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Written by British author J.K. Rowling, the Harry Potter series has become such a global publishing success and captures the interest of millions of readers from children to adults. With its widespread popularity and international appeal, the Harry Potter series undoubtedly deserves to be a significant subject for researchers and scholars to investigate. As one of the first studies in Vietnam on the Harry Potter series, this thesis under the title “Harry Potter and his valuable choices” tackles the theme “choice” by analyzing the choices of the main character Harry Potter as well as their illustrated values. First, an overview of the literature theories and the Harry Potter series is provided as the background for the study. Then, an indepth analysis of the four most critical choices of Harry Potter is presented to discover their reflected values and worthy lessons. Finally, the researcher’s suggestions for further studies are offered, together with the limitation of the paper. Hopefully the findings from this thesis could provoke more interests in researching this phenomenal series and provide the foundation for future related studies.
ABSTRACT Written by British author J.K Rowling, the Harry Potter series has become such a global publishing success and captures the interest of millions of readers from children to adults With its widespread popularity and international appeal, the Harry Potter series undoubtedly deserves to be a significant subject for researchers and scholars to investigate As one of the first studies in Vietnam on the Harry Potter series, this thesis under the title “Harry Potter and his valuable choices” tackles the theme “choice” by analyzing the choices of the main character Harry Potter as well as their illustrated values First, an overview of the literature theories and the Harry Potter series is provided as the background for the study Then, an in-depth analysis of the four most critical choices of Harry Potter is presented to discover their reflected values and worthy lessons Finally, the researcher’s suggestions for further studies are offered, together with the limitation of the paper Hopefully the findings from this thesis could provoke more interests in researching this phenomenal series and provide the foundation for future related studies i TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i ABSTRACT ii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vi PART 1: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale for the study Aims of the study Significance of the study Scope of the study Methodology Organization of the paper PART 2: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Definition and functions of literature 1.1.1 Definition of literature 1.1.2 Functions of literature 1.2 Literary genre: Fantasy Fiction 1.2.1 Definition of Fantasy Fiction 1.2.2 Some elements of Fantasy Fiction 1.2.2.1 Character and Characterization ii 1.2.2.2 Plot 1.2.2.3 Theme 10 1.3 J.K Rowling and the “Harry Potter” series 11 1.3.1 J.K Rowling 11 1.3.2 Overview of the “Harry Potter” series 12 1.3.2.1 Summary 12 1.3.2.2 The theme “Choice” in “Harry Potter” series 14 CHAPTER 2: HARRY POTTER AND HIS VALUABLE CHOICES 15 2.1 Choices reveal Harry’s nature as a person with an innate goodness 16 2.1.1 The choice of being a Gryffindor 16 2.1.1.1 Context: Choosing either common good or personal gain 16 2.1.1.2 Value of the choice 17 2.1.2 The choice of saving Peter Pettigrew’s life 21 2.1.2.1 Context: Choosing either revenge or mercy 21 2.1.2.2 Value of the choice 21 2.2 Choices help Harry grow and mature: The choice of rescuing Sirius Black in the Ministry of Magic 25 2.2.1 Context: Acting on intuition or reason 25 2.2.2 Value of the choice 26 2.3 Choices prove Harry’s qualities: The choice of playing “The Chosen One” role 2.3.1 Context: Accepting fate or following his will 30 2.3.2 Value of the choice 31 PART 3: CONCLUSION 37 iii Conclusion 37 Limitation of the study 39 Suggestions for further studies 39 REFERENCES 41 iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS HP & PS Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone HP & CoS Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets HP & PoA Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban HP & GoF Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire HP & OoP Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix HP & HBP Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince HP & DH Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows v PART 1: INTRODUCTION This initial part states the rationale for the study, together with the aims, objectives, significance, scope and methodology of the study Also, an overview of the rest of the paper is provided to orientate the readers throughout the study Rationale for the study The Harry Potter series by British writer J.K Rowling has become such a global phenomenon with countless honorable awards and constantly appeared on numerous best-selling book lists Millions of readers, from children to adults have been enchanted by the adventures of the trio Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger in the wizarding world where anything can happen “Pottermania” and “Potterism”, the two words created to describe the sensational reaction to Rowling’s Harry Potter series, are just some demonstrations showing how much power the books hold over the minds of youth generations Not only captivating the readers, the Harry Potter series also gains strong interests by numerous literary critics and researchers British scholar Hunt (2001) emphasizes the importance of thoroughly studying novels read by the greatest number of children as these literary works are highly influential in readers’ consciousness With such popularity and influence, the Harry Potter series deserves to be an important subject for researchers, scholars to examine Perhaps one of the reasons why the Harry Potter series can capture the hearts of such a large number of readers is that they can relate to the characters and see themselves in the books, even though Harry Potter’s magic world is fictional The characters, just like ordinary people, all experience situations in which they have to make choices that will forever change the rest of their lives Those choices sometimes can be really tough to make, but by making them, a person might be able to learn his/ her personal values and create their true identity It would not be unreasonable to say that the Harry Potter series can assist readers in making their own choices in life and learning more about themselves Having a high personal interest in the Harry Potter series as well as being inspired by its theme of “choice”, the researcher decided to develop a study on “Harry Potter and his valuable choices” to provide an in-depth understanding of the relation between choices, values and identity conveyed throughout the series Also, the researcher hopes that this thesis would be a useful source of reference for further studies on related topics Aims of the study This thesis aims to tackle “choice”, a key theme in the Harry Potter series, through analyzing the main character Harry Potter’s choices and the values they bring to him To be more specific, the main objectives of this thesis are as follows: To provide an in-depth analysis of some major choices Harry Potter makes throughout the Harry Potter series To discover the values demonstrated through those choices Significance of the study As this thesis might probably be among the first studies in Vietnam on the Harry Potter series in general and specifically on the books’ theme of “choice”, hopefully it would provoke Vietnamese readers’ interests in investigating this highly-worth researching issue Moreover, the thesis could also provide the foundation for future related studies Scope of the study The theme of “choice” in the Harry Potter series is illustrated through various characters, however, this study merely focuses on the choices of the main character Harry Potter Furthermore, this paper attempts to exploit not all but only several major choices made by Harry Potter which are most crucial and valuable to his moral as well as identity development Methodology As this is a literary study which deals with a literary work, qualitative approach is applied as the main research methodology Generally, qualitative research could be defined as “any kind of research that produces findings not arrived at by means of statistical procedures or other means of quantification" (Strauss & Corbin, 1990) Myers (2002) emphasized one major advantage of qualitative approach was “the richness and depth of explorations and descriptions" The procedures for carrying out the study can be divided into two phases: • Phase 1: Preparing materials for the study Copies of seven Harry Potter books were collected for examining Then the researcher searched for reference materials related to the thesis topic and chose the most useful information for further analysis • Phase 2: Synthesizing and analyzing the prepared materials The researcher thoroughly investigated the Harry Potter series to find out the major choices made by the main character Harry Potter These choices were then analyzed to discover their values and how they are beneficial to the moral and identity development of Harry Potter Organization of the paper This graduation paper consists of three parts: Part (Introduction) provides an overview of the study including the rationale, aims and objectives, significance, scope, methodology and organization of the paper Part (Development) consists of two chapters: • Chapter (Literature review) provides the literature theory as a background for the study by presenting the definition, functions and several elements of literature as well as the literary genre Fantasy Fiction A brief introduction of the author J.K Rowling and the “Harry Potter” series is also offered for better understanding of the study • Chapter (Harry Potter and his valuable choices) is designed to investigate the four most critical choices of the character Harry Potter, from which a number of values and worthy lessons can be drawn out Part (Conclusion) concisely summarizes the major points of the study, points out the limitation and suggestions for further studies PART 2: DEVELOPMENT The second part, which is the main part of the study, consists of two chapters The first chapter entitled Literature Review provides the background for the study by presenting several literary concepts and introducing British author J.K Rowling and the Harry Potter series The second chapter Harry Potter and his valuable choices offers a thorough discussion on the four most crucial choices of Harry Potter and their illustrated values 2.3 Choices prove Harry’s qualities: The choice of playing “The Chosen One” role This section offers a critical discussion on the most important choice of the character Harry Potter: playing “The Chosen One” role Through out the series, Harry Potter experiences multiple confrontations with the Dark Lord, all of which he survives When the prophecy regarding Harry and Voldemort is revealed in fifth book HP & OoP, Harry almost believes he is destined to be “The Chosen One” – the one to defeat Voldemort Only after a long talk with Dumbledore in the sixth book does Harry realize becoming “The Chosen One” or not is up to his choice and he does choose to so In his journey of fulfilling this role, Harry discovers the priceless knowledge that helps him triumph the Dark Lord: the power of love and conquering death 2.3.1 Context: Accepting fate or following his will In HP & OoP, Harry learns that the reason Voldermort attacked his family when he was one year old is because of a prophecy made by the seer Trelawney One of Voldemort’s spies overheard the first part of the prophecy: “The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies…” (HP & OoP, p.841) In his eagerness to extinguish the threat, the Dark Lord located the child he suspected the prophecy referred to – Harry Potter – and tried to kill Harry but failed The full content of the prophecy later is revealed to Harry by Dumbledore: “… and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not… and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives…” (HP & OoP, p.841) It seems that with this prophecy, Harry’s fate would be placed out of his hands because it has been prophesised that he must kill Voldemort to survive, as ultimately both cannot co-exist However, in the next book HP & HBP, Dumbledore explains to Harry that he does have the power of 30 free choice regardless of the prophecy, he can choose to kill Voldermort or not After Dumbledore’s death, Harry hopes to destroy Voldemort completely rather than continually fighting off his attacks He is willing to kill Voldemort by hunting down and destroying the Horcruxes that contains the parts of Voldemort’s soul In the final book HP & DH, it is revealed that Harry is the seventh Horcrux, therefore he must have to allow himself to be killed in order to finally defeat Voldemort Harry heads to the Forbidden Forest, where Voldemort awaits him and presents himself to the Dark Lord He refuses to defend himself and Voldemort casts the Killing Curse on him Harry wakes up in a mysterious place that looks like the King’s Cross Station and meets Dumbledore Dumbledore explains that as Voldemort uses Harry’s blood to regain his living body, there is still a part of Harry that contains Harry’s mother’s protection in him, which means Harry is not dead Harry must then make the final choice: to return back to life or move on Harry chooses to come back to the Forbidden Forest and confront Voldemort During his final confrontation with Voldemort, knowing that he is the true master of the Elder Wand – the most powerful wand, Harry just casts the disarming spell as the Killing Curse rebounds on Voldemort, putting an end to the Dark Lord 2.3.2 Value of the choice Ever since Harry Potter survived Lord Voldemort’s attack when he was only one year old, Harry is known by the whole wizard world as “The boy who lived” He is famous, like Hagrid says: “every kid in our world knows his name” (HP & PS, p.53) as he is the only wizard to ever survive an attack by the Dark Lord – the most powerful dark wizard of all time Everybody thinks of Harry as a hero and puts high expectations on him Harry Potter, however, never enjoys or is blinded by his fame, which he feels more like a burden Although he escapes numerous Voldemort’s attempts to kill him in succeeding books, Harry still does not truly realize his potential as a “hero”, the one who stands a chance to defeat the Dark Lord It is not until the end of his fifth year at Hogwarts, when Harry learns of the prophecy that he is awake to the fact that he is the one with the power to destroy the 31 Dark Lord Rumors about Harry are widely spread within the wizard community, calling him “The Chosen One”: “Some are going so far as to call Potter “the Chosen One”, believing that the prophecy names him as the only one who will be able to rid us of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named” (HP & HBP, p.39) Being labeled as “The Chosen One”, Harry feels nothing but uncomfortable: He had expected an upswing in the amount of gaping and gawping he would have to endure this term after all the “Chosen One” rumors in the Daily Prophet, but he did not enjoy the sensation of standing in a very bright spotlight (HP & HBP, p.136) Having a hard time accustoming himself to the new name, yet, Harry believes the prophecy is true and being the “Chosen One” is his inevitable destiny: ““From what it said,” Harry took a deep breath, “it looks like I’m the one who’s got to finish off Voldemort… At least, it said neither of us could live while the other survives.”” (HP & HBP, p.97) Frightened by the prophecy at first, gradually Harry comes to accept that it is his fate to face Voldemort for an ultimate battle: “Are you scared?” “Not as much as I was,” said Harry “When I first heard it, I was but now, it seems as though I always knew I’d have to face him in the end… (HP & HBP, p.98) Just as Harry is ready to submit to the prophecy and accepts that an unavoidable future of being “The Chosen One” has been determined for him, Dumbledore cautions him not to allow the prophecy to make future decisions for him: “You are setting too much store by the prophecy!” …“If Voldemort had never heard of the prophecy, would it have been fulfilled? Would it have meant anything? Of course not! Do you think every prophecy in the Hall of Prophecy has been fulfilled?” (HP & HBP, p.509-510) Dumbledore tries to make sense for Harry that despite of the existence of the prophecy, Harry does have a certain degree of free choice of whether or not to take on the role of “The Chosen One”: ““You see, the prophecy does not mean you have to anything! …In other words, you are free to choose your way, quite free to turn your back on the prophecy!”” (HP & HBP, p.512) Dumbledore encourages 32 Harry to forget about the prophecy and think about whether he is willing to take up the challenge to destroy Voldemort: ““Imagine, please, just for a moment, that you had never heard that prophecy! How would you feel about Voldemort now? Think!”” (HP & HBP, p.512) After a moment, Harry comes up with two motivations for destroying Voldemort Firstly, he would want to kill Voldemort for vengeance for his parents’ deaths: ““If Voldemort had never murdered your father, would he have imparted in you a furious desire for revenge? Of course not!”” (HP & HBP, p.510) Secondly, he would want to destroy Voldemort for the sake of the greater good: He thought of his mother, his father, and Sirius He thought of Cedric Diggory He thought of all the terrible deeds he knew Lord Voldemort had done A flame seemed to leap inside his chest, searing his throat “I’d want him finished,” said Harry quietly “And I’d want to it.” (HP & HBP, p.512) Dumbledore underscores one more motivation for Harry to take up the battle against Voldemort, that is because Voldemort chooses to act on the prophecy, as a side-effect, Harry would have to fulfill the prophecy in order to survive: “But Harry, never forget that what the prophecy says is only significant because Voldemort made it so I told you this at the end of last year Voldemort singled you out as the person who would be most dangerous to him – and in doing so, he made you the person who would be most dangerous to him!” (HP & HBP, p.509) “But Voldemort continues to set store by the prophecy He will continue to hunt you… which makes it certain, really, that –” “That one of us is going to end up killing the other,” said Harry “Yes.” (HP & HBP, p.512) Enlightened by Dumbledore, Harry now truly understands the power of choices over his future: But he understood at last what Dumbledore had been trying to tell him It was, he thought, the difference between being dragged into the arena to face a battle to the death and walking into the arena with your head held high Some people, perhaps, would say that there was little to choose between the two ways, but Dumbledore knew – and so I, thought Harry, with a rush of fierce pride, and so did my parents – that there was all the difference in the world (HP & HBP, p.512) 33 Harry knows that his life is not controlled by the prophecy or fate but determined by his own choices He is willing to be the one to destroy Voldemort not because of the prophecy but his love and the desire to put an end to the evil deeds Voldemort has done More importantly, he always has a choice in how to face life and death Rather than passively waiting for fate to pull him into the battle against Voldemort, he would choose to proudly step into it, even if it could mean death, to fight for the ones he loves and the greater good Willing to eliminate the Dark Lord, however, it is not until after Dumbledore’s death that Harry actually puts himself into the role of “The Chosen One” Dumbledore is known as one of the greatest wizards of all time and the only wizard Voldemort ever fears; thus, there might be a possibility that Dumbledore could defeat Voldemort With the death of Dumbledore, along with the passivity of the wizard community relying on Harry to fight against Voldemort, Harry realizes he is the only one left to have the full knowledge of how to destroy Voldemort and have the guts to take up the battle; hence, he resigns himself to “The Chosen One” role: “Then I’ve got to track down the rest of the Horcruxes, haven’t I?” said Harry, his eyes upon Dumbledore’s white tomb, reflected in the water on the other side of the lake …I’ve got to find them and destroy them, and then I’ve got to go after the seventh bit of Voldemort’s soul, the bit that’s still in his body, and I’m the one who’s going to kill him.” (HP & HBP, p.651) In the process of fulfilling the role he has decided to take on, Harry gains the invaluable knowledge that Voldemort shall never comprehend: the power of love and acceptance of death When Harry finally finds out the truth that being one of Voldemort’s Horcruxes, it is inevitable that he must die in order to completely eliminate the Dark Lord, he has no hesitation in sacrificing himself to protect his beloved ones, the Hogwarts defenders from the bloody battle with Voldemort and the Death Eaters Just like how Harry’s mother sacrificed herself to protect him, it is love that gives him the strength and courage to face Voldemort alone and undefended He accepts death without resistance so that evil may be destroyed and 34 in doing so, Harry successfully conquers death – Voldemort’s deepest fear In other words, just like Dumbledore says, he has won Voldermort with his courage and acceptance of death: ““You had accepted, even embraced, the possibility of death, something Lord Voldemort has never been able to Your courage won, your wand overpowered his.”” (HP & DH, p.711) Harry’s self-sacrificing act does not result in his death; consequently, he must then make the final choice of returning to life or remaining: “I’ve got to go back, haven’t I?” “That is up to you.” “I’ve got a choice?” …“I think,” said Dumbledore, “that if you choose to return, there is a chance that he may be finished for good I cannot promise it But I know this, Harry, that you have less to fear from returning here than he does.” …“By returning, you may ensure that fewer souls are maimed, fewer families are torn apart If that seems to you a worthy goal, then we say good-bye for the present.” (HP & DH, p.722) Harry’s choice to come back to the Forbidden Forest marks the final stage in his transformation of becoming “The Chosen One” Knowing that he now has higher chance than ever to finish Voldemort once and for all, to restore peace to the wizarding world, without any fear, Harry sees himself as “The Chosen One”: ““I don’t want anyone else to try to help,” Harry said loudly, and in the total silence his voice carried like a trumpet call “It’s got to be like this It’s got to be me.”” (HP & DH, p.737) More importantly, this ultimate choice also signifies the completion of Harry’s identity development He well understands his position and no longer struggles with his identity Harry’s willingness to lay down his life for the ones he loves and for a better world is his greatest act of love, bravery and selflessness – the qualities of a true Gryffindor he chooses to adopt from his very first day entering Hogwarts His ability to show compassion even to the enemies, which he learns back when he chooses to spare the life of Peter Pettigrew, is well demonstrated in his final 35 showdown with Voldemort when he urges Voldemort to find remorse and tries to stop him from his last act of evil: ““It’s your one last chance,” said Harry, “it’s all you’ve got left… I’ve seen what you’ll be otherwise… Be a man… try… Try for some remorse…”” (HP & DH, p.741) And perhaps nothing can better exemplify Harry’s innate goodness and incapability of evil than his respond to the last Killing Curse Voldemort could ever cast: a disarming spell He triumphs Voldemort not by killing him but letting the Dark Lord’s evil nature cause his own death Harry’s choice of becoming “The Chosen One” is perhaps the hardest choice he ever makes, yet his best one Not only does Harry grasp the power of choice over his life: his life is determined predominantly by his own choices rather than any controlling force but he also successfully proves his qualities and identifies himself as a true hero This bravest choice of Harry is the most rewarding as well: the wizarding world returns to peace, Harry’s lightning scar on his forehead never pains him again and “all was well” (HP & DH, p.759) Summary This chapter has thoroughly analyzed the four most critical choices of the character Harry Potter, from which a number of values and worthy lessons can be drawn out The findings presented in this chapter will be summarized in the following part 36 PART 3: CONCLUSION In the last part, the outcomes of the entire paper will be concisely summed up Additionally, the limitation of the study will be pointed out, putting forward several potential directions for further studies Conclusion Overall, the thesis has thoroughly investigated four most prominent choices of the main character Harry Potter in the Harry Potter series, through which various values and lessons about life are revealed Spending his unhappy childhood in the Muggle (non-wizard) world, it is not until his eleventh birthday when Harry Potter discovers he is indeed a wizard and from that moment on, his life journey as a wizard really begins On the first day arriving at Hogwarts, Harry encounters a situation in which he makes his first critical choice that forms the base for his identity development: choosing to be a Gryffindor rather than a Slytherin From this episode, Harry comes to terms with the value of making choices: choices define a person’s identity and differentiate one from another By selecting to be a Gryffindor, Harry defines himself as a person wishing to use his abilities for the greater good rather than personal gain and showcases his innate goodness However, Harry’s good-over-evil nature is challenged later in the third book when he is given the right to keep or take away the life of Peter Pettigrew – the betrayer responsible for his parents’ deaths He must battle with his evil side filled with a furious desire of vengeance to finally be able to make the right moral choice: sparing Pettigrew’s life In doing so, not only is Harry able to affirm and build a stronger sense of identity as a person with an innate goodness that is already demonstrated through the previous choice but he also learns a new lesson of mercy and compassion 37 Intelligent and decisive, nevertheless, it is not in every situation that Harry makes wise choices Harry’s choice of rescuing Sirius Black in the Ministry of Magic exemplifies the case when Harry makes a poor choice leading to costly consequences Although Harry’s desire of protecting his godfather is noble, his rash decisions and failure to judge the situation logically instead of emotionally partially contributes to the death of his godfather Suffering from grief, yet, Harry is able to find strength and hope to move on and learns from his own mistakes to become much wiser in his later challenges Becoming “The Chosen One”: Is it fate or a choice? That is one tough puzzle Harry has to solve when he discovers the prophecy regarding him and the Dark Lord Just when Harry is about to give in to the prophecy, believing his future has been pre-determined, Harry is enlightened by Dumbledore and able to solve the riddle of fate versus choice: he has a certain degree of free will regardless of the prophecy Becoming “The Chosen One” is not simply his passive destiny but his deliberate choice, motivated by love and a desire for a better world without evil The process of playing “The Chosen One” role, however, requires a self-sacrificing act of Harry as he himself is one of the seven Horcruxes of Voldermort It takes all the strength and courage of Harry to let the Dark Lord cast the Killing Curse on him but in doing so, he successfully conquers death, enabling him to make the choice of coming back to finish Voldermort once and for all Harry’s choice of becoming “The Chosen One” also marks the completion of his identity transformation: he proves himself as a true hero unafraid to lay down his life for the fight against the evil In conclusion, Harry Potter, like any human beings, has important choices and decisions to make in his life journey, from which he learns a variety of valuable lessons His choices determine the path in life he takes and exhibit his personal qualities and self identity 38 Limitation of the study Despite the researcher’s serious efforts in conducting the study, it is unavoidable that there still exists limitation in this paper As stated in the introduction of the paper, this study aims at examining several major choices of the character Harry Potter and their values Over the course of seven books in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter makes a number of choices, all of which, at a certain degree, are valuable to him; thus, in order to provide a comprehensive view on the choices and how worthy they are to the character, it is necessary to put all the choices under discussion Nonetheless, due to limited time as well as resources, it is highly challenging, if not impossible, for the researcher to investigate every choice the character makes throughout the entire series As a result, only four most crucial and worthful choices of Harry Potter were chosen to study, which still brought out valuable findings to this graduation paper Despite the mentioned shortcoming, thanks to the researcher’s serious work, the validity and reliability of this study can still be achieved However, this limitation should be taken into consideration for related studies in the future Suggestions for further studies If further research continues, the researcher hopes to provide deeper exploitation of Harry Potter’s choices through examining other choices that were not analyzed in this thesis such as the choice of sharing the Triwizard Tournament victory with Cedirc Diggory in HP & GoF, saving Draco Malfoy in HP & DH, destroying the Elder Wand in HP & DH, etc Since this thesis tackles the theme of “choice” in the Harry Potter series, which is not merely reflected through the choices of the main character Harry 39 Potter, there opens a large room for other researchers to give more insight to this theme by investigating the choices of various characters, notably Voldemort, the Malfoy family, Peter Pettigrew, Neville Longbottom, etc Additionally, since the Harry Potter series has been such a global phenomenon with considerable influence on young readers, there is no doubt this literary work should be a highly-worth researching issue Therefore, any future research on any aspect of the Harry Potter series should be strongly encouraged In the last part, the main outcomes of the study have been concisely presented The study’s limitation and suggestions for further studies are also provided for other researchers interested in the issue to consider 40 REFERENCES All American: Glossary of Literary Terms (n.d.) 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ABBREVIATIONS HP & PS Harry Potter and the Philosopher''s Stone HP & CoS Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets HP & PoA Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban HP & GoF Harry Potter and the Goblet... ? ?Harry Potter? ?? series 11 ? ?Harry Potter? ??, written by British author J K Rowling, is a series of seven fantasy novels, namely ? ?Harry Potter and the Philosopher''s Stone” (published in 1997), “Harry