Happy birthday, Harry Potter: Life-defining moments from each 'HP' film
Potterheads all around the world are celebrating the birthday of "The Boy Who Lived!" This courageous, kind, instantly likable Harry Potter is the textbook example of someone who came from nothing but emerged as an inimitable figure of the wizarding world. On Potter's birthday, we rewind the clocks and reminiscence one (yes, it's incredibly difficult to narrow down) consequential moment from each HP film!
When Hagrid was messenger of magic!
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is everything you want it to be: it's magical, decently paced, rich in production design and performances, and swoops us into a world that has now carved a permanent place in our hearts. And, who can forget how Potter's despondent existence turned on its head on his 11th birthday when Hagrid told him, "Yer a wizard, Harry!"
Confrontation with Tom Marvolo Riddle complicates matters
There is almost always a lot happening in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Potter is being rescued on a flying Ford Anglia, he's being vexed by Dobby, and he's having a literal head-on collision at platform nine and three-quarters! The most explosive moment, however, comes at the end when he meets Tom Marvolo Riddle, and realizes how this battle has just begun.
Meeting Sirius Black triggers sense of hope, optimism
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban introduces characters that are consequential in the larger scheme of things and establishes a backstory that helps Potter (and us) make sense of his fractured, frayed past. Potter meeting his godfather Sirius Black and realizing he has been wrongly framed is a principal, emotional, even hopeful moment—one that stays with him, and us.
Bringing back Cedric's body highlights Potter's remarkable kindness
The stakes are much higher in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire—Potter has to leave his innocence and childhood behind and step into adulthood, eclipsed by the danger of Death Eaters while his nemeses hide in plain sight. While the Triwizard Tournament alters his life, meeting Voldemort for the first time and bringing back Cedric's body underline his valiance, resilience, and unfettered kindness.
Didn't you want to be part of Dumbledore's Army?
While his fourth year may have left Potter broken, he was never one to sit, whine, and register defeat. In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, even as Dolores Umbridge uproots the principles Hogwarts stands for, Potter establishes Dumbledore's Army and steadfastly mentors his schoolmates. It not only reflects his leadership skills and solid-as-ever defiant streak but also foreshadows the final war.
Deadly usage of unknown curse makes him reflect, introspect
When Potter unknowingly uses the Sectumsempra curse on Draco Malfoy in Half-Blood Prince, he's not remotely aware of its deadly implications—and it slices the recipient in half. However, he doesn't relish Malfoy's misery (despite Malfoy making his life nightmarish) and is terrified of losing him. Not only does this highlight his innate kindness, but it also teaches him not to use unknown spells again.
'Here lies Dobby, a free elf'
Both the penultimate and the concluding films are heavily defined by a sense of doom, suffering, and dismay. A heartbreaking moment occurs in Deathly Hallows 1 when Dobby, as loyal as ever to Potter, appears in the Malfoy Manor to help Potter, only to be killed mercilessly by Bellatrix Lestrange. Another reminder for Potter—that there are heartache-shaped casualties in a war.
When Chosen One summons, everyone assembles in 'Deathly Hallows 2'
While the final war with Lord Voldemort and the wizarding world's liberation is obviously the most important part, there's another aspect—how anyone and everyone at Hogwarts assembles to help Potter, even schoolmates he hasn't seen in years. People like Remus Lupin and Fred Weasley even lay down their lives, and Potter realizes how the real victory was the friends he made along the way.
