What is the series about? Harry Potter of number four, Privet Drive, had never ridden a broom, cast a spell, faced a dragon before, or even celebrated his birthday. In fact, life with the Dursleys (his aunt, uncle, and cousin) was pretty dreary, and he lived under a cupboard. A mysterious letter arrived by owl messenger around his eleventh birthday and when he was finally able to see what it was all about, the news inside launched Harry into a world filled with all the wonderful things he’s ever dreamed of: sports, friends, a second home at Hogwarts, and a destiny that had been waiting for him since before he was born. Good fortune has a price, however, and an evil wizard named Voldemort has been dogging his steps faithfully ever since he returned to the wizard world.Do all the books in the series follow a similar pattern? Yes, for books 1-6. Each Harry Potter book has opened at the period immediately before his birthday, and ends just as or immediately after the school term ends at Hogwarts. In between, readers can expect at least one Quidditch match (Goblet of Fire had the Quidditch World Cup and no school matches), a bit of class time, some rule breaking, exams, and holidays. The Halloween and Christmas holidays feature prominently within the series, and serve as markers to help keep track of time between events. In Deathly Hallows, the story opened at the period immediately before Harry’s birthday, did not take place at Hogwarts, but did conclude around the end of the school year.What are the differences between the US and UK editions of the series published by Scholastic? The most obvious difference is for the first book, everything that said “Philosopher’s Stone” was changed to “Sorcerer’s Stone”. Editing to take out some of the “British-isms” occurred in the early books, however Order of the Phoenix contains very little revision in that regard. The Scholastic editions have chapter pictures.What is the sequence of the Harry Potter series?
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (last movie)
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (in books)
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (in books)