Harry Potter
Harry Potter is famous in the wizard world for his apparent defeat and disappearance of the Dark Lord, Lord Voldemort the funny people in purple cloaks that bow to him in shops and on the streets are wizards and witches, too, and know who he is. But after ten years, things change...
Harry starts to get mysterious letters a few days before his eleventh birthday. Hagrid shows up and tells Harry about his past and that he is a wizard, and when Harry opens one of the letters, he discovers that he has been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Hagrid takes him to Diagon Alley, the shopping alley for wizards, which is hidden from Muggle eyes in London. There Hagrid buys Harry a Snowy owl for his eleventh birthday present, and Harry names her Hedwig. A few days later, Harry takes The Hogwarts Express, a train that is also hidden from Muggle eyes, to Hogwarts. He meets his two best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, on the train. Each year at Hogwarts holds an adventure for Harry.
 

Hermione Granger
Hermione Granger (Her-my-O-NEE), 14 is the smartest student in her year. But besides always knowing the answers to teacher's questions, she is very brave and ready to participate in Harry and Ron's adventures. So the Sorting Hat saw fit to place her in Gryffindor and not Ravenclaw. She is of Muggle parentage (her parents are both dentists), but she was "ever so excited" when she got her letter of acceptance at Hogwarts. She buys her cat, Crookshanks, at the Magical Menagerie in Diagon Alley in book three. In the first book Harry and Ron don't like her very much, until they save her from being eaten by a troll, and they have been friends ever since that incident (mostly).
 

The Weasley Family
The Weasley Family was the first magical family Harry ever met, and one of the 7 Weasley children, Ron, is Harry's best friend. The whole Weasley family has red hair and they live in a house dubbed "The Burrow".
Mr. Weasley works at the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office in the Ministry of Magic and Mrs. Weasley is a homemaker.

The eldest Weasley, Bill works as a curse-breaker at Gringotts (the wizard bank) in Eygpt and was Head Boy. We meet him first in book 4.

Charlie, the next son, works with Dragons in Romania and was the best seeker Gryffindor ever saw.

Percy Weasley works at the Department of International Magical Co-Operation and was Head Boy.

Fred & George Weasley are the troublemakers of the family (indeed, of all Hogwarts) and know Hogwarts castle better than any other person (including the care-taker, Mr. Filch). Their ambition is to start a joke shop.

Ron Weasley is Harry's best friend and the youngest Weasley boy. He is suffering for attention, as Harry is always getting it. He is fighting to get noticed compared to the older Weasleys: Bill & Percy, as Head Boys; Charlie, as an incredible seeker; Fred & George as the popular jokesters...

Ginny is the youngest Weasley. She plays a big role in The Chamber of Secrets. She rather fancies Harry.
 

Neville Longbottom
Neville Longbottom is an "orphan" who lives with his grandmother. We read about his parents in the fourth book. Neville is a poor student in nearly everything, except Herbology. In Potions, he is the student that Professor Snape picks on the most. His pet toad, Trevor, when he is not lost, is a faithful companion. Neville proves to be very brave more than once in the books, and is a good friend of Harry's.

Draco and Company
Draco Malfoy is Harry's enemy. He's Professor Snape's favorite student, but is the most evil student in the book. He is, of course, in Slytherin House.

Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle are Malfoy's thugs. They seem to live to do Malfoy's bidding. They have more muscles than brains, though, and therefore depend on Malfoy a lot.

Oliver Wood
Oliver Wood is the Gryffindor quidditch captain and Keeper in the first three Harry Potter books.

Cho Chang
Cho Chang is in Ravenclaw House, and Harry rather fancies her. She also plays Seeker on the Ravenclaw quidditch team.

The Dursleys are Harry's closest living relatives that he was left to live with when his parents, Lily and James Potter, were murdered by Voldemort. The whole family, Vernon, Petunia, and Dudley, are all cruel to Harry. The family told him that the lightning-bolt shaped scar on his forehead was a souvenier of the car crash that killed his parents, which is, of course, untrue. For ten years, Harry was forced to sleep in a cupboard underneath the stairs, be bullied by Dudley, and do everything that the Dursleys told him to do. But on his eleventh birthday, he was finally taken away from the terrible home on Privet Drive, and now only stays with the Dursleys during the summer holidays. The whole family is terrified of him, though, and are expecting him to throw a curse on them any second.

Petunia Dursley is the sister of Harry's mother, Lily, and is Harry's closest living relative. This is the reason that Harry was left to the care of the Dursleys by Albus Dumbledore. Petunia has always disliked the wizarding world and everyone that belongs to it ever since Lily was accepted to Hogwarts. She didn't keep in touch with her sister very often, and never mentioned her name, or that of her brother-in-law, James, or nephew, Harry. When Harry lives with them, she makes sure that Dudley is always prized above Harry.

Vernon Dursley is a large man who, like his wife, dislikes the sight or name of Harry. His project every summer seems to be to see how he can keep Harry in check. He's full of threats, but is terrified of Harry.

Professor Dumbledore
Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump,
International Confederation of Wizards, Headmaster of Hogwarts

Professor Dumbledore is headmaster of Hogwarts Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He might be the most respected wizard of all time. He was asked to be the Minister of Magic (the leader of the magical world) but declined since he was kept busy as the headmaster of Hogwarts. Professor Dumbledore is one of the few who will refer to Voldemort by that name and not You-Know-Who and dislikes for people to say the latter.


Professor McGonagall
She is the head of Gryffindor tower, the Deputy Headmistress, and the transfiguration teacher. She is very strict, but might let things go to keep her tower at the top. She is also an Animagi, a person who can change into an animal. Animagis are rare and records are kept of who they are and what animals they can change into along with any distinguishing markings.


Professor Snape
Professor Snape is the head of the Slytherin house, and the Potions master. He dislikes students from any other house except his own, especially Harry and Harry's friends. His favorite student is Harry's enemy, Draco Malfoy. A school-boy grudge leads to Snape nearly killing someone in the 3rd book, but he is helpful in the first book, and really isn't as bad as everyone thinks. Also, rumor is that Snape wants the Defense Against the Dark Arts teaching position.


Professor Quirrell
Professor Quirrell is the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher in Harry's first year. Hagrid explains why he stammers and stutters:

'Poor bloke. Brilliant mind. He was fine while he was studyin' outta books but then he took a year off ter get some first-hand experience.... They say he met vampires in the Black Forest and there was a nasty bit o' trouble with a hag — never been the same since. Scared of the students, scared of his own subject.'

Actually, Professor Quirrell met Voldemort in the Black Forest. Voldemort fled there after he was defeated by Harry. When Professor Quirrell failed to steal the Philosopher's Stone from Gringotts, Voldemort decided he needed to follow Professor Quirrell more closely. Professor Quirrell was forced to wear a turban to cover Voldemort's head which was protruding from the back of his own. Professor Quirrell also drank unicorn's blood for Voldemort's sake. As Firenze the centaur explains, Unicorn blood will keep you alive, but for a terrible price. You will be cursed from the moment the blood touches your lips. Voldemort needs the blood to stay alive until he can retrieve the Philosopher's Stone, which holds the Elixir of Life. Harry manages to hold Voldemort off of the stone and Voldemort flees, and the stone is destroyed. So Voldemort has been delayed from returning, at least this time.



Professor Lockhart
Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defence League and five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most-Charming-Smile Award.

Professor Gilderoy Lockhart is the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher in book 2, The Chamber of Secrets. Everyone is very much impressed by what he says he has done in his books. But in fact he made it all up and is rather flighty, not to mention extremely conceited. He annoys everyone except for most females who think he is handsome. At the end of the second book he trys to use Ron's broken wand to erase Harry and Ron's memories, but the wand backfires and the charm hits him instead, so he has no idea who he is or where he is at the very end. He only teaches for one year, for he needs to go get his memory back.



Professor Lupin
Professor Remus Lupin is the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher in book number 3, The Prisoner of Azkaban. Professor Lupin has not been able to find a job anywhere except for Hogwarts because he is shunned for being a werewolf. He was very young when he received the bite and had it not been for Dumbledore he would never have gotten an education. Dumbledore felt that if special precautions were taken there was no reason why young Lupin couldn't go to Hogwarts. Every full moon Lupin was smuggled out of the castle to Hogsmeade via a special tunnel, whose entrance the Whomping Willow was planted over to prevent any student from happening across Lupin while he was unsafe as a werewolf. His friends, Sirius Black, James Potter and Peter Pettigrew didn't believe his excuses for going away for long, so eventually they found out he was a werewolf and learned how to be Animagi (illegally) so they could keep him company as animals, for werewolves are only dangerous to human beings.

Now Lupin is grown up and Dumbledore allows him to take the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. A potion has recently been discovered that allows werewolves to keep their minds during full moons, so as long as Lupin takes his potion he is not dangerous to any students. If word gets out that Lupin is a werewolf he must resign, for parents would surely not approve of a "dangerous" werewolf teaching their children.


Professor Trelawney
Professor Trelawney, the Divination teacher, is mysterious and rarely comes down from her tower to mingle with the others. She firsts comes in to the Harry Potter story in book 3. Professor McGonagall does not believe in the Professor's subject, so she and Professor Trelawney do not get along well. Professor Trelawney predicts Harry is going to die, she claims she has never seen anyone with such a short life line as Harry's (while reading palms) and claims to see the Grim (the omen of death) in Harry's tea leaves.


Professor Flitwick
He is the Charms teacher. He has a shock of white hair, squeaks when he talks, and is very kind. He's respected by all the students. Whenever he teaches, he always stands over a pile of books so that everybody could see him because he is tiny and short.


Professor Sprout
Professor Sprout is the Herbology witch, and is also the leader of Hufflepuff House. She is an excellent teacher, and her classes are really interesting, with all the different magical plants that she teaches her students to care for. In The Chamber of Secrets, her teaching subject becomes neccessary to helping Madam Pomfrey when students start being attacked by a mysterious monster.


Madam Hooch
Madam Hooch is the quidditch coach and broom instructor. She acts as referee at most quidditch matches.


Madam Pomfrey
Madam Pomfrey (or Poppy, as Professor Dumbledore calls her) is the school nurse. She's always helping Harry recover from his minor and major magical medical needs. She's a nice witch, but is strict. Students that come to her infirmary are kept under constant care until she's convinced that they are normal again. She keeps a watchful eye over all students, and can help them recover from anything from common colds to dragon bites.


Rubeus Hagrid
Rubeus Hagrid is an extremely huge and extremely sweet human being that is a great friend of Harry, Ron and Hermione. We find out a lot about his past in the fourth book. He was expelled from Hogwarts in his third year, but Dumbledore allowed him to stay and gave him the job of gamekeeper and the title Keeper of the Keys.

He lives in a cabin on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. In the third book, he is appointed Care of Magical Creatures teacher. When Hagrid was expelled, his wand was snapped in half, but Harry suspects that the pink umbrella that he carries with him almost everywhere may contain the pieces. Hagrid buys Harry his pet owl, Hedwig, a Snowy owl, for a birthday present in the first book. Hagrid is always ready to help Harry and his friends with anything that they might need.


Filch and Mrs. Noris
Filch is the caretaker at the school. He doesn't like any of the students, and along with his cat, Mrs. Norris, he slinks around the school, watching all students with a very close eye. He seems to particularly dislike Fred and George Weasley, the school jokesters.

"Other Characters"