First book
Harry first appears in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (published in the United States as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone) as the novel's main protagonist. When Harry was a little over one-year old, his parents were killed by the powerful Dark Wizard, Lord Voldemort; for some reason, Harry survived Voldemort's Killing Curse, which rebounded and ripped Voldemort's soul from his body. As a result, Harry carries a lightning-bolt shaped scar on his forehead. Harry is famous as the only known person to survive "Avada Kedavra," the killing curse. Technically, Voldemort also survived, although only his soul remained after his body was destroyed, nor was he hit directly by the curse. It will also be revealed that Voldemort defies death by having divided his soul into fragments.
House: Gryffindor
Actor: Daniel Radcliffe
First appearance :Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

According to Rowling, fleshing out this back story was a matter of reverse planning: "The basic idea is that] Harry … didn't know he was a wizard … and so then I kind of worked backwards from that position to find out how that could be, that he wouldn't know what he was… When he was one-year-old, the most evil wizard in hundreds of years attempted to kill him. He killed Harry's parents, and then he tried to kill Harry — he tried to curse him… Harry has to find out, before we find out. And — so — but for some mysterious reason, the curse didn't work on Harry. So he's left with this lightning-bolt shaped scar on his forehead, and the curse rebounded upon the evil wizard who has been in hiding ever since".
As a result, Harry is written as an orphan living miserably with his only remaining family, the cruel Dursleys. On his eleventh birthday, Harry learns he is a wizard when Rubeus Hagrid tells him that he is to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. There he learns about his parents and his connection to the Dark Lord, is sorted into Gryffindor House, becomes friends with classmates Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, and foils Voldemort's attempt to steal the Philosopher's Stone. He also forms rivalries with characters Draco Malfoy, a classmate from an elitist wizarding family, and the cold, condescending Potions teacher, Severus Snape, Draco's mentor and the head of Slytherin House. Both feuds continue throughout the series. In a 1999 interview, Rowling stated that Draco is based on several prototypical schoolyard bullies she encountered and Snape on a sadistic teacher of hers who abused his power.
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