While we get ready for Season 22 of 5-Minute
Biographies, join us for a 10-part special.
Over 10 working days, we will present 10 biographies
of fictional characters, but presented as if those characters were real.
Just for fun.
I hope you enjoy them.
This is Episode 2, Harry Potter.
Few figures in modern magical history have inspired as much admiration and curiosity
as Harry James Potter, the boy who survived
the Killing Curse, the young wizard who helped
bring down Lord Voldemort, and a man whose
life continues to shape the wizarding world.
His journey from orphaned infant to symbol
of courage remains one of the most compelling stories of the post-war magical era.
Harry James Potter was born on the 31st of
July 1980 in the village of Godric's Hollow,
a place known for its deep magical heritage.
His parents, James and Lily Potter, née Evans,
were members of the Order of the Phoenix, a secret organisation formed to resist the
rise of the dark wizard Lord Voldemort during the First Wizarding War.
When Harry was only 15 months old, Voldemort
tracked down the Potters, betrayed by their secret keeper Peter Pettigrew.
On the night of the 31st of October 1981,
Voldemort murdered James and Lily, but failed to kill Harry.
The Killing Curse rebounded, leaving Voldemort
nearly destroyed and Harry with his distinctive lightning-shaped scar.
Harry's miraculous survival brought an end to Voldemort's reign of terror and made him
famous across the wizarding world, as the boy who lived.
However, to protect him from danger and public
attention, Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of
Hogwarts, placed Harry in the care of his only living relatives, his aunt and uncle
Petunia and Vernon Dursley, Muggles, who lived in little-winging Surrey.
Harry's early life with the Dursleys was marked by neglect and cruelty.
Just to live in the cupboard under the stairs at No.
4 Privet Drive, he grew up unaware of his magical heritage.
His cousin, Dudley Dursley, bullied him relentlessly
while Petunia and Vernon sought to suppress any sign of magic.
Despite their efforts, strange incidents often occurred around Harry.
Hair growing back overnight, objects moving
without explanation, and one notorious episode involving a vanishing zoo enclosure.
Everything changed in the summer of 1991,
when Harry began receiving mysterious letters.
The Dursleys tried to keep them from him,
but Rubius Hagrid, keeper of keys and grounds
at Hogwarts, personally delivered his acceptance
letter to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft
and Wizardry, revealing Harry's true identity as a wizard.
Harry began attending Hogwarts in September
1991, where he was sorted into Gryffindor House.
For the first time in his life, he found friendship, belonging, and purpose.
He quickly became close to Ron Weasley and
Hermione Granger, friendships that would define his youth.
His natural talent for Quidditch earned him a
place on the Gryffindor team as the youngest seeker in over a century.
Yet his fame as the boy who lived brought constant attention, not all of it welcome.
During his seven years at Hogwarts, Harry
became entangled in events that would ultimately
decide the fate of the wizarding world.
In his first year, he faced Professor Quirrell
and prevented the theft of the Philosopher's
Stone, thereby thwarting Voldemort's initial attempt to regain physical form.
In his second year, he discovered and defeated
the monster of the Chamber of Secrets, saving
Ginny Weasley and proving that his bravery matched his reputation.
His third year saw the revelation that his godfather, Sirius Black, had been wrongly
imprisoned, and that the real betrayer of his parents was Peter Pettigrew.
The Triwizard Tournament of his fourth year ended in tragedy, with the death of Cedric
Diggory and Voldemort's full return to power.
From that point onward, Harry's life became a battle between truth and denial.
In his fifth year, despite the Ministry of Magic's attempts to discredit him, Harry
founded Dumbledore's army to train fellow students in defensive magic.
The ensuing battle of the Department of Mysteries
confirmed Voldemort's return to the entire
wizarding world, but at the cost of Sirius Black's life.
His sixth year was dominated by preparation.
Under Dumbledore's guidance, Harry learned
about Voldemort's Horcruxes, objects containing
fragments of his soul, and the two began searching for ways to destroy them.
That same year, Dumbledore was murdered by
Severus Snape, setting the stage for the final conflict.
After Dumbledore's death, Harry, Ron, and Hermione did not return to Hogwarts.
Instead, they embarked on a dangerous mission
to locate and destroy the remaining Horcruxes.
The trio lived in secrecy, hunted by Voldemort's
followers, the Death Eaters, while the Ministry
of Magic fell under Voldemort's control.
Their journey was long and perilous.
They recovered key Horcruxes, including Slytherin's
Locket, Hufflepuff's Cup, and Ravenclaw's
Diadem, and uncovered the legend of the Deathly
Hallows, three mythical objects said to make their bearer the master of death.
The war reached its climax with the Battle of Hogwarts on the 2nd of May, 1998.
Hundreds of students, teachers, and members
of the Resistance fought against Voldemort's forces.
Harry willingly sacrificed himself to save
others, confronting Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest.
The killing curse struck him, but the protective
magic from his mother's sacrifice and the
connection between their wands allowed him to survive once more.
In the final confrontation inside the Great
Hall, Voldemort was killed by his own rebounding
curse, ending decades of fear and bloodshed.
Harry Potter, still only 17 years old, had
fulfilled the prophecy that tied their fates together.
Following Voldemort's defeat, Harry declined the
offer of an honorary position at the Ministry,
and chose instead to complete his education at Hogwarts.
Afterwards, he joined the Aura Office, where
he worked under Kingsley Shacklebolt to reform the Ministry of Magic.
In his career, Harry became known not only for his
bravery, but for his commitment to fairness and justice.
He was later promoted to head of the Aura
Office, helping rebuild trust in the institution after years of corruption and fear.
Harry also maintained close relationships with his friends.
Hermione Granger went on to become Minister for Magic.
At the same time, Ron Weasley joined him briefly
at the Aura Office before working with his
brother George at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes in Diagon Alley.
In his personal life, Harry married Ginevra "Ginny" Weasley, a professional Quidditch
player for the Holyhead Harpies and later a respected journalist for the Daily Prophet.
Together they had three children, James Sirius, Albus Severus and Lily Luna.
The family settled near Ottery St.
Catchpole in Devon, maintaining strong ties
with both the Weasley and Granger families.
Despite his fame, Harry lived modestly and avoided publicity,
preferring a quiet life focused on family, work and community.
Harry Potter's influence extends far beyond his personal achievements.
He remains a symbol of resilience, compassion
and the triumph of moral courage over tyranny.
His life story is now part of the Wizarding
Curriculum Across Britain and Beyond, studied
in courses on magical history, ethics and defence against the dark arts.
He is credited with ushering in an era of openness
between magical and non-magical communities
and for helping dismantle the prejudices that
once divided wizarding society by blood status.
Harry himself has repeatedly downplayed his fame, insisting
that the real heroes were the ones who never came home.
Still, memorials to those who fell during
both wizarding wars stand in places he helped
protect, notably at Hogwarts, Godric's Hollow and the Ministry of Magic Atrium.
Now in his forties, Harry continues to serve
in the ministry and occasionally lectures
at Hogwarts, emphasising the value of empathy
and accountability in the use of magic.
Those who know him describe him as humble,
steady and intensely loyal, the same qualities
that made him, as a young man, capable of changing the world.
Within the broader tapestry of magical history,
Harry Potter's story represents the enduring
conflict between love and fear, freedom and control.
His refusal to seek power, despite countless
opportunities to claim it, distinguishes him
from many of the significant figures of his time.
Experts have noted that Harry's strength lay
not in his magical ability, though formidable, but in his capacity for forgiveness.
His decision to spare Draco Malfoy, to save Peter Pettigrew and to honour Severus Snape
after learning the truth of his sacrifices all
speak to a moral clarity, rare in times of war.
His story, taught in wizarding schools worldwide,
continues to inspire young witches and wizards
to question authority, value friendship and
act with conscience even when the world seems lost to darkness.
The life of Harry James Potter is, above all, a story of choice.
Born into conflict, raised in hardship and
burdened by destiny, he emerged not as a conqueror
but as a man who chose compassion over vengeance,
loyalty over ambition and truth over comfort.
As the world continues to evolve beyond the shadows of the past, Harry Potter remains
a living reminder that courage is not the absence of fear,
but the determination to do what is right despite it.
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