Reasons to Read Harry Potter

1. A coming of age story of a boy with a wand
2. Alan Rickman plays Snape (I may be gay, but that man has one sexy voice).
3. Muggles and squibs
4. Quidditch
5. Hagrid, the lovable half-giant with a giant heart for all things living
6. You will have the urge to unleash a boggart in someone's office, some pixies in the cafeteria, and have a pet owl or phoenix
7. Riding a hippogriff to work would be an amazing form of transportation
8. Goblins should run all banks (as long as they have dragons and booby-traps to protect the money in the vaults)
9. No sparkling vampires
10. It may be considered a "children's book", however there are many adult elements such as politics, deception, genocide, discrimination
11. Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi - wouldn't you love to know what it means?
12. Don't you want to know why Voldemort has no nose?
13. Death Eaters
14. The Dark Mark
15. Norberta the Norwegian Ridgeback dragon
16. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs
17. What would your patronus be?
18. A doe, a deer, a female deer
19. Whomping Willow
20. Garden gnomes are real
21. House cup and prefects
22. Laughter and tears
23. Wizard chess
24. Draco Dormiens Numquam Titilandus
25. House elves
26. Cats are more than meets the eye
27. Animagus
28. Rename your recycle bin on your computer "Azkaban" and then throw something away, only after reading Harry Potter will you realize why this is so funny
29. Who is Tom Marvolo Riddle/
30. Parseltongue
31. Who was the Potter's secret keeper? For that matter...what is a secret keeper?
32. Ordinary Wizarding Levels
33. Chocolate is medicinal
34. Dragon blood is an effective oven cleaner
35. Platform 9 3/4
36. Polyjuice Potion
37. Avada Kedavra
38. Moaning Myrtle
39. Chamber of Secrets
40. Albus Wulfric Percival Brian Dumbledore
41. I am determined to name one of my children Snape (Rachel doesn't know this yet)
42. Pictures and paintings move
43. Who doesn't love a good mystery?
44. All of the books are connected in some way (besides Harry Potter). There may be a meaningless item in a book that becomes pivotal later
45. Bones can regrow
46. All you can eat buffet that magically appears on your gold plate
47. Bellatrix Lestrange
48. Room of Requirement
49. It's been put on the list of banned books and who doesn't want to defy that list?
50. Using magic for household chores
51. Luggage is magically transported
52. Mail is delivered by owls
53. Howlers
54. Apparating
55. Ministry of Magic
56. Broomsticks are a valid form of transportation
57. The success of alchemy
58. Ties in actual people with complete fiction (Nicholas Flammel)
59. Dragons are real, and there are many different types of dragons
60. A lovable dog named Fang
61. The Malfoys
62. Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin
63. Godric's Hollow
64. The Deathly Hallows

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

With the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I last Friday, I have decided to read the entire series for a second time. I started to read the series when Order of the Phoenix was released in theaters, but never got around to finishing the series until Half Blood Prince was released. Since the author, J.K. Rowlings, had an idea of how the entire series would take place, she mentions many characters, magical items, etc. throughout the books, utilizing foreshadowing to keep the reader coming back for more. Of course, this means that I'm going to make an attempt to take note of people, events, and items that are mentioned in the previous books. This outline was primarily created for me so that I can get the most out of the entire series, but I figured it would make for an interesting blog entry.

Be warned - Spoilers galore!

Dumbledore - In the first chapter, Dumbledore is seen eating "lemon drops." In the British version of the book, Dumbledore is eating "sherbet lemons," which are also a lemon flavored candy though a different variation. In the Chamber of Secrets, the password to his tower office is revealed to be "lemon drops," though Harry Potter guesses "sherbet lemon" and gets the password correct.

Godric's Hollow - James and Lily Potter were living in a house in a Muggle village that happens to bear the name of Godric Gryffindor. Godric's Hollow is also the town where Dumbledore spent a part of his youth, which Harry learns in Deathly Hallows. Harry doesn't visit the village until Christmas Eve in book 7. During the visit, he discovers his parents graves, the ruined cottage where they had lived, and a Muggle war memorial that transforms into a memorial of his family when he walks by it.

Sirius Black - When Hagrid drops baby Harry off at the Dursleys' home, he is riding a flying motorcycle, which he borrowed from Sirius Black. This is the first mention of Sirius Black in the series.

Arabella Figg - Each year on Dudley's birthday, Harry is left with Mrs. Figg, who lived two streets away. Unbeknown to Harry, Arabella Figg is a Squib and a member of the Order of the Phoenix.

Dedalus Diggle - Dumbledore believes Diggle is responsible for the fireworks display in Kent after the defeat of Voldemort the previous night. Later, he bows to Harry as Harry is shopping with Mrs. Dursley. Harry is later introduced to him in the Leaky Cauldron.

Rubeus Hagrid - Hagrid was expelled from Hogwarts when he was 14 years old and his wand was snapped in half. Hagrid mentions this briefly to Harry, but the entire story is later revealed in Chamber of Secrets.

Cornelius Fudge - Cornelius Fudge is the Minister of Magic for about 6 years. Fudge wasn't very confident and was constantly seeking advice from Dumbledore. Towards the end of the book, Dumbledore receives an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and flew off for London at once. Since Dumbledore can easily apparate, he most likely flew using one of the school's thestrals to make the journey longer.

Wands - The match between a witch or a wizard and their wand is very unique, since the wand chooses its master. Presumably, one couldn't perform magic as well with a mis-matched wand, such as the effect with Ron and Neville. Neither boy is particularly adept at magic at first since they weren't using the proper wand. Ron doesn't get a wand matched to him until his third year, while Neville's wand was inherited from his father and broke during the Battle of the Department of Mysteries and got a new one in his sixth year. Mr. Ollivander sends an owl to Dumbledore notifying him of the purchase of the second Fawkes-feather wand as soon as Harry and Hagrid leave the shop (though you don't learn about this until book 4). The other owner of the Fawkes-feather wand is Voldemort.

Scabbers - Scabbers is Ron's pet rat, who he inherits from Percy. In book 3, we learn that Scabbers is actually Peter Pettigrew.

Gellert Grindenwald - Grindenwald was defeated by Dumbledore in 1945, which Harry learns from reading the back of his Dumbledore trading card. Grindenwald was the holder of the Elder Wand, which Dumbledore gains possession of after Grindenwald's defeat.

The Sorting Hat - When the Sorting Hat is placed on Harry's head, he repeatedly asks the hat not to put him Slytherin. The hat hears this and begins to question Harry and eventually places him in Gryffindor. This event is later discussed in Chamber of Secrets.

Harry's Scar - Harry's scar on his forehead aches when Voldemort is present. During the sorting process, the presence of Quirrell causes Harry's scar to ache.

Bezoar - A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. Harry gives Ron a bezoar in Professor Slughorn's office when he had been poisoned.

Quidditch - McGonagall buys Harry a Nimbus Two Thousand so that he can be seeker on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. First ears are not allowed to own brooms.

Invisibility Cloak - For Christmas, Dumbledore gives Harry his father's invisibility cloak, though Harry doesn't realize it at the time. Dumbledore also returns the cloak to Harry when he leaves it on the astronomy tower.

The Mirror of Erised - While wearing the invisibility cloak, Harry finds the Mirror of Erised and begins to visit it regularly to see his parents. Inscribed on the mirror are the words "Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi" which translates to "I show not your face but your heart's desire." When Dumbledore speaks to Harry in the room with the Mirror of Erised in it, he tells Harry that he sees himself with socks.

Firenze - Firenze is a centaur who lives in the Forbidden Woods. He helps save Harry from Voldemort during his detention for being out of bed after curfew. Firenze later becomes a teacher at Hogwarts when his herd expels him for being willing to forsake the traditions of the herd. Bane and Ronan, two other centaurs from his heard, witness Firenze carrying Harry on his back as if Firenze was a mule or horse.

Voldemort - Voldemort makes several appearances throughout the book, though you don't realize it until the last chapter. Voldemort is using Quirrell as a host. When Harry first meets Quirrell in Diagon Alley, Voldemort has not taken possession of Quirrell's body, which explains why he could shake Harry's hand at that point. Voldemort takes possession of Quirrell's body after he fails to steal the Stone from Gringotts.