Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secret
In this sequel to Harry Potter and the Chambre of Secrets, we find Harry spending the summer vacation with his awful relatives, the Dursleys, following his first year at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Dursleys are so fearful of Harry's growing magic talents that they lock his school books and wand away in a closet and even lock Harry in his tiny bedroom. Harry worries he'll never get back to Hogwarts and his friends, until he's rescued by his best buddy, Ron Weasley, who arrives in a flying car to take Harry away. The second year at Hogwarts should be smoother sailing, right? Not so. First, Harry receives a strange warning from a house elf named Dobby. Then, when he arrives at Hogwarts Harry must face a vain new professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts, a spirit named Moaning Myrtle who haunts the girls' bathroom, and his old enemies, Malfoy and Snape. And, even more troublesome this year, some evil force is turning Muggle-born students (those born to humans, without magical blood, including Harry's pal Hermione) to stone. Who could be doing such a thing? While Harry and Ron try to unravel the mystery of petrification, they discover information about the Chamber of Secrets, a hidden room in Hogwarts that is rumored to be home to a horrible monster. Old legends, clues, and research eventually lead Harry and Ron to the Chamber of Secrets for a showdown with evil like they've never seen before. And Harry must triumph over the Dark forces in order to save Ginny Weasley, Ron's younger sister (now a first year at Hogwarts), who has been taken over by a nasty wizard. See if he succeeds in this rollicking, spine-tingling adventure. You're sure to love all the fast-moving action, magic and fun.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Believe it or not, 13-year-old Harry Potter can't wait to get back to school. He's more than ready to start his third year at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry after spending another terrible summer vacation with his nasty Muggle (non-magical) relatives, the Dursleys. This summer was the worst yet, as Harry let his temper and his magic fly. When loud, annoying Aunt Marge visits the Dursleys and makes some mean comments about Harry, he blows her up with air like a giant balloon. Afraid of what his punishment from the Dursleys (or from Ministry of Magic officials) might be, Harry runs away. But in the middle of the night he is rescued by a mysterious, magical purple bus that whisks him to safety at an inn called the Leaky Cauldron. It's there that Harry learns that his third year at school will be the strangest and scariest ever. Harry hears that Sirius Black, the right-hand-man of evil wizard Voldemort (who was responsible for killing Harry's parents), has escaped from Azkaban, the wizards' prison. But worse than that, Sirius is looking for Harry! Dumbledore (head of Hogwarts) and Ministry of Magic officials protect Harry by assigning ghoulish-looking Dementors to guard the entrances to Hogwarts. As another safety precaution, Harry is not permitted to leave the campus (though he finds a way to sneak off on a forbidden field trip). But why do the Dementors chill Harry to the bone and render him powerless whenever they look at him? A new Hogwarts professor, Professor Lupin, holds the answer to that question and many other creepy mysteries. We won't give the secret away, but Professor Lupin turns out to be something more than he appears... In between all their classes, Harry and his pals Ron and Hermione have plenty to do. They must find a way to help their friend (and now, a professor), Hagrid, when he gets in trouble with school officials. And, of course, Harry is still the star player on the Gryffindor Quidditch team this time on a brand new, super-duper groom, an anonymous gift that arrived out of nowhere.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
With two weeks of summer to go before school starts, Harry is thrilled to learn that he'll be leaving his wretched relatives, the Dursleys, and going to stay with his best friend, Ron Weasley, and Ron's family. But even more special than his visit is the chance to attend the Quidditch World Cup championship game. Harry, Ron, their friend Hermione, and most of the Weasley clan head off to a magical stadium for the big game. During all the festivities, the Dark Mark of Voldemort is raised in the sky, frightening the thousands of wizards and witches at the event. Could Voldemort be regaining his strength? Harry doesn't have too much time to worry about this scary idea as his fourth year at Hogwarts is about to begin. He may not be all that eager to start his school work, but he's super excited about the new Quidditch season. And he also wants to know who the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher will be. Once at Hogwarts, though, Harry and everyone else gets a big surprise. They learn that Quidditch is canceled for the year so that the school can concentrate on a different competition, the Triwizard Tournament. It's a contest between the three largest European schools of wizardry: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. One champion is chosen to represent each school in a series of dangerous tasks. As students from the other two schools arrive to spend the year at Hogwarts, everyone wonders which students will compete, their names finally selected by the ancient Goblet of Fire. The Tournament is exciting, but it's only part of the year's activities. A regular class load, including instruction from Mad-Eye Moody, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher with a magical eye and wooden leg, keeps Harry and his friends busy. Of course, there's time for fun, including weekend trips to the wizarding village of Hogsmeade. And at 14, Harry and his fellow fourth-years are ready for their first school dance (who will Harry ask?). As the Triwizard Tournament and the school year unfold, nearly all the witchcraft and wizardry students face new challenges. But this year Harry faces the most danger of all. He now must trust that his growing wizard skills and the support of Professor Dumbledore, and his godfather, Sirius Black, will be enough to see Harry safely through this fourth year.
Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix
Harry Potter is frustrated. Isolated from the wizarding world at his summer residence with his non-magical aunt, uncle and cousin, he hides in flowerbeds so he can listen to the evening news and steals newspapers from trash bins, hoping for some sign of activity from Lord Voldemort. He barely has had contact with his best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.A dementor attack, a cryptic Howler, and a rescue brigade bring Harry back to the magical world, to a place where a group of wizards has assembled with the mission to stop Voldemort. To Harry's disgust, no one wants to tell him anything regarding the mission, not even when he begins to dream of a snake and a door at the end of a long, dark hallway that he recognizes as part of the Ministry of Magic. Things aren't much better at Hogwarts, where his dreams turn into visions of Voldemort's power, anger, and desire for domination.Darker powers.It is a time of war in the magical world, but there are no clear lines of good and evil. The Ministry of Magic is so adamant in its beliefs that it refuses to acknowledge Harry's story of Voldemort's return. Harry is the butt of jokes in the Daily Prophet, and the only people who believe him are the ones the Ministry would discredit. According to the Ministry, Albus Dumbledore is a dangerous fool, and anyone who follows him is not to be trusted. Co-workers, friends, and even families begin to divide according to whom they support. Spies and secrets feed a new era in wizarding history and lead to changes at Hogwarts, not all of them good. The students are as divided as the adults, and discord haunts the corridors.Fifth year is the time for Ordinary Wizarding Level exams, or O.W.L.s, and Harry and the rest of the fifth-years find themselves working harder than ever to achieve top test results, which then dictate their careers. Spells are more complex, there's more homework, and the students have to work twice as hard as they did in previous years just to keep up. The only class that differs from this pattern is Defense Against the Dark Arts, taught by the deceptively sweet Dolores Umbridge, formerly Senior Undersecretary to Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic. Umbridge's lesson plans leave Harry and his friends worried and wanting more from their education.Harry is also asked by Professor Dumbledore to study privately with Professor Snape, the hook-nosed, greasy-haired Potions professor who has done nothing but make Harry's Potions classes miserable since the day Harry first came to Hogwarts. In order to succeed and even survive, Harry must put his trust in those who hide the truth from him.Intricate plots, maturing characters, and fast-paced action paint a picture of a magical world with a new veil of darkness. As Harry and his friends grow, they must face more adult issues and deal not only with a changing world, but also with their changing selves. Characters who have only served in the background of previous books become more important, and some of Harry's favorite people, like Remus Lupin, return. Never content to sit back and watch things happen, Harry and his friends take dangerous matters into their own hands, confronting evil and working as a team to stop it. We can see that this film is completely different from the previous four: deeper and richer, with less humor and more detail. Harry is achingly perfect and emotionally real as a typical teenage boy, confused and defiant about everything from girls to his friendships to his magical education. He has come to trust very few people, but those he takes into his confidence, like Ron and Hermione, complement him very well.
