During the summer of 1992, Harry Potter lives in Surrey, England. Raised by his aunt and uncle following the death of his parents, Harry remained unaware of his magical abilities until a year earlier, when he received an invitation to study at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry learned that wizards and witches live alongside non-magical people (“Muggles”) throughout the world but keep their existence secret except from those with direct connections to wizards or witches. During his first year at Hogwarts, Harry had a climactic encounter with Voldemort, the wizard who killed Harry’s parents when he was a baby. At that time, Voldemort also tried to kill baby Harry, but for unknown reasons, Voldemort’s curse rebounded onto Voldemort himself, apparently killing him and leaving Harry with a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead. Voldemort, however, survived in a weakened form and went into hiding for a decade before attempting to steal a philosopher’s stone, then stored at Hogwarts, which would have restored him to full strength; Harry prevented him from obtaining the stone.

On the morning of Harry’s 12th birthday, Uncle Vernon refuses Harry’s request to let his pet owl, Hedwig, out at night. When Harry’s cousin Dudley asks Harry to pass the bacon, Harry tells him to say “the magic word,” meaning “please” (2).