Content: (click on a link to skip to that section or scroll down to browse them all)
Biographical Details | Temperament and Personality | Physical Traits | Magical Traits | Wand Traits | Nicknames/Aliases/Titles/Appearances | Organizations/Teams/Clubs | What Happened to Harry After The Fall of Voldemort? | What Daniel Radcliffe Has to Say About Harry Potter | How Harry Changed Throughout The Series | How Harry Differs in the Books and Movies | Video of Harry Potter | Harry Potter Costume
Note: Some of the content in here may contain spoilers from the books, movies, and/or Pottermore.com
Biographical Details
Name = Harry James Potter
Date of Birth = July 31, 1980
Mother = Lily Potter (née Evans)
Father = James Potter (middle name unknown)
Siblings = None
Spouse = Ginevra (“Ginny”) Potter (née Weasley)
Children = James Sirius Potter (son), Albus Severus Potter (son), Lily Luna Potter (daughter)
Wizard Blood Status = Half blood (James was a wizard, Lily was a Muggle)
Hogwarts House = Gryffindor
Occupation = Head of Auror Office
Life Status = Living as of [year]
Temperament and Personality
Professor Snape often accused Harry of being a lot like his father, and by that Snape meant that Harry acted as though he was above the rules of Hogwarts. As much as I hate to agree with Snape, he was right. Harry was known for being reckless and a rule breaker. However, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore was very lenient with Harry and the rules because Dumbledore understood that Harry needed to test himself so he would eventually be ready to take on Lord Voldemort when the time was right.
Harry is also kind and caring, not just for his fellow witches and wizards, but also for creatures that are viewed as inferior by many in the wizarding world. Dobby the house elf is one great example of this in that Harry cared so much for Dobby’s welfare that he was able to free Dobby from enslavement.
When it comes to classwork, Harry was an average student. This was because he was more interested in learning the secrets of Hogwarts than due to a lack of intelligence. However, when it came to magical abilities, Harry far exceeded what many N.E.W.T. students were capable of. Professor Lupin was highly impressed that Harry was capable of producing a full patronus, as was Madam Amelia Bones of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
As much as he hated admitting it, Harry was an excellent leader and teacher. He was able to teach basic and advanced magic to the members of Dumbledore’s Army, and every member eventually able to produce their own patronuses. It was under Harry’s tutelage that Neville Longbottom gained confidence and began to shine with his magical abilities.
Physical Traits
Race = Human
Gender = Male
Skin Color = Fair
Hair Color = Black
Eye Color = Green (like his mother’s)
Other Notable Trait = Lightning shaped scar on forehead; hair commonly appears messy and unruly
Magical Traits
Patronus = Stag (the same as Harry’s father’s)
Boggart = Dementor
Wand Traits
Length = 11″ in the books, 14″ in the films
Wood = Holly
Core = Phoenix feather
Pliancy = Supple
Maker = Garrick Ollivander
Master = Harry Potter
Owner = Harry Potter
Temporarily Owned By = Tom Riddle’s memory, Barty Crouch Jr., Draco Malfoy
Additional Details = Harry’s wand is the brother to Voldemort’s wand. As a result of this connection, neither wand could issue a mortal spell against the other. J.K. Rowling said that she chose the wood of a holly tree for Harry’s wand because holly wood has a history of being able to repel evil in European folklore. Lastly, Ollivander was aware that the combination of a phoenix feather and holly in the hands of the right wizard could result in a virtually unstoppable wizard. I think we all know how that turned out!
How Well Do You Know Harry Potter?
So you think you know Harry Potter? Take this 10 question quiz to test your knowledge of Harry Potter trivia and find out. Good luck!
Nicknames/Alias/Titles/Appearances
Nicknames = These include the following:
- The Boy Who Lived
- The Chosen One
- Saint Potter (by Draco Malfoy)
- The Chosen Captain (by Draco Malfoy)
- The Boy Who Scored (by Draco Malfoy)
- Scarhead (by Draco Malfoy)
- Patronus Potter (by Lucius Malfoy)
- Precious Potter (by Severus Snape)
- The Boy Who Lied (by the Daily Prophet)
- Parry Otter (by Horace Slughorn)
- Potter the Plotter (by Peeves the poltergeist)
- Potty Wee Potter (by Peeves the poltergeist)
- Undesirable No. 1
- Master of Death (while he had all three of the Deathly Hallows)
Alias = These include the following:
- Neville Longbottom (on the Night Bus)
- Barney Weasley (at the wedding of Bill and Fleur)
- Vernon Dudley (after being captured by a Snatcher)
Titles = These include the following:
- Seeker
- S.P.E.W. Secretary
- Triwizard Champion
- Leader of Dumbledore’s Army
- Quidditch Captain
- Master of Death
Different Physical Appearances = Harry’s physical appearance changed to the following people:
- Gregory Goyle (while taking Polyjuice potion
- Barney Weasley (while taking Polyjuice potion)
- Albert Runcorn (while taking Polyjuice potion)
Organizations/Teams/Clubs
Organizations = Order of the Phoenix
Teams = Quidditch
Clubs = S.P.E.W., Dumbledore’s Army, and the Slug Club
What Happened to Harry After the Fall of Voldemort?
Unlike Hermione Granger, Harry did not return to Hogwarts after the fall of Voldemort to complete his seventh and final year at schooling. Instead, he accepted the invitation by Kingsley Shacklebolt, the new Minister of Magic, to become an Auror for the Ministry. Shacklebolt offered this invitation to those who fought at the Final Battle even if they hadn’t completed their seventh year and lacked the required N.E.W.T.s.
At age 26 Harry was promoted to head of the Auror Office, becoming the youngest to head up this department. Harry and Ron Weasley, who also became an Auror, as well as Hermione (she became a high ranking Department of Magical Law Enforcement officer) were critical to the reformation of the office, as well as the rest of the Ministry.
In his personal life Harry married Ginny Weasley, and it wasn’t long before they had three children of their own. Harry was also an important guiding factor in the life of his Godson, Teddy Lupin. Harry was able to be the Godparent to Teddy that Sirius wanted to be, but couldn’t, for Harry.
One of the more personal things that Harry accomplished was making sure that Severus Snape’s portrait hung in the Headmaster’s office at Hogwarts. Snape’s portrait was not automatically included because he abandoned his post shortly after Harry returned to Hogwarts in search of the Ravenclaw horcrux. Harry finally understood the critical role that Snape had played while teaching at Hogwarts after he went into Snape’s memories shortly after Snape’s death. It was that understanding that drove Harry to correct this wrong and ensure that Snape’s portrait hung where it rightly belonged among the other portraits of past Headmasters and Headmistresses.
The two bullies of Harry’s youth were his cousin Dudley Dursley and Hogwarts student Draco Malfoy. Dudley made amends to Harry and the two kept in contact as they got older. They were never close, but were, as author J.K. Rowling put it, on “Christmas card” terms. They got together with their families whenever possible so their children could get to know each other, though Harry and Dudley usually did little more than sit quietly with one another.
Draco Malfoy learned the hard way, much like Sirius’s younger brother Regalus Black, that the Dark Arts weren’t nearly as appealing from within the inner circle of Voldemort. Just as Dudley had, Draco made amends with Harry, and the two were amicable to each other, if never friendly.
What Daniel Radcliffe Has To Say About Harry
I have to be honest. I searched quite a bit for any articles with Daniel’s thoughts about the character of Harry Potter. What I found is a lot of information that Daniel shared about himself, such as how he doesn’t like his performance in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, or that he was drunk as he filmed several scenes in the final film. What I was unable to find was Daniel’s thoughts about Harry himself.
Then next place I turned to in my search was YouTube where I searched for a video, any video, with an interview of Daniel where he shared what he thought of the character of Harry, how Harry affected him, etc.. Sadly, I couldn’t find anything there, either. I’m sure what I’m looking for exists somewhere and I’m just not looking in the right place. Please send me an email if you find a written or video interview about this and I’ll update this section.
How Harry Potter Changed Throughout The Series
Of all the characters in the Harry Potter books, Harry changed the most. He went from being an abused child who knew nothing about magic and wizards to a man who defeated the most vicious and dangerous wizard who ever lived. The description of how he went from one to the other would take a book. Well, seven, actually! But I’ll do my best to sum it up.
Harry started the series young, naive, and ignorant to the world of magic. He learned more about the world where he belonged in each book, and along the way Harry developed friendships that lasted his entire life, and Harry learned during his time at Hogwarts to confide in and trust his friends.
Of all the many lessons Harry learned during his transformation from an abused and naive boy to a confident man, there was one lesson that changed Harry profoundly. That lesson was the sometimes underestimated power of love. It was his mother’s love that saved Harry’s life as a baby. It was love of his friends that kept Harry going throughout the entire series, even in the darkest of times. It was love of his Godfather, Sirius Black, that hurt Harry so deeply that he felt a desire to kill after Sirius was killed (though, ironically, Harry also felt compelled to kill Sirius when Harry believed that Sirius was responsible for the death of James and Lily Potter). It was love of everyone he held dear that gave Harry the strength to willingly go to his death at the hands of Voldemort during the Final Battle. And, lastly, it was Harry’s understanding of love and Voldemort’s lack of understanding that ultimately led to Voldemort’s death.
How Harry Differs in the Books and Movies
The most obvious difference between the book and movie versions of Harry is that the Harry seen in the movies does not have green eyes. Actor Daniel Radcliffe tried to wear green contacts but ended up allergic to them. To work around this, the movie writers ignored Harry’s specific eye color and had people say that Harry’s eyes looked just like his mother’s.
Harry developed a very close relationship with Dobby throughout the books, but Dobby’s appearances were minimal in the movies, with the exception of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Those of us who have read the books have a deeper appreciation for why Harry chose to bury Dobby without magic, and although this is shown in the movies, the true understanding of this gesture is missed without showing how their friendship grew.
The only other main difference was that Harry was angrier and moodier in the fourth book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. We saw flashes of this moodiness in the movie, but not the deep seated teen angst that was explored in the book. Harry was explosive in the book, but we didn’t get to see this extreme emotion in the movie. I think that’s a shame because it showed how Harry was tapping in to Voldemort’s emotions through the connection they shared. Voldemort was a being who was incapable of love, and this resulted in a man twisted by hate, revenge, and fear (not that Voldemort would ever admit to being afraid of anything). Harry couldn’t help but be changed by this connection.
With the exceptions of the things listed above, I think the movies and Daniel did an excellent job of bringing the written version of Harry to life.
Video of Harry Potter
I looked for a tribute video specifically about Harry, but found this one instead. It focuses on the trio of Harry, Hermione, and Ron, and was an incredibly touching look at their time in the world of Harry Potter.
Costume for Harry Potter
If you want to dress up as Harry but are unsure how to proceed then take a look at the Harry Potter costume post I created. In it you will find everything you need to create your own version of The Boy Who Lived.
Content:
Biographical Details | Temperament and Personality | Physical Traits | Magical Traits | Wand Traits | Nicknames/Aliases/Titles/Appearances | Organizations/Teams/Clubs | What Happened to Harry After The Fall of Voldemort? | What Daniel Radcliffe Has to Say About Harry Potter | How Harry Changed Throughout The Series | How Harry Differs in the Books and Movies | Video of Harry Potter | Harry Potter Costume
