神山、深井、第二通道、A大队、王太岁、始原体……这些神秘组织之间有着一种抹不掉的诡异联系。第三个组织出现了，我不知道将会坠落何处，我的人生也许早已被人设计，甚至是我的灵魂……而我是谁，谁又是我？为什么要让我了解到这一切？我生存的目的到底是什么？我试图给我自己一个神山为什么要这么做的解释，但是很快就无所谓起来，生和死的界限也模糊了起来，我本来就是“无”，何必去想“有”的事情呢？我现在是神，还是一个人？我是谁，谁又是我？
从不同的文字，与众不同的情感，与众不同的情节，与众不同的结构带给你一个与众不同的江湖。关于爱，关于生命，关于自由，关于理想，关于破灭，关于孤独……本书首次用第一人称的叙事方法，分别细腻深刻的刻画了六名传奇人物色彩斑斓的江湖生活。
只有生长在教堂墓地里的蕁麻，才可以救你的乔德安森，你得采集他们，它们会把你的手烧得起泡，你得用赤裸的双脚把这些蕁麻踩碎，于是你可以得出麻来，你可以把他们搓成线，织出长袖的盔甲，披到野天鹅身上，他身上的魔力就可以解除。从你开始那个工作开始一直到你完成的时候，即使这全部的工作需要一年的时间，你也不可以说一句话，你说出一个字，就会像一把锋利的短箭刺进他的心里，所有你做的一切，都会前功尽弃。他的生命是悬在你舌尖上的。
清朝末期，深通易里的奇女子绿娇娇客居广州，利用自己的家传绝学阴阳风水术算命谋生。但不久，突然出现的官府中人搜翻了她的住所，而她做官的哥哥又在同一时刻不请自来，进而绿娇娇发现，她竟被一个没有脸孔的怪人秘密跟踪了两年之久！为了躲避官府的纠缠，绿娇娇同自己的异国情人踏上逃亡之旅。偷窥，觊觎，劫杀，暗算……一切的矛头都指向了一个神秘的家传至宝——《龙诀》。天下第一的风水术奇书，竟可左右皇朝的更替天下的兴亡！
末民初，身怀家传风水绝学的奇女子绿娇娇，在广东被官府通缉——所有矛头都直指可以撼动满清江山的风水奇书《龙决》；迫使她不得不北上江西老家。一路上绿娇娇携异国男友智破灭门惨案、计擒风水邪师玩得不亦乐乎，可是，当抵达家乡时却发现往日偌大的家业已被烧成一片废墟……于是，一场风水师与风水师之间的明争暗斗开始了。
历史烽烟中那个叫做“太平天国”的时代，裹挟兵法、阴阳、风水、沙场，带着人性的残忍与真善，浩荡长歌，扑面而来。故事发展到这里，我们惊觉，这不再是一本单纯的小说——这是一本探知历史、勘测人心，点破厮杀争逐勾心斗角的实用手册！历史在这里风云变幻；人心在这里淋漓尽致；胜败，在这里被轻轻拨转、乾坤立现！心思百密必有一疏，先思一步即可能掌握乾坤颠倒阴阳，慢行一招，就可能被人掌握生死抓住命脉！老不读三国，少不读水浒——在商在政在职场，不可不读斩龙！
伍日发洋行惊现“藏蛇飞毒”风水杀人局，洪门右相右轩先生、风水邪师赵建现身广州十三行，同时，英州小城出现安龙儿一行人的行踪……这一切看似巧合的背后究竟蛰伏着天命的玄机还是套迭的阴谋？为了自由而追求极致力量的绿娇娇能否挣脱青原山巅父亲为她亲手布下的宿命？官复原职的安清源最终能否真的靠斩龙邪术成就大业？隐藏在长白山中的清朝龙脉，当真能左右天下苍生的命运？身负斩龙使命的安龙儿、伤心离开的杰克、打开六识神通的孙存真、一万两黄金买下大清江山的洪宣娇、神霄侠道邓尧，以及安渭秋、安清远、顾思文、蔡月、阿图格格……他们的宿命被裹挟在历史烽烟中，最后一次，展开于这个舞台。
良好的家世和天生聪慧妩媚的气质，让女主人公华凌对未来的人生充满了梦幻的向往。这也注定了她是一个将要比别人飞得更高的##。然而，不切实际的青春期许就像汪洋大海中的一叶扁舟，她被岁月的大潮不断地抛向命运的波峰
黑。盲人一样的黑。天地洪荒、混沌未开一样的黑。
黑暗中有许多声音重叠在一起：风“呜呜”地哭泣，河水幽咽地流淌，小鬼甩动鞭梢驱赶亡魂的声音……蛩鸣声、鸟啼声，远远地还有凄厉的惨叫声，像狼又像虎，不知是什么野兽，也许是人。
那么多的花魂鸟魂，开时疏影横斜，死后暗香浮动。无颜走在河岸边儿上，循着死玫瑰的芬芳，听着杜鹃魂的呜咽，却看不到任何光亮。
黑暗中有许多声音重叠在一起：风“呜呜”地哭泣，河水幽咽地流淌，小鬼甩动鞭梢驱赶亡魂的声音……蛩鸣声、鸟啼声，远远地还有凄厉的惨叫声，像狼又像虎，不知是什么野兽，也许是人。
那么多的花魂鸟魂，开时疏影横斜，死后暗香浮动。无颜走在河岸边儿上，循着死玫瑰的芬芳，听着杜鹃魂的呜咽，却看不到任何光亮。
被公主砸成青蛙状的倒霉王子李安哲，简直不能相信自己的耳朵。什么？砸他的原因是看见他就想吐！世界上还有比这更令人觉得耻辱的事吗，嗯？
好吧，把王子吐一身也就算了，为什么连倒滑旱冰都要把他撞飞？要说眼前这位胖公主不是故意的，谁信，嗯？
好吧好吧，就算之前都是公主太迷糊，那谁来告诉他，为什么在属于他的地盘逸然高中，她还能一而再再而三的与他狭路相逢？
好吧，把王子吐一身也就算了，为什么连倒滑旱冰都要把他撞飞？要说眼前这位胖公主不是故意的，谁信，嗯？
好吧好吧，就算之前都是公主太迷糊，那谁来告诉他，为什么在属于他的地盘逸然高中，她还能一而再再而三的与他狭路相逢？
无心是个年轻的火居道士。道法高，心思敏捷，虽然有贪财好色的毛病，但大关节上还是无亏的。
其时正值元末，邪魔四处，更糟糕的是，有人唯恐天下不乱，打算聚齐六神之力解开蚩尤碑的封印祸乱天下，而其中的首要人物，就是他的师父，也是他的生父。
好在还有宗真这样的前辈关爱他，无念、赭连午这样的朋友和战友和他并肩作战，还有异国红颜知己莎琳娜相伴。蚩尤碑事毕，他的生父和宗真都在最后一战中身死，他怅然出海，护送莎琳娜回国。
其时正值元末，邪魔四处，更糟糕的是，有人唯恐天下不乱，打算聚齐六神之力解开蚩尤碑的封印祸乱天下，而其中的首要人物，就是他的师父，也是他的生父。
好在还有宗真这样的前辈关爱他，无念、赭连午这样的朋友和战友和他并肩作战，还有异国红颜知己莎琳娜相伴。蚩尤碑事毕，他的生父和宗真都在最后一战中身死，他怅然出海，护送莎琳娜回国。
无心是个年轻的火居道士。道法高，心思敏捷，虽然有贪财好色的毛病，但大关节上还是无亏的。
其时正值元末，邪魔四处，更糟糕的是，有人唯恐天下不乱，打算聚齐六神之力解开蚩尤碑的封印祸乱天下，而其中的首要人物，就是他的师父，也是他的生父。
其时正值元末，邪魔四处，更糟糕的是，有人唯恐天下不乱，打算聚齐六神之力解开蚩尤碑的封印祸乱天下，而其中的首要人物，就是他的师父，也是他的生父。
《道可道》系列的主角无心，出身正一教。正一教属道教符箓派，也就是东汉张道陵所传的五斗米道，历代都由天师执掌，明代号称天下三大世家，凤阳朱是国姓，曲阜孔是至圣先师，江西张就是天师苗裔了。这一派道士大多不忌荤酒嫁娶，因此也被称为火居道士。火居道士和俗人无异，可婚娶，平时居家，习吹打弹唱，遇有丧葬等事，群往画符念咒，导引亡灵。
公元1592年是风云变幻的一年，，政治阴谋，王朝战争，复杂感情，一心想在明朝发展资本主义的史初杉在追求胜利与荣耀的道路上越走越远
本片讲述的是魔法师的后代小男孩哈利波特的故事。从小父母双亡的小男孩哈利波特是魔法师的后代。他的父母都被一个魔法界的坏巫师所杀，然而当坏巫师也企图杀死哈利波特时却被一种巨大的力量给阻止，哈利波特因此得以幸存。之后他与阿姨一家人同住，而且被送往魔法师学校就读，发生许多有趣又不可思议的经历。
The book was published on 30 June 1997 by Bloomsbury in London, while in 1998 Scholastic Corporation published an edition for the United States market under the title Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. The novel won most of the UK book awards that were judged by children, and other awards in the USA. The book reached the top of the New York Times list of best-selling fiction in August 1999, and stayed near the top of that list for much of 1999 and 2000. It has been translated into several other languages and has been made into a feature-length film of the same name.
Most reviews were very favourable, commenting on Rowling's imagination, humour, simple, direct style and clever plot construction, although a few complained that the final chapters looked rushed. The writing has been compared to that of Jane Austen, one of Rowling's favourite authors, of Roald Dahl, whose works dominated children's stories before the appearance of Harry Potter, and of the Ancient Greek story-teller Homer. While some commentators thought the book looked backwards to Victorian and Edwardian boarding school stories, others thought it placed the genre firmly in the modern world by featuring contemporary ethical and social issues.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, along with the rest of the Harry Potter series, has been attacked by several religious groups and banned in some countries because of accusations that the novels promote witchcraft. However, some Christian commentators have written that the book exemplifies important Christian viewpoints, including the power of self-sacrifice and the ways in which people's decisions shape their personalities. Educators regard Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and its sequels as an important aid in improving literacy because of the books' popularity. The series has also been used as a source of object lessons in educational techniques, sociological analysis and marketing.
Synopsis
Plot
Just before the start of the novel, Voldemort, the most powerful evil wizard in living memory, killed Harry's parents but mysteriously vanished after trying to kill Harry. While the wizarding world is celebrating Voldemort's downfall, Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall and Hagrid place the one year-old orphan in the care of his Muggle (non-wizard) aunt and uncle, Vernon and Petunia Dursley.
For ten years, they and their son Dudley bully Harry. Shortly before Harry's eleventh birthday, a series of letters arrive, addressed to Harry but destroyed by his uncle before Harry can read them. As a result, a torrent of letters pour into the house through every opening, however small, and to escape this, Vernon Dursley takes the family to a lonely island. As they are settling in, Hagrid bursts through the door to tell Harry what the Dursleys have kept from him: Harry is a wizard and has been accepted at Hogwarts for the coming year.
Hagrid takes Harry to Diagon Alley, a magically-concealed shopping precinct in London, where Harry is bewildered to discover how famous he is among wizards as "the boy who lived." He also finds that in the wizarding world he is quite wealthy, since a bequest from his parents has remained on deposit at Gringotts Wizarding Bank. Guided by Hagrid, he buys the books and equipment he needs for Hogwarts - and finds that the only wand that works well for him is effectively the twin of Voldemort's.
A month later, Harry leaves the Dursleys' home to catch the Hogwarts Express from King's Cross railway station. There he is befriended by the Weasley family, who show him how to pass through the magical wall to Platform 9¾, where the train is waiting. While on the train Harry makes friends with Ron Weasley, who tells him that someone tried to rob a vault at Gringotts. Another new pupil, Draco Malfoy, accompanied by his beefy but dim sidekicks Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, offers to advise Harry, but Harry dislikes Draco's arrogance and prejudices.
Before the term's first dinner in the school's Great Hall, the new pupils are allocated to houses by the magical Sorting Hat. The Hat assigns most pupils instantly – particularly when sending Draco, Crabbe and Goyle to Slytherin – but telepathically discusses with Harry about whether the boy's ambition would make Slytherin the best choice for him. When Harry silently but vehemently objects, the Hat sends him to join the Weasleys in Gryffindor. While Harry is eating, Professor Snape catches his eye and Harry feels a sudden stab of pain in the scar Voldemort left on his forehead, which fades as quickly.
After a traumatic first Potions lesson with Snape, Harry and Ron visit Hagrid, who lives in a rustic house on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. There they learn that the attempted robbery at Gringotts happened the day Harry was withdrawing money, and Harry remembers Hagrid removing a small package, emptying a vault that was later broken into and searched.
During the new pupils' first flying lesson, Neville Longbottom breaks his wrist and Draco takes advantage to throw the forgetful Neville's fragile Remembrall high in the air. Harry gives chase on his broomstick, catching the Remembrall inches from the ground. Professor McGonagall dashes out and appoints him as Gryffindor's new Seeker.
Draco tricks Ron and Harry into a midnight excursion, and Neville and the bossy Hermione Granger, both also in Gryffindor, accompany the pair to keep them out of trouble. All four accidentally enter a forbidden corridor and find a room containing a huge three-headed dog. The group beats a hasty retreat, and only Hermione notices that the dog is standing over a trap-door. Harry concludes that the monster guards the package Hagrid retrieved from Gringotts.
After Ron criticizes Hermione's ostentatious proficiency in Charms, she hides in tears in the girls' toilet. Professor Quirrell reports that a troll has entered the dungeons. While everyone else returns to their dormitories, Harry and Ron rush to warn Hermione. The troll corners Hermione in the toilet but when Harry sticks his wand up one of its nostrils, Ron uses the levitation spell to knock out the troll with its own club. Afterwards, several professors arrive and Hermione takes the blame for the battle and becomes a firm friend of the two boys.
The evening before Harry's first Quidditch match, he sees Snape receiving medical attention from Filch for a bite on his leg by the three-headed dog. During the game, Harry's broomstick goes out of control, endangering his life, and Hermione notices that Snape is staring at Harry and muttering. She dashes over to the Professors' stand, knocking over Professor Quirrel in her haste, and sets fire to Snape's robe. Harry regains control of his broomstick and catches the Golden Snitch, winning the game for Gryffindor. Hagrid refuses to believe that Snape was responsible for Harry's danger, but lets slip that he bought the three-headed dog, and that the monster is guarding a secret that belongs to Professor Dumbledore and someone called Nicolas Flamel.
Harry and the Weasleys stay at Hogwarts for Christmas, and one of Harry's presents, from an anonymous donor, is an Invisibility Cloak. Harry uses the Cloak to search the library's Restricted Section for information about the mysterious Flamel, has to evade Snape and Filch after an enchanted book shrieks an alarm, and slips into a room containing the Mirror of Erised, which shows his parents and several of their ancestors. Harry becomes addicted to the Mirror's visions and is rescued by Professor Dumbledore, who explains that it shows what the viewer most desperately longs for.
When the rest of the pupils return for the next term, Draco plays a prank on Neville, and Harry consoles Neville with a sweet. The collectible card wrapped with the sweet identifies Flamel as an alchemist. Hermione soon finds that he is a 665-year-old man who possesses the only known Philosopher's Stone, from which can be extracted an elixir of life. A few days later Harry notices Snape sneaking towards the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest. There he half-hears a furtive conversation about the Philosopher's Stone, in which Snape asks Professor Quirrell if he has found a way past the three-headed dog and menacingly tells Quirrell to decide whose side he is on. Harry concludes that Snape is trying to steal the Stone and Quirrell has prepared a series of defences for it.
The three friends discover that Hagrid is raising a baby dragon, which is against wizard law, and arrange to smuggle it out of the country around midnight. Draco arrives, hoping to raise the alarm and get them into trouble, and Neville comes to warn them of Draco's mischief. Although Ron is bitten by the dragon and is sent to the infirmary, Harry and Hermione spirit the dragon safely away. However, they are caught, and Harry loses the Invisibility Cloak. As part of their punishment, Harry, Hermione, Draco and Neville are compelled to help Hagrid to rescue a badly-injured unicorn in the Forbidden Forest. They split into two parties, and Harry and Draco find the unicorn dead, surrounded by its blood. A hooded figure crawls to the corpse and drinks the blood, while Draco screams and flees. The hooded figure moves towards Harry, who is knocked out by an agonising pain spreading from his scar. When Harry regains consciousness, the hooded figure has gone and a centaur, Firenze, offers to give him a ride back to the school. The centaur tells Harry that drinking a unicorn's blood will save the life of a mortally injured person, but leave them only barely alive. Firenze suggests Voldemort drank the unicorn's blood to gain enough strength to make the elixir of life from the Philosopher's Stone, and regain full health by drinking that. On his return, Harry finds that someone has slipped the Invisibility Cloak under his sheets.
A few weeks later, while relaxing after the end-of-session examinations, Harry suddenly wonders how something as illegal as a dragon's egg came into Hagrid's possession. The gamekeeper says he was given it by a hooded stranger who bought him several drinks and asked him how to get past the three-headed dog, which Hagrid admits is easy – music sends it to sleep. Realising that one of the Philosopher's Stone's defences is no longer secure, Harry goes to inform Professor Dumbledore, only to find that the headmaster has just left for an important meeting. Harry concludes that Snape faked the message that called Dumbledore away and will try to steal the Stone that night.
Voldemort on the back of Professor Quirrell's head at the climax of the film Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
Covered by the Invisibility Cloak, Harry and his two friends go to the three-headed dog's chamber, where Harry sends the beast to sleep by playing a flute. After lifting the trap-door, they encounter a series of obstacles, each of which requires special skills possessed by one of the three, and one of which requires Ron to sacrifice himself. In the final room Harry, now alone, finds Quirrell rather than Snape. Quirrell admits that he let in the troll that tried to kill Hermione in the toilet, and that he tried to kill Harry during the first Quidditch match but was knocked over by Hermione. Snape had been trying to protect Harry and suspected Quirrell. Quirrell serves Voldemort and, after failing to steal the Philosopher's Stone from Gringotts, allowed his master to possess him in order to improve their chances of success. However the only other object in the room is the Mirror of Erised, and Quirrell can see no sign of the Stone. At Voldemort's bidding, Quirrel forces Harry to stand in front of the Mirror. Harry feels the Stone drop into his pocket and tries to stall. Quirrell removes his turban, revealing the face of Voldemort on the back of his head. Voldemort/Quirrell tries to grab the Stone from Harry, but simply touching Harry causes Quirrell's flesh to burn. After further struggles Harry passes out.
He awakes in the school hospital, where Professor Dumbledore tells him that he survived because his mother sacrificed her life to protect him, and Voldemort could not understand the power of such love. Voldemort left Quirrell to die, and is likely to return by some other means. Dumbledore had foreseen that the Mirror would show Voldemort/Quirrell only themselves making the elixir of life, as they wanted to use the Philosopher's Stone; Harry was able to see the Stone in the Mirror because he wanted to find it but not to use it. The Stone has now been destroyed.
Harry returns to the Dursleys for the summer holiday, but does not tell them that under-age wizards are forbidden to use magic outside Hogwarts.
After ten years, Harry became an eleven year-old boy. The Dursleys have kept the truth about Harry's parents from him, but it is revealed in the form of Rubeus Hagrid, who tells Harry that he is a wizard and has been accepted at Hogwarts for the autumn term. Harry takes the train to Hogwarts from King's Cross Station. On the train, Harry sits with and quickly befriends Ron Weasley; the two are also briefly visited by Neville Longbottom and Hermione Granger. Later on in the journey, Malfoy comes into Harry and Ron's compartment with his friends Crabbe and Goyle and introduces himself. After Ron laughs at Draco's name, Draco offers to help Harry distinguish the wrong sort of wizards, but Harry declines.
Upon arrival, the Sorting Hat places Harry, Hermione, Neville and Ron into Gryffindor House, one of the school's four houses, while Draco and his cronies are placed in Slytherin. After a broom-mounted game to save Neville's Remembrall, Harry joins Gryffindor's Quidditch team as their youngest Seeker in over a century.
Shortly after school begins, Harry and his friends hear that someone broke into a previously emptied vault at the wizarding bank, Gringotts. The mystery deepens when they discover a monstrous three-headed dog, Fluffy, who guards a trapdoor in the forbidden third floor passageway. On Halloween, a troll enters the castle and traps Hermione in one of the girls' lavatories. Harry and Ron rescue her, but are caught by Professor McGonagall. Hermione defends the boys and takes the blame, which results in the three becoming close friends.
Harry's broom becomes jinxed during his first Quidditch match, nearly resulting in Harry falling from a great height. Hermione believes that Professor Snape has cursed the broom and distracts him by setting his robes on fire, allowing Harry to catch the Golden Snitch and win the game for Gryffindor.
At Christmas, Harry receives his father's Invisibility Cloak from an unknown source. Later, he discovers the Mirror of Erised, a strange mirror that shows Harry surrounded by his parents and the extended family he never knew. Later, Harry learns that Nicolas Flamel is the maker of the Philosopher's Stone, a stone that gives the owner eternal life.
Harry sees Professor Snape interrogating Professor Quirrell about getting past Fluffy, seemingly confirming the suspicion that Snape is trying to steal the Philosopher's Stone in order to restore Lord Voldemort to power. The trio discover that Hagrid is hiding a dragon egg, which hatches; since dragon breeding is illegal, they convince Hagrid to send the dragon to live with others of its kind. Harry and Hermione are caught returning to their dormitories after sending Norbert off and are forced to serve detention with Hagrid in the Forbidden Forest. In the forest, Harry sees a hooded figure drink the blood of an injured unicorn. Firenze, a centaur, tells Harry that the hooded figure is Voldemort.
Hagrid accidentally tells Harry, Ron, and Hermione how to get past Fluffy; and they rush to tell the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, what they know, only to find that he has been called away from the school. Convinced that Dumbledore's summons was a red herring to take him away while the Philosopher's Stone is stolen, the trio set out to reach the Stone first. They navigate a series of complex magical challenges set up by the school's faculty, and at the end of these challenges, Harry enters the inner chamber alone, only to find that it is the timid Professor Quirrell, not Snape, who is after the Stone. The final challenge protecting the Stone is the Mirror of Erised. Quirrell forces Harry to look into the mirror to discover where the Stone is hidden; and Harry successfully resists, and the Stone drops into his own pocket. Lord Voldemort reveals himself: he has possessed Quirrell and appears as a ghastly face on the back of Quirrell's head. Quirrell tries to attack Harry, but merely touching Harry proves to be agony for him. Voldemort flees and Quirrell dies as Dumbledore arrives back in time to save Harry.
As Harry recovers, Dumbledore confirms that Lily had died while trying to protect Harry as an infant. Her pure, loving sacrifice provides her son with an ancient magical protection against Voldemort's lethal spells. Dumbledore also explains that the Philosopher's Stone has been destroyed to prevent Voldemort from ever using it. He then tells Harry that only those who wanted to find the Stone, but not use it, would be able to retrieve it from the mirror, which is why Harry could acquire it. When Harry asks Dumbledore why Voldemort attempted to kill him when he was an infant, Dumbledore promises to tell Harry when he is older.
At the end-of-year feast, where Harry is welcomed as a hero. Dumbledore gives a few last-minute additions, granting enough points to Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville for Gryffindor to win the House Cup, ending Slytherin's six-year reign as house champions.
Main characters
Harry Potter is an orphan whom Rowling imagined as a "scrawny, black-haired, bespectacled boy who didn't know he was a wizard." She developed the series' story and characters, including Voldemort, to explain how Harry came to be in this situation and how his life unfolded from there. Apart from the first chapter, the events of this book take place just before and in the year following Harry's eleventh birthday. Voldemort's attack left a lightning bolt-shaped scar on Harry's forehead, which produces stabbing pains when Voldemort or a close associate of the dark wizard feels any strong emotion. Harry has prodigious natural talent for Quidditch and the ability to persuade friends by passionate speeches.
Petunia Dursley, the sister of Harry's mother Lily, is a thin woman with a long neck that she uses for spying on the neighbours. She regards her magical sister as a freak and tries to pretend that she never existed. Her husband Vernon is a heavily-built man whose irascible bluster covers a narrow mind and a fear of anything unusual. Their son Dudley is an overweight, spoilt bully.
Despite being the school's jokers, identical twins Fred and George Weasley get good marks in examinations and are excellent Quidditch players. Their younger brother Ron is Harry's age and Rowling describes him as the ultimate best friend, "always there when you need him." Ron lacks confidence in his prospects of matching his three oldest brothers' achievements or the popularity of Fred and George, but his skill and bravery in a magical chess game where lives are at stake help Harry past one of the obstacles on the path to the Philosopher's Stone.
Hermione Granger, the daughter of an all-Muggle family, is a bossy girl who has apparently memorised most of the textbooks before the start of term. Rowling described Hermione as a "very logical, upright and good" character with "a lot of insecurity and a great fear of failure beneath her swottiness". Despite her nagging efforts to keep Harry and Ron out of trouble, she becomes a close friend of the two boys, and her magical and analytical skills play a vital part in finding the Philosopher's Stone.
Draco Malfoy is a slim, pale boy who speaks in a bored drawl. He is arrogant about his skill in Quidditch, and despises anyone who is not a pure blood wizard – and wizards who do not share his views. His parents had supported Voldemort, but changed sides after the dark wizard's disappearance. Draco avoids direct confrontations, and tries to get Harry and his friends into trouble.
Neville Longbottom is a plump, diffident boy, so forgetful that his grandmother gives him a Remembrall. Neville's magical abilities are weak and appeared just in time to save his life when he was eight. Despite his timidity, Neville will fight anyone after some encouragement or if he thinks it is right and important.
Dumbledore as portrayed by the late Richard Harris in the film Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
Professor Dumbledore, a tall, thin man who wears half-moon spectacles and has silver hair and a beard that tucks into his belt, is the headmaster of Hogwarts, and thought to be the only wizard Voldemort fears. Dumbledore, while renowned for his achievements in magic, finds it difficult to resist sweets and has a whimsical sense of humour. Although he shrugs off praise, he is aware of his own brilliance. Rowling described him as the "epitome of goodness".
Professor McGonagall, a tall, severe-looking woman with black hair tied in a tight bun, teaches Transfiguration, and sometimes transforms herself into a cat. She is in charge of Gryffindor House and, unlike Professor Snape, shows no favouritism towards pupils in her House, but seizes any opportunity to help Gryffindor by fair means. According to the author, "under that gruff exterior" is "a bit of an old softy".
Twitching, stammering Professor Quirrell teaches Defence Against the Dark Arts. Reputedly he was a brilliant scholar, but his nerve was shattered by an encounter with vampires. Quirrell wears a turban to conceal the fact that he is voluntarily possessed by Voldemort, whose face appears on the back of Quirrel's head.
Professor Snape, who has a hooked nose, sallow complexion and greasy black hair, teaches Potions, but is eager to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts. Snape praises pupils in Slytherin, his own House, but seizes every opportunity to humiliate others, especially Harry. Several incidents, beginning with the shooting pain in Harry's scar near the end of the first dinner, lead Harry and his friends to think Snape is a follower of Voldemort.
Hagrid, a half-giant nearly 12 feet (3.7 m) tall, with tangled black hair and beard, was expelled from Hogwarts and his wand was broken, but Professor Dumbledore let him stay on as the school's gamekeeper, a job which enables him to lavish affection and pet names on even the most dangerous of magical creatures. Hagrid is fiercely loyal to Dumbledore and quickly becomes a close friend of Harry, Ron and later Hermione, but his carelessness makes him unreliable.
The school's caretaker, Filch, knows the school's secret passages better than anyone else except possibly the Weasley twins. His cat, Mrs. Norris, aids his hunts for misbehaving pupils. Other members of Hogwarts staff include: the dumpy Herbology teacher Professor Sprout; Professor Flitwick, the tiny and excitable Charms teacher, who is discreetly friendly towards Harry; the soporific History of Magic teacher, Professor Binns, a ghost who has not yet noticed his own death; and Madam Hooch, the Quidditch coach, who is strict but a considerate, methodical teacher. The poltergeist Peeves wanders around the buildings causing trouble for whomever he can.
In the book, Rowling introduced an eclectic cast of characters. The first character to be introduced is Vernon Dursley, Harry's uncle. Most of the actions centre on the eponymous hero Harry Potter, an orphan who escapes his miserable childhood with the Dursley family. Rowling imagined him as a "scrawny, black-haired, bespectacled boy who didn't know he was a wizard", and says she transferred part of her pain about losing her mother to him. During the book, Harry makes two close friends, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger. Ron is described by Rowling as the ultimate best friend, "always there when you need him". Rowling has described Hermione as a "very logical, upright and good" character with "a lot of insecurity and a great fear of failure beneath her swottiness".
Rowling also imagined a supporting cast of adults. Headmaster of Hogwarts is powerful but kind wizard Albus Dumbledore, who becomes Harry's confidant; Rowling described him as "epitome of goodness". His right hand is severe Minerva McGonagall, who according to the author "under that gruff exterior" is "a bit of an old softy", the friendly half-giant Rubeus Hagrid, who saved Harry from the Dursley family and the sinister Severus Snape. Professor Quirrell is also featured in the novel.
The main antagonists are Draco Malfoy, an elitist, bullying classmate and Lord Voldemort, the most powerful evil wizard who becomes disembodied when he tries to kill baby Harry. According to a 1999 interview with Rowling, the character of Voldemort was created as a literary foil for Harry, and his backstory was intentionally not fleshed-out at first:
The basic idea... Harry, I saw Harry very very very clearly. Very vividly. And I knew he didn't know he was a wizard. [...] And so then I kind of worked backwards from that position to find out how that could be, that he wouldn't know what he was. [...] When he was one year old, the most evil wizard for hundreds and hundreds of years attempted to kill him. He killed Harry's parents, and then he tried to kill Harry—he tried to curse him. [...] And—so—but for some mysterious reason, the curse didn't work on Harry. So he's left with this lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead and the curse rebounded upon the evil wizard, who has been in hiding ever since.
Development, publication and reception
Development
In 1990 Jo Rowling, as she preferred to be known, wanted to move with her boyfriend to a flat in Manchester and in her words, "One weekend after flat hunting, I took the train back to London on my own and the idea for Harry Potter fell into my head... A scrawny, little, black-haired, bespectacled boy became more and more of a wizard to me... I began to write Philosopher's Stone that very evening. Although, the first couple of pages look nothing like the finished product." Then Rowling's mother died and, to cope with her pain, Rowling transferred her own anguish to the orphan Harry. Rowling spent six years working on Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, and in 1996 obtained a grant of £4,000 from the Scottish Arts Council, which enabled her to finish the book and plan the sequels. She sent the book to an agent and a publisher, and then the second agent she approached spent a year trying to sell the book to publishers, most of whom thought it was too long at about 90,000 words. Barry Cunningham, who was building a portfolio of distinctive fantasies by new authors for Bloomsbury Children's Books, recommended accepting the book, and the eight-year-old daughter of Bloomsbury's chief executive said it was "so much better than anything else."
UK publication and reception
Imitation of the fictional Platform 9¾ at the real King's Cross railway station, with a luggage trolley apparently half-way through the magical wall
Bloomsbury accepted the book, paying Rowling a £2,500 advance, and Cunningham sent proof copies to carefully-chosen authors, critics and booksellers in order to obtain comments that could be quoted when the book was launched. He was less concerned about the book's length than about its author's name, as the title sounded like a boys' book and boys prefer books by male authors. Rowling therefore adopted the nom de plume J.K. Rowling just before publication. In June 1997, Bloomsbury published Philosopher’s Stone with an initial print-run of 500 copies in hardback, three hundred of which were distributed to libraries. The short initial print run was standard for first novels, and Cunningham hoped booksellers would read the book and recommend it to customers.
Lindsey Fraser, who had supplied one of the blurb comments, wrote what is thought to be the first published review, in The Scotsman on 28 June 1997. She described Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone as "a hugely entertaining thriller" and Rowling as "a first-rate writer for children". Another early review, in The Herald, said, "I have yet to find a child who can put it down." Newspapers outside Scotland started to notice the book, with glowing reviews in The Guardian, The Sunday Times and The Mail on Sunday, and in September 1997 Books for Keeps, a magazine that specialised in children's books, gave the novel four stars out of five. In 1997 the UK edition won a National Book Award and a gold medal in the 9 to 11 year-olds category of the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize. The Smarties award, which is voted for by children, made the book well-known within six months of publication, while most children's books have to wait for years.
The following year, Philosopher's Stone won almost all the other major UK awards that were decided by children. It was also shortlisted for children's books awards adjudicated by adults, but did not win. Sandra Beckett comments that books which were popular with children were regarded as undemanding and as not of the highest literary standards – for example the literary establishment disdained the works of Roald Dahl, an overwhelming favourite of children before the appearance of Rowling's books.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone won two publishing industry awards given for sales rather than literary merit, the British Book Awards Children's Book of the Year and the Booksellers' Association / Bookseller Author of the Year. By March 1999 UK editions had sold just over 300,000 copies, and the story was still the UK's best-selling title in December 2001. A Braille edition was published in May 1998 by the Scottish Braille Press.
Platform 9¾, from which the Hogwarts Express left London, was commemorated in the real-life King's Cross railway station with a sign between tracks 9 and 10 and a trolley apparently passing through the wall.
USA publication and reception
Scholastic Corporation bought the USA rights at the Bologna Book Fair in April 1997 for US$105,000, an unusually high sum for a children's book. They thought that a child would not want to read a book with the word "philosopher" in the title and, after some discussion, the American edition was published in October 1998 under the title Rowling suggested, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Rowling claimed that she regretted this change and would have fought it if she had been in a stronger position at the time. Philip Nel has pointed out that the change lost the connection with alchemy, and the meaning of some other terms changed in translation, for example from UK English "crumpets" to US English "muffin". While Rowling accepted the change from both standard UK English "mum" and Seamus Finnegan's Irish variant "mam" to "mom" in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, she vetoed this change in the later books. However Nel considered that Scholastic's translations were considerably more sensitive than most of those imposed on UK English books of the time, and that some other changes could be regarded as useful copyedits. Since the UK editions of early titles in the series were published a few months earlier than the American versions, some American readers became familiar with the British English versions after buying them via the Internet.
At first the most prestigious reviewers ignored the book, leaving it to book trade and library publications such as Kirkus Reviews and Booklist, which examined it only by the entertainment-oriented criteria of children's fiction. However, more penetrating specialist reviews (such as one by Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choices, which pointed out the complexity, depth and consistency of the world Rowling had built) attracted the attention of reviewers in major newspapers. Although The Boston Globe and Michael Winerip in The New York Times complained that the final chapters were the weakest part of the book they and most other American reviewers gave glowing praise. A year later the US edition was selected as an American Library Association Notable Book, a Publishers Weekly Best Book of 1998, and a New York Public Library 1998 Best Book of the Year, and won Parenting Magazine's Book of the Year Award for 1998, the School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, and the American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults.
In August 1999 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone topped the New York Times list of best-selling fiction, and stayed near the top of the list for much of 1999 and 2000, until the New York Times split its list into children's and adult sections under pressure from other publishers who were eager to see their books given higher placings. Publishers Weekly's report in December 2001 on cumulative sales of children's fiction placed Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone 19th among hardbacks (over 5 million copies) and 7th among paperbacks (over 6.6 million copies).
In May 2008, Scholastic announced the creation of a 10th Anniversary Edition of the book to be released in September 2008 to mark the tenth anniversary of the original American release.
The book was published on 30 June 1997 by Bloomsbury in London, while in 1998 Scholastic Corporation published an edition for the United States market under the title Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. The novel won most of the UK book awards that were judged by children, and other awards in the USA. The book reached the top of the New York Times list of best-selling fiction in August 1999, and stayed near the top of that list for much of 1999 and 2000. It has been translated into several other languages and has been made into a feature-length film of the same name.
Most reviews were very favourable, commenting on Rowling's imagination, humour, simple, direct style and clever plot construction, although a few complained that the final chapters looked rushed. The writing has been compared to that of Jane Austen, one of Rowling's favourite authors, of Roald Dahl, whose works dominated children's stories before the appearance of Harry Potter, and of the Ancient Greek story-teller Homer. While some commentators thought the book looked backwards to Victorian and Edwardian boarding school stories, others thought it placed the genre firmly in the modern world by featuring contemporary ethical and social issues.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, along with the rest of the Harry Potter series, has been attacked by several religious groups and banned in some countries because of accusations that the novels promote witchcraft. However, some Christian commentators have written that the book exemplifies important Christian viewpoints, including the power of self-sacrifice and the ways in which people's decisions shape their personalities. Educators regard Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and its sequels as an important aid in improving literacy because of the books' popularity. The series has also been used as a source of object lessons in educational techniques, sociological analysis and marketing.
Synopsis
Plot
Just before the start of the novel, Voldemort, the most powerful evil wizard in living memory, killed Harry's parents but mysteriously vanished after trying to kill Harry. While the wizarding world is celebrating Voldemort's downfall, Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall and Hagrid place the one year-old orphan in the care of his Muggle (non-wizard) aunt and uncle, Vernon and Petunia Dursley.
For ten years, they and their son Dudley bully Harry. Shortly before Harry's eleventh birthday, a series of letters arrive, addressed to Harry but destroyed by his uncle before Harry can read them. As a result, a torrent of letters pour into the house through every opening, however small, and to escape this, Vernon Dursley takes the family to a lonely island. As they are settling in, Hagrid bursts through the door to tell Harry what the Dursleys have kept from him: Harry is a wizard and has been accepted at Hogwarts for the coming year.
Hagrid takes Harry to Diagon Alley, a magically-concealed shopping precinct in London, where Harry is bewildered to discover how famous he is among wizards as "the boy who lived." He also finds that in the wizarding world he is quite wealthy, since a bequest from his parents has remained on deposit at Gringotts Wizarding Bank. Guided by Hagrid, he buys the books and equipment he needs for Hogwarts - and finds that the only wand that works well for him is effectively the twin of Voldemort's.
A month later, Harry leaves the Dursleys' home to catch the Hogwarts Express from King's Cross railway station. There he is befriended by the Weasley family, who show him how to pass through the magical wall to Platform 9¾, where the train is waiting. While on the train Harry makes friends with Ron Weasley, who tells him that someone tried to rob a vault at Gringotts. Another new pupil, Draco Malfoy, accompanied by his beefy but dim sidekicks Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, offers to advise Harry, but Harry dislikes Draco's arrogance and prejudices.
Before the term's first dinner in the school's Great Hall, the new pupils are allocated to houses by the magical Sorting Hat. The Hat assigns most pupils instantly – particularly when sending Draco, Crabbe and Goyle to Slytherin – but telepathically discusses with Harry about whether the boy's ambition would make Slytherin the best choice for him. When Harry silently but vehemently objects, the Hat sends him to join the Weasleys in Gryffindor. While Harry is eating, Professor Snape catches his eye and Harry feels a sudden stab of pain in the scar Voldemort left on his forehead, which fades as quickly.
After a traumatic first Potions lesson with Snape, Harry and Ron visit Hagrid, who lives in a rustic house on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. There they learn that the attempted robbery at Gringotts happened the day Harry was withdrawing money, and Harry remembers Hagrid removing a small package, emptying a vault that was later broken into and searched.
During the new pupils' first flying lesson, Neville Longbottom breaks his wrist and Draco takes advantage to throw the forgetful Neville's fragile Remembrall high in the air. Harry gives chase on his broomstick, catching the Remembrall inches from the ground. Professor McGonagall dashes out and appoints him as Gryffindor's new Seeker.
Draco tricks Ron and Harry into a midnight excursion, and Neville and the bossy Hermione Granger, both also in Gryffindor, accompany the pair to keep them out of trouble. All four accidentally enter a forbidden corridor and find a room containing a huge three-headed dog. The group beats a hasty retreat, and only Hermione notices that the dog is standing over a trap-door. Harry concludes that the monster guards the package Hagrid retrieved from Gringotts.
After Ron criticizes Hermione's ostentatious proficiency in Charms, she hides in tears in the girls' toilet. Professor Quirrell reports that a troll has entered the dungeons. While everyone else returns to their dormitories, Harry and Ron rush to warn Hermione. The troll corners Hermione in the toilet but when Harry sticks his wand up one of its nostrils, Ron uses the levitation spell to knock out the troll with its own club. Afterwards, several professors arrive and Hermione takes the blame for the battle and becomes a firm friend of the two boys.
The evening before Harry's first Quidditch match, he sees Snape receiving medical attention from Filch for a bite on his leg by the three-headed dog. During the game, Harry's broomstick goes out of control, endangering his life, and Hermione notices that Snape is staring at Harry and muttering. She dashes over to the Professors' stand, knocking over Professor Quirrel in her haste, and sets fire to Snape's robe. Harry regains control of his broomstick and catches the Golden Snitch, winning the game for Gryffindor. Hagrid refuses to believe that Snape was responsible for Harry's danger, but lets slip that he bought the three-headed dog, and that the monster is guarding a secret that belongs to Professor Dumbledore and someone called Nicolas Flamel.
Harry and the Weasleys stay at Hogwarts for Christmas, and one of Harry's presents, from an anonymous donor, is an Invisibility Cloak. Harry uses the Cloak to search the library's Restricted Section for information about the mysterious Flamel, has to evade Snape and Filch after an enchanted book shrieks an alarm, and slips into a room containing the Mirror of Erised, which shows his parents and several of their ancestors. Harry becomes addicted to the Mirror's visions and is rescued by Professor Dumbledore, who explains that it shows what the viewer most desperately longs for.
When the rest of the pupils return for the next term, Draco plays a prank on Neville, and Harry consoles Neville with a sweet. The collectible card wrapped with the sweet identifies Flamel as an alchemist. Hermione soon finds that he is a 665-year-old man who possesses the only known Philosopher's Stone, from which can be extracted an elixir of life. A few days later Harry notices Snape sneaking towards the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest. There he half-hears a furtive conversation about the Philosopher's Stone, in which Snape asks Professor Quirrell if he has found a way past the three-headed dog and menacingly tells Quirrell to decide whose side he is on. Harry concludes that Snape is trying to steal the Stone and Quirrell has prepared a series of defences for it.
The three friends discover that Hagrid is raising a baby dragon, which is against wizard law, and arrange to smuggle it out of the country around midnight. Draco arrives, hoping to raise the alarm and get them into trouble, and Neville comes to warn them of Draco's mischief. Although Ron is bitten by the dragon and is sent to the infirmary, Harry and Hermione spirit the dragon safely away. However, they are caught, and Harry loses the Invisibility Cloak. As part of their punishment, Harry, Hermione, Draco and Neville are compelled to help Hagrid to rescue a badly-injured unicorn in the Forbidden Forest. They split into two parties, and Harry and Draco find the unicorn dead, surrounded by its blood. A hooded figure crawls to the corpse and drinks the blood, while Draco screams and flees. The hooded figure moves towards Harry, who is knocked out by an agonising pain spreading from his scar. When Harry regains consciousness, the hooded figure has gone and a centaur, Firenze, offers to give him a ride back to the school. The centaur tells Harry that drinking a unicorn's blood will save the life of a mortally injured person, but leave them only barely alive. Firenze suggests Voldemort drank the unicorn's blood to gain enough strength to make the elixir of life from the Philosopher's Stone, and regain full health by drinking that. On his return, Harry finds that someone has slipped the Invisibility Cloak under his sheets.
A few weeks later, while relaxing after the end-of-session examinations, Harry suddenly wonders how something as illegal as a dragon's egg came into Hagrid's possession. The gamekeeper says he was given it by a hooded stranger who bought him several drinks and asked him how to get past the three-headed dog, which Hagrid admits is easy – music sends it to sleep. Realising that one of the Philosopher's Stone's defences is no longer secure, Harry goes to inform Professor Dumbledore, only to find that the headmaster has just left for an important meeting. Harry concludes that Snape faked the message that called Dumbledore away and will try to steal the Stone that night.
Voldemort on the back of Professor Quirrell's head at the climax of the film Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
Covered by the Invisibility Cloak, Harry and his two friends go to the three-headed dog's chamber, where Harry sends the beast to sleep by playing a flute. After lifting the trap-door, they encounter a series of obstacles, each of which requires special skills possessed by one of the three, and one of which requires Ron to sacrifice himself. In the final room Harry, now alone, finds Quirrell rather than Snape. Quirrell admits that he let in the troll that tried to kill Hermione in the toilet, and that he tried to kill Harry during the first Quidditch match but was knocked over by Hermione. Snape had been trying to protect Harry and suspected Quirrell. Quirrell serves Voldemort and, after failing to steal the Philosopher's Stone from Gringotts, allowed his master to possess him in order to improve their chances of success. However the only other object in the room is the Mirror of Erised, and Quirrell can see no sign of the Stone. At Voldemort's bidding, Quirrel forces Harry to stand in front of the Mirror. Harry feels the Stone drop into his pocket and tries to stall. Quirrell removes his turban, revealing the face of Voldemort on the back of his head. Voldemort/Quirrell tries to grab the Stone from Harry, but simply touching Harry causes Quirrell's flesh to burn. After further struggles Harry passes out.
He awakes in the school hospital, where Professor Dumbledore tells him that he survived because his mother sacrificed her life to protect him, and Voldemort could not understand the power of such love. Voldemort left Quirrell to die, and is likely to return by some other means. Dumbledore had foreseen that the Mirror would show Voldemort/Quirrell only themselves making the elixir of life, as they wanted to use the Philosopher's Stone; Harry was able to see the Stone in the Mirror because he wanted to find it but not to use it. The Stone has now been destroyed.
Harry returns to the Dursleys for the summer holiday, but does not tell them that under-age wizards are forbidden to use magic outside Hogwarts.
After ten years, Harry became an eleven year-old boy. The Dursleys have kept the truth about Harry's parents from him, but it is revealed in the form of Rubeus Hagrid, who tells Harry that he is a wizard and has been accepted at Hogwarts for the autumn term. Harry takes the train to Hogwarts from King's Cross Station. On the train, Harry sits with and quickly befriends Ron Weasley; the two are also briefly visited by Neville Longbottom and Hermione Granger. Later on in the journey, Malfoy comes into Harry and Ron's compartment with his friends Crabbe and Goyle and introduces himself. After Ron laughs at Draco's name, Draco offers to help Harry distinguish the wrong sort of wizards, but Harry declines.
Upon arrival, the Sorting Hat places Harry, Hermione, Neville and Ron into Gryffindor House, one of the school's four houses, while Draco and his cronies are placed in Slytherin. After a broom-mounted game to save Neville's Remembrall, Harry joins Gryffindor's Quidditch team as their youngest Seeker in over a century.
Shortly after school begins, Harry and his friends hear that someone broke into a previously emptied vault at the wizarding bank, Gringotts. The mystery deepens when they discover a monstrous three-headed dog, Fluffy, who guards a trapdoor in the forbidden third floor passageway. On Halloween, a troll enters the castle and traps Hermione in one of the girls' lavatories. Harry and Ron rescue her, but are caught by Professor McGonagall. Hermione defends the boys and takes the blame, which results in the three becoming close friends.
Harry's broom becomes jinxed during his first Quidditch match, nearly resulting in Harry falling from a great height. Hermione believes that Professor Snape has cursed the broom and distracts him by setting his robes on fire, allowing Harry to catch the Golden Snitch and win the game for Gryffindor.
At Christmas, Harry receives his father's Invisibility Cloak from an unknown source. Later, he discovers the Mirror of Erised, a strange mirror that shows Harry surrounded by his parents and the extended family he never knew. Later, Harry learns that Nicolas Flamel is the maker of the Philosopher's Stone, a stone that gives the owner eternal life.
Harry sees Professor Snape interrogating Professor Quirrell about getting past Fluffy, seemingly confirming the suspicion that Snape is trying to steal the Philosopher's Stone in order to restore Lord Voldemort to power. The trio discover that Hagrid is hiding a dragon egg, which hatches; since dragon breeding is illegal, they convince Hagrid to send the dragon to live with others of its kind. Harry and Hermione are caught returning to their dormitories after sending Norbert off and are forced to serve detention with Hagrid in the Forbidden Forest. In the forest, Harry sees a hooded figure drink the blood of an injured unicorn. Firenze, a centaur, tells Harry that the hooded figure is Voldemort.
Hagrid accidentally tells Harry, Ron, and Hermione how to get past Fluffy; and they rush to tell the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, what they know, only to find that he has been called away from the school. Convinced that Dumbledore's summons was a red herring to take him away while the Philosopher's Stone is stolen, the trio set out to reach the Stone first. They navigate a series of complex magical challenges set up by the school's faculty, and at the end of these challenges, Harry enters the inner chamber alone, only to find that it is the timid Professor Quirrell, not Snape, who is after the Stone. The final challenge protecting the Stone is the Mirror of Erised. Quirrell forces Harry to look into the mirror to discover where the Stone is hidden; and Harry successfully resists, and the Stone drops into his own pocket. Lord Voldemort reveals himself: he has possessed Quirrell and appears as a ghastly face on the back of Quirrell's head. Quirrell tries to attack Harry, but merely touching Harry proves to be agony for him. Voldemort flees and Quirrell dies as Dumbledore arrives back in time to save Harry.
As Harry recovers, Dumbledore confirms that Lily had died while trying to protect Harry as an infant. Her pure, loving sacrifice provides her son with an ancient magical protection against Voldemort's lethal spells. Dumbledore also explains that the Philosopher's Stone has been destroyed to prevent Voldemort from ever using it. He then tells Harry that only those who wanted to find the Stone, but not use it, would be able to retrieve it from the mirror, which is why Harry could acquire it. When Harry asks Dumbledore why Voldemort attempted to kill him when he was an infant, Dumbledore promises to tell Harry when he is older.
At the end-of-year feast, where Harry is welcomed as a hero. Dumbledore gives a few last-minute additions, granting enough points to Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville for Gryffindor to win the House Cup, ending Slytherin's six-year reign as house champions.
Main characters
Harry Potter is an orphan whom Rowling imagined as a "scrawny, black-haired, bespectacled boy who didn't know he was a wizard." She developed the series' story and characters, including Voldemort, to explain how Harry came to be in this situation and how his life unfolded from there. Apart from the first chapter, the events of this book take place just before and in the year following Harry's eleventh birthday. Voldemort's attack left a lightning bolt-shaped scar on Harry's forehead, which produces stabbing pains when Voldemort or a close associate of the dark wizard feels any strong emotion. Harry has prodigious natural talent for Quidditch and the ability to persuade friends by passionate speeches.
Petunia Dursley, the sister of Harry's mother Lily, is a thin woman with a long neck that she uses for spying on the neighbours. She regards her magical sister as a freak and tries to pretend that she never existed. Her husband Vernon is a heavily-built man whose irascible bluster covers a narrow mind and a fear of anything unusual. Their son Dudley is an overweight, spoilt bully.
Despite being the school's jokers, identical twins Fred and George Weasley get good marks in examinations and are excellent Quidditch players. Their younger brother Ron is Harry's age and Rowling describes him as the ultimate best friend, "always there when you need him." Ron lacks confidence in his prospects of matching his three oldest brothers' achievements or the popularity of Fred and George, but his skill and bravery in a magical chess game where lives are at stake help Harry past one of the obstacles on the path to the Philosopher's Stone.
Hermione Granger, the daughter of an all-Muggle family, is a bossy girl who has apparently memorised most of the textbooks before the start of term. Rowling described Hermione as a "very logical, upright and good" character with "a lot of insecurity and a great fear of failure beneath her swottiness". Despite her nagging efforts to keep Harry and Ron out of trouble, she becomes a close friend of the two boys, and her magical and analytical skills play a vital part in finding the Philosopher's Stone.
Draco Malfoy is a slim, pale boy who speaks in a bored drawl. He is arrogant about his skill in Quidditch, and despises anyone who is not a pure blood wizard – and wizards who do not share his views. His parents had supported Voldemort, but changed sides after the dark wizard's disappearance. Draco avoids direct confrontations, and tries to get Harry and his friends into trouble.
Neville Longbottom is a plump, diffident boy, so forgetful that his grandmother gives him a Remembrall. Neville's magical abilities are weak and appeared just in time to save his life when he was eight. Despite his timidity, Neville will fight anyone after some encouragement or if he thinks it is right and important.
Dumbledore as portrayed by the late Richard Harris in the film Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
Professor Dumbledore, a tall, thin man who wears half-moon spectacles and has silver hair and a beard that tucks into his belt, is the headmaster of Hogwarts, and thought to be the only wizard Voldemort fears. Dumbledore, while renowned for his achievements in magic, finds it difficult to resist sweets and has a whimsical sense of humour. Although he shrugs off praise, he is aware of his own brilliance. Rowling described him as the "epitome of goodness".
Professor McGonagall, a tall, severe-looking woman with black hair tied in a tight bun, teaches Transfiguration, and sometimes transforms herself into a cat. She is in charge of Gryffindor House and, unlike Professor Snape, shows no favouritism towards pupils in her House, but seizes any opportunity to help Gryffindor by fair means. According to the author, "under that gruff exterior" is "a bit of an old softy".
Twitching, stammering Professor Quirrell teaches Defence Against the Dark Arts. Reputedly he was a brilliant scholar, but his nerve was shattered by an encounter with vampires. Quirrell wears a turban to conceal the fact that he is voluntarily possessed by Voldemort, whose face appears on the back of Quirrel's head.
Professor Snape, who has a hooked nose, sallow complexion and greasy black hair, teaches Potions, but is eager to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts. Snape praises pupils in Slytherin, his own House, but seizes every opportunity to humiliate others, especially Harry. Several incidents, beginning with the shooting pain in Harry's scar near the end of the first dinner, lead Harry and his friends to think Snape is a follower of Voldemort.
Hagrid, a half-giant nearly 12 feet (3.7 m) tall, with tangled black hair and beard, was expelled from Hogwarts and his wand was broken, but Professor Dumbledore let him stay on as the school's gamekeeper, a job which enables him to lavish affection and pet names on even the most dangerous of magical creatures. Hagrid is fiercely loyal to Dumbledore and quickly becomes a close friend of Harry, Ron and later Hermione, but his carelessness makes him unreliable.
The school's caretaker, Filch, knows the school's secret passages better than anyone else except possibly the Weasley twins. His cat, Mrs. Norris, aids his hunts for misbehaving pupils. Other members of Hogwarts staff include: the dumpy Herbology teacher Professor Sprout; Professor Flitwick, the tiny and excitable Charms teacher, who is discreetly friendly towards Harry; the soporific History of Magic teacher, Professor Binns, a ghost who has not yet noticed his own death; and Madam Hooch, the Quidditch coach, who is strict but a considerate, methodical teacher. The poltergeist Peeves wanders around the buildings causing trouble for whomever he can.
In the book, Rowling introduced an eclectic cast of characters. The first character to be introduced is Vernon Dursley, Harry's uncle. Most of the actions centre on the eponymous hero Harry Potter, an orphan who escapes his miserable childhood with the Dursley family. Rowling imagined him as a "scrawny, black-haired, bespectacled boy who didn't know he was a wizard", and says she transferred part of her pain about losing her mother to him. During the book, Harry makes two close friends, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger. Ron is described by Rowling as the ultimate best friend, "always there when you need him". Rowling has described Hermione as a "very logical, upright and good" character with "a lot of insecurity and a great fear of failure beneath her swottiness".
Rowling also imagined a supporting cast of adults. Headmaster of Hogwarts is powerful but kind wizard Albus Dumbledore, who becomes Harry's confidant; Rowling described him as "epitome of goodness". His right hand is severe Minerva McGonagall, who according to the author "under that gruff exterior" is "a bit of an old softy", the friendly half-giant Rubeus Hagrid, who saved Harry from the Dursley family and the sinister Severus Snape. Professor Quirrell is also featured in the novel.
The main antagonists are Draco Malfoy, an elitist, bullying classmate and Lord Voldemort, the most powerful evil wizard who becomes disembodied when he tries to kill baby Harry. According to a 1999 interview with Rowling, the character of Voldemort was created as a literary foil for Harry, and his backstory was intentionally not fleshed-out at first:
The basic idea... Harry, I saw Harry very very very clearly. Very vividly. And I knew he didn't know he was a wizard. [...] And so then I kind of worked backwards from that position to find out how that could be, that he wouldn't know what he was. [...] When he was one year old, the most evil wizard for hundreds and hundreds of years attempted to kill him. He killed Harry's parents, and then he tried to kill Harry—he tried to curse him. [...] And—so—but for some mysterious reason, the curse didn't work on Harry. So he's left with this lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead and the curse rebounded upon the evil wizard, who has been in hiding ever since.
Development, publication and reception
Development
In 1990 Jo Rowling, as she preferred to be known, wanted to move with her boyfriend to a flat in Manchester and in her words, "One weekend after flat hunting, I took the train back to London on my own and the idea for Harry Potter fell into my head... A scrawny, little, black-haired, bespectacled boy became more and more of a wizard to me... I began to write Philosopher's Stone that very evening. Although, the first couple of pages look nothing like the finished product." Then Rowling's mother died and, to cope with her pain, Rowling transferred her own anguish to the orphan Harry. Rowling spent six years working on Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, and in 1996 obtained a grant of £4,000 from the Scottish Arts Council, which enabled her to finish the book and plan the sequels. She sent the book to an agent and a publisher, and then the second agent she approached spent a year trying to sell the book to publishers, most of whom thought it was too long at about 90,000 words. Barry Cunningham, who was building a portfolio of distinctive fantasies by new authors for Bloomsbury Children's Books, recommended accepting the book, and the eight-year-old daughter of Bloomsbury's chief executive said it was "so much better than anything else."
UK publication and reception
Imitation of the fictional Platform 9¾ at the real King's Cross railway station, with a luggage trolley apparently half-way through the magical wall
Bloomsbury accepted the book, paying Rowling a £2,500 advance, and Cunningham sent proof copies to carefully-chosen authors, critics and booksellers in order to obtain comments that could be quoted when the book was launched. He was less concerned about the book's length than about its author's name, as the title sounded like a boys' book and boys prefer books by male authors. Rowling therefore adopted the nom de plume J.K. Rowling just before publication. In June 1997, Bloomsbury published Philosopher’s Stone with an initial print-run of 500 copies in hardback, three hundred of which were distributed to libraries. The short initial print run was standard for first novels, and Cunningham hoped booksellers would read the book and recommend it to customers.
Lindsey Fraser, who had supplied one of the blurb comments, wrote what is thought to be the first published review, in The Scotsman on 28 June 1997. She described Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone as "a hugely entertaining thriller" and Rowling as "a first-rate writer for children". Another early review, in The Herald, said, "I have yet to find a child who can put it down." Newspapers outside Scotland started to notice the book, with glowing reviews in The Guardian, The Sunday Times and The Mail on Sunday, and in September 1997 Books for Keeps, a magazine that specialised in children's books, gave the novel four stars out of five. In 1997 the UK edition won a National Book Award and a gold medal in the 9 to 11 year-olds category of the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize. The Smarties award, which is voted for by children, made the book well-known within six months of publication, while most children's books have to wait for years.
The following year, Philosopher's Stone won almost all the other major UK awards that were decided by children. It was also shortlisted for children's books awards adjudicated by adults, but did not win. Sandra Beckett comments that books which were popular with children were regarded as undemanding and as not of the highest literary standards – for example the literary establishment disdained the works of Roald Dahl, an overwhelming favourite of children before the appearance of Rowling's books.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone won two publishing industry awards given for sales rather than literary merit, the British Book Awards Children's Book of the Year and the Booksellers' Association / Bookseller Author of the Year. By March 1999 UK editions had sold just over 300,000 copies, and the story was still the UK's best-selling title in December 2001. A Braille edition was published in May 1998 by the Scottish Braille Press.
Platform 9¾, from which the Hogwarts Express left London, was commemorated in the real-life King's Cross railway station with a sign between tracks 9 and 10 and a trolley apparently passing through the wall.
USA publication and reception
Scholastic Corporation bought the USA rights at the Bologna Book Fair in April 1997 for US$105,000, an unusually high sum for a children's book. They thought that a child would not want to read a book with the word "philosopher" in the title and, after some discussion, the American edition was published in October 1998 under the title Rowling suggested, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Rowling claimed that she regretted this change and would have fought it if she had been in a stronger position at the time. Philip Nel has pointed out that the change lost the connection with alchemy, and the meaning of some other terms changed in translation, for example from UK English "crumpets" to US English "muffin". While Rowling accepted the change from both standard UK English "mum" and Seamus Finnegan's Irish variant "mam" to "mom" in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, she vetoed this change in the later books. However Nel considered that Scholastic's translations were considerably more sensitive than most of those imposed on UK English books of the time, and that some other changes could be regarded as useful copyedits. Since the UK editions of early titles in the series were published a few months earlier than the American versions, some American readers became familiar with the British English versions after buying them via the Internet.
At first the most prestigious reviewers ignored the book, leaving it to book trade and library publications such as Kirkus Reviews and Booklist, which examined it only by the entertainment-oriented criteria of children's fiction. However, more penetrating specialist reviews (such as one by Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choices, which pointed out the complexity, depth and consistency of the world Rowling had built) attracted the attention of reviewers in major newspapers. Although The Boston Globe and Michael Winerip in The New York Times complained that the final chapters were the weakest part of the book they and most other American reviewers gave glowing praise. A year later the US edition was selected as an American Library Association Notable Book, a Publishers Weekly Best Book of 1998, and a New York Public Library 1998 Best Book of the Year, and won Parenting Magazine's Book of the Year Award for 1998, the School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, and the American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults.
In August 1999 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone topped the New York Times list of best-selling fiction, and stayed near the top of the list for much of 1999 and 2000, until the New York Times split its list into children's and adult sections under pressure from other publishers who were eager to see their books given higher placings. Publishers Weekly's report in December 2001 on cumulative sales of children's fiction placed Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone 19th among hardbacks (over 5 million copies) and 7th among paperbacks (over 6.6 million copies).
In May 2008, Scholastic announced the creation of a 10th Anniversary Edition of the book to be released in September 2008 to mark the tenth anniversary of the original American release.
转眼间，哈利在霍格沃茨魔法学校第一年的学习顺利结束了，对于哈利而言，离开这个刚刚熟悉的魔法世界，回到女贞路的德斯礼家去，简直是件最痛苦的事情，他不得不去忍受一个暑假他刻薄的佩妮姨妈和蛮横的弗农姨夫喋喋不休的唠叨和监管。
也许是出于对哈利魔法的忌惮，整个暑假都快过去了，德斯礼一家除了不允许哈利做他的魔法作业外，几乎没有太为难他。但是哈利还是觉得很苦恼，因为他在霍格沃茨最好的两个朋友——赫敏和罗恩似乎已经把他忘记了，三个好朋友说好要在暑假写信保持联系，哈利不停地给两个朋友写信，但是直到现在，他却还没有接到一封回信。
就在假期马上要结束的时候，一个名叫多比的小精灵突然出现在哈利的卧室中，它警告哈利，回到霍格沃茨将会有可怕的事情降临，哈利会有生命危险！为了保全哈利的性命，多比截留了所有赫敏和罗恩给哈利的回信——它以为这样哈利就会出于对朋友的失望而不再返回霍格沃茨上学，可是哈利坚持要回到霍格沃茨去，为了阻止哈利，多比在甚至违轨在麻瓜世界使用了魔法大闹德斯礼一家，结果哈利耽误了返回霍格沃茨的专列，就在他心急如焚的时候，好朋友罗恩驾着一辆施了魔法的飞车来救驾了，费尽周折，他们终于得以在新学期开学典礼上赶回学校。
而此时，哈利上个学期击溃伏地魔的英雄行为已经在霍格沃茨和整个魔法世界广为传播，哈利突然成为了众人瞩目的中心，有个风吹草动，他就可能成为人们议论的话题，偏偏新上任的黑魔法防御课教授洛哈特(肯尼斯.布拉纳)也是个爱出风头的人物，尤其喜欢明里暗里地刁难一下哈利，然后把自己标榜成为霍格沃茨真正的大英雄。
果然和精灵多比预言的一样，新学期开始没多久，霍格沃茨就频频出现恐怖神秘的事件——几个落单的学生和守门人的猫受到某种可怕的力量的攻击而石化，而哈利的耳边，也时常有一个幽灵般声音响起，告诉他：霍格沃茨的密室之门被打开，邪恶力量的后嗣将会对学校里的泥巴种(即父母不是巫师的学生)进行报复……
一时间霍格沃茨人心惶惶，由于能听得懂蛇的语言，哈利被怀疑是那个传说中邪恶力量的后嗣，围在身边的朋友们也纷纷开始置疑哈利，只有赫敏和罗恩，始终对哈利寄予着百分之百的信任，然后当有一天，赫敏也被遭到了神秘力量的攻击，一向热衷于自吹自擂的洛哈特教授显出懦夫的本性，临阵退缩，只有罗恩坚定地和哈利站在一起对抗着邪恶力量，哈利知道，为了保护他热爱的霍格沃茨学校，为了拯救和他生死与共的好朋友，也为了洗清加在自己头上的种种怀疑，他必须有所行动了，可是，他面对的敌人究竟是谁？他隐藏在哪里？他的目的又是什么？哈利陷入一团迷雾中……
《哈利·波特与密室》[电影]-影片评价
本集要比第一集更偏成人，色调更暗。由于片中一些比较骇人的场面，华纳公司曾十分担心影片被划为PG-13级，这样他们在影片上映后同期推出的波特玩具销量将会大打折扣。《哈利·波特与密室》的原著小说不仅比第一部更长、包含更多的人物，角色也更具特色。虽然有些读者将《密室》原著选为他们最不喜欢的一辑，因为剧情过于直接，缺乏曲折。但是，影片黑暗严峻的主题——魔法学校中的一个邪恶的存在将学生们一个个地变成了石头——使导演哥伦布能够专注于令人目眩的视觉特效以及刺激的动作场面。原先扮演魔法校长的老爷爷理查德·哈里斯去世了，喜欢他的人可不能错过这集。在原著小说的插图里，小精灵多比和影片里的形象差距不小，片中用计算机特技制作出来多比还因为长得与俄罗斯总统普京有些相似而引起了关注和争议。
《哈利·波特与密室》[电影]-幕后制作
《哈利·波特与密室》原著小说于1998年出版，随即登上了英国畅销书籍排行榜的冠军，接着更在《纽约时报》、《今日美国报》和《华尔街日报》的畅销书籍排行榜上称霸，在全世界四十几个国家发行，总销售量高达四千多万本(光是在美国和加拿大就卖出了超过一千五百万本)。
《哈利·波特与密室》于2001年11月19日，在哈特福郡的利夫斯登摄影棚展开拍摄工作，《哈利波特：神秘的魔法石》在英国当地才上映三天，就打破了多项票房记录，成为影史上总票房收入第二高的电影，同时囊括了三项奥斯卡金像奖的提名，以及七项英国影视艺术学院奖的提名，包括年度最佳英国影片。
这部新片再度找来童星丹尼尔·雷德克里夫( 《惊爆危机》、BBC电视台的《块肉余生录》)饰演哈利波特、鲁伯特·葛林特饰演荣恩·韦斯利、以及埃玛·瓦特森饰演妙丽·格兰杰，三位小魔法师进入了霍格华兹魔法与巫术学院的第二学年，与神秘的邪恶力量短兵交接。
身兼导演与执行制作职务的克里斯·哥伦布说："只要你喜欢第一集的《哈利波特》电影，就一定会爱上《消失的密室》，这个故事更神秘黑暗，充满了骇人的怪物和潜藏的邪恶力量；此外，这部电影还增加了许多令人兴奋的新角色，包括新来的黑魔法防御术教授基德罗·洛哈。"
具备编剧与导演等多项才艺的演员肯尼斯·布莱纳(《哈姆雷特》、 《都是男人惹的祸》 、《再续前世情》)，饰演娇柔做作的自恋狂基德罗·洛哈，加入霍格华兹学院，担任黑魔法防御术的新教授。
肯尼斯·布莱纳说："基德罗·洛哈是萝琳笔下的万人迷，我很乐于投入霍格华兹的魔法世界里，和这么多优秀的演职人员合作。"
《哈利·波特与密室》[电影]-幕后花絮
·一号男主演丹尼尔·雷德克利弗在第二集拍到一半时突然变声，后来经由一些技术处理才算解决，不至于要重新再配音。
·由于片中一些比较骇人的场面，华纳公司曾十分担心影片被划为PG-13级，这样他们在影片上映后同期推出的波特玩具销量将会大打折扣，别小看这些玩具，去年它们为华纳公司带来了超过5亿美元的进帐！它们的最主要购买群体为7到11岁的儿童。
·作为一名父亲，导演哥伦布曾对观众们发出这样的警告："如果你们带着自己7岁甚至比7岁还小的孩子来看这部片子，请一定要确保他们有能力分辨他们看的是什么。"
·在原著小说的插图里，小精灵多比穿着一个茶巾改成的、面口袋似的破旧衣服，尖头尖脑，顽皮可爱，像只小老鼠多过像精灵，和影片里的形象差距不小。
·影片中的大部分室内场景都是在伦敦郊外一个由废弃机场改造的摄影棚内完成，据说这个位置隐秘的机库内共有22个摄影棚，而《哈利·波特》的剧组就包下了其中的17个。
·为了拍摄罗恩和波特开着飞天汽车赶去魔法学校一幕，剧组共动用了14辆一模一样的老爷车，以应付不同角度的拍摄需要。
·为了凸现出洛哈特教授的爱慕虚荣，导演哥伦布和原作者罗琳女士一起商量后，为这个角色亲自设计了各种以丝绸服饰为主的造型，色彩华贵艳丽中又透出一种世俗浮华的味道。
·还是为了奖励丹尼尔在第一集中的出色表演，华纳公司送给丹尼尔一个他梦寐以求的电子游戏软件，虽然价值只有区区10英镑，但却让童心不减的丹尼尔着实激动了半天。
·饰演罗恩的鲁伯特承认，他觉得尴尬的是有时候影迷们会拿一些稀奇古怪的东西让他们签名，就在几天前，竟然还有人请他在一张支票上签名，弄得鲁伯特哭笑不得。
·饰演赫敏的艾玛最喜欢的演员是好莱坞"最性感的男人"布拉德·彼特，她说渴望自己到好莱坞发展，有朝一日能和她的偶像合作拍片。
·在霍格沃茨学生宿舍走廊里出现的那些会动的画像，据说画里的人物都是以剧组就地取材，以各位幕后工作人员，比如剧务、灯光师、化妆师等等为模特绘制的。
·随着电影一部接一部推出，众多的波特迷们等待着罗琳的第五部《哈利·波特》小说问世也是等得心焦，这部已经定名为《哈利·波特与凤凰的命令》的小说，最新的说法，将会在明年6月份正式出版。
《哈利·波特与密室》[电影]-穿帮镜头
·在魁地奇比赛过程中，可以看到藏在哈里扫帚上的钢丝。
·连贯性：罗恩从他母亲收到咆哮信Howler，稍后不久，艾尔闯了进来，可以看到那封红色的信是打开着的，当罗恩把信从艾尔的嘴里拿来的时候，我们可以看到罗恩打开信封，这样他才能阅读信件。
·哈利和荣恩跑往九又四分之三月台去赶霍格华兹特快车，鸟笼因碰撞快要倒地时可以发现那是只假鸟。
·影片中决斗的镜头左边可以看到剧组人员(摄影师)。
·密室中哈利波特靠近圆镜前装着头骨的玻璃容器，随即走开，这时候他身边出现一个很高的铁装饰物，之前这里显示并无此物。
·汽车树林边停下时，车尾部有个被撞的很深的凹陷，以及边上有福特盎格鲁汽车商标牌，仅仅在他们取下行礼后凹痕和商标牌都不见了。
·影片中有个小演员，他的左脸上两颗丘疹位置居然是会移动的。
·哈里波特右手按在伤口上和ginny说话，当时右手背有着血污，随着镜头拉近，血污消失了。
·家庭精灵多比在哈利的卧房里与之交谈的场景里，背后墙壁上悬挂物间的距离有较大改变。
·奔跑中他们与行李车相撞：仔细看发生碰撞时行李车底部有5根铁条，两人倒地后行李车底部只有4根铁条，这显然不是同一架行李车。
·飞天魔法车上哈利和荣恩尖叫的镜头，哈利身后有只神秘的手扶着鸟笼……
The book was published in the United Kingdom on 2 July 1998 by Bloomsbury and in the United States on 2 June 1999 by Scholastic Inc. Although Rowling found it difficult to finish the book, it won high praise and awards from critics, young readers and the book industry, although some critics thought the story was perhaps too frightening for younger children. Some religious authorities have condemned its use of magical themes, while others have praised its emphasis on self-sacrifice and on the way in which a person's character is the result of the person's choices.
Several commentators have noted that personal identity is a strong theme in the book, and that it addresses issues of racism through the treatment of non-magical, non-human and non-living characters. Some commentators regard the diary as a warning against uncritical acceptance of information from sources whose motives and reliability cannot be checked. Institutional authority is portrayed as self-serving and incompetent.
The film version of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, released in 2002, became the third film to exceed $600 million in international box office sales and received generally favourable reviews. However, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers won the Saturn Award for the Best Fantasy Film. Video games loosely based on Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets were also released for several platforms, and most obtained favourable reviews.
Synopsis
Plot introduction
In the first novel in the Harry Potter series, the main character, Harry Potter, has struggled with the difficulties that come with growing up and the added challenge of being a famous wizard. When Harry was a baby, Voldemort, the most powerful evil wizard in living memory, killed Harry's parents but mysteriously vanished after trying to kill Harry. This results in Harry's immediate fame, and his being placed in the care of his Muggle, or non-magical, relatives Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon.
Harry enters the wizarding world at the age of eleven, enrolling in the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He makes friends with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, and is confronted by Lord Voldemort trying to regain power.
Plot summary
Soon after the start of Harry's second year at Hogwarts, messages on the walls of the corridors say that the mythical Chamber of Secrets has been re-opened and that the "heir of Slytherin" would kill all pupils whose parents are both non-magical – which includes Hermione. At intervals various inhabitants of the school are found petrified in corridors. Meanwhile, Harry, Ron, and Hermione discover Moaning Myrtle, the ghost of a girl who was killed the last time the Chamber was opened, and who now haunts the girls' toilet in which she died. Myrtle shows Harry a diary bearing the name Tom Marvolo Riddle. Although its pages are blank, it responds when Harry writes in it. Eventually the book shows him Hogwarts as it was fifty years ago. There he sees Tom Riddle, a pupil at the time, pin the blame for opening the Chamber on Rubeus Hagrid, who was then thirteen years old and already devoted to keeping dangerous magical creatures as pets.
Four months later, the diary is stolen, and shortly afterward Hermione is petrified. However, she holds a note explaining that the culprit is a basilisk, a huge serpent whose gaze kills those who look into its eyes directly but only petrifies those who look into them by means of a reflecting surface, such as water or a mirror. Hermione concluded that the monster travels through the school's pipes and emerges through the toilet Myrtle haunts. As the attacks continue, Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic, holds Hagrid in the wizards' prison as a precaution. Lucius Malfoy, a former supporter of Voldemort who claims to have reformed, then announces that the school's governors have suspended Dumbledore from the position of headmaster.
After Ron's younger sister Ginny is taken into the Chamber, the staff insist that the Dark Arts teacher, Gilderoy Lockhart, should handle the situation. However, when Harry and Ron go to his office to tell him what they have discovered about the basilisk, Lockhart reveals that he is a fraud who took credit for the accomplishments of others and attempts to erase the boys' memories. Disarming Lockhart, they march him to Moaning Myrtle's toilet, where Harry opens the passage to the Chamber of Secrets. In the sewers under the school, Lockhart grabs Ron's wand and tries again to wipe the boys' memories – but Ron's wand had been damaged in an accident at the start of the school year and the spell backfires, inflicting total amnesia on Lockhart, collapsing part of the tunnel and separating Harry from Ron and Lockhart.
While Ron attempts to tunnel through the rubble, Harry enters the Chamber of Secrets, where Ginny lies beside the diary. As he examines her, Tom Riddle appears, looking exactly as he did fifty years ago, and explains that he is a memory stored in the diary. Ginny wrote in it about her adolescent hopes and fears, and Riddle won her confidence by appearing sympathetic, possessed her, and used her to open the Chamber. Riddle also reveals that he is Voldemort as a boy. He further explains that he learned from Ginny who Harry was and about his own deeds as Voldemort. When Ginny realised that she had been responsible for the attacks, she attempted to throw the diary away, which is how it came into Harry's possession. Riddle then releases the basilisk to kill Harry. Dumbledore's pet phoenix, Fawkes, brings a magnificent sword wrapped in the Sorting Hat. Harry uses the sword to kill the basilisk – but only after being bitten by the creature's venomous fangs, one of which breaks off. As Riddle gloats over the dying Harry, Fawkes cures him with its tears. Harry stabs the diary with the broken fang, and Riddle screams and vanishes. Ginny revives after Riddle's disappearance and they return to Ron, who is still watching over the amnesic Lockhart. Fawkes carries all four out of the tunnels.
Harry recounts the whole story to Dumbledore, who has been reinstated. The headmaster revokes his threat to expel the boys if they broke more rules and gives them special awards for services to the school. When Harry mentions his fears that he is similar to Tom Riddle, Dumbledore says that Harry chose Gryffindor House, and only a true member of that House could have used Godric Gryffindor's sword to kill the basilisk. Lucius Malfoy bursts in, and Harry accuses him of slipping the diary into one of Ginny's books while all the pupils were shopping for school books. Malfoy replies, "Prove it." Finally, all of the basilisk's petrified victims are revived by a potion, the preparation of which has taken several months.
Publication and reception
Development
Rowling found it difficult to finish Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets because she was afraid it would not live up to the expectations raised by Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. After delivering the manuscript to Bloomsbury on schedule, she took it back for six weeks of revision.
In early drafts of the book, the ghost Nearly Headless Nick sang a self-composed song explaining his condition and the circumstances of his death. This was cut as the book's editor did not care for the poem, which has been subsequently published as an extra on J. K. Rowling's official website. The family background of Dean Thomas was removed because Rowling and her publishers considered it an "unnecessary digression", and she considered Neville Longbottom's own journey of discovery "more important to the central plot".
Publication
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was published in the UK on 2 July 1998 and in the US on 2 June 1999. It immediately took first place in UK bestseller lists, displacing popular authors such as John Grisham, Tom Clancy, and Terry Pratchett, and making Rowling the first author to win the British Book Awards Children's Book of the Year for two years in succession. In June 1999 it went straight to the top of three US bestseller lists, including The New York Times'.
First edition printings had several errors, which were fixed in subsequent reprints. Initially Dumbledore said that Voldemort was the last remaining ancestor of Salazar Slytherin, instead of his descendant. Gilderoy Lockhart's book on werewolves is entitled Weekends with Werewolves at one point and Wanderings with Werewolves later in the book.
Critical response
In The Times, Deborah Loudon described Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets as a children's book that would be "re-read into adulthood" and highlighted its "strong plots, engaging characters, excellent jokes and a moral message which flows naturally from the story". Fantasy author Charles de Lint agreed, and considered the second Harry Potter book as good as Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, a rare achievement among series of books. Thomas Wagner regarded the plot as very similar to that of the first book, based on searching for a secret hidden under the school. However, he enjoyed the parody of celebrities and their fans that centres round Gilderoy Lockhart, and approved of the book's handling of racism. Tammy Nezol found the book more disturbing than its predecessor, particularly in the rash behaviour of Harry and his friends after Harry withholds information from Dumbledore, and in the human-like behaviour of the mandrakes used to make a potion that cures petrification. Nevertheless she considered the second story as enjoyable as the first.
Mary Stuart thought the final conflict with Tom Riddle in the Chamber was almost as scary as in some of Stephen King's works, and perhaps too strong for young or timid children. She commented that "there are enough surprises and imaginative details thrown in as would normally fill five lesser books." Like other reviewers, she thought the book would give pleasure to both children and adult readers. According to Philip Nel, the early reviews gave unalloyed praise while the later ones included some criticisms, although they still agreed that the book was outstanding.
Writing after all seven books had been published, Graeme Davis regarded Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets as the weakest of the series, and agreed that the plot structure is much the same as in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. He described Fawkes's appearance to arm Harry and then to heal him as a deus ex machina: the book does not explain how Fawkes knew where to find Harry; and Fawkes's timing had to be very precise, as arriving earlier would probably have prevented the battle with the basilisk, while arriving later would have been fatal to Harry and Ginny.
Dave Kopel describes the climactic scene in which Harry saves Ginny from Riddle's diary and the basilisk as Pilgrim's Progress for a new audience: "Harry descends to a deep underworld, is confronted by two Satanic minions (Voldemort and a giant serpent), is saved from certain death by his faith in Dumbledore (the bearded God the Father/Ancient of Days), rescues the virgin (Ginerva [sic] Weasley), and ascends in triumph."
Awards and honours
Rowling's Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was the recipient of several awards. The American Library Association listed the novel among its 2000 Notable Children's Books, as well as its Best Books for Young Adults. In 1999, Booklist named Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets as one of its Editors' Choices, and as one of its Top Ten Fantasy Novels for Youth. The Cooperative Children's Book center made the novel a CCBC Choice of 2000 in the "Fiction for Children" category. The novel also won Children's Book of the Year British Book Award, and was shortlisted for the 1998 Guardian Children's Award and the 1998 Carnegie Award.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets won the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize 1998 Gold Medal in the 9–11 years division. Rowling also won two other Nestlé Smarties Book Prizes for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. The Scottish Arts Council awarded their first ever Children’s Book Award to the novel in 1999, and it was also awarded Whitaker's Platinum Book Award in 2001.
Religious response
Religious controversy surrounding Harry Potter and the Chamber of the Secrets and the other books in the Harry Potter series mainly deal with claims that the novel contains occult or Satanic subtexts. Religious response to the series has not been exclusively negative, however, and several religious groups have spoken in defense of the moralistic themes found in the book. The American Library Association even placed the series atop the "most challenged books" list for 1999–2001.
The Orthodox churches of Greece and Bulgaria have campaigned against the series, and in the United States, calls for the book to be banned from schools have led to legal challenges. Most of these are held on the grounds that witchcraft is a government-recognised religion and that to allow the novels to be held in public schools violates the separation of church and state.
Some religious responses have been positive. Emily Griesinger wrote that fantasy literature helps children to survive reality for long enough to learn how to deal with it, described Harry's first passage through to Platform 9¾ as an application of faith and hope, and his encounter with the Sorting Hat as the first of many in which Harry is shaped by the choices he makes. She noted that the self-sacrifice of Harry's mother, which protected the boy in the first book and throughout the series, was the most powerful of the "deeper magics" that transcend the magical "technology" of the wizards, and one which the power-hungry Voldemort fails to understand. Christianity Today published an editorial in favour of the books in January 2000, calling the series a "Book of Virtues" and averring that although "modern witchcraft is indeed an ensnaring, seductive false religion that we must protect our children from", the Harry Potter books represent "wonderful examples of compassion, loyalty, courage, friendship, and even self-sacrifice". "At least as much as they've been attacked from a theological point of view", commented Rowling, "[the books] have been lauded and taken into pulpit, and most interesting and satisfying for me, it's been by several different faiths".
Themes
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets continues the examination of what makes a person who he or she is, which began in the first book. As well as maintaining that Harry's identity is shaped by his decisions rather than any aspect of his birth,Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets provides contrasting characters who try to conceal their true personalities: as Tammy Nezol puts it, Gilderoy Lockhart "lacks any real identity" because he is nothing more than a charming liar. Riddle also complicates Harry's struggle to understand himself by pointing out the similarities between the two: "both half-bloods, orphans raised by Muggles, probably the only two Parselmouths to come to Hogwarts since the great Slytherin."
Opposition to class, prejudice, and racism is a constant theme of the series. In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Harry's consideration and respect for others extends to the lowly, non-human Dobby and the ghost Nearly Headless Nick. According to Marguerite Krause, achievements in the novel depend more on ingenuity and hard work than on natural talents.
Edward Duffy, an associate professor at Marquette University, says that one of the central characters of Chamber of Secrets is a book, Tom Riddle's enchanted diary, which takes control of Ginny Weasley – just as Riddle planned. Duffy suggests that Rowling intended this as a warning against passively consuming information from sources that have their own agendas. Although Bronwyn Williams and Amy Zenger regard the diary as more like an instant messaging or chat room system, they agree about the dangers of relying too much on the written word, which can camouflage the author, and they highlight a comical example, Lockhart's self-promoting books.
Immorality and the portrayal of authority as negative are significant themes in the novel. Marguerite Krause states that there are few absolute moral rules in Harry Potter's world, for example Harry prefers to tell the truth, but lies whenever he considers it necessary – very like his enemy Draco Malfoy. At the end of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Dumbledore retracts his promise to punish Harry, Ron, and Hermione if they break any more school rules – after Professor McGonagall estimates that they have broken over 100 – and lavishly rewards them for ending the threat from the Chamber of Secrets. Krause further states that authority figures and political institutions receive little respect from Rowling. William MacNeil of Griffith University, Queensland, Australia states that the Minister for Magic is presented as a mediocrity. In his article "Harry Potter And The Secular City", Ken Jacobson suggests that the Ministry as a whole is portrayed as a tangle of bureaucratic empires, saying that "Ministry officials busy themselves with minutiae (e.g. standardising cauldron thicknesses) and coin politically correct euphemisms like 'non-magical community' (for Muggles) and 'memory modification' (for magical brainwashing)."
This novel implies that it begins in 1992: the cake for Nearly-Headless Nick's 500th deathday party bears the words "Sir Nicholas De Mimsy Porpington died 31 October 1492".
Connection to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Chamber of Secrets has many links with the sixth book of the series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. In fact, Half-Blood Prince was the working title of Chamber of Secrets and Rowling says she originally intended to present some "crucial pieces of information" in the second book, but ultimately felt that "this information's proper home was book six". Some objects that play significant roles in Half-Blood Prince first appear in Chamber of Secrets: the Hand of Glory and the opal necklace that are on sale in Borgin and Burkes; a Vanishing Cabinet in Hogwarts that is damaged by Peeves the Poltergeist; and Tom Riddle's diary, which is later shown to be a Horcrux.
也许是出于对哈利魔法的忌惮，整个暑假都快过去了，德斯礼一家除了不允许哈利做他的魔法作业外，几乎没有太为难他。但是哈利还是觉得很苦恼，因为他在霍格沃茨最好的两个朋友——赫敏和罗恩似乎已经把他忘记了，三个好朋友说好要在暑假写信保持联系，哈利不停地给两个朋友写信，但是直到现在，他却还没有接到一封回信。
就在假期马上要结束的时候，一个名叫多比的小精灵突然出现在哈利的卧室中，它警告哈利，回到霍格沃茨将会有可怕的事情降临，哈利会有生命危险！为了保全哈利的性命，多比截留了所有赫敏和罗恩给哈利的回信——它以为这样哈利就会出于对朋友的失望而不再返回霍格沃茨上学，可是哈利坚持要回到霍格沃茨去，为了阻止哈利，多比在甚至违轨在麻瓜世界使用了魔法大闹德斯礼一家，结果哈利耽误了返回霍格沃茨的专列，就在他心急如焚的时候，好朋友罗恩驾着一辆施了魔法的飞车来救驾了，费尽周折，他们终于得以在新学期开学典礼上赶回学校。
而此时，哈利上个学期击溃伏地魔的英雄行为已经在霍格沃茨和整个魔法世界广为传播，哈利突然成为了众人瞩目的中心，有个风吹草动，他就可能成为人们议论的话题，偏偏新上任的黑魔法防御课教授洛哈特(肯尼斯.布拉纳)也是个爱出风头的人物，尤其喜欢明里暗里地刁难一下哈利，然后把自己标榜成为霍格沃茨真正的大英雄。
果然和精灵多比预言的一样，新学期开始没多久，霍格沃茨就频频出现恐怖神秘的事件——几个落单的学生和守门人的猫受到某种可怕的力量的攻击而石化，而哈利的耳边，也时常有一个幽灵般声音响起，告诉他：霍格沃茨的密室之门被打开，邪恶力量的后嗣将会对学校里的泥巴种(即父母不是巫师的学生)进行报复……
一时间霍格沃茨人心惶惶，由于能听得懂蛇的语言，哈利被怀疑是那个传说中邪恶力量的后嗣，围在身边的朋友们也纷纷开始置疑哈利，只有赫敏和罗恩，始终对哈利寄予着百分之百的信任，然后当有一天，赫敏也被遭到了神秘力量的攻击，一向热衷于自吹自擂的洛哈特教授显出懦夫的本性，临阵退缩，只有罗恩坚定地和哈利站在一起对抗着邪恶力量，哈利知道，为了保护他热爱的霍格沃茨学校，为了拯救和他生死与共的好朋友，也为了洗清加在自己头上的种种怀疑，他必须有所行动了，可是，他面对的敌人究竟是谁？他隐藏在哪里？他的目的又是什么？哈利陷入一团迷雾中……
《哈利·波特与密室》[电影]-影片评价
本集要比第一集更偏成人，色调更暗。由于片中一些比较骇人的场面，华纳公司曾十分担心影片被划为PG-13级，这样他们在影片上映后同期推出的波特玩具销量将会大打折扣。《哈利·波特与密室》的原著小说不仅比第一部更长、包含更多的人物，角色也更具特色。虽然有些读者将《密室》原著选为他们最不喜欢的一辑，因为剧情过于直接，缺乏曲折。但是，影片黑暗严峻的主题——魔法学校中的一个邪恶的存在将学生们一个个地变成了石头——使导演哥伦布能够专注于令人目眩的视觉特效以及刺激的动作场面。原先扮演魔法校长的老爷爷理查德·哈里斯去世了，喜欢他的人可不能错过这集。在原著小说的插图里，小精灵多比和影片里的形象差距不小，片中用计算机特技制作出来多比还因为长得与俄罗斯总统普京有些相似而引起了关注和争议。
《哈利·波特与密室》[电影]-幕后制作
《哈利·波特与密室》原著小说于1998年出版，随即登上了英国畅销书籍排行榜的冠军，接着更在《纽约时报》、《今日美国报》和《华尔街日报》的畅销书籍排行榜上称霸，在全世界四十几个国家发行，总销售量高达四千多万本(光是在美国和加拿大就卖出了超过一千五百万本)。
《哈利·波特与密室》于2001年11月19日，在哈特福郡的利夫斯登摄影棚展开拍摄工作，《哈利波特：神秘的魔法石》在英国当地才上映三天，就打破了多项票房记录，成为影史上总票房收入第二高的电影，同时囊括了三项奥斯卡金像奖的提名，以及七项英国影视艺术学院奖的提名，包括年度最佳英国影片。
这部新片再度找来童星丹尼尔·雷德克里夫( 《惊爆危机》、BBC电视台的《块肉余生录》)饰演哈利波特、鲁伯特·葛林特饰演荣恩·韦斯利、以及埃玛·瓦特森饰演妙丽·格兰杰，三位小魔法师进入了霍格华兹魔法与巫术学院的第二学年，与神秘的邪恶力量短兵交接。
身兼导演与执行制作职务的克里斯·哥伦布说："只要你喜欢第一集的《哈利波特》电影，就一定会爱上《消失的密室》，这个故事更神秘黑暗，充满了骇人的怪物和潜藏的邪恶力量；此外，这部电影还增加了许多令人兴奋的新角色，包括新来的黑魔法防御术教授基德罗·洛哈。"
具备编剧与导演等多项才艺的演员肯尼斯·布莱纳(《哈姆雷特》、 《都是男人惹的祸》 、《再续前世情》)，饰演娇柔做作的自恋狂基德罗·洛哈，加入霍格华兹学院，担任黑魔法防御术的新教授。
肯尼斯·布莱纳说："基德罗·洛哈是萝琳笔下的万人迷，我很乐于投入霍格华兹的魔法世界里，和这么多优秀的演职人员合作。"
《哈利·波特与密室》[电影]-幕后花絮
·一号男主演丹尼尔·雷德克利弗在第二集拍到一半时突然变声，后来经由一些技术处理才算解决，不至于要重新再配音。
·由于片中一些比较骇人的场面，华纳公司曾十分担心影片被划为PG-13级，这样他们在影片上映后同期推出的波特玩具销量将会大打折扣，别小看这些玩具，去年它们为华纳公司带来了超过5亿美元的进帐！它们的最主要购买群体为7到11岁的儿童。
·作为一名父亲，导演哥伦布曾对观众们发出这样的警告："如果你们带着自己7岁甚至比7岁还小的孩子来看这部片子，请一定要确保他们有能力分辨他们看的是什么。"
·在原著小说的插图里，小精灵多比穿着一个茶巾改成的、面口袋似的破旧衣服，尖头尖脑，顽皮可爱，像只小老鼠多过像精灵，和影片里的形象差距不小。
·影片中的大部分室内场景都是在伦敦郊外一个由废弃机场改造的摄影棚内完成，据说这个位置隐秘的机库内共有22个摄影棚，而《哈利·波特》的剧组就包下了其中的17个。
·为了拍摄罗恩和波特开着飞天汽车赶去魔法学校一幕，剧组共动用了14辆一模一样的老爷车，以应付不同角度的拍摄需要。
·为了凸现出洛哈特教授的爱慕虚荣，导演哥伦布和原作者罗琳女士一起商量后，为这个角色亲自设计了各种以丝绸服饰为主的造型，色彩华贵艳丽中又透出一种世俗浮华的味道。
·还是为了奖励丹尼尔在第一集中的出色表演，华纳公司送给丹尼尔一个他梦寐以求的电子游戏软件，虽然价值只有区区10英镑，但却让童心不减的丹尼尔着实激动了半天。
·饰演罗恩的鲁伯特承认，他觉得尴尬的是有时候影迷们会拿一些稀奇古怪的东西让他们签名，就在几天前，竟然还有人请他在一张支票上签名，弄得鲁伯特哭笑不得。
·饰演赫敏的艾玛最喜欢的演员是好莱坞"最性感的男人"布拉德·彼特，她说渴望自己到好莱坞发展，有朝一日能和她的偶像合作拍片。
·在霍格沃茨学生宿舍走廊里出现的那些会动的画像，据说画里的人物都是以剧组就地取材，以各位幕后工作人员，比如剧务、灯光师、化妆师等等为模特绘制的。
·随着电影一部接一部推出，众多的波特迷们等待着罗琳的第五部《哈利·波特》小说问世也是等得心焦，这部已经定名为《哈利·波特与凤凰的命令》的小说，最新的说法，将会在明年6月份正式出版。
《哈利·波特与密室》[电影]-穿帮镜头
·在魁地奇比赛过程中，可以看到藏在哈里扫帚上的钢丝。
·连贯性：罗恩从他母亲收到咆哮信Howler，稍后不久，艾尔闯了进来，可以看到那封红色的信是打开着的，当罗恩把信从艾尔的嘴里拿来的时候，我们可以看到罗恩打开信封，这样他才能阅读信件。
·哈利和荣恩跑往九又四分之三月台去赶霍格华兹特快车，鸟笼因碰撞快要倒地时可以发现那是只假鸟。
·影片中决斗的镜头左边可以看到剧组人员(摄影师)。
·密室中哈利波特靠近圆镜前装着头骨的玻璃容器，随即走开，这时候他身边出现一个很高的铁装饰物，之前这里显示并无此物。
·汽车树林边停下时，车尾部有个被撞的很深的凹陷，以及边上有福特盎格鲁汽车商标牌，仅仅在他们取下行礼后凹痕和商标牌都不见了。
·影片中有个小演员，他的左脸上两颗丘疹位置居然是会移动的。
·哈里波特右手按在伤口上和ginny说话，当时右手背有着血污，随着镜头拉近，血污消失了。
·家庭精灵多比在哈利的卧房里与之交谈的场景里，背后墙壁上悬挂物间的距离有较大改变。
·奔跑中他们与行李车相撞：仔细看发生碰撞时行李车底部有5根铁条，两人倒地后行李车底部只有4根铁条，这显然不是同一架行李车。
·飞天魔法车上哈利和荣恩尖叫的镜头，哈利身后有只神秘的手扶着鸟笼……
The book was published in the United Kingdom on 2 July 1998 by Bloomsbury and in the United States on 2 June 1999 by Scholastic Inc. Although Rowling found it difficult to finish the book, it won high praise and awards from critics, young readers and the book industry, although some critics thought the story was perhaps too frightening for younger children. Some religious authorities have condemned its use of magical themes, while others have praised its emphasis on self-sacrifice and on the way in which a person's character is the result of the person's choices.
Several commentators have noted that personal identity is a strong theme in the book, and that it addresses issues of racism through the treatment of non-magical, non-human and non-living characters. Some commentators regard the diary as a warning against uncritical acceptance of information from sources whose motives and reliability cannot be checked. Institutional authority is portrayed as self-serving and incompetent.
The film version of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, released in 2002, became the third film to exceed $600 million in international box office sales and received generally favourable reviews. However, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers won the Saturn Award for the Best Fantasy Film. Video games loosely based on Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets were also released for several platforms, and most obtained favourable reviews.
Synopsis
Plot introduction
In the first novel in the Harry Potter series, the main character, Harry Potter, has struggled with the difficulties that come with growing up and the added challenge of being a famous wizard. When Harry was a baby, Voldemort, the most powerful evil wizard in living memory, killed Harry's parents but mysteriously vanished after trying to kill Harry. This results in Harry's immediate fame, and his being placed in the care of his Muggle, or non-magical, relatives Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon.
Harry enters the wizarding world at the age of eleven, enrolling in the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He makes friends with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, and is confronted by Lord Voldemort trying to regain power.
Plot summary
Soon after the start of Harry's second year at Hogwarts, messages on the walls of the corridors say that the mythical Chamber of Secrets has been re-opened and that the "heir of Slytherin" would kill all pupils whose parents are both non-magical – which includes Hermione. At intervals various inhabitants of the school are found petrified in corridors. Meanwhile, Harry, Ron, and Hermione discover Moaning Myrtle, the ghost of a girl who was killed the last time the Chamber was opened, and who now haunts the girls' toilet in which she died. Myrtle shows Harry a diary bearing the name Tom Marvolo Riddle. Although its pages are blank, it responds when Harry writes in it. Eventually the book shows him Hogwarts as it was fifty years ago. There he sees Tom Riddle, a pupil at the time, pin the blame for opening the Chamber on Rubeus Hagrid, who was then thirteen years old and already devoted to keeping dangerous magical creatures as pets.
Four months later, the diary is stolen, and shortly afterward Hermione is petrified. However, she holds a note explaining that the culprit is a basilisk, a huge serpent whose gaze kills those who look into its eyes directly but only petrifies those who look into them by means of a reflecting surface, such as water or a mirror. Hermione concluded that the monster travels through the school's pipes and emerges through the toilet Myrtle haunts. As the attacks continue, Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic, holds Hagrid in the wizards' prison as a precaution. Lucius Malfoy, a former supporter of Voldemort who claims to have reformed, then announces that the school's governors have suspended Dumbledore from the position of headmaster.
After Ron's younger sister Ginny is taken into the Chamber, the staff insist that the Dark Arts teacher, Gilderoy Lockhart, should handle the situation. However, when Harry and Ron go to his office to tell him what they have discovered about the basilisk, Lockhart reveals that he is a fraud who took credit for the accomplishments of others and attempts to erase the boys' memories. Disarming Lockhart, they march him to Moaning Myrtle's toilet, where Harry opens the passage to the Chamber of Secrets. In the sewers under the school, Lockhart grabs Ron's wand and tries again to wipe the boys' memories – but Ron's wand had been damaged in an accident at the start of the school year and the spell backfires, inflicting total amnesia on Lockhart, collapsing part of the tunnel and separating Harry from Ron and Lockhart.
While Ron attempts to tunnel through the rubble, Harry enters the Chamber of Secrets, where Ginny lies beside the diary. As he examines her, Tom Riddle appears, looking exactly as he did fifty years ago, and explains that he is a memory stored in the diary. Ginny wrote in it about her adolescent hopes and fears, and Riddle won her confidence by appearing sympathetic, possessed her, and used her to open the Chamber. Riddle also reveals that he is Voldemort as a boy. He further explains that he learned from Ginny who Harry was and about his own deeds as Voldemort. When Ginny realised that she had been responsible for the attacks, she attempted to throw the diary away, which is how it came into Harry's possession. Riddle then releases the basilisk to kill Harry. Dumbledore's pet phoenix, Fawkes, brings a magnificent sword wrapped in the Sorting Hat. Harry uses the sword to kill the basilisk – but only after being bitten by the creature's venomous fangs, one of which breaks off. As Riddle gloats over the dying Harry, Fawkes cures him with its tears. Harry stabs the diary with the broken fang, and Riddle screams and vanishes. Ginny revives after Riddle's disappearance and they return to Ron, who is still watching over the amnesic Lockhart. Fawkes carries all four out of the tunnels.
Harry recounts the whole story to Dumbledore, who has been reinstated. The headmaster revokes his threat to expel the boys if they broke more rules and gives them special awards for services to the school. When Harry mentions his fears that he is similar to Tom Riddle, Dumbledore says that Harry chose Gryffindor House, and only a true member of that House could have used Godric Gryffindor's sword to kill the basilisk. Lucius Malfoy bursts in, and Harry accuses him of slipping the diary into one of Ginny's books while all the pupils were shopping for school books. Malfoy replies, "Prove it." Finally, all of the basilisk's petrified victims are revived by a potion, the preparation of which has taken several months.
Publication and reception
Development
Rowling found it difficult to finish Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets because she was afraid it would not live up to the expectations raised by Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. After delivering the manuscript to Bloomsbury on schedule, she took it back for six weeks of revision.
In early drafts of the book, the ghost Nearly Headless Nick sang a self-composed song explaining his condition and the circumstances of his death. This was cut as the book's editor did not care for the poem, which has been subsequently published as an extra on J. K. Rowling's official website. The family background of Dean Thomas was removed because Rowling and her publishers considered it an "unnecessary digression", and she considered Neville Longbottom's own journey of discovery "more important to the central plot".
Publication
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was published in the UK on 2 July 1998 and in the US on 2 June 1999. It immediately took first place in UK bestseller lists, displacing popular authors such as John Grisham, Tom Clancy, and Terry Pratchett, and making Rowling the first author to win the British Book Awards Children's Book of the Year for two years in succession. In June 1999 it went straight to the top of three US bestseller lists, including The New York Times'.
First edition printings had several errors, which were fixed in subsequent reprints. Initially Dumbledore said that Voldemort was the last remaining ancestor of Salazar Slytherin, instead of his descendant. Gilderoy Lockhart's book on werewolves is entitled Weekends with Werewolves at one point and Wanderings with Werewolves later in the book.
Critical response
In The Times, Deborah Loudon described Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets as a children's book that would be "re-read into adulthood" and highlighted its "strong plots, engaging characters, excellent jokes and a moral message which flows naturally from the story". Fantasy author Charles de Lint agreed, and considered the second Harry Potter book as good as Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, a rare achievement among series of books. Thomas Wagner regarded the plot as very similar to that of the first book, based on searching for a secret hidden under the school. However, he enjoyed the parody of celebrities and their fans that centres round Gilderoy Lockhart, and approved of the book's handling of racism. Tammy Nezol found the book more disturbing than its predecessor, particularly in the rash behaviour of Harry and his friends after Harry withholds information from Dumbledore, and in the human-like behaviour of the mandrakes used to make a potion that cures petrification. Nevertheless she considered the second story as enjoyable as the first.
Mary Stuart thought the final conflict with Tom Riddle in the Chamber was almost as scary as in some of Stephen King's works, and perhaps too strong for young or timid children. She commented that "there are enough surprises and imaginative details thrown in as would normally fill five lesser books." Like other reviewers, she thought the book would give pleasure to both children and adult readers. According to Philip Nel, the early reviews gave unalloyed praise while the later ones included some criticisms, although they still agreed that the book was outstanding.
Writing after all seven books had been published, Graeme Davis regarded Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets as the weakest of the series, and agreed that the plot structure is much the same as in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. He described Fawkes's appearance to arm Harry and then to heal him as a deus ex machina: the book does not explain how Fawkes knew where to find Harry; and Fawkes's timing had to be very precise, as arriving earlier would probably have prevented the battle with the basilisk, while arriving later would have been fatal to Harry and Ginny.
Dave Kopel describes the climactic scene in which Harry saves Ginny from Riddle's diary and the basilisk as Pilgrim's Progress for a new audience: "Harry descends to a deep underworld, is confronted by two Satanic minions (Voldemort and a giant serpent), is saved from certain death by his faith in Dumbledore (the bearded God the Father/Ancient of Days), rescues the virgin (Ginerva [sic] Weasley), and ascends in triumph."
Awards and honours
Rowling's Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was the recipient of several awards. The American Library Association listed the novel among its 2000 Notable Children's Books, as well as its Best Books for Young Adults. In 1999, Booklist named Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets as one of its Editors' Choices, and as one of its Top Ten Fantasy Novels for Youth. The Cooperative Children's Book center made the novel a CCBC Choice of 2000 in the "Fiction for Children" category. The novel also won Children's Book of the Year British Book Award, and was shortlisted for the 1998 Guardian Children's Award and the 1998 Carnegie Award.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets won the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize 1998 Gold Medal in the 9–11 years division. Rowling also won two other Nestlé Smarties Book Prizes for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. The Scottish Arts Council awarded their first ever Children’s Book Award to the novel in 1999, and it was also awarded Whitaker's Platinum Book Award in 2001.
Religious response
Religious controversy surrounding Harry Potter and the Chamber of the Secrets and the other books in the Harry Potter series mainly deal with claims that the novel contains occult or Satanic subtexts. Religious response to the series has not been exclusively negative, however, and several religious groups have spoken in defense of the moralistic themes found in the book. The American Library Association even placed the series atop the "most challenged books" list for 1999–2001.
The Orthodox churches of Greece and Bulgaria have campaigned against the series, and in the United States, calls for the book to be banned from schools have led to legal challenges. Most of these are held on the grounds that witchcraft is a government-recognised religion and that to allow the novels to be held in public schools violates the separation of church and state.
Some religious responses have been positive. Emily Griesinger wrote that fantasy literature helps children to survive reality for long enough to learn how to deal with it, described Harry's first passage through to Platform 9¾ as an application of faith and hope, and his encounter with the Sorting Hat as the first of many in which Harry is shaped by the choices he makes. She noted that the self-sacrifice of Harry's mother, which protected the boy in the first book and throughout the series, was the most powerful of the "deeper magics" that transcend the magical "technology" of the wizards, and one which the power-hungry Voldemort fails to understand. Christianity Today published an editorial in favour of the books in January 2000, calling the series a "Book of Virtues" and averring that although "modern witchcraft is indeed an ensnaring, seductive false religion that we must protect our children from", the Harry Potter books represent "wonderful examples of compassion, loyalty, courage, friendship, and even self-sacrifice". "At least as much as they've been attacked from a theological point of view", commented Rowling, "[the books] have been lauded and taken into pulpit, and most interesting and satisfying for me, it's been by several different faiths".
Themes
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets continues the examination of what makes a person who he or she is, which began in the first book. As well as maintaining that Harry's identity is shaped by his decisions rather than any aspect of his birth,Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets provides contrasting characters who try to conceal their true personalities: as Tammy Nezol puts it, Gilderoy Lockhart "lacks any real identity" because he is nothing more than a charming liar. Riddle also complicates Harry's struggle to understand himself by pointing out the similarities between the two: "both half-bloods, orphans raised by Muggles, probably the only two Parselmouths to come to Hogwarts since the great Slytherin."
Opposition to class, prejudice, and racism is a constant theme of the series. In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Harry's consideration and respect for others extends to the lowly, non-human Dobby and the ghost Nearly Headless Nick. According to Marguerite Krause, achievements in the novel depend more on ingenuity and hard work than on natural talents.
Edward Duffy, an associate professor at Marquette University, says that one of the central characters of Chamber of Secrets is a book, Tom Riddle's enchanted diary, which takes control of Ginny Weasley – just as Riddle planned. Duffy suggests that Rowling intended this as a warning against passively consuming information from sources that have their own agendas. Although Bronwyn Williams and Amy Zenger regard the diary as more like an instant messaging or chat room system, they agree about the dangers of relying too much on the written word, which can camouflage the author, and they highlight a comical example, Lockhart's self-promoting books.
Immorality and the portrayal of authority as negative are significant themes in the novel. Marguerite Krause states that there are few absolute moral rules in Harry Potter's world, for example Harry prefers to tell the truth, but lies whenever he considers it necessary – very like his enemy Draco Malfoy. At the end of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Dumbledore retracts his promise to punish Harry, Ron, and Hermione if they break any more school rules – after Professor McGonagall estimates that they have broken over 100 – and lavishly rewards them for ending the threat from the Chamber of Secrets. Krause further states that authority figures and political institutions receive little respect from Rowling. William MacNeil of Griffith University, Queensland, Australia states that the Minister for Magic is presented as a mediocrity. In his article "Harry Potter And The Secular City", Ken Jacobson suggests that the Ministry as a whole is portrayed as a tangle of bureaucratic empires, saying that "Ministry officials busy themselves with minutiae (e.g. standardising cauldron thicknesses) and coin politically correct euphemisms like 'non-magical community' (for Muggles) and 'memory modification' (for magical brainwashing)."
This novel implies that it begins in 1992: the cake for Nearly-Headless Nick's 500th deathday party bears the words "Sir Nicholas De Mimsy Porpington died 31 October 1492".
Connection to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Chamber of Secrets has many links with the sixth book of the series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. In fact, Half-Blood Prince was the working title of Chamber of Secrets and Rowling says she originally intended to present some "crucial pieces of information" in the second book, but ultimately felt that "this information's proper home was book six". Some objects that play significant roles in Half-Blood Prince first appear in Chamber of Secrets: the Hand of Glory and the opal necklace that are on sale in Borgin and Burkes; a Vanishing Cabinet in Hogwarts that is damaged by Peeves the Poltergeist; and Tom Riddle's diary, which is later shown to be a Horcrux.
哈利波特和他的两位好友──荣恩与妙丽，在霍格华兹魔法与巫术学院，要迈入第三个学年了，这几个青少年被迫面对内心最大的恐惧，要应付一个危险的逃犯，还有原本是要保护他的一群催狂魔。
十三岁的哈利波特，心不甘、情不愿地和德思礼一家人，又一起住了一个暑假，过著“安分守己”的无聊生活，而且还不能使用任何魔法，直到最后，威农姨丈那个傲慢又霸道的姊姊玛姬姑姑来访。玛姬姑姑一直都对哈利很坏，这次还把他逼到了极限，结果他“不小心”让她充气成一个巨大的气球，就这样飞走了。哈利害怕会受到姨妈和姨丈的惩罚，也担心霍格华兹魔法与巫术学院会听到风声，因为他们禁止学生在麻瓜世界里施用魔咒，所以他可能会受到处分，于是他就趁著晚上逃跑了。
“骑士公车”马上就来把他接走了，这是一辆紫色的三层公车，迅速地送他去破釜酒吧。哈利一到破釜酒吧，就看到魔法部部长康尼留斯夫子在等著他，可是夫子莫名奇妙地居然没有处罚他，反而坚持要他留在破釜酒吧过夜，隔天再去霍格华兹。
原来夫子没有开除哈利，是因为有一个危险又神秘的魔法师天狼星布莱克，逃出了阿兹卡班监狱，据说他在寻找哈利的下落；谣传当初就是布莱克，引领佛地魔找上哈利的父母，最后害死了他们，甚至还想杀死哈利，因此他唯一安全的避难所，就是霍格华兹了。
然而更糟糕的是，霍格华兹还要接待可怕的阿兹卡班守卫催狂魔，他们要保护哈利和学校，远离布莱克的威胁。他们会吸取猎物的灵魂，很不幸的是他们受到哈利所吸引，让哈利觉得毛骨悚然，而且又茫然无助，直到新来的黑魔法防御术老师路平教授，训练哈利使用“疾疾，护法现身”的咒语，抵御催狂魔让对手全身麻痹的魔法。
此外，哈利在霍格华兹的第三年，还加入了几个新角色：鹰头马身的魔法怪物巴克比，又被称之为“鹰马”；只要看到了“狗灵”，代表著阴森骇人的死神即将出现的预兆；还有惊险刺激的冒险，包括密访魔法村庄“活米村”，揭开隐藏在劫盗地图里的秘密，还有尖叫屋的恐怖之旅，也就是全英国闹鬼最严重的建筑物。在途中，哈利想搞清楚，妙丽在荣恩和巨人海格的协助之下，是怎么神奇地来无影、去无踪；这一集故事中的海格，已经当上了霍格华兹的照顾魔法动物老师。
哈利和神秘逃犯天狼星布莱克，看来是免不了要正面交锋了，不过路平教授和布莱克之间，到底有什么关系？石内卜教授这么迫不及待，是想要揭开什么黑暗的秘密？荣恩的宠物老鼠斑斑，为什么会发了疯似地从他的手里逃脱？哈利需要最大的勇气、魔法和协助，才能解答这些疑问，揭晓天狼星布莱克背后隐藏的真相，还有他和这位天赋异禀的小魔法师，过去有什么神秘的关联性。
《哈利·波特与阿兹卡班的囚徒》[电影]-相关消息
《哈利·波特与阿兹卡班的囚徒》[电影]《哈利·波特与阿兹卡班的囚徒》
在《哈利·波特与阿兹卡班的囚徒》中，哈利-波特依然是那个小巫师，赫敏-格兰杰和罗恩-韦斯利还是他最好的朋友，但哈利-波特在本集中不得不面对更大的挑战。当哈利-波特和他的朋友们回到霍格沃茨魔法学校第三年时，他们面对的敌人是臭名昭著的，随时对哈利有所图谋的逃犯。这个逃犯被认为曾经杀害了哈利-波特的父母，这次他的目标是哈利。在剧中这名逃犯名叫西里尔斯-布莱克(Sirius Black)，由加利-奥德曼(Gary Oldman)饰演。魔法小英雄也要面对他自己对死亡的恐惧以及对死亡预示的绝望。他说在《哈利-波特》一书中，是他最喜欢的一部分。在剧中饰演主人公哈利-波特，现年十四岁的丹尼尔-雷德克里夫（Daniel Radcliffe）说，真是很令人感到不可思议，因为在本集中，对哈利-波特这个人物简直进行了一次彻底地改造。他变得更富有敌意了，他和那些与他年纪相仿的青少年一样具有侵略性，是指所有十三岁的孩子都有的。哈利-波特在本集中对那些湖中的大鱿鱼怪、也包括各种各样怪物以及他身边发生的很多魔法现象表现的很习以为常了，在前两集中让他感到很惊奇的事物现在都很平常。在处理魔法学校的一些事情中，也变得很轻松了，但是他却在如何与人交流上变得很偏执。
这些青春期孩子生理上的改变在电影中同样得到了表现。在采访中赫敏-格兰杰的扮演者艾玛-沃森忽然与剧组其他人员耳语了几句后，谈起了在电影中她和罗恩-韦斯利互相牵手的一幕，这时她更是做了一个十三岁孩子经常做的鬼脸。她说：影片中要求我和饰演罗恩-韦斯利的鲁伯特-格林特要做一个令人尴尬的拥抱。两个人扮演的角色应该有一种爱恨交加的关系。
在谈到这些角色上的改变时，这位墨西哥出生的导演阿方索-库朗说，孩子们到了青春期，所以对一些事情会变得有些愤怒。在本集中自己不会去压抑这些情绪，要让他们释放出来。这并不等于提倡或者鼓励，仅仅是让他们释放出来。并不想让这些角色在感情上美丽无暇，有时他们会失去自制力，这也很正常。
《哈利·波特与阿兹卡班的囚徒》[电影]-创作特色
这是一部更加“黑色”的电影，不论是在视觉效果上还是在听觉效果上。导演所关注的细节更多的集中在人物和丰富的视觉效果上，为了使魔法看起来更过瘾，特技效果也同样不能忽略。在本部电影中，颜色的变化非常明显。影片中以暗色为主，音乐更加使人感觉萦绕心头，这也是导演的独具匠心。导演在拍摄中更多地运用了多角度的拍摄手法，为的就是增加影片的效果。本片的摄影师迈克尔-塞瑞岑（Michael Seresin）说这部电影的剧情很生动，所以与之配合的灯光也要求更生动一些。也就是要采用高对比度，要有更多的阴影。本片的编剧斯图尔特-克雷格（Stuart Craig）也补充说，在本片中会有非常多的魔法作为背景出现，会有更多的怪物出现，而且制作效果更加丰富，拍摄的细节更加出色。
在《哈利·波特与阿兹卡班的囚徒》中会出现更多的角色，除了由加利-奥德曼饰演的逃犯西里尔斯-布莱克外，新增加了由戴维-休利斯（David Thewlis）饰演的狼人教授鲁宾（werewolf Professor Lupin）；埃玛-汤普森（Emma Thompson）饰演的特雷罗尼太太（Madame Trelawney）；还有灰发飘逸、法袍着身、有怪习惯的天界预言老师。同时在电影中霍格斯米德的店铺采用了维多利亚建筑风格，看起来更加古典。孩子们最喜欢的糖果中多了很多墨西哥式的椰奶糖和棒棒糖，这也是导演的匠心所在。
《哈利·波特与阿兹卡班的囚徒》[电影]-影片评价
这部将新鲜和黑暗混合在一起的新作不但会让哈迷们满意，还会让更多观众加入哈迷的阵营。
——《达拉斯新闻早报》
本片不但是前三部哈利·波特电影中最棒的一部，而且即使观众没听说过罗琳和她的作品，也依然会被深深吸引。
——《滚石》
《哈利·波特与阿兹卡班的囚徒》[电影]-幕后制作
《哈利·波特与阿兹卡班的囚徒》[电影]《哈利·波特与阿兹卡班的囚徒》
为了让服装同影片的当代风格相一致，服装设计师杰妮·特敏就此做出了细微调整，将颜色变淡，并且提供了汗衫、套头衫和羊毛衫等多重选择。甚至在哈利·波特骑魁地奇的一段中，剧组特意安排了雨景，于是一种新型的防水面料得以应用。
说到雨景，可谓正好迎合了本片忧郁的风格。因为本片的故事比过去的两部更阴暗，所以照明也更沉闷，并夹杂着更多的阴影。卡隆很谨慎的使用特写镜头，而是用大量的广角镜头讲述故事。影片剧组在苏格兰的科峡谷拍摄时巧遇了长达28天的阴雨天气，与拍摄要求不谋而合，令摄影师迈克尔·塞瑞岑欢快不已。将半鹰半马的巴克比克搬上大银幕可谓让主创人员煞费苦心，仅完成蓝本就用了几个月的时间，建造模型用去了将近1年时间，用CG生成运动中的巴克比克也是几经周折，而其中最棘手的技术莫过于让鹰的羽毛同身体的运动相协调。
三层的“骑士公车”是片中又一亮眼装备。制作能在公路上奔跑的三层巴士并非易事，车体取自伦敦巴士，底盘是重新制作的，以便能承受特制的车身。片中“骑士巴士”以100英里时速在公路上飞奔的场景是在伦敦拍摄的，用了数周才拍摄完成。在实际拍摄中，公车的时速只有30英里，而其他车辆的时速已降至8英里。
《哈利·波特与阿兹卡班的囚徒》[电影]-幕后花絮
《哈利·波特与阿兹卡班的囚徒》[电影]《哈利·波特与阿兹卡班的囚徒》
艾玛·汤普森接拍本片是为了4岁大的女儿。
卡里·科瑞(Callie Khouri)和肯尼斯·布拉纳都曾是本片导演的人选。
在理查德·哈里斯死后，克里斯托弗·李、伊安·麦克莱恩和理查德·阿滕伯勒都曾是扮演校长的人选。
剧组的效果部门用了6个月才创造出摄魂怪。
魔术师保罗·基夫任本片顾问，并向丹尼尔·雷德克里夫、爱玛·沃特森等演员传授魔术技艺。他是在所有系列影片中出现的第一位魔术师顾问，还在片中客串了一个角色。
制片方曾希望吉尔莫·德尔·托罗执导本片，但托罗后来选择了《地狱男爵》。
马克·福斯特曾拒绝执导本片，而去拍摄了《寻找梦幻岛》。
小天狼星布莱克身上的纹身源自俄罗斯监狱，这种纹身意味着这个囚犯值得敬畏。
加里·奥德曼称之所以出演本片是因为他需要这份工作，因为他已经1年多没拍戏了。
为了让丹尼尔·雷德克里夫表现出敬畏的表情，导演阿方索·卡隆让他设想看到了一丝不挂的卡梅隆·迪亚兹。
合同中曾标明，导演阿方索·卡隆不得在片场的儿童面前骂人。
为了负责监督本片的后期制作，导演阿方索·卡隆拒绝执导2005年的《哈利·波特与火焰杯》。
影片以530万英镑打破了英国首映当日票房纪录。
为了防止非法偷拍，华纳兄弟公司为影院员工提供了夜视仪。
加里·奥德曼送给丹尼尔·雷德克里夫一把低音电吉他作见面礼。
导演阿方索·卡隆在片中客串了在客栈中手持蜡烛的人。
阿方索·卡隆曾想在片中加入侏儒，但罗琳坚决反对。
Plot
Having lost his temper with his Aunt Marge and inadvertently causing her to magically inflate, Harry Potter flees the Dursleys'. Harry takes the Knight Bus to The Leaky Cauldron, where he meets Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic. Fudge informs Harry that Aunt Marge has been deflated and that he will not be punished. The Ministry of Magic is simply concerned about Harry's safety due to the escape of mass-murderer Sirius Black from the wizarding prison Azkaban. Black was a great friend of the Potter family and Harry's godfather, but betrayed the family to the evil Lord Voldemort. Voldemort killed Harry's parents but, when he tried to kill Harry, mysteriously vanished. Afterward, Black murdered their friend Peter Pettigrew along with 12 bystanders.
Harry and his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger return to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and find security has been tightened because of Black's escape. The grounds are now guarded by Dementors, dark, sinister beings that drain the happiness of anyone nearby and guard Azkaban prison. They also cause Harry to pass out. Remus Lupin, the school's new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher tells Harry he is more vulnerable to the Dementors because he has seen genuine horrors in his past. Lupin agrees to teach Harry the Patronus Charm, a shield against the Dementors.
Harry is depressed to learn he will not be allowed to visit Hogsmeade, the local village most students are allowed to visit on weekends. He is also angry with Draco Malfoy for ruining Hagrid's first lesson as Care of Magical Creatures teacher. Malfoy deliberately allows himself to be attacked by Buckbeak, Hagrid's beloved Hippogriff, and his father ensures that Buckbeak is sentenced to be executed at the end of the school year. Over the course of the year, Hermione uses a Time-Turner to travel in time and attend classes held at the same time. Black manages to break into the castle twice, but is unable to reach Harry. Fred and George Weasley show Harry a secret passageway to Hogsmeade and give him the Marauder's Map.
During one illicit visit to the village, Harry is nearly caught while Ron discovers that Scabbers, Ron's rat, has disappeared. Ron believes he has been eaten by Crookshanks, Hermione's cat, causing a falling-out between him and Hermione. Hermione later finds Scabbers in Hagrid's hut when the three of them visit him before Buckbeak's execution. On their way back from the hut, Ron is suddenly attacked by a large black dog and dragged into a passage beneath a magical tree, the Whomping Willow.
Harry and Hermione follow them in and find themselves in an old, boarded-up shack known as the Shrieking Shack. They also discover that the dog is the animagus Sirius Black. Harry attempts to attack Black when Lupin arrives. Hermione confronts Lupin about habits she has observed during her classes with him and Lupin admits to being a werewolf. Lupin explains that he, Black, Pettigrew, and James Potter, Harry's father, were great friends and called themselves the "Marauders". To make Lupin's transformations more enjoyable, his friends all became Animagi, humans who can turn into animals at will. The Marauders remained friends after growing up, and when they learned Voldemort was after the Potters, Black became their Secret-Keeper. However, Black then reveals that he had secretly switched this duty with Pettigrew in order to serve as a decoy. Black states Pettigrew is the betrayer and, rather than being murdered by Black, is actually Scabbers.
Lupin and Sirius force Pettigrew to reveal himself, and Pettigrew transforms from Scabbers and back into human form. He admits to the story, but Harry stops Black and Lupin from killing him and becoming murderers themselves. Instead, Harry persuades them to take Pettigrew back to Hogwarts castle in order to clear Sirius's name. However, as they and they return to the castle the full moon emerges and Lupin transforms. Pettigrew escapes while Dementors descend on the others. They are saved at the last minute by a Patronus Harry believes was cast by his father.
Harry awakes in the castle to learn that Black has been captured. To save him, Harry and Hermione use the Time-Turner to travel back in time and prevent his capture. Harry and Hermione rescue Buckbeak and re-watch the scenes of the night, until they see the Dementors cornering Harry and Sirius. Harry is determined to see who sent the Patronus, only to realize that it was himself. Sirius is rescued and flees on Buckbeak. Lupin, outed as a werewolf, resigns. Harry is worried that Pettigrew may help Voldemort to return, but Dumbledore says Harry may be grateful that he helped save Pettigrew's life.
Pre-release history
Of the first three books in the series, Prisoner of Azkaban took the shortest amount of time to write - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone took five years to complete and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets needed two years, while Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was written in one year. Rowling's favorite aspect of this book was introducing the character Remus Lupin.
Film adaptation
The film version of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was released in 2004. Steve Kloves wrote the screenplay, and Alfonso Cuarón was the director. The movie débuted at number one and held that position for two weeks. The Prisoner of Azkaban made a total of $795.6 million worldwide, which made it the second highest-grossing film of 2004 behind Shrek 2 but is the lowest grossing film of the Harry Potter Series.
十三岁的哈利波特，心不甘、情不愿地和德思礼一家人，又一起住了一个暑假，过著“安分守己”的无聊生活，而且还不能使用任何魔法，直到最后，威农姨丈那个傲慢又霸道的姊姊玛姬姑姑来访。玛姬姑姑一直都对哈利很坏，这次还把他逼到了极限，结果他“不小心”让她充气成一个巨大的气球，就这样飞走了。哈利害怕会受到姨妈和姨丈的惩罚，也担心霍格华兹魔法与巫术学院会听到风声，因为他们禁止学生在麻瓜世界里施用魔咒，所以他可能会受到处分，于是他就趁著晚上逃跑了。
“骑士公车”马上就来把他接走了，这是一辆紫色的三层公车，迅速地送他去破釜酒吧。哈利一到破釜酒吧，就看到魔法部部长康尼留斯夫子在等著他，可是夫子莫名奇妙地居然没有处罚他，反而坚持要他留在破釜酒吧过夜，隔天再去霍格华兹。
原来夫子没有开除哈利，是因为有一个危险又神秘的魔法师天狼星布莱克，逃出了阿兹卡班监狱，据说他在寻找哈利的下落；谣传当初就是布莱克，引领佛地魔找上哈利的父母，最后害死了他们，甚至还想杀死哈利，因此他唯一安全的避难所，就是霍格华兹了。
然而更糟糕的是，霍格华兹还要接待可怕的阿兹卡班守卫催狂魔，他们要保护哈利和学校，远离布莱克的威胁。他们会吸取猎物的灵魂，很不幸的是他们受到哈利所吸引，让哈利觉得毛骨悚然，而且又茫然无助，直到新来的黑魔法防御术老师路平教授，训练哈利使用“疾疾，护法现身”的咒语，抵御催狂魔让对手全身麻痹的魔法。
此外，哈利在霍格华兹的第三年，还加入了几个新角色：鹰头马身的魔法怪物巴克比，又被称之为“鹰马”；只要看到了“狗灵”，代表著阴森骇人的死神即将出现的预兆；还有惊险刺激的冒险，包括密访魔法村庄“活米村”，揭开隐藏在劫盗地图里的秘密，还有尖叫屋的恐怖之旅，也就是全英国闹鬼最严重的建筑物。在途中，哈利想搞清楚，妙丽在荣恩和巨人海格的协助之下，是怎么神奇地来无影、去无踪；这一集故事中的海格，已经当上了霍格华兹的照顾魔法动物老师。
哈利和神秘逃犯天狼星布莱克，看来是免不了要正面交锋了，不过路平教授和布莱克之间，到底有什么关系？石内卜教授这么迫不及待，是想要揭开什么黑暗的秘密？荣恩的宠物老鼠斑斑，为什么会发了疯似地从他的手里逃脱？哈利需要最大的勇气、魔法和协助，才能解答这些疑问，揭晓天狼星布莱克背后隐藏的真相，还有他和这位天赋异禀的小魔法师，过去有什么神秘的关联性。
《哈利·波特与阿兹卡班的囚徒》[电影]-相关消息
《哈利·波特与阿兹卡班的囚徒》[电影]《哈利·波特与阿兹卡班的囚徒》
在《哈利·波特与阿兹卡班的囚徒》中，哈利-波特依然是那个小巫师，赫敏-格兰杰和罗恩-韦斯利还是他最好的朋友，但哈利-波特在本集中不得不面对更大的挑战。当哈利-波特和他的朋友们回到霍格沃茨魔法学校第三年时，他们面对的敌人是臭名昭著的，随时对哈利有所图谋的逃犯。这个逃犯被认为曾经杀害了哈利-波特的父母，这次他的目标是哈利。在剧中这名逃犯名叫西里尔斯-布莱克(Sirius Black)，由加利-奥德曼(Gary Oldman)饰演。魔法小英雄也要面对他自己对死亡的恐惧以及对死亡预示的绝望。他说在《哈利-波特》一书中，是他最喜欢的一部分。在剧中饰演主人公哈利-波特，现年十四岁的丹尼尔-雷德克里夫（Daniel Radcliffe）说，真是很令人感到不可思议，因为在本集中，对哈利-波特这个人物简直进行了一次彻底地改造。他变得更富有敌意了，他和那些与他年纪相仿的青少年一样具有侵略性，是指所有十三岁的孩子都有的。哈利-波特在本集中对那些湖中的大鱿鱼怪、也包括各种各样怪物以及他身边发生的很多魔法现象表现的很习以为常了，在前两集中让他感到很惊奇的事物现在都很平常。在处理魔法学校的一些事情中，也变得很轻松了，但是他却在如何与人交流上变得很偏执。
这些青春期孩子生理上的改变在电影中同样得到了表现。在采访中赫敏-格兰杰的扮演者艾玛-沃森忽然与剧组其他人员耳语了几句后，谈起了在电影中她和罗恩-韦斯利互相牵手的一幕，这时她更是做了一个十三岁孩子经常做的鬼脸。她说：影片中要求我和饰演罗恩-韦斯利的鲁伯特-格林特要做一个令人尴尬的拥抱。两个人扮演的角色应该有一种爱恨交加的关系。
在谈到这些角色上的改变时，这位墨西哥出生的导演阿方索-库朗说，孩子们到了青春期，所以对一些事情会变得有些愤怒。在本集中自己不会去压抑这些情绪，要让他们释放出来。这并不等于提倡或者鼓励，仅仅是让他们释放出来。并不想让这些角色在感情上美丽无暇，有时他们会失去自制力，这也很正常。
《哈利·波特与阿兹卡班的囚徒》[电影]-创作特色
这是一部更加“黑色”的电影，不论是在视觉效果上还是在听觉效果上。导演所关注的细节更多的集中在人物和丰富的视觉效果上，为了使魔法看起来更过瘾，特技效果也同样不能忽略。在本部电影中，颜色的变化非常明显。影片中以暗色为主，音乐更加使人感觉萦绕心头，这也是导演的独具匠心。导演在拍摄中更多地运用了多角度的拍摄手法，为的就是增加影片的效果。本片的摄影师迈克尔-塞瑞岑（Michael Seresin）说这部电影的剧情很生动，所以与之配合的灯光也要求更生动一些。也就是要采用高对比度，要有更多的阴影。本片的编剧斯图尔特-克雷格（Stuart Craig）也补充说，在本片中会有非常多的魔法作为背景出现，会有更多的怪物出现，而且制作效果更加丰富，拍摄的细节更加出色。
在《哈利·波特与阿兹卡班的囚徒》中会出现更多的角色，除了由加利-奥德曼饰演的逃犯西里尔斯-布莱克外，新增加了由戴维-休利斯（David Thewlis）饰演的狼人教授鲁宾（werewolf Professor Lupin）；埃玛-汤普森（Emma Thompson）饰演的特雷罗尼太太（Madame Trelawney）；还有灰发飘逸、法袍着身、有怪习惯的天界预言老师。同时在电影中霍格斯米德的店铺采用了维多利亚建筑风格，看起来更加古典。孩子们最喜欢的糖果中多了很多墨西哥式的椰奶糖和棒棒糖，这也是导演的匠心所在。
《哈利·波特与阿兹卡班的囚徒》[电影]-影片评价
这部将新鲜和黑暗混合在一起的新作不但会让哈迷们满意，还会让更多观众加入哈迷的阵营。
——《达拉斯新闻早报》
本片不但是前三部哈利·波特电影中最棒的一部，而且即使观众没听说过罗琳和她的作品，也依然会被深深吸引。
——《滚石》
《哈利·波特与阿兹卡班的囚徒》[电影]-幕后制作
《哈利·波特与阿兹卡班的囚徒》[电影]《哈利·波特与阿兹卡班的囚徒》
为了让服装同影片的当代风格相一致，服装设计师杰妮·特敏就此做出了细微调整，将颜色变淡，并且提供了汗衫、套头衫和羊毛衫等多重选择。甚至在哈利·波特骑魁地奇的一段中，剧组特意安排了雨景，于是一种新型的防水面料得以应用。
说到雨景，可谓正好迎合了本片忧郁的风格。因为本片的故事比过去的两部更阴暗，所以照明也更沉闷，并夹杂着更多的阴影。卡隆很谨慎的使用特写镜头，而是用大量的广角镜头讲述故事。影片剧组在苏格兰的科峡谷拍摄时巧遇了长达28天的阴雨天气，与拍摄要求不谋而合，令摄影师迈克尔·塞瑞岑欢快不已。将半鹰半马的巴克比克搬上大银幕可谓让主创人员煞费苦心，仅完成蓝本就用了几个月的时间，建造模型用去了将近1年时间，用CG生成运动中的巴克比克也是几经周折，而其中最棘手的技术莫过于让鹰的羽毛同身体的运动相协调。
三层的“骑士公车”是片中又一亮眼装备。制作能在公路上奔跑的三层巴士并非易事，车体取自伦敦巴士，底盘是重新制作的，以便能承受特制的车身。片中“骑士巴士”以100英里时速在公路上飞奔的场景是在伦敦拍摄的，用了数周才拍摄完成。在实际拍摄中，公车的时速只有30英里，而其他车辆的时速已降至8英里。
《哈利·波特与阿兹卡班的囚徒》[电影]-幕后花絮
《哈利·波特与阿兹卡班的囚徒》[电影]《哈利·波特与阿兹卡班的囚徒》
艾玛·汤普森接拍本片是为了4岁大的女儿。
卡里·科瑞(Callie Khouri)和肯尼斯·布拉纳都曾是本片导演的人选。
在理查德·哈里斯死后，克里斯托弗·李、伊安·麦克莱恩和理查德·阿滕伯勒都曾是扮演校长的人选。
剧组的效果部门用了6个月才创造出摄魂怪。
魔术师保罗·基夫任本片顾问，并向丹尼尔·雷德克里夫、爱玛·沃特森等演员传授魔术技艺。他是在所有系列影片中出现的第一位魔术师顾问，还在片中客串了一个角色。
制片方曾希望吉尔莫·德尔·托罗执导本片，但托罗后来选择了《地狱男爵》。
马克·福斯特曾拒绝执导本片，而去拍摄了《寻找梦幻岛》。
小天狼星布莱克身上的纹身源自俄罗斯监狱，这种纹身意味着这个囚犯值得敬畏。
加里·奥德曼称之所以出演本片是因为他需要这份工作，因为他已经1年多没拍戏了。
为了让丹尼尔·雷德克里夫表现出敬畏的表情，导演阿方索·卡隆让他设想看到了一丝不挂的卡梅隆·迪亚兹。
合同中曾标明，导演阿方索·卡隆不得在片场的儿童面前骂人。
为了负责监督本片的后期制作，导演阿方索·卡隆拒绝执导2005年的《哈利·波特与火焰杯》。
影片以530万英镑打破了英国首映当日票房纪录。
为了防止非法偷拍，华纳兄弟公司为影院员工提供了夜视仪。
加里·奥德曼送给丹尼尔·雷德克里夫一把低音电吉他作见面礼。
导演阿方索·卡隆在片中客串了在客栈中手持蜡烛的人。
阿方索·卡隆曾想在片中加入侏儒，但罗琳坚决反对。
Plot
Having lost his temper with his Aunt Marge and inadvertently causing her to magically inflate, Harry Potter flees the Dursleys'. Harry takes the Knight Bus to The Leaky Cauldron, where he meets Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic. Fudge informs Harry that Aunt Marge has been deflated and that he will not be punished. The Ministry of Magic is simply concerned about Harry's safety due to the escape of mass-murderer Sirius Black from the wizarding prison Azkaban. Black was a great friend of the Potter family and Harry's godfather, but betrayed the family to the evil Lord Voldemort. Voldemort killed Harry's parents but, when he tried to kill Harry, mysteriously vanished. Afterward, Black murdered their friend Peter Pettigrew along with 12 bystanders.
Harry and his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger return to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and find security has been tightened because of Black's escape. The grounds are now guarded by Dementors, dark, sinister beings that drain the happiness of anyone nearby and guard Azkaban prison. They also cause Harry to pass out. Remus Lupin, the school's new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher tells Harry he is more vulnerable to the Dementors because he has seen genuine horrors in his past. Lupin agrees to teach Harry the Patronus Charm, a shield against the Dementors.
Harry is depressed to learn he will not be allowed to visit Hogsmeade, the local village most students are allowed to visit on weekends. He is also angry with Draco Malfoy for ruining Hagrid's first lesson as Care of Magical Creatures teacher. Malfoy deliberately allows himself to be attacked by Buckbeak, Hagrid's beloved Hippogriff, and his father ensures that Buckbeak is sentenced to be executed at the end of the school year. Over the course of the year, Hermione uses a Time-Turner to travel in time and attend classes held at the same time. Black manages to break into the castle twice, but is unable to reach Harry. Fred and George Weasley show Harry a secret passageway to Hogsmeade and give him the Marauder's Map.
During one illicit visit to the village, Harry is nearly caught while Ron discovers that Scabbers, Ron's rat, has disappeared. Ron believes he has been eaten by Crookshanks, Hermione's cat, causing a falling-out between him and Hermione. Hermione later finds Scabbers in Hagrid's hut when the three of them visit him before Buckbeak's execution. On their way back from the hut, Ron is suddenly attacked by a large black dog and dragged into a passage beneath a magical tree, the Whomping Willow.
Harry and Hermione follow them in and find themselves in an old, boarded-up shack known as the Shrieking Shack. They also discover that the dog is the animagus Sirius Black. Harry attempts to attack Black when Lupin arrives. Hermione confronts Lupin about habits she has observed during her classes with him and Lupin admits to being a werewolf. Lupin explains that he, Black, Pettigrew, and James Potter, Harry's father, were great friends and called themselves the "Marauders". To make Lupin's transformations more enjoyable, his friends all became Animagi, humans who can turn into animals at will. The Marauders remained friends after growing up, and when they learned Voldemort was after the Potters, Black became their Secret-Keeper. However, Black then reveals that he had secretly switched this duty with Pettigrew in order to serve as a decoy. Black states Pettigrew is the betrayer and, rather than being murdered by Black, is actually Scabbers.
Lupin and Sirius force Pettigrew to reveal himself, and Pettigrew transforms from Scabbers and back into human form. He admits to the story, but Harry stops Black and Lupin from killing him and becoming murderers themselves. Instead, Harry persuades them to take Pettigrew back to Hogwarts castle in order to clear Sirius's name. However, as they and they return to the castle the full moon emerges and Lupin transforms. Pettigrew escapes while Dementors descend on the others. They are saved at the last minute by a Patronus Harry believes was cast by his father.
Harry awakes in the castle to learn that Black has been captured. To save him, Harry and Hermione use the Time-Turner to travel back in time and prevent his capture. Harry and Hermione rescue Buckbeak and re-watch the scenes of the night, until they see the Dementors cornering Harry and Sirius. Harry is determined to see who sent the Patronus, only to realize that it was himself. Sirius is rescued and flees on Buckbeak. Lupin, outed as a werewolf, resigns. Harry is worried that Pettigrew may help Voldemort to return, but Dumbledore says Harry may be grateful that he helped save Pettigrew's life.
Pre-release history
Of the first three books in the series, Prisoner of Azkaban took the shortest amount of time to write - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone took five years to complete and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets needed two years, while Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was written in one year. Rowling's favorite aspect of this book was introducing the character Remus Lupin.
Film adaptation
The film version of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was released in 2004. Steve Kloves wrote the screenplay, and Alfonso Cuarón was the director. The movie débuted at number one and held that position for two weeks. The Prisoner of Azkaban made a total of $795.6 million worldwide, which made it the second highest-grossing film of 2004 behind Shrek 2 but is the lowest grossing film of the Harry Potter Series.
哈利·波特在霍格沃茨魔法学校经过三年的学习和磨炼，逐渐成长为一个出色的巫师。新学年开始前，哈利和好朋友罗恩，赫敏一起去观看精彩的魁地奇世界杯赛，无意间发现了消失十三年的黑魔标记。哈利的心头笼上了一团浓重的阴云，但三个少年依然拥有他们自己的伊甸园。然而，少男少女的心思是那样难以捉摸，三人之间的美好友情竟是那样一波三折，忽晴忽雨……哈利渴望与美丽的秋·张共同走进一个美丽的故事，但这个朦朦胧胧的憧憬却遭受了小小的失意。他要做一个普普通通的四年级魔法学生，可不幸的是，哈利注定永远都不可能平平常常——即使拿魔法界的标准来衡量。黑魔的阴影始终挥之不去，种种暗藏杀机的神秘事件将哈利一步步推向了伏地魔的魔爪。哈利渴望在百年不遇的三强争霸赛中战胜自我，完成三个惊险艰巨的魔法项目，谁知整个竞赛竟是一个天大的黑魔法阴谋。
The novel won a Hugo Award in 2001; it was the only Harry Potter novel to do so. The book was made into a film, which was released worldwide on 18 November 2005.
Synopsis
Plot introduction
Throughout the three previous novels in the Harry Potter series, the main character, Harry Potter, has struggled with the difficulties that come with growing up and the added challenge of being a famous wizard. When Harry was a baby, Voldemort, the most powerful evil wizard in living memory, killed Harry's parents but mysteriously vanished after unsuccessfully trying to kill Harry. This results in Harry's immediate fame, and his being placed in the care of his muggle, or non-magical, relatives Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, who have a son named Dudley Dursley.
Harry enters the wizarding world at the age of 11, enrolling in the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He makes friends with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, and is confronted by Lord Voldemort trying to regain power. After returning to the school after summer break, several attacks on students take place at Hogwarts after the legendary "Chamber of Secrets" is opened. Harry ends the attacks by killing a Basilisk and defeating another attempt by Lord Voldemort to return to full strength. The following year, Harry hears that he has been targeted by escaped murderer Sirius Black. Despite stringent security measures at Hogwarts, Harry is confronted by Black at the end of his third year of schooling and Harry learns that Black was framed and is actually Harry's godfather.
Plot summary
The book opens with Harry Potter having a dream about Frank Bryce, the ex-caretaker at the Riddle family mansion, who is caught eavesdropping on a deformed Tom Riddle and his servant, Peter Pettigrew. In Harry's dream, Bryce is killed by Voldemort. Later in the summer, Harry, Hermione Granger, and the Weasley family take a trip to the Quidditch World Cup. While there, Death Eaters, Voldemort's servants, storm the grounds, harass some muggles, and run away when they see the Dark Mark in the sky.
Albus Dumbledore announces during the welcoming feast that the school will host the Triwizard Tournament, an inter-school competition. One student from each of three magical schools will be chosen by the Goblet of Fire to compete. The other two magical institutions, Beauxbatons Academy, and Durmstrang Institute, arrive at Hogwarts two months into the school term. The champions chosen by the goblet were: Fleur Delacour from Beauxbatons, Viktor Krum of Durmstrang, and Cedric Diggory of Hogwarts. Mysteriously, Harry is also chosen, even though he did not submit his name, and is underage and ought to have been magically blocked from doing so. Ron Weasley is instantly infuriated, thinking Harry submitted himself, and their friendship suffers.
The new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor is Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, a former Auror and Dumbledore's friend. He teaches his students the three Unforgivable Curses in class, a lesson which is illegal. Those curses are the Imperius Curse, which forces the victim to do the caster's bidding; the Cruciatus Curse, a spell that tortures its victim; and the killing curse called Avada Kedavra. Harry learns he is the only known person to have survived the killing curse, cast against him by Voldemort when Harry was a baby.
In the first task of the tournament, the champions each are to retrieve a golden egg from a dragon, which contains a clue for the second task. Harry completes the task with help from Rubeus Hagrid and Prof. Moody. Following the end of the first task, Ron and Harry mend their broken friendship. The second tournament task requires retrieving something important taken from each champion hidden in the Black Lake. Ten minutes before the task, Harry is given gillyweed by Dobby the house elf so he can breathe underwater. Harry finds the four "important objects" of the tournament's contestants: Ron, Hermione, Cho, and Fleur’s little sister, Gabrielle Delacour. He is forced to rescue Gabrielle along with Ron when Fleur does not come, which causes him to lose the challenge, but he gain points for 'moral fibre.'
One night after the second task, Harry and Krum are startled when a dishevelled Barty Crouch, Sr. emerges from the forest, mumbling nonsense and demanding to see Dumbledore. Harry runs for help, but when he returns with Dumbledore, they find Krum unconscious and Crouch missing. Harry learns more about the Crouches when he sees one of Dumbledore's memories in the Pensieve, a memory storing tool. The memory shows Barty Crouch, Jr., a Death Eater, sentenced to Azkaban by Barty Crouch Sr for helping Bellatrix Lestrange torture Frank and Alice Longbottom (Neville's parents) into insanity.
The third and final tournament task involves navigating a labyrinth located on the Quidditch Pitch which is filled with magical obstacles. Harry and Cedric successfully help each other navigate the maze. They reach the Triwizard cup and agree to take hold of it simultaneously, making both of them the winners. The Cup turns out to be a portkey that transports them to an old graveyard in Little Hangleton. Pettigrew and a deformed Lord Voldemort, are there. Pettigrew kills Diggory, and ties Harry's hands and feet to the Riddle tombstone. He then uses a bone from Voldemort's father's grave, some of Harry's blood, and his own cut-off hand in a magical ritual that restores Lord Voldemort to a new body.
Voldemort summons Death Eaters, and reveals that a servant of his at Hogwarts ensured that Harry would participate in the tournament, win it, and thus be brought to the graveyard. Harry tries to disarm Voldemort with the Expelliarmus spell, at exactly the same time as Voldemort uses the killing curse. The two spells meet and interlock, causing a bond between the wands that displays the "echoes" (described by Dumbledore) of Voldemort's most recent murdered victims, including Cedric, James Potter and Lily Potter. The "echoes" provide protection to Harry, allowing him to escape with Cedric's body and leaving Voldemort behind in a rage.
Harry, carrying Cedric's body, returns to the school grounds. Moody rushes Harry to his office, where he reveals that he was Voldemort's servant, and attempts to kill Harry himself. Moody is stopped by Dumbledore, Severus Snape, and Minerva McGonagall. Dumbledore feeds Moody Veritaserum, and they discover that "Moody" is actually Barty Crouch, Jr., who was smuggled out of Azkaban and was using a Polyjuice Potion to impersonate the real Alastor Moody. Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic, arrives at Hogwarts accompanied by a Dementor. When the Dementor enters the room where Crouch, Jr. stands, it swoops down and gives him the "Dementor's Kiss", sucking out his soul. Fudge refuses to believe Dumbledore's and Harry's word that Voldemort is back.
Harry is crowned Triwizard Champion and awarded with 1,000 galleons. Days later, Dumbledore then makes an announcement at the gloomy Leaving Feast, telling everybody about Voldemort and saying that to deny the true way Cedric died would be 'an insult to his memory.' While leaving the Hogwart’s Express on King's Cross Station, Harry gives his winnings to Fred and George to start a joke shop and Harry sets off for another summer at the Dursleys'.
Rita Skeeter subplot
Rita Skeeter, a writer for the Daily Prophet, spends much of the story writing lies about Harry (about the time his scar hurt after a strange dream in Divination), Hagrid (about the time he told Madame Maxime about his mother), and Hermione (in love with Viktor Krum). Skeeter carries out secret interviews with Slytherin students to get the fodder for some of her stories, but the sources for others are inexplicable. Initially, Harry suspects that she has an Invisibility Cloak, but Hermione knows that "Mad-Eye" Moody would have been able to see through the cloak with his magical eye. Next, Harry thinks that she may have had areas of the school bugged. However, Hermione tells them that electronic devices do not work in Hogwarts because of the magic in the air. Near the end of the book, Hermione finally realises how Skeeter was doing this: she is an unregistered Animagus and can turn into a beetle. Harry and Ron realise that there was a beetle on the statue near Hagrid's hut, and later in Hermione's hair after the second task, and on the window of Divination class when Harry's scar hurt, and that the Slytherins knew about it all along. Hermione eventually traps Skeeter, in beetle form, in a jar and does not release her until the train reaches London.
Foreshadowing
* Ron's jealousy comes to the fore when Harry's name is pulled from the Goblet of Fire. He thinks Harry is lying about putting his name in for the contest, and abandons his friend. Ron later returns when he sees how dangerous the competition is. Also, Ron's feelings towards Hermione, which were more subtle prior to Goblet of Fire, now become obvious, with their relationship blossoming in Half-Blood Prince and finally being consummated with their first kiss in Deathly Hallows. Both of these are faced in the seventh book when Ron, angered by Harry's lack of a concrete plan and the lack of the usual comforts of home, leaves Hermione and Harry (though regrets this instantly).
* Fleur looks interested in Bill Weasley, whom she later dates (Order of the Phoenix), is engaged to (Half-Blood Prince), marries (Deathly Hallows) and has children with (Nineteen Years Later).
* During the Yule Ball, Dumbledore mentions that he was wandering through the corridors in search of a bathroom when a room full of chamber pots suddenly appeared in a place he had not previously known existed. In Order of the Phoenix we learn that this is the Room of Requirement.
* At the end of Goblet of Fire, Dumbledore asks Sirius to round up "the old crowd". This includes Arabella Figg, who is mentioned as early in the series as the second chapter of the first book. However, she is introduced as a crazy old Muggle who lives a street or two over from Privet Drive. In Order of the Phoenix, it is revealed that she is a Squib who has been assigned to keep an eye on Harry. The only reason she never let him have fun while at her house was that she (and Dumbledore) feared that if the Dursleys believed Harry enjoyed himself there, they would find a different babysitter.
* Towards the end of the 4th book, Harry tells his tale of his night in the graveyard to Dumbledore and Sirius. He mentions his arm, sliced by Pettigrew, and there is 'a gleam of triumph' in Dumbledore's eye. This is because Dumbledore knows that using Harry's blood to bring Voldemort back will keep Harry alive should Voldemort try to kill him.
Release history
Until the official title's announcement on 27 June 2000, the fourth book was called by its working title, Harry Potter and the Doomspell Tournament. J. K. Rowling expressed her indecision about the title in an Entertainment Weekly interview.
“ I changed my mind twice on what [the title] was. The working title had got out — 'Harry Potter and the Doomspell Tournament.' Then I changed 'Doomspell' to 'Triwizard Tournament.' Then I was teetering between 'Goblet of Fire' and 'Triwizard Tournament.' In the end, I preferred 'Goblet of Fire' because it's got that kind of 'cup of destiny' feel about it, which is the theme of the book. ”
Rowling also admitted that the fourth book was the most difficult to write at the time, because she noticed a giant plot hole halfway through writing. In particular, Rowling had trouble with the ninth chapter, "The Dark Mark", which she rewrote 13 times.
U.K./U.S. Release
Goblet of Fire was the first book in the Harry Potter series to be released in the United States on the same date as the United Kingdom, on 8 July 2000. The three previous books had been released in the United Kingdom several months before the U.S. edition.
James and Lily plot error
In the original, first edition printings of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, there is a plot error concerning the order in which the ghosts of Lily and James Potter appear out of Voldemort's wand. The ghosts appear in reverse order of their deaths with the latest killing first and the oldest killing last. Over the books as written up to this point, the killings in order are James Potter, Lily Potter, Bertha Jorkins, Frank Bryce, and Cedric Diggory. Lily should emerge before James but in the first edition she doesn't. Rowling admitted the mistake and subsequent editions of the book corrected the mistake, and the text appears correctly.
The novel won a Hugo Award in 2001; it was the only Harry Potter novel to do so. The book was made into a film, which was released worldwide on 18 November 2005.
Synopsis
Plot introduction
Throughout the three previous novels in the Harry Potter series, the main character, Harry Potter, has struggled with the difficulties that come with growing up and the added challenge of being a famous wizard. When Harry was a baby, Voldemort, the most powerful evil wizard in living memory, killed Harry's parents but mysteriously vanished after unsuccessfully trying to kill Harry. This results in Harry's immediate fame, and his being placed in the care of his muggle, or non-magical, relatives Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, who have a son named Dudley Dursley.
Harry enters the wizarding world at the age of 11, enrolling in the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He makes friends with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, and is confronted by Lord Voldemort trying to regain power. After returning to the school after summer break, several attacks on students take place at Hogwarts after the legendary "Chamber of Secrets" is opened. Harry ends the attacks by killing a Basilisk and defeating another attempt by Lord Voldemort to return to full strength. The following year, Harry hears that he has been targeted by escaped murderer Sirius Black. Despite stringent security measures at Hogwarts, Harry is confronted by Black at the end of his third year of schooling and Harry learns that Black was framed and is actually Harry's godfather.
Plot summary
The book opens with Harry Potter having a dream about Frank Bryce, the ex-caretaker at the Riddle family mansion, who is caught eavesdropping on a deformed Tom Riddle and his servant, Peter Pettigrew. In Harry's dream, Bryce is killed by Voldemort. Later in the summer, Harry, Hermione Granger, and the Weasley family take a trip to the Quidditch World Cup. While there, Death Eaters, Voldemort's servants, storm the grounds, harass some muggles, and run away when they see the Dark Mark in the sky.
Albus Dumbledore announces during the welcoming feast that the school will host the Triwizard Tournament, an inter-school competition. One student from each of three magical schools will be chosen by the Goblet of Fire to compete. The other two magical institutions, Beauxbatons Academy, and Durmstrang Institute, arrive at Hogwarts two months into the school term. The champions chosen by the goblet were: Fleur Delacour from Beauxbatons, Viktor Krum of Durmstrang, and Cedric Diggory of Hogwarts. Mysteriously, Harry is also chosen, even though he did not submit his name, and is underage and ought to have been magically blocked from doing so. Ron Weasley is instantly infuriated, thinking Harry submitted himself, and their friendship suffers.
The new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor is Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, a former Auror and Dumbledore's friend. He teaches his students the three Unforgivable Curses in class, a lesson which is illegal. Those curses are the Imperius Curse, which forces the victim to do the caster's bidding; the Cruciatus Curse, a spell that tortures its victim; and the killing curse called Avada Kedavra. Harry learns he is the only known person to have survived the killing curse, cast against him by Voldemort when Harry was a baby.
In the first task of the tournament, the champions each are to retrieve a golden egg from a dragon, which contains a clue for the second task. Harry completes the task with help from Rubeus Hagrid and Prof. Moody. Following the end of the first task, Ron and Harry mend their broken friendship. The second tournament task requires retrieving something important taken from each champion hidden in the Black Lake. Ten minutes before the task, Harry is given gillyweed by Dobby the house elf so he can breathe underwater. Harry finds the four "important objects" of the tournament's contestants: Ron, Hermione, Cho, and Fleur’s little sister, Gabrielle Delacour. He is forced to rescue Gabrielle along with Ron when Fleur does not come, which causes him to lose the challenge, but he gain points for 'moral fibre.'
One night after the second task, Harry and Krum are startled when a dishevelled Barty Crouch, Sr. emerges from the forest, mumbling nonsense and demanding to see Dumbledore. Harry runs for help, but when he returns with Dumbledore, they find Krum unconscious and Crouch missing. Harry learns more about the Crouches when he sees one of Dumbledore's memories in the Pensieve, a memory storing tool. The memory shows Barty Crouch, Jr., a Death Eater, sentenced to Azkaban by Barty Crouch Sr for helping Bellatrix Lestrange torture Frank and Alice Longbottom (Neville's parents) into insanity.
The third and final tournament task involves navigating a labyrinth located on the Quidditch Pitch which is filled with magical obstacles. Harry and Cedric successfully help each other navigate the maze. They reach the Triwizard cup and agree to take hold of it simultaneously, making both of them the winners. The Cup turns out to be a portkey that transports them to an old graveyard in Little Hangleton. Pettigrew and a deformed Lord Voldemort, are there. Pettigrew kills Diggory, and ties Harry's hands and feet to the Riddle tombstone. He then uses a bone from Voldemort's father's grave, some of Harry's blood, and his own cut-off hand in a magical ritual that restores Lord Voldemort to a new body.
Voldemort summons Death Eaters, and reveals that a servant of his at Hogwarts ensured that Harry would participate in the tournament, win it, and thus be brought to the graveyard. Harry tries to disarm Voldemort with the Expelliarmus spell, at exactly the same time as Voldemort uses the killing curse. The two spells meet and interlock, causing a bond between the wands that displays the "echoes" (described by Dumbledore) of Voldemort's most recent murdered victims, including Cedric, James Potter and Lily Potter. The "echoes" provide protection to Harry, allowing him to escape with Cedric's body and leaving Voldemort behind in a rage.
Harry, carrying Cedric's body, returns to the school grounds. Moody rushes Harry to his office, where he reveals that he was Voldemort's servant, and attempts to kill Harry himself. Moody is stopped by Dumbledore, Severus Snape, and Minerva McGonagall. Dumbledore feeds Moody Veritaserum, and they discover that "Moody" is actually Barty Crouch, Jr., who was smuggled out of Azkaban and was using a Polyjuice Potion to impersonate the real Alastor Moody. Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic, arrives at Hogwarts accompanied by a Dementor. When the Dementor enters the room where Crouch, Jr. stands, it swoops down and gives him the "Dementor's Kiss", sucking out his soul. Fudge refuses to believe Dumbledore's and Harry's word that Voldemort is back.
Harry is crowned Triwizard Champion and awarded with 1,000 galleons. Days later, Dumbledore then makes an announcement at the gloomy Leaving Feast, telling everybody about Voldemort and saying that to deny the true way Cedric died would be 'an insult to his memory.' While leaving the Hogwart’s Express on King's Cross Station, Harry gives his winnings to Fred and George to start a joke shop and Harry sets off for another summer at the Dursleys'.
Rita Skeeter subplot
Rita Skeeter, a writer for the Daily Prophet, spends much of the story writing lies about Harry (about the time his scar hurt after a strange dream in Divination), Hagrid (about the time he told Madame Maxime about his mother), and Hermione (in love with Viktor Krum). Skeeter carries out secret interviews with Slytherin students to get the fodder for some of her stories, but the sources for others are inexplicable. Initially, Harry suspects that she has an Invisibility Cloak, but Hermione knows that "Mad-Eye" Moody would have been able to see through the cloak with his magical eye. Next, Harry thinks that she may have had areas of the school bugged. However, Hermione tells them that electronic devices do not work in Hogwarts because of the magic in the air. Near the end of the book, Hermione finally realises how Skeeter was doing this: she is an unregistered Animagus and can turn into a beetle. Harry and Ron realise that there was a beetle on the statue near Hagrid's hut, and later in Hermione's hair after the second task, and on the window of Divination class when Harry's scar hurt, and that the Slytherins knew about it all along. Hermione eventually traps Skeeter, in beetle form, in a jar and does not release her until the train reaches London.
Foreshadowing
* Ron's jealousy comes to the fore when Harry's name is pulled from the Goblet of Fire. He thinks Harry is lying about putting his name in for the contest, and abandons his friend. Ron later returns when he sees how dangerous the competition is. Also, Ron's feelings towards Hermione, which were more subtle prior to Goblet of Fire, now become obvious, with their relationship blossoming in Half-Blood Prince and finally being consummated with their first kiss in Deathly Hallows. Both of these are faced in the seventh book when Ron, angered by Harry's lack of a concrete plan and the lack of the usual comforts of home, leaves Hermione and Harry (though regrets this instantly).
* Fleur looks interested in Bill Weasley, whom she later dates (Order of the Phoenix), is engaged to (Half-Blood Prince), marries (Deathly Hallows) and has children with (Nineteen Years Later).
* During the Yule Ball, Dumbledore mentions that he was wandering through the corridors in search of a bathroom when a room full of chamber pots suddenly appeared in a place he had not previously known existed. In Order of the Phoenix we learn that this is the Room of Requirement.
* At the end of Goblet of Fire, Dumbledore asks Sirius to round up "the old crowd". This includes Arabella Figg, who is mentioned as early in the series as the second chapter of the first book. However, she is introduced as a crazy old Muggle who lives a street or two over from Privet Drive. In Order of the Phoenix, it is revealed that she is a Squib who has been assigned to keep an eye on Harry. The only reason she never let him have fun while at her house was that she (and Dumbledore) feared that if the Dursleys believed Harry enjoyed himself there, they would find a different babysitter.
* Towards the end of the 4th book, Harry tells his tale of his night in the graveyard to Dumbledore and Sirius. He mentions his arm, sliced by Pettigrew, and there is 'a gleam of triumph' in Dumbledore's eye. This is because Dumbledore knows that using Harry's blood to bring Voldemort back will keep Harry alive should Voldemort try to kill him.
Release history
Until the official title's announcement on 27 June 2000, the fourth book was called by its working title, Harry Potter and the Doomspell Tournament. J. K. Rowling expressed her indecision about the title in an Entertainment Weekly interview.
“ I changed my mind twice on what [the title] was. The working title had got out — 'Harry Potter and the Doomspell Tournament.' Then I changed 'Doomspell' to 'Triwizard Tournament.' Then I was teetering between 'Goblet of Fire' and 'Triwizard Tournament.' In the end, I preferred 'Goblet of Fire' because it's got that kind of 'cup of destiny' feel about it, which is the theme of the book. ”
Rowling also admitted that the fourth book was the most difficult to write at the time, because she noticed a giant plot hole halfway through writing. In particular, Rowling had trouble with the ninth chapter, "The Dark Mark", which she rewrote 13 times.
U.K./U.S. Release
Goblet of Fire was the first book in the Harry Potter series to be released in the United States on the same date as the United Kingdom, on 8 July 2000. The three previous books had been released in the United Kingdom several months before the U.S. edition.
James and Lily plot error
In the original, first edition printings of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, there is a plot error concerning the order in which the ghosts of Lily and James Potter appear out of Voldemort's wand. The ghosts appear in reverse order of their deaths with the latest killing first and the oldest killing last. Over the books as written up to this point, the killings in order are James Potter, Lily Potter, Bertha Jorkins, Frank Bryce, and Cedric Diggory. Lily should emerge before James but in the first edition she doesn't. Rowling admitted the mistake and subsequent editions of the book corrected the mistake, and the text appears correctly.
目睹伏地魔复活之后，哈利度过了他生命中最漫长、最孤独的暑假。当然，姨妈姨父仍然把他当成臭虫般的呼来喝去，表哥达力没事就把他当成沙包练拳击。甚至还有两只以吸食灵魂为生的摄魂怪脱离了魔法部的掌控，来到女贞路上伏击哈利，好在勇敢的哈利用守护神咒赶走了摄魂怪。
阴险的魔法部本想通过摄魂怪事件，诬陷哈利在校外使用魔法而违反了《对未成年巫师加以合理约束法》——禁止未成年人在校外滥用魔法，打算就此开除哈利。哈利来到魔法部受审，邓布利多哈利做证人，终帮他摆脱了指控。
可怜的哈利，在暑假经历了一连串的变故后，终于等来了开学……魔法部的副部长乌姆里奇成为这一年的黑魔法防御术课的新老师，她是代表魔法部来整治霍格沃茨的“不良风气”的，第一堂课，哈利就因为管不住自己而与她起了冲突，最终被罚关禁闭。如果你认为乌姆里奇教授口中的“禁闭”只是普通的抄写课文的话，那你就错了，因为她给哈利一支神奇的笔，用哈利的鲜血做墨水，每一笔都深深地刻在了哈利的手背上。
自从伏地魔复活以后，哈利被越来越多的梦魇所困扰着，因为头上那道伤疤，使得哈利与伏地魔的思想产生了某种联系。正是在一场梦境里，哈利目睹罗恩的爸爸亚瑟被蛇咬伤，及时发出了警告，挽救了亚瑟的生命。
对于哈利来说，情人节第一次变得有意义，因为他和张秋约好一起去霍格莫德村。然而，约会的过程却不尽如人意，属于典型小女人的张秋，需要人哄需要人疼，而哈利却偏偏是个木头疙瘩，结果两人不欢而散。
由于D.A.内部成员的背叛，乌姆里奇最终还是发现了哈利在背着她教大家黑魔法防御术。所有人连滚带爬总算逃脱升天，最终只有哈利因为断后而被抓住——告密的人竟然就是张秋，而邓布利多代哈利受罪，被赶出了霍格沃茨。
原来伏地魔一直想得到的是那个隐藏着自己未来命运的预言球……他侵入哈利的思想，得知小天狼星是他生命中最重要的人，利用一种假相将哈利骗至魔法部。一场混战就此展开，然而让伏地魔想象不到的是，虽然D.A.的成员都是一些半大的孩子，却与食死徒斗了个不相伯仲，直到凤凰社的成员赶来增援。这场混战中，食死徒与凤凰社互有伤亡，但都及不上哈利万分之一的痛苦，他生命中最后一位亲人也离他而去——再见，小天狼星。
《哈利·波特与凤凰社》[电影]-作者简介
J.K.罗琳J.K. 罗琳
(1966—)，英国女作家，自小喜欢写作，当过短时间的教师和秘书。24岁那年，她在前往伦敦的火车上萌生了创作“哈利·波特”系列小说的念头。七年后，《哈利·波特与魔法石》(1997)问世，随即她以几乎每年一本的速度创作了《哈利·波特与密室》(1998)、《哈利·波特与阿兹卡班的囚徒》(1999)、《哈利·波特与火焰杯》(2000)，“哈利·波特”飓风席卷了全球。2003年6月，她的第五部作品《哈利·波特与凤凰社》在全世界“哈利·波特”迷的翘首期盼中问世，再次在全世界掀起“哈利·波特”狂潮。截止今年6月，其作品已被翻译成60多种语言，在200多个国家和地区累计销售达2亿多册。
曾经作为单身母亲的J.K.罗琳，生活一度极其艰辛，但“哈利·波特”给她带来了巨大的荣誉和财富，如今的她是一个成功、幸福的女人。2001年12日她和麻醉医师尼尔·默里再结连理。今年3 月，他们有了一个儿子，名字叫戴维。现J.K.罗琳与她的丈夫以及一对儿女生活得很幸福。
《哈利·波特与凤凰社》[电影]-演职员表
制片： David Barron David Heyman
Tim Lewis Lionel Wigram
Lorne Orleans
原创音乐： 尼古拉斯·霍帕
摄影： Slawomir Idziak
剪辑： Mark Day
选角导演： Fiona Weir
艺术指导： 斯图尔特·克莱格 Stuart Craig
美术设计： Andrew Ackland-Snow
Mark Bartholomew
Alastair Bullock
Gary Tomkins
视觉特效： Tim Alexander Tim Burke
Greg Butler Paul J. Franklin
Michael Illingworth Craig Lyn
Chris Shaw Kat Szuminska
Gavin Toomey Val Wardlaw
《哈利·波特与凤凰社》[电影]-影片花絮
拍摄
事实上，在整个《哈四》的拍摄过程中，大卫·耶茨也显示出了对大局的掌控能力和对这部风靡全球的魔法故事的特别理解。包括，在对演员的甄选、表演的掌握，以及对一些特效大场面的推敲锤炼上，大卫不但虚心借鉴不少前人的优秀之处，还勇于创新，开辟了自己的新方法。例如，在拍摄赫敏“引诱”乌姆里奇闯入禁林并就此就范的那场戏时。大卫充分调动了演员的主观能动性，让此桥段的主演艾玛·沃森有了极为精彩的发挥。小美女也就此继去年在《哈利·波特与火焰杯》的圣诞舞会中惊艳之后，再次证明了自己的演技如同美貌与身材一般共同地成长了不少，显然也为自己日后全面进军好莱坞进一步打下坚实的基础。另外，值得一提的是，在拍摄这组镜头时需要加入角色骑乘“夜骐”这种神秘生物的镜头。原著中提到，只有见过死人的人才能看到她。所以在拍摄时，大卫和工作人员特别想到了制作出特别的马鞍让演员骑上，然后依靠起重机升到半空中，在巨大的绿幕前演绎出飞行的效果。
布景
在布景方面，导演大卫·耶茨也经受了严峻的考验。不过，在他精干的众多设计师的帮助下，影片中绝大多数的布景都相当精彩。尤其是影片中重头戏的发生地——魔法部，堪称金碧辉煌、气派十足：地上是光可鉴人的深色地板，上面是孔雀蓝色的天花板，还有处是闪闪发光、不断变化的金色符号，华丽异常。大厅中间的魔法兄弟喷泉是魔法部的标志，由一组比真人还大的纯金雕像组成，最高的是风度高贵的男巫，旁边是美丽妖娆的女巫，妖怪、精灵和马人则以崇拜、仰慕眼光看着两位巫师……整个场景的设置甚至连原著作者J.K.罗琳看了都拍手称好。的确，魔法部大战是《哈利·波特与凤凰社》中最重要的一场戏，无论道具、布景，还是特效、场面控制，都相当地考验导演的功力。而且这场大战不会有很多暴力的场面，如果处理不当，将在很大程度上影响到影片的分级。因此，电影新手大卫·耶茨，在此面临的挑战难以预测，我们拭目以待。
五大删剪
由于《哈利·波特与凤凰社》是七本系列丛书中页数最多的一本，长达870页——第七集《哈利·波特与死亡圣器》的页数已经敲定为784页。所以影片的编剧只能将小说中“无关疼痒”的边边角角忍痛割爱，如今已经确定有五处内容惨遭删剪。
1、所有与魁地奇相关的场景……这倒是不难猜测，由于哈利在《哈利·波特5》中大多时间都被乌姆里奇教授关禁闭，不但没怎么参加魁地奇的训练，还错过了几场重要的比赛。不过，这对于饰演罗恩的鲁伯特·格林特来说，却不啻为一个噩耗，因为罗恩将在这一集中将第一次参加格兰芬多学院的魁地奇代表队。对此，格林特只能遗憾地表示：“寄希望于明年。”既然魁地奇比赛没有了，我们也就无缘听到那首与之相关的“韦斯莱是我们的王”了。
2、 韦斯莱夫人与小天狼星在凤凰社就哈利的问题起了一些争执……被删。
3、 家养小精灵多比不再出现……《哈利·波特4》中，多比的所有戏分就被纳威取代了，所以不难猜测这个角色为何会无缘第五集故事。估计惟一对此感到不高兴的当属赫敏了，因为这种做法显然触犯了她创建的“家养小精灵权益促进会” (S.P.E.W.)。
4、 纳威的父母……他们当年都是英勇的傲罗，由于受到了伏地魔的折磨而发疯，现住在圣芒戈魔法伤病医院疗养。这真是一个不幸的消息，因为随着纳威的作用一集比一集重要，他的父母本应该也得到相应的“尊重”，而不是被无情地删掉。
5、 哈利等人为布莱克家、凤凰社的总部进行大扫除……让人觉得非常可惜，因为我们没办法看到在这里出现的神奇生物活生生的样子了。
《哈利·波特与凤凰社》[电影]-影片亮点
新导演，新尝试
在霍格沃茨魔法学校的第5个年头，对于哈利·波特来说是一个关键年，因为他不再是孩子，而是学着面对成年人需要做出的选择和挑战：哈利不但要处理伏地魔的回归，还忍受着失去好友塞德里克·迪戈里的痛苦。发生在他身上的一切，都迫使他比其他同龄人在心智方面要更加成熟，因为他担负的都是一些预想不到的重大责任……为了能够找到进入哈利·波特的魔法世界的入口，导演大卫·叶慈在拍摄之前做了很多准备工作，彻底地分析了《哈利·波特》系列一路走过来所经历的前因后果：“这一集故事在全套小说中占有着非常重要的位置，因为到了这个时候，我们的小主角正在一步步走向成熟，周围的事情也变得越来越复杂，他们开始发现这个世界的磕磕绊绊，开始经历‘成长的烦恼’。”
作为《哈利·波特》系列的制片人， [大卫·海曼]表示，正是这一集故事与众不同的特质，才让他最终选择了大卫·叶慈来为影片执导：“叶慈非常善于处理这种奇幻类的故事主题，而且他还展现出能够以非常娱乐的方式处理政治问题的能力。当然，《哈利·波特5》并非一部政治色彩浓厚的影片，但是却大量演绎了魔法世界所遵循的政治学。可以说，叶慈是带着无限的激情加盟进来的，而看着他与孩子们之间从陌生到信任的过程，你就会发现，叶慈确实是一个能够调动演员积极性的高手。他明白，跟随着系列一起成长的几位小演员，比任何人都更加了解他们在影片中的角色，所以叶慈经常鼓励他们要大胆地说出自己的想法，尽量把自己真实的个性注入到角色之中去。”
连续第五次饰演哈利·波特的丹尼尔·雷德克里夫表示：“我喜欢和大卫·叶慈一起工作，更喜欢他那彬彬有礼的温和个性。不过，第五集故事也是我拍摄的最难的一部影片，部分是因为这一章内容的特殊性，剩下的则在于来了叶慈这位新导演。他总是让我更加深刻地去分析哈利这个角色，我发现这种做法是非常必要的，他真的是一位才华横溢的天才导演。”
罗恩·韦斯莱的扮演者鲁伯特·格林特对此表示同意：“大卫·叶慈的执导方式与其他几位导演存在着很大的差异，但是他总能通过最轻松的方式，得到最伟大的成果。”而饰演哈利永远忠诚的朋友赫敏·格兰杰的爱玛·沃特森则补充道：“叶慈最可爱的地方，就是认真倾听我们谈论自己的角色的时候。对于我们能够连续在五部影片里饰演同一个角色，叶慈感到了由衷地佩服，他非常重视我与丹尼尔·雷德克里夫、鲁伯特·格林特之间的关系，因为这有助于我们在影片中的角色之间的友情的真实性。”
除了大卫·叶慈，编剧迈克尔·戈登伯格对于《哈利·波特》系列来说也是一位新人：“当大卫·海曼找到我的时候，我兴奋得全身发抖。我知道我的说法可能有点老套，但能够加入这部魔幻系列故事，再通过你的努力，让它展示在大银幕上，你能想象得到那会是一个什么样的感觉吗？大卫·叶慈虽然给我留了足够大的创作空间，可是他也对剧本有一个要求，那就是故事的每一个时刻都要尽可能地真实。显然，剧本首先要做到的一点，就是保留住原著小说中的精髓和灵魂。可以说，第五集故事是整个系列中最重要的一个部分，哈利从一个小孩蜕变成懵懂的少年，他开始意识到任何事情都不是绝对的：坏人有好的一面，好人也有邪恶的一面…… 他发现，成人的世界并没有想象中的那么好，也存在着缺陷——这些都是需要我们在影片中突出的主题。”
神奇的魔法部
在哈利真正面对伏地魔的挑战之前，还有其他事情需要解决，那就是如何逃过去魔法部受审的这一劫……这里，得到最具体的体现的就是魔法部的大厅，美工设计师斯图亚特·克雷格(Stuart Craig)用一张很有苏联气息的魔法部部长福吉的巨型海报，盖满了整整一面墙。克雷格还表示，尽管在魔法部的巫师都是用飞行代替行走，用纸飞机代替电话，却没办法掩盖它在本质上是一个纯粹的官僚机构的事实： “在英国，ZF大楼都有着19世纪维多利亚时代的建筑特色，楼身上的装饰物繁多。由于魔法部被设置在了地下，所以我们做的第一件事就是走遍了伦敦所有最古老的地铁站，感受其中的阴冷气息和设计风格。我们注意到，很多地铁站都使用了大量彩色的瓷砖做装饰——结合了这一特点，我们终于发明了一个地下的世界—— 魔法部。在每一面墙都铺满了华美庄重的黑瓷砖后，那种气势立马就显现出来了。不过，这种做法对于摄影师斯拉沃米尔·埃迪扎克(Slawomir Idziak)来说可是一个不小的挑战，因为他在拍摄的时候，必须得把瓷砖反光这一元素考虑进去。”
通观所有《哈利·波特》系列影片，魔法部的美工设计都堪称最大的一处布景地，超过200英尺长、120英尺宽、30英尺高，至少铺了3万块瓷砖——都是一个个人工粘上去的。而且到了影片中，这个大厅还会通过数码处理，空间变得更大。
哈利是在韦斯莱先生的陪伴下，从“来宾入口”进入魔法部的——看起来就是伦敦街头最普通的一个电话亭，斯图亚特·克雷格笑着说：“我认为，这样的设置会让位于麻瓜ZF大楼正下方的魔法部变得更有趣味性，所以我们选择了一个离国防部非常近的电话亭……麻瓜肯定会大吃一惊，原来魔法部就位于英国国防部的地下。”大卫·叶慈也表示：“相信《哈利·波特》系列最有趣的一个故事点，就是展示魔法世界是如何‘隐藏’在麻瓜的生活中的，事实上，这两个世界是相融的，只是麻瓜们没意识到这一点而已。”
粉色代表一种新的“黑势力”
新学期，学校来了一位新的黑魔法防御术课老师——乌姆里奇教授，由伊梅尔达·斯汤顿饰演。从头到脚都被粉色包裹着，乌姆里奇教授拥有老练的假笑和甜到发腻的声音，可是她的本性却和这完全相反。大卫·叶慈表示：“福吉认为邓布利多在觊觎魔法部部长的位置，所以他派来了自己最信赖的副部长乌姆里奇，在霍格沃茨查明真相。可乌姆里奇却认为自己的任务是为福吉扫清一切潜在的威胁，结果把霍格沃茨搞得乌烟瘴气，纯是一只披着羊皮的狼。”斯汤顿表示同意：“很多人都会像乌姆里奇一样，表面上魅力十足，其实一肚子坏水，所以饰演这样一个角色是我愿意接受的挑战。”
虽然是为了与原著小说保持一致，伊梅尔达·斯汤顿有时候仍然会对饰演乌姆里奇这个角色感到有点恼火：“在小说中，她被描述成长得非常丑陋，像是令人讨厌的癞蛤蟆，所以当有人对我说‘你是这个角色最合适的人选’时，我听着总觉得不那么舒服。”
伊梅尔达·斯汤顿也是所有演员中，和服装设计师珍妮·泰敏(Jany Temime)走得最近的一个，因为乌姆里奇整体的形象设计，是泰敏在整部影片中，最艰巨的工作之一，斯汤顿说：“我们为这个身材有点圆的女士想出了很多有趣的方案，我不希望她衣服的轮廓太过鲜明——虽然她给人的第一印象是温柔和善良，其实心肠实在是不怎么地。”
为了能够在外观上展示乌姆里奇教授的“温柔”，珍妮·泰敏表示：“我们往伊梅尔达·斯汤顿的戏服里填了很多东西，因为她本人特别瘦。”泰敏还在衣服上使用了许多柔软的布料，就是为了增强那种性格上的温和感。不过，衣服的颜色却是在小说中就已经决定好的：粉色、更粉以及最粉。泰敏接着说：“每一次我们看到她，她身上的粉衣服除了颜色，样式都是不一样的。当她慢慢在霍格沃茨展示自己的特权时，颜色的亮度也会随之变强，十分扎眼，最终变成了那种最深的樱桃粉。”
粉色的主题还会被延用至乌姆里奇教授的办公室中，这部分场景是由美工师斯图亚特·克雷格和他的设计组用各种粉色的东西装饰出来的，包括带有花边、像天鹅绒一样光滑的窗帘，以及周围各种可爱的小摆设。家具的风格则来源于法国，以克雷格的说法就是“非常有线条感”——从各个方面进行暗示，这间办公室的主人实在是太有个性了。不过，这间办公室最有特色的地方，还在于墙上那200多个印有小猫的盘子上，暗示着乌姆里奇那种与猫很相似、反复无常的性格。相对照而言，乌姆里奇教授使用的教室就显得严肃、简朴多了，就像她对学生严格限制的教课风格一样——只允许他们做在自己的位置上埋头于她指定的教课书。鲁伯特·格林特说：“学生们对乌姆里奇教授的黑魔法防御术课都感到无比陌生，但是她却坚信我们必须要学习理论，而且完全没有实践过程，要知道，这种做法在一所魔法学校里是非常荒谬的。”
槲寄生下的初吻
当霍格沃茨因为即将到来的圣诞节而进入假期时，哈利组建的D.A.学习小组也不得不中断一段时间。最后一堂课过后，D.A.所有的成员都结伴离开了，秋·张却留了下来。哈利早在去年就喜欢上了她，然而两人的关系却因为塞德里克·迪戈里的被害而稍嫌复杂。似乎是洞悉了他们心中暗藏的想法，无所不知的“有求必应屋”在最后一次D.A.集会的时候用一枝槲寄生作为装饰物，终于带来了所有哈迷热切盼望着的时刻——哈利的初吻。
丹尼尔·雷德克里夫回忆这部分的拍摄时说：“我有些不安，因为我发现梁佩诗似乎很紧张。这不仅仅是一个吻那么简单，也暗示着张秋和哈利之间的复杂关系。当我们尝试了几次后，发现其实也没那么可怕，还挺有趣的。”梁佩诗继续说：“我之所以特别紧张，因为这是我在大银幕上的初吻，好在导演大卫·叶慈非常专业，他告诉了我们想要一个什么样的效果，这样我们就不会感觉这个场景有多么地难拍了。一开始的时候，是有点难堪，但是丹尼尔·雷德克里夫很会带戏，他让拍摄变得很简单，而且他是一个接吻高手。”
导演的做法也许打消了两位小演员的顾虑，却忘了一旁同样紧张的工作人员，因为这些人几乎是看着丹尼尔·雷德克里夫随着《哈利·波特》系列电影一点一点成长起来的，制片人大卫·海曼说： “我们中的许多人在雷德克里夫10岁的时候就认识他了，然后他就在我们的眼前长大了……所以我们关心他，想要保护他。在这里，看着他经历着‘银幕初吻’，那种感觉很奇怪，我一直告诫自己不要看，可是却忍不住想看。好在这组场景拍得很完美，相信观众肯定能够从中感觉到温柔和美丽的甜蜜。”
巨人兄弟格洛普
在知道自己迟早会被乌姆里奇赶出霍格沃茨之后，狩猎场看守海格给哈利、罗恩和赫敏“布置”了一个特殊的任务：帮助照看自己那同母异父的弟弟格洛普——他刚好是一个身高16英尺的巨人。
为了让格洛普在大银幕上“活”过来，这里不但结合了手工设计、动作捕捉、电脑特效的集体智慧，还包括一个名叫托尼·毛德斯莱(Tony Maudsley)的演员的天才表演。大卫·海曼说：“在我们的假设中，格洛普是一个非常天真的巨人，只是比较好动，没办法太长时间集中注意力而已。毛德斯莱和大卫·叶慈花了很长时间去讨论一些表演上的细节，因为格洛普是一个需要靠‘动作捕捉’技术帮助的数码人。”叶慈则对毛德斯莱的表现大加赞扬：“他完全融入进来了，这从他每一个细微的表演中就能看出来。即使这个角色几乎完全是由数码技术生成的，可是毛德斯莱却给了格洛普生命和灵魂。”
当格洛普和赫敏待在一起时，你能从他们之间的关系看出格洛普并不只是一个面目可憎的巨人，爱玛·沃特森说：“格洛普也有可爱的一面，在赫敏面前，他就像一只小猫咪那样温顺，赫敏是惟一一个能够让他安静下来的人……我知道格洛普是一个由电脑制作出来的数码巨人，可是工作人员已经尽量让他显得真实了，他有一双像小狗一样可爱的眼睛，我实在是太喜欢他了。”
生物特效师尼克·杜德曼(Nick Dudman)表示，他们还给格洛普制作了一个原尺寸大小的脑袋，用来拍摄和其他演员在一起的场景，鲁伯特·格林特兴奋地说：“和格洛普一起拍摄的部分太精彩了，现场有巨大的头和肩膀，逼真到我们都忘了和我们一起演戏的，只是他身体的一部分而已。至于其中我最中意的部分就是：格洛普非常喜欢赫敏，用手把她托了起来。于是罗恩嫉妒了，尝试着想让格洛普把赫敏放下来，他想英雄救美，就是使劲敲打巨人……你一定已经猜出结果了，罗恩一下子就被格洛普给弹飞了。”
《哈利·波特与凤凰社》[电影]-影片评价
秋·张：和哈利的爱情是悲剧
尽管此前哈利·波特和秋·张的恋情成为大家关注的焦点，但刚刚曝光的《哈利·波特和凤凰社》中的情节可以看得出来，其实他们之间的感情并非完美。哈利吻了秋·张，但最终两个人并没有走到一起。
故事从哈利的五年级开始。他惊奇地发现秋·张多次找他，并试图同他谈话。不幸的是，哈利每次同秋·张的见面都并不愉快：第一次，在和秋·张见面的时候，他就被绿色的汁液溅了一身；之后的一次见面，秋·张甚至同哈利最好的朋友罗恩为魁地奇球队而争执起来。
最令人关注的是情人节时，在霍格沃茨，秋·张最终同意和哈利约会，两人甚至有了初吻，但是秋·张却忽然为死去的塞德里克（她之前的男友）哭泣。她还坦言自己嫉妒赫敏同哈利的友谊，且由于毫无经验的哈利不知所措，因此这个约会不欢而散。所以，两人的初恋并不是很完美。
从已经曝光的情节中我们可以看出张秋在《哈利·波特和凤凰社》中的戏份大大增加。在接受采访的时候，这位名叫梁凯蒂的华裔女孩这样解释自己的角色：“她原来是有一个男朋友的（塞德里克），但是后来去世了。所以，她和哈利·波特发展了一段感情。但是这段感情并不稳定，因为她始终无法忘记死去的男友，因此这是一个内心复杂的女孩。最终，这是一个悲剧。”谈到和哈利的初吻，她说：“他是一个很优秀的接吻者，我很享受整个过程。”
而扮演哈利的雷德克利夫则乐观地表示，如果没有意外的话，这场吻戏会吸引大量的影迷前去影院观看此片。他说：“如果说观众看这部电影只有一个原因的话，我猜就是这场吻戏。”
反派：我会和小天狼星殊死搏斗！
另外，在片中扮演伏地魔追随者卢修斯·马尔福的演员杰森·伊萨克斯也透露了一些戏份。他所扮演的这个角色是第五集中主要的大反派，而且将会和哈利的教父———小天狼星展开殊死搏斗。
据称，伊萨克斯扮演的将是哈利·波特和天狼星在霍格沃茨的死敌———马尔福。在第五集中，马尔福被证明是一个食死徒（伏地魔跟随者的总称），他忠心耿耿地为自己的主人伏地魔效忠。更重要的是，这位马尔福还将在片中和天狼星有殊死决斗。扮演这个角色的伊萨克斯表示：“我将会和加里·奥德曼扮演的天狼星有一番决斗。他可能是这个星球上最伟大的演员之一，所以我经常担心自己会演不好。你知道，我们之间的决斗就好像是两个十岁的孩子在打闹。因为需要大量的后期电脑制作。不过，这个过程在大银幕上展现出来，真的很棒！”
尽管这个角色在第五集中戏份颇多，但是伊萨克斯却担心自己在后面两集中“失踪”。为此他专门拜访了J·K·罗琳，希望这个作家不要让他“消失”。
It is the longest book in the series, and was published on 21 June 2003 by Bloomsbury in the United Kingdom, Scholastic in the United States, and Raincoast in Canada. The book has been made into a film, which was released in 2007, and has also been made into several video games by Electronic Arts. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix has won several awards, including being named an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults in 2003.
Synopsis
Plot introduction
Throughout the four previous novels in the Harry Potter series, the main character, Harry Potter, has struggled with the difficulties that come with growing up and the added challenge of being a famous wizard. When Harry was a baby, Voldemort, the most powerful evil wizard in living memory, killed Harry's parents but mysteriously vanished after trying to kill Harry. This results in Harry's immediate fame, and his being placed in the care of his muggle, or non-magical, relatives Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon.
Harry enters the wizarding world at the age of 11, enrolling in the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He makes friends with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, and is confronted by Lord Voldemort trying to regain power. After returning to the school after summer break, several attacks on students take place at Hogwarts after the legendary "Chamber of Secrets" is opened. Harry ends the attacks by killing a Basilisk and defeating another attempt by Lord Voldemort to return to full strength. The following year, Harry hears that he has been targeted by escaped murderer Sirius Black. Despite stringent security measures at Hogwarts, Harry is confronted by Black at the end of his third year of schooling and Harry learns that Black was framed and is actually Harry's godfather. Harry's fourth year of school sees him entered in a dangerous magical competition called the Triwizard Tournament. At the conclusion of the Tournament, Harry witnesses the return of Lord Voldemort to full strength.
Plot summary
This novel begins when Harry and his cousin, Dudley, are attacked by dementors. Harry uses magic to fight them off, and must attend a disciplinary hearing for it. In response to Voldemort's reappearance, Dumbledore re-activates the Order of the Phoenix, a secret society which works to defeat Voldemort's minions and protect Voldemort's targets, including Harry. Despite Harry's description of Voldemort's recent activities, the Ministry of Magic and many others in the magical world refuse to believe that Voldemort has returned.
In an attempt to enforce its version of school curriculum, the Ministry appoints Dolores Umbridge as the new High Inquisitor of Hogwarts. She transforms the school into a quasi-dictatorial regime and refuses to allow the students to learn ways to defend themselves against dark magic. Harry's friends, Ron and Hermione, persuaded Harry to form a secret study group and begin to teach his classmates the higher-level skills he has learned. The novel introduces Harry to Luna Lovegood, an airy young witch with a tendency to believe in oddball conspiracy theories. Moreover, it reveals an important prophecy concerning Harry and Voldemort. Harry also discovers that he and Voldemort have a telepathic connection, allowing Harry to view some of Voldemort's actions. In the novel's climax, Harry and his school friends face off against Voldemort's Death Eaters. The timely arrival of members of the Order of the Phoenix saves the children's lives, but Sirius Black, Harry's godfather, is murdered by Bellatrix Lestrange. Many Death Eaters are captured and, most importantly, the return of Voldemort is confirmed within the magical world.
Development, publication, and reception
Development
In an interview with BBC News, Rowling suggested the death of a principal character which made her sad. She added that although her husband suggested she undo the character's death to stop her sadness, she needed to be "a ruthless killer." However, Rowling revealed in a 2007 interview that she had originally planned to kill off Arthur Weasley in this book, but ultimately could not bear to do it. In another interview, when asked if there was anything she would go back and change about the seven novels, Rowling replied that she would have edited Phoenix more, as she feels it is too long.
Publication and release
Potter fans waited three years between the releases of the fourth and fifth books.
Before the release of the fifth book, 200 million copies of the first four books had already been sold and translated into 55 languages in 200 countries. As the series was already a global phenomenon, the book forged new pre-order records, with thousands of people queuing outside book stores on 20 June 2003 to secure their copy at midnight. Despite the security, thousands of copies were stolen from an Earlestown, Merseyside warehouse on 15 June 2003.
Critical response
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was met with generally good reviews, and received several awards. The book was named as a Best Book for Young Adults and as a Notable Book by the American Library Association in 2004. It also received the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio 2004 Gold Medal along with several other awards.
The novel was also received generally well by critics. Rowling was praised for her imagination by USA Today writer Deirdre Donahue. Most of the negative reviewers were concerned with the violence contained in the novel and with morality issues occurring throughout the book. There has also been a strong religious response to the publishing of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
New York Times writer John Leonard praised the novel, saying "The Order of the Phoenix starts slow, gathers speed and then skateboards, with somersaults, to its furious conclusion....As Harry gets older, Rowling gets better." However, he also criticizes "the one-note Draco Malfoy" and the predictable Lord Voldemort. Another review by Julie Smithouser, of the Christian-right group Focus on the Family, said the book was, "Likely to be considered the weakest book in the series, Phoenix does feel less oppressive than the two most previous novels." Smithouser's main criticism was that the book was not moral. Harry lies to authority to escape punishment, and that, at times, the violence is too "gruesome and graphic."
Several Christian groups have expressed concerns that the book, and the rest of the Harry Potter series, contain references to witchcraft or occultism. Despite these views, several religious groups have also expressed their support for the series. Christianity Today published an editorial in favour of the books in January 2000, calling the series a "Book of Virtues" and averring that although "modern witchcraft is indeed an ensnaring, seductive false religion that we must protect our children from", this does not represent the Potter books, which have "wonderful examples of compassion, loyalty, courage, friendship, and even self-sacrifice".
Prequels and sequels
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the fifth book in the Harry Potter Series. The first book in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was first published by Bloomsbury in 1997 with an initial print-run of 500 copies in hardback, three hundred of which were distributed to libraries. By the end of 1997 the UK edition won a National Book Award and a gold medal in the 9 to 11 year-olds category of the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize. The second book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, was originally published in the UK on 2 July 1998 and in the US on 2 June 1999. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was published a year later in the UK on 8 July 1999 and in the US on 8 September 1999. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was published on 8 July 2000 simultaneously by Bloomsbury and Scholastic.
After the publishing of Order of the Phoenix, the sixth book of the series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, was published on 16 July 2005, and sold 11 million copies in the first 24 hours of its worldwide release. The seventh and final novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was published 21 July 2007. The book sold 11 million copies within 24 hours of its release: 2.7 million copies in the UK and 8.3 million in the US.
Adaptations
Film
In 2007, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was released in film version directed by David Yates, produced by David Heyman's company Heyday Films, and written by Michael Goldenberg. The film's budget was reportedly between £75 and 100 million ($150–200 million), and it became the unadjusted seventh-highest grossing film of all time, and a critical and commercial success. The film opened to a worldwide 5-day opening of $333 million, third all-time, and grossed $939 million total, the second to Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End for the greatest total of 2007.
Video games
A video game adaptation of the book and film versions of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was made for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PSP, Nintendo DS, Wii, Game Boy Advance and Mac OS X. It was released on 25 June 2007 in the U.S., 28 June 2007 in Australia and 29 June 2007 in the UK and Europe for PlayStation 3, PSP, PlayStation 2, Windows and the 3 July 2007 for most other platforms. The games were published by Electronic Arts.
Religious response
Religious controversy surrounding Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and the other books in the Harry Potter series mainly deal with the claims that novel contains occult or Satanic subtexts. Religious response to the series has not been exclusively negative. "At least as much as they've been attacked from a theological point of view", notes Rowling, "[the books] have been lauded and taken into pulpit, and most interesting and satisfying for me, it's been by several different faiths".
Opposition to the series
In the United States, calls for the book to be banned from schools have led occasionally to widely publicised legal challenges, usually on the grounds that witchcraft is a government-recognised religion and that to allow the novels to be held in public schools violates the separation of church and state. The series was at the top of the American Library Association's "most challenged books" list for 1999–2001.
Religious opposition to the series has also occurred in other nations. The Orthodox churches of Greece and Bulgaria have campaigned against the series. The books have been banned from private schools in the United Arab Emirates and criticised in the Iranian state-run press.
Roman Catholic opinion over the series is divided. In 2003 Catholic World Report criticised Harry's disrespect for rules and authority, and regarded the series' mixing of the magical and mundane worlds as "a fundamental rejection of the divine order in creation." In 2005, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who became Pope later that year but was at the time Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, described the series as "subtle seductions, which act unnoticed and by this deeply distort Christianity in the soul before it can grow properly," and gave permission for publication of the letter that expressed this opinion. However, a spokesman for the Archbishop of Westminster said that Cardinal Ratzinger's words were not binding as they were not an official pronouncement of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Positive response
Some religious responses have been positive. Emily Griesinger wrote that fantasy literature helps children to survive reality for long enough to learn how to deal with it, described Harry's first passage through to Platform 9¾ as an application of faith and hope, and his encounter with the Sorting Hat as the first of many in which Harry is shaped by the choices he makes. She noted that the self-sacrifice of Harry's mother, which protected the boy in the first book and throughout the series, was the most powerful of the "deeper magics" that transcend the magical "technology" of the wizards, and one which the power-hungry Voldemort fails to understand.
There is some positive Roman Catholic opinion on the books. In 2003, Monsignor Peter Fleetwood, a member of a Church working party on New Age phenomena, said that the Harry Potter stories "are not bad or a banner for anti-Christian theology. They help children understand the difference between good and evil," that Rowling's approach was Christian, and that the stories illustrated the need to make sacrifices to defeat evil.
Translations
The first official foreign translation of the book appeared in Vietnamese on 21 July 2003, when the first of twenty-two installments was released. The first official European translation appeared in Serbia and Montenegro in Serbian, by the official publisher Narodna Knjiga, in early September 2003. Other translations appeared later, e.g. in November 2003 in Dutch and German. The English language version has topped the best seller list in France, while in Germany and the Netherlands an unofficial distributed translation process has been started on the internet.
In the Czech Republic, several young children translated half of the book in two weeks after its English release, long before its intended Czech release date. This led the official Czech publisher Albatros to sue the children for copyright infringement.
阴险的魔法部本想通过摄魂怪事件，诬陷哈利在校外使用魔法而违反了《对未成年巫师加以合理约束法》——禁止未成年人在校外滥用魔法，打算就此开除哈利。哈利来到魔法部受审，邓布利多哈利做证人，终帮他摆脱了指控。
可怜的哈利，在暑假经历了一连串的变故后，终于等来了开学……魔法部的副部长乌姆里奇成为这一年的黑魔法防御术课的新老师，她是代表魔法部来整治霍格沃茨的“不良风气”的，第一堂课，哈利就因为管不住自己而与她起了冲突，最终被罚关禁闭。如果你认为乌姆里奇教授口中的“禁闭”只是普通的抄写课文的话，那你就错了，因为她给哈利一支神奇的笔，用哈利的鲜血做墨水，每一笔都深深地刻在了哈利的手背上。
自从伏地魔复活以后，哈利被越来越多的梦魇所困扰着，因为头上那道伤疤，使得哈利与伏地魔的思想产生了某种联系。正是在一场梦境里，哈利目睹罗恩的爸爸亚瑟被蛇咬伤，及时发出了警告，挽救了亚瑟的生命。
对于哈利来说，情人节第一次变得有意义，因为他和张秋约好一起去霍格莫德村。然而，约会的过程却不尽如人意，属于典型小女人的张秋，需要人哄需要人疼，而哈利却偏偏是个木头疙瘩，结果两人不欢而散。
由于D.A.内部成员的背叛，乌姆里奇最终还是发现了哈利在背着她教大家黑魔法防御术。所有人连滚带爬总算逃脱升天，最终只有哈利因为断后而被抓住——告密的人竟然就是张秋，而邓布利多代哈利受罪，被赶出了霍格沃茨。
原来伏地魔一直想得到的是那个隐藏着自己未来命运的预言球……他侵入哈利的思想，得知小天狼星是他生命中最重要的人，利用一种假相将哈利骗至魔法部。一场混战就此展开，然而让伏地魔想象不到的是，虽然D.A.的成员都是一些半大的孩子，却与食死徒斗了个不相伯仲，直到凤凰社的成员赶来增援。这场混战中，食死徒与凤凰社互有伤亡，但都及不上哈利万分之一的痛苦，他生命中最后一位亲人也离他而去——再见，小天狼星。
《哈利·波特与凤凰社》[电影]-作者简介
J.K.罗琳J.K. 罗琳
(1966—)，英国女作家，自小喜欢写作，当过短时间的教师和秘书。24岁那年，她在前往伦敦的火车上萌生了创作“哈利·波特”系列小说的念头。七年后，《哈利·波特与魔法石》(1997)问世，随即她以几乎每年一本的速度创作了《哈利·波特与密室》(1998)、《哈利·波特与阿兹卡班的囚徒》(1999)、《哈利·波特与火焰杯》(2000)，“哈利·波特”飓风席卷了全球。2003年6月，她的第五部作品《哈利·波特与凤凰社》在全世界“哈利·波特”迷的翘首期盼中问世，再次在全世界掀起“哈利·波特”狂潮。截止今年6月，其作品已被翻译成60多种语言，在200多个国家和地区累计销售达2亿多册。
曾经作为单身母亲的J.K.罗琳，生活一度极其艰辛，但“哈利·波特”给她带来了巨大的荣誉和财富，如今的她是一个成功、幸福的女人。2001年12日她和麻醉医师尼尔·默里再结连理。今年3 月，他们有了一个儿子，名字叫戴维。现J.K.罗琳与她的丈夫以及一对儿女生活得很幸福。
《哈利·波特与凤凰社》[电影]-演职员表
制片： David Barron David Heyman
Tim Lewis Lionel Wigram
Lorne Orleans
原创音乐： 尼古拉斯·霍帕
摄影： Slawomir Idziak
剪辑： Mark Day
选角导演： Fiona Weir
艺术指导： 斯图尔特·克莱格 Stuart Craig
美术设计： Andrew Ackland-Snow
Mark Bartholomew
Alastair Bullock
Gary Tomkins
视觉特效： Tim Alexander Tim Burke
Greg Butler Paul J. Franklin
Michael Illingworth Craig Lyn
Chris Shaw Kat Szuminska
Gavin Toomey Val Wardlaw
《哈利·波特与凤凰社》[电影]-影片花絮
拍摄
事实上，在整个《哈四》的拍摄过程中，大卫·耶茨也显示出了对大局的掌控能力和对这部风靡全球的魔法故事的特别理解。包括，在对演员的甄选、表演的掌握，以及对一些特效大场面的推敲锤炼上，大卫不但虚心借鉴不少前人的优秀之处，还勇于创新，开辟了自己的新方法。例如，在拍摄赫敏“引诱”乌姆里奇闯入禁林并就此就范的那场戏时。大卫充分调动了演员的主观能动性，让此桥段的主演艾玛·沃森有了极为精彩的发挥。小美女也就此继去年在《哈利·波特与火焰杯》的圣诞舞会中惊艳之后，再次证明了自己的演技如同美貌与身材一般共同地成长了不少，显然也为自己日后全面进军好莱坞进一步打下坚实的基础。另外，值得一提的是，在拍摄这组镜头时需要加入角色骑乘“夜骐”这种神秘生物的镜头。原著中提到，只有见过死人的人才能看到她。所以在拍摄时，大卫和工作人员特别想到了制作出特别的马鞍让演员骑上，然后依靠起重机升到半空中，在巨大的绿幕前演绎出飞行的效果。
布景
在布景方面，导演大卫·耶茨也经受了严峻的考验。不过，在他精干的众多设计师的帮助下，影片中绝大多数的布景都相当精彩。尤其是影片中重头戏的发生地——魔法部，堪称金碧辉煌、气派十足：地上是光可鉴人的深色地板，上面是孔雀蓝色的天花板，还有处是闪闪发光、不断变化的金色符号，华丽异常。大厅中间的魔法兄弟喷泉是魔法部的标志，由一组比真人还大的纯金雕像组成，最高的是风度高贵的男巫，旁边是美丽妖娆的女巫，妖怪、精灵和马人则以崇拜、仰慕眼光看着两位巫师……整个场景的设置甚至连原著作者J.K.罗琳看了都拍手称好。的确，魔法部大战是《哈利·波特与凤凰社》中最重要的一场戏，无论道具、布景，还是特效、场面控制，都相当地考验导演的功力。而且这场大战不会有很多暴力的场面，如果处理不当，将在很大程度上影响到影片的分级。因此，电影新手大卫·耶茨，在此面临的挑战难以预测，我们拭目以待。
五大删剪
由于《哈利·波特与凤凰社》是七本系列丛书中页数最多的一本，长达870页——第七集《哈利·波特与死亡圣器》的页数已经敲定为784页。所以影片的编剧只能将小说中“无关疼痒”的边边角角忍痛割爱，如今已经确定有五处内容惨遭删剪。
1、所有与魁地奇相关的场景……这倒是不难猜测，由于哈利在《哈利·波特5》中大多时间都被乌姆里奇教授关禁闭，不但没怎么参加魁地奇的训练，还错过了几场重要的比赛。不过，这对于饰演罗恩的鲁伯特·格林特来说，却不啻为一个噩耗，因为罗恩将在这一集中将第一次参加格兰芬多学院的魁地奇代表队。对此，格林特只能遗憾地表示：“寄希望于明年。”既然魁地奇比赛没有了，我们也就无缘听到那首与之相关的“韦斯莱是我们的王”了。
2、 韦斯莱夫人与小天狼星在凤凰社就哈利的问题起了一些争执……被删。
3、 家养小精灵多比不再出现……《哈利·波特4》中，多比的所有戏分就被纳威取代了，所以不难猜测这个角色为何会无缘第五集故事。估计惟一对此感到不高兴的当属赫敏了，因为这种做法显然触犯了她创建的“家养小精灵权益促进会” (S.P.E.W.)。
4、 纳威的父母……他们当年都是英勇的傲罗，由于受到了伏地魔的折磨而发疯，现住在圣芒戈魔法伤病医院疗养。这真是一个不幸的消息，因为随着纳威的作用一集比一集重要，他的父母本应该也得到相应的“尊重”，而不是被无情地删掉。
5、 哈利等人为布莱克家、凤凰社的总部进行大扫除……让人觉得非常可惜，因为我们没办法看到在这里出现的神奇生物活生生的样子了。
《哈利·波特与凤凰社》[电影]-影片亮点
新导演，新尝试
在霍格沃茨魔法学校的第5个年头，对于哈利·波特来说是一个关键年，因为他不再是孩子，而是学着面对成年人需要做出的选择和挑战：哈利不但要处理伏地魔的回归，还忍受着失去好友塞德里克·迪戈里的痛苦。发生在他身上的一切，都迫使他比其他同龄人在心智方面要更加成熟，因为他担负的都是一些预想不到的重大责任……为了能够找到进入哈利·波特的魔法世界的入口，导演大卫·叶慈在拍摄之前做了很多准备工作，彻底地分析了《哈利·波特》系列一路走过来所经历的前因后果：“这一集故事在全套小说中占有着非常重要的位置，因为到了这个时候，我们的小主角正在一步步走向成熟，周围的事情也变得越来越复杂，他们开始发现这个世界的磕磕绊绊，开始经历‘成长的烦恼’。”
作为《哈利·波特》系列的制片人， [大卫·海曼]表示，正是这一集故事与众不同的特质，才让他最终选择了大卫·叶慈来为影片执导：“叶慈非常善于处理这种奇幻类的故事主题，而且他还展现出能够以非常娱乐的方式处理政治问题的能力。当然，《哈利·波特5》并非一部政治色彩浓厚的影片，但是却大量演绎了魔法世界所遵循的政治学。可以说，叶慈是带着无限的激情加盟进来的，而看着他与孩子们之间从陌生到信任的过程，你就会发现，叶慈确实是一个能够调动演员积极性的高手。他明白，跟随着系列一起成长的几位小演员，比任何人都更加了解他们在影片中的角色，所以叶慈经常鼓励他们要大胆地说出自己的想法，尽量把自己真实的个性注入到角色之中去。”
连续第五次饰演哈利·波特的丹尼尔·雷德克里夫表示：“我喜欢和大卫·叶慈一起工作，更喜欢他那彬彬有礼的温和个性。不过，第五集故事也是我拍摄的最难的一部影片，部分是因为这一章内容的特殊性，剩下的则在于来了叶慈这位新导演。他总是让我更加深刻地去分析哈利这个角色，我发现这种做法是非常必要的，他真的是一位才华横溢的天才导演。”
罗恩·韦斯莱的扮演者鲁伯特·格林特对此表示同意：“大卫·叶慈的执导方式与其他几位导演存在着很大的差异，但是他总能通过最轻松的方式，得到最伟大的成果。”而饰演哈利永远忠诚的朋友赫敏·格兰杰的爱玛·沃特森则补充道：“叶慈最可爱的地方，就是认真倾听我们谈论自己的角色的时候。对于我们能够连续在五部影片里饰演同一个角色，叶慈感到了由衷地佩服，他非常重视我与丹尼尔·雷德克里夫、鲁伯特·格林特之间的关系，因为这有助于我们在影片中的角色之间的友情的真实性。”
除了大卫·叶慈，编剧迈克尔·戈登伯格对于《哈利·波特》系列来说也是一位新人：“当大卫·海曼找到我的时候，我兴奋得全身发抖。我知道我的说法可能有点老套，但能够加入这部魔幻系列故事，再通过你的努力，让它展示在大银幕上，你能想象得到那会是一个什么样的感觉吗？大卫·叶慈虽然给我留了足够大的创作空间，可是他也对剧本有一个要求，那就是故事的每一个时刻都要尽可能地真实。显然，剧本首先要做到的一点，就是保留住原著小说中的精髓和灵魂。可以说，第五集故事是整个系列中最重要的一个部分，哈利从一个小孩蜕变成懵懂的少年，他开始意识到任何事情都不是绝对的：坏人有好的一面，好人也有邪恶的一面…… 他发现，成人的世界并没有想象中的那么好，也存在着缺陷——这些都是需要我们在影片中突出的主题。”
神奇的魔法部
在哈利真正面对伏地魔的挑战之前，还有其他事情需要解决，那就是如何逃过去魔法部受审的这一劫……这里，得到最具体的体现的就是魔法部的大厅，美工设计师斯图亚特·克雷格(Stuart Craig)用一张很有苏联气息的魔法部部长福吉的巨型海报，盖满了整整一面墙。克雷格还表示，尽管在魔法部的巫师都是用飞行代替行走，用纸飞机代替电话，却没办法掩盖它在本质上是一个纯粹的官僚机构的事实： “在英国，ZF大楼都有着19世纪维多利亚时代的建筑特色，楼身上的装饰物繁多。由于魔法部被设置在了地下，所以我们做的第一件事就是走遍了伦敦所有最古老的地铁站，感受其中的阴冷气息和设计风格。我们注意到，很多地铁站都使用了大量彩色的瓷砖做装饰——结合了这一特点，我们终于发明了一个地下的世界—— 魔法部。在每一面墙都铺满了华美庄重的黑瓷砖后，那种气势立马就显现出来了。不过，这种做法对于摄影师斯拉沃米尔·埃迪扎克(Slawomir Idziak)来说可是一个不小的挑战，因为他在拍摄的时候，必须得把瓷砖反光这一元素考虑进去。”
通观所有《哈利·波特》系列影片，魔法部的美工设计都堪称最大的一处布景地，超过200英尺长、120英尺宽、30英尺高，至少铺了3万块瓷砖——都是一个个人工粘上去的。而且到了影片中，这个大厅还会通过数码处理，空间变得更大。
哈利是在韦斯莱先生的陪伴下，从“来宾入口”进入魔法部的——看起来就是伦敦街头最普通的一个电话亭，斯图亚特·克雷格笑着说：“我认为，这样的设置会让位于麻瓜ZF大楼正下方的魔法部变得更有趣味性，所以我们选择了一个离国防部非常近的电话亭……麻瓜肯定会大吃一惊，原来魔法部就位于英国国防部的地下。”大卫·叶慈也表示：“相信《哈利·波特》系列最有趣的一个故事点，就是展示魔法世界是如何‘隐藏’在麻瓜的生活中的，事实上，这两个世界是相融的，只是麻瓜们没意识到这一点而已。”
粉色代表一种新的“黑势力”
新学期，学校来了一位新的黑魔法防御术课老师——乌姆里奇教授，由伊梅尔达·斯汤顿饰演。从头到脚都被粉色包裹着，乌姆里奇教授拥有老练的假笑和甜到发腻的声音，可是她的本性却和这完全相反。大卫·叶慈表示：“福吉认为邓布利多在觊觎魔法部部长的位置，所以他派来了自己最信赖的副部长乌姆里奇，在霍格沃茨查明真相。可乌姆里奇却认为自己的任务是为福吉扫清一切潜在的威胁，结果把霍格沃茨搞得乌烟瘴气，纯是一只披着羊皮的狼。”斯汤顿表示同意：“很多人都会像乌姆里奇一样，表面上魅力十足，其实一肚子坏水，所以饰演这样一个角色是我愿意接受的挑战。”
虽然是为了与原著小说保持一致，伊梅尔达·斯汤顿有时候仍然会对饰演乌姆里奇这个角色感到有点恼火：“在小说中，她被描述成长得非常丑陋，像是令人讨厌的癞蛤蟆，所以当有人对我说‘你是这个角色最合适的人选’时，我听着总觉得不那么舒服。”
伊梅尔达·斯汤顿也是所有演员中，和服装设计师珍妮·泰敏(Jany Temime)走得最近的一个，因为乌姆里奇整体的形象设计，是泰敏在整部影片中，最艰巨的工作之一，斯汤顿说：“我们为这个身材有点圆的女士想出了很多有趣的方案，我不希望她衣服的轮廓太过鲜明——虽然她给人的第一印象是温柔和善良，其实心肠实在是不怎么地。”
为了能够在外观上展示乌姆里奇教授的“温柔”，珍妮·泰敏表示：“我们往伊梅尔达·斯汤顿的戏服里填了很多东西，因为她本人特别瘦。”泰敏还在衣服上使用了许多柔软的布料，就是为了增强那种性格上的温和感。不过，衣服的颜色却是在小说中就已经决定好的：粉色、更粉以及最粉。泰敏接着说：“每一次我们看到她，她身上的粉衣服除了颜色，样式都是不一样的。当她慢慢在霍格沃茨展示自己的特权时，颜色的亮度也会随之变强，十分扎眼，最终变成了那种最深的樱桃粉。”
粉色的主题还会被延用至乌姆里奇教授的办公室中，这部分场景是由美工师斯图亚特·克雷格和他的设计组用各种粉色的东西装饰出来的，包括带有花边、像天鹅绒一样光滑的窗帘，以及周围各种可爱的小摆设。家具的风格则来源于法国，以克雷格的说法就是“非常有线条感”——从各个方面进行暗示，这间办公室的主人实在是太有个性了。不过，这间办公室最有特色的地方，还在于墙上那200多个印有小猫的盘子上，暗示着乌姆里奇那种与猫很相似、反复无常的性格。相对照而言，乌姆里奇教授使用的教室就显得严肃、简朴多了，就像她对学生严格限制的教课风格一样——只允许他们做在自己的位置上埋头于她指定的教课书。鲁伯特·格林特说：“学生们对乌姆里奇教授的黑魔法防御术课都感到无比陌生，但是她却坚信我们必须要学习理论，而且完全没有实践过程，要知道，这种做法在一所魔法学校里是非常荒谬的。”
槲寄生下的初吻
当霍格沃茨因为即将到来的圣诞节而进入假期时，哈利组建的D.A.学习小组也不得不中断一段时间。最后一堂课过后，D.A.所有的成员都结伴离开了，秋·张却留了下来。哈利早在去年就喜欢上了她，然而两人的关系却因为塞德里克·迪戈里的被害而稍嫌复杂。似乎是洞悉了他们心中暗藏的想法，无所不知的“有求必应屋”在最后一次D.A.集会的时候用一枝槲寄生作为装饰物，终于带来了所有哈迷热切盼望着的时刻——哈利的初吻。
丹尼尔·雷德克里夫回忆这部分的拍摄时说：“我有些不安，因为我发现梁佩诗似乎很紧张。这不仅仅是一个吻那么简单，也暗示着张秋和哈利之间的复杂关系。当我们尝试了几次后，发现其实也没那么可怕，还挺有趣的。”梁佩诗继续说：“我之所以特别紧张，因为这是我在大银幕上的初吻，好在导演大卫·叶慈非常专业，他告诉了我们想要一个什么样的效果，这样我们就不会感觉这个场景有多么地难拍了。一开始的时候，是有点难堪，但是丹尼尔·雷德克里夫很会带戏，他让拍摄变得很简单，而且他是一个接吻高手。”
导演的做法也许打消了两位小演员的顾虑，却忘了一旁同样紧张的工作人员，因为这些人几乎是看着丹尼尔·雷德克里夫随着《哈利·波特》系列电影一点一点成长起来的，制片人大卫·海曼说： “我们中的许多人在雷德克里夫10岁的时候就认识他了，然后他就在我们的眼前长大了……所以我们关心他，想要保护他。在这里，看着他经历着‘银幕初吻’，那种感觉很奇怪，我一直告诫自己不要看，可是却忍不住想看。好在这组场景拍得很完美，相信观众肯定能够从中感觉到温柔和美丽的甜蜜。”
巨人兄弟格洛普
在知道自己迟早会被乌姆里奇赶出霍格沃茨之后，狩猎场看守海格给哈利、罗恩和赫敏“布置”了一个特殊的任务：帮助照看自己那同母异父的弟弟格洛普——他刚好是一个身高16英尺的巨人。
为了让格洛普在大银幕上“活”过来，这里不但结合了手工设计、动作捕捉、电脑特效的集体智慧，还包括一个名叫托尼·毛德斯莱(Tony Maudsley)的演员的天才表演。大卫·海曼说：“在我们的假设中，格洛普是一个非常天真的巨人，只是比较好动，没办法太长时间集中注意力而已。毛德斯莱和大卫·叶慈花了很长时间去讨论一些表演上的细节，因为格洛普是一个需要靠‘动作捕捉’技术帮助的数码人。”叶慈则对毛德斯莱的表现大加赞扬：“他完全融入进来了，这从他每一个细微的表演中就能看出来。即使这个角色几乎完全是由数码技术生成的，可是毛德斯莱却给了格洛普生命和灵魂。”
当格洛普和赫敏待在一起时，你能从他们之间的关系看出格洛普并不只是一个面目可憎的巨人，爱玛·沃特森说：“格洛普也有可爱的一面，在赫敏面前，他就像一只小猫咪那样温顺，赫敏是惟一一个能够让他安静下来的人……我知道格洛普是一个由电脑制作出来的数码巨人，可是工作人员已经尽量让他显得真实了，他有一双像小狗一样可爱的眼睛，我实在是太喜欢他了。”
生物特效师尼克·杜德曼(Nick Dudman)表示，他们还给格洛普制作了一个原尺寸大小的脑袋，用来拍摄和其他演员在一起的场景，鲁伯特·格林特兴奋地说：“和格洛普一起拍摄的部分太精彩了，现场有巨大的头和肩膀，逼真到我们都忘了和我们一起演戏的，只是他身体的一部分而已。至于其中我最中意的部分就是：格洛普非常喜欢赫敏，用手把她托了起来。于是罗恩嫉妒了，尝试着想让格洛普把赫敏放下来，他想英雄救美，就是使劲敲打巨人……你一定已经猜出结果了，罗恩一下子就被格洛普给弹飞了。”
《哈利·波特与凤凰社》[电影]-影片评价
秋·张：和哈利的爱情是悲剧
尽管此前哈利·波特和秋·张的恋情成为大家关注的焦点，但刚刚曝光的《哈利·波特和凤凰社》中的情节可以看得出来，其实他们之间的感情并非完美。哈利吻了秋·张，但最终两个人并没有走到一起。
故事从哈利的五年级开始。他惊奇地发现秋·张多次找他，并试图同他谈话。不幸的是，哈利每次同秋·张的见面都并不愉快：第一次，在和秋·张见面的时候，他就被绿色的汁液溅了一身；之后的一次见面，秋·张甚至同哈利最好的朋友罗恩为魁地奇球队而争执起来。
最令人关注的是情人节时，在霍格沃茨，秋·张最终同意和哈利约会，两人甚至有了初吻，但是秋·张却忽然为死去的塞德里克（她之前的男友）哭泣。她还坦言自己嫉妒赫敏同哈利的友谊，且由于毫无经验的哈利不知所措，因此这个约会不欢而散。所以，两人的初恋并不是很完美。
从已经曝光的情节中我们可以看出张秋在《哈利·波特和凤凰社》中的戏份大大增加。在接受采访的时候，这位名叫梁凯蒂的华裔女孩这样解释自己的角色：“她原来是有一个男朋友的（塞德里克），但是后来去世了。所以，她和哈利·波特发展了一段感情。但是这段感情并不稳定，因为她始终无法忘记死去的男友，因此这是一个内心复杂的女孩。最终，这是一个悲剧。”谈到和哈利的初吻，她说：“他是一个很优秀的接吻者，我很享受整个过程。”
而扮演哈利的雷德克利夫则乐观地表示，如果没有意外的话，这场吻戏会吸引大量的影迷前去影院观看此片。他说：“如果说观众看这部电影只有一个原因的话，我猜就是这场吻戏。”
反派：我会和小天狼星殊死搏斗！
另外，在片中扮演伏地魔追随者卢修斯·马尔福的演员杰森·伊萨克斯也透露了一些戏份。他所扮演的这个角色是第五集中主要的大反派，而且将会和哈利的教父———小天狼星展开殊死搏斗。
据称，伊萨克斯扮演的将是哈利·波特和天狼星在霍格沃茨的死敌———马尔福。在第五集中，马尔福被证明是一个食死徒（伏地魔跟随者的总称），他忠心耿耿地为自己的主人伏地魔效忠。更重要的是，这位马尔福还将在片中和天狼星有殊死决斗。扮演这个角色的伊萨克斯表示：“我将会和加里·奥德曼扮演的天狼星有一番决斗。他可能是这个星球上最伟大的演员之一，所以我经常担心自己会演不好。你知道，我们之间的决斗就好像是两个十岁的孩子在打闹。因为需要大量的后期电脑制作。不过，这个过程在大银幕上展现出来，真的很棒！”
尽管这个角色在第五集中戏份颇多，但是伊萨克斯却担心自己在后面两集中“失踪”。为此他专门拜访了J·K·罗琳，希望这个作家不要让他“消失”。
It is the longest book in the series, and was published on 21 June 2003 by Bloomsbury in the United Kingdom, Scholastic in the United States, and Raincoast in Canada. The book has been made into a film, which was released in 2007, and has also been made into several video games by Electronic Arts. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix has won several awards, including being named an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults in 2003.
Synopsis
Plot introduction
Throughout the four previous novels in the Harry Potter series, the main character, Harry Potter, has struggled with the difficulties that come with growing up and the added challenge of being a famous wizard. When Harry was a baby, Voldemort, the most powerful evil wizard in living memory, killed Harry's parents but mysteriously vanished after trying to kill Harry. This results in Harry's immediate fame, and his being placed in the care of his muggle, or non-magical, relatives Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon.
Harry enters the wizarding world at the age of 11, enrolling in the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He makes friends with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, and is confronted by Lord Voldemort trying to regain power. After returning to the school after summer break, several attacks on students take place at Hogwarts after the legendary "Chamber of Secrets" is opened. Harry ends the attacks by killing a Basilisk and defeating another attempt by Lord Voldemort to return to full strength. The following year, Harry hears that he has been targeted by escaped murderer Sirius Black. Despite stringent security measures at Hogwarts, Harry is confronted by Black at the end of his third year of schooling and Harry learns that Black was framed and is actually Harry's godfather. Harry's fourth year of school sees him entered in a dangerous magical competition called the Triwizard Tournament. At the conclusion of the Tournament, Harry witnesses the return of Lord Voldemort to full strength.
Plot summary
This novel begins when Harry and his cousin, Dudley, are attacked by dementors. Harry uses magic to fight them off, and must attend a disciplinary hearing for it. In response to Voldemort's reappearance, Dumbledore re-activates the Order of the Phoenix, a secret society which works to defeat Voldemort's minions and protect Voldemort's targets, including Harry. Despite Harry's description of Voldemort's recent activities, the Ministry of Magic and many others in the magical world refuse to believe that Voldemort has returned.
In an attempt to enforce its version of school curriculum, the Ministry appoints Dolores Umbridge as the new High Inquisitor of Hogwarts. She transforms the school into a quasi-dictatorial regime and refuses to allow the students to learn ways to defend themselves against dark magic. Harry's friends, Ron and Hermione, persuaded Harry to form a secret study group and begin to teach his classmates the higher-level skills he has learned. The novel introduces Harry to Luna Lovegood, an airy young witch with a tendency to believe in oddball conspiracy theories. Moreover, it reveals an important prophecy concerning Harry and Voldemort. Harry also discovers that he and Voldemort have a telepathic connection, allowing Harry to view some of Voldemort's actions. In the novel's climax, Harry and his school friends face off against Voldemort's Death Eaters. The timely arrival of members of the Order of the Phoenix saves the children's lives, but Sirius Black, Harry's godfather, is murdered by Bellatrix Lestrange. Many Death Eaters are captured and, most importantly, the return of Voldemort is confirmed within the magical world.
Development, publication, and reception
Development
In an interview with BBC News, Rowling suggested the death of a principal character which made her sad. She added that although her husband suggested she undo the character's death to stop her sadness, she needed to be "a ruthless killer." However, Rowling revealed in a 2007 interview that she had originally planned to kill off Arthur Weasley in this book, but ultimately could not bear to do it. In another interview, when asked if there was anything she would go back and change about the seven novels, Rowling replied that she would have edited Phoenix more, as she feels it is too long.
Publication and release
Potter fans waited three years between the releases of the fourth and fifth books.
Before the release of the fifth book, 200 million copies of the first four books had already been sold and translated into 55 languages in 200 countries. As the series was already a global phenomenon, the book forged new pre-order records, with thousands of people queuing outside book stores on 20 June 2003 to secure their copy at midnight. Despite the security, thousands of copies were stolen from an Earlestown, Merseyside warehouse on 15 June 2003.
Critical response
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was met with generally good reviews, and received several awards. The book was named as a Best Book for Young Adults and as a Notable Book by the American Library Association in 2004. It also received the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio 2004 Gold Medal along with several other awards.
The novel was also received generally well by critics. Rowling was praised for her imagination by USA Today writer Deirdre Donahue. Most of the negative reviewers were concerned with the violence contained in the novel and with morality issues occurring throughout the book. There has also been a strong religious response to the publishing of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
New York Times writer John Leonard praised the novel, saying "The Order of the Phoenix starts slow, gathers speed and then skateboards, with somersaults, to its furious conclusion....As Harry gets older, Rowling gets better." However, he also criticizes "the one-note Draco Malfoy" and the predictable Lord Voldemort. Another review by Julie Smithouser, of the Christian-right group Focus on the Family, said the book was, "Likely to be considered the weakest book in the series, Phoenix does feel less oppressive than the two most previous novels." Smithouser's main criticism was that the book was not moral. Harry lies to authority to escape punishment, and that, at times, the violence is too "gruesome and graphic."
Several Christian groups have expressed concerns that the book, and the rest of the Harry Potter series, contain references to witchcraft or occultism. Despite these views, several religious groups have also expressed their support for the series. Christianity Today published an editorial in favour of the books in January 2000, calling the series a "Book of Virtues" and averring that although "modern witchcraft is indeed an ensnaring, seductive false religion that we must protect our children from", this does not represent the Potter books, which have "wonderful examples of compassion, loyalty, courage, friendship, and even self-sacrifice".
Prequels and sequels
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the fifth book in the Harry Potter Series. The first book in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was first published by Bloomsbury in 1997 with an initial print-run of 500 copies in hardback, three hundred of which were distributed to libraries. By the end of 1997 the UK edition won a National Book Award and a gold medal in the 9 to 11 year-olds category of the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize. The second book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, was originally published in the UK on 2 July 1998 and in the US on 2 June 1999. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was published a year later in the UK on 8 July 1999 and in the US on 8 September 1999. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was published on 8 July 2000 simultaneously by Bloomsbury and Scholastic.
After the publishing of Order of the Phoenix, the sixth book of the series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, was published on 16 July 2005, and sold 11 million copies in the first 24 hours of its worldwide release. The seventh and final novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was published 21 July 2007. The book sold 11 million copies within 24 hours of its release: 2.7 million copies in the UK and 8.3 million in the US.
Adaptations
Film
In 2007, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was released in film version directed by David Yates, produced by David Heyman's company Heyday Films, and written by Michael Goldenberg. The film's budget was reportedly between £75 and 100 million ($150–200 million), and it became the unadjusted seventh-highest grossing film of all time, and a critical and commercial success. The film opened to a worldwide 5-day opening of $333 million, third all-time, and grossed $939 million total, the second to Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End for the greatest total of 2007.
Video games
A video game adaptation of the book and film versions of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was made for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PSP, Nintendo DS, Wii, Game Boy Advance and Mac OS X. It was released on 25 June 2007 in the U.S., 28 June 2007 in Australia and 29 June 2007 in the UK and Europe for PlayStation 3, PSP, PlayStation 2, Windows and the 3 July 2007 for most other platforms. The games were published by Electronic Arts.
Religious response
Religious controversy surrounding Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and the other books in the Harry Potter series mainly deal with the claims that novel contains occult or Satanic subtexts. Religious response to the series has not been exclusively negative. "At least as much as they've been attacked from a theological point of view", notes Rowling, "[the books] have been lauded and taken into pulpit, and most interesting and satisfying for me, it's been by several different faiths".
Opposition to the series
In the United States, calls for the book to be banned from schools have led occasionally to widely publicised legal challenges, usually on the grounds that witchcraft is a government-recognised religion and that to allow the novels to be held in public schools violates the separation of church and state. The series was at the top of the American Library Association's "most challenged books" list for 1999–2001.
Religious opposition to the series has also occurred in other nations. The Orthodox churches of Greece and Bulgaria have campaigned against the series. The books have been banned from private schools in the United Arab Emirates and criticised in the Iranian state-run press.
Roman Catholic opinion over the series is divided. In 2003 Catholic World Report criticised Harry's disrespect for rules and authority, and regarded the series' mixing of the magical and mundane worlds as "a fundamental rejection of the divine order in creation." In 2005, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who became Pope later that year but was at the time Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, described the series as "subtle seductions, which act unnoticed and by this deeply distort Christianity in the soul before it can grow properly," and gave permission for publication of the letter that expressed this opinion. However, a spokesman for the Archbishop of Westminster said that Cardinal Ratzinger's words were not binding as they were not an official pronouncement of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Positive response
Some religious responses have been positive. Emily Griesinger wrote that fantasy literature helps children to survive reality for long enough to learn how to deal with it, described Harry's first passage through to Platform 9¾ as an application of faith and hope, and his encounter with the Sorting Hat as the first of many in which Harry is shaped by the choices he makes. She noted that the self-sacrifice of Harry's mother, which protected the boy in the first book and throughout the series, was the most powerful of the "deeper magics" that transcend the magical "technology" of the wizards, and one which the power-hungry Voldemort fails to understand.
There is some positive Roman Catholic opinion on the books. In 2003, Monsignor Peter Fleetwood, a member of a Church working party on New Age phenomena, said that the Harry Potter stories "are not bad or a banner for anti-Christian theology. They help children understand the difference between good and evil," that Rowling's approach was Christian, and that the stories illustrated the need to make sacrifices to defeat evil.
Translations
The first official foreign translation of the book appeared in Vietnamese on 21 July 2003, when the first of twenty-two installments was released. The first official European translation appeared in Serbia and Montenegro in Serbian, by the official publisher Narodna Knjiga, in early September 2003. Other translations appeared later, e.g. in November 2003 in Dutch and German. The English language version has topped the best seller list in France, while in Germany and the Netherlands an unofficial distributed translation process has been started on the internet.
In the Czech Republic, several young children translated half of the book in two weeks after its English release, long before its intended Czech release date. This led the official Czech publisher Albatros to sue the children for copyright infringement.
《哈利·波特与混血王子》中哈利将迎来他在魔法学校的第六年，斯内普终于如愿以偿地当上了“黑魔法防御术课”的教授，而一向头疼魔药课的哈利也凭借着一本旧的魔药课本成为魔药课新老师的宠儿。与此同时，邓布利多也开始为哈利单独授课，在课上他们一同探索了伏地魔的神秘身世，为最终的大战运筹帷幄。
“每次担任该职务者必有问题”的黑魔法防御术课，终于划归对此垂涎已久的斯内普教授名下，而空缺的魔药课则交由新来的霍拉斯先生走马上任(这位奥斯卡最佳男配角得主同时也是《纳尔尼亚传奇1：狮子、女巫、魔衣柜》里的教授--魔衣柜的所有者)。另一方面，邓布利多继续给哈利单开小灶，准备迎接伏地魔总裁的新一轮攻势；可没想到是，当食死徒杀进霍格沃茨时，黑魔法防御术的老师到底还是出了问题。
看过书的“哈哈”们都知道《哈利·波特与混血王子》是怎么回事，至于那位关键人物的死，为吸引更多好奇人士，恕我按下不表。不经意间随手设计哈利和金妮、罗恩和赫敏同时遭遇“三角”问题。而奥斯卡级的霍格沃茨居然还嫌阵容不够华丽，又把《红磨坊》的老板吸纳进来，按此趋势真不知最后一部搬上银幕时还能请到谁--朱迪·丹奇？迈克尔·凯恩？不仅如此，罗琳还以“作为母亲不忍心拒绝女儿想继续看的要求”为由，放言不排除撰写以哈利的孩子当主角的“第八本《哈利·波特》”。
从裸体恋马的舞台剧到闪电分手的姐弟恋，一直不缺头条素材的丹尼尔·雷德克里夫将第六次与大家见面(其实大量粉丝最期待再见的人是艾玛·沃特森才对吧？虽然她的演技与年龄呈反比)。其实《混血王子》最大的两个悬念莫过于：一、这是系列小说完结之后的第一部电影，书的销量刷新吉尼斯世界纪录，会对电影票房产生怎样的影响？二、上一集令人大失所望的大卫·耶茨导演继续掌勺，根据克里斯·哥伦布“《密室》＜《魔法石》”的前车之鉴， 做好心理准备迎接一部更糟糕的《哈利·波特》？令人费解的是：为什么华纳要把分成上下集的《死亡圣器》也交给他呢！
《哈利·波特与混血王子》[电影]-拍摄花絮
将于2008年11月21日登陆影院的《哈利·波特与混血王子》发布部分拍摄花絮，不仅将看到电影拍摄的场景，还将采访主角丹尼尔·雷德克里夫、爱玛·沃特森、鲁伯特·格林特。
在《哈利·波特与混血王子》中，哈利将在霍格沃兹开始他的第六年学习生活。尽管伏地魔已经开始了他的复仇计划，但是抵抗伏地魔的组织也在日渐强大。哈利和赫敏无意中发现了一本古老的药剂书，这本书原本属于“混血王子”，哈利发现这本书不仅能增加他的魔法知识，还能帮助他准备和伏地魔的战争。
首先哈利必须帮助邓布利多发现伏地魔寻找不死的秘密。但是这个秘密居然造成了悲剧性的结局，更让哈利相信自己应该肩负起与黑暗战争的使命。
《哈利·波特与混血王子》[电影]-电影相关
最新一集《哈利·波特与混血王子》将全球公映，曾经饰演天狼星的加里·奥德曼于上集《凤凰社》中壮烈牺牲，但现实生活中，他跟“哈利”丹尼尔·雷德克里夫仍然保持紧密联络。他出席《蝙蝠侠：黑夜骑士》首映礼时，自爆丹尼尔经常致电跟他聊天，“他说电影结局篇《哈利·波特与死圣》将会一分为二，上半部分在2010年上映，相信跟故事太精彩丰富有关；却驳斥他，只是钱作怪而已，他听罢非常无瘾。”
随着英国电影杂志《帝国》公布首批剧照，男女主角及新角色造型亦同时曝光。“哈利”丹尼尔·雷德克里夫、“赫敏”艾玛·沃特森以及“罗恩”鲁伯特·格林特，外表打扮更见成熟；其中一张哈利拿着魔法棒神情哀伤的剧照，有细心网友声称那根魔法棒是属于校长邓不利多的，由此猜测校长会于本集死去！丹尼尔接受《帝国》采访时说，第六集的黑暗色彩会较以往更强，有些画面仿佛是对1996年上映的《猜火车》的疯狂膜拜。导演大卫·耶茨也透露，超级奸角“伏地魔”及其信仰者“食死徒”会向哈利步步进逼，“影片一开始，伦敦一处主要标志将会受到攻击，遭到毁灭性破坏。”
幸好新片同时加重了爱情戏分，导演大卫·耶茨爆料指哈利对罗恩的妹妹金妮有好感，二人几乎亲吻之际，食死徒却出现坏了好事。另一方面，赫敏跟罗恩的恋情也逐渐明朗化，“作为魔法学校最聪明的女生，赫敏将会表现出平日罕见的浪漫情愫。”
《哈利·波特与混血王子》首次曝光的先行版预告海报，是华纳公司第一时间向新浪娱乐提供的。在预告片和大量剧照曝光之后官方海报第一次现身，距离影片2009年7月上映已经不足半年，应该是整体宣传全面启动的标志。在曝光的预告海报中，凛冽的阴暗风格铺面而来，早先那个胸怀魔法师梦醒的懵懂少年已经绝尘而去，处于黑暗风雨中的哈利·波特下巴上已经隐约冒出了胡茬，脸颊上似乎也出现了一条法令纹。而在他眼镜中出演的邓布利多披头散发，两人明显面临着一场恶战。时间在哈利·波特脸上刻下了痕迹，也继续将他推进“成人社会”的无尽深渊。逐渐学有所成的哈利·波特面临着和“蜘蛛侠”一样的难题：是遵循“能力越大，责任越大”的教诲，继续“降妖伏魔，解救众生”，还是屈服在重重诱惑之中。
最新公布的剧情显示，在这场战斗中邓布利多身受重伤，还被斯内普用魔杖化为灰烬，但最后哈利·波特还是在伙伴们的帮助下杀死了斯内普，而斯内普在临死前也透露了自己就是混血王子的秘密。究竟邓布利多能不能回到魔法学校，回到哈利·波特的身边，这一切都将在电影上映后逐渐解开。
第81届奥斯卡颁奖典礼将揭晓。与往年不同，奥斯卡会在临近尾声时播放一段短片来展望2009年的热门新片，《哈利·波特与混血王子》就在其中。
《哈利·波特与混血王子》[电影]-人物名称含义
1.阿不思· 珀西瓦尔·伍尔弗里克·布莱恩·邓布 利多（AlbusPe rcivalWulfricBrianDumbledore）：阿不思是拉丁文中白色的意思，因为邓布利是 与黑魔头伏地魔对立的白魔法师。邓布利多根据罗琳自己说是“蜜蜂嗡嗡叫”的意思。
2.西弗勒斯·斯内普（SeverusSnape）：西弗勒斯在 拉丁文中是严厉的意思，和斯内普的性格蛮相符的。但实际上，Snape只是英国的一个小 村庄的名字。斯内普在英文中与蛇这个词只差一个字母！难怪斯内普是斯莱特林的院长 。
3.米勒娃·麦格（MinervaMcgonagall）： 通常的翻译是密涅瓦，罗马神话中的智慧女神，也就相当于希腊神话中的女神雅典娜。
4.赫敏·格兰杰（HermioneGranger）：从发 音上就可以判断是从希腊奥林匹斯山上著名的众神使者赫尔墨斯的大名中化出来的。当 今哲学领域流行的“解释学”原来也脱胎于赫尔墨斯之名.难怪赫敏在小说中以机敏和智 慧著称，许多难解的哑谜一经她手即可迎刃而解。
5.莱姆斯·卢平（RemusLupin）：卢平来自于拉丁 文词根LUP，即狼的意思-LUPINE是“像狼一样的人”，而LUPUS是"豺狼座".据说法国诺 曼底地区的居民有时就把狼人叫做“LUPIN”！莱姆斯就更有趣了,这是罗马传说中被母 狼喂养过的双生子之一的名字，可爱的小狼崽子!
6.小天狼星·布莱克（SiriusBlack）：SIRIUS 当然就 是天狼星，而布莱克是“黑色”。他变身这之后就是一只黑色的大狗。
7.小矮星·彼得（PeterPettigrew）：彼得这 个名字太普通了，似乎没什么特殊意义。小矮星是“长的很小”的意思，这个名字还可 以拆开成为PETIGREW，意思差不多是“我变成了宠物”！
8.阿格斯·费尔奇（ArgusFilch）:费尔奇是英文动 词“偷”的意思，而阿格斯则是希腊神话中一百只眼睛的巨怪。费尔奇先生经常偷偷摸 摸的观察学生的行为。
9. 鲁伯·海格（Hagrid）：据罗琳的说法，HAGRID是 古英语中的单词,是“很糟糕的夜晚”或“睡不好觉的晚上”。海格常因为喝酒睡不好觉
10.阿拉斯托·穆迪（AlastorMoody）：ALASTOR 是 希腊神话中掌管复仇的魔鬼,而穆迪在在英文中则是情绪多变的意思。
11.宾斯教授（ProfessorBinns）：BINNS 发音很接近BEEN，在英文中是动词BE的过去分词形式。这位教授已经是鬼魂，也的确是 过去式了!
12.汤姆·里德尔（TomMarvoloRiddle）：RIDDLE是英文“谜语”的意思， 一看到这个名字就知道罗琳要玩文字游戏了。
13.伏地魔（ LordVoldemort）：VOLDEMORT是来源于法语VOLEDEMORT，即“死亡的飞翔”或“飞离死 亡”。难怪老伏同志整天想着长生不老。而“伏地魔”这个词，是由TomMarvoloRiddle 变过来的，只是字母的顺序换了一下，伏地魔的过去汤姆.里德尔一直不喜欢自己的名字 汤姆，认为它太普通，所以调换了字母，由TomMarvoloRiddle（汤姆.里德尔）变为 LordVoldemort，以显示自己的与众不同。
14.弗农·德斯礼（VernonDursley）：弗农是罗琳最讨厌的名字。 在罗琳的出生地——英国的格温特郡附近有个叫Durslay的城市。
15.达力·德斯礼（DudleyDursley ）：DUDLEY是从英国俚语DUD变化而来，意思是很无聊的人。
16.佩妮·德斯礼 （PetuniaDursley）：PETUNIA是牵牛花的意思，而她的妹妹。哈利的妈妈莉莉的名字则 是百合花的意思。牵牛花象征愤怒和憎恨，而百合象征纯洁。
17.德拉科·马尔福 （DracoMalfoy)：MALFOY是由法语MALFOI变化而来，意思是不好的信仰。这一家人都是 食死徒，全是信仰黑魔法。而德拉科。DRACO是拉丁文中龙蛇的意思，而龙在西方是和撒 旦联系在一起的。德拉科也是古雅典一位极其残暴的立法官的名字。
18.卢修斯·马尔福 (LuciusMalfoy)：LUCIUS和LUCIFER很接近，和德拉科一样。卢修斯也是古雅典一位很残 暴的立法官名字。
19.纳西莎·马尔福(NarcissaMalfoy)：NARCISSA来源于希腊神话 中的人物，就是那个有自恋情结，爱上自己在水中的影子的年轻人。纳西莎是水仙花的 意思，代表自恋。
20.路威(海格的三头大狗 ，Fluffy)：（fluffy）意思是“毛茸茸的”。
21.海德薇 (Hedwig)：是12或者13世纪德国圣徒的名字，她为城市中的人们传递消息。
22.戈德里克·格兰芬多(GodricGryffindor)：Gryffin是希腊神话中的狮身鹫头有 翼兽，在法语中dor有“金制成的”的意思。“格兰芬多”指狮身鹫头有翼兽。God表示 “上帝”，-ric是表示“管辖、领域”之意的接尾词。Godric指的是“上帝的住处”。 格兰芬多的象征是lion（狮子）
23.萨拉查·斯莱特林(SalazarSlytherin)：SLYTHERIN 是来自英文单词“SLITHERING”，像蛇一样爬行前进的谐模文。斯莱特林的象征就是 snake（蛇）。
24.罗伊纳·拉文克劳(RowenaRavenclaw)：RAVENCLAW ，直译就是渡鸦的脚爪。拉文克劳学院的象征就是hawk（鹰）。
25.赫尔加·赫 奇帕奇(HelgaHufflepuff)：HUFFLEPUFF，源于英文HUFF和PUFF。两个词都和吹气有 关，不知有何联系。赫奇帕奇学院的象征是Badger(獾)。
26.麻瓜 (Muggle)：MUGGLE是从英语俚语MUG变化而来,意思是傻瓜。
27.卢娜·拉文古德(LunaLovegood)： Luna，在法语中也有月亮，月神的意思，这很容易让人想到她的纯洁和美丽，还有一丝 神秘。Lovegood，虽然有点牵强，但依旧是爱，美好的意思。两个名字拼在一起，可以 想象，是个很讨人喜欢的女孩。不过其实Luna这个词根也有“疯狂”的意思，Lunatic就 是“疯疯癫癫的”，也符合这个孩子的性格。
28.西比尔·特里劳妮：西比尔是希腊罗马神话中受太阳神阿波罗启示而作 语言的女预言师的称号。
29.芙蓉·德拉库尔(FleurDelacour)：FleurDelacour是法语，直 译意思是宫廷里的花朵，引申就是指贵族妇女。
30.丽塔·斯基特：skeeter这个词与那些属于甲虫的动词 “scamper奔跳”、“scatter散开”和“creep爬行”有关。
The book sold three million copies in the first 16 hours after its release, a record at the time which was eventually broken by its sequel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
Plot
Harry Potter and his best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, return to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for their sixth year of magical education. It is announced that Severus Snape has become the new Defence Against the Dark Arts instructor, while Horace Slughorn has taken Snape's place as Potions teacher. Harry discovers that the previous owner of his Potions textbook, the "Half-Blood Prince", has annotated the book with refinements that allow Harry to excel in class and become a favorite of Slughorn's. Slughorn is also intrigued by the rumor that Harry is the "Chosen One" who will finally kill the evil Lord Voldemort, who has recently regained power and is set on conquering the wizarding world.
Harry recognizes his attraction to Ginny Weasley, but fears that acting on it will harm his friendship with Ron, her overprotective older brother. Ron begins dating Lavender Brown, causing a rift between him and Hermione, who secretly harbors feelings for him. The rift heals only when Ron is nearly killed by poisoned mead intended for Hogwarts' headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. Harry suspects that his nemesis, Draco Malfoy, has become one of Voldemort's supporters and believes he was behind both the mead and a previous failed attack on Dumbledore's life. However, no one seems to believe him.
During private meetings held throughout the year, Dumbledore uses his Pensieve to show Harry memories of Voldemort's past. A memory Harry manages to procure from Slughorn confirms Dumbledore's suspicion that Voldemort splintered his soul into seven fragments in order to achieve immortality. Six of these fragments are contained in magical objects called Horcruxes, which must be destroyed before Voldemort can be killed. Two Horcruxes have already been destroyed—Tom Riddle's diary, which Harry stabbed with a basilisk fang in his second year; and Voldemort's grandfather's ring, which Dumbledore destroyed the summer before Harry's sixth year. The remaining Horcruxes include Voldemort's pet snake Nagini and objects formerly owned by Hogwarts' founders—Salazar Slytherin's locket, Helga Hufflepuff's cup, and an unidentified object of either Godric Gryffindor's or Rowena Ravenclaw's.
After Snape sees Harry cast a curse from the Half-Blood Prince's book and attempts to confiscate the book, Harry hides it in the Room of Requirement. Harry's Hogwarts House wins the school's Quidditch championship; euphoric, Harry spontaneously kisses Ginny, and with Ron's diffident approval they start dating.
Dumbledore locates another Horcrux and asks Harry for help in destroying it. They travel to a cave and retrieve what they believe to be Salazar's locket, but Dumbledore is severely weakened after drinking the magical potion designed to protect the Horcrux. They return to Hogwarts and see Voldemort's symbol hovering over Hogwarts' Astronomy Tower. Dumbledore demands that Harry cover himself with his Invisibility Cloak. At the top of the tower, Dumbledore stuns the concealed Harry at the last moment before being confronted by Draco. Draco admits that he was behind the attacks on Dumbledore's life, as Voldemort had ordered Draco to kill him and would kill Draco if he failed. Dumbledore invites Draco to "come over to the right side," offering protection from the Death Eaters. Though Draco refuses, he cannot bring himself to kill Dumbledore, even after fellow Death Eaters arrive and pressure him to follow through. Snape arrives; compelled by an Unbreakable Vow he made to Draco's mother the summer before to protect Draco and fulfill his task if Draco cannot, he kills Dumbledore. With Dumbledore's death, Harry is released from the Stunning Spell; enraged, he pursues Snape, who fends off Harry's attacks and reveals that he is the Half-Blood Prince shortly before disapparating.
Harry recovers the locket from Dumbledore's body, only to discover that it is a fake left by someone with the initials R. A. B., who stole the real Horcrux and left a note declaring his opposition to Voldemort. The school year ends with Dumbledore's funeral; he and his wand are buried in a tomb beside the lake on Hogwarts' grounds. Harry ends his relationship with Ginny, fearing that Voldemort will target her if they continue to see each other. He, Ron, and Hermione vow not to return to school the following year, but to hunt for the remaining Horcruxes instead.
Development
Potter fans wait in lines outside a Borders for the midnight release of the book
Prequels and sequel
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the sixth book in the Harry Potter series. The first book in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, was first published by Bloomsbury in 1997 with an initial print-run of 500 copies in hardback, 300 of which were distributed to libraries. By the end of 1997 the UK edition won a National Book Award and a gold medal in the 9- to 11-year-olds category of the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize. The second book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, was originally published in the UK on 2 July 1998 and in the US on 2 June 1999. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was then published a year later in the UK on 8 July 1999 and in the US on 8 September 1999. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was published on 8 July 2000 at the same time by Bloomsbury and Scholastic. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the longest novel in the Harry Potter series, was released 21 June 2003. After the publishing of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the seventh and final novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was released 21 July 2007. The book sold 11 million copies within 24 hours of its release: 2.7 million copies in the UK and 8.3 million in the US.
Pre-release controversy
The record-breaking publication of Half-Blood Prince was accompanied by controversy. In May 2005 bookmakers in the UK suspended bets on which main character would die in the book amid fears of insider knowledge. A number of high value bets were made on the death of Albus Dumbledore, many coming from the town of Bungay where, it was believed, the books were being printed at the time. Betting was later reopened. Other controversies included the right to read Potter books inadvertently sold before the release date, environmental concerns over the source of the paper used in the printing of millions of books, and fan reactions to the plot developments and revelations of the novel.
Right to read controversy
In early July 2005, a Real Canadian Superstore in Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada, accidentally sold fourteen copies of The Half-Blood Prince before the authorised release date. The Canadian publisher, Raincoast Books, obtained an injunction from the Supreme Court of British Columbia prohibiting the purchasers from reading the books before the official release date or from discussing the contents. Purchasers were offered a Harry Potter T-shirt and an autographed copy of the book if they returned their copies before 16 July.
On 15 July, less than twelve hours before the book went on sale in the Eastern time zone, Raincoast warned The Globe and Mail newspaper that publishing a review from a Canada-based writer at midnight, as the paper had promised, would be seen as a violation of the trade secret injunction. The injunction sparked a number of news articles alleging that the injunction had restricted fundamental rights. Canadian law professor Michael Geist posted commentary on his blog; Richard Stallman called for a boycott, requesting that the publisher issue an apology. The Globe and Mail published a review from two UK-based writers in its 16 July edition and posted the Canadian writer's review on its website at 9:00 that morning. Commentary was also provided on the Raincoast website.
Film
The film based on the sixth book was originally scheduled to be released on 21 November 2008, but was changed to 15 July 2009. The screenplay was written by Steve Kloves, and David Yates directed the film. The film is 153 minutes long, making it the third longest Harry Potter film of the series.
Translations
Along with the rest of the books in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was translated into 67 languages. A translation into Scots Gaelic is planned to be released by Bloomsbury in July 2010.
Textual changes
As with Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the United States version of the novel has slightly changed text from the British version. One particular section has been remarked upon, where the alteration makes the nature of Dumbledore's offer to Draco Malfoy before Snape kills Dumbledore in the Half-Blood Prince explicit. The reason for the editing of the following text has not been explained on the author's webpage, but the British edition is more ambiguous. The text can be found in chapter 27, "The Lightning-Struck Tower". The U.S. text was changed to match the UK version with the publication of the paperback edition. The parts added in the hardcover United States version have been highlighted in bold, below:
"[...] He told me to do it or he'll kill me. I've got no choice."
"He cannot kill you if you are already dead. Come over to the right side Draco, and we can hide you more completely than you can possibly imagine. What is more, I can send members of the Order to your mother tonight to hide her likewise. Nobody would be surprised that you had died in your attempt to kill me — forgive me, but Lord Voldemort probably expects it. Nor would the Death Eaters be surprised that we had captured and killed your mother — it is what they would do themselves, after all. Your father is safe at the moment in Azkaban [...]"
—(U.S. Edition p. 591)(CND Edition p. 552)
“每次担任该职务者必有问题”的黑魔法防御术课，终于划归对此垂涎已久的斯内普教授名下，而空缺的魔药课则交由新来的霍拉斯先生走马上任(这位奥斯卡最佳男配角得主同时也是《纳尔尼亚传奇1：狮子、女巫、魔衣柜》里的教授--魔衣柜的所有者)。另一方面，邓布利多继续给哈利单开小灶，准备迎接伏地魔总裁的新一轮攻势；可没想到是，当食死徒杀进霍格沃茨时，黑魔法防御术的老师到底还是出了问题。
看过书的“哈哈”们都知道《哈利·波特与混血王子》是怎么回事，至于那位关键人物的死，为吸引更多好奇人士，恕我按下不表。不经意间随手设计哈利和金妮、罗恩和赫敏同时遭遇“三角”问题。而奥斯卡级的霍格沃茨居然还嫌阵容不够华丽，又把《红磨坊》的老板吸纳进来，按此趋势真不知最后一部搬上银幕时还能请到谁--朱迪·丹奇？迈克尔·凯恩？不仅如此，罗琳还以“作为母亲不忍心拒绝女儿想继续看的要求”为由，放言不排除撰写以哈利的孩子当主角的“第八本《哈利·波特》”。
从裸体恋马的舞台剧到闪电分手的姐弟恋，一直不缺头条素材的丹尼尔·雷德克里夫将第六次与大家见面(其实大量粉丝最期待再见的人是艾玛·沃特森才对吧？虽然她的演技与年龄呈反比)。其实《混血王子》最大的两个悬念莫过于：一、这是系列小说完结之后的第一部电影，书的销量刷新吉尼斯世界纪录，会对电影票房产生怎样的影响？二、上一集令人大失所望的大卫·耶茨导演继续掌勺，根据克里斯·哥伦布“《密室》＜《魔法石》”的前车之鉴， 做好心理准备迎接一部更糟糕的《哈利·波特》？令人费解的是：为什么华纳要把分成上下集的《死亡圣器》也交给他呢！
《哈利·波特与混血王子》[电影]-拍摄花絮
将于2008年11月21日登陆影院的《哈利·波特与混血王子》发布部分拍摄花絮，不仅将看到电影拍摄的场景，还将采访主角丹尼尔·雷德克里夫、爱玛·沃特森、鲁伯特·格林特。
在《哈利·波特与混血王子》中，哈利将在霍格沃兹开始他的第六年学习生活。尽管伏地魔已经开始了他的复仇计划，但是抵抗伏地魔的组织也在日渐强大。哈利和赫敏无意中发现了一本古老的药剂书，这本书原本属于“混血王子”，哈利发现这本书不仅能增加他的魔法知识，还能帮助他准备和伏地魔的战争。
首先哈利必须帮助邓布利多发现伏地魔寻找不死的秘密。但是这个秘密居然造成了悲剧性的结局，更让哈利相信自己应该肩负起与黑暗战争的使命。
《哈利·波特与混血王子》[电影]-电影相关
最新一集《哈利·波特与混血王子》将全球公映，曾经饰演天狼星的加里·奥德曼于上集《凤凰社》中壮烈牺牲，但现实生活中，他跟“哈利”丹尼尔·雷德克里夫仍然保持紧密联络。他出席《蝙蝠侠：黑夜骑士》首映礼时，自爆丹尼尔经常致电跟他聊天，“他说电影结局篇《哈利·波特与死圣》将会一分为二，上半部分在2010年上映，相信跟故事太精彩丰富有关；却驳斥他，只是钱作怪而已，他听罢非常无瘾。”
随着英国电影杂志《帝国》公布首批剧照，男女主角及新角色造型亦同时曝光。“哈利”丹尼尔·雷德克里夫、“赫敏”艾玛·沃特森以及“罗恩”鲁伯特·格林特，外表打扮更见成熟；其中一张哈利拿着魔法棒神情哀伤的剧照，有细心网友声称那根魔法棒是属于校长邓不利多的，由此猜测校长会于本集死去！丹尼尔接受《帝国》采访时说，第六集的黑暗色彩会较以往更强，有些画面仿佛是对1996年上映的《猜火车》的疯狂膜拜。导演大卫·耶茨也透露，超级奸角“伏地魔”及其信仰者“食死徒”会向哈利步步进逼，“影片一开始，伦敦一处主要标志将会受到攻击，遭到毁灭性破坏。”
幸好新片同时加重了爱情戏分，导演大卫·耶茨爆料指哈利对罗恩的妹妹金妮有好感，二人几乎亲吻之际，食死徒却出现坏了好事。另一方面，赫敏跟罗恩的恋情也逐渐明朗化，“作为魔法学校最聪明的女生，赫敏将会表现出平日罕见的浪漫情愫。”
《哈利·波特与混血王子》首次曝光的先行版预告海报，是华纳公司第一时间向新浪娱乐提供的。在预告片和大量剧照曝光之后官方海报第一次现身，距离影片2009年7月上映已经不足半年，应该是整体宣传全面启动的标志。在曝光的预告海报中，凛冽的阴暗风格铺面而来，早先那个胸怀魔法师梦醒的懵懂少年已经绝尘而去，处于黑暗风雨中的哈利·波特下巴上已经隐约冒出了胡茬，脸颊上似乎也出现了一条法令纹。而在他眼镜中出演的邓布利多披头散发，两人明显面临着一场恶战。时间在哈利·波特脸上刻下了痕迹，也继续将他推进“成人社会”的无尽深渊。逐渐学有所成的哈利·波特面临着和“蜘蛛侠”一样的难题：是遵循“能力越大，责任越大”的教诲，继续“降妖伏魔，解救众生”，还是屈服在重重诱惑之中。
最新公布的剧情显示，在这场战斗中邓布利多身受重伤，还被斯内普用魔杖化为灰烬，但最后哈利·波特还是在伙伴们的帮助下杀死了斯内普，而斯内普在临死前也透露了自己就是混血王子的秘密。究竟邓布利多能不能回到魔法学校，回到哈利·波特的身边，这一切都将在电影上映后逐渐解开。
第81届奥斯卡颁奖典礼将揭晓。与往年不同，奥斯卡会在临近尾声时播放一段短片来展望2009年的热门新片，《哈利·波特与混血王子》就在其中。
《哈利·波特与混血王子》[电影]-人物名称含义
1.阿不思· 珀西瓦尔·伍尔弗里克·布莱恩·邓布 利多（AlbusPe rcivalWulfricBrianDumbledore）：阿不思是拉丁文中白色的意思，因为邓布利是 与黑魔头伏地魔对立的白魔法师。邓布利多根据罗琳自己说是“蜜蜂嗡嗡叫”的意思。
2.西弗勒斯·斯内普（SeverusSnape）：西弗勒斯在 拉丁文中是严厉的意思，和斯内普的性格蛮相符的。但实际上，Snape只是英国的一个小 村庄的名字。斯内普在英文中与蛇这个词只差一个字母！难怪斯内普是斯莱特林的院长 。
3.米勒娃·麦格（MinervaMcgonagall）： 通常的翻译是密涅瓦，罗马神话中的智慧女神，也就相当于希腊神话中的女神雅典娜。
4.赫敏·格兰杰（HermioneGranger）：从发 音上就可以判断是从希腊奥林匹斯山上著名的众神使者赫尔墨斯的大名中化出来的。当 今哲学领域流行的“解释学”原来也脱胎于赫尔墨斯之名.难怪赫敏在小说中以机敏和智 慧著称，许多难解的哑谜一经她手即可迎刃而解。
5.莱姆斯·卢平（RemusLupin）：卢平来自于拉丁 文词根LUP，即狼的意思-LUPINE是“像狼一样的人”，而LUPUS是"豺狼座".据说法国诺 曼底地区的居民有时就把狼人叫做“LUPIN”！莱姆斯就更有趣了,这是罗马传说中被母 狼喂养过的双生子之一的名字，可爱的小狼崽子!
6.小天狼星·布莱克（SiriusBlack）：SIRIUS 当然就 是天狼星，而布莱克是“黑色”。他变身这之后就是一只黑色的大狗。
7.小矮星·彼得（PeterPettigrew）：彼得这 个名字太普通了，似乎没什么特殊意义。小矮星是“长的很小”的意思，这个名字还可 以拆开成为PETIGREW，意思差不多是“我变成了宠物”！
8.阿格斯·费尔奇（ArgusFilch）:费尔奇是英文动 词“偷”的意思，而阿格斯则是希腊神话中一百只眼睛的巨怪。费尔奇先生经常偷偷摸 摸的观察学生的行为。
9. 鲁伯·海格（Hagrid）：据罗琳的说法，HAGRID是 古英语中的单词,是“很糟糕的夜晚”或“睡不好觉的晚上”。海格常因为喝酒睡不好觉
10.阿拉斯托·穆迪（AlastorMoody）：ALASTOR 是 希腊神话中掌管复仇的魔鬼,而穆迪在在英文中则是情绪多变的意思。
11.宾斯教授（ProfessorBinns）：BINNS 发音很接近BEEN，在英文中是动词BE的过去分词形式。这位教授已经是鬼魂，也的确是 过去式了!
12.汤姆·里德尔（TomMarvoloRiddle）：RIDDLE是英文“谜语”的意思， 一看到这个名字就知道罗琳要玩文字游戏了。
13.伏地魔（ LordVoldemort）：VOLDEMORT是来源于法语VOLEDEMORT，即“死亡的飞翔”或“飞离死 亡”。难怪老伏同志整天想着长生不老。而“伏地魔”这个词，是由TomMarvoloRiddle 变过来的，只是字母的顺序换了一下，伏地魔的过去汤姆.里德尔一直不喜欢自己的名字 汤姆，认为它太普通，所以调换了字母，由TomMarvoloRiddle（汤姆.里德尔）变为 LordVoldemort，以显示自己的与众不同。
14.弗农·德斯礼（VernonDursley）：弗农是罗琳最讨厌的名字。 在罗琳的出生地——英国的格温特郡附近有个叫Durslay的城市。
15.达力·德斯礼（DudleyDursley ）：DUDLEY是从英国俚语DUD变化而来，意思是很无聊的人。
16.佩妮·德斯礼 （PetuniaDursley）：PETUNIA是牵牛花的意思，而她的妹妹。哈利的妈妈莉莉的名字则 是百合花的意思。牵牛花象征愤怒和憎恨，而百合象征纯洁。
17.德拉科·马尔福 （DracoMalfoy)：MALFOY是由法语MALFOI变化而来，意思是不好的信仰。这一家人都是 食死徒，全是信仰黑魔法。而德拉科。DRACO是拉丁文中龙蛇的意思，而龙在西方是和撒 旦联系在一起的。德拉科也是古雅典一位极其残暴的立法官的名字。
18.卢修斯·马尔福 (LuciusMalfoy)：LUCIUS和LUCIFER很接近，和德拉科一样。卢修斯也是古雅典一位很残 暴的立法官名字。
19.纳西莎·马尔福(NarcissaMalfoy)：NARCISSA来源于希腊神话 中的人物，就是那个有自恋情结，爱上自己在水中的影子的年轻人。纳西莎是水仙花的 意思，代表自恋。
20.路威(海格的三头大狗 ，Fluffy)：（fluffy）意思是“毛茸茸的”。
21.海德薇 (Hedwig)：是12或者13世纪德国圣徒的名字，她为城市中的人们传递消息。
22.戈德里克·格兰芬多(GodricGryffindor)：Gryffin是希腊神话中的狮身鹫头有 翼兽，在法语中dor有“金制成的”的意思。“格兰芬多”指狮身鹫头有翼兽。God表示 “上帝”，-ric是表示“管辖、领域”之意的接尾词。Godric指的是“上帝的住处”。 格兰芬多的象征是lion（狮子）
23.萨拉查·斯莱特林(SalazarSlytherin)：SLYTHERIN 是来自英文单词“SLITHERING”，像蛇一样爬行前进的谐模文。斯莱特林的象征就是 snake（蛇）。
24.罗伊纳·拉文克劳(RowenaRavenclaw)：RAVENCLAW ，直译就是渡鸦的脚爪。拉文克劳学院的象征就是hawk（鹰）。
25.赫尔加·赫 奇帕奇(HelgaHufflepuff)：HUFFLEPUFF，源于英文HUFF和PUFF。两个词都和吹气有 关，不知有何联系。赫奇帕奇学院的象征是Badger(獾)。
26.麻瓜 (Muggle)：MUGGLE是从英语俚语MUG变化而来,意思是傻瓜。
27.卢娜·拉文古德(LunaLovegood)： Luna，在法语中也有月亮，月神的意思，这很容易让人想到她的纯洁和美丽，还有一丝 神秘。Lovegood，虽然有点牵强，但依旧是爱，美好的意思。两个名字拼在一起，可以 想象，是个很讨人喜欢的女孩。不过其实Luna这个词根也有“疯狂”的意思，Lunatic就 是“疯疯癫癫的”，也符合这个孩子的性格。
28.西比尔·特里劳妮：西比尔是希腊罗马神话中受太阳神阿波罗启示而作 语言的女预言师的称号。
29.芙蓉·德拉库尔(FleurDelacour)：FleurDelacour是法语，直 译意思是宫廷里的花朵，引申就是指贵族妇女。
30.丽塔·斯基特：skeeter这个词与那些属于甲虫的动词 “scamper奔跳”、“scatter散开”和“creep爬行”有关。
The book sold three million copies in the first 16 hours after its release, a record at the time which was eventually broken by its sequel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
Plot
Harry Potter and his best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, return to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for their sixth year of magical education. It is announced that Severus Snape has become the new Defence Against the Dark Arts instructor, while Horace Slughorn has taken Snape's place as Potions teacher. Harry discovers that the previous owner of his Potions textbook, the "Half-Blood Prince", has annotated the book with refinements that allow Harry to excel in class and become a favorite of Slughorn's. Slughorn is also intrigued by the rumor that Harry is the "Chosen One" who will finally kill the evil Lord Voldemort, who has recently regained power and is set on conquering the wizarding world.
Harry recognizes his attraction to Ginny Weasley, but fears that acting on it will harm his friendship with Ron, her overprotective older brother. Ron begins dating Lavender Brown, causing a rift between him and Hermione, who secretly harbors feelings for him. The rift heals only when Ron is nearly killed by poisoned mead intended for Hogwarts' headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. Harry suspects that his nemesis, Draco Malfoy, has become one of Voldemort's supporters and believes he was behind both the mead and a previous failed attack on Dumbledore's life. However, no one seems to believe him.
During private meetings held throughout the year, Dumbledore uses his Pensieve to show Harry memories of Voldemort's past. A memory Harry manages to procure from Slughorn confirms Dumbledore's suspicion that Voldemort splintered his soul into seven fragments in order to achieve immortality. Six of these fragments are contained in magical objects called Horcruxes, which must be destroyed before Voldemort can be killed. Two Horcruxes have already been destroyed—Tom Riddle's diary, which Harry stabbed with a basilisk fang in his second year; and Voldemort's grandfather's ring, which Dumbledore destroyed the summer before Harry's sixth year. The remaining Horcruxes include Voldemort's pet snake Nagini and objects formerly owned by Hogwarts' founders—Salazar Slytherin's locket, Helga Hufflepuff's cup, and an unidentified object of either Godric Gryffindor's or Rowena Ravenclaw's.
After Snape sees Harry cast a curse from the Half-Blood Prince's book and attempts to confiscate the book, Harry hides it in the Room of Requirement. Harry's Hogwarts House wins the school's Quidditch championship; euphoric, Harry spontaneously kisses Ginny, and with Ron's diffident approval they start dating.
Dumbledore locates another Horcrux and asks Harry for help in destroying it. They travel to a cave and retrieve what they believe to be Salazar's locket, but Dumbledore is severely weakened after drinking the magical potion designed to protect the Horcrux. They return to Hogwarts and see Voldemort's symbol hovering over Hogwarts' Astronomy Tower. Dumbledore demands that Harry cover himself with his Invisibility Cloak. At the top of the tower, Dumbledore stuns the concealed Harry at the last moment before being confronted by Draco. Draco admits that he was behind the attacks on Dumbledore's life, as Voldemort had ordered Draco to kill him and would kill Draco if he failed. Dumbledore invites Draco to "come over to the right side," offering protection from the Death Eaters. Though Draco refuses, he cannot bring himself to kill Dumbledore, even after fellow Death Eaters arrive and pressure him to follow through. Snape arrives; compelled by an Unbreakable Vow he made to Draco's mother the summer before to protect Draco and fulfill his task if Draco cannot, he kills Dumbledore. With Dumbledore's death, Harry is released from the Stunning Spell; enraged, he pursues Snape, who fends off Harry's attacks and reveals that he is the Half-Blood Prince shortly before disapparating.
Harry recovers the locket from Dumbledore's body, only to discover that it is a fake left by someone with the initials R. A. B., who stole the real Horcrux and left a note declaring his opposition to Voldemort. The school year ends with Dumbledore's funeral; he and his wand are buried in a tomb beside the lake on Hogwarts' grounds. Harry ends his relationship with Ginny, fearing that Voldemort will target her if they continue to see each other. He, Ron, and Hermione vow not to return to school the following year, but to hunt for the remaining Horcruxes instead.
Development
Potter fans wait in lines outside a Borders for the midnight release of the book
Prequels and sequel
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the sixth book in the Harry Potter series. The first book in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, was first published by Bloomsbury in 1997 with an initial print-run of 500 copies in hardback, 300 of which were distributed to libraries. By the end of 1997 the UK edition won a National Book Award and a gold medal in the 9- to 11-year-olds category of the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize. The second book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, was originally published in the UK on 2 July 1998 and in the US on 2 June 1999. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was then published a year later in the UK on 8 July 1999 and in the US on 8 September 1999. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was published on 8 July 2000 at the same time by Bloomsbury and Scholastic. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the longest novel in the Harry Potter series, was released 21 June 2003. After the publishing of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the seventh and final novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was released 21 July 2007. The book sold 11 million copies within 24 hours of its release: 2.7 million copies in the UK and 8.3 million in the US.
Pre-release controversy
The record-breaking publication of Half-Blood Prince was accompanied by controversy. In May 2005 bookmakers in the UK suspended bets on which main character would die in the book amid fears of insider knowledge. A number of high value bets were made on the death of Albus Dumbledore, many coming from the town of Bungay where, it was believed, the books were being printed at the time. Betting was later reopened. Other controversies included the right to read Potter books inadvertently sold before the release date, environmental concerns over the source of the paper used in the printing of millions of books, and fan reactions to the plot developments and revelations of the novel.
Right to read controversy
In early July 2005, a Real Canadian Superstore in Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada, accidentally sold fourteen copies of The Half-Blood Prince before the authorised release date. The Canadian publisher, Raincoast Books, obtained an injunction from the Supreme Court of British Columbia prohibiting the purchasers from reading the books before the official release date or from discussing the contents. Purchasers were offered a Harry Potter T-shirt and an autographed copy of the book if they returned their copies before 16 July.
On 15 July, less than twelve hours before the book went on sale in the Eastern time zone, Raincoast warned The Globe and Mail newspaper that publishing a review from a Canada-based writer at midnight, as the paper had promised, would be seen as a violation of the trade secret injunction. The injunction sparked a number of news articles alleging that the injunction had restricted fundamental rights. Canadian law professor Michael Geist posted commentary on his blog; Richard Stallman called for a boycott, requesting that the publisher issue an apology. The Globe and Mail published a review from two UK-based writers in its 16 July edition and posted the Canadian writer's review on its website at 9:00 that morning. Commentary was also provided on the Raincoast website.
Film
The film based on the sixth book was originally scheduled to be released on 21 November 2008, but was changed to 15 July 2009. The screenplay was written by Steve Kloves, and David Yates directed the film. The film is 153 minutes long, making it the third longest Harry Potter film of the series.
Translations
Along with the rest of the books in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was translated into 67 languages. A translation into Scots Gaelic is planned to be released by Bloomsbury in July 2010.
Textual changes
As with Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the United States version of the novel has slightly changed text from the British version. One particular section has been remarked upon, where the alteration makes the nature of Dumbledore's offer to Draco Malfoy before Snape kills Dumbledore in the Half-Blood Prince explicit. The reason for the editing of the following text has not been explained on the author's webpage, but the British edition is more ambiguous. The text can be found in chapter 27, "The Lightning-Struck Tower". The U.S. text was changed to match the UK version with the publication of the paperback edition. The parts added in the hardcover United States version have been highlighted in bold, below:
"[...] He told me to do it or he'll kill me. I've got no choice."
"He cannot kill you if you are already dead. Come over to the right side Draco, and we can hide you more completely than you can possibly imagine. What is more, I can send members of the Order to your mother tonight to hide her likewise. Nobody would be surprised that you had died in your attempt to kill me — forgive me, but Lord Voldemort probably expects it. Nor would the Death Eaters be surprised that we had captured and killed your mother — it is what they would do themselves, after all. Your father is safe at the moment in Azkaban [...]"
—(U.S. Edition p. 591)(CND Edition p. 552)
相信大家都看过电影《魔戒》（又名《指环王》），这部书是它的前传，讲的是电影开头那个老霍比特人的冒险故事，也说到了甘道尔夫和精灵族、侏儒族、鹰族之间的联系。
什么是霍比特人？
霍比特人是比作儒还矮的小矮人，他们爱好和平。喜欢安静。他们不喜欢机器，但是他们很善于使用工具；他们动作敏捷，但却不喜欢做事匆促。他们有敏锐的眼睛和耳朵；他们可能有点胖。他们喜欢笑和吃（他们一天可以吃六餐）。他们很好客，喜欢送礼和收到礼物。霍比特历险记是一部非常精彩的传奇故事，充满了预言的色彩。书中主角比尔博·巴金斯原本是一个远离尘嚣的霍比特人，但却在无意中发现了魔成且经历了他一生中水难忘怀的事件。霍比特历险记于一九三六年完成，于一九三七年发行，同年，作者便开始着手写续集——魔戒之主，于是，霍比特历险记成了魔戒之主的序曲。经过了十一年，魔戒之主三部曲终于在一九四八年完成，而于一九五五年全部发行。在出版期间，魔戒之主系列便已颇受各界好评，例如芝加哥论坛曾评其为：“……总之，这是一个很棒的故事，不仅文字优美且创造了一个如幻似真的世界，一个作家最好的作品就是如此了。”
Set in a time "Between the Dawn of Færie and the Dominion of Men", The Hobbit follows the quest of home-loving Bilbo Baggins to win a share of the treasure guarded by the dragon, Smaug. Bilbo's journey takes him from light-hearted, rural surroundings into darker, deeper territory. The story is told in the form of an episodic quest, and most chapters introduce a specific creature, or type of creature, of Tolkien's Wilderland. By accepting the disreputable, romantic, fey and adventurous side of his nature (the "Tookish" side) and applying his wits and common sense, Bilbo develops a new level of maturity, competence and wisdom. The story reaches its climax in the Battle of Five Armies, where many of the characters and creatures from earlier chapters re-emerge to engage in conflict.
Themes of personal growth and forms of heroism figure in the story. Along with conflict, these themes lead critics to cite Tolkien's own experiences, and the those of other writers who fought in World War I, as instrumental in shaping the story. The author's scholarly knowledge of Anglo-Saxon literature and interest in fairy tales are also often noted as influences.
Due to the book's critical and financial success, Tolkien's publishers requested a sequel. As work on The Lord of the Rings progressed, Tolkien made retrospective accommodations for it in one chapter of The Hobbit. These few but significant changes were integrated into the second edition. Further editions followed with minor emendations, including those reflecting Tolkien's changing concept of the world into which Bilbo stumbled.
The work has never been out of print since the paper shortages of the Second World War. Its ongoing legacy encompasses many adaptations for stage, screen, radio, and gaming, both board and video games. Some of these adaptations have received critical recognition of their own, including a video game that won the Golden Joystick Award, a scenario of a war game that won an Origins Award, and an animated picture nominated for a Hugo Award.
什么是霍比特人？
霍比特人是比作儒还矮的小矮人，他们爱好和平。喜欢安静。他们不喜欢机器，但是他们很善于使用工具；他们动作敏捷，但却不喜欢做事匆促。他们有敏锐的眼睛和耳朵；他们可能有点胖。他们喜欢笑和吃（他们一天可以吃六餐）。他们很好客，喜欢送礼和收到礼物。霍比特历险记是一部非常精彩的传奇故事，充满了预言的色彩。书中主角比尔博·巴金斯原本是一个远离尘嚣的霍比特人，但却在无意中发现了魔成且经历了他一生中水难忘怀的事件。霍比特历险记于一九三六年完成，于一九三七年发行，同年，作者便开始着手写续集——魔戒之主，于是，霍比特历险记成了魔戒之主的序曲。经过了十一年，魔戒之主三部曲终于在一九四八年完成，而于一九五五年全部发行。在出版期间，魔戒之主系列便已颇受各界好评，例如芝加哥论坛曾评其为：“……总之，这是一个很棒的故事，不仅文字优美且创造了一个如幻似真的世界，一个作家最好的作品就是如此了。”
Set in a time "Between the Dawn of Færie and the Dominion of Men", The Hobbit follows the quest of home-loving Bilbo Baggins to win a share of the treasure guarded by the dragon, Smaug. Bilbo's journey takes him from light-hearted, rural surroundings into darker, deeper territory. The story is told in the form of an episodic quest, and most chapters introduce a specific creature, or type of creature, of Tolkien's Wilderland. By accepting the disreputable, romantic, fey and adventurous side of his nature (the "Tookish" side) and applying his wits and common sense, Bilbo develops a new level of maturity, competence and wisdom. The story reaches its climax in the Battle of Five Armies, where many of the characters and creatures from earlier chapters re-emerge to engage in conflict.
Themes of personal growth and forms of heroism figure in the story. Along with conflict, these themes lead critics to cite Tolkien's own experiences, and the those of other writers who fought in World War I, as instrumental in shaping the story. The author's scholarly knowledge of Anglo-Saxon literature and interest in fairy tales are also often noted as influences.
Due to the book's critical and financial success, Tolkien's publishers requested a sequel. As work on The Lord of the Rings progressed, Tolkien made retrospective accommodations for it in one chapter of The Hobbit. These few but significant changes were integrated into the second edition. Further editions followed with minor emendations, including those reflecting Tolkien's changing concept of the world into which Bilbo stumbled.
The work has never been out of print since the paper shortages of the Second World War. Its ongoing legacy encompasses many adaptations for stage, screen, radio, and gaming, both board and video games. Some of these adaptations have received critical recognition of their own, including a video game that won the Golden Joystick Award, a scenario of a war game that won an Origins Award, and an animated picture nominated for a Hugo Award.
本片是英国鬼才导演彼得杰克森结合最新电影特效的魔幻新作，根据托尔金畅销全球的经典小说「魔戒三部曲」改编，并以三部曲的方式拍摄，【首部曲─魔戒现身】描述史前世界中，一位名叫佛罗多巴金的年轻人，无意中得到了一只魔戒。
这只戒指拥有无穷的神秘力量，戒指原来是黑暗君王索伦所有的，却意外地到了佛罗多手里。佛罗多决定将戒指摧毁，以免索伦夺回去巩固自己的势力。索伦为了阻止佛罗多，于是派出了手下的怪兽加以追杀，一场正邪大战眼看着一触即发…
本片背景是在神秘的史前时代，由一场正邪战役所引发的长篇故事，这个拯救人类的危险任务落在年轻的哈比族人─佛罗多巴金身上，他从表哥巴伯那里得到了一指无邪的魔幻戒指。
佛罗多发现这只戒指的制造者是黑暗魔君索伦，而索伦正急着要把戒指找回去。因为这只戒指是代表伟大邪恶势力的魔戒，将使索伦统治下的人民得到解放，而他统治的这片土地就是俗称的中土世界（Middle Earth）。
匆忙之下，佛罗多结合了一些救援力量包括了术士、小精灵、侏儒及人类，一起协助他前往中土世界，将戒指丢入魔宫之洞的末日山脉中加以摧毁。
然而，这群义勇之士却遭到索伦手下怪兽群的攻击，这些恐怖邪恶的猎杀军队残忍地追杀佛罗多和他的朋友 。佛罗多等一群人还必须对抗戒指中的邪恶力量，这股力量会让人产生难以抵挡的欲望，考验着每一个接触戒指者的意志力
Title and publication
Tolkien conceived of The Lord of the Rings as a multiple volume with six sections he called "books" along with extensive appendices. The original publisher made the decision to split the work into three parts. It was also the publisher's decision to place the fifth and sixth books and the appendices into one volume under the title The Return of the King, in reference to Aragorn's assumption of the throne of Gondor. Tolkien indicated he would have preferred The War of the Ring as a title, as it gave away less of the story.
Before the decision to publish The Lord of the Rings in three volumes was made, Tolkien had hoped to publish the novel in one volume, or combined with The Silmarillion. At this stage he planned to title the individual books. The proposed title for Book I was The First Journey or The Ring Sets Out. Book II was titled The Journey of the Nine Companions or The Ring Goes South. The titles The Ring Sets Out and The Ring Goes South were used in the Millenium edition.
Plot summary
The Prologue is meant primarily to help people who have not read The Hobbit understand the events of that book, along with some other information that the author felt is relevant to set the stage for the novel.
Book I: The Return of the Shadow
The first chapter in the book begins quite lightly, following the tone of The Hobbit. Bilbo is celebrating his 111th (or eleventy-first, as it is called in Hobbiton) birthday on the same day that Frodo Baggins, his heir, is celebrating his 33rd birthday (his 'coming of age'). At the birthday party, Bilbo disappears after his speech, to the surprise of all. Bilbo departs from the Shire, the land of the Hobbits, for what he calls a permanent holiday. He leaves his remaining belongings including his home, Bag End and, after some persuasion by the wizard Gandalf, the Ring he had found on his adventures (with which he used to make himself invisible), to Frodo. Gandalf warns Frodo to keep the Ring secret and safe from others, and leaves on his own business.
Over the next seventeen years Gandalf visits Frodo; staying briefly before going off again. Then one spring night Gandalf arrives to alert Frodo to the darker aspects of the Ring which Bilbo had previously only used to make himself invisible: it is the One Ring of Sauron, the Dark Lord. Sauron forged the Ring himself and used it to subdue and rule Middle-earth. In the War of the Last Alliance, Sauron was defeated by the Elven King Gil-galad and Elendil, High King of Gondor and Arnor, though they themselves perished in the deed. The Ring was cut off from Sauron by Isildur, son of Elendil. Sauron was thus overthrown and he fled, and so, for many years, peace returned to Middle-earth. But the Ring itself was not destroyed: Isildur kept the Ring for himself after cutting it from Sauron. However, Isildur was slain in the Battle of the Gladden Fields and the Ring was lost in the Great River, Anduin; whereupon it came into the hands of the creature Gollum, who possessed the Ring for many years. The Ring then passed to Bilbo Baggins, as told in The Hobbit, and so passes into the hands of Frodo. Sauron had now arisen once again, and had returned to his stronghold in the land of Mordor, and was exerting all his power to find the Ring. Gandalf details the evil powers of the Ring, and its ability to influence the bearer and those near him, if it is worn for too long a time. Gandalf warns that the Ring is no longer safe in the Shire because, after some investigation of his own, Gandalf has learned from Gollum himself that Gollum had gone to Mordor, where he was captured and was tortured into revealing to Sauron that a Hobbit named Baggins from the Shire possesses the Ring. Heeding Gandalf's advice, Frodo decides that it is best to remove the Ring from the Shire. Gandalf hopes Frodo can reach the elf-haven of Rivendell, where he believes Frodo and the Ring will be safe from Sauron, at least for a while, and where those of most concern of Middle-Earth can decide the fate of the Ring. Samwise Gamgee, Frodo's gardener, is discovered listening in on the conversation. Out of loyalty to his master, Sam decides to accompany Frodo on his journey.
Over the summer Frodo makes plans to leave his home at Bag End, under the guise that he is moving to a remote region of the Shire to retire. He makes plans to "move" in the Autumn after Bilbo's and his birthday. Helping with the plans are Frodo's friends Peregrin Took (or Pippin for short), Meriadoc Brandybuck (Merry), Samwise Gamgee (Sam), and Fredegar Bolger (Fatty). However, Frodo does not tell them of his true intentions to leave the Shire, nor does he tell them about the Ring.
At midsummer, Gandalf informs Frodo that he must leave on pressing business, but will return before Frodo leaves. Frodo enjoys his last few weeks at home awaiting the return of Gandalf. But as his birthday and departure approach, Gandalf is not seen or heard from. Regretfully, Frodo decides to leave without Gandalf. Merry and Fatty take the last of Frodo's possessions by cart to his new home in Crickhollow. Frodo, Sam, and Pippin go by foot using the less used roads to travel unnoticed.
On their journey the three hobbits encounter the Black Riders; Ringwraiths or the Nazgûl who serve Sauron. There are nine such Ringwraiths and are "the most terrible servants of the Dark Lord." The hobbits discover that the Nazgûl are looking for Frodo and the Ring. But with help of some Elves and Farmer Maggot they eventually reach Crickhollow on the eastern borders of the Shire. There Merry, Pippin, Sam, and Fatty reveal that they know of Frodo's plan to leave the Shire and of the existence of the Ring. Sam, Merry, and Pippin decide to leave with Frodo, while Fatty stays behind as a decoy.
The Hobbits, in hopes of eluding the Nazgûl, travel through the Old Forest and Barrow-downs, and with the assistance of Tom Bombadil, are able to reach the village of Bree, where they meet Strider, a friend of Gandalf who becomes their guide to Rivendell.
Even with Strider's help, this portion of the journey is not without further hardships. The worst of these occurs when, while at the hill of Weathertop, five of the Nazgûl attack the travellers. Frodo is stabbed by the chief of the Nazgûl (the Witch-king of Angmar), with a cursed blade. The Nazgûl are driven off for a while by Strider. Part of the knife remains inside Frodo, causing him to become increasingly ill as the journey to Rivendell continues. Strider leads the hobbits on old paths avoiding the main road. As the travellers near their destination they meet Glorfindel, a mighty Elf-Lord from Rivendell, who helps them reach the River Bruinen on the border of Rivendell. But the Nazgûl, now at their full strength of nine, spring a trap at the Ford of Bruinen. Glorfindel's horse outruns the pursuers and carries Frodo across the Ford. As the Nazgûl attempt to follow, a giant wave in the shape of charging horses appears bearing down on the Nazgûl. The flood was commanded by Elrond, the mighty Lord of Rivendell, but the shape of galloping horses was an addition of Gandalf. The Nazgûl, trapped between the rushing water and seeing Glorfindel, an Elf-Lord revealed in his wrath, are swept away by the river, as Frodo finally collapses into unconsciousness on the riverbank.
Book II: The Fellowship of the Ring
Book II opens in Rivendell at the house of Elrond. Frodo is healed by Elrond and discovers that Bilbo has been residing in Rivendell. A Council is held by Elrond and is attended by Gandalf and many others, including Frodo and Bilbo. Elrond tells the history of the One Ring of Sauron, and about the War of the Last Alliance, and how the Ring was lost to Middle-Earth for a time after the Battle of the Gladden Fields. Gandalf continues the tale, and narrates how the Ring was found by Gollum. Bilbo and Frodo narrate their own adventures about the finding of the Ring and Frodo's journey to Rivendell. Gandalf also explains why he could not accompany Frodo from the Shire. He had gone to Isengard, where the powerful wizard Saruman dwells, to seek help and counsel. Saruman was head of the White Council and the greatest of the Istari. He had long studied Sauron's arts, and the lore of the One Ring. However, Saruman has turned against them, as Gandalf finds out much to his dismay; Saruman now desires the Ring for himself. Saruman imprisons Gandalf in his tower, Orthanc, rightly suspecting that Gandalf knew where the Ring was. Gandalf, however, does not yield and manages to escape from Orthanc. He learns that Saruman is not yet in Sauron's service, and was mustering his own force of Orcs. Gandalf spreads the tidings that Saruman was now a foe, and heads towards Rivendell, knowing that he could not reach the Shire in time to accompany Frodo. In the Council of Elrond, a plan is hatched to cast the One Ring into the fires of Mount Doom in Mordor, which will destroy the Ring and end Sauron's power once and for all. Frodo is chosen to be the Ring-Bearer, and sets forth from Rivendell with eight companions: two Men, Strider (revealed to be Aragorn, Isildur's heir) and Boromir, son of the Steward of the land of Gondor; the Prince of the Silvan Elves of Mirkwood, Legolas; Frodo's old friend and powerful wizard, Gandalf; Gimli the Dwarf; and Frodo's three Hobbit companions. These Nine Walkers (called the Fellowship of the Ring) were chosen to represent all the free races of Middle-Earth and as a balance to the Nazgûl. They are also accompanied by Bill the Pony, whom Strider and the Hobbits acquired in Bree as a pack horse. Their attempt to cross the Misty Mountains is foiled by heavy snow, and they are forced to take a path under the mountains, the mines of Moria, an ancient dwarf kingdom, now full of orcs and other evil creatures. During the battle that ensues, Gandalf battles a Balrog of Morgoth, and both fall into an abyss.
The remaining eight members of the Fellowship escape from Moria and head toward the elf-haven of Lothlórien, where they are given gifts from the rulers Celeborn and Galadriel that in many cases prove useful later during the Quest. After leaving Lórien, the Ring's evil and corrupting powers begin to show. When Frodo is alone for a while to decide the future course of the Fellowship, Boromir tries to take the Ring from him. Frodo, to escape from Boromir, ends up putting on the Ring. While the rest of the Fellowship scatter to hunt for Frodo, Frodo decides that the Fellowship has to be parted, for the Ring was too evil and was setting to work within the Fellowship itself. Frodo decides to depart secretly for Mordor, but is joined by Sam and they set off together to Mordor. The Fellowship was broken.
Chapter summaries
Book I
* I - A Long-expected Party - details Bilbo and Frodo's birthday party, ending with Bilbo leaving the Shire. The name is a reference to "An Unexpected Party," the first chapter of The Hobbit.
* II - The Shadow of the Past - Gandalf reveals to Frodo the true nature of the Ring and that it must be taken to Mordor and destroyed. Sam, who has been listening at the window, agrees to accompany Frodo.
* III - Three is Company - Gandalf leaves the Shire for a short trip, but promises to return. Frodo sells Bag End to further the ruse that he is broke and thus retiring to a small house at Crickhollow in the area beyond Bucklebury in Buckland. In reality, Frodo plans to leave the Shire from Buckland without it being noticed. Mysteriously, Gandalf does not return, and so Frodo, Sam and Pippin set out walking through the East Farthing of the Shire towards Buckland and encounter a Black Rider. They also meet Gildor Inglorion an elf, with other elves, who warn them to fear the Black Riders.
* IV - A Short Cut to Mushrooms - The walking party meets Farmer Maggot, a fierce old hobbit from Frodo's childhood. Frodo finds that Maggot actually has a kind nature and also learns that the Black Riders are searching other parts of the Shire for 'Baggins.' Maggot sneaks the party to the Buckland Ferry in his waggon, where they meet up with Merry.
* V - A Conspiracy Unmasked - At Frodo's new house at Crickhollow, Frodo wrestles with how to tell Sam, Merry, Pippin, and Fredegar 'Fatty' Bolger, about his quest, only to learn that they have known much of it all along, All the hobbits except Fredegar decide to leave the next day through the Old Forest, while Fredegar remains behind to act as a decoy and inform Gandalf of Frodo's plans. The Old Forest is rumoured to be a dangerous place, but Frodo wants to avoid the main roads at all costs in order to evade the Black Riders.
* VI - The Old Forest - Although trying to avoid it, the hobbits are 'herded' by the trees to the River Withywindle, the "queerest part of the whole wood." The hobbits all suddenly fall asleep, lulled by the spells of Old Man Willow. Merry and Pippin are trapped inside the evil tree, but are freed by Tom Bombadil.
* VII - In the House of Tom Bombadil - The hobbits are invited to Tom's house and meet his "pretty lady," Goldberry. Tom gives them food and lodging and tells them stories about nature and history. Interestingly, Tom is not affected by the One Ring; it can neither make him invisible, nor hide Frodo from him. Tom tells the hobbits how to safely travel the Barrow-downs without running afoul of the evil wights who haunt them.
* VIII - Fog on the Barrow-downs - Travelling through the Barrow-downs, the hobbits are captured by a Barrow-wight, then rescued (again) by Tom Bombadil. The hobbits are given special weapons from the barrow: enchanted daggers of the Men of Westernesse that were forged to fight Sauron and his minions, including the Witch-king of Angmar.
* IX - At the Sign of the Prancing Pony - The hobbits reach the Inn of the Prancing Pony at Bree, where Frodo uses a false name, Underhill, rather than Baggins. Still, all the hobbits behave in a naïve fashion: after supper, Merry decides to go for a stroll while the other three go to the Common Room for a drink. There Frodo meets Strider, a menacing man who seems to know much about Frodo. Then Pippin, forgetting the need for secrecy, begins a tale of Bilbo. Frodo sings a song in order to stop Pippin from talking too much. In the middle of Frodo's song, he slips and falls, and his finger 'accidentally' slips through the Ring (the Ring may be trying to reveal Frodo), causing Frodo to vanish and starting a bigger commotion among the guests than Pippin's tale would have done. Frodo escapes into a corner, where Strider tells him that several people in the Inn saw what happened. Strider uses this to persuade Frodo to agree to meet with him in Frodo's rooms. Soon after, the innkeeper, Barliman Butterbur, also requests a private audience with Frodo.
* X - Strider - Strider, after convincing Frodo he means no harm, pledges to save the hobbits from peril if he can. Butterbur gives Frodo a letter from Gandalf, which Butterbur had failed to deliver to him at the Shire as he was asked to by Gandalf. It tells Frodo that Strider is actually Aragorn, a friend of Gandalf's and confirms that Frodo may trust Strider. Shortly afterwards Merry runs into the room, frightened, having seen people from Bree talking to some Black Riders.
* XI - A Knife in the Dark - In Buckland, Fredegar Bolger flees the house before the Black Riders can enter and rouses Buckland. Some Bree folk, agents of the Black Riders, attack the Inn at night, destroying the room the hobbits were supposed to stay in and scaring away all the horses in Bree, including the hobbit's ponies. The hobbits are forced to buy a scrawny pony from Bill Ferny (a spy for the Riders). Strider decides that their chambers aren't safe and, after setting up decoys, has Butterbur move the hobbits to another room. With Strider, they quickly leave the town, passing through the Midgewater Marshes to reach a famous hill called Weathertop. Disaster follows when the party is attacked by five Black Riders. Frodo, succumbing to the Riders' command, puts on the Ring. He then tries to fight them off but to no avail. The Nazgûl's leader (the Witch-king of Angmar - Frodo now notices that he wears a crown), stabs Frodo with a Morgul-blade, poisoning him. Then the Riders seem to be driven off with fire by Strider. They believe, however, that they have only to wait until Frodo's wound overcomes him.
* XII - Flight to the Ford - Strider attempts to heal Frodo with a plant called athelas which relieves Frodo's pain, but Strider knows that only Elrond, Master of Rivendell, can heal this wound. On the way, the party passes the trolls that were turned to stone in The Hobbit. They get closer to Rivendell with no sign of the Riders. Eventually, they meet the Elf-lord Glorfindel from Rivendell, who has fought the Riders before and, as a High Elf, is feared by them. Glorfindel then accompanies them to the Ford of Rivendell. When they are within sight of the Ford, the Riders close in upon the party. Frodo is forced to flee on Glorfindel's horse. Frodo tries to make a last stand at the River, but is overcome by his wound and the power of the King of the Black Riders. The Riders are almost upon him when the River rises up in a flood caused by Elrond and Gandalf and washes the Black Riders away as Frodo falls unconscious.
Book II
* I - Many Meetings - After awakening from a sleep of four days, Frodo meets Gandalf and Bilbo again, as well as Glóin (one of the dwarves from The Hobbit), Elrond and others.
* II - The Council of Elrond - A council is attended by many emissaries of the Free Peoples; Gandalf tells the story of his escape from Saruman; they decide that the Ring must be destroyed and Frodo offers to take it to Mordor, and Gandalf and several others agree to accompany him. During the meeting Elrond proclaims the formation of the Fellowship of the Ring.
* III - The Ring goes South - The nine members of the Fellowship travel south through Hollin; they try to take the road over the mountain Caradhras but are forced to turn back.
* IV - A Journey in the Dark - They travel to the gates of Moria, where they have to deal with the Watcher in the Water, an aquatic monster in the lake in front of it. Gandalf eventually opens the doors. Throughout their journey in Moria, Frodo hears strange footsteps and spots glowing eyes in the darkness. After passing through the city of Dwarrowdelf, the Fellowship reaches the tomb of Balin.
* V - The Bridge of Khazad-dûm - Attacked by orcs in Balin's tomb, they make their way to the narrow bridge of Khazad-dûm, pursued by orcs and trolls. Before crossing the bridge, they encounter a Balrog. Gandalf holds the Balrog off, and both fall into the abyss, much to the dismay of the company.
* VI - Lothlórien - The company meets the elves of Lórien. The elves reluctantly agree to let Gimli the dwarf pass. Aragorn takes Frodo to the hill of Cerin Amroth.
* VII - The Mirror of Galadriel - The company meets Celeborn and Galadriel. Frodo and Sam are shown the mirror of Galadriel, in which they see several strange visions including the destruction of the Shire and the Eye of Sauron. Galadriel gives encouraging advice to Frodo and Sam.
* VIII - Farewell to Lórien - The elves give the company cloaks, waybread and other gifts; they leave Lórien in boats, travelling down the Great River Anduin.
* IX - The Great River - While travelling, the Fellowship notices Gollum following them along the river on a log; as the group travels, they must come to grips with several choices: they can either cross the east bank of the river and continue on the road towards Mordor, or they can go towards Gondor, and help fight off Mordor's forces. The third choice is the breaking of the Fellowship.
* X - The Breaking of the Fellowship - The company arrives at Parth Galen; they still face the various paths before them. The choice is given to Frodo, who thinks it over alone. Alone, that is until Boromir arrives, and attempts to convince Frodo to go towards Gondor. When that fails, he tries to take the Ring from Frodo, who puts it on to escape him. When Frodo does not arrive back at camp, and Boromir reveals what has happened, other members of the company scatter in an attempt to find the Ringbearer. Frodo and Sam go across the river and head towards Mordor alone. they both take off together in the land of shadows.
Members of the Fellowship of the Ring
See also: List of Middle-earth characters
Member Race
Frodo Baggins Hobbit Heir of Bilbo and Ring-Bearer. He is 50 years old as he leaves on his quest to Rivendell.
Samwise Gamgee (Sam) Hobbit Frodo's gardener, he was a loyal companion throughout the journey.
Meriadoc Brandybuck (Merry) Hobbit The son of the Master of Buckland, he is cousin to both Pippin and Frodo.
Peregrin Took (Pippin) Hobbit The son of the Thain in Tookland, he is the youngest member of the group and cousin to both Merry and Frodo.
Gandalf the Grey Maia Mysterious Wizard that leads the Fellowship until Moria.
Aragorn (Strider) Man Ranger of the North, who accompanies the hobbits from Bree to Rivendell, and then becomes a member of the Fellowship. His weapon is the sword. It is revealed that he is the Heir of Isildur and of Elendil.
Legolas Elf Elven archer. His weapon is the bow. His father is Thranduil, king of the Silvan Elves of Mirkwood, and he came to inform the council of the escape of Gollum.
Gimli Dwarf Son of Glóin. His weapon is the axe. He came to Rivendell from the Lonely Mountain with his father about trouble in the east.
Boromir Man Son of Denethor, Steward of Gondor. His weapon is the sword and the shield. He came to Rivendell seeking answers to a strange dream.
In The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien mostly refers to the group as the "Company of the Ring", or "the Company" for short, rather than "Fellowship of the Ring" or "Fellowship". This is demonstrated by Robert Foster's The Complete Guide to Middle-earth, which lists more page references for "Company..." than "Fellowship..." (and in fact the group appears under the entry "Company of the Ring".) However, since "Fellowship of the Ring" was used as the title of the first volume of the book, it has become the familiar term.
这只戒指拥有无穷的神秘力量，戒指原来是黑暗君王索伦所有的，却意外地到了佛罗多手里。佛罗多决定将戒指摧毁，以免索伦夺回去巩固自己的势力。索伦为了阻止佛罗多，于是派出了手下的怪兽加以追杀，一场正邪大战眼看着一触即发…
本片背景是在神秘的史前时代，由一场正邪战役所引发的长篇故事，这个拯救人类的危险任务落在年轻的哈比族人─佛罗多巴金身上，他从表哥巴伯那里得到了一指无邪的魔幻戒指。
佛罗多发现这只戒指的制造者是黑暗魔君索伦，而索伦正急着要把戒指找回去。因为这只戒指是代表伟大邪恶势力的魔戒，将使索伦统治下的人民得到解放，而他统治的这片土地就是俗称的中土世界（Middle Earth）。
匆忙之下，佛罗多结合了一些救援力量包括了术士、小精灵、侏儒及人类，一起协助他前往中土世界，将戒指丢入魔宫之洞的末日山脉中加以摧毁。
然而，这群义勇之士却遭到索伦手下怪兽群的攻击，这些恐怖邪恶的猎杀军队残忍地追杀佛罗多和他的朋友 。佛罗多等一群人还必须对抗戒指中的邪恶力量，这股力量会让人产生难以抵挡的欲望，考验着每一个接触戒指者的意志力
Title and publication
Tolkien conceived of The Lord of the Rings as a multiple volume with six sections he called "books" along with extensive appendices. The original publisher made the decision to split the work into three parts. It was also the publisher's decision to place the fifth and sixth books and the appendices into one volume under the title The Return of the King, in reference to Aragorn's assumption of the throne of Gondor. Tolkien indicated he would have preferred The War of the Ring as a title, as it gave away less of the story.
Before the decision to publish The Lord of the Rings in three volumes was made, Tolkien had hoped to publish the novel in one volume, or combined with The Silmarillion. At this stage he planned to title the individual books. The proposed title for Book I was The First Journey or The Ring Sets Out. Book II was titled The Journey of the Nine Companions or The Ring Goes South. The titles The Ring Sets Out and The Ring Goes South were used in the Millenium edition.
Plot summary
The Prologue is meant primarily to help people who have not read The Hobbit understand the events of that book, along with some other information that the author felt is relevant to set the stage for the novel.
Book I: The Return of the Shadow
The first chapter in the book begins quite lightly, following the tone of The Hobbit. Bilbo is celebrating his 111th (or eleventy-first, as it is called in Hobbiton) birthday on the same day that Frodo Baggins, his heir, is celebrating his 33rd birthday (his 'coming of age'). At the birthday party, Bilbo disappears after his speech, to the surprise of all. Bilbo departs from the Shire, the land of the Hobbits, for what he calls a permanent holiday. He leaves his remaining belongings including his home, Bag End and, after some persuasion by the wizard Gandalf, the Ring he had found on his adventures (with which he used to make himself invisible), to Frodo. Gandalf warns Frodo to keep the Ring secret and safe from others, and leaves on his own business.
Over the next seventeen years Gandalf visits Frodo; staying briefly before going off again. Then one spring night Gandalf arrives to alert Frodo to the darker aspects of the Ring which Bilbo had previously only used to make himself invisible: it is the One Ring of Sauron, the Dark Lord. Sauron forged the Ring himself and used it to subdue and rule Middle-earth. In the War of the Last Alliance, Sauron was defeated by the Elven King Gil-galad and Elendil, High King of Gondor and Arnor, though they themselves perished in the deed. The Ring was cut off from Sauron by Isildur, son of Elendil. Sauron was thus overthrown and he fled, and so, for many years, peace returned to Middle-earth. But the Ring itself was not destroyed: Isildur kept the Ring for himself after cutting it from Sauron. However, Isildur was slain in the Battle of the Gladden Fields and the Ring was lost in the Great River, Anduin; whereupon it came into the hands of the creature Gollum, who possessed the Ring for many years. The Ring then passed to Bilbo Baggins, as told in The Hobbit, and so passes into the hands of Frodo. Sauron had now arisen once again, and had returned to his stronghold in the land of Mordor, and was exerting all his power to find the Ring. Gandalf details the evil powers of the Ring, and its ability to influence the bearer and those near him, if it is worn for too long a time. Gandalf warns that the Ring is no longer safe in the Shire because, after some investigation of his own, Gandalf has learned from Gollum himself that Gollum had gone to Mordor, where he was captured and was tortured into revealing to Sauron that a Hobbit named Baggins from the Shire possesses the Ring. Heeding Gandalf's advice, Frodo decides that it is best to remove the Ring from the Shire. Gandalf hopes Frodo can reach the elf-haven of Rivendell, where he believes Frodo and the Ring will be safe from Sauron, at least for a while, and where those of most concern of Middle-Earth can decide the fate of the Ring. Samwise Gamgee, Frodo's gardener, is discovered listening in on the conversation. Out of loyalty to his master, Sam decides to accompany Frodo on his journey.
Over the summer Frodo makes plans to leave his home at Bag End, under the guise that he is moving to a remote region of the Shire to retire. He makes plans to "move" in the Autumn after Bilbo's and his birthday. Helping with the plans are Frodo's friends Peregrin Took (or Pippin for short), Meriadoc Brandybuck (Merry), Samwise Gamgee (Sam), and Fredegar Bolger (Fatty). However, Frodo does not tell them of his true intentions to leave the Shire, nor does he tell them about the Ring.
At midsummer, Gandalf informs Frodo that he must leave on pressing business, but will return before Frodo leaves. Frodo enjoys his last few weeks at home awaiting the return of Gandalf. But as his birthday and departure approach, Gandalf is not seen or heard from. Regretfully, Frodo decides to leave without Gandalf. Merry and Fatty take the last of Frodo's possessions by cart to his new home in Crickhollow. Frodo, Sam, and Pippin go by foot using the less used roads to travel unnoticed.
On their journey the three hobbits encounter the Black Riders; Ringwraiths or the Nazgûl who serve Sauron. There are nine such Ringwraiths and are "the most terrible servants of the Dark Lord." The hobbits discover that the Nazgûl are looking for Frodo and the Ring. But with help of some Elves and Farmer Maggot they eventually reach Crickhollow on the eastern borders of the Shire. There Merry, Pippin, Sam, and Fatty reveal that they know of Frodo's plan to leave the Shire and of the existence of the Ring. Sam, Merry, and Pippin decide to leave with Frodo, while Fatty stays behind as a decoy.
The Hobbits, in hopes of eluding the Nazgûl, travel through the Old Forest and Barrow-downs, and with the assistance of Tom Bombadil, are able to reach the village of Bree, where they meet Strider, a friend of Gandalf who becomes their guide to Rivendell.
Even with Strider's help, this portion of the journey is not without further hardships. The worst of these occurs when, while at the hill of Weathertop, five of the Nazgûl attack the travellers. Frodo is stabbed by the chief of the Nazgûl (the Witch-king of Angmar), with a cursed blade. The Nazgûl are driven off for a while by Strider. Part of the knife remains inside Frodo, causing him to become increasingly ill as the journey to Rivendell continues. Strider leads the hobbits on old paths avoiding the main road. As the travellers near their destination they meet Glorfindel, a mighty Elf-Lord from Rivendell, who helps them reach the River Bruinen on the border of Rivendell. But the Nazgûl, now at their full strength of nine, spring a trap at the Ford of Bruinen. Glorfindel's horse outruns the pursuers and carries Frodo across the Ford. As the Nazgûl attempt to follow, a giant wave in the shape of charging horses appears bearing down on the Nazgûl. The flood was commanded by Elrond, the mighty Lord of Rivendell, but the shape of galloping horses was an addition of Gandalf. The Nazgûl, trapped between the rushing water and seeing Glorfindel, an Elf-Lord revealed in his wrath, are swept away by the river, as Frodo finally collapses into unconsciousness on the riverbank.
Book II: The Fellowship of the Ring
Book II opens in Rivendell at the house of Elrond. Frodo is healed by Elrond and discovers that Bilbo has been residing in Rivendell. A Council is held by Elrond and is attended by Gandalf and many others, including Frodo and Bilbo. Elrond tells the history of the One Ring of Sauron, and about the War of the Last Alliance, and how the Ring was lost to Middle-Earth for a time after the Battle of the Gladden Fields. Gandalf continues the tale, and narrates how the Ring was found by Gollum. Bilbo and Frodo narrate their own adventures about the finding of the Ring and Frodo's journey to Rivendell. Gandalf also explains why he could not accompany Frodo from the Shire. He had gone to Isengard, where the powerful wizard Saruman dwells, to seek help and counsel. Saruman was head of the White Council and the greatest of the Istari. He had long studied Sauron's arts, and the lore of the One Ring. However, Saruman has turned against them, as Gandalf finds out much to his dismay; Saruman now desires the Ring for himself. Saruman imprisons Gandalf in his tower, Orthanc, rightly suspecting that Gandalf knew where the Ring was. Gandalf, however, does not yield and manages to escape from Orthanc. He learns that Saruman is not yet in Sauron's service, and was mustering his own force of Orcs. Gandalf spreads the tidings that Saruman was now a foe, and heads towards Rivendell, knowing that he could not reach the Shire in time to accompany Frodo. In the Council of Elrond, a plan is hatched to cast the One Ring into the fires of Mount Doom in Mordor, which will destroy the Ring and end Sauron's power once and for all. Frodo is chosen to be the Ring-Bearer, and sets forth from Rivendell with eight companions: two Men, Strider (revealed to be Aragorn, Isildur's heir) and Boromir, son of the Steward of the land of Gondor; the Prince of the Silvan Elves of Mirkwood, Legolas; Frodo's old friend and powerful wizard, Gandalf; Gimli the Dwarf; and Frodo's three Hobbit companions. These Nine Walkers (called the Fellowship of the Ring) were chosen to represent all the free races of Middle-Earth and as a balance to the Nazgûl. They are also accompanied by Bill the Pony, whom Strider and the Hobbits acquired in Bree as a pack horse. Their attempt to cross the Misty Mountains is foiled by heavy snow, and they are forced to take a path under the mountains, the mines of Moria, an ancient dwarf kingdom, now full of orcs and other evil creatures. During the battle that ensues, Gandalf battles a Balrog of Morgoth, and both fall into an abyss.
The remaining eight members of the Fellowship escape from Moria and head toward the elf-haven of Lothlórien, where they are given gifts from the rulers Celeborn and Galadriel that in many cases prove useful later during the Quest. After leaving Lórien, the Ring's evil and corrupting powers begin to show. When Frodo is alone for a while to decide the future course of the Fellowship, Boromir tries to take the Ring from him. Frodo, to escape from Boromir, ends up putting on the Ring. While the rest of the Fellowship scatter to hunt for Frodo, Frodo decides that the Fellowship has to be parted, for the Ring was too evil and was setting to work within the Fellowship itself. Frodo decides to depart secretly for Mordor, but is joined by Sam and they set off together to Mordor. The Fellowship was broken.
Chapter summaries
Book I
* I - A Long-expected Party - details Bilbo and Frodo's birthday party, ending with Bilbo leaving the Shire. The name is a reference to "An Unexpected Party," the first chapter of The Hobbit.
* II - The Shadow of the Past - Gandalf reveals to Frodo the true nature of the Ring and that it must be taken to Mordor and destroyed. Sam, who has been listening at the window, agrees to accompany Frodo.
* III - Three is Company - Gandalf leaves the Shire for a short trip, but promises to return. Frodo sells Bag End to further the ruse that he is broke and thus retiring to a small house at Crickhollow in the area beyond Bucklebury in Buckland. In reality, Frodo plans to leave the Shire from Buckland without it being noticed. Mysteriously, Gandalf does not return, and so Frodo, Sam and Pippin set out walking through the East Farthing of the Shire towards Buckland and encounter a Black Rider. They also meet Gildor Inglorion an elf, with other elves, who warn them to fear the Black Riders.
* IV - A Short Cut to Mushrooms - The walking party meets Farmer Maggot, a fierce old hobbit from Frodo's childhood. Frodo finds that Maggot actually has a kind nature and also learns that the Black Riders are searching other parts of the Shire for 'Baggins.' Maggot sneaks the party to the Buckland Ferry in his waggon, where they meet up with Merry.
* V - A Conspiracy Unmasked - At Frodo's new house at Crickhollow, Frodo wrestles with how to tell Sam, Merry, Pippin, and Fredegar 'Fatty' Bolger, about his quest, only to learn that they have known much of it all along, All the hobbits except Fredegar decide to leave the next day through the Old Forest, while Fredegar remains behind to act as a decoy and inform Gandalf of Frodo's plans. The Old Forest is rumoured to be a dangerous place, but Frodo wants to avoid the main roads at all costs in order to evade the Black Riders.
* VI - The Old Forest - Although trying to avoid it, the hobbits are 'herded' by the trees to the River Withywindle, the "queerest part of the whole wood." The hobbits all suddenly fall asleep, lulled by the spells of Old Man Willow. Merry and Pippin are trapped inside the evil tree, but are freed by Tom Bombadil.
* VII - In the House of Tom Bombadil - The hobbits are invited to Tom's house and meet his "pretty lady," Goldberry. Tom gives them food and lodging and tells them stories about nature and history. Interestingly, Tom is not affected by the One Ring; it can neither make him invisible, nor hide Frodo from him. Tom tells the hobbits how to safely travel the Barrow-downs without running afoul of the evil wights who haunt them.
* VIII - Fog on the Barrow-downs - Travelling through the Barrow-downs, the hobbits are captured by a Barrow-wight, then rescued (again) by Tom Bombadil. The hobbits are given special weapons from the barrow: enchanted daggers of the Men of Westernesse that were forged to fight Sauron and his minions, including the Witch-king of Angmar.
* IX - At the Sign of the Prancing Pony - The hobbits reach the Inn of the Prancing Pony at Bree, where Frodo uses a false name, Underhill, rather than Baggins. Still, all the hobbits behave in a naïve fashion: after supper, Merry decides to go for a stroll while the other three go to the Common Room for a drink. There Frodo meets Strider, a menacing man who seems to know much about Frodo. Then Pippin, forgetting the need for secrecy, begins a tale of Bilbo. Frodo sings a song in order to stop Pippin from talking too much. In the middle of Frodo's song, he slips and falls, and his finger 'accidentally' slips through the Ring (the Ring may be trying to reveal Frodo), causing Frodo to vanish and starting a bigger commotion among the guests than Pippin's tale would have done. Frodo escapes into a corner, where Strider tells him that several people in the Inn saw what happened. Strider uses this to persuade Frodo to agree to meet with him in Frodo's rooms. Soon after, the innkeeper, Barliman Butterbur, also requests a private audience with Frodo.
* X - Strider - Strider, after convincing Frodo he means no harm, pledges to save the hobbits from peril if he can. Butterbur gives Frodo a letter from Gandalf, which Butterbur had failed to deliver to him at the Shire as he was asked to by Gandalf. It tells Frodo that Strider is actually Aragorn, a friend of Gandalf's and confirms that Frodo may trust Strider. Shortly afterwards Merry runs into the room, frightened, having seen people from Bree talking to some Black Riders.
* XI - A Knife in the Dark - In Buckland, Fredegar Bolger flees the house before the Black Riders can enter and rouses Buckland. Some Bree folk, agents of the Black Riders, attack the Inn at night, destroying the room the hobbits were supposed to stay in and scaring away all the horses in Bree, including the hobbit's ponies. The hobbits are forced to buy a scrawny pony from Bill Ferny (a spy for the Riders). Strider decides that their chambers aren't safe and, after setting up decoys, has Butterbur move the hobbits to another room. With Strider, they quickly leave the town, passing through the Midgewater Marshes to reach a famous hill called Weathertop. Disaster follows when the party is attacked by five Black Riders. Frodo, succumbing to the Riders' command, puts on the Ring. He then tries to fight them off but to no avail. The Nazgûl's leader (the Witch-king of Angmar - Frodo now notices that he wears a crown), stabs Frodo with a Morgul-blade, poisoning him. Then the Riders seem to be driven off with fire by Strider. They believe, however, that they have only to wait until Frodo's wound overcomes him.
* XII - Flight to the Ford - Strider attempts to heal Frodo with a plant called athelas which relieves Frodo's pain, but Strider knows that only Elrond, Master of Rivendell, can heal this wound. On the way, the party passes the trolls that were turned to stone in The Hobbit. They get closer to Rivendell with no sign of the Riders. Eventually, they meet the Elf-lord Glorfindel from Rivendell, who has fought the Riders before and, as a High Elf, is feared by them. Glorfindel then accompanies them to the Ford of Rivendell. When they are within sight of the Ford, the Riders close in upon the party. Frodo is forced to flee on Glorfindel's horse. Frodo tries to make a last stand at the River, but is overcome by his wound and the power of the King of the Black Riders. The Riders are almost upon him when the River rises up in a flood caused by Elrond and Gandalf and washes the Black Riders away as Frodo falls unconscious.
Book II
* I - Many Meetings - After awakening from a sleep of four days, Frodo meets Gandalf and Bilbo again, as well as Glóin (one of the dwarves from The Hobbit), Elrond and others.
* II - The Council of Elrond - A council is attended by many emissaries of the Free Peoples; Gandalf tells the story of his escape from Saruman; they decide that the Ring must be destroyed and Frodo offers to take it to Mordor, and Gandalf and several others agree to accompany him. During the meeting Elrond proclaims the formation of the Fellowship of the Ring.
* III - The Ring goes South - The nine members of the Fellowship travel south through Hollin; they try to take the road over the mountain Caradhras but are forced to turn back.
* IV - A Journey in the Dark - They travel to the gates of Moria, where they have to deal with the Watcher in the Water, an aquatic monster in the lake in front of it. Gandalf eventually opens the doors. Throughout their journey in Moria, Frodo hears strange footsteps and spots glowing eyes in the darkness. After passing through the city of Dwarrowdelf, the Fellowship reaches the tomb of Balin.
* V - The Bridge of Khazad-dûm - Attacked by orcs in Balin's tomb, they make their way to the narrow bridge of Khazad-dûm, pursued by orcs and trolls. Before crossing the bridge, they encounter a Balrog. Gandalf holds the Balrog off, and both fall into the abyss, much to the dismay of the company.
* VI - Lothlórien - The company meets the elves of Lórien. The elves reluctantly agree to let Gimli the dwarf pass. Aragorn takes Frodo to the hill of Cerin Amroth.
* VII - The Mirror of Galadriel - The company meets Celeborn and Galadriel. Frodo and Sam are shown the mirror of Galadriel, in which they see several strange visions including the destruction of the Shire and the Eye of Sauron. Galadriel gives encouraging advice to Frodo and Sam.
* VIII - Farewell to Lórien - The elves give the company cloaks, waybread and other gifts; they leave Lórien in boats, travelling down the Great River Anduin.
* IX - The Great River - While travelling, the Fellowship notices Gollum following them along the river on a log; as the group travels, they must come to grips with several choices: they can either cross the east bank of the river and continue on the road towards Mordor, or they can go towards Gondor, and help fight off Mordor's forces. The third choice is the breaking of the Fellowship.
* X - The Breaking of the Fellowship - The company arrives at Parth Galen; they still face the various paths before them. The choice is given to Frodo, who thinks it over alone. Alone, that is until Boromir arrives, and attempts to convince Frodo to go towards Gondor. When that fails, he tries to take the Ring from Frodo, who puts it on to escape him. When Frodo does not arrive back at camp, and Boromir reveals what has happened, other members of the company scatter in an attempt to find the Ringbearer. Frodo and Sam go across the river and head towards Mordor alone. they both take off together in the land of shadows.
Members of the Fellowship of the Ring
See also: List of Middle-earth characters
Member Race
Frodo Baggins Hobbit Heir of Bilbo and Ring-Bearer. He is 50 years old as he leaves on his quest to Rivendell.
Samwise Gamgee (Sam) Hobbit Frodo's gardener, he was a loyal companion throughout the journey.
Meriadoc Brandybuck (Merry) Hobbit The son of the Master of Buckland, he is cousin to both Pippin and Frodo.
Peregrin Took (Pippin) Hobbit The son of the Thain in Tookland, he is the youngest member of the group and cousin to both Merry and Frodo.
Gandalf the Grey Maia Mysterious Wizard that leads the Fellowship until Moria.
Aragorn (Strider) Man Ranger of the North, who accompanies the hobbits from Bree to Rivendell, and then becomes a member of the Fellowship. His weapon is the sword. It is revealed that he is the Heir of Isildur and of Elendil.
Legolas Elf Elven archer. His weapon is the bow. His father is Thranduil, king of the Silvan Elves of Mirkwood, and he came to inform the council of the escape of Gollum.
Gimli Dwarf Son of Glóin. His weapon is the axe. He came to Rivendell from the Lonely Mountain with his father about trouble in the east.
Boromir Man Son of Denethor, Steward of Gondor. His weapon is the sword and the shield. He came to Rivendell seeking answers to a strange dream.
In The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien mostly refers to the group as the "Company of the Ring", or "the Company" for short, rather than "Fellowship of the Ring" or "Fellowship". This is demonstrated by Robert Foster's The Complete Guide to Middle-earth, which lists more page references for "Company..." than "Fellowship..." (and in fact the group appears under the entry "Company of the Ring".) However, since "Fellowship of the Ring" was used as the title of the first volume of the book, it has become the familiar term.
讲述护戒联盟中的哈比人梅利与皮平被奥克斯掳走，护戒使者们不得不分头行事：弗拉多与好友山姆继续向索隆领地莫都(Modor)进发，途中他们制服了也在疯狂寻找魔戒的怪物古鲁姆(Gollum)，魔戒曾经为他带来了长寿与隐身之道直到弗拉多的前辈毕尔博拿走了这枚戒指。由于通向莫都的路途十分艰险，而末日山就在莫都的北面，所以弗拉多与山姆不得不依靠古鲁姆的帮助。除了要时刻提防心怀鬼胎的古鲁姆，以及强大的魔戒幽灵，弗拉多还要抵御魔戒对其心灵愈来愈强的侵蚀，可谓生死一线，险情迭出……
另一面护戒使者阿拉贡、莱格拉斯与吉穆利则与成功逃离奥克斯营地的梅利与皮平会合，并加入人类族群罗翰国 (Rohan)的队伍准备对邪恶的白衣术士萨茹曼的领地伊森加德发动进攻。而此时黑魁首索隆也策动其奥克斯部队向罗翰的首都埃多拉斯进发，精灵族与人类的联盟将遭到黑魔法兽兵强大战斗力与萨茹曼邪恶魔法的双重挑战！紧要关头甘多夫再度现身，更从灰衣法师升至法力无边的白衣法师，双方一场恶战在所难免！
Title
The Lord of the Rings is composed of 6 "books", aside from an introduction, a prologue and 6 appendices. The novel was originally published as 3 separate volumes due to post-World War II paper shortages and size and price considerations. The Two Towers covers Books III and IV.
Tolkien wrote, "The Two Towers gets as near as possible to finding a title to cover the widely divergent Books 3 & 4; and can be left ambiguous." At this stage he planned to title the individual books. The proposed title for Book III was The Treason of Isengard. Book IV was titled The Journey of the Ringbearers or The Ring Goes East. The titles The Treason of Isengard and The Ring Goes East were used in the Millennium edition.
A note at the end of The Fellowship of the Ring and Tolkien's final illustration of the towers gives the pair as Minas Morgul and Orthanc. However, in a letter to Rayner Unwin, Tolkien instead gives Orthanc and the Tower of Cirith Ungol, but felt such an identification was misleading due to the opposition between Barad-dûr and Minas Tirith. Loosely, any pair from the set of five towers in the story could fit the title: the tower of Cirith Ungol (Cirith Ungol being a pass), Orthanc, Minas Tirith, Barad-dûr and Minas Morgul.
However ambiguous the title may be in the book, director Peter Jackson's adaptation of The Two Towers designates the title as referring to the towers of Barad-dûr in Mordor and Orthanc in Isengard. In dialogue written for the film, the wizard Saruman says:
"The World is changing. Who now has the strength to stand against the armies of Isengard and Mordor? To stand against the might of Sauron and Saruman ... and the union of the two towers? Together, my Lord Sauron ... we shall rule this Middle-earth."
In different teaser trailers for the film, voice-over narration by Gandalf and Galadriel directly states the towers as Barad-dûr and Orthanc.
Structure
Because The Two Towers is the central portion of a longer work, its structure differs from that of a conventional novel. It begins and ends abruptly, without introduction to the characters, explanations of major plot elements, or a strict conclusion. This is characteristic of the technical classification novel sequence, not a book series — though it and the other two volumes are not individual novels themselves. The first section follows the divergent paths of several important figures from The Fellowship of the Ring, but tells nothing of its central character, on whose fate so much depends, enabling the reader to share in the suspense and uncertainty of the characters. The narrative of the second part returns to Frodo's quest to destroy the evil that threatens the world.
Plot summary
Book III: The Treason of Isengard
As Aragorn searches for Frodo, he suddenly hears Boromir's horn. He finds Boromir mortally wounded by arrows, his assailants gone. Before Boromir dies he reveals that Merry and Pippin had been captured by Orcs in spite of his efforts to defend them, and that Frodo had vanished after Boromir had tried to take the Ring from him and that he truly regretted attempting to take the Ring from Frodo. In his last moments, he charges Aragorn to defend Minas Tirith from Sauron. With Legolas and Gimli, who had been fighting Orcs themselves, Aragorn pays his last respects to the fallen hero and sends him down the Great River Anduin on a funeral boat, the usual methods of burial being impracticable. The three then resolve to follow the Uruk-hai captors. Meanwhile, after some hardship, the hobbits escape when the Uruk-hai are attacked by the horsemen of Rohan, called the Rohirrim or "Riders of Rohan".
Merry and Pippin escape into the nearby Fangorn Forest, where they encounter the giant treelike Ents. The Ents resembled actual trees, except they could see, talk, and move. These guardians of the forest generally kept to themselves, but after a long contemplation on whether or not the Hobbits were friends, or foes, their leader Treebeard persuades the Ent council to oppose the menace posed to the forest by the wizard Saruman, as suggested by Merry and Pippin, as Treebeard realizes that Saruman's minions have been cutting down large numbers of their trees to fuel the furnaces needed for Saruman's arming of his dark army.
Aragorn, Gimli the Dwarf and Legolas the Elf come across the Riders of Rohan led by Éomer, nephew of King Théoden. The trio learn that the horsemen had attacked a band of Orcs the previous night, and that they had left no survivors. However, Aragorn is able to track a small set of prints that lead into Fangorn, where they meet a wizard in white robes. They shortly afterward meet Gandalf, (they at first take him to be Saruman) whom they believed had perished in the mines of Moria. He tells them of his fall into the abyss, his battle to the death with the Balrog and his resurrection and his enhanced power. The four ride to Rohan's capital Edoras, where Gandalf rouses King Théoden from inaction against the threat Saruman poses. In the process, Saruman's spy in Rohan (and King Théoden's trusted advisor) Gríma Wormtongue, is expelled from Rohan. Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas then travel with Théoden's troops to the fortress of Hornburg, in the valley of Helm's Deep. Gandalf rides away before the battle begins, though he gives no reason for doing so. At the Hornburg, the army of Rohan led by King Théoden and Aragorn resist a full-scale onslaught by the hosts of Saruman. Yet, things begin to go ill with Rohan, until Gandalf arrives with the remains of the army of Westfold that Saruman's forces had previously routed. The tide now turns in Rohan's favour, and Saruman's orcs flee into a forest of Huorns, creatures similar to Ents, and none escape alive. Gandalf, Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas, along with King Théoden and Éomer, head to Saruman's stronghold of Isengard.
Here, they reunite with Merry and Pippin and find Isengard overrun by Ents, who had flooded it by breaking a nearby dam of the river Isen, and the central tower of Orthanc besieged, with Saruman and Wormtongue trapped inside. After giving Saruman a chance to repent, who refuses, Gandalf casts him out of the Order of Wizards and the White Council. Gríma throws something from a window at Gandalf but misses, and it is picked up by Pippin. This object turns out to be one of the palantíri (seeing-stones). Pippin, unable to resist the urge, looks into it and encounters the Eye of Sauron, but emerges unscathed from the ordeal. Gandalf and Pippin then head for Minas Tirith in Gondor in preparation for the imminent war against Mordor, while Théoden and Aragorn remain behind to begin the muster of Rohan, to ride to the aid of Gondor.
Book IV: The Journey to Mordor
Frodo and Sam discover and capture Gollum, who has been stalking them in their quest to reach Mount Doom and destroy the One Ring, for Gollum hopes to reclaim the Ring for himself. Sam loathes and distrusts him, but Frodo pities the poor creature. Gollum promises to lead the pair to the Black Gate of Mordor and for a time appears to be a true ally. He leads them through a hidden passage of the Dead Marshes in order to avoid being spied by Orcs. Frodo and Sam learn that the Dead Marshes were once part of an ancient battlefield, upon which the War of the Last Alliance was fought. Upon reaching the Black Gate, Gollum persuades the hobbits not to enter, where they would have been surely caught. He tells them of a secret entrance to Mordor. Thus, they head south into Gondor's province of Ithilien and are accosted by a group of Gondorian rangers led by Faramir, the brother of Boromir. Frodo learns from Faramir of Boromir's death and Sam accidentally reveals to Faramir that Frodo carries the One Ring. As a result of this Frodo reveals the plan to destroy the Ring in the fires of Mount Doom. Later that night Gollum is captured diving into the sacred pool, the penalty for which is death. Frodo negotiates Gollum's freedom with Faramir. The following morning Faramir allows them to go on their way, but warns them that Gollum may know more about the secret entrance (Cirith Ungol) than he has been telling them.
Gollum leads them past the city of Minas Morgul and up a long, steep staircase of the Tower of Cirith Ungol into the lair of an enormous spider named Shelob. Gollum hopes to get the Ring from Frodo's bones after Shelob is done with him. The hobbits escape Shelob in her lair and mistakenly assume that they are safe. However, Shelob sneaks up on Frodo. Sam attempts to warn Frodo but is attacked by Gollum. Shelob stings Frodo in the back of the neck and he collapses to the ground.
Sam fends off Gollum and Gollum runs off back towards Shelob's cave. Sam then drives off Shelob. After seeing Frodo lifeless and pale, Sam assumes that Frodo is dead and debates chasing Gollum and abandoning the Quest in favour of vengeance. Sam resolves to finish the Quest himself and takes the Ring. But when Orcs take Frodo's body, Sam follows them and learns that Frodo is not dead, but only unconscious, and is now a prisoner. The book ends with the line, "Frodo was alive but taken by the Enemy."
Chapter Summaries
Book III
* I - The Departure of Boromir - Aragorn finds Boromir wounded by many arrows. Boromir tells him that orcs took the Hobbits, and they were still alive. Boromir does not tell Aragorn which Hobbits were taken. He also reveals how he had attempted to seize the Ring from Frodo, and expresses his remorse at his actions. Boromir dies, and his body is sent down the river on a funeral boat by the three remaining members of the Company - Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli - who decide to follow the orcs.
* II - The Riders of Rohan - Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli pursue the Orcs for three days, eventually crossing into Rohan. On the fourth day of their chase, they instead encounter Éomer, who informs them that his company destroyed the Orcs the previous night, but had not spotted any hobbits. Éomer and Aragorn become friends, and he agrees to lend horses to the hunters to aid their search. Aragorn can find no signs on the edge of Fangorn, and in the middle night, the horses run off after a mysterious old man approaches the hunters' camp.
* III - The Uruk-hai - This chapter begins further back in time, telling the story of Merry and Pippin being captured by the orcs. As they flee west towards Isengard, the orcs are constantly arguing, for they serve different masters. The orcs camp near Fangorn, and Grishnákh, an Orc of Mordor, attempts to take the hobbits away with him, believing them to have the Ring. The hobbits escape as Grishnákh is killed by an arrow, and Éomer's company attacks the Orc-party.
* IV - Treebeard - Entering into Fangorn Forest, the hobbits meet Treebeard, leader of the Ents. The old Ent, initially labeling them as Orcs, eventually takes a liking to them, and leads them to his home, while discussing the history of the Ents and the treason of Isengard with the hobbits. Treebeard calls the Ents of Fangorn together at Entmoot, where they debate what should be done about Saruman. Merry and Pippin spend this time with another Ent, Quickbeam. Eventually, the Ents decide to attack Isengard, which lies just to the west.
* V - The White Rider - The chapter goes back to the story of Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli, who discover signs that the hobbits escaped the orcs into the forest. In the forest, they encounter an old man whom they presume to be Saruman. Only after attempting to fight him do they realize it is Gandalf, returned from death. Gandalf sizes up the current situation and the impending war (and also gives an account on his epic battle against the Balrog) before leading the companions to their horses, and heading south to Edoras, capital city of Rohan
* VI - The King of the Golden Hall - Arriving at Edoras, Gandalf and his companions find Gríma Wormtongue controlling the city in the name of King Théoden. Gandalf exposes Wormtongue as Saruman's spy, and cures the King of his depression and idleness brought on by Gríma's poisoned words. Éomer is released from his imprisonment, and Wormtongue flees the city. Gandalf persuades Théoden to fight against Saruman, and the King rides west with Éomer, Gandalf, the three hunters, and one thousand Rohirrim. He leaves his niece and Éomer's sister, Éowyn, to lead his people.
* VII - Helm's Deep - Riding west, the army encounters a messenger warning them of an impending attack by Saruman's massive army of Uruk-hai and Wild Men. Gandalf urges the King to fight at the Hornburg in Helm's Deep, an ancient, almost impregnable fortress. He leaves to arrange for help. Aragorn and Éomer lead Rohan's outnumbered forces in the fierce Battle of the Hornburg. After having to abandon the outer wall, Aragorn and Théoden lead a cavalry charge at dawn into the Orcs. Taken by surprise, the Orcs are driven back right into approaching reinforcements led by Gandalf, and a waiting forest of trees from Fangorn. Saruman's army is defeated.
* VIII - The Road to Isengard - Gandalf leads Théoden and the companions to Isengard. Upon their arrival, they see that the Ents have destroyed Saruman's machinery and factories. Merry and Pippin guard the ruined gate, and introduce themselves to Théoden.
* IX - Flotsam and Jetsam - Merry and Pippin tell Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli, the story of their adventures with both the Orcs and Ents. They recount how the Ents attacked Isengard, killing many Orcs and destroying Saruman's war-machines. The Ents then flooded the Ring of Isengard, drowning Saruman's underground smithies and barracks. The hobbits happily reveal that they found their favorite pipe-weed from the Shire in one of Saruman's store-rooms.
* X - The Voice of Saruman - Gandalf leads Théoden, Éomer, and the other Fellowship members to a parley with Saruman at the tower of Orthanc in the midst of Isengard. Saruman, while defeated in battle, is still able to use his voice to gain power over others. He nearly convinces the King to make peace with him. Gandalf and Théoden, however, see through Saruman's lies. Gandalf offers Saruman a chance to repent and aid the forces of good in the war to come. When Saruman rejects the offer, Gandalf breaks Saruman's staff and casts him from the White Council. As they leave, Wormtongue, who had returned to Saruman, throws Saruman's Palantír down at the company. Pippin picks it up before Gandalf takes it from him. Gandalf entrusts control of Isengard (and Saruman) to Treebeard and the Ents before the company leaves.
* XI - The Palantír - At the camp south of Isengard, Pippin takes the Palantír from Gandalf as he sleeps, and looks into it. He encounters the Eye of Sauron and sees Sauron's plans to attack Gondor's capital city of Minas Tirith. He escapes unscathed, and Gandalf takes the stone back before giving it to Aragorn for safekeeping. A winged Nazgûl flies over the camp, and Gandalf realizes the war is arriving. He rides of with Pippin to Minas Tirith, while Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Merry, Théoden, Éomer, and the Rohirrim ride back towards Helm's Deep. On the way to Gondor, Gandalf explains the Palantír to Pippin, revealing that it is the one of the last surviving Seeing-Stones which Elendil brough from Númenor.
Book IV
* I - The Taming of Sméagol - Frodo and Sam become lost in the Emyn Muil and eventually encounter the creature Gollum, who had been tracking them, desiring the Ring. After capturing him, Frodo makes Gollum lead them to Mordor in exchange for Sam untying him. Gollum agrees to this plan, swearing "on the Precious".
* II - The Passage of the Marshes - Gollum shows Frodo and Sam a secret way through the Dead Marshes in order to escape being noticed by Orcs. In the Marshes, Frodo and Sam discover more about their new guide. They also narrowly escape detection by a winged Nazgûl.
* III - The Black Gate is Closed - Arriving at the Black Gate of Mordor, Frodo and Sam see it is impenetrable. While hiding within sight of the Towers of the Teeth, Gollum persuades the hobbits to take a "secret way" into Mordor he knows of further to the south. Seeing that he has no chance to enter Mordor via the Black Gate, Frodo agrees to the southward route.
* IV - Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit - Frodo, Sam, and Gollum enter Ithilien, a pleasant land once belonging to Gondor. Making camp, Sam coaxes Gollum into procuring some rabbits for a meal. The smoke from Sam's fire catches the eye of Gondorian Rangers, led by Boromir's younger brother Faramir. Frodo and Sam watch while the Rangers engage a host of Haradrim, who are bringing a Mûmakil to Mordor. Meanwhile, Gollum runs off.
* V - The Window on the West - After the Rangers defeat the Haradrim, Frodo and Sam are taken by Faramir to the secret outpost of Henneth Annûn. There, Faramir questions Frodo about the circumstances of Boromir's death. When Sam accidentally reveals that Frodo carries the Ring, and that Boromir had attempted to seize it, Faramir reveals that he would not use the Ring or try to take it; he sees the evil it can do.
* VI - The Forbidden Pool - In the middle of the night, Faramir shows Frodo that his men have found Gollum in Henneth Annûn's forbidden pool. Frodo convinces Faramir not to shoot Gollum. Faramir questions the wretch over where he is leading Frodo. When Gollum reveals he intends to take the hobbits past Minas Morgul, Faramir grows alarmed and urges Frodo to not use that way. He warns of evil in the pass above the city.
* VII - Journey to the Cross-roads - Faramir sends Frodo and Sam off with provisions and directions to Morgul-vale. He also allows Gollum to leave, but denounces him as evil and untrustworthy. Gollum brings the hobbits to the road between Osgiliath and Minas Morgul, and leads them east towards the Mountains of Shadow. At the Cross-roads, where the Harad Road meets the Osgiliath Road, the hobbits encounter an old, headless statue of a Gondorian king. When Frodo sees the head lying nearby, he perceives that "The king has got a crown again". At this same time, darkness from Mordor covers the Sun.
* VIII - The Stairs of Cirith Ungol - Approaching the evil city of Minas Morgul, Frodo, Sam, and Gollum witness a great host of Sauron leaving the city to make war on Gondor. They are led by the Witch-king of Angmar. Climbing the stairs towards Gollum's secret pass, Gollum runs off for a short time. Sam suspects he may be alerting Orcs to their presence.
* IX - Shelob's Lair - Gollum returns and leads the hobbits into a dark tunnel, which is really the lair of Shelob the spider. Encountering the monsterous arachnid, Frodo and Sam realize Gollum has fled, leaving them to die. Making use of the Phial of Galadriel and his sword Sting, Frodo is able to drive Shelob back for a short time. However, as the hobbits escape the lair, Gollum subdues Sam while Shelob reappears and attacks Frodo.
* X - The Choices of Master Samwise - Sam overcomes Gollum and sends him fleeing in terror. Seeing that Shelob has attacked Frodo, Sam battles her fiercely, eventually wounding her with Sting and blinding her with the Phial. Sam sees that Shelob has stung Frodo, who lies seemingly dead in the pass. With Gollum's betrayal complete, Sam resolves to take the Ring and continue the Quest on his own, leaving his master's body. Shortly after taking the Ring, a company of Orcs from the nearby Tower of Cirith Ungol arrives and meets a company from Minas Morgul. They take Frodo's body back to the Tower. Sam, pursuing them, overhears the two commanders say that Shelob has not killed Frodo, but rendered him unconcious for several hours. The Orcs reach the Tower, but Sam cannot catch up to them in time. He is left out in a secret passageway, unable to enter as the novel ends.
Adaptations
Some of the events of The Two Towers along with The Fellowship of Ring were depicted in the 1978 film of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, directed by Ralph Bakshi.
In 1999, The Lifeline Theatre in Chicago presented the world premiere of The Two Towers, adapted for the stage by James Sie and Karen Tarjan, directed by Ned Mochel.
In 2002 the film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, directed by Peter Jackson, was released. Both The Two Towers and the succeeding film, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King abandoned the parallel storytelling of the volume in favour of a more chronological presentation. The first chapter from the volume actually appears at the end of Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Later events of The Two Towers involving Frodo and Sam were filmed for Jackson's The Return of the King. Other significant changes were made in the plot line, partially to give each of the characters a story arc in which they could develop and change. Although all three of Jackson's films differ from their source material, "The Two Towers" arguably contains the most major alterations. There was initial concern over using the title "The Two Towers" due to the real-life association with the World Trade Center and the terrorist attacks the previous year. The WTC was also commonly called The Twin Towers and due to that similarity, the filmmakers were reportedly considering alternate titles. It was decided, eventually, to retain the original title.
Various games also adapt The Two Towers, including online role-playing games like The Two Towers Mud and graphically-oriented console games.
另一面护戒使者阿拉贡、莱格拉斯与吉穆利则与成功逃离奥克斯营地的梅利与皮平会合，并加入人类族群罗翰国 (Rohan)的队伍准备对邪恶的白衣术士萨茹曼的领地伊森加德发动进攻。而此时黑魁首索隆也策动其奥克斯部队向罗翰的首都埃多拉斯进发，精灵族与人类的联盟将遭到黑魔法兽兵强大战斗力与萨茹曼邪恶魔法的双重挑战！紧要关头甘多夫再度现身，更从灰衣法师升至法力无边的白衣法师，双方一场恶战在所难免！
Title
The Lord of the Rings is composed of 6 "books", aside from an introduction, a prologue and 6 appendices. The novel was originally published as 3 separate volumes due to post-World War II paper shortages and size and price considerations. The Two Towers covers Books III and IV.
Tolkien wrote, "The Two Towers gets as near as possible to finding a title to cover the widely divergent Books 3 & 4; and can be left ambiguous." At this stage he planned to title the individual books. The proposed title for Book III was The Treason of Isengard. Book IV was titled The Journey of the Ringbearers or The Ring Goes East. The titles The Treason of Isengard and The Ring Goes East were used in the Millennium edition.
A note at the end of The Fellowship of the Ring and Tolkien's final illustration of the towers gives the pair as Minas Morgul and Orthanc. However, in a letter to Rayner Unwin, Tolkien instead gives Orthanc and the Tower of Cirith Ungol, but felt such an identification was misleading due to the opposition between Barad-dûr and Minas Tirith. Loosely, any pair from the set of five towers in the story could fit the title: the tower of Cirith Ungol (Cirith Ungol being a pass), Orthanc, Minas Tirith, Barad-dûr and Minas Morgul.
However ambiguous the title may be in the book, director Peter Jackson's adaptation of The Two Towers designates the title as referring to the towers of Barad-dûr in Mordor and Orthanc in Isengard. In dialogue written for the film, the wizard Saruman says:
"The World is changing. Who now has the strength to stand against the armies of Isengard and Mordor? To stand against the might of Sauron and Saruman ... and the union of the two towers? Together, my Lord Sauron ... we shall rule this Middle-earth."
In different teaser trailers for the film, voice-over narration by Gandalf and Galadriel directly states the towers as Barad-dûr and Orthanc.
Structure
Because The Two Towers is the central portion of a longer work, its structure differs from that of a conventional novel. It begins and ends abruptly, without introduction to the characters, explanations of major plot elements, or a strict conclusion. This is characteristic of the technical classification novel sequence, not a book series — though it and the other two volumes are not individual novels themselves. The first section follows the divergent paths of several important figures from The Fellowship of the Ring, but tells nothing of its central character, on whose fate so much depends, enabling the reader to share in the suspense and uncertainty of the characters. The narrative of the second part returns to Frodo's quest to destroy the evil that threatens the world.
Plot summary
Book III: The Treason of Isengard
As Aragorn searches for Frodo, he suddenly hears Boromir's horn. He finds Boromir mortally wounded by arrows, his assailants gone. Before Boromir dies he reveals that Merry and Pippin had been captured by Orcs in spite of his efforts to defend them, and that Frodo had vanished after Boromir had tried to take the Ring from him and that he truly regretted attempting to take the Ring from Frodo. In his last moments, he charges Aragorn to defend Minas Tirith from Sauron. With Legolas and Gimli, who had been fighting Orcs themselves, Aragorn pays his last respects to the fallen hero and sends him down the Great River Anduin on a funeral boat, the usual methods of burial being impracticable. The three then resolve to follow the Uruk-hai captors. Meanwhile, after some hardship, the hobbits escape when the Uruk-hai are attacked by the horsemen of Rohan, called the Rohirrim or "Riders of Rohan".
Merry and Pippin escape into the nearby Fangorn Forest, where they encounter the giant treelike Ents. The Ents resembled actual trees, except they could see, talk, and move. These guardians of the forest generally kept to themselves, but after a long contemplation on whether or not the Hobbits were friends, or foes, their leader Treebeard persuades the Ent council to oppose the menace posed to the forest by the wizard Saruman, as suggested by Merry and Pippin, as Treebeard realizes that Saruman's minions have been cutting down large numbers of their trees to fuel the furnaces needed for Saruman's arming of his dark army.
Aragorn, Gimli the Dwarf and Legolas the Elf come across the Riders of Rohan led by Éomer, nephew of King Théoden. The trio learn that the horsemen had attacked a band of Orcs the previous night, and that they had left no survivors. However, Aragorn is able to track a small set of prints that lead into Fangorn, where they meet a wizard in white robes. They shortly afterward meet Gandalf, (they at first take him to be Saruman) whom they believed had perished in the mines of Moria. He tells them of his fall into the abyss, his battle to the death with the Balrog and his resurrection and his enhanced power. The four ride to Rohan's capital Edoras, where Gandalf rouses King Théoden from inaction against the threat Saruman poses. In the process, Saruman's spy in Rohan (and King Théoden's trusted advisor) Gríma Wormtongue, is expelled from Rohan. Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas then travel with Théoden's troops to the fortress of Hornburg, in the valley of Helm's Deep. Gandalf rides away before the battle begins, though he gives no reason for doing so. At the Hornburg, the army of Rohan led by King Théoden and Aragorn resist a full-scale onslaught by the hosts of Saruman. Yet, things begin to go ill with Rohan, until Gandalf arrives with the remains of the army of Westfold that Saruman's forces had previously routed. The tide now turns in Rohan's favour, and Saruman's orcs flee into a forest of Huorns, creatures similar to Ents, and none escape alive. Gandalf, Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas, along with King Théoden and Éomer, head to Saruman's stronghold of Isengard.
Here, they reunite with Merry and Pippin and find Isengard overrun by Ents, who had flooded it by breaking a nearby dam of the river Isen, and the central tower of Orthanc besieged, with Saruman and Wormtongue trapped inside. After giving Saruman a chance to repent, who refuses, Gandalf casts him out of the Order of Wizards and the White Council. Gríma throws something from a window at Gandalf but misses, and it is picked up by Pippin. This object turns out to be one of the palantíri (seeing-stones). Pippin, unable to resist the urge, looks into it and encounters the Eye of Sauron, but emerges unscathed from the ordeal. Gandalf and Pippin then head for Minas Tirith in Gondor in preparation for the imminent war against Mordor, while Théoden and Aragorn remain behind to begin the muster of Rohan, to ride to the aid of Gondor.
Book IV: The Journey to Mordor
Frodo and Sam discover and capture Gollum, who has been stalking them in their quest to reach Mount Doom and destroy the One Ring, for Gollum hopes to reclaim the Ring for himself. Sam loathes and distrusts him, but Frodo pities the poor creature. Gollum promises to lead the pair to the Black Gate of Mordor and for a time appears to be a true ally. He leads them through a hidden passage of the Dead Marshes in order to avoid being spied by Orcs. Frodo and Sam learn that the Dead Marshes were once part of an ancient battlefield, upon which the War of the Last Alliance was fought. Upon reaching the Black Gate, Gollum persuades the hobbits not to enter, where they would have been surely caught. He tells them of a secret entrance to Mordor. Thus, they head south into Gondor's province of Ithilien and are accosted by a group of Gondorian rangers led by Faramir, the brother of Boromir. Frodo learns from Faramir of Boromir's death and Sam accidentally reveals to Faramir that Frodo carries the One Ring. As a result of this Frodo reveals the plan to destroy the Ring in the fires of Mount Doom. Later that night Gollum is captured diving into the sacred pool, the penalty for which is death. Frodo negotiates Gollum's freedom with Faramir. The following morning Faramir allows them to go on their way, but warns them that Gollum may know more about the secret entrance (Cirith Ungol) than he has been telling them.
Gollum leads them past the city of Minas Morgul and up a long, steep staircase of the Tower of Cirith Ungol into the lair of an enormous spider named Shelob. Gollum hopes to get the Ring from Frodo's bones after Shelob is done with him. The hobbits escape Shelob in her lair and mistakenly assume that they are safe. However, Shelob sneaks up on Frodo. Sam attempts to warn Frodo but is attacked by Gollum. Shelob stings Frodo in the back of the neck and he collapses to the ground.
Sam fends off Gollum and Gollum runs off back towards Shelob's cave. Sam then drives off Shelob. After seeing Frodo lifeless and pale, Sam assumes that Frodo is dead and debates chasing Gollum and abandoning the Quest in favour of vengeance. Sam resolves to finish the Quest himself and takes the Ring. But when Orcs take Frodo's body, Sam follows them and learns that Frodo is not dead, but only unconscious, and is now a prisoner. The book ends with the line, "Frodo was alive but taken by the Enemy."
Chapter Summaries
Book III
* I - The Departure of Boromir - Aragorn finds Boromir wounded by many arrows. Boromir tells him that orcs took the Hobbits, and they were still alive. Boromir does not tell Aragorn which Hobbits were taken. He also reveals how he had attempted to seize the Ring from Frodo, and expresses his remorse at his actions. Boromir dies, and his body is sent down the river on a funeral boat by the three remaining members of the Company - Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli - who decide to follow the orcs.
* II - The Riders of Rohan - Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli pursue the Orcs for three days, eventually crossing into Rohan. On the fourth day of their chase, they instead encounter Éomer, who informs them that his company destroyed the Orcs the previous night, but had not spotted any hobbits. Éomer and Aragorn become friends, and he agrees to lend horses to the hunters to aid their search. Aragorn can find no signs on the edge of Fangorn, and in the middle night, the horses run off after a mysterious old man approaches the hunters' camp.
* III - The Uruk-hai - This chapter begins further back in time, telling the story of Merry and Pippin being captured by the orcs. As they flee west towards Isengard, the orcs are constantly arguing, for they serve different masters. The orcs camp near Fangorn, and Grishnákh, an Orc of Mordor, attempts to take the hobbits away with him, believing them to have the Ring. The hobbits escape as Grishnákh is killed by an arrow, and Éomer's company attacks the Orc-party.
* IV - Treebeard - Entering into Fangorn Forest, the hobbits meet Treebeard, leader of the Ents. The old Ent, initially labeling them as Orcs, eventually takes a liking to them, and leads them to his home, while discussing the history of the Ents and the treason of Isengard with the hobbits. Treebeard calls the Ents of Fangorn together at Entmoot, where they debate what should be done about Saruman. Merry and Pippin spend this time with another Ent, Quickbeam. Eventually, the Ents decide to attack Isengard, which lies just to the west.
* V - The White Rider - The chapter goes back to the story of Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli, who discover signs that the hobbits escaped the orcs into the forest. In the forest, they encounter an old man whom they presume to be Saruman. Only after attempting to fight him do they realize it is Gandalf, returned from death. Gandalf sizes up the current situation and the impending war (and also gives an account on his epic battle against the Balrog) before leading the companions to their horses, and heading south to Edoras, capital city of Rohan
* VI - The King of the Golden Hall - Arriving at Edoras, Gandalf and his companions find Gríma Wormtongue controlling the city in the name of King Théoden. Gandalf exposes Wormtongue as Saruman's spy, and cures the King of his depression and idleness brought on by Gríma's poisoned words. Éomer is released from his imprisonment, and Wormtongue flees the city. Gandalf persuades Théoden to fight against Saruman, and the King rides west with Éomer, Gandalf, the three hunters, and one thousand Rohirrim. He leaves his niece and Éomer's sister, Éowyn, to lead his people.
* VII - Helm's Deep - Riding west, the army encounters a messenger warning them of an impending attack by Saruman's massive army of Uruk-hai and Wild Men. Gandalf urges the King to fight at the Hornburg in Helm's Deep, an ancient, almost impregnable fortress. He leaves to arrange for help. Aragorn and Éomer lead Rohan's outnumbered forces in the fierce Battle of the Hornburg. After having to abandon the outer wall, Aragorn and Théoden lead a cavalry charge at dawn into the Orcs. Taken by surprise, the Orcs are driven back right into approaching reinforcements led by Gandalf, and a waiting forest of trees from Fangorn. Saruman's army is defeated.
* VIII - The Road to Isengard - Gandalf leads Théoden and the companions to Isengard. Upon their arrival, they see that the Ents have destroyed Saruman's machinery and factories. Merry and Pippin guard the ruined gate, and introduce themselves to Théoden.
* IX - Flotsam and Jetsam - Merry and Pippin tell Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli, the story of their adventures with both the Orcs and Ents. They recount how the Ents attacked Isengard, killing many Orcs and destroying Saruman's war-machines. The Ents then flooded the Ring of Isengard, drowning Saruman's underground smithies and barracks. The hobbits happily reveal that they found their favorite pipe-weed from the Shire in one of Saruman's store-rooms.
* X - The Voice of Saruman - Gandalf leads Théoden, Éomer, and the other Fellowship members to a parley with Saruman at the tower of Orthanc in the midst of Isengard. Saruman, while defeated in battle, is still able to use his voice to gain power over others. He nearly convinces the King to make peace with him. Gandalf and Théoden, however, see through Saruman's lies. Gandalf offers Saruman a chance to repent and aid the forces of good in the war to come. When Saruman rejects the offer, Gandalf breaks Saruman's staff and casts him from the White Council. As they leave, Wormtongue, who had returned to Saruman, throws Saruman's Palantír down at the company. Pippin picks it up before Gandalf takes it from him. Gandalf entrusts control of Isengard (and Saruman) to Treebeard and the Ents before the company leaves.
* XI - The Palantír - At the camp south of Isengard, Pippin takes the Palantír from Gandalf as he sleeps, and looks into it. He encounters the Eye of Sauron and sees Sauron's plans to attack Gondor's capital city of Minas Tirith. He escapes unscathed, and Gandalf takes the stone back before giving it to Aragorn for safekeeping. A winged Nazgûl flies over the camp, and Gandalf realizes the war is arriving. He rides of with Pippin to Minas Tirith, while Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Merry, Théoden, Éomer, and the Rohirrim ride back towards Helm's Deep. On the way to Gondor, Gandalf explains the Palantír to Pippin, revealing that it is the one of the last surviving Seeing-Stones which Elendil brough from Númenor.
Book IV
* I - The Taming of Sméagol - Frodo and Sam become lost in the Emyn Muil and eventually encounter the creature Gollum, who had been tracking them, desiring the Ring. After capturing him, Frodo makes Gollum lead them to Mordor in exchange for Sam untying him. Gollum agrees to this plan, swearing "on the Precious".
* II - The Passage of the Marshes - Gollum shows Frodo and Sam a secret way through the Dead Marshes in order to escape being noticed by Orcs. In the Marshes, Frodo and Sam discover more about their new guide. They also narrowly escape detection by a winged Nazgûl.
* III - The Black Gate is Closed - Arriving at the Black Gate of Mordor, Frodo and Sam see it is impenetrable. While hiding within sight of the Towers of the Teeth, Gollum persuades the hobbits to take a "secret way" into Mordor he knows of further to the south. Seeing that he has no chance to enter Mordor via the Black Gate, Frodo agrees to the southward route.
* IV - Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit - Frodo, Sam, and Gollum enter Ithilien, a pleasant land once belonging to Gondor. Making camp, Sam coaxes Gollum into procuring some rabbits for a meal. The smoke from Sam's fire catches the eye of Gondorian Rangers, led by Boromir's younger brother Faramir. Frodo and Sam watch while the Rangers engage a host of Haradrim, who are bringing a Mûmakil to Mordor. Meanwhile, Gollum runs off.
* V - The Window on the West - After the Rangers defeat the Haradrim, Frodo and Sam are taken by Faramir to the secret outpost of Henneth Annûn. There, Faramir questions Frodo about the circumstances of Boromir's death. When Sam accidentally reveals that Frodo carries the Ring, and that Boromir had attempted to seize it, Faramir reveals that he would not use the Ring or try to take it; he sees the evil it can do.
* VI - The Forbidden Pool - In the middle of the night, Faramir shows Frodo that his men have found Gollum in Henneth Annûn's forbidden pool. Frodo convinces Faramir not to shoot Gollum. Faramir questions the wretch over where he is leading Frodo. When Gollum reveals he intends to take the hobbits past Minas Morgul, Faramir grows alarmed and urges Frodo to not use that way. He warns of evil in the pass above the city.
* VII - Journey to the Cross-roads - Faramir sends Frodo and Sam off with provisions and directions to Morgul-vale. He also allows Gollum to leave, but denounces him as evil and untrustworthy. Gollum brings the hobbits to the road between Osgiliath and Minas Morgul, and leads them east towards the Mountains of Shadow. At the Cross-roads, where the Harad Road meets the Osgiliath Road, the hobbits encounter an old, headless statue of a Gondorian king. When Frodo sees the head lying nearby, he perceives that "The king has got a crown again". At this same time, darkness from Mordor covers the Sun.
* VIII - The Stairs of Cirith Ungol - Approaching the evil city of Minas Morgul, Frodo, Sam, and Gollum witness a great host of Sauron leaving the city to make war on Gondor. They are led by the Witch-king of Angmar. Climbing the stairs towards Gollum's secret pass, Gollum runs off for a short time. Sam suspects he may be alerting Orcs to their presence.
* IX - Shelob's Lair - Gollum returns and leads the hobbits into a dark tunnel, which is really the lair of Shelob the spider. Encountering the monsterous arachnid, Frodo and Sam realize Gollum has fled, leaving them to die. Making use of the Phial of Galadriel and his sword Sting, Frodo is able to drive Shelob back for a short time. However, as the hobbits escape the lair, Gollum subdues Sam while Shelob reappears and attacks Frodo.
* X - The Choices of Master Samwise - Sam overcomes Gollum and sends him fleeing in terror. Seeing that Shelob has attacked Frodo, Sam battles her fiercely, eventually wounding her with Sting and blinding her with the Phial. Sam sees that Shelob has stung Frodo, who lies seemingly dead in the pass. With Gollum's betrayal complete, Sam resolves to take the Ring and continue the Quest on his own, leaving his master's body. Shortly after taking the Ring, a company of Orcs from the nearby Tower of Cirith Ungol arrives and meets a company from Minas Morgul. They take Frodo's body back to the Tower. Sam, pursuing them, overhears the two commanders say that Shelob has not killed Frodo, but rendered him unconcious for several hours. The Orcs reach the Tower, but Sam cannot catch up to them in time. He is left out in a secret passageway, unable to enter as the novel ends.
Adaptations
Some of the events of The Two Towers along with The Fellowship of Ring were depicted in the 1978 film of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, directed by Ralph Bakshi.
In 1999, The Lifeline Theatre in Chicago presented the world premiere of The Two Towers, adapted for the stage by James Sie and Karen Tarjan, directed by Ned Mochel.
In 2002 the film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, directed by Peter Jackson, was released. Both The Two Towers and the succeeding film, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King abandoned the parallel storytelling of the volume in favour of a more chronological presentation. The first chapter from the volume actually appears at the end of Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Later events of The Two Towers involving Frodo and Sam were filmed for Jackson's The Return of the King. Other significant changes were made in the plot line, partially to give each of the characters a story arc in which they could develop and change. Although all three of Jackson's films differ from their source material, "The Two Towers" arguably contains the most major alterations. There was initial concern over using the title "The Two Towers" due to the real-life association with the World Trade Center and the terrorist attacks the previous year. The WTC was also commonly called The Twin Towers and due to that similarity, the filmmakers were reportedly considering alternate titles. It was decided, eventually, to retain the original title.
Various games also adapt The Two Towers, including online role-playing games like The Two Towers Mud and graphically-oriented console games.
《魔戒三部曲》随着最后的战斗以及黑暗军团的集合，甘多夫迫切的想把冈多的残兵旧部重整旗鼓，甘多夫得到了罗翰国王塞奥顿的帮助。人类的力量伴随着勇气和那种充满热情的忠诚，他们面临着有史以来最大的考验。但是伊奥温和merrt藏在暗处，无法与冈多的敌人相抗衡。面对这种种损失和不利，他们继续冲锋在战斗的最前列，他们靠着一种忠诚和目标使得黑暗魔君索伦变得心烦意乱，并且给了魔戒的守护者一个机会去完成他的请求。他们剩下的期望就是和弗拉多一起跨越狡猾的敌人的地界去把魔戒扔到末日山脉的火焰中。离最后的目的地越近，弗拉多的负担就越重，他必须依靠山姆•甘姆齐和古鲁姆。魔戒会在这过程中来测试弗拉多的忠诚，本性以及他的人性本身……
Title
Tolkien conceived of The Lord of the Rings as a single volume comprising six "books" plus extensive appendices. The original publisher split the work into three, publishing the fifth and sixth books with the appendices under the title The Return of the King. Tolkien felt the chosen title revealed too much of the story, and indicated he preferred The War of the Ring as a title.
Tolkien may have hoped to publish the one large volume together with The Silmarillion, and to give names to the individual six books. The proposed title for Book V was The War of the Ring. Book VI was to be The End of the Third Age. These titles were used in the Millenium edition.
The Return of the King was in the end published as the third and final part of The Lord of the Rings, on October 20, 1955.
Plot summary
Book V: The War of the Ring
Gandalf and Pippin arrive at Minas Tirith in the kingdom of Gondor, delivering the news to Denethor, the Lord and Steward of Gondor, that a devastating attack on his city by Sauron, the Dark Lord of Mordor is imminent. Pippin then enters the service of the Steward as repayment of a debt he owes to Boromir, Denethor's dead son and preferred heir.
Now clad in the uniform of the tower guard, Pippin watches the fortunes of war unfold, while the Lord Denethor descends into madness as the hosts of Mordor press ever closer to Gondor's capital city of Minas Tirith. Faramir, Boromir's younger brother, returns from his campaign with the shattered remnants of his company and is soon ordered to ride out and continue the hopeless defence of Osgiliath against a horde of orcs. Osgiliath is soon overrun and a gravely wounded Faramir is carried back to Denethor. His people seemingly lost and his only remaining son all but dead, Denethor orders a funeral pyre built that is to claim both him and his dying son. Minas Tirith stands encircled and besieged by the Dark Lord's Orcs.
Meanwhile, in far-off Rohan, Théoden and his Rohirrim are recovering from the Battle of the Hornburg, in which they defended Rohan against the forces of Saruman at great cost. Aragorn, having confronted Sauron through the palantír of Isengard, sets out to find the lost army of the undead oathbreakers who dwell in the Paths of the Dead, a mountain hall where they have been enslaved since their treachery ages ago. Helped by his companions Legolas and Gimli as well as a Company of Rangers from Arnor in the north (the "Grey Company"), he sets out to recruit the Army of the Dead to his cause. As Aragorn departs on his seemingly impossible task, King Théoden musters the Rohirrim to come to the aid of Gondor. Merry, eager to go to war with his allies, is refused by Théoden several times. Finally Dernhelm, one of the Rohirrim, takes Merry up on his horse, and secretly rides with the rest of the Rohirrim.
The hosts of Mordor, led by the dreaded Witch-king of Angmar, succeed in breaking through the gates of Minas Tirith, but are in turn crushed by the arriving cavalry of Rohan. The battle is also joined by a "black fleet with black sails". The forces of Mordor initially rejoice at its arrival; and then are horrified to see the banner of the King upon the ships. Aragorn has succeeded in using the Oathbreakers to defeat the Corsairs of Umbar; the men of Gondor who were once slaves on the ships are brought back to fight the host of Mordor. In the following Battle of the Pelennor Fields the Witch-king is slain by Dernhelm, revealed to be Éowyn the niece of King Théoden, with help from Merry. Thus the siege is broken, but at heavy cost: many warriors of Gondor and Rohan fall, among them King Théoden. Denethor immolates himself and Faramir on his funeral pyre, but Gandalf and Pippin succeed in saving Faramir, who is subsequently healed by Aragorn. Aragorn also heals Merry and Éowyn, who were hurt by the Witch-king before he fell.
Knowing that it is only a matter of time before Sauron rebuilds his forces for another attack, Aragorn and Gandalf decide to draw out the hosts of Mordor with an assault on the Black Gate, providing a distraction so that Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee may have a chance of reaching Mount Doom and destroying the One Ring, unseen by the Eye of Sauron. Gandalf and Aragorn lead an army to the Black Gate of Mordor and lay siege to Sauron's army. The battle begins and the body of a troll he had killed falls onto Pippin, and he loses consciousness just as the Great Eagles arrive.
Book VI: The Return of the King
Sam, who now bears the One Ring in Frodo's place, rescues his master from torture and death by Orcs in the Tower of Cirith Ungol. The two navigate the barren wasteland of Mordor and are overtaken by a company of Orcs but escape and are forced to disguise themselves in Orcish armour. Gandalf's plan to distract Sauron from the Ring is successful: Mordor is almost empty as all the remaining Orcs have been summoned to defend the land against the assault of the army led by Gandalf and Aragorn.
The two Hobbits, after a weary and dangerous journey, finally reach the Crack of Doom. Yet just as he is about to throw the Ring into Mount Doom, Frodo succumbs to the Ring's power and refuses to let it go. Just then, Gollum, who had been following the pair still, attacks Frodo and bites off his finger with the Ring. Gollum gloats over his prize, but loses his balance and falls into the lava below, taking the Ring with him. The Ring is destroyed, freeing Middle-earth from Sauron's power. Frodo and Sam are rescued by the Great Eagles who carry them from Mount Doom. Upon Sauron's defeat, his armies at the Gate flee.
Aragorn is crowned King of Gondor outside the walls of Minas Tirith in a celebration during which all four hobbits are greatly honoured for their contribution to the War of the Ring. A healed Faramir is appointed Steward of Gondor and Aragorn marries Arwen, daughter of Elrond of Rivendell. After a series of goodbyes, the Hobbits return home to find the Shire in ruins, its inhabitants oppressed by Lotho Sackville-Baggins (usually called "The Boss") who is in reality controlled by a shadowy figure called "Sharkey". Sharkey has taken complete control of the Shire using corrupt Men, and begins felling trees in a gratuitous program of industrialization (which actually produces nothing except destruction and misery for the locals). Merry, Pippin - now experienced warriors -, Frodo and Sam make plans to set things right once more. They lead an uprising of Hobbits and are victorious at the Battle of Bywater which effectively frees the Shire. At the very doorstep of Bag End, they meet Sharkey, who is revealed to be the evil wizard Saruman, and his servant Gríma. Obstinate in defeat, Saruman abuses Gríma, who responds by slitting his master's throat. Gríma is himself slain by hobbit archers as he attempts to escape.
Over time the Shire is healed. The many trees that Saruman's men cut down are replanted; buildings are rebuilt and peace is restored. Sam marries Rosie Cotton, with whom he had been entranced for some time. Merry and Pippin lead Buckland and Tuckborough to greater achievements. Frodo, however, cannot escape the pain of his wounds, having been stabbed by the Witch-king and poisoned by Shelob. Eventually he departs for the Undying Lands in the West, with Gandalf, Bilbo Baggins, and many Elves. Sam, Merry and Pippin watch them depart and return home. Now heir to all of Frodo's possessions, Sam is greeted by his wife Rosie and his daughter Elanor. In the last line of the book, Sam says to Rosie: "Well, I'm back".
Chapter summaries
Book V
* I - Minas Tirith - Gandalf and Pippin arrive in the great but decaying city of Minas Tirith, where they talk with Denethor, Steward of Gondor. Pippin enters the service of the Steward to repay the debt he owed Boromir. Pippin then is taken through the city by Beregond, a soldier of the Guard, and later by Beregond's son Bergil. Pippin and Bergil end the day watching men from other lands in Gondor march in to defend the city. The Darkness begins.
* II - The Passing of the Grey Company - The story continues back at Dol Baran, where Gandalf and Pippin left the company. Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Théoden, and Éomer are overtaken by the Grey Company riding from Rivendell. They ride to Helm's Deep, where Merry offers his sword to Théoden and Aragorn looks into the palantír of Orthanc, reveals himself to Sauron, and wins the struggle for the Stone. Aragorn then decides to take to the Paths of the Dead and goes to Edoras and then Dunharrow. There, Éowyn tries to both dissuade Aragorn from taking to the Paths and attempt to accompany him on the journey. They pass through the underground tunnel of the Dead and come across the remains of an heir of Rohan. The Grey Company comes to the Stone of Erech in Gondor where they summon the Host of the Dead to fulfil their oath. The Company then rides into the darkness of Mordor.
* III - The Muster of Rohan - Théoden, Éomer, and Merry come down from the hills into Dunharrow and climb the stair of the Hold. There they learn that Aragorn has travelled the Paths of the Dead, and Théoden explains to Merry the story of the deadly road. Théoden then receives an emissary from Denethor, bearing the Red Arrow, who begs him to come to the aid of Minas Tirith. Merry is ordered to stay behind on account of his small stature, but he is secretly taken to Minas Tirith anyway by a rider called Dernhelm.
* IV - The Siege of Gondor - The story returns to Gandalf, and Pippin, who goes to wait on the Steward. Pippin and Beregond witness the return of Faramir and his remaining company, and the Nazgûl's attack on him thwarted only by Gandalf. Faramir comes to the city and reports that he had met Frodo and allowed him to continue into Morgul Vale. Faramir endures his father's wrath until Gandalf quells the argument and states that the Ring would not have in the end saved Minas Tirith. The next day Faramir is ordered to go and command the hopeless defence of the ruined Osgiliath, and is returned gravely wounded. After the Orcs overrun the Gondorian defences on the Pelennor, Minas Tirith is besieged. Denethor, mad with grief over the apparent loss of (now) both his sons, withdraws from leadership and leaves the defending of the city to Gandalf. The Orcs set the first circle of the city on fire and Denethor in his madness tries to burn himself and Faramir alive on a funeral pyre. The gates of Minas Tirith are broken, with only Gandalf blocking the Witch-king from entering. As the two appear set to clash, the horns of Rohan are heard in the distance.
* V - The Ride of the Rohirrim - The Rohirrim pass through the Drúadan Forest and the Stonewain Valley, with the aid of the native wild men and their leader, Ghân-buri-Ghân. The army arrives at Minas Tirith to see the breaching of its gate, and then charges into the battle.
* VI - The Battle of the Pelennor Fields - The warriors of Rohan and Gondor desperately engage the armies of Mordor, Rhûn and Harad. Théoden is thrown and crushed by his horse, mortally wounded. The Lord of the Nazgûl prepares to let his fell beast consume the body. Dernhelm, now revealed to be Éowyn, slays the Lord of the Nazgûl with Merry's help. Théoden names Éomer to be his heir and the new King of the Mark before passing away. As the reserves of Mordor and the Haradrim slam into the forces of Minas Tirith and the Riders of Rohan, the Black Fleet arrives, heartening Sauron's forces. But the first ship bears the standard of the King of Gondor; Aragorn has arrived with Gondorian reinforcements. Together, the Gondorians and Rohirrim destroy Sauron's forces.
* VII - The Pyre of Denethor - Back at the ruined Gate, Pippin tells Gandalf of Denethor's madness. The two return to the hallows where Beregond is defending the wounded Faramir from immolation. He has been forced to kill several men in the process. Gandalf ends the conflict and takes Faramir off the pyre, and Denethor momentarily appears to regain his senses. However, it is soon revealed that Denethor has been using a palantír and has thus lost all hope of victory, and that he does not wish to serve under Aragorn. Denethor then sets himself on fire. Faramir is taken to the houses of healing. Gandalf explains how Denethor rejected Sauron in the palantír but was tricked by the Dark Lord and despaired of all hope.
* VIII - The Houses of Healing - Théoden is laid in state in the main hall of Gondor. Éowyn, Merry, and many others are injured and placed in the houses of healing where Gandalf calls for Aragorn to come and assist, stating that the "hands of the king are the hands of a healer." Aragorn uses kingsfoil to save Faramir, Éowyn, Merry, and many more who are injured. The people of Minas Tirith now begin to see that their true king has come back among them.
* IX - The Last Debate - Gimli and Legolas enter Minas Tirith and meet Merry and Pippin again, telling the hobbits of their journey with Aragorn. They recount how the Dead Men had attacked the invading Corsairs and Haradrim, and how Aragorn used the captured ships to reach Minas Tirith in time. The Captains of the West hold a counsel on their next action; they decide to send 7,000 men against Mordor to march on the Black Gate to keep Sauron distacted, giving the Ringbearer time to complete his task.
* X - The Black Gate Opens - The army, with Gandalf, Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas, and Pippin (but not Merry) marches to the Black Gate. The Mouth of Sauron comes out to discuss terms, and presents tokens which were owned by Sam and Frodo. The Mouth of Sauron calls for an unconditional surrender and claims the lands east of the Great River for Sauron. Gandalf asks to see the hostages, but the emissary hesitates; thus Gandalf rejects the terms. The Mouth of Sauron then departs and the entire might of Mordor assails them. Pippin and Beregond are attacked by a Troll chieftain who is slain by Pippin. They ready themselves for death; but Pippin hears the cries that the Eagles are coming before losing consciousness.
Book VI
* I - The Tower of Cirith Ungol - Leaving Shelob's lair, Sam goes to find Frodo in the Orc tower. Sam discovers that the Orcs have killed each other in a quarrel over Frodo's possessions — especially his mithril coat. Sam finds Frodo in the top chamber of the tower and returns the Ring to him.
* II - The Land of Shadow - Sam and Frodo make their way into Mordor. They discover that Gollum is still on their trail. As they approach the vale of Udûn, they are captured by an Orc company. Just as Frodo nears exhaustion and death, Sam engineers an escape off the road.
* III - Mount Doom - After a torturous journey through Gorgoroth, Frodo and Sam reach Mount Doom. Gollum appears and tries to attack them, but Frodo overpowers him. Sam prepares to kill Gollum, but relents out of pity when Gollum begs for his life. Moments later, Frodo succumbs to the Ring's power and puts it on, exposing him at last to Sauron. Gollum knocks aside Sam and attacks Frodo, biting off his finger and taking the Ring, but then he slips and falls into the Cracks of Doom, destroying himself and the Ring. Frodo and Sam witness the fall of the Dark Tower as the mountain collapses around them.
* IV - The Field of Cormallen - The story returns to the Black Gate, continuing from Book Five, chapter X; the eagles arrive and the Captains of the West stand as they witness the destruction of Mordor and hear Gandalf proclaim the success of the Ringbearer; Gandalf then mounts an Eagle and flies south to Mount Doom where he and the Eagles rescue Frodo and Sam; Sam awakes to find himself in Ithilien and realizes that he has not dreamt; Frodo and Sam are honoured on the Field of Cormallen near Cair Andros with a great feast; they are reunited with Strider—now proclaimed as King—and the rest of the Fellowship.
* V - The Steward and the King - Continuing from Book V, Éowyn is ill at ease from her wound and brooding over Aragorn. She is taken to see Faramir, who is immediately attracted to her. Merry is also in Minas Tirith and tells Faramir much of Éowyn's suffering. Éowyn and Faramir slowly fall in love and agree to marry. Later they see the arrival of the armies with Aragorn, Gandalf and the four hobbits. Gandalf crowns Aragorn King of Gondor. Aragorn makes Faramir prince of Ithilien and bids him keep the office of Steward, appointing the pardoned Beregond as his chief captain. Gandalf takes Aragorn to Mount Mindolluin to survey the lands of his kingdom where they find a sapling of the White Tree, which Aragorn uproots and plants in the court of the King. On midsummer's eve, Elrond, Galadriel, Arwen and the elves arrive in the city from the north, and Aragorn weds Arwen.
* VI - Many Partings - The company rides north to Rohan where they bury Théoden and then celebrate his life and reign in a great feast at Meduseld. They then ride to Isengard where they find that the Ents have replanted the trees in the valley, but have released Saruman and Gríma Wormtongue out of pity. Gimli and Legolas head north through Fangorn; Aragorn, taking the keys to Orthanc, returns to his kingdom; the rest of the company heads north where they meet Saruman and Gríma. Saruman refuses to repent and even steals Merry's pipeweed pouch. Galadriel and the Lórien elves leave over the pass of Caradhras; and the hobbits and Gandalf later arrive in Rivendell where they visit Bilbo, who has now grown incredibly aged.
* VII - Homeward Bound - The hobbits and Gandalf travel to Bree where they stay at the Prancing Pony, and are told by Butterbur that there has been trouble in Bree while they have been away. They assure Butterbur that things will become better because Aragorn, who Butterbur knew as Strider, is now the King, and then depart for the Shire. Gandalf leaves the hobbits near the Barrow-downs to visit Tom Bombadil, affirming their abilities to handle their own affairs from this point forward.
* VIII - The Scouring of the Shire - The hobbits arrive in the Shire to find it taken over by Frodo's distant cousin Lotho Sackville-Baggins, who is a puppet of 'Sharkey.' The Shire has been submitted to tyranny by the bigger men and their dupes — the Sheriffs (with the exception of the land belonging to the Tooks, which is under a state of semi-siege). Merry and Pippin help "raise the Shire" and lead a revolt against the ruffian Isengard men and half-orcs controlling the Shire. The Battle of Bywater is fought in which the main group of ruffians are defeated and expelled from the Shire. The hobbits find Saruman ('Sharkey') and Wormtongue at Bag End and expel Saruman from the Shire, which has suffered vast ecological damage from Saruman's forced industrialization. Saruman tries to kill Frodo but is foiled by the mithril coat. Frodo spares the evil wizard, but Wormtongue—who has murdered Lotho—kills Saruman, and is then killed himself by hobbit archers, thus ending the War of the Ring at the doorstep of Bag End.
* IX - The Grey Havens The cleaning up of the Shire. The hobbit resistors are released from prison. Sam discovers the gift that Galadriel has given him and uses the dust in the box to replant the Shire, culminating in the planting of the mallorn tree of Lórien. Several years pass, and Frodo begins to show signs of declining health and damage due to his wounds and the long burden of the Ring. Sam and Frodo go to meet the elves, Galadriel, and Bilbo travelling west through the Shire, and they travel to the Grey Havens where they meet Gandalf. Merry and Pippin arrive; Frodo, Bilbo, Gandalf and the elves set sail to the west; Sam returns to Rose and their daughter Elanor at Bag End. In the later appendix it is noted that a lone ship eventually returned to the Grey Havens. Samwise Gamgee, the one time Ring-bearer, is at the end of his life taken to the Undying Lands.
Structure
The structure of The Return of the King mirrors somewhat that of The Two Towers in that the first section recounts the various adventures of several characters including a massive battle, and the second section resumes the quest of the Ring-bearers.
* Book V
* Book VI
* Appendices
A Annals of the Kings and Rulers
I The Númenórean Kings
(i) Númenor
(ii) The Realms in Exile
(iii) Eriador, Arnor, and the Heirs of Isildur
(iv) Gondor and the Heirs of Anárion
(v) Here follows a part of the tale of Aragorn and Arwen
II The House of Eorl
III Durin's Folk
B The Tale of Years (Chronology of the Westlands)
C Family Trees (Hobbits)
D Calendars
E Writing and Spelling
I Pronunciation of Words and Names
II Writing
F
I The Languages and Peoples of the Third Age
II On Translation
* Indices
I Songs and Verses
II Persons, Beasts and Monsters
III Places
IV Things
Adaptations
* The Return of the King, 1980 animated feature made for television, featuring the voices of Orson Bean and John Huston.
* The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2003 Academy Award winning theatrical film directed by Peter Jackson.
* Stage: The Lord of the Rings
Title
Tolkien conceived of The Lord of the Rings as a single volume comprising six "books" plus extensive appendices. The original publisher split the work into three, publishing the fifth and sixth books with the appendices under the title The Return of the King. Tolkien felt the chosen title revealed too much of the story, and indicated he preferred The War of the Ring as a title.
Tolkien may have hoped to publish the one large volume together with The Silmarillion, and to give names to the individual six books. The proposed title for Book V was The War of the Ring. Book VI was to be The End of the Third Age. These titles were used in the Millenium edition.
The Return of the King was in the end published as the third and final part of The Lord of the Rings, on October 20, 1955.
Plot summary
Book V: The War of the Ring
Gandalf and Pippin arrive at Minas Tirith in the kingdom of Gondor, delivering the news to Denethor, the Lord and Steward of Gondor, that a devastating attack on his city by Sauron, the Dark Lord of Mordor is imminent. Pippin then enters the service of the Steward as repayment of a debt he owes to Boromir, Denethor's dead son and preferred heir.
Now clad in the uniform of the tower guard, Pippin watches the fortunes of war unfold, while the Lord Denethor descends into madness as the hosts of Mordor press ever closer to Gondor's capital city of Minas Tirith. Faramir, Boromir's younger brother, returns from his campaign with the shattered remnants of his company and is soon ordered to ride out and continue the hopeless defence of Osgiliath against a horde of orcs. Osgiliath is soon overrun and a gravely wounded Faramir is carried back to Denethor. His people seemingly lost and his only remaining son all but dead, Denethor orders a funeral pyre built that is to claim both him and his dying son. Minas Tirith stands encircled and besieged by the Dark Lord's Orcs.
Meanwhile, in far-off Rohan, Théoden and his Rohirrim are recovering from the Battle of the Hornburg, in which they defended Rohan against the forces of Saruman at great cost. Aragorn, having confronted Sauron through the palantír of Isengard, sets out to find the lost army of the undead oathbreakers who dwell in the Paths of the Dead, a mountain hall where they have been enslaved since their treachery ages ago. Helped by his companions Legolas and Gimli as well as a Company of Rangers from Arnor in the north (the "Grey Company"), he sets out to recruit the Army of the Dead to his cause. As Aragorn departs on his seemingly impossible task, King Théoden musters the Rohirrim to come to the aid of Gondor. Merry, eager to go to war with his allies, is refused by Théoden several times. Finally Dernhelm, one of the Rohirrim, takes Merry up on his horse, and secretly rides with the rest of the Rohirrim.
The hosts of Mordor, led by the dreaded Witch-king of Angmar, succeed in breaking through the gates of Minas Tirith, but are in turn crushed by the arriving cavalry of Rohan. The battle is also joined by a "black fleet with black sails". The forces of Mordor initially rejoice at its arrival; and then are horrified to see the banner of the King upon the ships. Aragorn has succeeded in using the Oathbreakers to defeat the Corsairs of Umbar; the men of Gondor who were once slaves on the ships are brought back to fight the host of Mordor. In the following Battle of the Pelennor Fields the Witch-king is slain by Dernhelm, revealed to be Éowyn the niece of King Théoden, with help from Merry. Thus the siege is broken, but at heavy cost: many warriors of Gondor and Rohan fall, among them King Théoden. Denethor immolates himself and Faramir on his funeral pyre, but Gandalf and Pippin succeed in saving Faramir, who is subsequently healed by Aragorn. Aragorn also heals Merry and Éowyn, who were hurt by the Witch-king before he fell.
Knowing that it is only a matter of time before Sauron rebuilds his forces for another attack, Aragorn and Gandalf decide to draw out the hosts of Mordor with an assault on the Black Gate, providing a distraction so that Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee may have a chance of reaching Mount Doom and destroying the One Ring, unseen by the Eye of Sauron. Gandalf and Aragorn lead an army to the Black Gate of Mordor and lay siege to Sauron's army. The battle begins and the body of a troll he had killed falls onto Pippin, and he loses consciousness just as the Great Eagles arrive.
Book VI: The Return of the King
Sam, who now bears the One Ring in Frodo's place, rescues his master from torture and death by Orcs in the Tower of Cirith Ungol. The two navigate the barren wasteland of Mordor and are overtaken by a company of Orcs but escape and are forced to disguise themselves in Orcish armour. Gandalf's plan to distract Sauron from the Ring is successful: Mordor is almost empty as all the remaining Orcs have been summoned to defend the land against the assault of the army led by Gandalf and Aragorn.
The two Hobbits, after a weary and dangerous journey, finally reach the Crack of Doom. Yet just as he is about to throw the Ring into Mount Doom, Frodo succumbs to the Ring's power and refuses to let it go. Just then, Gollum, who had been following the pair still, attacks Frodo and bites off his finger with the Ring. Gollum gloats over his prize, but loses his balance and falls into the lava below, taking the Ring with him. The Ring is destroyed, freeing Middle-earth from Sauron's power. Frodo and Sam are rescued by the Great Eagles who carry them from Mount Doom. Upon Sauron's defeat, his armies at the Gate flee.
Aragorn is crowned King of Gondor outside the walls of Minas Tirith in a celebration during which all four hobbits are greatly honoured for their contribution to the War of the Ring. A healed Faramir is appointed Steward of Gondor and Aragorn marries Arwen, daughter of Elrond of Rivendell. After a series of goodbyes, the Hobbits return home to find the Shire in ruins, its inhabitants oppressed by Lotho Sackville-Baggins (usually called "The Boss") who is in reality controlled by a shadowy figure called "Sharkey". Sharkey has taken complete control of the Shire using corrupt Men, and begins felling trees in a gratuitous program of industrialization (which actually produces nothing except destruction and misery for the locals). Merry, Pippin - now experienced warriors -, Frodo and Sam make plans to set things right once more. They lead an uprising of Hobbits and are victorious at the Battle of Bywater which effectively frees the Shire. At the very doorstep of Bag End, they meet Sharkey, who is revealed to be the evil wizard Saruman, and his servant Gríma. Obstinate in defeat, Saruman abuses Gríma, who responds by slitting his master's throat. Gríma is himself slain by hobbit archers as he attempts to escape.
Over time the Shire is healed. The many trees that Saruman's men cut down are replanted; buildings are rebuilt and peace is restored. Sam marries Rosie Cotton, with whom he had been entranced for some time. Merry and Pippin lead Buckland and Tuckborough to greater achievements. Frodo, however, cannot escape the pain of his wounds, having been stabbed by the Witch-king and poisoned by Shelob. Eventually he departs for the Undying Lands in the West, with Gandalf, Bilbo Baggins, and many Elves. Sam, Merry and Pippin watch them depart and return home. Now heir to all of Frodo's possessions, Sam is greeted by his wife Rosie and his daughter Elanor. In the last line of the book, Sam says to Rosie: "Well, I'm back".
Chapter summaries
Book V
* I - Minas Tirith - Gandalf and Pippin arrive in the great but decaying city of Minas Tirith, where they talk with Denethor, Steward of Gondor. Pippin enters the service of the Steward to repay the debt he owed Boromir. Pippin then is taken through the city by Beregond, a soldier of the Guard, and later by Beregond's son Bergil. Pippin and Bergil end the day watching men from other lands in Gondor march in to defend the city. The Darkness begins.
* II - The Passing of the Grey Company - The story continues back at Dol Baran, where Gandalf and Pippin left the company. Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Théoden, and Éomer are overtaken by the Grey Company riding from Rivendell. They ride to Helm's Deep, where Merry offers his sword to Théoden and Aragorn looks into the palantír of Orthanc, reveals himself to Sauron, and wins the struggle for the Stone. Aragorn then decides to take to the Paths of the Dead and goes to Edoras and then Dunharrow. There, Éowyn tries to both dissuade Aragorn from taking to the Paths and attempt to accompany him on the journey. They pass through the underground tunnel of the Dead and come across the remains of an heir of Rohan. The Grey Company comes to the Stone of Erech in Gondor where they summon the Host of the Dead to fulfil their oath. The Company then rides into the darkness of Mordor.
* III - The Muster of Rohan - Théoden, Éomer, and Merry come down from the hills into Dunharrow and climb the stair of the Hold. There they learn that Aragorn has travelled the Paths of the Dead, and Théoden explains to Merry the story of the deadly road. Théoden then receives an emissary from Denethor, bearing the Red Arrow, who begs him to come to the aid of Minas Tirith. Merry is ordered to stay behind on account of his small stature, but he is secretly taken to Minas Tirith anyway by a rider called Dernhelm.
* IV - The Siege of Gondor - The story returns to Gandalf, and Pippin, who goes to wait on the Steward. Pippin and Beregond witness the return of Faramir and his remaining company, and the Nazgûl's attack on him thwarted only by Gandalf. Faramir comes to the city and reports that he had met Frodo and allowed him to continue into Morgul Vale. Faramir endures his father's wrath until Gandalf quells the argument and states that the Ring would not have in the end saved Minas Tirith. The next day Faramir is ordered to go and command the hopeless defence of the ruined Osgiliath, and is returned gravely wounded. After the Orcs overrun the Gondorian defences on the Pelennor, Minas Tirith is besieged. Denethor, mad with grief over the apparent loss of (now) both his sons, withdraws from leadership and leaves the defending of the city to Gandalf. The Orcs set the first circle of the city on fire and Denethor in his madness tries to burn himself and Faramir alive on a funeral pyre. The gates of Minas Tirith are broken, with only Gandalf blocking the Witch-king from entering. As the two appear set to clash, the horns of Rohan are heard in the distance.
* V - The Ride of the Rohirrim - The Rohirrim pass through the Drúadan Forest and the Stonewain Valley, with the aid of the native wild men and their leader, Ghân-buri-Ghân. The army arrives at Minas Tirith to see the breaching of its gate, and then charges into the battle.
* VI - The Battle of the Pelennor Fields - The warriors of Rohan and Gondor desperately engage the armies of Mordor, Rhûn and Harad. Théoden is thrown and crushed by his horse, mortally wounded. The Lord of the Nazgûl prepares to let his fell beast consume the body. Dernhelm, now revealed to be Éowyn, slays the Lord of the Nazgûl with Merry's help. Théoden names Éomer to be his heir and the new King of the Mark before passing away. As the reserves of Mordor and the Haradrim slam into the forces of Minas Tirith and the Riders of Rohan, the Black Fleet arrives, heartening Sauron's forces. But the first ship bears the standard of the King of Gondor; Aragorn has arrived with Gondorian reinforcements. Together, the Gondorians and Rohirrim destroy Sauron's forces.
* VII - The Pyre of Denethor - Back at the ruined Gate, Pippin tells Gandalf of Denethor's madness. The two return to the hallows where Beregond is defending the wounded Faramir from immolation. He has been forced to kill several men in the process. Gandalf ends the conflict and takes Faramir off the pyre, and Denethor momentarily appears to regain his senses. However, it is soon revealed that Denethor has been using a palantír and has thus lost all hope of victory, and that he does not wish to serve under Aragorn. Denethor then sets himself on fire. Faramir is taken to the houses of healing. Gandalf explains how Denethor rejected Sauron in the palantír but was tricked by the Dark Lord and despaired of all hope.
* VIII - The Houses of Healing - Théoden is laid in state in the main hall of Gondor. Éowyn, Merry, and many others are injured and placed in the houses of healing where Gandalf calls for Aragorn to come and assist, stating that the "hands of the king are the hands of a healer." Aragorn uses kingsfoil to save Faramir, Éowyn, Merry, and many more who are injured. The people of Minas Tirith now begin to see that their true king has come back among them.
* IX - The Last Debate - Gimli and Legolas enter Minas Tirith and meet Merry and Pippin again, telling the hobbits of their journey with Aragorn. They recount how the Dead Men had attacked the invading Corsairs and Haradrim, and how Aragorn used the captured ships to reach Minas Tirith in time. The Captains of the West hold a counsel on their next action; they decide to send 7,000 men against Mordor to march on the Black Gate to keep Sauron distacted, giving the Ringbearer time to complete his task.
* X - The Black Gate Opens - The army, with Gandalf, Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas, and Pippin (but not Merry) marches to the Black Gate. The Mouth of Sauron comes out to discuss terms, and presents tokens which were owned by Sam and Frodo. The Mouth of Sauron calls for an unconditional surrender and claims the lands east of the Great River for Sauron. Gandalf asks to see the hostages, but the emissary hesitates; thus Gandalf rejects the terms. The Mouth of Sauron then departs and the entire might of Mordor assails them. Pippin and Beregond are attacked by a Troll chieftain who is slain by Pippin. They ready themselves for death; but Pippin hears the cries that the Eagles are coming before losing consciousness.
Book VI
* I - The Tower of Cirith Ungol - Leaving Shelob's lair, Sam goes to find Frodo in the Orc tower. Sam discovers that the Orcs have killed each other in a quarrel over Frodo's possessions — especially his mithril coat. Sam finds Frodo in the top chamber of the tower and returns the Ring to him.
* II - The Land of Shadow - Sam and Frodo make their way into Mordor. They discover that Gollum is still on their trail. As they approach the vale of Udûn, they are captured by an Orc company. Just as Frodo nears exhaustion and death, Sam engineers an escape off the road.
* III - Mount Doom - After a torturous journey through Gorgoroth, Frodo and Sam reach Mount Doom. Gollum appears and tries to attack them, but Frodo overpowers him. Sam prepares to kill Gollum, but relents out of pity when Gollum begs for his life. Moments later, Frodo succumbs to the Ring's power and puts it on, exposing him at last to Sauron. Gollum knocks aside Sam and attacks Frodo, biting off his finger and taking the Ring, but then he slips and falls into the Cracks of Doom, destroying himself and the Ring. Frodo and Sam witness the fall of the Dark Tower as the mountain collapses around them.
* IV - The Field of Cormallen - The story returns to the Black Gate, continuing from Book Five, chapter X; the eagles arrive and the Captains of the West stand as they witness the destruction of Mordor and hear Gandalf proclaim the success of the Ringbearer; Gandalf then mounts an Eagle and flies south to Mount Doom where he and the Eagles rescue Frodo and Sam; Sam awakes to find himself in Ithilien and realizes that he has not dreamt; Frodo and Sam are honoured on the Field of Cormallen near Cair Andros with a great feast; they are reunited with Strider—now proclaimed as King—and the rest of the Fellowship.
* V - The Steward and the King - Continuing from Book V, Éowyn is ill at ease from her wound and brooding over Aragorn. She is taken to see Faramir, who is immediately attracted to her. Merry is also in Minas Tirith and tells Faramir much of Éowyn's suffering. Éowyn and Faramir slowly fall in love and agree to marry. Later they see the arrival of the armies with Aragorn, Gandalf and the four hobbits. Gandalf crowns Aragorn King of Gondor. Aragorn makes Faramir prince of Ithilien and bids him keep the office of Steward, appointing the pardoned Beregond as his chief captain. Gandalf takes Aragorn to Mount Mindolluin to survey the lands of his kingdom where they find a sapling of the White Tree, which Aragorn uproots and plants in the court of the King. On midsummer's eve, Elrond, Galadriel, Arwen and the elves arrive in the city from the north, and Aragorn weds Arwen.
* VI - Many Partings - The company rides north to Rohan where they bury Théoden and then celebrate his life and reign in a great feast at Meduseld. They then ride to Isengard where they find that the Ents have replanted the trees in the valley, but have released Saruman and Gríma Wormtongue out of pity. Gimli and Legolas head north through Fangorn; Aragorn, taking the keys to Orthanc, returns to his kingdom; the rest of the company heads north where they meet Saruman and Gríma. Saruman refuses to repent and even steals Merry's pipeweed pouch. Galadriel and the Lórien elves leave over the pass of Caradhras; and the hobbits and Gandalf later arrive in Rivendell where they visit Bilbo, who has now grown incredibly aged.
* VII - Homeward Bound - The hobbits and Gandalf travel to Bree where they stay at the Prancing Pony, and are told by Butterbur that there has been trouble in Bree while they have been away. They assure Butterbur that things will become better because Aragorn, who Butterbur knew as Strider, is now the King, and then depart for the Shire. Gandalf leaves the hobbits near the Barrow-downs to visit Tom Bombadil, affirming their abilities to handle their own affairs from this point forward.
* VIII - The Scouring of the Shire - The hobbits arrive in the Shire to find it taken over by Frodo's distant cousin Lotho Sackville-Baggins, who is a puppet of 'Sharkey.' The Shire has been submitted to tyranny by the bigger men and their dupes — the Sheriffs (with the exception of the land belonging to the Tooks, which is under a state of semi-siege). Merry and Pippin help "raise the Shire" and lead a revolt against the ruffian Isengard men and half-orcs controlling the Shire. The Battle of Bywater is fought in which the main group of ruffians are defeated and expelled from the Shire. The hobbits find Saruman ('Sharkey') and Wormtongue at Bag End and expel Saruman from the Shire, which has suffered vast ecological damage from Saruman's forced industrialization. Saruman tries to kill Frodo but is foiled by the mithril coat. Frodo spares the evil wizard, but Wormtongue—who has murdered Lotho—kills Saruman, and is then killed himself by hobbit archers, thus ending the War of the Ring at the doorstep of Bag End.
* IX - The Grey Havens The cleaning up of the Shire. The hobbit resistors are released from prison. Sam discovers the gift that Galadriel has given him and uses the dust in the box to replant the Shire, culminating in the planting of the mallorn tree of Lórien. Several years pass, and Frodo begins to show signs of declining health and damage due to his wounds and the long burden of the Ring. Sam and Frodo go to meet the elves, Galadriel, and Bilbo travelling west through the Shire, and they travel to the Grey Havens where they meet Gandalf. Merry and Pippin arrive; Frodo, Bilbo, Gandalf and the elves set sail to the west; Sam returns to Rose and their daughter Elanor at Bag End. In the later appendix it is noted that a lone ship eventually returned to the Grey Havens. Samwise Gamgee, the one time Ring-bearer, is at the end of his life taken to the Undying Lands.
Structure
The structure of The Return of the King mirrors somewhat that of The Two Towers in that the first section recounts the various adventures of several characters including a massive battle, and the second section resumes the quest of the Ring-bearers.
* Book V
* Book VI
* Appendices
A Annals of the Kings and Rulers
I The Númenórean Kings
(i) Númenor
(ii) The Realms in Exile
(iii) Eriador, Arnor, and the Heirs of Isildur
(iv) Gondor and the Heirs of Anárion
(v) Here follows a part of the tale of Aragorn and Arwen
II The House of Eorl
III Durin's Folk
B The Tale of Years (Chronology of the Westlands)
C Family Trees (Hobbits)
D Calendars
E Writing and Spelling
I Pronunciation of Words and Names
II Writing
F
I The Languages and Peoples of the Third Age
II On Translation
* Indices
I Songs and Verses
II Persons, Beasts and Monsters
III Places
IV Things
Adaptations
* The Return of the King, 1980 animated feature made for television, featuring the voices of Orson Bean and John Huston.
* The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2003 Academy Award winning theatrical film directed by Peter Jackson.
* Stage: The Lord of the Rings