Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Directed by	Chris Columbus
Produced by	David Heyman
Written by	J.K. Rowling Steve Kloves
Starring	Daniel Radcliffe Rupert Grint Emma Watson David Bradley Kenneth Branagh John Cleese Robbie Coltrane Warwick Davis Richard Griffiths Robert Hardy Richard Harris Jason Isaacs Miriam Margolyes Alan Rickman Fiona Shaw Maggie Smith Julie Walters Mark Williams
Distributed by	Warner Brothers
Released	November 15, 2002
Running time	161 min.
Language	English
Budget	$100,000,000

The film of Harry Potter and the Chamber of
Secrets was released on November
3, 2002.
The screenplay was written by Steve
Kloves, adapted from the novel by J. K. Rowling. The film was directed by
Chris Columbus and was made at Leavesden Film Studios. On 14 January 2003, it won
the award for "Best Live Action Family Film" in the Phoenix Film
Critics Awards.

Tagline: Something Evil Has Returned To Hogwarts!
and Dobby has come to warn you sir.

Synopsis

Harry Potter returns to Hogwarts for his second year, but a mysterious
chamber hidden in the school is opened and Muggle-born students are Petrified by an unknown
agent.

Cast

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or
ending details follow.

Role	Actor
Harry Potter	Daniel Radcliffe
Ron Weasley	Rupert Grint
Hermione Granger	Emma Watson
Gilderoy Lockhart	Kenneth Branagh
Nearly Headless Nick	John Cleese
Draco Malfoy	Tom Felton
Professor Dumbledore	Richard Harris
Professor McGonagall	Maggie Smith
Professor Snape	Alan Rickman
Rubeus Hagrid	Robbie Coltrane
Arthur Weasley	Mark Williams
Molly Weasley	Julie Walters
Lucius Malfoy	Jason Isaacs
Uncle Vernon	Richard Griffiths
Aunt Petunia	Fiona Shaw
Dudley Dursley	Harry Melling
Ginny Weasley	Bonnie Wright
Tom Riddle (a.k.a Lord Voldemort)	Christian Coulson
Cornelius Fudge	Robert Hardy

Alterations from the book

• No message from the Ministry of Magic arrives after Dobby uses
  magic in Harry's home, almost getting Harry thrown out of
  Hogwarts.


• The de-gnoming of the Weasleys' garden is omitted.


• Harry does not overhear Lucius and Draco speaking in Knockturn
  Alley. The scene was filmed and was included as a deleted scene on
  the DVD.


• There is no scuffle between Lucius Malfoy and Arthur
  Weasley.


• In the book, Hermione was not upset about being called a
  "Mudblood," as she did not
  know what the term meant, but in the film she knows what it means
  and is deeply offended.


• Professor Binns' explanation of the legend of the Chamber of
  Secrets is instead given by Professor McGonagall. (Professor Binns
  has not appeared in the films.)


• Nearly Headless Nick's deathday party and
  Lockhart's Valentine celebration are omitted.


• Instead of trying to attack Harry (or Dobby) for making him
  lose Dobby,
  Lucius Malfoy tries to use the killing curse Avada Kedavra before Dobby
  stuns him, though subtitles say that the first word was "Vera" (and
  say nothing in the UK PAL release), though it is possible that that
  was requested by J.K. Rowling so as not to reveal the existence of
  a killing curse until the fourth movie was released. Lucius would
  most likely not try to kill Harry while they were both in
  Hogwarts, despite his anger, because that would just be
  stupid.


• In the film, Harry destroys the diary before Fawkes heals his
  wound, rather than after. While he clearly does not know how the
  book relates to the memory of Tom Riddle, he clearly understands
  that somehow they are linked. He choses to destroy the book, in a
  kind of "If I have to go, I'm taking you with me" ploy.


• Virtually all of the foreshadowing hints that Ginny is acting
  strangely are left out, although the scene where Prof. McGonagall
  talks to the Gryffindors about the probability of closing the
  school, it shows a close up of Ginny looking uneven.


• The book mentions that the crowing of the rooster is fatal to
  the basilisk, which is why Tom Riddle had Ginny kill all of
  Hagrid's roosters. This part is omitted from the film although
  Hagrid is shown at one point holding a bird, upside down, by the
  feet.


• In the book Penelope Clearwater is petrified, but she is not
  petrified in the film (her part is reduced to a brief scene near
  the beginning, when Percy says hello to Nearly Headless Nick).


• In the movie, Hermione merely removes a copy of Moste
  Potente Potions from a bookshelf in the library. In the book,
  it is not simply on a library shelf, it lives in the "Restricted
  Section": Harry, Ron, and Hermione have to get a note from Lockhart
  to check it out. That is why Madam
  Pince isn't in that scene.


• After Fawkes, the phoenix, rips out the basilisk's eyes, the
  book and the film take different strides. In the book, Riddle
  mentions that the basilisk can still smell Harry, while in the
  film, the basilisk was supposed to hear him.


• Ron's history of arachnophobia is removed entirely. Also
  removed is his vomiting after the spider incident.


• Filch is not revealed to be a squib. Although there is a scene
  on the DVD extra scenes concerning this.


• Hermione does not steal potions ingredients from Snape's
  private stores, although there is one deleted scene on the DVD of
  Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire that cencerns this. In the
  book, Harry and Ron threw a Dr. Fillibuster's Fireball at Goyle's
  cauldron while Hermione went into the private stores to steal
  ingredients. In the movie, that scene is omitted.


• The diary scenes are heavily compressed. Tom does not
  'befriend' Harry.


• Percy's strange behaviour and his use as a red-herring are not
  in the film.


• In the book, Lucius Malfoy removes the sock from the book and
  tosses it aside. Dobby catches it and is freed by saying his master
  has given him clothes. In the film version, Harry hands the diary
  to Malfoy, knowing that he would give it to Dobby to carry. After
  Malfoy does, Harry tells Dobby to open it, and Dobby finds the
  sock. This shows Malfoy actually giving the sock, by not checking
  the diary first.


• Spoiler - While not an "alteration" of the book, if you
  look closely, you can see when Lucius Malfoy drops the diary into
  Ginny Weasley's cauldron in the bookstore. He takes out one book
  from the cauldron, but drops two back into it.

Notes

• This film is, so far, the most literal to the specific events
  of the book. However, it could be argued that the behaviours of the
  characters and the tone of the film are the least faithful.


• Disney Channel premiered this movie with the deleted scenes in
  it. To learn more see
  Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Extended Disney Channel
  Version).


• The movie leaked on the internet a few days before its official
  release. Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update spoofed by saying that "even
  worse, a book containing
  the entire story of the film came out 4 years ago".


• This film was parodied by French & Saunders for Comic
  Relief 2003 in a sketch entitled 'Harry Potter and the Secret
  Chamberpot of Azerbaijan'. The parody featured actors such as
  Ronnie Corbett as Hagrid, Jeremy
  Irons as Snape and Miranda Richardson as Hermione.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

This article is about the book.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, by J.K. Rowling, is the sequel to Harry Potter and
the Philosopher's Stone. It is the second book in a series of
seven Harry Potter books. The book was published
in 1998. A
film was theatrically released in November 2002.

Editions

Plot overview

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or
ending details follow.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

The story continues with Harry's second year at Hogwarts.
Several new characters are introduced, such as Moaning Myrtle, Gilderoy Lockhart, Colin
Creevey, and Dobby. Ginny Weasley, though introduced in the
previous book, is given in-depth characterisation for the first
time.

Harry is warned by Dobby, a house elf belonging to Lucius
Malfoy, that he will be in mortal danger if he returns to
Hogwarts for his second year. Harry is still determined to return
despite Dobby's advice, pleas, and attempts to stop him using
magic. The Dursleys have locked away his books and wand, so Harry
is a prisoner, but the Weasleys come to the rescue in their dad's
flying car. After spending a pleasant summer with his best friend
Ron, the whole family go off to platform 9¾ for the school train, but Harry and
Ron are unable to enter the platform. In desperation, Harry and Ron
take the car and fly to Hogwarts where they crash land, breaking
Ron's wand.

Harry finds himself at the center of attention of three people:
the vain new Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor Gilderoy Lockhart, admirer Colin
Creevy who loves taking photos, and Ron's sister Ginny
Weasley who has a crush on Harry. Events take a really bad turn
when the Chamber of Secrets is opened and something
goes on a rampage, turning students into statues. According to
legend, the Chamber was built by Salazar Slytherin and can be
opened only by his true heir to purge Hogwarts of students who are
not pure-blood wizards. Many suspect Harry of being the Heir,
especially after he inadvertently speaks Parseltongue (the language
of snakes),
a distinctive ability of Dark wizards which Harry gained when
Voldemort tried to kill him as a baby. Harry, Ron, and Hermione
spend the majority of the novel trying to discover the true
identity of the Heir of Slytherin.

The attacks increase in frequency, leaving more petrified
characters in the hospital wing, including Hermione. To top it all,
a message is written on a wall declaring that a student - Ginny
Weasley - has been taken into the Chamber, where "her bones will
lie forever."

With Ron's help, Harry discovers the entrance to the Chamber of
Secrets, where he discovers that it was Ginny who opened the
Chamber, but that she was not acting of her own free will - she was
possessed by Lord Voldemort, whose name at school was Tom Riddle. Riddle had imprinted a memory of
himself in an enchanted diary, hoping to one
day continue the work he had begun when he first opened the Chamber
fifty years ago. That time, Hagrid had been blamed for what happened and had
been expelled from the school.

The memory of Tom Riddle becomes steadily more alive as it
steals the life from Ginny. It tries to kill Harry by setting loose
the basilisk (the monster responsible for petrifying the
students) but Dumbledore sends Fawkes, his phoenix, to give Harry
the sword of Godric Gryffindor. Fawkes blinds
the basilisk so that it cannot use its fatal gaze, and Harry slays
it with the sword. Riddle is vanquished and Ginny restored to life
when the diary is destroyed. The petrified students are restored to
normal. Lucius Malfoy had owned the diary and must have
given it to Ginny, but there is no evidence to prove what he did.
The remains of the diary are returned to Lucius wrapped up in one
of Harry's socks. Lucius unwraps the book and throws the sock to
the side. This sock is caught by his house elf, Dobby. This sock
constitutes as a gift of clothing, which is the traditional way a
master frees a house-elf. Dobby is free and becomes forever
grateful to Harry. As for Harry, his fears that he is akin to the
evil of Slytherin instead of the good of the Gryffindor house are
dispelled when Dumbledore points out his choice defined him and he
could not have wielded the sword of Gryffindor if he didn't belong
to that house.

Meanwhile, Gilderoy Lockhart has been exposed by Harry and Ron
as a fraud who wipes the memories of others and claims their
achievements. When Lockhart tries to wipe their memories using
Ron's malfunctioning wand, the spell backfires and wipes his memory
instead, leaving him permanently confused and confined to St.
Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies.

Points to consider

• Many fans noted that Dumbledore said that Voldemort was the
  last remaining ancestor of Salazar Slytherin, instead of
  descendant. J. K. Rowling said this was a "deliberate
  mistake". This could support the theory that time
  travel will recur in the series (see "Rumour" note for
  Harry Potter and
  the Prisoner of Azkaban). This mistake was fixed on further
  printings, though, so it's more likely to be a mistake that slipped
  past the editors than an actual hint. Some versions have put it
  back after Rowling's comment, perhaps overlooking the
  tongue-in-cheek nature of the term "deliberate mistake". This line
  was left out of the film. It is highly unlikely that any such event
  will occur, however, given the release of Half Blood Prince; noting
  that there was a lot of background history on Voldemort in said
  book.

• It was implied in the book that Ginny had sent Harry his
  singing valentine. Some members of the online fandom have questioned this
  conclusion, suggesting it being a prank by the Weasley Twins or a
  genuine overture from Moaning Myrtle as other possibilities.
  However, during an interview around the time of the launch of Half-Blood
  Prince, Rowling confirmed that it had indeed been Ginny who had
  sent Harry the valentine.

Spoilers
end here.

Harry Potter

This article is about the Harry Potter series.

Harry Potter is the name of a popular series of fantasy novels by British writer J. K.Rowling. Six of seven planned books have been published todate, not including the two school books, Quidditch Through the Ages andFantastic Beastsand Where to Find Them. These two are supposed to be two ofthe school books in the seven original books. The books depict aworld of witches and wizards, the main character being a young wizardnamed Harry Potter. The first novel,Harry Potter andthe Philosopher's Stone (retitled Harry Potter and theSorcerer's Stone in the UnitedStates), was released in 1997. The first four books have been madeinto films, and the fifthmovie has begun filming (February 2006), with anexpected release in 2007.

Rowling wrote the last chapter of the seventh book some timeago, before writing the third book (as she mentioned in aBiography TV interview). Rowling has also mentioned that thelast word of the book would be "scar," which remains to be seen.However, she is unsure whether that will be in the final draft inthe book, as she was asked about it in an interview conducted byfan sites Mugglenet and The Leaky Cauldron.

The Harry Potter books have achieved a profile unparalleled byany other series of books, with worldwide sales exceeding 300million copies. They have been praised for encouraging children andindeed even adults to read more, while also drawing criticism fromsome quarters. The books are published by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc(original; distributed in the UK and other Commonwealth countriesexcept Canada), Scholastic Press (US edition;distributed in the United States) and Raincoast Books (original; distributed inCanada).

Overview

Publishing history

The books have fans of all ages. J. K. Rowling says she didnot have any particular age group in mind when she started to writethe Harry Potter books; her publishers, however, initiallytargeted them at young readers aged 8 to 15. The books have morerecently been released in two editions, one with the original"children's" cover artwork, and one with artwork more consciouslyaimed at adult readers. Additionally, as the series has developed,Rowling's writing has become more sophisticated and the content ofthe books has matured as the lead character, Harry Potter, hasgrown older. For instance, relationships are discussed as an issuefor the teenage characters in later books. Accordingly, the readingage for the books, both in terms of content and style, is rising asthe series goes on.

The first book was published in the UnitedKingdom by Bloomsbury, a fairly smallindependent publisher, in July 1997. Its initial success was basedon some positive reviews and word of mouth. The first three books,Harry Potter andthe Philosopher's Stone, Harry Potter andthe Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter andthe Prisoner of Azkaban, all won the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize for the9 to 11 age group. By the time the fourth book, Harry Potter and the Gobletof Fire, was published in 2000 the series had become veryhigh-profile, and the launch received much wider publicity in thegeneral media than was usual for a new book. At around the sametime Warner Brothers began work on the series offilms based on the books. The involvement of a global mediaconglomerate led to more concerted efforts to maximise the value ofthe Harry Potter franchise. The first film, based on the firstbook, was released in 2001, and was accompanied by video games andother branded merchandise.

The hype escalated with the publication of the next two books inthe series, Harry Potter andthe Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter and theHalf-Blood Prince, with midnight launch parties at hundredsof bookshops in the UK, simultaneous launch events around theEnglish-speaking world, and intense media interest, leading tounprecedented first-day sales in the UK, US and elsewhere. Theseries is immensely popular around the world in its manytranslations. Such was the clamour to read the book around theworld that the English-language edition of Order of thePhoenix became the first English-language book ever to top thebookseller list in France.

According to J.K. Rowling, the author of the novels, the maincharacter Harry Potter appeared in her head while she was on atrain from Manchester to London in 1991.Her favourite place to write the first book was at an Edinburghcafé table while drinking endless cups of coffee. Sales from thebooks as well as royalties from films and merchandise have madeRowling a billionaire and the 620th wealthiest person in the world. Rowling is assumed to be richer thanQueen Elizabeth II(see J.K. Rowling for an explanation).

Each book chronicles approximately one year in Harry's life atthe Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where helearns to use magic and brew potions. Harry also learns toovercome many obstacles — magical, social and emotional — as hestruggles through his adolescence.

Rowling has announced that seven books are planned, each alittle darker than its predecessor as Harry ages and his nemesis,Lord Voldemort, gains power. As of July 162005, six books have been published. The latest, Harry Potterand the Half-Blood Prince, was published in itsEnglish-language version on 16 July 2005. Since the publication of book five, Rowlinghas revealed hints about the plot of future books on her personalwebsite.

Content and writing style

The books are written in third person omniscientmode, with Harry as the central character. The books are generallywritten from Harry's point of view, but with exceptions inPhilosopher's Stone, Goblet of Fire and Half-BloodPrince. Although Rowling's shifting of perpective at times hasproven essential to plot development, the telling of most of thestory from Harry's perspective is one of many reasons that readersidentify so well with the title character.

Rowling's main strengths as a writer include her ability todrive elaborate and largely seamless plots over a very widecanvas, the convincing internal logic of her fantasyworld. However, while there is much moral subtletyin many scenes in the books, the central clash between good andevil is drawn in largely black-and-white terms. Nevertheless, asthe series develops, several characters have faced a choice betweendoing what is right or what is easy (a central theme), and moral"shades of grey" have been presented. This is especially relevantto characters such as Dolores Umbridge, some Ministry of Magic employees and SeverusSnape.

Rowling lets the ideas of racism, genocide, anti-establishment and prejudicefind their way in; these are the trademark of Voldemort and hisDeath Eaters, but also occasionally shown in the relationshipbetween wizards, the non-magical (or "Muggle")population, and magical creatures in the wizarding world whocontain some prejudicial baggage, such as werewolves, house elves,giants and centaurs (branded 'half-breeds' by the more bigoted ofthe wizarding world).

The books have been compared to many well-known works, includingC.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia andJ. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. They alsofit into a British genre of novels about boarding school life (such as ThomasHughes's Tom Brown's Schooldays), andsections involving the Dursleys, Harry's relatives, are reminiscentof the works of Roald Dahl. Echoes of Charles Dickens, particularly in the namingof characters, and Douglas Adams have been pointed out byother readers. At root, Harry's origin story is a mythicalarchetype known around the world: the destined hero sent away as ababy for safekeeping and raised by common folk until he is of anage where he can be told who he really is and what he must do (amotif most famously epitomised in the myth of Oedipus).Readers who are unfamiliar with traditional cultural myths willstill recognise the theme; it is the basis for Star Warsand Superman, among others, (the underdog who must cometo realize his full potential and fight the corrupted forces ofevil).

Aspects of the Harry Potter series have even entered thereal world, such as Bertie Bott's Every FlavourBeans, which inspired an actual product of that name marketedby the Jelly Belly Company. The product, named "BertieBott's Beans", contains an assortment of twenty different kinds ofjelly beans that have been developed to mimic flavours found in theassortment of similar name in the book series, includingtooty-frooty, dirt, bubblegum, snot, grass, and the surprisinglyrealistic "vomit" flavour. Also, knittingpatterns have been created for the QuidditchSweater and Elf Socks.

The series

The books

1. Harry Potter andthe Philosopher's Stone (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer'sStone in the United States)
   
   
   • Story timeline: 1981, 1991 to 1992
   
   
   • Release date: 26 June 1997 (UK); 1 September, 1998 (US)
   
   
   • US sales: 17 Million. Hardcover 6.1 million, Paperback 10.9million
   
   
   
   


2. Harry Potter andthe Chamber of Secrets
   
   
   • Story timeline: 1943, 1992 to 1993
   
   
   • Release date: 2 July, 1998 (UK); 2 June, 1999 (US)
   
   
   • US sales: 14.7 million. Hardcover 7.3 million, Paperback 7.5million
   
   
   
   


3. Harry Potter andthe Prisoner of Azkaban
   
   
   • Story timeline: 1993 to 1994
   
   
   • Release date: 8 July, 1999 (UK); 8 September, 1999 (US)
   
   
   • US sales: 12.8 million. Hardcover 7.6 million, Paperback 5.2million
   
   
   
   


4. Harry Potter and the Gobletof Fire
   
   
   • Story timeline: 1944, 1994 to 1995
   
   
   • Release date: 8 July, 2000 (UK/US)
   
   
   • US sales: 12.3 million. Hardcover 8.9 million, Paperback 3.4million
   
   
   
   


5. Harry Potter andthe Order of the Phoenix
   
   
   • Story timeline: 1976, 1995 to 1996
   
   
   • Release date: 21 June, 2003 (UK/US)
   
   
   • US sales: 13.7 million. Hardcover 12.2 million, Paperback 1.5million. 5 million in first 24 hours, initial printing 8.5 millioncopies.
   
   
   
   


6. Harry Potter and theHalf-Blood Prince
   
   
   • Story timeline:1926, 1937, 1960, 1970, 1996 to 1997
   
   
   • Release date: 16 July, 2005 (UK/US)
   
   
   • US Sales: 20 million. 7 million in 24 hours, initial printing10.8 million copies.
   
   
   
   


7. Title unknown
   
   
   • Story timeline: 1997 to ???? (possibly 1998)
   
   
   • Release date: Unannounced
   
   
   
   

As of 1 January 2006, over three hundred million (300,000,000)copies of Harry Potter books have been sold worldwide.

The books have become popular enough that bookshops worldwidenow hold simultaneous "release parties" on the day HarryPotter books are released, since the earliest time the bookscan be sold at retail is 12:01 a.m. GMT or BST (or the equivalentlocal time at the point of sale).

The Harry Potter books have been translated into manylanguages. For the English language, there exists an adaptedAmerican English version of each book, with lexical changes like"football" to "soccer", "video recorder" to "VCR", "do his nut" to"go ballistic" and "rubbish bin" to "trash can" and spellingchanges like "defence" to "defense".

In 2001, two slim spin-off volumes called Fantastic Beastsand Where to Find Them by NewtScamander and Quidditch Through the Ages byKennilworthyWhisp were published. Fantastic Beastsand Where to Find Them was intended as a reproduction of aHogwarts textbook owned by Harry, complete with notes scribbled inthe margins by Harry and his friends, while Quidditch Through the Ages issupposed to be a reproduction from the copy at Hogwarts's library.These were written by J. K. Rowling with proceeds going to ComicRelief.

Regarding the existence of Harry Potter novels beyond theseventh, Rowling has said that she might write an eighth book someday. If she does, she intends it to be a sort of encyclopædia ofthe wizarding world, containing concepts andsnippets of information that were not relevant enough to thenovels' plots to be included in them. She has also said that shewill not write any sort of "prequel" to the novels, since by the time theseries ends all the necessary back story will have been revealed.It is currently unknown, despite rumours, if Rowling will allowother authors to write novels set in the Harry Potter Universe notconcerning Harry.

The films

further information: Harry Potter cast

1. HarryPotter and the Philosopher's Stone (Harry Potter and theSorcerer's Stone in the United States)
   
   
   • Release: 16 November 2001
   
   
   • Director: Chris Columbus
   
   
   
   


2. Harry Potterand the Chamber of Secrets
   
   
   • Release: 15 November 2002
   
   
   • Director: Chris Columbus
   
   
   
   


3. HarryPotter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
   
   
   • Release: UK: 31 May 2004, USA: 4 June
   
   
   • Director: Alfonso Cuarón
   
   
   
   


4. Harry Potter andthe Goblet of Fire
   
   
   • Release: 2005; Philippines and Indonesia:16November; Singapore, Malaysia, Sweden: 17November; UK, USA, and other countries: 18November; Australia: 1December; Hong Kong: 22December; Russia: 23 December
   
   
   • Director: Mike Newell
   
   
   
   


5. HarryPotter and the Order of the Phoenix
   
   
   • Release: 2007
   
   
   • Director: David Yates
   
   
   
   


6. Harry Potterand the Half-Blood Prince
   
   
   • Release: Unknown
   
   
   • Director: Unknown
   
   
   
   


7. Harry Potter 7 (title unknown)
   
   
   • Release: Unknown
   
   
   • Director: Unknown
   
   
   
   

The first movie (The Philosopher's Stone/Sorcerer'sStone) is the most successful at #3 for all-time worldwide boxoffice, then Goblet of Fire at #8 (may change), Chamberof Secrets at #9, and Prisoner of Azkaban at #16.

Controversy

The books have provoked various kinds of controversy.

Accusations of promoting the occult

Some religious groups have attacked the books for allegedlypromoting witchcraft or undermining Islam and Christianity. Most ofthis controversy has occurred in the parts of the United Stateswhere religion plays a prominent role in public life. Some claimthat children who read the books may begin to view the miracles ofGod as simply another form of magic. In the UnitedKingdom, Harry Potter's country of origin, the controversy hasbeen minor.

According to the American Library Association,the Harry Potter novels have been among the 100 most frequentlychallenged in United States libraries between 1990-2000. Thecomplaints allege that the books have occult or Satanicthemes, are violent, and are anti-family.

Some highly conservative Christian groups in the UnitedStates have denounced the series for promoting witchcraftand Satanism. "It contains some powerful and valuablelessons about love and courage and the ultimate victory of goodover evil," said Paul Hetrick, spokesman for Focus on the Family, a national Christiangroup based in Colorado Springs. "However, thepositive messages are packaged in a medium — witchcraft — that isdirectly denounced in Scripture." . The official exorcist ofRome, Father Gabriele Amorth, believes that theHarry Potter books can be a bad influence on some children bygetting them interested in the occult (seeChristian views onwitchcraft).

Chick Publications produced a comic booktract called "The Nervous Witch" abouttwo teenaged girls who get seriously involved in occult witchcraftand become demonically possessed as a direct result of readingHarry Potter books.

It has been argued that when Pope Benedict XVI was Prefect of theCongregation forthe Doctrine of the Faith he also condemned the books in aletter expressing gratitude for the receipt of a book on thesubject, stating they are "a subtle seduction, which has deeplyunnoticed and direct effects in undermining the soul ofChristianity before it can really grow properly." (It can be noted here Pope John Paul II was reputed to like HarryPotter and also promoted it; see further down.) However, noevidence is provided that those "they" which are "a subtleseduction" actually refer to the Harry Potter books, nor is this atall clear from the original German text of the Cardinal's letter,which in any case shows signs of being dashed off in rather ahurry. Monsignor Peter Fleetwood, a Vatican priest, wrote thatthese remarks were misinterpreted, and that the letter was likelyto have been written by an assistant of the then-cardinal. . Indeed, the letter appears to have been writtenby an underling, but was issued under the Cardinal's signature.This letter and a second that allowed publication of the first havebeen posted to the Internet by Gabriele Kuby, who had sent herbook, Harry Potter - Good or Evil, attacking J.K. Rowling'sbest-selling series about the boy wizard, to the Cardinal.

However, other Christian readers have pointed out themes in theHarry Potter books which reflect values exemplified or preached byJesus. LilyPotter sacrificed her own life to save her child (John 15:13). Harry'sMuggle guardians attempt to keep him from knowing of his gifts, yethe is taken away and sent to learn to use his powers responsibly(Matt. 5:13–16).Harry comes close to death in several stories, yet is moredetermined than ever to fight evil. It is also said in the booksthat love is the strongest magic (1 Cor 13:13). Some Christianbookstores even sell the Harry Potter series. J.K. Rowling is onrecord saying she did not emphasise Christian ideals in the bookbecause her goal was never to preach or dictate a philosophy oflife, but to tell a story; besides, if she had, intelligent readerswould be able to guess important plot details.

Other members of the Catholic Church gave the series theirapproval, saying that it is imbued with Christian morals, and thatthe good versus evil plot is very clear. The late Pope, Pope John Paul II, praised the books fortheir message about the evils of racism and genocide. ChristianCongregationalist minister John Killinger also argued thatrather than corrupting children's minds, the novels encourage youngreaders to follow the teachings of Jesus. The bookThe Hidden Key to Harry Potter: Understanding the Meaning,Genius, and Popularity of Joanne Rowling's Harry Potter Novels,written by John Granger, a Reader in the Orthodox Church, claims to uncover Christianthemes in its analysis of the story. Granger also cites the factthat Rowling is a professed member of the presbyterian Church of Scotland.

The controversy was spoofed on the television show TheSimpsons. In one episode, the Simpson's neighbor, anultra-Christian Ned Flanders "reads" Harry Potter to ToddFlanders and says, "And Harry Potter and all his friends wentstraight to Hell for practicing witchcraft. The End." His son cheersand Ned throws the book into the fireplace. Harry Potter was alsoparodied in The Onion, when an article titled "Harry PotterBooks Spark Rise in Satanism Among Children" satirically reportedthe thousands of children attracted to the dark arts and denyingreligion due to the books. As reported on Urban Legends Reference Pages,some who were unaware that the article was a pastiche employed itas evidence in the demonisation of the books. The entire action andreaction is recorded on thispage.

The bottom line for conservative Christians who are opposed tothe reading of the books--the main reason underlying thecontroversy, is that in the book of Deuteronomy, witchcraft andwizadry (along with other common occult practices) are explicitlycondemned by God as being an abomination to Him. They must, ofcourse, admit that the book may contain a plethora of values hailedby Christians as commendable, but they do not believe that theirchildren's sensitive minds should be subjected to--or immersedin--an environment full of authentic occult practices, rituals,beliefs, etc.

Accusations of plagiarism

Rowling prevailed in a lawsuit alleging copyright infringement,filed by Nancy Stouffer, writer of The Legend of Rahand the Muggles and allegedly of Larry Potter and His BestFriend Lilly. "Muggle" is wizarding jargon for non-magical people.USDistrict Judge Allen G. Schwartz rejected Nancy Stouffer'sclaims that she was plagiarised, and fined Stouffer $50,000 for"submission of fraudulent documents" and "untruthful testimony",but stopped short of having Stouffer criminally charged withperjury.Stouffer was required to pay a portion of the attorney's feesincurred by Rowling, her US publisher Scholastic Press, and WarnerBros. Films.

While no known legal action has been taken, a Bollywood(Indian) film called Aabra Ka Daabra: School of Magic, wasreleased in 2005 and was claimed to have been "inspired" by HarryPotter. The film follows very closely to Rowling's story, as it toofollows a young wizard as he enters magic school following theapparent death of his wizard father. Additionally, many of the setsand costumes are strikingly similar to those of the Potterseries.

The American television program, "UBOS", could also besaid to have taken many of its ideas from the Harry Potter series.Its strict Headmistress is remarkably similar to the strict DeputyHeadmistress of Hogwarts, Professor McGonagall, and it just sohappens that both teachers can transform themselves into cats. Thecombination of two boys, one witty, the other not, and a girl withremarkable talent for magic, is the same in both Harry Potter andUBOS. There are also strong similarities between the old, wiseguardian of Professor Dumbledore in Harry Potter, and the old, wiseguardian of UBOS in "UBOS", and rather than "Muggles", "UBOS" has"Morties".

Injunction against purchasers of early copies

A grocery store in Canada accidentally sold several copies ofthe sixth Harry Potter book before the authorised release date. TheCanadian publisher, Raincoast Books, obtained an injunction(PDF copy) fromthe Supreme Court of BritishColumbia prohibiting the purchasers from reading the books intheir possession. This sparked a number of news articlesquestioning the injunction's restriction on fundamental rights . Canadian law professor MichaelGeist has posted commentary on his weblog . Richard Stallman has posted commentary onhis weblog calling for a boycott until the publisher issues anapology . Some versions of this creed have beencirculated by email including a spoiler for oneof the major plot points in the novel; whether this was actuallythe original posted version and was modified by Stallman is as yetunclear, though the tone of the sentence is substantially the sameas that of the rest of the message.

Other analogous works

Comic book fans have noted that a comic bookseries first published in 1990 by DC Comicscalled The Books of Magic, by NeilGaiman, shares many similarities to Rowling's books. Theseinclude a dark haired young boy with glasses, named Tim Hunter, whodiscovers his own potential as the most powerful wizard of his ageafter being approached by magic-wielding individuals, the first ofwhom makes him a gift of a pet owl. Rowling officially denies beingaware of this series, and Gaiman has gone on record stating that hebelieves similarities to be either coincidence, or drawn from thesame fantasy archetypes.

Many people, notably Harry Potter narrator StephenFry, have commented on the similarities between the series andTom Brown's Schooldays by ThomasHughes. Both stories involve an average boy sent off toboarding school at eleven, who is better at sport than he is atacademics. Tom gains a best friend upon arrival, named East, whohelps him adjust to the new environment (an analogue to RonWeasley). They are soon set upon by an arrogant bully namedFlashman (an analogue to DracoMalfoy). Eventually Tom becomes the guardian of a shy andsensitive boy, named Arthur, whom he is ultimately willing to fightfor (similar to Neville Longbottom).

Recent viewers of the 1985 film Young Sherlock Holmes, scripted byChris Columbus, director of the first twoHarry Potter movies, have noticed similarities between itscharacters, setting, events and tone, and those of the Harry Potterseries.

Readers of classic fantasy fiction have noted a very strong resemblancebetween the premise of Harry Potter and Ursula K. LeGuin's A Wizard of Earthsea (1968), inwhich a boy with unusual gifts of magic is recognised and sent to aspecial school for wizards. A school rival in the book is almost adead ringer for Draco Malfoy.

LeGuin was not the first to propose a special school for witchesand wizards. Eleanor Estes was apparently the first, in herbook The Witch Family (1960), and TheWorst Witch series follows the same line. A young adultbook by Jane Yolen entitled Wizard's Hall, which takes place in a moreovertly fairy-tale-esque world, also predates Harry Potter and hasas its basic premise a school of wizardry and a boy protagonistwith magical talents. By analogy, the mutants of the X-Men world, withtheir seemingly magical powers attend ProfessorXavier's School for Gifted Children, with Xavier serving aDumbledore-like role. In the long-running 1960s TV seriesBewitched, several of the older witches arevery like those described in the Potter books, and SamanthaStephens's Aunts Hagatha and Enchantra are explicitly described asrunning a school for witches. Hogwarts-like witches — one of whomis played by stage actress Hermione Gingold (no relation to thefictional character in Rowling's books) — also appear in the 1958film Bell, Book and Candle.

John Bellairs's Lewis Barnavelt books have manypoints in common with the Harry Potter series. They concern a youngboy, orphaned when his parents die in a car crash, who is sent tolive with his peculiar uncle Jonathan and his housekeeper MrsZimmermann. Both are actually wizards and their house is a Hogwarts-likeconstruction of moving pictures and secret passageways. Big,bearded Uncle Jonathan is only somewhat magical, while theshrewder, stricter Mrs Zimmermann is actually a powerful sorceress.Like the Harry Potter world, the series parallels the fantastic andthe mundane; combining the trevails of growing up in small town USAwith a hidden realm of magic. There are a number of surprisingpoints of concordance between the two series, including a wanddisguised as a purple umbrella (in the Harry Potter books, however,the umbrella is pink.)

There are also echoes of Rudyard Kipling's classic TheJungle Book, which opens with an attack by villain Shere Khanon year-old baby Mowgli and his parents. Shere Khan is unable to killMowgli because Mother Wolf, the novel's mother figure, is willingto die to protect him. Mowgli grows up a virtual orphan until he iseleven, when he learns that either he must kill Shere Khan or ShereKhan will kill him. Other tenuous similarities include Bagheera, ablack panther, who, like SiriusBlack, is an escaped prisoner and acts as an uncle figure toMowgli.

Harry Potter as a brand

The Harry Potter brand is very strong due to its devoted fanbase. In addition to the aforementioned adjunct books, Harry Pottermerchandise related to the books and movies is abundant.

On 7 September 2005, AppleComputer announced that it would release a limited edition iPod with the Hogwarts logoengraved on the back. This limited edition iPod would be dubbedthe Harry Potter Collector's iPod. The purchase of this iPod included a codeto download all of the Harry Potter audiobooksto date as well as J. K. Rowling's biographyfrom the iTunes Music Store. On 12 October2005 AppleComputer reintroduced the Harry Potter Collector's iPod which comes with all the books and theengraving on the back like the original Harry Potter Collector'siPod but just updated, with the iPod line to match the look of the5G iPod. TheHarry Potter Fifth-Generation Collector's iPod comes with all the features as the other 5GiPodsincluding the feature to watch videos. No word yet if AppleComputer is going to strike a deal with Warner Brothers to preload the Harry Potterfilms in the future.

;">SiriusBlack, is an escaped prisoner and acts as an uncle figure toMowgli.

Harry Potteras a brand

The Harry Potter brand is very strong due to its devoted fanbase. In addition to the aforementioned adjunct books, Harry Pottermerchandise related to the books and movies is abundant.

On 7 September 2005, AppleComputer announced that it would release a limited edition iPod with the Hogwarts logoengraved on the back. This limited edition iPod would be dubbedthe Harry Potter Collector's iPod . The purchase of this iPod included a codeto download all of the Harry Potter audiobooksto date as well as J. K. Rowling's biographyfrom the iTunes Music Store. On 12 October2005 AppleComputer reintroduced the Harry Potter Collector's iPod which comes with all the books and theengraving on the back like the original Harry Potter Collector'siPod but just updated, with the iPod line to match the look of the5G iPod. TheHarry Potter Fifth-Generation Collector's iPod comes with all the features as the other 5GiPodsincluding the feature to watch videos. No word yet if AppleComputer is going to strike a deal with Warner Brothers to preload the Harry Potterfilms in the future.

Half-Blood Prince (character)

The Half-Blood Prince is a fictional character in J. K. Rowling's sixth Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Harry returns to Hogwarts at the start of his 6th year believing that he will
be unable to take the NEWT-level Potions course because he has failed to receive
the O (Outstanding) in his OWLs that is required by the subject's
teacher, Professor Severus Snape. However, he does not realise that Snape has at
long last been given the Defence Against the Dark Arts position. Dumbledore has
persuaded retired potions master and former head of Slytherin house, Horace
Slughorn to return to the school and resume teaching potions. Slughorn retired
before Snape became potions master, some 15 years earlier. He taught potions to
the class which included Harrys parents James and Lily Potter, Harry's godfather
Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Snape, and in earlier times also taught Tom
Riddle. Professor McGonagall informs Harry that Slughorn is more lenient and
allows students to advance to NEWT class with an E (Exceeds Expectations)
grade. McGonagall also tells Harry that, as he has not purchased the required
items for the NEWT potions course, Professor Slughorn will provide him with the
necessary supplies temporarily.

Slughorn finds old copies of Advanced Potion-Making by
Libatius Borage from the potions storeroom which he lends to Harry and Ron, who
is also unexpectedly able to continue potions. The copy that Slughorn lends
Harry has alterations to the potions written into it. There is also an
inscription in the same handwiting saying that it is the property of the
Half-Blood Prince,
as well as a collection of jinxes and hexes. Harry's performance in Potions
improves greatly when he decides to use the potion modifications, so much so
that Horace Slughorn compliments him for having inherited his mother's
outstanding ability at potions. Harry wins a Felix Felicis potion which Slughorn
offers as a prize to the student who can brew the best potion, when he uses tips
from the book.

Harry notices that the jinxes and hexes contain crossings out and
corrections, which leads him to believe that they were original work created by
the Prince. In particular, the spell Levicorpus
contains many changes and seems to have caused the Prince
some trouble, but Harry succeeds first time when he tries it on Ron. He notices
that the potions tips do not contain such alterations. Harry also feels that the
Prince is a better potions teacher than either Snape or Slughorn.
Slughorn repeatedly tells Harry of Lily's ability at potions, but only comments
on Snape's abilities once, while saying that Harry made a better first attempt
at a potion than any student ever.

The difference between the potions tips and spells might be because the
potions tips were obtained as-is from another source, or alternatively, because
the Prince was better at creating potions tips than
at writing spells and didn't need to amend those notes. It may be that Snape was
not as skilled as Lily, or may mean that Slughorn knew that Harry would not want
to hear if he was. It may also be that the alternative source of tips was Lily;
indeed, it has been stated throughout canon that Snape was employed as Potions
Master only as a temporary post, and that each year he requested the Defence
Against the Dark Arts post from Professor Dumbledore. However, Snape is
acknowledged to be excellent at creating potions, even recognising from the
student's failures what they did wrong. Dumbledore trusts Snape more than any
one to brew him potions, implying that Snape is better at Potions than
Dumbledore.

Harry learns other new and sometimes dangerous spells from the notes,
including Sectumsempra and Muffliato. Hermione becomes suspicious about the
Prince's nature because of these spells and researches the matter in the
school's library. Remus Lupin suggests checking the age of the book and Hermione
uses the publication date, some 50 years earlier, to look for possible owners.
This is earlier than the period when James, Sirius, Remus and Lily went to
school, who Harry had originally suspected might be the
prince. Lupin confirms that neither James nor Sirius was ever known as 'prince'
anything. Hermione first believes that she has discovered the identity of the
Half-Blood Prince to be a girl named Eileen
Prince, who was a Hogwarts student at the right time. She reveals her
findings to Harry, showing him an article from an old copy of the Daily Prophet,
which says that Eileen was once the Captain of the Hogwarts Gobstones Team. The
fifteen-year-old girl in the paper's photograph is described as being thin,
pale, and sullen-looking, with a long face and thick eyebrows.

Remus tells Harry that the spell Levicorpus was popular around the school
during his fifth year, and indeed had been used by Harry's father James. It is
finally confirmed that this spell had been created by Severus Snape.

Hermione looks through marriage and birth announcements in the Daily Prophet.
She now concludes that Snape's mother, Eileen Prince,
married a Muggle named Tobias Snape. That they had a son, Severus, who was
described as knowing more curses and jinxes when he arrived at Hogwarts than
most did when they left. That 'the Half-Blood
Prince' was thus a literal description of Snape himself, with his
half-muggle status and mother's maiden name of
Prince.

A comparison has been drawn with Tom Riddle, who dubbed himself Lord
Voldemort, which is an anagram of his original name.
Prince is also a title, but the expression
half blood is described as an insult in the wizarding world,
particularly amongst Death Eaters or in Slytherin house, and it is not explained
why he might wish to adopt such a name. Harry asked Remus if he recognised the
name from the time when he was in the same class as Snape, Sirius, James and
Lily but he did not. Later, as Harry tries to use Snape's own spells against him
in the heat of battle, Snape confirms to Potter that he is in fact the
Half-Blood Prince. However, it is still
unclear who originally created the name, and the extent to which other people
referred to him as such.

Gryffindors in Harry Potter's year

This article is about minor Harry Potter characters who are Gryffindor
students in the same year as Harry. See Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom and
Ron Weasley for information on them.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Lavender Brown

Harry Potter character
Jennifer Smith as Lavender Brown in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Lavender Brown
Gender	Female
Hair colour	Unknown
Eye colour	Unknown
House	Gryffindor
Parentage	Pure-blood
Loyalty	Dumbledore's Army
Film portrayer	Jennifer Smith
First appearance	Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Lavender Brown is a close friend of Parvati Patil. Lavender
enjoys the same subjects as Parvati: Divination and Care of Magical Creatures
with Professor Grubbly-Plank. Lavender attended the Yule Ball with Seamus
Finnigan. During the Ministry's smear campaign against Harry Potter, Lavender
initially believed it, but later joined Dumbledore's Army. She shares her
dormitory at Hogwarts with Hermione Granger and Parvati Patil.

Lavender learns of the death of her pet rabbit, Binky, in Harry Potter and
the Prisoner of Azkaban. Since Binky was killed by a fox and she got the
news the day Professor Trelawney said the thing she was dreading would happen,
Lavender has been convinced of Trelawney's powers. Hermione Granger, however,
pointed out that Lavender only learned of Binky's death on the sixteenth
of October and that it didn't really occur on that day, plus the fact that
because the news had been very much a shock, she couldn't have been dreading it.

In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Lavender comes to fancy Ron
Weasley, whom she nicknames "Won-Won," and they begin dating (despite
Trelawney's having warned her close friend Parvati Patil in their 3rd year to
"beware a red-headed man"), although it may be better described as "perpetual
snogging." She gets very jealous of the amount of attention Ron and Hermione
Granger still pay to each other. At first during their relationship, Hermione
doesn't speak to Ron, but after they make-up Lavender becomes increasingly
paranoid. Eventually she dumps Ron after seeing him come out of the boys'
dormitory with Hermione (Harry leaves the dormitory along with them, albeit
covered by his Invisibility Cloak). Ron, however, is not disappointed. He is in
fact pleased that he did not have to dump Lavender because she was becoming
quite clingy and Ron was getting tired of her always wanting to be with him.
Lavender Brown shows she is upset about her break-up with Ron when she sees him
brushing off fake snow flakes off Hermione's shoulders. She bursts out crying at
the sight.

 

Seamus Finnigan

Harry Potter character
Seamus Finnigan
Gender	Male
Hair colour	Sandy
Eye colour	Unknown
House	Gryffindor
Parentage	Half-blood
Loyalty	Dumbledore's Army
Film portrayer	Devon Murray
First appearance	Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Pronounced Shay-Mus. Of Irish descent, Seamus Finnigan has
sandy hair and is a huge Quidditch fan. He has quite a strong accent. He shares
his dormitory at Hogwarts with Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Neville Longbottom and
best friend Dean Thomas. He goes to the Yule Ball with Lavender Brown.

He watches the Quidditch World Cup Final with the Weasleys and Harry, of
course supporting Ireland against Bulgaria. His mother is a witch and his father
didn't find out until after the marriage.

Due to the influence of his mother and The Daily Prophet, Seamus did
not fully trust Harry at the start of their fifth year, which caused a lot of
tension in the dormitory, lessons, and common room. However, he changed his mind
after reading Harry's interview in The Quibbler and went to his first and
only DA meeting. At the end of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince he
has a loud argument with his mother concerning her wishes to remove him from
Hogwarts – she eventually agrees that he can stay back for Dumbledore's funeral.
This seems to indicate that Seamus' respect for Dumbledore may have been greater
than he indicated in the beginning of Harry Potter and the Order of the
Phoenix.

Seamus is played in the Harry Potter movies by Devon Murray.

Parvati Patil

Harry Potter character
Parvati Patil, played by Shefali Chowdhury, shown behind Harry and in her Yule Ball dress from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
Parvati Patil
Gender	Female
Hair colour	Black
Eye colour	Dark Brown
House	Gryffindor
Parentage	Unknown
Loyalty	Dumbledore's Army
Film portrayer	Sitara Shah/Shefali Chowdhury
First appearance	Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Parvati Patil is a dark-haired Gryffindor girl in Harry's
year. She has an identical twin sister named Padma, who is in Ravenclaw. She
went with Harry to the Yule Ball, since his crush, Cho Chang, was going with
Cedric Diggory. When Harry and Ron tell their dormmates Dean, Seamus and Neville
that they are going to the ball with the Patil twins, a noticeably envious Dean
mutters about how Harry and Ron managed to get "the best-looking girls in the
year." Parvati wore shocking pink dress robes and bangles with her hair in a
plait braided with gold. Parvati and her twin joined Dumbledore's Army in their
fifth year. She shares her dormitory at Hogwarts with Hermione Granger and
Lavender Brown.

Parvati's best friend is Lavender. They share similar interests in
Divination, boys, and unicorns. Although sometimes Parvati, like Harry, can get
quite tired and embarrassed of Lavender's behaviour when she goes out with Ron
Weasley, in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Her favourite class
is Divination with Professor Trelawney, although she also enjoyed her Care of
Magical Creatures lessons when they were taught by Professor Grubbly-Plank.

Also in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the wizarding
Britain's state of civil war had the Patil twins' parents worried and after the
attack on Katie Bell, Mr. and Mrs. Patil seriously considered taking the girls
out of Hogwarts. Parvati convinced them not to, and they relented after no more
incidents like Katie's happened, though on the morning after Dumbledore's
passing both twins were gone. Their parents had come to collect them overnight
and neither of them stayed for Dumbledore's funeral.

Parvati and her sister's names and appearance in the movies implies they are
of Indian descent. Patil is a common surname in the state of Maharashtra, India.
Parvati is the name of a Hindu Goddess, consort of Lord Shiva and daughter of
the Himalayas.

Parvati is played by Sitara Shah in the film Harry Potter and the Prisoner
of Azkaban and by Shefali Chowdhury in Harry Potter and the Goblet of
Fire.

 

Dean Thomas

Harry Potter character
Alfred Enoch as Dean Thomas in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Dean Thomas
Gender	Male
Hair colour	Black
Eye colour	Brown
House	Gryffindor
Parentage	Half-blood (believes he is Muggle-born)
Loyalty	Dumbledore's Army
Film portrayer	Alfred Enoch
First appearance	Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Dean Thomas is a Gryffindor noted for being good at drawing
and forging signatures. He shares his dormitory at Hogwarts with Harry Potter,
Ron Weasley, Neville Longbottom, and Seamus Finnigan, the last being his best
friend.

Dean comes from a Muggle family, evidenced by his being a fan of the football
team West Ham United. Having no clue about which courses to choose for his third
year, he simply closed his eyes and pointed his wand at the list. JKR revealed
on her website that Dean was raised by his mother and stepfather, because his
original father left the family when he was young. Dean was raised with a number
of half-brothers and sisters. When Dean got the letter inviting him to Hogwarts,
his mother wondered if his father had been a wizard. The truth, which they never
discovered, is that Dean's father was killed by Death Eaters when he refused to
join them. Dean was set to learn this information throughout his school career,
but Rowling scrapped it in an early draft of Chamber of Secrets.

"I suppose in some ways I sacrificed Dean's voyage of discovery for
Neville's, which is more important to the central plot."

Given that this information has never appeared in the actual novels, it is
considered canon because it has been mentioned on JKR's official website.

Dean is the best friend of Seamus Finnigan, but unlike Seamus, he believed
Harry's claim of Voldemort's return during their fifth year at Hogwarts and was
one of the members of the D.A.. He considers Parvati and Padma Patil to be the
best looking girls in their year.

At the end of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix he begins
dating Ginny Weasley, however, they break up before the end of Harry Potter
and the Half-Blood Prince. According to Hermione, their relationship had
been "a bit rocky for ages" but the final break-up was supposedly triggered by a
misunderstanding instigated by Felix Felicis drunk by Harry Potter, who starts
fancying Ginny in HBP.

In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Dean also becomes a reserve
Chaser after Katie Bell's accident with the necklace.

Some have speculated that Dean Thomas was named after the Forest of Dean,
which, like many names in the Harry Potter series, lies in the county of
Rowling's birth, Gloucestershire.

He is played by Alfie Enoch in the Harry Potter movies.

Missing Gryffindor Girls

According to J.K. Rowling, there are ten children in Harry's year in each
house at Hogwarts. All five Gryffindor boys (Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Neville
Longbottom, Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan), and three Gryffindor girls
(Hermione Granger, Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown) are accounted for, but the
"two missing Gryffindor girls" have not yet been stated by Rowling. In an
interview with MuggleNet and The Leaky Cauldron, she
said she will put them on her official website:

MA: Yeah. Have you discovered the two missing Gryffindor students?

JKR: [Covers eyes] Ohh! [Frustrated.] I was going to go and get that for
you, I'm sorry I haven't got it, I'll put it on my site.

Grimmauld Place

Number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London is a fictitious
house in the
Harry Potter books. It is the
ancestral home of the the Black family, an old-established
wizarding family, and first appears in Harry Potter and
the Order of the Phoenix.

"Grimmauld Place" is a pun on "grim old place".

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or
ending details follow.

Harry Potter Locale
Number 12, Grimmauld Place
Location	London
Affiliation	Order of the Phoenix
Permanent Residents	Kreacher, Sirius Black (until he is killed)
First Appearance	Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Grimmauld Place was the ancestral home of The Black family. It eventually passed into
the hands of Sirius Black, the "white sheep" of the Black Family and last
remaining member of a line of traditionally very dark wizards. The
house promptly fell into disrepair as its owner was locked up in
Azkaban
prison. The result was a gloomy and unpleasant dwelling teeming
with dust, decay and various malevolent objects, pests, and hexes. During this
period, inhabitants and "inhabitants" included a hysterical
portrait of Sirius Black's mother who had
a deep-seated hatred for non-Purebloods,
an ancient and deeply mad house-elf named Kreacher who heartily seconded this opinion and a
portrait of Phineas Nigellus, a former headmaster of
Hogwarts.

There were many security measures in place at Number 12 -- for
example, in order to disguise the house from muggles and other
interlopers, it was enchanted to appear small and modest from outside, though its
interior was actually large and opulent. For this reason, it
was chosen as the headquarters of the reorganized Order of the Phoenix. Thereafter, its
location was further hidden through the use of the Fidelius Charm with Albus Dumbledore as the Secret Keeper.
Dumbledore used the portrait of Phineas Nigellus for communication
with the Order, as a second portrait was hung in the headmaster's
office at Hogwarts. During the period of Harry Potter and
the Order of the Phoenix, many members of the Order
frequently came and went. Harry
Potter's only two visits to the house were during this period
as well, in August and December of his fifth year at Hogwarts.

Sirius Black was forced to stay at the house of
his ancestors after his escape from
Azkaban because the Ministry of Magic was still on the lookout
for him. It was quite possibly Severus
Snape's taunting that drove Black to leave the house on the
night where Harry and several members of the Dumbledore's Army, or DA, went to the
Ministry of Magic. For more information, see the fifth
book.

Harry inherited the house at the beginning of Harry Potter and the
Half-Blood Prince. Dumbledore had removed the Order of the
Phoenix until he could be sure that Harry really owned it. The
spells put in place by Sirius' family might have ensured that their
home could only pass to family members or to pureblood wizards, in
which case it would have belonged to Sirius' closest living
relative (and his murderer): Bellatrix Lestrange. Dumbledore tested
Harry's ownership of the house by having Harry give orders to
Kreacher, the house-elf servant, reasoning that if
Harry had truly inherited Kreacher that would indicate that he had
truly inherited the house as well. Kreacher did follow Harry's
orders, however reluctantly, so it was clear that Harry did in fact
own Number 12, Grimmauld Place.

It is suspected that a locket found during the cleanup of the
place in book 5 is one of Voldemort's Horcruxes,
Slytherin's locket, which was found by a
person with the initials R.A.B. When the trinket was uncovered, no one
could open it. It is thought that he is probably Sirius' brother
Regulus Black. If so, the locket may still be
in the house, may have been thrown out with the rubbish, may have
been stolen by Mundungus Fletcher or may have been
hidden by Kreacher.

As revealed by J. K. Rowling on her website on February
21 2006:

"When a Secret-Keeper dies, their secret dies with them, or, to
put it another way, the status of their secret will remain as it
was at the moment of their death. Everybody in whom they confided
will continue to know the hidden information, but nobody
else."

Thus, it is conclusive, that nobody whom Dumbledore did not
invite inside will be able to enter.

Gregory Goyle

Harry Potter character
Joshua Herdman as Gregory Goyle in "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets."
Gregory Goyle
Gender	Male
Hair colour	Unknown
Eye colour	Unknown
House	Slytherin
Parentage	Pure-blood(?)
Loyalty	Loyal to Draco Malfoy
Film portrayer	Joshua Herdman
First appearance	Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Gregory Goyle (born in 1980), typically referred to simply as
Goyle, is a fictional character in the
Harry Potter books. He is friends with
Draco Malfoy, generally following him around and
doing his bidding. He seems to lack all intelligence, magical
talent, and independent thought, and thus uses only his size and
strength to bully other students or scare off anyone who threatens
Malfoy. Malfoy has indicated that Goyle cannot
read.

Goyle is usually mentioned alongside Vincent Crabbe, who is his friend and fellow
lackey of Draco. Goyle is generally represented as the less
intelligent of the two. Goyle's father is a Death
Eater.

Goyle started his first year at Hogwarts School of
Witchcraft and Wizardry with Malfoy and Crabbe in 1991. In Harry Potter and
the Order of the Phoenix, he joined the Inquisitorial Squad.

At the end of Half-Blood Prince, he and Crabbe are
left feeling lost, after their leader/friend Malfoy took off with
the Half-Blood Prince. In
fanfiction,he is often paired with Millicent Bulstrode, or Pansy Parkinson.