Harry Potter

Harry Potter is a fictional boy wizard who is known around the world by children and adults alike. This character comes from the Harry Potter book series, which was written by JK Rowling. Harry is the main character of the series and goes through a number of trials and tribulations throughout the series. He must overcome death and fear and still remain the hero throughout.

Harry Potter is considered to be a “child-hero” by many. A child-hero often starts out as insignificant and unimportant. He is alone in a darkness surrounded by evil occurrences. As the stories continues the child-hero eventually meets a guide or helper, followed by a change of environment. In Harry’s case, he meets Hagrid and is then taken to school at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, after learning of his magical talents. This is a major change in environment for Harry, coming from a home where he was the object of hostility and ridicule, to a completely new world where he is known as a hero by wizards of all ages. It is then at Hogwarts that Harry learns he has extraordinary talents and of his true past. This is also a characteristic of a child-hero. 

Through a series of seven different books, each more enticing than the last, readers experience Harry’s transformation from an eleven year old boy who did not know he was a wizard, to a seventeen year old boy who is faced with the evil Lord Voldemort. One last characteristic of the child-hero is when he eventually returns and is praised for his final victories. Harry Potter experiences this after defeating Lord Voldemort in the final book of the series.

                  Harry can be very relatable in other ways as well. As a baby, he lost his parents and is forced to live with his unpleasant aunt and uncle and spoiled cousin. Up until Harry is eleven, he is harshly neglected and is forced to live under the stairs. This show that even though Harry has a very troubled past, he still remains the hero at the end of the story. Harry also faces a deep longing and desire to know his parents. After he learns of their true death in the first novel, Harry’s yearning to know his parents grows deeper and deeper. Like other heroes, Harry experiences real emotions such as desire, fear, anger, and love. Because of what Harry has gone through, people of all ages can relate to him in one way or another. He is a true child-hero that transformed into a hero right before our very eyes.