The Last Voyages Application
User Name/Nick: Daemyn
User LJ: tosaga
AIM/IM: ivollias
E-mail: daemyn@ymail.com
Other Characters: hereisariddle @ elegycity
Character Name: Harry James Potter
Series: Harry Potter
Age: 17, will be 18 in about a month.
From When?: A month after the end of Deathly Hallows.
Inmate/Warden: Warden. Harry is in no way a villain, in nearly every way a hero. The Admiral has promised to bring back Nymphadora Tonks and Remus Lupin for Harry's time.
Item: First snitch he ever caught.
Abilities/Powers: As a wizard, Harry has magical abilities he can harness through the use of a wand. He's also fairly decent at wandless magic, and excels at defensive magic and dueling. He is an expert flyer, and has been ever since he first mounted a broom. He's able to resist the Imperius and has successfully used it in the past. Since defeating Voldemort, he no longer has the ability to speak Parseltongue, nor does he have insight into Voldemort's mind, as he is no longer a horcrux. He is also the "Master of Death" or, more accurately, the current owner of all three Deathly Hallows. Harry also has a decent talent at Potions, having received an Exceeds Expectations on his Potions OWL and learned quite a few tidbits from the Half-Blood Prince by obsessing over the Prince's old potions book.
Personality: Harry Potter is obsessive, impulsive, arrogant (albeit only sometimes), and rash. He has little respect for the rules and does not give much credence to other people's opinions. He is narrow-minded, and does not take "no" for an answer. When it comes to information, he relies heavily on his friend Hermione to find him the answers, especially when it comes to schoolwork. He is a flawed character in many ways, but that only goes to show just how human he is. (Humans, by nature, have both vices and virtues. It is the balance of the two within the individual that makes each human unique.) As a human, he has many flaws, but that in no way means he's not a good person.
Harry is also a brave and loyal friend, and a resourceful, decisive, caring, smart young man. He has a certain "saving people thing", as Hermione so eloquently puts it, and an inherent sense of good that refuses to let him rest while people are unjustly suffering, even if those people happen to be those he considers his enemies. He's honest to those he cares about, but also understands the importance of lying and secrecy, whether to protect someone or keep vital information from those who would use it for the wrong reasons.
Having grown up not knowing his parents and living with people who's views are some of the most differing from his own, he's learned to think for himself and make his own opinions about things. Of course, this also makes him insensitive to other people's opinions and he easily disregards them. He decides things quickly, and is very stubborn in his decisions.
Harry has accepted death, and the simple fact that he will, eventually, die.
Tying into that, he suffers from survivor's guilt. He takes on every death in the war as one of his failures. He takes each person's death in the war as one more life lost because he didn't move fast enough, didn't destroy quick enough. He would sacrifice himself to save others in a heartbeat, and so when others sacrifice themselves to save him, he feels immensely guilty.
Why he's here: (which I understand is a section but I thought it would be important to include) Much like how his life was when he was dating Ginny back in sixth year, life after Voldemort was like out of someone else's life - worry-free, peaceful, and relatively happy (minus the funerals, of course). The Admiral offered Harry something he didn't realize he lacked in the days after Voldemort: a purpose. If he could return Teddy Lupin's parents to the world, that would be one less orphan, one less child that would grow up not knowing their parents, and two less casualties of war he had previously been unable to save. Needless to say, he accepted the offer without much hesitation.
Path to Redemption: Does not apply.
History: (From Wikipedia)
Harry first appears in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (published in the United States as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone) as the novel's main protagonist. When Harry was just one year old, his parents were murdered by the most powerful Dark Wizard, Lord Voldemort (Frequently called You-Know-Who); although only his soul remained after his body was destroyed.
According to Rowling, fleshing out this back story was a matter of reverse planning: "The basic idea [is that] Harry ... didn't know he was a wizard ... and so then I kind of worked backwards from that position to find out how that could be, that he wouldn't know what he was... When he was one-year-old, the most evil wizard in hundreds of years attempted to kill him. He killed Harry's parents, and then he tried to kill Harry - he tried to curse him... Harry has to find out, before we find out. And - so - but for some mysterious reason, the curse didn't work on Harry. So he's left with this lightning-bolt shaped scar on his forehead, and the curse rebounded upon the evil wizard who has been in hiding ever since".
As a result, Harry is written as an orphan living with his only remaining family, the Dursleys. On his eleventh birthday, Harry learns he is a wizard when Rubeus Hagrid arrives to tell him that he is to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. There he learns about the wizarding world, his parents, his connection to the Dark Lord. When he is sorted into Gryffindor House, he becomes fast friends with classmates Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, and foils Voldemort's attempt to steal the Philosopher's Stone. He also forms rivalries with characters Draco Malfoy, a classmate from an elitist wizarding family, and the cold, condescending Potions master, Severus Snape, Draco's mentor and the head of Slytherin House. Both feuds continue throughout the series. In a 1999 interview, Rowling stated that Draco is based on several prototypical schoolyard bullies she encountered and Snape on a sadistic teacher of hers who abused his power.
Rowling has stated that the Mirror of Erised chapter in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is her favourite; the mirror reflects Harry's deepest desire, namely to see his dead parents. Her favourite funny scene is when Harry inadvertently sets a boa constrictor free from the zoo in the horrified Dursleys' presence.
In the second book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Rowling pits Harry against Tom Marvolo Riddle, Lord Voldemort's "memory" within a secret diary which has possessed Ron's younger sister Ginny Weasley. When Muggle-born students are suddenly being petrified, many suspect that Harry may be behind the attacks, further alienating him from his peers. In the climax, Ginny disappears. To rescue her, Harry battles Riddle and the monster he controls that is hidden in the Chamber of Secrets. In the third book, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Rowling uses a time travel premise. Harry learns that his parents were betrayed to Voldemort by their friend Peter Pettigrew, who framed Harry's godfather Sirius Black for the crimes, condemning him to Azkaban, the wizard prison. When Sirius escapes to seek revenge, Harry and Hermione use a Time Turner to save him and a hippogriff named Buckbeak. But Pettigrew escapes, and an innocent Sirius remains a hunted fugitive.
In the previous books, Harry is written as a child, but Rowling states that in the fourth novel, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, "Harry's horizons are literally and metaphorically widening as he grows older." Harry's developing maturity becomes apparent when he becomes romantically interested in Cho Chang, a student in Ravenclaw house. Tension mounts, however, when Harry is mysteriously chosen by the Goblet of Fire to compete in the dangerous Triwizard Tournament, even though another Hogwarts champion, Cedric Diggory, has already been selected.
It is actually Voldemort's elaborate scheme to lure Harry into a deadly trap. During the Tournament's final challenge, Harry and Cedric are transported to a graveyard, using a portkey, where Cedric is killed by Peter Pettigrew, and Voldemort, aided by Pettigrew, uses Harry's blood in a gruesome ritual to resurrect his body. When Harry duels Voldemort, their wands' magical streams connect, forcing the spirit echoes of Voldemort's victims, including Cedric and James and Lily Potter, to be expelled from his wand. The spirits briefly protect Harry as he escapes to Hogwarts with Cedric's body. For Rowling, this scene is important because it shows Harry's bravery, and by retrieving Cedric's corpse, he demonstrates selflessness and compassion. Says Rowling, "He wants to save Cedric's parents additional pain.” She added that preventing Cedric's body from falling into Voldemort's hands is based on the classic scene in the Iliad where Achilles retrieves the body of his best friend Patroclus from the hands of Hector. Rowling also mentioned that book four rounds off an era in Harry's life, and the remaining three books are another, "He's no longer protected. He's been very protected until now. But he's very young to have that experience. Most of us don't get that until a bit later in life. He's only just coming up to 15 and that's it now."
In the fifth book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the Ministry of Magic has been waging a smear campaign against Harry and Dumbledore, disputing their claims that Voldemort has returned. A new character is introduced when the Ministry of Magic appoints Dolores Umbridge as the latest Hogwarts' Defence Against the Dark Arts instructor (and Ministry spy). Because the paranoid Ministry suspects that Dumbledore is building a wizard army to overthrow them, Umbridge refuses to teach students real defensive magic. She gradually gains more power, eventually ousting Dumbledore and seizing control of the school. As a result, Harry's increasingly angry and erratic behaviour nearly estranges him from Ron and Hermione.
Rowling says she put Harry through extreme emotional stress to show his emotional vulnerability and humanity - a contrast to his nemesis, Voldemort. "[Harry is] a very human hero, and this is, obviously, a contrast, between him, as a very human hero, and Voldemort, who has deliberately dehumanised himself. And Harry, therefore, did have to reach a point where he did almost break down, and say he didn't want to play anymore, he didn't want to be the hero anymore - and he’d lost too much. And he didn’t want to lose anything else. So that - Phoenix was the point at which I decided he would have his breakdown."
At Hermione's urging, Harry forms a secret student organisation called Dumbledore's Army to teach more meaningful defence against the dark arts as Professor Umbridge is making them read off a textbook. Their plan is thwarted, however, when a Dumbledore's Army member betrays them and informs Umbridge about the D.A., causing Dumbledore to be ousted as Headmaster. Harry suffers another emotional blow, when his godfather, Sirius is killed during a duel with a Death Eater Bellatrix Lestrange at the Department of Mysteries, but Harry ultimately defeats Voldemort's plan to steal an important prophecy and helps uncover Umbridge's sinister motives. Rowling stated: "And now he [Harry] will rise from the ashes strengthened." A side plot of Order of the Phoenix involves Harry's romance with Cho Chang, but the relationship quickly unravels. Says Rowling: "They were never going to be happy, it was better that it ended early!"
In the sixth book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Harry enters a tumultuous puberty that, Rowling says, is based on her and her younger sister's own difficult teenage years. Rowling also made an intimate statement about Harry's personal life: "Because of the demands of the adventure that Harry is following, he has had less sexual experience than boys of his age might have had". This inexperience with romance was a factor in Harry's failed relationship with Cho. Now his thoughts concern Ginny, and a vital plot point in the last chapter includes Harry ending their budding romance to protect her from Voldemort.
A new character appears when former Hogwarts Potions master Horace Slughorn replaces Snape, who assumes the Defence Against the Dark Arts post. Harry suddenly excels in Potions, using an old textbook once belonging to a talented student known only as "The Half-Blood Prince." The book contains many handwritten notes, revisions, and new spells; Hermione, however, believes Harry's use of it is cheating. Through private meetings with Dumbledore, Harry learns about Voldemort's orphaned youth, his rise to power, and how he splintered his soul into Horcruxes to achieve immortality. Two Horcruxes have been destroyed; the diary and a ring, and Harry and Dumbledore locate another, although it is a fake. When Death Eaters invade Hogwarts, Snape kills Dumbledore. As Snape escapes, he proclaims that he is the Half-Blood Prince. It now falls upon Harry to find and destroy Voldemort's remaining Horcruxes and to avenge Dumbledore's death. In a 2005 interview, Rowling stated that [after the events in the sixth book] Harry has, "taken the view that they are now at war. He does become more battle hardened. He’s now ready to go out fighting. And he’s after revenge [against Voldemort and Snape]."
This book also focusses on the mysterious activities of Harry's rival Draco Malfoy. Voldemort has coerced a frightened Malfoy into attempting to kill Dumbledore. During a duel in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, Harry uses the Half-Blood Prince's spell, Sectumsempra on Malfoy, who suffers near-fatal injuries as a result. Harry is horrified by what he has done and also comes to feel sympathy for Draco, after learning he was forced to do Voldemort's bidding under the threat of his and his parents' deaths.
In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry, Ron, and Hermione leave Hogwarts to complete Dumbledore's task: to search for and destroy Voldemort's remaining four Horcruxes, then find and kill the Dark Lord. The three pit themselves against Voldemort's newly formed totalitarian police state, an action that tests Harry's courage and moral character. According to J. K. Rowling, telling scenes are when Harry uses Cruciatus and Imperius, unforgivable curses for torture and mind-control, on Voldemort's servants, and also when he casts Sectumsempra on Draco Malfoy during the bathroom fight in the sixth book. Each time shows a "flawed and mortal" side to Harry. However, she explains that, "He is also in an extreme situation and attempting to defend somebody very good against a violent and murderous opponent".
Harry experiences occasional disturbing visions of Draco being forced to perform the Death Eaters' bidding and feels "...sickened...by the use to which Draco was now being put by Voldemort", again showing his compassion for an enemy.
Harry comes to recognise that his own single-mindedness makes him predictable to his enemies and often clouds his perceptions. When Voldemort kills Snape later in the story, Harry realises that Snape was not the traitorous murderer he believed him to be, but a tragic anti-hero who was loyal to Dumbledore. In Chapter 33 ("The Prince's Tale") Snape's memories reveal that he loved Harry's mother, Lily Evans, but their friendship ended over his association with future Death Eaters and his "blood purity" beliefs. When Voldemort murdered the Potters, a grieving Snape vowed to protect Lily's child, although he loathed young Harry for being James Potter's son. It is also revealed that Snape did not murder Dumbledore, but carried out Dumbledore's prearranged plan. Dumbledore, dying from a slow-spreading curse, wanted to protect Snape's position within the Death Eaters and spare Draco from completing Voldemort's task to murder him.
To defeat Harry, Voldemort steals the Elder Wand from Dumbledore's tomb. It is the most powerful wand ever created, and he twice casts the Killing Curse on Harry with it. The first attempt merely stuns Harry into a death-like state. In the chapter "King's Cross", Dumbledore's spirit tells Harry that when Voldemort failed to kill baby Harry and disembodied himself, Harry became an unintentional Horcrux; Harry could not kill Voldemort while the Dark Lord's soul shard was within Harry's body. Voldemort's soul shard within Harry was destroyed because Harry willingly faced death. But Voldemort's Killing Curse fails because Voldemort used Harry's blood in his resurrection. In the book's climax, Voldemort's second Killing Curse hurled at Harry also fails and rebounds upon himself, as the result of Harry's Expelliarmus spell, finally killing him, because Harry, not Voldemort, had become the Elder Wand's true master. Harry also becomes the worthy possessor of the remaining Deathly Hallows: the Invisibility Cloak and the Resurrection Stone, hence becoming the true Master of Death. J. K. Rowling said the difference between Harry and Voldemort is that Harry willingly accepts mortality, making him stronger than his nemesis. "The real master of Death accepts that he must die, and that there are much worse things in the world of the living". At the very end Harry decides to leave the Elder Wand and the Resurrection Stone hidden but keeps the Invisibility Cloak because it belonged to his father.
Aaaand, not from Wikipedia (AKA Head-Canon): In the month following the Battle of Hogwarts, funerals were held for all those who died in the battle. Although there was a week-long celebration of the Dark Lord's defeat, Voldemort was exempt from the rule; his body simply burned. Harry, having a huge weight suddenly lifted from his shoulders, began to smile and laugh with his friends once again. Although survivor's guilt still haunted him, at least the one causing all the deaths was finally gone. At least there wouldn't be any more deaths because he hadn't defeated Voldemort yet. So he put it out of mind in the weeks to follow, and planned what he was going to do about his schooling and career with Ron and Hermione.
He was glad to hear Kingsley hint at Harry joining the Aurors without having to go through training, or even finishing Hogwarts.
But what he made sure to do a lot of was rest. His life no longer on a set, one-way path, Harry was finally free to do as he wanted. Not that he didn't want to defeat Voldemort, because he most certainly did, but for once he felt he had a choice. He spent nearly the whole month after the war in the company of the Weasley family. Ginny and him even tried their hand at going out on actual dates (they even went on a double date with Ron and Hermione in the later end of the month). And of course, Quidditch was never a faraway subject. Harry was content, even happy with his adopted family.
Of course, it wasn't all happy family. The sight of George was a depressing one: physically missing an ear, emotionally and mentally missing his other half. A part of Harry was glad that the sight of George was rare. Mostly, George stayed locked up in his room, only coming out for meals and the occasional trip to the bathroom.
Mrs. Weasley had taken it upon herself to take care of Teddy Lupin until Harry got settled in the adult world. She often used every opportunity she could to give Harry (although this was usually when Ginny was around as well) pointers and tips on how to take care of a child.
That month had been much like a vacation to Harry, a break from fighting evil.
Sample Journal Entry: My name is Harry Potter. I am a warden, new to this ship.
I was wondering when I should expect to be assigned to an inmate.
Any tips or pointers are appreciated, as well. I'm not new to dealing with the sort of people that make up the inmate population of the barge, but I am rather inexperienced getting along with them, so I would appreciate a bit of guidance.
Take two:
Is there anyone here from the world of Albus Dumbledore? Or anyone from the world of Hogwarts?
[ A pause. ]
I'm Harry. Harry Potter. I've just arrived on this ship. I was merely wondering if there's anyone from my world here. And if there is, I'd like to speak with them.
Sample RP: There was a part of Harry that said he had no reason to trust the Admiral. A part that reminded him of a simple magical fact: there was no way for a person to be brought back to life by magic. And yet, here he was, considering the offer. He felt foolish in his hope and in his reluctance to admit what he knew was true. There was no way to bring back the dead, and yet a larger part of him was reminded of what it was like to grow up with no parents, was reminded of all the lives that were lost because of him, and his mind no longer doubted. Even if there was no way to bring back the dead in this world, the Admiral wasn't from this world, was he? No, he wasn't. Harry had to try.
When he spoke, there was no hesitation in his voice, only a fierce determination. After all, once Harry's mind was set on something, there wasn't much others could do to change it. "All right. I'll do it."
And so, Harry Potter boarded the barge on which he was to carry out his duty. He was to reform Inmates, who were apparently evil people given a second chance, and turn them into good ones. When he first heard the proposition, he thought it would be near-impossible, if not impossible to do. His experience with Voldemort showed him that reform wasn't possible, at least not with some. He doubted many Death Eaters would be able to be reformed either, as he thought of Bellatrix Lestrange. But it didn't take long for his thoughts to move to Snape, to Draco Malfoy, and then to Dumbledore in his youth and how much he had changed over the course of his life. Harry didn't need more convincing. And so, he made his way towards the room the Admiral had assigned him, and dumped his belongings on the bed, including the journal the Admiral had handed to him moments before. He bothered to unpack, as he knew he would be there for a while.
Special Notes: None that I can think of. :)
User LJ: tosaga
AIM/IM: ivollias
E-mail: daemyn@ymail.com
Other Characters: hereisariddle @ elegycity
Character Name: Harry James Potter
Series: Harry Potter
Age: 17, will be 18 in about a month.
From When?: A month after the end of Deathly Hallows.
Inmate/Warden: Warden. Harry is in no way a villain, in nearly every way a hero. The Admiral has promised to bring back Nymphadora Tonks and Remus Lupin for Harry's time.
Item: First snitch he ever caught.
Abilities/Powers: As a wizard, Harry has magical abilities he can harness through the use of a wand. He's also fairly decent at wandless magic, and excels at defensive magic and dueling. He is an expert flyer, and has been ever since he first mounted a broom. He's able to resist the Imperius and has successfully used it in the past. Since defeating Voldemort, he no longer has the ability to speak Parseltongue, nor does he have insight into Voldemort's mind, as he is no longer a horcrux. He is also the "Master of Death" or, more accurately, the current owner of all three Deathly Hallows. Harry also has a decent talent at Potions, having received an Exceeds Expectations on his Potions OWL and learned quite a few tidbits from the Half-Blood Prince by obsessing over the Prince's old potions book.
Personality: Harry Potter is obsessive, impulsive, arrogant (albeit only sometimes), and rash. He has little respect for the rules and does not give much credence to other people's opinions. He is narrow-minded, and does not take "no" for an answer. When it comes to information, he relies heavily on his friend Hermione to find him the answers, especially when it comes to schoolwork. He is a flawed character in many ways, but that only goes to show just how human he is. (Humans, by nature, have both vices and virtues. It is the balance of the two within the individual that makes each human unique.) As a human, he has many flaws, but that in no way means he's not a good person.
Harry is also a brave and loyal friend, and a resourceful, decisive, caring, smart young man. He has a certain "saving people thing", as Hermione so eloquently puts it, and an inherent sense of good that refuses to let him rest while people are unjustly suffering, even if those people happen to be those he considers his enemies. He's honest to those he cares about, but also understands the importance of lying and secrecy, whether to protect someone or keep vital information from those who would use it for the wrong reasons.
Having grown up not knowing his parents and living with people who's views are some of the most differing from his own, he's learned to think for himself and make his own opinions about things. Of course, this also makes him insensitive to other people's opinions and he easily disregards them. He decides things quickly, and is very stubborn in his decisions.
Harry has accepted death, and the simple fact that he will, eventually, die.
Tying into that, he suffers from survivor's guilt. He takes on every death in the war as one of his failures. He takes each person's death in the war as one more life lost because he didn't move fast enough, didn't destroy quick enough. He would sacrifice himself to save others in a heartbeat, and so when others sacrifice themselves to save him, he feels immensely guilty.
Why he's here: (which I understand is a section but I thought it would be important to include) Much like how his life was when he was dating Ginny back in sixth year, life after Voldemort was like out of someone else's life - worry-free, peaceful, and relatively happy (minus the funerals, of course). The Admiral offered Harry something he didn't realize he lacked in the days after Voldemort: a purpose. If he could return Teddy Lupin's parents to the world, that would be one less orphan, one less child that would grow up not knowing their parents, and two less casualties of war he had previously been unable to save. Needless to say, he accepted the offer without much hesitation.
Path to Redemption: Does not apply.
History: (From Wikipedia)
Harry first appears in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (published in the United States as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone) as the novel's main protagonist. When Harry was just one year old, his parents were murdered by the most powerful Dark Wizard, Lord Voldemort (Frequently called You-Know-Who); although only his soul remained after his body was destroyed.
According to Rowling, fleshing out this back story was a matter of reverse planning: "The basic idea [is that] Harry ... didn't know he was a wizard ... and so then I kind of worked backwards from that position to find out how that could be, that he wouldn't know what he was... When he was one-year-old, the most evil wizard in hundreds of years attempted to kill him. He killed Harry's parents, and then he tried to kill Harry - he tried to curse him... Harry has to find out, before we find out. And - so - but for some mysterious reason, the curse didn't work on Harry. So he's left with this lightning-bolt shaped scar on his forehead, and the curse rebounded upon the evil wizard who has been in hiding ever since".
As a result, Harry is written as an orphan living with his only remaining family, the Dursleys. On his eleventh birthday, Harry learns he is a wizard when Rubeus Hagrid arrives to tell him that he is to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. There he learns about the wizarding world, his parents, his connection to the Dark Lord. When he is sorted into Gryffindor House, he becomes fast friends with classmates Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, and foils Voldemort's attempt to steal the Philosopher's Stone. He also forms rivalries with characters Draco Malfoy, a classmate from an elitist wizarding family, and the cold, condescending Potions master, Severus Snape, Draco's mentor and the head of Slytherin House. Both feuds continue throughout the series. In a 1999 interview, Rowling stated that Draco is based on several prototypical schoolyard bullies she encountered and Snape on a sadistic teacher of hers who abused his power.
Rowling has stated that the Mirror of Erised chapter in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is her favourite; the mirror reflects Harry's deepest desire, namely to see his dead parents. Her favourite funny scene is when Harry inadvertently sets a boa constrictor free from the zoo in the horrified Dursleys' presence.
In the second book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Rowling pits Harry against Tom Marvolo Riddle, Lord Voldemort's "memory" within a secret diary which has possessed Ron's younger sister Ginny Weasley. When Muggle-born students are suddenly being petrified, many suspect that Harry may be behind the attacks, further alienating him from his peers. In the climax, Ginny disappears. To rescue her, Harry battles Riddle and the monster he controls that is hidden in the Chamber of Secrets. In the third book, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Rowling uses a time travel premise. Harry learns that his parents were betrayed to Voldemort by their friend Peter Pettigrew, who framed Harry's godfather Sirius Black for the crimes, condemning him to Azkaban, the wizard prison. When Sirius escapes to seek revenge, Harry and Hermione use a Time Turner to save him and a hippogriff named Buckbeak. But Pettigrew escapes, and an innocent Sirius remains a hunted fugitive.
In the previous books, Harry is written as a child, but Rowling states that in the fourth novel, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, "Harry's horizons are literally and metaphorically widening as he grows older." Harry's developing maturity becomes apparent when he becomes romantically interested in Cho Chang, a student in Ravenclaw house. Tension mounts, however, when Harry is mysteriously chosen by the Goblet of Fire to compete in the dangerous Triwizard Tournament, even though another Hogwarts champion, Cedric Diggory, has already been selected.
It is actually Voldemort's elaborate scheme to lure Harry into a deadly trap. During the Tournament's final challenge, Harry and Cedric are transported to a graveyard, using a portkey, where Cedric is killed by Peter Pettigrew, and Voldemort, aided by Pettigrew, uses Harry's blood in a gruesome ritual to resurrect his body. When Harry duels Voldemort, their wands' magical streams connect, forcing the spirit echoes of Voldemort's victims, including Cedric and James and Lily Potter, to be expelled from his wand. The spirits briefly protect Harry as he escapes to Hogwarts with Cedric's body. For Rowling, this scene is important because it shows Harry's bravery, and by retrieving Cedric's corpse, he demonstrates selflessness and compassion. Says Rowling, "He wants to save Cedric's parents additional pain.” She added that preventing Cedric's body from falling into Voldemort's hands is based on the classic scene in the Iliad where Achilles retrieves the body of his best friend Patroclus from the hands of Hector. Rowling also mentioned that book four rounds off an era in Harry's life, and the remaining three books are another, "He's no longer protected. He's been very protected until now. But he's very young to have that experience. Most of us don't get that until a bit later in life. He's only just coming up to 15 and that's it now."
In the fifth book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the Ministry of Magic has been waging a smear campaign against Harry and Dumbledore, disputing their claims that Voldemort has returned. A new character is introduced when the Ministry of Magic appoints Dolores Umbridge as the latest Hogwarts' Defence Against the Dark Arts instructor (and Ministry spy). Because the paranoid Ministry suspects that Dumbledore is building a wizard army to overthrow them, Umbridge refuses to teach students real defensive magic. She gradually gains more power, eventually ousting Dumbledore and seizing control of the school. As a result, Harry's increasingly angry and erratic behaviour nearly estranges him from Ron and Hermione.
Rowling says she put Harry through extreme emotional stress to show his emotional vulnerability and humanity - a contrast to his nemesis, Voldemort. "[Harry is] a very human hero, and this is, obviously, a contrast, between him, as a very human hero, and Voldemort, who has deliberately dehumanised himself. And Harry, therefore, did have to reach a point where he did almost break down, and say he didn't want to play anymore, he didn't want to be the hero anymore - and he’d lost too much. And he didn’t want to lose anything else. So that - Phoenix was the point at which I decided he would have his breakdown."
At Hermione's urging, Harry forms a secret student organisation called Dumbledore's Army to teach more meaningful defence against the dark arts as Professor Umbridge is making them read off a textbook. Their plan is thwarted, however, when a Dumbledore's Army member betrays them and informs Umbridge about the D.A., causing Dumbledore to be ousted as Headmaster. Harry suffers another emotional blow, when his godfather, Sirius is killed during a duel with a Death Eater Bellatrix Lestrange at the Department of Mysteries, but Harry ultimately defeats Voldemort's plan to steal an important prophecy and helps uncover Umbridge's sinister motives. Rowling stated: "And now he [Harry] will rise from the ashes strengthened." A side plot of Order of the Phoenix involves Harry's romance with Cho Chang, but the relationship quickly unravels. Says Rowling: "They were never going to be happy, it was better that it ended early!"
In the sixth book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Harry enters a tumultuous puberty that, Rowling says, is based on her and her younger sister's own difficult teenage years. Rowling also made an intimate statement about Harry's personal life: "Because of the demands of the adventure that Harry is following, he has had less sexual experience than boys of his age might have had". This inexperience with romance was a factor in Harry's failed relationship with Cho. Now his thoughts concern Ginny, and a vital plot point in the last chapter includes Harry ending their budding romance to protect her from Voldemort.
A new character appears when former Hogwarts Potions master Horace Slughorn replaces Snape, who assumes the Defence Against the Dark Arts post. Harry suddenly excels in Potions, using an old textbook once belonging to a talented student known only as "The Half-Blood Prince." The book contains many handwritten notes, revisions, and new spells; Hermione, however, believes Harry's use of it is cheating. Through private meetings with Dumbledore, Harry learns about Voldemort's orphaned youth, his rise to power, and how he splintered his soul into Horcruxes to achieve immortality. Two Horcruxes have been destroyed; the diary and a ring, and Harry and Dumbledore locate another, although it is a fake. When Death Eaters invade Hogwarts, Snape kills Dumbledore. As Snape escapes, he proclaims that he is the Half-Blood Prince. It now falls upon Harry to find and destroy Voldemort's remaining Horcruxes and to avenge Dumbledore's death. In a 2005 interview, Rowling stated that [after the events in the sixth book] Harry has, "taken the view that they are now at war. He does become more battle hardened. He’s now ready to go out fighting. And he’s after revenge [against Voldemort and Snape]."
This book also focusses on the mysterious activities of Harry's rival Draco Malfoy. Voldemort has coerced a frightened Malfoy into attempting to kill Dumbledore. During a duel in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, Harry uses the Half-Blood Prince's spell, Sectumsempra on Malfoy, who suffers near-fatal injuries as a result. Harry is horrified by what he has done and also comes to feel sympathy for Draco, after learning he was forced to do Voldemort's bidding under the threat of his and his parents' deaths.
In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry, Ron, and Hermione leave Hogwarts to complete Dumbledore's task: to search for and destroy Voldemort's remaining four Horcruxes, then find and kill the Dark Lord. The three pit themselves against Voldemort's newly formed totalitarian police state, an action that tests Harry's courage and moral character. According to J. K. Rowling, telling scenes are when Harry uses Cruciatus and Imperius, unforgivable curses for torture and mind-control, on Voldemort's servants, and also when he casts Sectumsempra on Draco Malfoy during the bathroom fight in the sixth book. Each time shows a "flawed and mortal" side to Harry. However, she explains that, "He is also in an extreme situation and attempting to defend somebody very good against a violent and murderous opponent".
Harry experiences occasional disturbing visions of Draco being forced to perform the Death Eaters' bidding and feels "...sickened...by the use to which Draco was now being put by Voldemort", again showing his compassion for an enemy.
Harry comes to recognise that his own single-mindedness makes him predictable to his enemies and often clouds his perceptions. When Voldemort kills Snape later in the story, Harry realises that Snape was not the traitorous murderer he believed him to be, but a tragic anti-hero who was loyal to Dumbledore. In Chapter 33 ("The Prince's Tale") Snape's memories reveal that he loved Harry's mother, Lily Evans, but their friendship ended over his association with future Death Eaters and his "blood purity" beliefs. When Voldemort murdered the Potters, a grieving Snape vowed to protect Lily's child, although he loathed young Harry for being James Potter's son. It is also revealed that Snape did not murder Dumbledore, but carried out Dumbledore's prearranged plan. Dumbledore, dying from a slow-spreading curse, wanted to protect Snape's position within the Death Eaters and spare Draco from completing Voldemort's task to murder him.
To defeat Harry, Voldemort steals the Elder Wand from Dumbledore's tomb. It is the most powerful wand ever created, and he twice casts the Killing Curse on Harry with it. The first attempt merely stuns Harry into a death-like state. In the chapter "King's Cross", Dumbledore's spirit tells Harry that when Voldemort failed to kill baby Harry and disembodied himself, Harry became an unintentional Horcrux; Harry could not kill Voldemort while the Dark Lord's soul shard was within Harry's body. Voldemort's soul shard within Harry was destroyed because Harry willingly faced death. But Voldemort's Killing Curse fails because Voldemort used Harry's blood in his resurrection. In the book's climax, Voldemort's second Killing Curse hurled at Harry also fails and rebounds upon himself, as the result of Harry's Expelliarmus spell, finally killing him, because Harry, not Voldemort, had become the Elder Wand's true master. Harry also becomes the worthy possessor of the remaining Deathly Hallows: the Invisibility Cloak and the Resurrection Stone, hence becoming the true Master of Death. J. K. Rowling said the difference between Harry and Voldemort is that Harry willingly accepts mortality, making him stronger than his nemesis. "The real master of Death accepts that he must die, and that there are much worse things in the world of the living". At the very end Harry decides to leave the Elder Wand and the Resurrection Stone hidden but keeps the Invisibility Cloak because it belonged to his father.
Aaaand, not from Wikipedia (AKA Head-Canon): In the month following the Battle of Hogwarts, funerals were held for all those who died in the battle. Although there was a week-long celebration of the Dark Lord's defeat, Voldemort was exempt from the rule; his body simply burned. Harry, having a huge weight suddenly lifted from his shoulders, began to smile and laugh with his friends once again. Although survivor's guilt still haunted him, at least the one causing all the deaths was finally gone. At least there wouldn't be any more deaths because he hadn't defeated Voldemort yet. So he put it out of mind in the weeks to follow, and planned what he was going to do about his schooling and career with Ron and Hermione.
He was glad to hear Kingsley hint at Harry joining the Aurors without having to go through training, or even finishing Hogwarts.
But what he made sure to do a lot of was rest. His life no longer on a set, one-way path, Harry was finally free to do as he wanted. Not that he didn't want to defeat Voldemort, because he most certainly did, but for once he felt he had a choice. He spent nearly the whole month after the war in the company of the Weasley family. Ginny and him even tried their hand at going out on actual dates (they even went on a double date with Ron and Hermione in the later end of the month). And of course, Quidditch was never a faraway subject. Harry was content, even happy with his adopted family.
Of course, it wasn't all happy family. The sight of George was a depressing one: physically missing an ear, emotionally and mentally missing his other half. A part of Harry was glad that the sight of George was rare. Mostly, George stayed locked up in his room, only coming out for meals and the occasional trip to the bathroom.
Mrs. Weasley had taken it upon herself to take care of Teddy Lupin until Harry got settled in the adult world. She often used every opportunity she could to give Harry (although this was usually when Ginny was around as well) pointers and tips on how to take care of a child.
That month had been much like a vacation to Harry, a break from fighting evil.
Sample Journal Entry: My name is Harry Potter. I am a warden, new to this ship.
I was wondering when I should expect to be assigned to an inmate.
Any tips or pointers are appreciated, as well. I'm not new to dealing with the sort of people that make up the inmate population of the barge, but I am rather inexperienced getting along with them, so I would appreciate a bit of guidance.
Take two:
Is there anyone here from the world of Albus Dumbledore? Or anyone from the world of Hogwarts?
[ A pause. ]
I'm Harry. Harry Potter. I've just arrived on this ship. I was merely wondering if there's anyone from my world here. And if there is, I'd like to speak with them.
Sample RP: There was a part of Harry that said he had no reason to trust the Admiral. A part that reminded him of a simple magical fact: there was no way for a person to be brought back to life by magic. And yet, here he was, considering the offer. He felt foolish in his hope and in his reluctance to admit what he knew was true. There was no way to bring back the dead, and yet a larger part of him was reminded of what it was like to grow up with no parents, was reminded of all the lives that were lost because of him, and his mind no longer doubted. Even if there was no way to bring back the dead in this world, the Admiral wasn't from this world, was he? No, he wasn't. Harry had to try.
When he spoke, there was no hesitation in his voice, only a fierce determination. After all, once Harry's mind was set on something, there wasn't much others could do to change it. "All right. I'll do it."
And so, Harry Potter boarded the barge on which he was to carry out his duty. He was to reform Inmates, who were apparently evil people given a second chance, and turn them into good ones. When he first heard the proposition, he thought it would be near-impossible, if not impossible to do. His experience with Voldemort showed him that reform wasn't possible, at least not with some. He doubted many Death Eaters would be able to be reformed either, as he thought of Bellatrix Lestrange. But it didn't take long for his thoughts to move to Snape, to Draco Malfoy, and then to Dumbledore in his youth and how much he had changed over the course of his life. Harry didn't need more convincing. And so, he made his way towards the room the Admiral had assigned him, and dumped his belongings on the bed, including the journal the Admiral had handed to him moments before. He bothered to unpack, as he knew he would be there for a while.
Special Notes: None that I can think of. :)