HARRY POTTER
Daniel Radcliffe
A tip-off made drug squad officers to grab hold of Jamie Waylett, famed as bullying Hogwarts School pupil Vincent Crabbe in the wizard movies.
After stopping him and a friend in an Audi car, the police discovered eight bags of pot inside the vehicle. Both boys were held at the scene on suspicion of drug possession.The cops later raided his home-where he lives with his mum.
Theresa, two brothers and a sister-and seized ten mature cannabis plants valued at about 2,000 pounds, which were The plants were growing under powerful hydroponic lights beside the actor's DJ decks and a PlayStation.
Waylett was then arrested on suspicion of production of a Class B drug"It was a pretty significant find. We are concerned the drugs in the car were all bagged up and ready to go," the Sun quoted a police source as saying.
The source added: "Work now needs to be done to establish how far down the line we are towards dealing." Waylett, who was earlier accused of snorting cocaine in 2006, refused to comment on the issue Scotland Yard has confirmed the two arrests.
A spokesman said: "Both men have been bailed until July pending further inquiries and tests on the substances." The maximum jail term for cannabis production is 14 years. For possession, it is a five-year stretch. Waylett, a pal of fellow Potter stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, will be seen in the latest Harry Potter instalment- 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' - which is out in July.
Since the 30 June 1997 release of the first novel Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (re-titled Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the United States), the books have gained immense popularity, critical acclaim and commercial success worldwide.The series has also had some share of criticism, including concern for the increasingly dark tone. As of June 2011, the book series has sold about 450 million copies and has been translated into 67 languages, and the last four books have consecutively set records as the fastest-selling books in history.
A series of many genres, including fantasy and coming of age (with elements of mystery, thriller, and romance), it has many cultural meanings and references. According to Rowling, the main theme is death,although it is primarily considered to be a work of children's literature. There are also many other themes in the series, such as love and prejudice.
English-language versions of the books are published by Bloomsbury in the United Kingdom, Scholastic Press in the United States, Allen & Unwin in Australia, and Raincoast Books in Canada. By 2010, the first six books have been made into films by Warner Bros. Pictures; it is the highest grossing film series of all time. The seventh book has been split into two films: Part 1 was released on 19 November 2010 and the series finale is currently scheduled for release on 15 July 2011. The series also originated much tie-in merchandise, making the Harry Potter brand worth in excess of $15 billion.
Plot
The novels revolve around Harry Potter, an orphan who discovers at the age of eleven that he is a wizard, living within the ordinary world of non-magical, or Muggle, people. Wizard ability is inborn and magical children like Harry are invited to attend a wizarding school to learn the magical skills necessary to succeed in the wizarding world. Harry becomes a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and it is in here where most of the events of the novels take place, as Harry develops through his adolescence, learning to overcome the problems that face him, magical, social and emotional, including ordinary teenage challenges such as friendships and exams, and the greater challenge of preparing himself for the confrontation that lies ahead.Each book chronicles one year in Harry's life with the main narrative being set in the years 1991–98 The books also contain many flashbacks, with a significant number being from the year 1976 when Harry's parents were in their fifth year at Hogwarts. Other memories date from various determinable and undeterminable periods after 1945, although little reference is made to historic features or events of any period. The only specific dates given in the series are in the second and seventh book. In the second, Chamber of Secrets, a 500th anniversary of a date of death is stated to be measured from 1492 (making the year of the 500th anniversary 1992). In the final book, on the grave of Harry's parents, James and Lily Potter, their year of death is given as taking place in 1981.
Wizarding world
When the story of Harry Potter opens, it is clear that some remarkable event has taken place in the wizarding world, an event so very remarkable that even the Muggles notice signs of it. The full background to the stories and to the person of Harry Potter is only revealed gradually, through the series. In the first book Harry discovers that as a baby he witnessed his parents' murder by the power-obsessed dark wizard, Lord Voldemort, who then attempted to kill him also. For reasons not immediately revealed, the spell with which Voldemort tried to kill Harry rebounded. Harry survives with only a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead as a memento of the attack, and Voldemort disappears. As its inadvertent saviour from Voldemort's reign of terror, Harry becomes a living legend in the wizard world. However, at the orders of his patron, the venerable and well-known wizard Albus Dumbledore, the orphaned Harry is placed in the home of his unpleasant Muggle (non-wizard) relatives (The Dursleys), who keep him safe but hide his true heritage from him in hopes that he will grow up "normally".The first novel in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (changed in the U.S. to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone), begins near Harry's eleventh birthday. Half-giant Rubeus Hagrid reveals Harry's history and introduces him to the wizarding world.The world J. K. Rowling created is both completely separate from and yet intimately connected to the real world. While the fantasy world of Narnia is an alternative universe and the Lord of the Rings’ Middle-earth a mythic past, the Wizarding world of Harry Potter exists alongside that of the real world and contains magical elements similar to things in the non-magical world. Many of its institutions and locations are in places that are recognizable in the real world, such as London. It comprises a fragmented collection of hidden streets, overlooked and ancient pubs, lonely country manors and secluded castles that remain invisible to the non-magical population of Muggles.
With Hagrid's help, Harry prepares for and undertakes his first year of study at Hogwarts. As Harry begins to explore the magical world, the reader is introduced to many of the primary locations used throughout the series. Harry meets most of the main characters and gains his two closest friends: Ron Weasley, a fun-loving member of an ancient, large, happy, but hard-up wizarding family, and Hermione Granger, a gifted and hard working witch of non-magical parentage. Harry also encounters the school's potions master, Severus Snape, who displays a deep and abiding dislike for him. The plot concludes with Harry's second confrontation with Lord Voldemort, who in his quest for immortality, yearns to gain the power of the Philosopher's Stone.
The series continues with Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets describing Harry's second year at Hogwarts. He and his friends investigate a 50-year-old mystery that appears tied to recent sinister events at the school. Ron's younger sister, Ginny Weasley, enrols in her first year at Hogwarts, and finds a notebook which turns out to be Voldemort's school-time diary. Ginny becomes possessed by Voldemort through the diary and opens the "Chamber of Secrets", unleashing an ancient monster within, which begins attacking students at Hogwarts. The novel delves into the history of Hogwarts and a legend revolving around the Chamber. Also, for the first time, Harry realises that racial prejudice exists in the wizarding world, and he learns that Voldemort's reign of terror was often directed at wizards who were descended from Muggles. Harry is also shocked to learn that he can speak Parseltongue, the language of snakes; this rare ability is often equated with the dark arts. The novel ends after Harry saves the life of Ginny Weasley, by destroying a Basilisk and the diary, in which Voldemort saved a piece of his soul (although Harry does not realise this until later in the series). The concept of storing part of one's soul inside of an object in order to prevent death is officially introduced in the sixth novel under the term "horcrux".
The third novel, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, follows Harry in his third year of magical education. It is the only book in the series which does not feature Voldemort. Instead, Harry must deal with the knowledge that he has been targeted by Sirius Black, an escaped murderer believed to have assisted in the deaths of Harry's parents. As Harry struggles with his reaction to the dementors—dark creatures with the power to devour a human soul—which are ostensibly protecting the school, he reaches out to Remus Lupin, a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher with a dark secret. Lupin teaches Harry defensive measures which are well above the level of magic generally shown by people his age. Harry learns that both Lupin and Black were close friends of his father and that Black was framed by their fourth friend, Peter Pettigrew. In this book, another recurring theme throughout the series is emphasised—in every book there is a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, none of whom lasts more than one school year. In the sixth book, it is implied that the job has actually been jinxed.
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