*Here I have some information on Harry's background, a smattering on Hogwarts, and a summary of the movie.*
*Harry Potter*
Harry Potter was born on July 31, 1980. His parents, James and Lily Potter were very prestigious in the magical world. They went into hiding several months after Harry's birth, protected under the Fidelius Charm, an extremely complex charm which allows a secret to be hidden inside the soul of a Secret Keeper. They chose Peter Pettigrew, an old friend of Harry's father from Hogwarts as the Secret Keeper. As long as Pettigrew did not tell anyone where they were, they would be protected. But Pettigrew was disloyal. Less than a week after Albus Dumbledore performed the charm, the evil wizard Lord Voldemort murdered Lily and James. When Voldemort tried to kill Harry he gave him a lightning-bolt shaped scar on his forehead, but Harry survived. It is said that when Harry and Voldemort clashed, Voldemort accidentally transferred some of his powers to Harry, including his ability to talk to snakes.
In an instant little Harry had become an orphan. Harry's only living relatives were the Dursleys, his Muggle aunt's family. Dumbledore sent Harry to live with them. The Dursleys, hating magic, tried to "get the magic out of him." They never told him anything about the magical world, and that his parents had died in a car crash.
For ten, horrible years, Harry lived with the Dursleys. Then, when he was eleven, he was accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. And so the story of Harry Potter begins....
*Hogwarts*
Hogwarts is a boarding school for young magical boys and girls. The school is a castle beside a lake and is the principal setting for all the Harry Potter books. Harry enters Hogwarts when he is 11, and each book in the projected seven-volume series takes him through one school year.
Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago - the precise date is uncertain - by the four greatest wizards of the age. The four school houses are named after them: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. Harry is in Gryffindor. The four founders built Hogwarts together, far from prying Muggle eyes, for it was an age when magic was feared by common people and witches and wizards suffered much persecution.
Hogwarts is a huge castle. It is host to students who are training to become wizards and witches. It has MANY seceret places and rooms, including: The Chamber of Secerets, the hiding place of the Philosopher's (or Sorcerer's) Stone where there is a three-headed dog-looking monster guarding it, a room that holds the Mirror of Erised ( which shows you your most precious wish in the reflection), and many more, some that are sure to be discovered by Harry and his friends before the series ends. It holds four different houses of Students- Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherein.
Gryffindor is best house to be in, then Ravenclaw, then Hufflepuff, then Slytherin, which has housed every single witch or wizard that has turned bad (that is, converted to the Dark Arts.) Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Seamus, Percy, Fred, George, and Ginny are all in Gryffindor. Hogwarts also has a Quidditch stadium where the houses play against each other.
The houses are awarded points for good deeds and or behavior, and at the end of the year the house with the most points wins the House Cup. The biggest Chamber at Hogwarts is the Great Hall. The students have a huge feast room that also holds gatherings and meetings of the school. The tables there magically appear with food over and over, and the ceiling has been enchanted so that it looks exactly like the sky, making it beautiful on a starry night. Hogwarts is a magnificent place.
*Hogwarts School Song*
(sung to any tune)
Hogwarts, Hogwarts,
*The Movie*
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is being produced by Warner Bros. Pictures. Through British producer David Heyman, they acquired the rights to the first four books in the series, which is projected to include seven books. Filming began in England in late 2000 and the first movie will be out November 16, 2001.
