Harry Potter (Fandom)

Harry Potter is one of the largest book fandoms. The Harry Potter series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of a wizard, Harry Potter, and his friends Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The main story arc concerns Harry's quest to overcome the Dark wizard Lord Voldemort, whose aims are to become immortal, conquer the wizarding world, subjugate non-magical people, and destroy all those who stand in his way, especially Harry Potter.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Harry Potter is the most miserable, lonely boy you can imagine. He’s shunned by his relatives, the Dursley’s, that have raised him since he was an infant. He’s forced to live in the cupboard under the stairs, forced to wear his cousin Dudley’s hand-me-down clothes, and forced to go to his neighbour’s house when the rest of the family is doing something fun. Yes, he’s just about as miserable as you can get.

Harry’s world gets turned upside down on his 11th birthday, however. A giant, Hagrid, informs Harry that he’s really a wizard, and will soon be attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry also learns that, in the wizarding world, he’s a hero. When he was an infant, the evil Lord Voldemort killed his parents and then tried to kill Harry too. What’s so amazing to everyone is that Harry survived, and allegedly destroyed Voldemort in the process.

When Harry hears all this, he doesn’t know what to think. However, everything Hagrid tells him turns out to be true, and with a joyful heart Harry starts wizarding school in September. He quickly becomes best friends with a boy named Ron Weasley, and before they even make it to Christmas, they break tons of school rules when they attack a troll and prevent it from killing fellow student Hermione Granger. After the troll incident, the three become inseparable, and Harry is amazed to have found such great friends. He is constantly busy trying to stay on top of the mounds of homework, as well as participating in weekly Quidditch practices. Quidditch is a popular sport among wizards and Harry is the youngest Quidditch player in over a century. It's also a game Harry loves more than anything else at school.

As the year progresses, the three friends set out to solve the mystery of the gigantic three-headed dog that is guarding something in a deserted corridor in the school. They figure out that a very valuable object, the Sorcerer’s Stone, is being hidden in the school, although they don’t know why. When one of the professors starts acting as if he’s trying to steal it, they quickly take action to circumvent the theft.

Things come to a head when they sneak past the vicious, three-headed dog and go down into the bowels of the school, determined to save the stone. Ron and Hermione help Harry get through the challenges set forth to stop the thief, but Harry must go on alone to battle the professor. When he finally gets to the last room, however, he’s astonished to find someone else entirely.

Harry is forced to do battle with the wizard that tried to kill him so many years before, Lord Voldemort. He’s able to save the Sorcerer’s Stone, although he’s almost killed in process. The school headmaster, Dumbledore, arrives just in time to save Harry.

The school year ends spectacularly. Harry, Ron, and Hermione are honored for their service to the school, and Harry leaves to go back to the Dursley’s for the summer feeling as if he’s finally found a place where he really belongs.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
It’s been another long summer at the Dursley’s for Harry Potter. He can’t wait to get back to Hogwarts and is counting down the days until he can return. He’s surprised when, on his birthday, a strange elfish creature named Dobby shows up with dire warnings for Harry: He must not return to Hogwarts!

When Harry refuses to stay home from school, Dobby lands him in heaps of trouble with the Dursley’s, who lock Harry up in his room and refuse to let him out. Before Harry can sink too far into despair, however, Ron Weasley and his two brothers, twins Fred and George, come to his rescue in a flying car and spirit him back to their house, where Harry is thrilled to spend the remainder of the summer.

Thus starts an eventful second year for Harry Potter. Between having to cope with more homework than ever, a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor who is vain and convinced Harry is too, and a mysterious voice he keeps hearing in the walls, Harry’s days are nothing if not interesting.

As the school year progresses, however, the mysterious voice Harry keeps hearing is getting more and more menacing, and soon vicious attacks start happening to the students of Hogwarts. When Harry discovers, quite by accident, that he is a Parslemouth and can speak to snakes, he’s quickly singled out as Slytherin’s heir, the person who, according to legend, will open the mysterious “Chamber of Secrets” and release the monster within.

Of course Harry has no idea who is attacking the students, but he quickly resolves to find out who is responsible. He, Ron, and Hermione come up with an elaborate plan to disguise themselves as Slytherin students so they can question Draco Malfoy, whom they believe is the one setting the monster loose in the school. The plan goes perfectly, but they’re disappointed when they find out from Draco that he is not the one they’re looking for.

The quest gets personal when Hermione is attacked and petrified by the monster. Ron and Harry are devastated, and are left on their own to uncover the true identity of the person responsible. Events come to a head when Ron’s sister, Ginny, is kidnapped and taken down into the Chamber of Secrets, and Ron and Harry discover an important clue that Hermione left for them. They quickly head down into the Chamber of Secrets to rescue Ginny.

Harry and Ron get separated once they’re down there and Harry is left to pursue the monster on his own. He quickly finds Ginny, and thanks to some mysterious help from Dumbledore and his pet phoenix, Fawkes, Harry is able to destroy Slytherin’s heir, who turns out to be a younger version of Lord Voldemort. Voldemort had possessed Ginny through an enchanted diary and was using her to set the monster loose on the students.

Harry and Ron are both hailed as heroes when they make it back out with Ginny, and Harry can’t imagine a finer end to such an eventful year when Hermione and the rest of the victims are healed and they win Gryffindor loads of House points.

Fandom
The Harry Potter fandom presence online is massive. On FanFiction.Net it still (as of 2013) has more posted works than any other fandom. Het, slash and gen are all popular, although femslash is less common. J.K. Rowling is supportive of fan activities; she has given her blessing for fanfiction and gives awards for her favorite fansites.

Fandom has embraced myriad forms of fan activities, such as fanfiction, fanart, fanvids, conventions, podcasts, cosplay, knitting, wizard rock, quidditch, wikis, discussion forums, etc. While the canon was still open, speculating about future plot developments was also widely popular. Hot topics included which ships were going to happen in canon (Harry/Hermione vs. Ron/Hermione) and whether Severus Snape was loyal to Lord Voldemort, Albus Dumbledore, or just himself. During the long wait for the next novel, some theories became quite fanciful.

Indeed, the fandom is so large and diversified that fans in one corner may have no idea what is happening in another corner. This balkanization is often deliberate.

Het Ships

 * ArthurMolly - is the het ship between Arthur Weasley and Molly Weasley.
 * Dramoine - is the het ship between Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger.
 * FleurBill - is the het ship between William Weasley and Fleur Delacour.
 * Harmony - is the het ship between Harry Potter and Hermione Granger.
 * Hinny - is the het ship between Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley.
 * Jily - is the het ship between Severus Snape and Lily Evans.
 * Lunarry - is the het ship between Harry Potter and Luna Lovegood.
 * Nuna - is the het ship between Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood.
 * Ronmoine - is the het ship between Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger.
 * Runa - is the het ship between Ronald Weasley and Luna Lovegood.
 * Snamione - is the het ship between Severus Snape and Hermione Granger.
 * Snily - is the het ship between Severus Snape and Lily Evans.

Slash Ships

 * Drarry - is the slash ship between Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter.
 * Snarry - is the slash ship between Harry Potter and Severus Snape.

Familyships

 * Weasley Family - is the familyship between the members of the Weasley Family.

Trivia

 * Harry Potter has more posted works on FanFiction.Net it (as of 2013).