killers.

As they escort Pettigrew back to the castle, Black invites Harry to stay with him, allowing Harry to leave the Dursleys forever. However, this hope is quickly dashed as the full moon rises and Lupin transforms into a werewolf. During the ensuing commotion, Pettigrew escapes in his animagus rat form while Black transforms into a dog to protect the others from Lupin, who eventually runs off. Black is badly injured, however, and as Dementors move in to attack him, Harry sees a mysterious figure in the distance who casts a powerful, stag-shaped Patronus, scattering the vicious creatures. Before passing out, Harry becomes convinced it was his late father who produced the Patronus.

In the hospital wing, Harry learns that he and Hermione have to go back in time using Hermione's Time Turner. They go to the time when Buckbeak is being executed, and lure him out of Hagrid's hut. After freeing Buckbeak, Harry and Hermione head back to the Whomping Willow. But Harry, who realized that Lupin could be headed there suggested that they go to Hagrid's Hut. After going to Hagrid's Hut, Harry, against Hermione's wishes, hurries down to the lake to save Sirius. Dementors swarm and then Harry that went back in time conjured the stag Patronus and finds out that it wasn't his father conjuring it, it was himself! After saving and releasing Sirius from Azkaban, they give Buckbeak to Sirius so he won't be discovered.

Harry and Hermione later inform Ron what occurred earlier that day. The trio runs into Hagrid, who says that Lupin resigned. Harry went to stop him, but Lupin just returned the Map to Harry, and left. Then, after a few comforting words from Albus Dumbledore, Harry left school, on the train, where Sirius sent Ron an owl called Pigwidgeon. Later, at King's Cross Station, Harry scared the Dursleys by saying that he was in contact with a full-grown wizard that they thought was an evil convict.

Harryn Potter and the Chamber of Secrets


Soon after the start of Harry's second session at Hogwarts, messages on the walls of the corridors say that the mythical Chamber of Secrets has been re-opened and that the "Heir of Slytherin" would kill all pupils whose parents are not both magical – which includes Hermione. At intervals various inhabitants of the school are found petrified in corridors. Meanwhile, Harry, Ron, and Hermione discover Moaning Myrtle, the ghost of a girl who was killed the last time the Chamber was opened, and who now haunts the girls' toilet in which she died. Myrtle shows Harry a diary bearing the name "Tom Marvolo Riddle". Although its pages are blank, it responds when Harry writes in it. Eventually the book shows him Hogwarts as it was 50 years ago, just after Myrtle's death. There he sees Tom Riddle, a pupil at the time, pin the blame for Myrtle's death on Hagrid, who was then 13 years old and already devoted to keeping dangerous magical creatures as pets.

Four months later, the diary is stolen, and shortly afterwards Hermione is petrified. However, she holds a note explaining that the culprit is a basilisk, a huge serpent whose gaze kills those who look into its eyes directly but only petrifies those who look into them by means of a reflecting surface, such as water or a mirror. Hermione concluded that the monster travels through the school's pipes and emerges through the toilet Myrtle haunts. As the attacks continue, Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic, holds Hagrid in the wizards' prison as a precaution. Lucius Malfoy, a former supporter of Voldemort who claims to have reformed, then announces that the school's governors have suspended Dumbledore from the position of headmaster.

After Ron's younger sister Ginny is abducted into the Chamber, the staff insist that the Dark Arts teacher, Gilderoy Lockhart, should handle the situation. However, when Harry and Ron go to his office to tell him what they have discovered about the basilisk, Lockhart reveals that he is a fraud who took credit for the accomplishments of others and attempts to erase the boys' memories. Disarming Lockhart, they march him to Moaning Myrtle's toilet, where Harry opens the passage to the Chamber of Secrets. In the sewers under the school, Lockhart grabs Ron's wand and tries again to wipe the boys' memories – but Ron's wand had been damaged in an accident at the start of the school year and the spell backfires, inflicting total amnesia on Lockhart, collapsing part of the tunnel and separating Harry from Ron and Lockhart.

While Ron attempts to tunnel through the rubble, Harry enters the Chamber of Secrets, where Ginny lies beside the diary. As he examines her, Tom Riddle appears, looking exactly as he did 50 years ago, and explains that he is a memory stored in the diary. Ginny wrote in it about her adolescent hopes and fears, and Riddle won her confidence by appearing sympathetic, possessed her, and used her to open the Chamber. Riddle also reveals that he is Voldemort as a boy. He further explains that he learned from Ginny who Harry was and about his own deeds as Voldemort. When Ginny realised that she had been responsible for the attacks, she attempted to throw the diary away, and it came into Harry's possession. Riddle then releases the basilisk to kill Harry. Dumbledore's pet phoenix, Fawkes, brings a magnificent sword wrapped in the Sorting Hat. Harry uses the sword to kill the basilisk – but only after being bitten by the creature's venomous fangs, one of which breaks off. As Riddle gloats over the dying Harry, Fawkes cures him with its tears. Harry stabs the diary with the broken fang, and Riddle screams and vanishes.[1] Ginny revives after Riddle's disappearance and they return to Ron, who is still watching over the memory-wiped Lockhart. Fawkes airlifts all four out of the tunnels.

Harry recounts the whole story to Dumbledore, who has been reinstated. The headmaster revokes his threat to expel the boys if they broke more rules and gives them special awards for services to the school. When Harry mentions his earlier fears that he was the Heir of Slytherin, Dumbledore says that Harry chose Gryffindor House, and only a true member of that House could have used Godric Gryffindor's sword to kill the basilisk. Lucius Malfoy bursts in, and Harry accuses him of slipping the diary into one of Ginny's books while all the pupils were shopping for school books. Malfoy replies, "Prove it." Finally, all of the basilisk's petrified victims are revived by a potion, the preparation of which has taken several months.

Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone


Just before the start of the story, Voldemort, the most powerful evil wizard in living memory, killed Harry's parents but mysteriously vanished after trying to kill Harry. While the wizarding world is celebrating Voldemort's downfall, Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall and Hagrid place the one year-old orphan in the care of his Muggle (non-wizard) aunt and uncle, Vernon and Petunia Dursley.

For ten years, they and their son Dudley treat Harry as a drudge and whipping boy. Shortly before Harry's eleventh birthday, a series of letters arrive, addressed to Harry but destroyed by his uncle before Harry can read them. As a result, a torrent of letters pour into the house through every opening, however small, and to escape this, Vernon Dursley takes the family to a lonely island. As they are settling in, Hagrid bursts through the door to tell Harry what the Dursleys have kept from him: Harry is a wizard and has been accepted at Hogwarts for the next year.

Hagrid takes Harry to Diagon Alley, a magically-concealed shopping precinct in London, where Harry is bewildered to discover how famous he is among wizards as "the boy who lived." He also finds that in the wizarding world he is quite wealthy, since a bequest from his parents has remained on deposit at Gringotts Bank. Guided by Hagrid, he buys the books and equipment he needs for Hogwarts - and finds that the only wand that works well for him is effectively the twin of Voldemort's.

A month later, Harry leaves the Dursleys' home to catch the Hogwarts Express from King's Cross railway station. There he is befriended by the Weasley family, who show him how to pass through the magical wall to Platform 9¾, where the train is waiting. While on the train Harry makes friends with Ron Weasley, who tells him that someone tried to rob a vault at Gringotts. Another new pupil, Draco Malfoy, accompanied by his beefy sidekicks Crabbe and Goyle, offers to advise Harry, but Harry dislikes Draco's arrogance and prejudices.

Before the term's first dinner in the school's Great Hall, the new pupils are allocated to houses by the magical Sorting Hat. The Hat assigns most pupils instantly – particularly when sending Draco, Crabbe and Goyle to Slytherin – but has a telepathic discussion with Harry about whether the boy's ambition would make Slytherin the best choice for him. When Harry silently but vehemently objects, the Hat sends him to join the Weasleys in Gryffindor. While Harry is relaxing after dinner, Professor Snape glares at him and he feels a stab of pain in the scar Voldemort left on his forehead.

After a traumatic first Potions lesson with Snape, Harry and Ron visit Hagrid, who lives in a rustic house on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. There they learn that the attempted robbery at Gringotts happened around the time that Harry was withdrawing some money, and Harry remembers Hagrid leaving the bank with a small package.

During the new pupils' first flying lesson, Neville Longbottom breaks his wrist and Draco takes advantage to throw the forgetful Neville's fragile Remembrall high in the air. Harry gives chase on his broomstick, catching the Remembrall inches from the ground. Professor McGonagall dashes out and appoints him as Gryffindor's new Seeker.[1]

Draco tricks Ron and Harry into a midnight excursion, and Neville and the bossy Hermione Granger accompany the pair to keep them out of trouble. All four accidentally enter a forbidden corridor and find a room containing a huge three-headed dog. The group beats a hasty retreat, and only Hermione notices that the dog is standing over a trap-door. Harry concludes that the monster guards the package Hagrid retrieved from Gringotts.

After Ron criticises Hermione's ostentatious proficiency in Charms, she hides in tears in the girls' toilet. Professor Quirrell reports that a troll has entered the dungeons. While everyone else is evacuating the building, Harry and Ron rush to warn Hermione. The troll corners Hermione in the toilet but, while Harry stabs it with his wand, Ron knocks out the troll with its own club, using the levitation spell Hermione demonstrated in Charms. When a posse of professors arrives, Hermione takes the blame for the battle and becomes a firm friend of the two boys.

The evening before Harry's first Quidditch match, he sees Snape receiving medical attention from Filch for a bite by the three-headed dog. During the game, Harry's broomstick goes out of control, endangering his life, and Hermione notices that Snape is staring at Harry and muttering. She dashes over to the Professors' stand, knocking over Professor Quirrel in her haste, and sets fire to Snape's robe. Harry regains control of his broomstick and catches the Golden Snitch, winning the game for Gryffindor. Hagrid refuses to believe that Snape was responsible for Harry's danger, but lets slip that he bought the three-headed dog, and that the monster is guarding a secret that belongs to Professor Dumbledore and someone called Nicolas Flamel.

Harry and the Weasleys stay at Hogwarts for Christmas, and one of Harry's presents, from an anonymous donor, is an Invisibility Cloak. Harry uses the Cloak to search the library's Restricted Section for information about the mysterious Flamel, has to evade Snape and Filch after an enchanted book shrieks an alarm, and slips into a room containing the Mirror of Erised, which shows his parents and several of their ancestors. Harry becomes addicted to the Mirror's visions and is rescued by Professor Dumbledore, who explains that it shows what the viewer most desperately longs for.

When the rest of the pupils return for the next term, Draco plays a prank on Neville, and Harry consoles Neville with a sweet. The collectible card wrapped with the sweet explains that Flamel is a 665 year-old alchemist who possesses the only known Philosopher's Stone, from which can be extracted an elixir of life. A few days later Harry notices Snape sneaking towards the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest. There he half-hears a furtive conversation about the Philosopher's Stone, in which Snape asks Professor Quirrell if he has found a way past the three-headed dog and menacingly tells Quirrell to decide whose side he is on. Harry concludes that Snape is trying to steal the Stone and Quirrell has prepared a series of defences for it.

The three friends discover that Hagrid is raising a baby dragon, which is against wizard law, and arrange to smuggle it out of the country around midnight. Draco arrives, hoping to raise the alarm and get them into trouble, and Neville comes to warn them of Draco's mischief. Although Ron is bitten by the dragon and is sent to the infirmary, Harry and Hermione spirit the dragon safely away. However, they are caught, and Harry loses the Invisibility Cloak. As part of their punishment, Harry, Hermione, Draco and Neville are compelled to help Hagrid to rescue a badly-injured unicorn in the Forbidden Forest. They split into two parties, and Harry and Draco find the unicorn dead, surrounded by its blood. A hooded figure crawls to the corpse and drinks the blood, while Draco screams and flees. The hooded figure moves towards Harry, who is knocked out by an agonising pain spreading from his scar. When Harry regains consciousness, the hooded figure has gone and a centaur, Firenze, offers to give him a ride back to the school. The centaur tells Harry that drinking a unicorn's blood will save the life of a mortally injured person, but leave them only barely alive. Firenze suggests Voldemort drank the unicorn's blood to gain enough strength to make the elixir of life from the Philosopher's Stone, and regain full health by drinking that. On his return, Harry finds that someone has slipped the Invisibility Cloak under his sheets.

A few weeks later, while relaxing after the end-of-session examinations, Harry suddenly wonders how something as illegal as a dragon's egg came into Hagrid's possession. The gamekeeper says he was given it by a hooded stranger who bought him several drinks and asked him how to get past the three-headed dog, which Hagrid admits is easy – music sends it to sleep. Realising that one of the Philosopher's Stone's defences is no longer secure, Harry goes to inform Professor Dumbledore, only to find that the headmaster has just left for an important meeting. Harry concludes that Snape faked the message that called Dumbledore away and will try to steal the Stone that night.

Covered by the Invisibility Cloak, Harry and his two friends go to the three-headed dog's chamber, where Harry sends the beast to sleep by playing a flute. After lifting the trap-door, they encounter a series of obstacles, each of which requires special skills possessed by one of the three, and one of which requires Ron to sacrifice himself. In the final room Harry, now alone, finds Quirrell, who binds his hands and feet tightly with magical ropes. Quirrell admits that he let in the troll that tried to kill Hermione in the toilet, and that he tried to kill Harry during the first Quidditch match but was knocked over by Hermione. Snape had been trying to protect Harry and suspected Quirrell. Quirrell serves Voldemort and, after failing to steal the Philosopher's Stone from Gringotts, allowed his master to possess him in order to improve their chances of success. However the only other object in the room is the Mirror of Erised, and Quirrell can see no sign of the Stone. At Voldemort's bidding, Quirrel unties Harry and forces him to stand in front of the Mirror. Harry feels the Stone drop into his pocket and tries to stall. Quirrell removes his turban, revealing the face of Voldemort on the back of his head. Voldemort/Quirrell tries to grab the Stone from Harry, but simply touching Harry causes Quirrell's flesh to burn. After further struggles Harry passes out.

He awakes in the school hospital, where Professor Dumbledore tells him that he survived because his mother sacrificed her life to protect him, and Voldemort could not understand the power of such love. Voldemort left Quirrell to die, and is likely to return by some other means. Dumbledore had foreseen that the Mirror would show Voldemort/Quirrell only themselves making the elixir of life, as they wanted to use the Philosopher's Stone; Harry was able to see the Stone in the Mirror because he wanted to find it but not to use it. The Stone has now been destroyed.

Harry returns to the Dursleys for the summer holiday, but does not tell them that under age wizards are forbidden to use magic outside Hogwarts.

After ten years, Harry became an eleven year-old boy. The Dursleys have kept the truth about Harry's parents from him, but it is revealed in the form of Rubeus Hagrid, who tells Harry that he is a wizard and has been accepted at Hogwarts for the autumn term. Harry takes the train to Hogwarts from King's Cross Station. On the train, Harry sits with and quickly befriends Ron Weasley; the two are also briefly visited by Neville Longbottom and Hermione Granger. Later on in the journey, Malfoy comes into Harry and Ron's compartment with his friends Crabbe and Goyle and introduces himself. After Ron laughs at Draco's name, Draco offers to help Harry distinguish the wrong sort of wizards, but Harry declines.

Upon arrival, the Sorting Hat places Harry, Hermione, Neville and Ron into Gryffindor House, one of the school's four houses, while Draco and his cronies are placed in Slytherin House. After a broom-mounted game to save Neville's Remembrall, Harry joins Gryffindor's Quidditch team as their youngest Seeker in over a century.

Shortly after school begins, Harry and his friends hear that someone broke into a previously emptied vault at the wizarding bank, Gringotts. The mystery deepens when they discover a monstrous three-headed dog, Fluffy, who guards a trapdoor in the forbidden third floor passageway. On Halloween, a troll enters the castle and traps Hermione in one of the girls' lavatories. Harry and Ron rescue her, but are caught by Professor McGonagall. Hermione defends the boys and takes the blame, which results in the three becoming close friends.

Harry's broom becomes jinxed during his first Quidditch match, nearly resulting in Harry falling from a great height. Hermione believes that Professor Snape has cursed the broom and distracts him by setting his robes on fire, allowing Harry to catch the Snitch and win the game for Gryffindor.

At Christmas, Harry receives his father's Invisibility Cloak from an unknown source. Later, he discovers the Mirror of Erised, a strange mirror that shows Harry surrounded by his parents and the extended family he never knew. Later, Harry learns that Nicolas Flamel is the maker of Philosopher's Stone, a stone that gives the owner eternal life.

Harry sees Professor Snape interrogating Professor Quirrell about getting past Fluffy, seemingly confirming the suspicion that Snape is trying to steal the Philosopher's Stone in order to restore Lord Voldemort to power. The trio discover that Hagrid is hiding a dragon egg, which hatches; since dragon breeding is illegal, they convince Hagrid to send the dragon to live with others of its kind. Harry and Hermione are caught returning to their dormitories after sending Norbert off and are forced to serve detention with Hagrid in the Forbidden Forest. In the forest, Harry sees a hooded figure drink the blood of an injured unicorn. Firenze, a centaur, tells Harry that the hooded figure is in fact Voldemort.

Voldemort on the back of Professor Quirrell's head at the climax of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in the film.

Hagrid accidentally tells Harry, Ron, and Hermione how to get past Fluffy; and they rush to tell the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, what they know, only to find that he has been called away from the school. Convinced that Dumbledore's summons was a red herring to take him away while the Philosopher's Stone is stolen, the trio set out to reach the Stone first. They navigate a series of complex magical challenges set up by the school's faculty, and at the end of these challenges, Harry enters the inner chamber alone, only to find that it is the timid Professor Quirrell, not Snape, who is after the Stone. The final challenge protecting the Stone is the Mirror of Erised. Quirrell forces Harry to look into the mirror to discover where the Stone is hidden; and Harry successfully resists, and the Stone drops into his own pocket. Lord Voldemort now reveals himself: he has possessed Quirrell and appears as a ghastly face on the back of Quirrell's head. Quirrell tries to attack Harry, but merely touching Harry proves to be agony for him. Voldemort flees and Quirrell dies as Dumbledore arrives back in time to save Harry.

As Harry recovers, Dumbledore confirms that Lily had died while trying to protect Harry as an infant. Her pure, loving sacrifice provides her son with an ancient magical protection against Voldemort's lethal spells. Dumbledore also explains that the Philosopher's Stone has been destroyed to prevent Voldemort from ever using it. He then tells Harry that only those who wanted to find the Stone, but not use it, would be able to retrieve it from the mirror, which is why Harry was able to acquire it. When Harry asks Dumbledore why Voldemort attempted to kill him when he was an infant, Dumbledore promises to tell Harry when he is older.

At the end-of-year feast, where Harry is welcomed as a hero. Dumbledore gives a few last-minute additions, granting enough points to Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville for Gryffindor to win the House Cup, ending Slytherin's six-year reign as house champions.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Underworld Evolution


This is One of my Favourite movie

In the year 1202 A.D. an army led by three vampire elders (Markus, Viktor, and Amelia) arrives at a Lycan ravaged village. After killing several werewolves, Viktor and Amelia capture their target: Markus's brother, William Corvinus, the first and most powerful werewolf. Despite Markus's defiance, Viktor orders that William be imprisoned in a secret location forever.
In the Present Day (just after the events of the
first film), Selene takes Michael to a safe house so that she can return to the mansion to confront Kraven. She knows Kraven intends to kill Markus and plans to stop him. However, Singe's blood has already awakened Markus, turning him into a hybrid. Markus then wipes out Kraven and his men, and destroys the mansion. He learns Selene and Michael's location from camera surveillance of various safe houses and leaves to track them down. Markus attacks Selene and Michael, who evade him and hide in a warehouse. While inside, Selene and Michael share their feelings and make love.
Lorenz Macaro, an elderly and imposing man, sends in a team of "Cleaners" to investigate the aftermath from the battle in the Lycans' lair. When Macaro examines Viktor's body he finds a metal disk attached to his ribcage which is the match to
Sonja's pendant, which is in the possession of Selene and Michael. Now knowing that the pendant is of some importance to Markus, Michael and Selene set out to solve its mystery. Selene recalls that she'd seen it as a child, but doesn't know its significance. To find answers, they travel to the hideout of the exiled vampire historian, Andreas Tanis.
Selene and Michael confront Tanis, who reveals that Markus, not Viktor, was the first vampire; one of the three sons of
Alexander Corvinus, the first immortal. Markus was bitten by a bat and became a vampire; his twin brother, William, was bitten by a wolf and became a werewolf. The third son remained human his entire life and gave rise to a line of descendants including Michael, who became the first Lycan-Vampire Hybrid. The first werewolves created by William were entirely animal and unable to take human form again. Due to William's destructiveness, Markus approached Viktor, a warlord dying of old age, and offered to turn him and his army into immortal vampires in exchange for tracking down and stopping William. Markus intended to capture his brother and tame him, but Viktor ordered that William be locked away forever, far away from Markus. Viktor did not kill the brothers because he believed that doing so would result in the immediate extinction of all other vampires and his Lycan slaves. Tanis also reveals that Selene's father was the architect who built William's prison and that the pendant is a key. After Lucian's escape, Viktor killed Selene's family as they knew of the prison's location, but turned Selene into a vampire. Tanis then refers Selene and Michael to Lorenz Macaro for help. Shortly after they leave, Markus arrives and questions Tanis. Tired of hearing Tanis's lies, Markus learns the truth by drinking his blood, killing him.
Selene and Michael go to see Lorenz Macaro, who is actually Alexander Corvinus. Alexander reveals that he has devoted his life to containing the Vampire-Lycan War away from the mortal world, however, he refuses to help kill his son. When Markus arrives, he apparently kills Michael and learns the location of William's hidden prison by drinking Selene's blood. He then attacks and mortally wounds his father, thereby obtaining the other half of the pendant. On Alexander's bidding, Selene drinks his blood, enhancing her strength and healing abilities to a level equivalent to that of a Vampire-dominant Hybrid, even being able to withstand direct exposure to sunlight. Afterwards, Alexander blows up his hideout.
Selene leads the Cleaners to the prison to confront and destroy Markus, but he has already freed William. A battle ensues in which William bites the Cleaners and begins turning them into Lycans. Michael, presumed to be dead inside his bodybag, suddenly regenerates and joins the fight in his Hybrid form. Michael ultimately kills William, while Selene kills Markus by pushing him into the spinning blades of a crashed helicopter. Selene narrates that she fears the days ahead, as the death of the Elders will cause nothing but chaos, but she is nevertheless hopeful.

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