Christian Coulson
English actor
Christian Peter Coulson is an English actor known for playing young Tom Marvolo Riddle (Lord Voldemort) in the 2002 fantasy film "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets".
Early life.
Coulson was born in Manchester. He attended Arnold House Preparatory School in London, before attending Westminster School on an academic scholarship. He was a member of the UK's National Youth Music Theatre from 1990 to 1997, and went on to the University of Cambridge, where he received a degree in English from Clare College in 2000. While at university, he played the M.C. (Master of Ceremonies) in "Cabaret", Arturo Ui in "The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui" and Claire in "The Maids", as well as appearing in film and television.
Career.
Coulson gained worldwide attention and popularity for his role in 2002's "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets", in which he portrayed a 16-year-old Tom Riddle, even though he was 23 at the time. However, in 2007, director David Yates indicated on MTV that Coulson would not reprise his role in "Half-Blood Prince", since, at 29, he was by then too old.
He also wrote the lyrics and book for a rock musical called "The Fallen" which was performed at Bedford Modern School in 1998.
As of 2015, Coulson resides and works in New York City as an actor, director and photographer.
References.
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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)
2002 film by Chris Columbus
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is a 2002 fantasy film directed by Chris Columbus from a screenplay by Steve Kloves. It is based on the 1998 novel "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" by J. K. Rowling. Produced by David Heyman, it is the sequel to "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" (2001) and the second instalment in the "Harry Potter" film series. The film stars Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, with Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger respectively. The story follows Harry's second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where the Heir of Salazar Slytherin opens the Chamber of Secrets, unleashing a monster that petrifies the school's students.
The film was released in the United Kingdom and the United States on 15 November 2002, by Warner Bros. Pictures. Critics praised its darker plot, sets, performances (especially Branagh, Coltrane and Isaacs), and a story appropriate for a young audience, and it became a critical and commercial success, grossing $878 million worldwide (domestic 29.7% and foreign 70.2%) and becoming the second-highest-grossing film of 2002. The film was nominated for many awards, including the BAFTA Award for Best Production Design, Best Sound, and Best Special Visual Effects. It was followed by "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" (2004).
Plot.
While spending the summer with the Dursleys, Harry Potter meets Dobby, a house-elf who warns him not to return to Hogwarts or danger will strike. When Harry refuses, Dobby sabotages an important dinner for the Dursleys, who lock up Harry to prevent his departure. Harry's friend Ron Weasley and his brothers Fred and George rescue him in their father's flying car.
In Diagon Alley, Harry, the Weasleys, and Hermione Granger notice a book signing by Gilderoy Lockhart, Hogwarts' new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. There, Harry sees Draco Malfoy's father, Lucius, slip a book into Ginny Weasley's cauldron. After being blocked from entering Platform Nine and Three-Quarters at King's Cross railway station, Harry and Ron take the car to Hogwarts. They crash into the Whomping Willow, breaking Ron's wand, and receive detention.
In detention, Harry hears a strange voice and later finds caretaker Argus Filch's cat, Mrs Norris, petrified with a message written in blood: "The Chamber of Secrets has been opened, enemies of the heir... beware." One of Hogwarts' founders, Salazar Slytherin, supposedly constructed a secret Chamber containing a monster that only his heir can control, capable of purging the school of Muggle-borns. To solve this mystery, Harry, Ron, and Hermione plan to question Malfoy, using polyjuice potion, which they brew in a bathroom haunted by Moaning Myrtle, a ghost.
During a Quidditch game, Harry's arm is broken by a rogue Bludger. Dobby visits him in the infirmary and reveals that he closed the barrier to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters and made the Bludger chase Harry to force him to leave the school. He also reveals that the Chamber had been opened in the past. When Harry communicates with a snake, the school starts to believe he is the heir. Disguised as Malfoy's friends, Harry and Ron learn he is not the heir, but know that a Muggle-born girl died when the Chamber was last opened. Harry finds an enchanted diary owned by a former student Tom Marvolo Riddle, who opened the Chamber and blamed Rubeus Hagrid, leading to his expulsion. When the diary is stolen and Hermione is petrified, Harry and Ron question Hagrid. Professor Dumbledore, Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge, and Lucius arrive to take Hagrid to Azkaban and remove Dumbledore from office, but he discreetly tells the boys to "follow the spiders". In the Forbidden Forest, Harry and Ron meet Hagrid's giant pet spider, Aragog, who reveals Hagrid's innocence and provides a small clue of the Chamber's monster.
A book page in Hermione's hand identifies the monster as a basilisk, a giant serpent that kills people who make direct eye contact; the petrified victims only saw it indirectly. The school staff learns Ginny has been taken into the Chamber, and nominate Lockhart to save her. Harry and Ron find Lockhart preparing to flee, exposing him as a fraud. Deducing that Myrtle was the Muggle-born girl that the basilisk killed, they find the Chamber's entrance in the bathroom she haunts. Once inside, Lockhart tries to erase Harry and Ron’s memories so he can document this as his own adventure. However, because he was using Ron's broken wand, the spell backfired, erasing Lockhart's memory and causing a cave-in, separating Harry from Ron and Lockhart.
Harry enters the Chamber alone and finds Ginny unconscious. Riddle, who turns out to be Slytherin's heir and Voldemort's younger self, uses the diary to manipulate Ginny into reopening the Chamber. After Harry expresses his loyalty to Dumbledore, the latter's pet phoenix Fawkes arrives with the Sorting Hat, causing Riddle to summon the basilisk. Fawkes blinds the basilisk, and the Sorting Hat produces the Sword of Gryffindor, which Harry uses to kill the basilisk after a battle, but is poisoned by one of its fangs.
Despite being injured, Harry stabs the diary with the basilisk fang, destroying Riddle and reviving Ginny. Fawkes's tears heal Harry, who returns to Hogwarts with his friends and a baffled Lockhart. This earns Dumbledore's praise and Hagrid's release. Harry accuses Lucius, Dobby's master, of planting the diary in Ginny's cauldron and tricks him into freeing Dobby. The basilisk's victims are healed, Hermione reunites with her friends, and Hagrid is released from Azkaban.
Cast.
Several actors from "Philosopher's Stone" reprise their roles in this film. Harry Melling portrays Dudley Dursley, Harry's Muggle cousin. James and Oliver Phelps play Fred and George Weasley, Ron's twin brothers; Chris Rankin appears as Percy Weasley, Ron's other brother and a Gryffindor prefect; and Bonnie Wright portrays their sister Ginny. Tom Felton plays Draco Malfoy, Harry's rival in Slytherin, while Jamie Waylett and Joshua Herdman appear as Crabbe and Goyle, Draco's minions. Matthew Lewis, Devon Murray and Alfred Enoch play Neville Longbottom, Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas, respectively, three Gryffindor students in Harry's year. David Bradley portrays Argus Filch, Hogwarts' caretaker, and Sean Biggerstaff as Oliver Wood, the Keeper of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Leslie Phillips voices the Sorting Hat. Eleanor Columbus, Chris Columbus's daughter, appears as Susan Bones, Edward Randell appears as Justin Finch-Fletchley, Charlotte Skeoch as Hannah Abbott, and Louis Doyle as Ernie MacMillan; Hufflepuff students. Emily Dale appears as Katie Bell, Rochelle Douglas as Alicia Spinnet, and Danielle Tabor as Angelina Johnson; Gryffindor girls. Jamie Yeats appears as Marcus Flint, Scott Fearn as Adrian Pucey; and David Holmes, David Massam, and Tony Christian appear as Slytherin quidditch players. Gemma Padley appears as Penelope Clearwater, a Ravenclaw student and Percy's girlfriend. Luke Youngblood plays Lee Jordan, the Quidditch comentator.
Christian Coulson appears as Tom Marvolo Riddle, a manifestation of young Lord Voldemort. Mark Williams portrays Arthur Weasley, Ron's father. Shirley Henderson plays Moaning Myrtle, a Hogwarts ghost. Miriam Margolyes appears as Pomona Sprout, Hogwarts' Herbology professor and head of Hufflepuff. Hugh Mitchell portrays Colin Creevey, a first year student that is a fan of Harry's. Robert Hardy appears as Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic. Toby Jones voices Dobby, a House-elf, while Julian Glover voices Aragog, an acromantula. Jim Norton appears as Mr. Mason and Veronica Clifford appears as Mrs. Mason. Alfred Burke appears as Master Dippet in a memory of Tom Riddle. Daisy Bates, David Tysall and Peter Taylor appear as moving pictures. Helen Stuart plays Millicent Bulstrode, a Slytherin girl.
Hugh Grant was rumoured to be the first choice to play the role of Gilderoy Lockhart, but due to reported scheduling conflicts he was unable to play the character. Columbus later denied that Grant had been considered and stated that they had not met. Alan Cumming and Rupert Everett were also considered for Lockhart. Cumming backed out over a salary dispute. Jason Issacs also auditioned for Lockhart, but was offered for the role of Lucius Malfoy instead, he was reluctant to take the role as he was already signed on to play Captain Hook in "Peter Pan" (2003), but his family convinced him to take the role and accepted it. Before Coulson was cast as Tom Riddle, James McAvoy and Eddie Redmayne – who later played Newt Scamander in the "Fantastic Beasts" films – auditioned for the role.
Production.
Costume and set design.
Production designer Stuart Craig returned for the sequel to design new elements previously not seen in the first film. He designed the Burrow based on Arthur Weasley's interest in Muggles, built vertically out of architectural salvage. Mr. Weasley's flying car was created from a 1962 Ford Anglia 105E. The Chamber of Secrets, measuring over long and wide, was the biggest set created for the saga. Dumbledore's office, which houses the Sorting Hat and the Sword of Gryffindor, was also built for the film.
Lindy Hemming was the costume designer for "Chamber of Secrets". She retained many of the characters' already established appearances, and chose to focus on the new characters introduced in the sequel. Gilderoy Lockhart's wardrobe incorporated bright colours, in contrast with the "dark, muted or sombre colours" of the other characters. Branagh said, "We wanted to create a hybrid between a period dandy and someone who looked as if they could fit into Hogwarts." Hemming also perfected Lucius Malfoy's costume. One of the original concepts was for him to wear a pinstripe suit, but was changed to furs and a snake head cane in order to remark his aristocrat quality and to reflect a "sense of the old."
Filming.
Principal photography began on 19 November 2001, only three days after the wide release of the first film. Second-unit work had started three weeks before, primarily for the flying car scene. Filming took place mainly at Leavesden Film Studios in Hertfordshire, as well as on the Isle of Man. King's Cross railway station was used as the filming location for Platform 9¾, though St Pancras railway station was used for the exterior shots. Gloucester Cathedral was used as the setting for Hogwarts School, along with Durham Cathedral, Alnwick Castle, Lacock Abbey, and the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford. The Burrow was built in Gypsy Lane, Abbots Langley, in front of Leavesden Studios.
Roger Pratt was brought on as director of photography for "Chamber of Secrets", in order to give the film "a darker and edgier feel" than its predecessor, which reflected "the growth of the characters and the story." Director Chris Columbus opted to use handheld cameras to allow more freedom in movement, which he considered "a departure for [him] as a filmmaker." University of Cambridge linguistics professor Francis Nolan created Parseltongue, the language spoken by snakes in the film. Principal photography wrapped in July 2002.
Sound design.
Due to the events that take place in "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets", the film's sound effects were much more expansive than in the previous instalment. Sound designer and supervising sound editor Randy Thom returned for the sequel using Pro Tools to complete the job, which included initial conceptions done at Skywalker Sound in California and primary work done at Shepperton Studios in England.
Thom wanted to give the Whomping Willow a voice, a deep growl for which he used his own voice slowed down, equalised and bass-boosted. For the mandrakes, he combined baby cries with female screams, in order to "make it just exotic enough so that you think, 'Hmm, I've never heard anything quite like "that" before.'"
Thom described the basilisk as a challenge, "because it's a giant snake, but it's also like a dragon — not many snakes have teeth like that. He had to hiss, he had to roar and there were times at the end when he was in pain." He mixed his own voice, tiger roars, and horse and elephant vocalizations.
Special and visual effects.
Visual effects took nine months to make, until 9 October 2002, when the film was finished. Industrial Light & Magic, Mill Film, the Moving Picture Company (MPC), Cinesite and Framestore CFC handled the approximately 950 visual effect shots in the film. Jim Mitchell and Nick Davis served as visual effects supervisors. They were in charge of creating the CGI characters Dobby the House Elf, the Basilisk, and the Cornish pixies, among others. Chas Jarrett from MPC served as CGI supervisor, overseeing the approach of any shot that contains CGI in the film. With a crew of 70 people, the company produced 251 shots, 244 of which made it to the film, from September 2001 to October 2002.
The visual effects team worked alongside creature effects supervisor Nick Dudman, who devised Fawkes the Phoenix, the Mandrakes, Aragog the Acromantula, and the first of the Basilisk. According to Dudman, Aragog was the most challenging character to create. The giant spider stood tall with an foot leg span, each of which had to be controlled by a different team member. The whole creature weighed three quarters of a ton. It took over 15 people to operate the animatronic Aragog on set.
The Whomping Willow sequence required a combination of practical and visual effects. Special effects supervisor John Richardson and his team created mechanically operated branches to hit the flying car. A 1:3 scale set was built on stage at Shepperton Studios, which featured the fully-sized top third of the tree with a forced perspective to appear a height of over high. The courtyard and the tree were built in 3D. Some shots ended up being entirely digital. Jarret identified the rendering as "the biggest challenge" of the scene, because "there was just so much going on in [it] ... It was simply massive."
Music.
John Williams, who composed the previous film's score, returned to score "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets". Composing the film proved to be a difficult task, as Williams had just completed scoring "" and "Minority Report" when work was to begin on "Catch Me If You Can". Because of this, William Ross was brought in to arrange themes from the "Philosopher's Stone" into the new material that Williams was composing whenever he had the chance. Ross also conducted the scoring sessions with the London Symphony Orchestra. The soundtrack album was released on 12 November 2002.
Distribution.
Marketing.
Footage for the film began appearing online in the summer of 2002, with a teaser trailer debuting in cinemas with the release of "Scooby-Doo" that June. A video game based on the film was released in early November 2002 by Electronic Arts for several consoles, including GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox. The film also continued the merchandising success set by its predecessor, with reports of shortages on Lego's "Chamber of Secrets" tie-ins.
Home media.
The film was originally released in the United Kingdom, United States and Canada on 11 April 2003 on both VHS tape and in a two-disc special edition fullscreen/widescreen DVD digipack, which included extended and deleted scenes and interviews. On 11 December 2007, the film's Blu-ray version was released. An Ultimate Edition of the film was released on 8 December 2009, featuring new footage, TV spots, an extended version of the film with deleted scenes edited in, and a feature-length special "Creating the World of Harry Potter Part 2: Characters". The film's extended version has a running time of about 174 minutes, which has previously been shown during certain television airings.
Reception.
Box office.
"Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" held its world premiere at Odeon Leicester Square on 3 November 2002, and was released in the United Kingdom and the United States on 15 November 2002. The film broke multiple records upon its opening. In the United States and Canada, the film opened to an $88.4million opening weekend, playing on 8,515 screens at 3,682 theaters, making it the third-largest opening at the time, behind "Spider-Man" and its predecessor "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone". The film would hold the record for having the largest number of screenings until it was surpassed by "X2" the next year. It was also No. 1 at the box office for two non-consecutive weekends. "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" was the second 2002 film to return to the number one spot, just after Mel Gibson's "Signs". The film joined "Die Another Day" and "The Santa Clause 2" to outperform the weak opening of "Treasure Planet". Both "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" and "Die Another Day" were the most recent films to reclaim the number one spot for six months until June 2003 when "Finding Nemo" became the next film to do so. In the United Kingdom, the film broke all opening records that were previously held by "Philosopher's Stone". It made £18.9million during its opening including previews and £10.9million excluding previews.
 It went on to make £54.8million in the UK; at the time, the fifth-biggest tally of all time in the region.
Internationally, the film earned $59.5 million during its opening weekend. The film earned $3.7 million in Japan, making it the highest opening of any film in the country until it was surpassed a year later by "The Matrix Reloaded". In Malaysia, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" made a total of $474,000, breaking "Eraser"'s record for having the country's biggest opening for any Warner Bros. film. It would go on to generate a total of $1.03 million in Singapore, becoming the second-highest film opening in the country, after '. Meanwhile, the film earned $3.1 million in Taiwan, surpassing "The Mummy Returns" by 16%. "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" would then gross over $1.15 million in the Philippines, ranking as an industry high in the country only 5% bigger than "Godzilla". The film made a total of $879.8million worldwide in its original release and $926.2 million after re-releases. It was the second-highest-grossing film of 2002 worldwide behind ', and the fourth highest-grossing film in the US and Canada that year with $262.6 million behind "Spider-Man", "The Two Towers", and "". However, it was the year's number one film outside of America, making $617.2million compared to "The Two Towers"' $584.5million.
Critical response.
On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The site's critical consensus reads, "Though perhaps more enchanting for younger audiences, "Chamber of Secrets" is nevertheless both darker and livelier than its predecessor, expanding and improving upon the first film's universe." On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 63 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a rare "A+", the only film in the "Harry Potter" series to receive such grade.
Roger Ebert gave "The Chamber of Secrets" 4 out of 4 stars, especially praising the set design. "Entertainment Weekly" commended the film for being better and darker than its predecessor: "And among the things this "Harry Potter" does very well indeed is deepen the darker, more frightening atmosphere for audiences. This is as it should be: Harry's story is supposed to get darker". Richard Roeper praised Columbus' direction and the film's faithfulness to the book, saying: "Chris Columbus, the director, does a real wonderful job of being faithful to the story but also taking it into a cinematic era". "Variety" said the film was excessively long, but praised it for being darker and more dramatic, saying that its confidence and intermittent flair to give it a life of its own apart from the books was something "The Philosopher's Stone" never achieved. "The Guardian" praised the darker storyline, but said that the acting could have been better.
A. O. Scott from "The New York Times" said: "instead of feeling stirred you may feel battered and worn down, but not, in the end, too terribly disappointed". Peter Travers from "Rolling Stone" condemned the film for being over-long and too faithful to the book: "Once again, director Chris Columbus takes a hat-in-hand approach to Rowling that stifles creativity and allows the film to drag on for nearly three hours". Kenneth Turan from the "Los Angeles Times" called the film a cliché which is "deja vu all over again, it's likely that whatever you thought of the first production – pro or con – you'll likely think of this one".
Accolades.
"Chamber of Secrets" was nominated for three BAFTA Awards: Best Production Design, Best Sound, and Best Special Visual Effects. The film was also nominated for six Saturn Awards. It received two nominations at the inaugural Visual Effects Society Awards. The Broadcast Film Critics Association granted it the Best Family Film and Best Composer awards, and nominated it for Best Digital Acting Performance (for Toby Jones).
References.
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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
1998 fantasy novel by J. K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling. It is the second novel in the "Harry Potter" series. The plot follows Harry's second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, during which a series of messages on the walls of the school's corridors warn that the "Chamber of Secrets" has been opened and that the "heir of Slytherin" would kill all pupils who do not come from all-magical families. These threats are found after attacks that leave residents of the school petrified. Throughout the year, Harry and his friends Ron and Hermione investigate the attacks.
The book was published in the United Kingdom on 2 July 1998 by Bloomsbury and later in the United States on 2 June 1999 by Scholastic Inc. Although Rowling says she found it difficult to finish the book, it won high praise and awards from critics, young readers, and the book industry, although some critics thought the story was perhaps too frightening for younger children. Much like with other novels in the series, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" triggered religious debates; some religious authorities have condemned its use of magical themes, whereas others have praised its emphasis on self-sacrifice and the way one's character is the result of one's choices.
Several commentators have noted that personal identity is a strong theme in the book and that it addresses issues of racism through the treatment of non-human, non-magical, and non-living people. Some commentators regard the story's diary that writes back as a warning against uncritical acceptance of information from sources whose motives and reliability cannot be checked. Institutional authority is portrayed as self-serving and incompetent.
The film adaptation of the novel, released in 2002, became (at the time) the fifth highest-grossing film ever and received generally favourable reviews. Video games loosely based on "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" were also released for several platforms, and most obtained favourable reviews.
Plot.
While spending the summer with the Dursleys, the twelve-year-old Harry Potter is visited by Dobby, a house-elf. Dobby says Harry is in danger and must promise not to return to Hogwarts. When Harry refuses, Dobby uses magic to destroy a pudding made by Aunt Petunia. Believing that Harry created the mess, Uncle Vernon locks him in his room. The Ministry of Magic sends a notice accusing Harry of performing underage magic and threatening to expel him from Hogwarts.
The Weasley brothers Ron, Fred, and George arrive in their father's flying car and take Harry to their home. When Harry and the Weasleys go to Diagon Alley for school supplies, they meet Gilderoy Lockhart, a celebrity author who is the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. At King's Cross station, Harry and Ron cannot enter Platform 9¾ to board the Hogwarts Express, so they fly to Hogwarts in the enchanted car.
During the school year, Harry hears a strange voice emanating from the castle walls. Argus Filch's cat is found Petrified, along with a warning scrawled on the wall: "The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir, beware". Harry learns that the Chamber supposedly houses a monster that attacks Muggle-born students, and which only the Heir of Slytherin can control. During a Quidditch match, a rogue Bludger strikes Harry, breaking his arm. Professor Lockhart botches an attempt to mend it, which sends Harry to the hospital wing. Dobby visits Harry and reveals that he jinxed the Bludger and sealed the portal at King's Cross. He also tells Harry that house-elves are bound to serve a master, and cannot be freed unless their master gives them clothing.
After another attack from the monster, students attend a defensive duelling class. During the class, Harry displays the rare ability to speak Parseltongue, the language of snakes. Moaning Myrtle, a ghost who haunts a bathroom, shows Harry and his friends a diary that was left in her stall. It belonged to Tom Riddle, a student who witnessed another student's death when the Chamber was last opened. During the next attack by the monster, Hermione Granger is petrified.
Harry and Ron discover that the monster is a Basilisk, a gigantic snake that can kill victims with a direct gaze and Petrify them with an indirect gaze. Harry realizes the Basilisk is producing the voice he hears in the walls. After Ron's sister Ginny is abducted and taken into the Chamber, Harry and Ron discover the Chamber entrance in Myrtle's bathroom. When they force Lockhart to enter with them, he confesses that the stories he told of his heroic adventures are fabrications. He attempts to erase the boys' memories, but his spell backfires and obliterates his own memory.
Harry finds an unconscious Ginny in the Chamber. A manifestation of Tom Riddle appears and reveals that he is Lord Voldemort and the Heir of Slytherin. After explaining that he opened the Chamber, Riddle summons the Basilisk to kill Harry. Dumbledore's phoenix Fawkes arrives, bringing Harry the Sorting Hat. While Fawkes blinds the Basilisk, Harry pulls the Sword of Gryffindor from the Hat. He slays the serpent, then stabs the diary with a Basilisk fang, destroying it and the manifestation of Riddle. Later, Harry liberates Dobby by tricking his master into giving him clothing. At the end of the novel, the Petrified students are cured and Gryffindor wins the House Cup.
Publication and reception.
Development.
J.K Rowling found it difficult to finish "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" because she was afraid it would not live up to the expectations raised by "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone". After delivering the manuscript to Bloomsbury on schedule, she took it back for six weeks of revision.
In early drafts of the book, the ghost Nearly Headless Nick sang a self-composed song explaining his condition and the circumstances of his unknown death. This was cut because the book's editor did not care for the poem, which has been subsequently published as an extra on J. K. Rowling's official website. The family background of Dean Thomas was removed because Rowling and her publishers considered it an "unnecessary digression," and she considered Neville Longbottom's own journey of discovery "more important to the central plot."
Gilderoy Lockhart's character was inspired by an acquaintance of Rowling who was, in her words, "even more objectionable than his fictional counterpart" and "used to tell whopping great fibs about his past life, all of them designed to demonstrate what a wonderful, brave and brilliant person he was."
Publication.
"Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" was published in the UK on 2 July 1998 and in the US on 2 June 1999. It immediately took first place in UK bestseller lists, displacing popular authors such as John Grisham, Tom Clancy and Terry Pratchett, and making Rowling the first author to win the British Book Awards Children's Book of the Year for two years in succession. In June 1999, it went straight to the top of three US bestseller lists, including in "The New York Times".
First edition printings had several errors, which were fixed in subsequent reprints. Initially, Dumbledore said Voldemort was the last remaining ancestor of Salazar Slytherin instead of his descendant. Gilderoy Lockhart's book on werewolves is entitled "Weekends with Werewolves" at one point and "Wanderings with Werewolves" later in the book.
Critical response.
"Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" was met with near-universal acclaim. On "BookBrowse", a site that aggregates book reviews such as media reviews, the book received a from "Critics' Opinion".
In "The Times", Deborah Loudon described it as a children's book that would be "re-read into adulthood" and highlighted its "strong plots, engaging characters, excellent jokes and a moral message which flows naturally from the story". Fantasy author Charles de Lint agreed, and considered the second Harry Potter book to be just as good as "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", a rare achievement among series of books. Thomas Wagner regarded the plot as very similar to that of the first book, based on searching for a secret hidden under the school. However, he enjoyed the parody of celebrities and their fans that centres round Gilderoy Lockhart, and approved of the book's handling of racism. Tammy Nezol found the book more disturbing than its predecessor, particularly in the rash behaviour of Harry and his friends after Harry withholds information from Dumbledore, and in the human-like behaviour of the mandragoras used to make a potion that cures petrification. Nevertheless, she considered the second story as enjoyable as the first.
Mary Stuart thought the final conflict with Tom Riddle in the Chamber was almost as scary as in some of Stephen King's works, and perhaps too strong for young or timid children. She commented that "there are enough surprises and imaginative details thrown in as would normally fill five lesser books." Like other reviewers, she thought the book would give pleasure to both children and adult readers. According to Philip Nel, the early reviews gave unalloyed praise while the later ones included some criticisms, although they still agreed that the book was outstanding.
Writing after all seven books had been published, Graeme Davis regarded "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" as the weakest of the series, and agreed that the plot structure is much the same as in "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone". He described Fawkes's appearance to arm Harry and then to heal him as a "deus ex machina": he said that the book does not explain how Fawkes knew where to find Harry; and Fawkes's timing had to be very precise, as arriving earlier would probably have prevented the battle with the basilisk, while arriving later would have been fatal to Harry and Ginny.
Awards and honours.
Rowling's "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" was the recipient of several awards. The American Library Association listed the novel among its 2000 Notable Children's Books,
as well as its Best Books for Young Adults. In 1999, Booklist named "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" as one of its Editors' Choices, and as one of its Top Ten Fantasy Novels for Youth. The Cooperative Children's Book Center made the novel a CCBC Choice of 2000 in the "Fiction for Children" category. The novel also won Children's Book of the Year British Book Award, and was shortlisted for the 1998 Guardian Children's Award and the 1998 Carnegie Award.
"Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" won the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize 1998 Gold Medal in the 9–11 years division. Rowling also won two other Nestlé Smarties Book Prizes for "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" and "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban". The Scottish Arts Council awarded their first ever Children's Book Award to the novel in 1999, and it was also awarded Whitaker's Platinum Book Award in 2001. In 2003, the novel was listed at number 23 on the BBC's survey The Big Read.
Main themes.
"Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" continues to examine what makes a person who he or she is, which began in the first book. As well as maintaining that Harry's identity is shaped by his decisions rather than any aspect of his birth, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" provides contrasting characters who try to conceal their true personalities: as Tammy Nezol puts it, Gilderoy Lockhart "lacks any real identity" because he is nothing more than a charming liar. Riddle also complicates Harry's struggle to understand himself by pointing out the similarities between the two: "both half-bloods, orphans raised by Muggles, probably the only two Parselmouths to come to Hogwarts since the great Slytherin."
Opposition to class, death and its impacts, experiencing adolescence, sacrifice, love, friendship, loyalty, prejudice, and racism are constant themes of the series. In "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" Harry's consideration and respect for others extends to the lowly, non-human Dobby and the ghost Nearly Headless Nick. According to Marguerite Krause, achievements in the novel depend more on ingenuity and hard work than on natural talents.
Edward Duffy, associate professor at Marquette University, says that one of the central characters of "Chamber of Secrets" is Tom Riddle's enchanted diary, which takes control of Ginny Weasley – just as Riddle planned. Duffy suggests Rowling intended this as a warning against passively consuming information from sources that have their own agendas. Although Bronwyn Williams and Amy Zenger regard the diary as more like an instant messaging or chat room system, they agree about the dangers of relying too much on the written word, which can camouflage the author, and they highlight a comical example, Lockhart's self-promoting books.
Antonello Fabio Caterino, an Italian forensic linguist and philologist, stated that the conversations Harry and Voldemort had through the diary could be considered a "modern transposition" of Petrarca's "Secretum", a text often compared to a diary, which details an imaginary dialogue between the writer and Augustine of Hippo. Caterino analysed similarities between themes found in both books, starting from the idea of a fragmented soul: Harry and Voldemort are both seeking Voldemort's Horcruxes, which are fragments of his soul, and Petrarca also focuses on the concept "animae fragmenta", meaning soul's fragments.
Immorality and the portrayal of authority as negative are significant themes in the novel. Marguerite Krause states there are few absolute moral rules in Harry Potter's world, for example Harry prefers to tell the truth, but lies whenever he considers it necessary – very like his enemy Draco Malfoy. At the end of "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets", Dumbledore retracts his promise to punish Harry and Ron if they break any more school rules – after Professor McGonagall estimates they have broken over 100 – and lavishly rewards them for ending the threat from the Chamber of Secrets. Krause further states that authority figures and political institutions receive little respect from Rowling. William MacNeil of Griffith University, Queensland, Australia states that the Minister for Magic is presented as a mediocrity. In his article "Harry Potter and the Secular City", Ken Jacobson suggests the Ministry as a whole is portrayed as a tangle of bureaucratic empires, saying that "Ministry officials busy themselves with minutiae (e.g. standardising cauldron thicknesses) and coin politically correct euphemisms like 'non-magical community' (for Muggles) and 'memory modification' (for magical brainwashing)."
This novel implies it begins in 1992: the cake for Nearly-Headless Nick's 500th deathday party bears the words "Sir Nicholas De Mimsy Porpington died 31 October 1492".
Connection to "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince".
"Chamber of Secrets" has many links with the sixth book of the series, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince". In fact, "Half-Blood Prince" was the working title of "Chamber of Secrets" and Rowling says she originally intended to present some "crucial pieces of information" in the second book, but ultimately felt "this information's proper home was book six". Some objects that play significant roles in "Half-Blood Prince" first appear in "Chamber of Secrets": the Hand of Glory and the opal necklace that are on sale in Borgin and Burkes; a Vanishing Cabinet in Hogwarts that is damaged by Peeves the Poltergeist; and Tom Riddle's diary, which is later revealed to be a Horcrux. Additionally, these two novels are the ones with the most focus on Harry's relationship with Ginny Weasley.
Adaptations.
Film.
The film version of "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" was released in 2002. Chris Columbus directed the film, and the screenplay was written by Steve Kloves. It became the third film to exceed $600 million in international box office sales, preceded by "Titanic", released in 1997, and "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", released in 2001. The film was nominated for a Saturn Award for the Best Fantasy Film, According to Metacritic, the film version of "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" received "generally favourable reviews" with an average score of 63%, and another aggregator, Rotten Tomatoes, gave it a score of 82%.
Video games.
Five unique video games by different developers were released between 2002 and 2003 by Electronic Arts, loosely based on the book:
References.
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Hugh Mitchell (actor)
English actor
Hugh Mitchell (born 7 September 1989) is an English former actor, best known for playing Colin Creevey in "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets". He also appeared in "The White Queen" as Richard Welles, alongside Max Irons.
Mitchell attended The Pilgrims' School, Winchester, from 1999 to 2003. After Pilgrims' he went to the King Edward VI School, Southampton, from 2003 to 2006 and later Peter Symonds College.
Filmography.
Video games.
Source:
References.
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Sally Mortemore
English actress
Sally Mortemore is an English stage, film and television actress. She appeared in "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets", where she played Madame Pince, the librarian of Hogwarts.
Career.
Mortemore first worked in theatre as an acting assistant stage manager at the Queen's Theatre in Hornchurch followed by seasons at the Haymarket Theatre in Basingstoke, Watford's Palace Theatre, Bolton's Octagon Theatre and the Churchill Theatre in Bromley, London. She also toured with the David Glass Ensemble, Redshift, Cleanbreak Theatre Company and Great Eastern Stage.
Mortemore appeared as Gertrude in David Glass' production of "Gormenghast" in 2006/2007. Her film and television appearances include "White Heat" BBC2/ITV (2012), "Ollie Kepler's Expanding Purple World" (2010), "Salt Grain" (2010), "Dead Gorgeous", "Too Many Cooks", "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" as Madame Pince and "Wire in the Blood" and "Daphne & Apollo" for the BBC as directed by Clare Kilner.
In 2016, she portrayed a Braavosi woman in the HBO series "Game of Thrones" in Season 6.
References.
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Harper Marshall
English voice actress
Harper Page Marshall is an English voice actress. She is known for her role as Hermione Granger in the video games of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets", "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban", "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire", and "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix". She also provided the voice for "Malice: A Kat's Tale".
References.
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List of Harry Potter cast members
This is a list of "Harry Potter" cast members who portrayed or voiced characters appearing in the film series. The list below is sorted by film and the character's surname, as some characters have been portrayed by multiple actors.
Overview.
Dozens of actors from the United Kingdom and Ireland portrayed or voiced characters appearing in the "Harry Potter" film series based on the book series by J. K. Rowling. In all the films, Daniel Radcliffe played Harry Potter, Rupert Grint played Ron Weasley and Emma Watson played Hermione Granger. When they were cast only Radcliffe had previously acted in a film. Complementing them on screen are such actors as Helena Bonham Carter, Jim Broadbent, John Cleese, Robbie Coltrane, Warwick Davis, Ralph Fiennes, Michael Gambon, Brendan Gleeson, Richard Griffiths, Richard Harris, John Hurt, Jason Isaacs, Miriam Margolyes, Helen McCrory, Gary Oldman, Alan Rickman, Fiona Shaw, Maggie Smith, Timothy Spall, Imelda Staunton, David Thewlis, Emma Thompson, and Julie Walters, among others. Thirteen actors appeared as the same character in all eight films of the series.
Some well-known British actors who have not appeared in the series were asked in jest why they had not been cast. When David Yates was directing the fifth film, Bill Nighy (who knew Yates personally) said that he hoped the director would cast him in "Harry Potter". "But nobody called", Nighy added. However, in 2009, Yates cast Nighy as Minister of Magic Rufus Scrimgeour in the seventh film. Nighy said, "I am no longer the only English actor not to be in "Harry Potter" and I am very pleased." Jude Law once quipped, "Nobody's asked me. I was a bit too old for Harry." He would later be cast as a younger Albus Dumbledore in "".
J. K. Rowling gave a speech at the premiere of the final film in the series, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2", on 7 July 2011 in London. Rowling praised the film series' acting talent and announced that there are seven young "Harry Potter" cast members whom she refers to as "The Big Seven"; they are Radcliffe, Grint, Watson, Tom Felton, Matthew Lewis, Evanna Lynch and Bonnie Wright.
Cast and characters.
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List indicators
This section includes .* An empty grey cell indicates the character was not in the film.*  A indicates an appearance through archival footage or audio.*  C indicates a cameo role.*  E indicates an appearance not included in the theatrical cut.*  V indicates a voice-only role.*  Y indicates a younger version of the character.
Notes.
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References.
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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (soundtrack)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the film score to the 2002 film of the same name, composed by John Williams and conducted by William Ross. The score was originally supposed to be entirely conducted by Williams, but due to scheduling conflicts with the scoring of Steven Spielberg's film "Catch Me If You Can", Ross was brought in to adapt Williams' material from "Philosopher's Stone" and conduct the scoring sessions with the London Symphony Orchestra with orchestrations provided by Conrad Pope, Eddie Karam and Pete Anthony.
Upon its release, the album was available in one of five different collectible character cards covers over the main insert. The cards included Harry, Ron with a Mandrake, Hermione, Dumbledore, and Hagrid with Fang.
The soundtrack was released on 12 November 2002, and was a Grammy Award nominee for the Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media in 2003. It charted on the "Billboard" 200 at 81 and also charted at 5 on the Top Soundtracks Chart. In Japan, the album was certified gold by the RIAJ for 100,000 copies shipped to stores. In 2018, La-La-Land Records released a complete version of the score in a two-disc CD as part of a three soundtrack set featuring the scores for the first three Harry Potter films.
References.
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Harry Potter (character)
Protagonist of the Harry Potter literature series
Harry James Potter is the titular character of the "Harry Potter" series of novels by J. K. Rowling. The plot of the seven-book series chronicles seven years in the life of the orphan Harry, who, on his eleventh birthday, learns he is a wizard. He attends Hogwarts, a school of magic, where he receives guidance from the headmaster Albus Dumbledore and becomes friends with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Harry learns that during his infancy, the Dark wizard Lord Voldemort murdered his parents but was unable to kill him as well. The plot of the series revolves around Harry's struggle to adapt to the wizarding world and defeat Voldemort.
Harry is regarded as a fictional icon and has been described by many critics, readers, and audiences as one of the greatest literary and film characters of all time. He is portrayed by Daniel Radcliffe in all eight "Harry Potter" films. Harry also appears in the play "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child", which has been produced on stage since 2016.
Concept and creation.
According to Rowling, the idea for Harry Potter and the novel series came to her while she was waiting for a train in 1990. She first conceived of Harry as a "scrawny, black-haired, bespectacled boy" who is unaware that he is a wizard. While developing ideas for the first book, she decided to make Harry an orphan who attends a boarding school called Hogwarts. She explained in a 1999 interview with "The Guardian": "Harry had to be an orphan—so that he's a free agent, with no fear of letting down his parents, disappointing them ... Then there's the security. Having a child of my own reinforces my belief that children above all want security, and that's what Hogwarts offers Harry."
The death of Rowling's mother in December 1990 inspired her to write Harry as a boy longing for his dead parents. She explained that his anguish became "much deeper" and "much more real" than in earlier drafts because she related to it herself. In a 2000 interview, Rowling said that the character Wart in T. H. White's novel "The Once and Future King" is Harry's "spiritual ancestor". Although Rowling gave Harry her own birth date of 31 July, she maintained that he is not directly based on any real-life person. She explained that he came "out of a part of me".
Rowling has claimed that Harry is a suitable real-life role model for children. She said, "The advantage of a fictional hero or heroine is that you can know them better than you can know a living hero, many of whom you would never meet ... if people like Harry and identify with him, I am pleased, because I think he is very likeable."
Appearances.
Novels.
"Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone".
Harry is first introduced in "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" (1997) as an orphan living with his abusive aunt and uncle, Vernon and Petunia Dursley, and their bullying son, Dudley. On his eleventh birthday, Harry discovers he is a wizard when Rubeus Hagrid brings him an acceptance letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry learns that his parents, James and Lily Potter, were murdered by a powerful Dark wizard, Lord Voldemort, who also tried to kill Harry. However, Voldemort's killing curse bounced back and apparently destroyed him, leaving Harry with a lightning-bolt-shaped scar on his forehead. Due to his miraculous survival, Harry became famous among wizards.
Hagrid takes Harry to Diagon Alley to shop for school supplies. Harry buys a wand, and the proprietor tells him that his wand and Voldemort's wand contain feathers from the same phoenix. At the end of the summer, Harry boards the Hogwarts Express, where he befriends Ron Weasley and meets Hermione Granger. When he arrives at Hogwarts, he is assigned to Gryffindor House by the Sorting Hat. During the school year, he receives guidance from the Transfiguration professor Minerva McGonagall and the headmaster Albus Dumbledore. He develops animosity towards a fellow first-year named Draco Malfoy, and becomes increasingly wary of the Potions professor, Severus Snape. Harry and Ron become friends with Hermione after they save her from a troll, and Harry becomes the youngest Seeker on the Gryffindor Quidditch team in a century.
During Christmas holidays, Harry receives an anonymous gift – his father's invisibility cloak. Aided by the cloak, he is able to explore the school freely. He, Ron and Hermione decide to enter a trapdoor they discovered one night, which is guarded by an enormous three-headed dog. They believe a valuable magical object, the Philosopher's Stone, lies beyond the door. After they navigate a series of obstacles, Harry faces Professor Quirrell, whose body has been possessed by Voldemort. When Harry obtains the Stone, Quirrell tries to kill him. However, Quirrell's flesh burns upon contact with Harry's skin, and Harry passes out.
Harry awakens in the Hogwarts infirmary, where Dumbledore explains that Harry was protected by his mother's love, which also killed Quirrell. Voldemort survived, and the Philosopher's Stone was destroyed. During the school's end-of-year feast, Gryffindor is awarded the House Cup thanks to the many points Harry and his friends obtained from their adventure.
"Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets".
In "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" (1998), Muggle-born students are being Petrified in the Hogwarts castle. Some students suspect that Harry is behind the attacks, which alienates him from his peers. Harry learns that he shares Voldemort's ability to communicate with snakes, and he begins to question whether he is worthy of Gryffindor House. After Ron's sister Ginny disappears, Harry enters the Chamber of Secrets to rescue her. He battles Tom Riddle, a version of Voldemort that lives in a diary which had possessed Ginny. In addition to Riddle, Harry encounters the basilisk which has been attacking students. To defeat it, Harry summons the Sword of Gryffindor from the Sorting Hat. After Harry triumphs over the basilisk and saves Ginny, Dumbledore reassures him that he is worthy of Gryffindor.
"Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban".
Near the beginning of "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" (1999)"," Harry becomes angry after his Aunt Marge disparages his parents. He accidentally inflates her with magic, then runs away from home. As he re-enters the wizarding community, he learns about Sirius Black, a notorious killer who escaped from the wizard prison Azkaban. On the train to Hogwarts, Harry is assaulted by Dementors, which cause him to relive his worst memories. During a Care of Magical Creatures lesson with Hagrid, Draco is injured after provoking a hippogriff named Buckbeak. As a result, the Ministry of Magic sentences Buckbeak to death. After Harry has more encounters with Dementors, he asks the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, Remus Lupin, to help him ward them off. Lupin teaches Harry the Patronus charm, which Harry struggles to master.
While in the village of Hogsmeade, Harry learns that his parents were betrayed by Sirius, their friend and Harry's godfather, and that Sirius also killed Peter Pettigrew. After Ron is taken to the Shrieking Shack by a wild dog, Harry and Hermione give chase and realize the dog is Sirius in Animagus form. Lupin arrives, and he and Sirius explain that Sirius did not kill Pettigrew. They also reveal that Ron's pet rat, Scabbers, is Pettigrew. Lupin then transforms into a werewolf and injures Sirius, and Pettigrew escapes amid the chaos. A swarm of Dementors appear, but they are driven off by a Patronus cast by a mysterious figure.
Awakening in the school infirmary, Harry and Hermione learn that Sirius is being held captive in Hogwarts and is awaiting the Dementor's Kiss. At Dumbledore's advice, they use a Time-Turner to travel back in time to the moment before Buckbeak's execution. After they save the hippogriff, Harry notices the past versions of himself, Hermione, and Sirius being attacked by Dementors. He conjures a strong Patronus to fight them off, then realizes that he was the mysterious figure who appeared earlier. Harry and Hermione free Sirius, who flies away on Buckbeak, still a wanted fugitive. Harry and Hermione then return to their original timeline.
"Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire".
In "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" (2000), Harry is mysteriously chosen by the Goblet of Fire to compete in the dangerous Triwizard Tournament, even though another Hogwarts champion, Cedric Diggory, has already been selected. During the Tournament's final challenge, Harry and Cedric are transported to a graveyard, where Cedric is killed by Peter Pettigrew. Voldemort, aided by Pettigrew, uses Harry's blood to resurrect his body. Harry then duels Voldemort, and their wands connect. Spirit echoes of Voldemort's victims, including Harry's parents, emerge from his wand. The spirits protect Harry as he escapes to Hogwarts with Cedric's body.
Rowling said it was necessary to depict violence and death in this novel because it allows Harry's bravery and compassion to show. She said that Harry's effort to prevent Cedric's body from falling into Voldemort's hands was based on the scene in Homer's "Iliad" where Achilles retrieves the corpse of his friend Patroclus from his enemy Hector. She asserted that "Goblet of Fire" marks a turning point in Harry's life. She said Harry has been "very protected until now" but in this novel he is no longer protected.
"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix".
In "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" (2003), the Ministry of Magic wages a smear campaign against Harry and Dumbledore, disputing their claims that Voldemort has returned. The Ministry appoints Dolores Umbridge as the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Because the Ministry suspects that Dumbledore is building a student army, Umbridge refuses to teach students practical defensive magic. Harry, Hermione and Ron subsequently form a secret group called Dumbledore's Army to teach students defensive spells. The group is disbanded, however, when one student informs Umbridge about it. To shield his students from punishment, Dumbledore falsely claims that Dumbledore's Army was his idea. As a result, he is ousted from his position as headmaster and replaced with Umbridge.
During this time, Harry's increasingly angry and erratic behaviour nearly estranges him from Ron and Hermione. He suffers another emotional blow when his godfather Sirius is killed by the Death Eater Bellatrix Lestrange during a battle at the Department of Mysteries. Also present is Voldemort, who tries to possess Harry so Dumbledore will kill him. This ruse fails, and Harry and Dumbledore thwart Voldemort's plan to steal an important prophecy. Later, Dumbledore explains to Harry that Voldemort chose Harry as his equal, and that either he or Voldemort must eventually kill the other. A subplot of the novel involves Harry's romance with Cho Chang, which quickly unravels.
Rowling said she put Harry through extreme emotional stress in "Order of the Phoenix" to show his emotional vulnerability and humanity, which contrast with Voldemort's inhumanity.
"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince".
In "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" (2005), Dumbledore brings Harry along as he attempts to persuade Horace Slughorn to rejoin the Hogwarts faculty as the Potions professor. Harry excels in Slughorn's class after he begins using an old textbook that once belonged to someone known as "The Half-Blood Prince". Outside of class, Dumbledore uses the Pensieve to teach Harry about Voldemort's life and his rise to power. Harry and Dumbledore learn that Voldemort created six Horcruxes to gain immortality, and that they must be destroyed before Voldemort can be killed. Harry repeatedly warns Dumbledore that Draco Malfoy is an agent of Voldemort, but Dumbledore refuses to take action against Draco. He tells Harry that he already knows more about what is happening than Harry does. During the course of the novel, Harry becomes romantically involved with Ginny.
Near the end of the book, Dumbledore and Harry enter a cave in search of a Horcrux. Dumbledore drinks a potion inside the Horcrux's container and begins to scream in agony. When Harry attempts to retrieve some lake water for Dumbledore to drink, he is attacked by Inferi. They try to drown Harry, but Dumbledore rescues him. Dumbledore and Harry then return to the Hogwarts Astronomy Tower with the Horcrux. Dumbledore asks Harry not to interfere in the events that are about to take place, and puts him in a body-binding curse. Immobilized, Harry is unable to intervene as Snape arrives and kills Dumbledore. Later, Harry ends his relationship with Ginny to protect her from Voldemort.
Rowling said that Harry's tumultuous puberty in the novel is based on her own difficult teenage years and those of her sister. She said that after "Half-Blood Prince" Harry becomes "battle-hardened" and is ready to fight and take revenge against Voldemort and Snape.
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows".
Harry, Ron, and Hermione leave Hogwarts in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" (2007) to search for and demolish Voldemort's four remaining Horcruxes. They must be destroyed with basilisk venom, the Sword of Gryffindor, or some other powerful means. Ron, Hermione, Vincent Crabbe and Neville Longbottom each destroy one of these Horcruxes. After a battle at Hogwarts, Harry goes into the Forbidden Forest to meet Voldemort, who uses the Elder Wand to cast the Killing Curse on Harry. The curse stuns Harry into a deathlike state, and he finds himself in an ethereal realm with Dumbledore. The deceased headmaster tells Harry that he is a Horcrux that Voldemort unknowingly created. There was a part of Voldemort's soul inside Harry, but it was destroyed by the curse Voldemort cast moments ago. Harry subsequently returns to the living world and duels with Voldemort. The Dark Lord uses the Killing Curse again, but it rebounds and kills him. Harry, not Voldemort, was the true master of the Elder Wand, and the wand did not wish to harm its master. Harry decides to leave the Elder Wand in Dumbledore's tomb and the Resurrection Stone hidden in the forest, but he keeps the Invisibility Cloak.
In the epilogue, set nineteen years after Voldemort's death, Harry and Ginny are a married couple and have three children: James Sirius Potter, Albus Severus Potter and Lily Luna Potter. Albus is departing for his first year at Hogwarts, and is worried that he will be sorted into Slytherin. Harry, evoking the memory of Snape, explains to him that not all Slytherins are bad and that his son's life - even his house - will be shaped by his own choices, as Harry's own has been.
"Harry Potter and the Cursed Child".
"Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" is a play written by Jack Thorne from a story by Thorne, J. K. Rowling and John Tiffany. It takes place nineteen years after the events of "Deathly Hallows". In the play, Harry is Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry of Magic. The story focuses on Harry's son, Albus Severus Potter.
Film adaptations.
Harry is portrayed by Daniel Radcliffe in all eight "Harry Potter" film adaptations. Radcliffe was asked to audition for the role in 2000 by David Heyman, who was producing the first film in the series. Radcliffe met Heyman while attending a London play called "Stones in His Pockets".
In a 2007 interview with MTV, Radcliffe described the development of his character during the course of the series: "That's what the films are about for me: a loss of innocence, going from being a young kid in awe of the world around him, to someone who is more battle-hardened by the end of it." Radcliffe said that after the death of Cedric Diggory in "Goblet of Fire", Harry experiences survivor's guilt and feels immense loneliness. Because of this, Radcliffe talked to a bereavement counsellor to help him prepare for the role. Radcliffe stated that the most repeated question he has been asked is how "Harry Potter" has influenced his own life, to which he regularly answers it has been "fine", and that he did not feel pigeonholed by the role, but rather sees it as a huge privilege to portray Harry.
In 2011, "Empire" magazine ranked Radcliffe's Harry Potter as the 36th greatest film character of all time. The magazine published another character ranking in 2018, this time placing Harry at 67th.
Characterisation.
Outward appearance.
In the novels, Harry is described as having his father's perpetually untidy black hair, his mother's bright green eyes, and a lightning bolt-shaped scar on his forehead. He is short and skinny for his age, with a thin face and "knobbly" knees, and he wears Windsor glasses. When asked about the meaning behind Harry's scar, Rowling said she wanted him to be "physically marked by what he has been through". She said the scar is "an outward expression of what he has been through inside". Rowling also said that Harry's glasses are the clue to his vulnerability. Harry eventually grows taller, and by the final book is almost the height of his father, and is described as tall by other characters.
Personality.
According to Rowling, Harry is strongly guided by his own conscience, and has a keen feeling of what is right and wrong. Having "very limited access to truly caring adults", Rowling said, Harry "is forced, for such a young person, to make his own choices". He "does make mistakes", she conceded, but in the end, he does what his conscience tells him to do. According to Rowling, one of Harry's pivotal scenes came in the fourth book when he protects his dead schoolmate Cedric Diggory's body from Voldemort, because it shows he is brave and selfless.
Rowling has stated that Harry's character flaws include anger and impulsiveness; however, Harry is also innately honourable. "He's not a cruel boy. He's competitive, and he's a fighter. He doesn't just lie down and take abuse. But he does have native integrity, which makes him a hero to me. He's a normal boy but with those qualities most of us really admire." For the most part, Harry shows humility and modesty, often downplaying his achievements; though he uses a litany of his adventures as examples of his maturity early in the fifth book. However, these very same accomplishments are later employed to explain why he should lead Dumbledore's Army, at which point he asserts them as having just been luck, and denies that they make him worthy of authority. After the seventh book, Rowling commented that Harry has the ultimate character strength, which not even Voldemort possesses: the acceptance of the inevitability of death.
Magical abilities and skills.
Throughout the series, Harry is described as a gifted wizard. He has a particular talent for flying, which manifests itself in "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" the first time he tries it, and gets him a place on a Quidditch team one year before the normal minimum joining age. He captains it in his sixth year. In his fourth year, Harry is able to confront a dragon on his broomstick.
Harry is also gifted in Defence Against the Dark Arts, in which he becomes proficient due to his repeated encounters with Voldemort and various monsters. In his third year, Harry becomes able to cast the very advanced Patronus Charm, and by his fifth year he has become so talented at the subject that he is able to teach his fellow students in Dumbledore's Army, some even older than him how to defend themselves against Dark Magic. At the end of that year, he achieves an 'Outstanding' Defence Against the Dark Arts O.W.L., something that not even Hermione achieved.
Harry also has the unusual ability to speak and understand "Parseltongue", a language associated with Dark Magic. This, it transpires, is because he harbours a piece of Voldemort's soul. He loses this ability after the part of Voldemort's soul inside him is destroyed at the end of "The Deathly Hallows". However, in the events of "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child", it was revealed that he had not lost the ability to recognise or speak the language when he encountered Delphini, Voldemort's daughter, who was trying to use his son and Draco Malfoy's son Scorpius to fulfill a prophecy that could guarantee the return of Voldemort by changing time.
Possessions.
Harry's parents left him a large pile of gold in the wizarding bank, Gringotts. After Sirius' death later in the series, all of his remaining possessions are also passed along to Harry, including Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, and Sirius's vast amount of gold were transferred into Harry's account at Gringotts.
Among the school items Harry purchases in Diagon Alley after discovering his gold inheritance is his first wand, an 11-inch-long holly and phoenix feather model that he learns is the twin of Voldemort's wand, as the feathers that both wands contain as their cores both comes from Fawkes, the phoenix that Dumbledore keeps as a pet in his office until his death in "Half-Blood Prince". Harry's wand is broken in "Deathly Hallows". For a time, he borrows Hermione's wand, and later steals Draco's. With his defeat of Voldemort at the end of the series, he comes into the possession of the Elder Wand, but uses it only to repair his holly wand, before returning it to Dumbledore's tomb, from which Voldemort had stolen it. In the film version of "Deathly Hallows Part 2", Harry destroys the Elder Wand.
Harry also inherits indirectly two of his father's prized possessions. One is the Marauder's Map, given to him by interim owners Fred and George Weasley, which endows Harry with comprehensive knowledge of Hogwarts' facilities, grounds, and occupants. The other is his father's invisibility cloak, given to him by Dumbledore, which eventually proves Harry's descent from the Peverell family. Harry uses these tools both to aid in excursions at school and to protect those he cares about; the Invisibility Cloak, in particular, can hide two full-grown people. If three fully-grown people hide under the cloak their feet will be visible.
Throughout the majority of the books, Harry also has a pet owl named Hedwig, used to deliver and receive messages and packages. Hedwig is killed in the seventh book, about which Rowling says: "The loss of Hedwig represented a loss of innocence and security. She has been almost like a cuddly toy to Harry at times. I know that death upset a lot of people!" As a Quidditch player, Harry has owned two high-quality brooms. The first, a Nimbus Two Thousand, was procured for him by Professor Minerva McGonagall when Harry was added to Gryffindor's Quidditch team despite being a first-year student. This broom was destroyed by the Whomping Willow during a match in Harry's third year. It was replaced by a Firebolt, an even faster broom, purchased for Harry by Sirius; however, as Sirius was believed to be trying to murder Harry at the time, the broom was subjected to stringent security inspections before Harry was allowed to ride it. Harry used it throughout his Hogwarts career until it, along with Hedwig, was lost during the July escape from Privet Drive in the final book.
Harry also owns a mokeskin pouch, or small 'bag' that is used for storing items, which no one but the owner can get out. Harry uses the pouch throughout the course of "Deathly Hallows" to keep several objects such as the Marauder's Map, a shard of the magical mirror given to him by his god-father Sirius, the fake Horcrux locket that had belonged to Sirius's brother R.A.B. (Regulus Arcturus Black), the Snitch bequeathed to him by Dumbledore, containing the Resurrection Stone that had previously been set into Voldemort's grandfather Marvolo Gaunt's signet ring, which Harry discovers is actually the second Hallow, a letter from his mother to Sirius with part of a photo (of him and his father, James), and eventually, his own broken wand (which Harry later repairs with the Elder Wand).
Family.
In the novels and films, Harry is the only child of James and Lily Potter, orphaned as an infant. Rowling made him an orphan because she felt an orphan would be interesting to write about. However, after her mother's death, Rowling wrote Harry as a child longing to see his dead parents again, incorporating her own anguish into him. Harry is categorised as a "half-blood" wizard in the series, because although both his parents were magical, Lily was "Muggle-born", and James was a pure-blood.
Harry's aunt and uncle kept the truth about his parents' deaths from Harry, telling him that they had died in a car crash. James Potter is a descendant of Ignotus Peverell, the third of the three original owners of the Deathly Hallows, and thus so is Harry, a realisation he makes during the course of the final book. The lineage continues at the end of the saga through his three children with Ginny: James Sirius Potter, Albus Severus Potter and Lily Luna Potter.
Reception.
In 2002, "Book" magazine ranked Harry Potter No. 85 among the "100 Best Fictional Characters since 1900". "Entertainment Weekly" ranked Harry Potter number two on its 2010 "100 Greatest Characters of the Last 20 Years" list, saying "Long after we've turned the last page and watched the last end credit, Harry still feels like someone we know. And that's the most magical thing about him." UGO Networks listed Harry as one of their best heroes of all time, who said that "Harry is a hero to the often oppressed and downtrodden young fan boys and girls out there, who finally have an icon that is respected and revered by those who might otherwise look down on robe-wearing and wand waving as dork fodder". Harry Potter was also ranked number thirty-six on