Conjuring up the Harry Potter story - so far

When last we left boy wizard Harry Potter, he was, as usual, in grave peril, but -- also as usual -- facing it bravely. If you haven't read the series, here's the story so far:

BOOK ONE: "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"

For 10 miserable years, Harry Potter, a bespectacled, tousle-haired orphan, has lived with his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon Dursley. The Dursleys dote on their oafish, overweight son, Dudley, and loathe Harry, whom they only reluctantly agreed to raise after his parents were killed.

When he turns 11, Harry discovers that he is a wizard when he is invited to attend the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He also learns that his parents weren't killed in a car accident, as he thought, but were murdered by the evil Lord Voldemort in a battle that left Harry with the lightning-shaped scar on his forehead.

At Hogwarts, run by a genial and powerful wizard named Albus Dumbledore, Harry finds that he is a legend in the wizarding world, The Boy Who Lived, and encounters Draco Malfoy, a sneering bully. Harry also learns about the game of Quidditch and meets the two people who become his best friends -- Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.

By the end of the book, Harry has survived his first encounter with Voldemort, and begun to understand that the battle between the two of them is far from over.

Numbers: Published in 1998 (in the United States), 50,000 copies in initial print, 309 pages, original hardcover price: $16.95.

BOOK TWO: "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"

Near the end of Harry's miserable summer "vacation" with the Dursleys, he is visited by a strange elf named Dobby, who begs him to stay away from Hogwarts if he wants to live. Shortly afterward, Harry learns that Dobby is right: Someone is trying to kill him, even as other Hogwarts students are "petrified."

Harry and his friends, Ron and Hermione, decide to take action, which leads to Harry doing battle with Voldemort again -- this time as the youthful Tom Riddle -- and saving Ron's younger sister, Ginny Weasley.

Numbers: Published in 1999, 250,000 copies in initial print, 341 pages, original hardcover price: $17.95.

BOOK THREE: "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban"

After running away from the Dursleys, the 13-year-old Harry returns to Hogwarts to find the school is being guarded by deadly Dementors. There's been a breakout from the horrific wizard prison Azkaban, and the Dementors have been sent -- against the wishes of Hogwarts headmaster Dumbledore -- to keep the school safe from Sirius Black, the escaped prisoner.

Before the book ends, Harry learns the truth about Sirius and a key servant to Voldemort, who escapes and makes his way back to "The Dark Lord." He also learns that he must guard against the power of the Dementors, who can suck out people's souls.

Numbers: Published in 1999, 500,000 copies in initial print, 435 pages, original hardcover price: $19.95.

BOOK FOUR: "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"

Harry, 14, is troubled by pain in his scar -- which in the past has indicated Voldemort is near -- all summer, and the summer ends with a frightening incident at the World Quidditch Cup. When he returns for his fourth year at Hogwarts, Harry's interest in Cho Chang increases, but he has a bigger concern than romance. Once again, someone is trying to kill him. Though he's underage and did not enter, he's mysteriously selected as the second of two Hogwarts students to compete against students from two other wizarding schools in the Triwizard Tournament.

In the contest, the students must use their wits to complete three seemingly impossible tasks. But things go haywire in the end, and Harry again finds himself face-to-face with the increasingly powerful Voldemort.

Numbers: Published in 2000, 3.8 million copies in initial print, 734 pages, original hardcover price: $25.95.

BOOK FIVE: "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix"

Harry -- now 15, and in the throes of adolescent angst -- and Dumbledore are standing alone in the wizarding world. The Ministry of Magic and the wizarding press refuse to believe what Harry has seen for himself: that Voldemort has returned.

Harry has other problems: His efforts to date Cho Chang are only intermittently successful, and Hogwarts has been taken over by a Ministry of Magic official named Dolores Umbridge, who sadistically delights in physically and verbally abusing students.

Eventually, Harry, Dumbledore and others fight a deadly battle with the newly powerful Voldemort and his followers, the Death Eaters. The consequences of this fight change Harry's life forever.

Numbers: Published in 2003, 8.5 million copies in initial print, 869 pages, original hardcover price: $29.99.

BOOK SIX: "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince"

Now Voldemort is out in the open, waging war against the wizarding world. Many suspect, but few know for sure, that Harry is "The Chosen One," the only one who can vanquish Voldemort. Dumbledore tries to prepare Harry for the eventual battle with Voldemort by showing him the evil wizard's past.

Meanwhile, Harry falls in love with Ginny, and Ron and Hermione become a couple.

Numbers: Published in 2005, 10.8 million copies in initial print, 672 pages, original hardcover price: $29.99.

---

Questions need answers in final Potter book