Plot to kill Harry Potter

Plot to kill Harry Potter
Event information
Location	Europe
Date(s)	June 24 1995 - 2 May 1998
Participant(s)	Lord Voldemort Death Eaters Xenophilius Lovegood (Temporarily)
Description	Various witches and wizards try to kill Harry Potter

"I understand those things that I did not understand before. I must be the one to kill Harry Potter, and I shall be."

— Lord Voldemort

This plot was one of the main purposes of the Second Wizarding War, in which various witches and wizards attempted to assassinate Harry Potter, due to the influence of Lord Voldemort.

Harry was declared "Undesirable No. 1" with the pretence of being wanted for questioning regarding the death of Albus Dumbledore and a ten-thousand galleon reward for his capture. He was to be turned over to the Ministry of Magic that was under the control of Voldemort.

History

Attempts

Return of Lord Voldemort

"We are not playing hide-and-seek, Harry. You cannot hide from me. Does this mean you are tired of our duel? Does this mean that you would prefer me to finish it now, Harry? Come out, Harry... come out and play, then... it will be quick... it might even be painless... I would not know... I have never died...."

— Lord Voldemort during his duel with Harry in the graveyard

Voldemort regains a physical form, signalling his return

Over the summer of 1994 Voldemort, Peter Pettigrew and Barty Crouch Jnr concocted a plan to put Harry in the Triwizard Tournament and use his blood in the ritual to revive him. The plan succeeded, in that Voldemort was resurrected in the Little Hangleton Graveyard, but failed because Voldemort is unable to kill Harry. Shortly after summoning his Death Eaters, Voldemort forces Harry to duel, where Voldemort attempts to kill Harry by using the Killing Curse. At the same time, Harry casts the Disarming Charm.

Harry and Voldemort's wands connect during their duel in Little Hangleton

This resulted in a battle of wills, that Harry ultimately won. As a result of the connection between the wands, echoes of people Voldemort killed started appearing in the Graveyard. This included Lily Evans, James Potter, Bertha Jorkins, Cedric Diggory and Frank Bryce. Harry escaped with the Triwizard Cup, which had been deliberately turned into a Portkey prior to the Third Task by Barty. And unbeknownst to either Harry or Voldemort, due to his victory in the battle of wills, Harry's wand imbued some of Voldemort's own power, resulting in his becoming abnormally powerful when facing off against the Dark Lord.

Due to this failure to kill Harry, Barty Crouch Jnr, disguised as Alastor Moody, lured Harry away from the Maze in order to kill Harry himself, but his plan failed as Albus Dumbledore had already noticed that Harry had been taken from the Maze and therefore followed him to his office, where Dumbledore stunned the imposter and forced him to explain how he had arrived there.

Battle in the Department of Mysteries

Harry Potter: "I want to know where Sirius is!"

Bellatrix Lestrange: "I want to know where Sirius is!"

Harry Potter: "You’ve got him. He’s here. I know he is."

Bellatrix Lestrange: "The little baby woke up fwightened and fort what it dweamed was twoo."

— Before the start of the battle

The Order of the Phoenix battle Death Eaters in the Death Chamber

Voldemort planned to lure Harry into the Department of Mysteries. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Ginny, and Luna held off the Death Eaters for as long as possible. Harry and Neville were the only two D.A. members still on their feet by the time the Order of the Phoenix arrived. The Order proceeded to battle the Death Eaters in the Death Chamber. Bellatrix Lestrange murdered Sirius Black during the battle by forcing him through the Veil. Harry chased Bellatrix and cast the Cruciatus Curse on her, but was unable to produce the effect the curse was so famous for.

Apparating to the scene, Voldemort was about to finish Harry off, but Dumbledore arrived. They began an incredible duel. Finally, Voldemort began to possess Harry hoping Dumbledore would give up the teenager to kill him. Harry overpowered Voldemort and he never possessed Harry again. The Dark Lord was subsequently forced to escape after being seen by several high-ranking Ministry officials, who were forced to accept that he had returned.

Battle of the Seven Potters

Also known as the Battle over Little Whinging, this battle occurred when the Order of the Phoenix was ambushed while attempting to remove Harry Potter from the Dursley home at 4 Privet Drive just before Harry's seventeenth birthday. The "seven Potters" included Hermione Granger, Fleur Delacour, Ron, Fred and George Weasley, and Mundungus Fletcher, who all took Polyjuice Potion to take on the disguise of Harry Potter. Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, Bill and Arthur Weasley, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and Rubeus Hagrid acted as escorts to various "Potters" to confuse any Death Eaters who might try to prevent them from reaching their destination of The Burrow.

Immediately after takeoff, they were ambushed by at least thirty Death Eaters, including Severus Snape, Bellatrix Lestrange, and Lord Voldemort himself. Fletcher Disapparated as soon as he sensed danger, and Hedwig and Moody were both slain by Killing Curses.

After accidentally giving himself away, Harry and Hagrid were pursued by Lord Voldemort himself, who displayed the ability of unsupported flight. However, Harry's wand, recognising Voldemort as an enemy as a result of Priori Incantatem two years before and acting by itself, sent a "spurt of golden fire" at Voldemort and defeated the wand Voldemort had borrowed from Lucius Malfoy. Before Voldemort could attack him again with Selwyn's wand, Harry narrowly passed through the magical protections around the home of Ted and Andromeda Tonks and crashed.

All others safely arrived at the Burrow, with only George Weasley sustaining a great injury with his ear which was accidentally caused by Severus Snape's Sectumsempra curse. Harry, however, was devastated by the death of his loyal pet owl.

Wedding of Bill and Fleur and Attack at the Burrow

"The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming."

— Kingsley Shacklebolt's Patronus warning

Bill and Fleur's wedding right before being invaded by Death Eaters

In August 1997, William Weasley and Fleur Delacour married at the Weasley family home in Ottery St Catchpole, the Burrow. The wedding had numerous attendees, including the Weasleys, the Delacours, members of the D.A., members of the Order of the Phoenix, and several other witches and wizards were present as well. Ginny Weasley and Gabrielle Delacour served as bridesmaids and Charlie Weasley was the best man. The wedding was held within the confines of the Burrow, due to saftey reasons and practicality.

Late that evening, Death Eaters overtook the British Ministry of Magic, murdering Minister for Magic Rufus Scrimgeour, and replacing him with Pius Thicknesse, who was at the time under the Imperius Curse. They then crashed the wedding; mostly all of the guests got away alright and went into hiding. Several of the wedding attendees who remained behind were interrogated by a mixture of Death Eaters and Ministry employees.

Raid on the Hogwarts Express

"Hey, losers. He isn't here"

— Neville Longbottom faces the Death Eaters

Death Eaters search for Harry on the Hogwarts Express

Shortly after the Death Eater take-over of the Ministry of Magic, they conducted a raid on the Hogwarts Express in order to capture Harry Potter. The Death Eaters stopped the train while en route to Hogwarts Castle. They boarded the train in Scotland on 1 September 1997, but found nothing but other Hogwarts students. Neville Longbottom informed the Death Eaters that Harry was not present.

Harry Potter and his best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, were (at the time) in hiding at 12 Grimmauld Place. The trio opted to dropout of Hogwarts for the 1997–1998 school year in order to hunt down and destroy Voldemort's Horcruxes.

Search for the Elder Wand

With the Ministry of Magic at last under his control, Voldemort departed Britain to search for the legendary Elder Wand. Realising that even if he did manage to find Harry he wouldn't be able to kill him due to the connection they forged with their wands, he set out for the one wand that had been fabled to best any other. At first, he searched for the last known person who had the wand, Mykew Gregorovitch. Eventually, after murdering several people who got in his way, Voldemort found him, but was informed that the wand had been long since been stolen. Voldemort performed Legilimency on Gregorovitch and saw the memory of a young blond boy who stole the wand. Voldemort demanded to know the identity of the thief, but when Gregorovitch didn't know it, Voldemort killed him and left to find the thief.

Later during Christmas Eve of 1997, Voldemort's snake, Nagini, summoned him to Godric's Hollow, where Harry had come to visit his parents' grave and search for the Sword of Gryffindor. Harry barely managed to escape just as Voldemort arrived, however he dropped a picture of the thief that Voldemort had been searching for.

Eventually after very many months of fruitless searching, he discovered the thief to be none other than Dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald. Voldemort travelled to Austria and broke into Nurmengard prison, where Grindelwald was being held, and demanded to know the location of the Elder Wand. Grindelwald baffled Voldemort by being completely unafraid of him and saying that he welcomed death. Voldemort then murdered him in a rage without gaining any information. Soon however, Voldemort had managed to deduce that Dumbledore had claimed the Elder Wand himself, after defeating Grindelwald. He later travelled to Hogwarts Castle and stole the Elder Wand from his old teacher's tomb.

Ambush at the Lovegood House

"They took my Luna because of what I’ve been writing. They took my Luna and I don’t know where she is, what they’ve done to her. But they might give her back to me if I — if I… They will be here any moment. I must save Luna. I cannot lose Luna. You must not leave."

— Xenophilius moments before Death Eaters arrive at his doorstep

Xenophilius Lovegood revealed that Death Eaters has captured his daughter, Luna, in order to force him to cease his public political dissension. When the trio came to visit Lovegood to ask him about the Deathly Hallows, Xenophilius contacted the Voldemort-controlled Ministry, to inform them that Harry was in his home in the hopes that they would return Luna in exchange.

Soon after Xenophilius had explained to them what the Deathly Hallows were, his house was visited by two Death Eaters. Xenophilius' shot a stunning spell at Harry but missed its target and instead struck an Erumpent horn which exploded. Hermione then blasted the floor beneath them so that the Death Eaters could catch a glimpse of her and Harry (Ron was under the invisibility cloak) before disapparating, in the hopes that they would spare Xenophilius' life and return Luna.

Skirmish at Malfoy Manor

"The Dark Lord is coming, Harry Potter! Your death approaches!"

— Bellatrix expecting Voldemort's arrival to Malfoy Manor

The trio being held captive within Malfoy Manor by Bellatrix Lestrange

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were captured by the Snatchers and taken to Malfoy Manor. Bellatrix asked Draco Malfoy if this was the real Harry. Afterwards, she began to torture Hermione and carved with her knife on Hermione's arm the word Mudblood. Dobby came to rescue them, left with Luna and Ollivander, then came back. Peter Pettigrew was killed by his own silver hand investigating the noise.

Harry and Ron duelling Draco and Narcissa after escaping the cellar

The duel between Harry, Ron, Draco, and Narcissa ended with Bellatrix telling them to drop their wands or Hermione dies. Dobby dropped the crystal chandelier which fell onto the floor making Bellatrix let go of Hermione. When they escaped Bellatrix threw her knife at them to stop them from leaving by killing Dobby. However once again Harry narrowly manages to escape before Voldemort, and Malfoy and Bellatrix were punished for allowing Harry to escape.

Battle of Hogwarts

"Give me Harry Potter, and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you will be rewarded. You have until midnight."

— Voldemort's ultimatum to the residents of Hogwarts

Voldemort's final defeat at the hands of Harry Potter

On 2 May 1998, Lord Voldemort and his army attacked Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry so that Voldemort might finally murder Harry Potter. He gave the school until midnight to hand him over and they then fought. The siege lasted until dawn. When Harry and Voldemort faced off in the Great Hall, Harry disarmed Voldemort, and the spell caused Voldemort's wand, still shooting its final spell, flew across the hall and killed the master it would not serve.

After everything, the plot was ultimately a failure.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (video game)
• Pottermore
• Wizarding World
• Harry Potter for Kinect
• LEGO Harry Potter
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7

Notes and references

This article or section is a stub. You can help by expanding it.