Imagine a school in a castle filled with moving staircases, a sport played on flying broomsticks, an evil wizard intent on domination, an ordinary boy who’s the hero of a whole world he doesn’t know. This is the story that comes to life in the marvelous Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling.
The Dark Lord, Voldemort, tried to murder Harry when he was just a baby—but he failed, killing Harry’s parents but leaving him with a lightning-bolt scar. After Voldemort’s disappearance, Harry is sent to live with his nasty aunt and uncle, far away from any hint of magic. But at the age of eleven, he is invited to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and a magical world opens before him.
Each of the seven books in the series chronicles one year in Harry’s adventures at Hogwarts and his battle against Lord Voldemort. Harry makes two marvelous best friends named Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. He studies topics like Transfiguration and Potions under wise headmaster Albus Dumbledore and the malevolent Severus Snape. He becomes expert at a game called Quidditch; encounters incredible creatures like phoenixes and dragons; and discovers an entire Wizarding universe hidden just out of sight, as prone to the darker aspects of human experience as our own, but brightened by a quirky original magic.
And slowly, Harry unravels the mysteries of his original confrontation with Voldemort: why the Dark Lord tried to kill him, how he lived… and what he must do to survive another encounter.
The first Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, was published in the United Kingdom in 1997; a decade later, the last novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, broke all records to become the fastest-selling book in history. The seven novels have been translated into sixty-eight languages, selling over four hundred million copies in more than two hundred countries.
The Tales of Beedle the Bard, a collection of classic Wizarding fairy tales, first came to Muggle readers' attention in seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Never before had Muggles been privy to these richly imaginative stories: "The Wizard and the Hopping Pot," "The Fountain of Fair Fortune," "The Warlock's Hairy Heart," "Babbitty Rabbitty and Her Cackling Stump," and of course, "The Tale of the Three Brothers."
This beautiful edition includes an introduction, notes, and illustrations by J. K. Rowling; a new translation from the ancient runes by Hermione Granger; and extensive commentary by Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore. Not only are these the equal of fairy tales we know and love, reading them gives new insight into the magical world of Harry Potter.
This purchase also represents another very important form of giving: From every sale of this book, Scholastic will give its net proceeds to the Children’s High Level Group (www.chlg.org), a charity cofounded in 2005 by J.K. Rowling and Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne, MEP. CHLG campaigns to protect and promote children's rights and make life better for vulnerable young people.
Quidditch Through the Ages is a comprehensive guide to Quidditch and the ultimate resource for anyone interested in the magical world and its most popular sport. Written by Kennilworthy Whisp, it is charmingly reproduced as if it were a facsimile of the very copy from the library of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Diagon Alley Retail Price: 14 Sickles, 3 Knuts
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is an A to Z listing of magical beasts — those you've heard of and some you haven’t — and a complete guide to their appearances, personalities, abilities, and habitats. Written by Newt Scamander, it's on the required booklist for all Hogwarts students and much revered by Hagrid, the Hogwarts groundskeeper. Diagon Alley Retail Price: 14 Sickles, 3 Knuts.