A Primer on Harry, Hedwig and Hogwarts

Louise Kennedy
The Boston Globe

   Part of the charm of J.K. Rowling’s novels is that she has imagined a world full of wizards that exists on the same soil as our own. Harry Potter gets to the Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft, for example, by taking a train from King’s Cross Station — but the train leaves from Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, which only wizards can find. It’s Rowling’s conceit that, after centuries of persecution, wizards and witches decided to conceal their existence from Muggles (that’s us); the Ministry of Magic devotes its considerable energies to keeping Muggles ignorant of its very existence. Nevertheless, a few facts have seeped out.
   We know, for example, that wizards have their own money, guarded by goblins in Gringotts bank: 29 bronze knuts to a silver sickle, 17 sickles to a gold galleon. They have their own candy, notably Chocolate Frogs and Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans — careful, that really does mean every flavor, including tripe. In their photographs, people smile back at you — and wave, and even walk out of the picture if they have somewhere else to be. They buy their wands and potions in Diagon Alley, reached by tapping a wall behind the Leaky Cauldron pub, and they get their news from the Daily Prophet.
   There’s much more to learn from Rowling’s books. She’s written four of a projected seven-part series: “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,’’ “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,’’ “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,’’ and “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.’’ No doubt we’ll find out more with next year’s fifth book, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.’’ But, for now, you can content yourself with an introduction to the most important people in Harry’s world, a brief history of Hogwarts, and a Quidditch primer.
   Harry Potter: Boy wizard, hero, and star. Told for years that his parents died in a car crash, he learns on his 11th birthday that they were killed by an evil wizard — who tried to kill him, too, leaving him with a distinctive lightning-shaped scar. He also learns for the first time that he is a wizard and has been accepted to Hogwarts, the wizards’ school, news that thrills him because it means freedom from his cruel and selfish relatives, the Dursleys.
   Lord Voldemort: Evil wizard, alias You-Know-Who because wizards fear even saying his name. He orphaned and scarred Harry Potter, then vanished, but he is rumored to be alive, in hiding, plotting his return.
   Draco Malfoy: Scion of an ancient wizarding family and a sneering classmate of Harry’s. Disturbing rumors link his clan to Voldemort.
Rubeus Hagrid: Gigantic, dragon-loving, devoted to Harry. Expelled from Hogwarts years ago but loyal to Dumbledore, he now serves as the school’s groundskeeper.
   Ron Weasley: Latest in a line of red-haired, fun-loving wizards who excel at the sports of Quidditch and mischief-making. He quickly becomes Harry’s best friend at Hogwarts.
   Professors McGonagall, Snape, and Quirrell: Leading members of the Hogwarts faculty. McGonagall can turn into a cat at will; let’s just say the others are also not quite what they seem.
Petunia, Vernon, and Dudley Dursley: Harry’s aunt, uncle, and cousin, on whose doorstep Harry lands as a baby. They’re Muggles, or non-wizards, and deeply ashamed of their wizarding relatives, so they force Harry to live in a cupboard under the stairs until he escapes to Hogwarts.
   Hermione Granger: Studious, hard-working, and a little too serious for her own good. After an unfortunate incident involving a troll, she bonds with Ron and Harry.
   Albus Dumbledore: Wise-but-twinkling headmaster of Hogwarts and one of Harry’s greatest allies.
   Hedwig: Harry’s owl. Essential, as wizards use owls to deliver the mail.
   Hogwarts: Headed by Albus Dumbledore, the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is the premier training ground for the wizards of tomorrow. In its drafty, candlelit halls, students not only participate in the traditional class warfare of the British public school but also study such unusual topics as charms, potions, and defense against the dark arts. On arrival for their seven-year hitch, new students are grouped by a magical sorting hat into four houses: Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw. Harry, Ron, and Hermione are in Gryffindor; Draco Malfoy and his henchboys, Crabbe and Goyle, are in Slytherin. Couldn’t you guess by the sounds? A game for Wizards
Quidditch: The favorite game of wizards everywhere, Quidditch is sort of like soccer, only played high in the air on broomsticks, using balls that can kill you. On each team, three chasers try to put a ball called the Quaffle through hoops at either end of the field, for 10 points a goal; one keeper, or goalie, tries to block them. Two beaters on each team also block the chasers, hitting heavy balls called bludgers toward the opposing team and away from their own. Meanwhile, one seeker per team hovers above the fray, watching for a tiny winged ball called the Golden Snitch. When a seeker captures the Snitch, he ends the game and scores 150 points for his team, which is usually enough to win the game. Harry Potter, flying on his sleek Nimbus 2000 broomstick, plays seeker for Gryffindor.