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Harry Potter
Characters
The Harry Potter
characters are the heart of the greatest fantasy series of our time. We
followed their journey through thousands
of pages
as they loved and lost, lived and died, and fought for either good or
evil in a climactic battle that would decide the fate of all.
Hermione
Granger (Emma Watson),
Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) in a
scene from Harry Potter
and the Goblet of
Fire
The seven-book series by
the author of Harry Potter, JK
Rowling, revolves
around the three main
Harry Potter characters, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger,
all pupils at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Much of the
books’ appeal lies in the relationship between them and their struggle
to cope with being ordinary teenagers in an extraordinary world.
Here
are portraits of the three main Harry Potter characters, Harry, Ron and Hermione:
CLICK HERE
to read about Cedric Diggory
CLICK HERE
to read about Lord Voldemort
Harry
Potter
 Harry
Potter (left: as portrayed by Daniel Radcliffe in the Harry Potter
movies) is the main character in the series,
which spans seven years
of his life.
When we first meet Harry, he is living in a closet in the home of his
mean-spirited relatives. On his eleventh
birthday
he finds out that he’s a wizard and enrolls at Hogwarts, a boarding
school where young witches and wizards learn to fine-tune their magical
skills. There he becomes best friends with fellow pupils Ron and
Hermione as
they try to solve a mystery involving a stone that offers eternal life.
Their endeavors lead to the first of many encounters between Harry and
the dark wizard who murdered his parents, Lord Voldemort.
Harry’s
full name is Harry James
Potter (called after his dad, James) but most people in
the magical community know him best as ‘the boy who lived’.
When Lord Voldemort murdered Harry’s parents, he shot a fatal spell at
the infant Harry. However the spell backfired destroying Voldemort’s
body (though his soul survived) and left Harry with a scar on his forehead
in the shape of a bolt of lightning.
Harry
was left to grow up in the care of his non-magical relatives, who hide
from him his true identity and treat him like an unwanted burden. An
orphan and an only child, Harry’s longing
to be reunited with his deceased parents is one of the series’ major
themes.
Harry’s
most distinctive features include the scar on his forehead, the floppy
black hair that he inherited from his dad, and the green eyes that he
inherited from his mom. He is small and skinny and is rarely seen
without his round eyeglasses. A gifted wizard, he has a particular
talent for flying, which earns him the role of Seeker on one of the
school’s Quidditch teams.
In the second book in the series, Harry
Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry is shocked to
find out that he can speak Parseltongue,
a language normally associated with dark wizards, which allows him to
communicate with snakes. He later loses this ability, to his great
relief.
Ron
Weasley
 Ron
Weasley (left: as
portrayed by Rupert Grint in the Harry
Potter movies) is the
only one of the three main Harry
Potter characters who grew up among other witches and
wizards. Despite this, he is usually outshadowed
in terms of magical talent by his two best friends, the gifted Harry
and the highly intelligent Hermione (below). This leads to feelings of
resentments against Harry in particular, which leads to a few heated
rows.
Ronald Bilius Weasley,
named after his late uncle Bilius, is the sixth of seven children. He
comes from a pureblood wizarding family called the Weasleys, who are
cramped into a quirky home called The
Burrow
near a village in Devon in England. His family’s low social status and
lack of wealth is a source of embarrassment to Ron, who is often
depicted wearing shabby hand-me-downs.
Ron
is tall, thin and gangly and has the red hair and
freckles common to the Weasley clan. In the first six books of the
series, he shows himself to be sarcastic,
insensitive
and immature
but in the final book he comes into his own. He owes up to his
insecurities and declares his true feelings for Hermione, who later
becomes his wife.
Hermione
Granger
 Hermione
Granger (left: as
portrayed by Emma Watson in the Harry
Potter movies) is one of
the most intelligent
Harry Potter
characters. When we first meet her, she comes across as a
bossy and annoying know-it-all. But she soon proves herself a loyal and
resourceful friend. An extremely talented witch, she uses her brains,
book smarts and dueling skills to help her friends solve mysteries,
fight danger and even escape death.
Hermione Jean Granger
is the only child of muggle (meaning non-magical) parents who work as
dentists in the real world. She is described in the books as having
bushy brown hair, brown eyes and large front teeth, which are magically
reduced in the fourth book, Harry
Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Despite her outward
confidence, she has a deep-seated fear
of failure and sense of inadequacy. However, she is deeply
compassionate and puts the safety of her loved ones before all else.
CLICK HERE
to read about the candy enjoyed by Rowling's teen characters, Bertie
Botts Every Flavor Beans
What's
next for the Harry
Potter characters?
Hermione
Granger (Emma Watson),
Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) in
a scene from the 2009 movie, Harry
Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The
journey of the Harry
Potter characters through the book
series may have come to an end. But there's still more to
look forward to on the
big screen.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood
Prince,
based on the sixth book, is due in
theaters on 17 July 2009.
And filmmakers will deliver the movie based
on the seventh book, Harry Potter and the Deathly
Hollows, in two parts in 2010 and 2011. I know
where I'll be on every opening night and that's front row at my local
theater. I bet you will be too!
Keep up with the latest news about the series over at The
Leaky Cauldron, which is my very favorite Potter site. (The
link opens the site in another window so should you decide to
visit The Leaky Cauldron, I'll still be here, waiting for you to
return.)
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Characters to read more about the top 100 fantasy
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