Every fantasy story has its villains, and JK Rowling creates the darkest wizard the world has ever seen. Bent on becoming immortal, with an army of faithful servants, spells that torture, curses that control your thoughts and the ultimate dark magic... the killing curse 'Avada Kadavra'. And yet at the height of his power, Lord Voldemort, the Dark Lord all wizards feared to name, was destroyed by a baby.

The Phenomenon...
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And that's why the Harry Potter series has become so popular since it's publication in 1997. Harry is just like us, over-coming the problems of growing-up, going to a new school (even though it's a school for witches and wizards) and dealing with the demons of doubt and fear that plague everybody.

The Beginning...
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Joanne (Kathleen) Rowling famously planned the entire series of seven books while on a single train journey from Manchester to London. She said in a BBC interview..."the idea came out of nowhere. I could see Harry very clearly - this scrawny little boy. And it was the most physical rush of excitement. I'd never felt that excited about anything to do with writing, I'd never had an idea that gave me such a physical response."

On the verge of turning eleven Harry, sleeping in the cupboard under the stairs, is deluged with owls delivering letters telling Harry he has been accepted at a school for wizards. He is eventually taken away from the Dursleys by the huge form of Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He finds out that the Dursleys always knew he was magic but were trying to 'squeeze it out of him'. They obviously failed as Harry still manages to set a python on his cousin, and escape a group of bullies by discovering himself on the roof of his muggle (non-magic) school.

Harry, on his journey to be a fully-trained wizard, must learn to make new friends (Hermione and Ron) and to deal with new enemies (His rival Draco Malfoy, and vindictive potions master Professor Snape.) But with Albus Dumbledore on his side, headmaster of Hogwarts and only wizard Voldemort ever feared, Harry gets plenty of paternal advice. Yet one of the hardest things Harry has to deal with when he reaches the wizarding world (as opposed to the muggle world of non-wizards) is his celebrity status. Everybody recognises him from his scar as the boy who put an end to the Dark Lord's reign of terror. It comes as a bit of a shock to find out that there have been history books written about him for destroying an evil wizard when he could not even stop Dudley bullying him.

It is Harry, Ron and Hermione's curiosity that helps them to discover the dark goings on at Hogwarts (which is acknowledged as the safest place on earth). With Voldemort a weakened spirit, but many believing him dead, there is always a chance that he could come back to life. This is where the Philosopher's Stone comes in... a mythical stone of the alchemists that was supposed to turn base metals to gold and produce the elixir of life. When unicorns are found dead and Harry, Ron and Hermione discover a three-headed dog called Fluffy guarding a trap door, it is only a matter of time before they start solving the puzzle.

For adults and children...
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JK Rowling is acknowledged as one of the recent authors who have got children reading. But it is also true that many adults also read her books. All of them have been released with both childrens' and adults' covers so that adults won't feel so guilty about reading Harry Potter on the train or on buses etc. I think it takes a special kind of book that appeals on a level that is different to both children and adults.

There are also quite a few people who think JK Rowling is a witch and is writing about black magic, especially in America. But let me just remind you that this is a story about good and evil, about love conquering everything. If that isn't a Christian attitude then I don't know what is. It is a book that aknowledges that there are bad things in the world, that evil happens (this may scare children a bit and therefore it is a parent's decision whether they read it as a bedtime story) but the message is a positive one.

If it had just been for money, JK Rowling broke in a dingy flat and now richer than the Queen, could have given up after the publication of Book 4. But she is still writing, and it is for love. It is because she has got a story and it is still itching to be told. It is her enthusiasm that leaps out of the pages at you, and is why so many people have fallen in love with the book she cared so much for in the first place.