How Plot Works in Harry Potter

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Creative Writing: The Craft of Plot

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Wesleyan University

Creative Writing: The Craft of Plot

1768 notes

Cours 1 sur 5 dans Specialization Rédaction créative

In this course aspiring writers will be introduced to perhaps the most elemental and often the most challenging element of story: plot. We will learn what keeps it moving, how it manipulates our feelings, expectations, and desires. We will examine the choices storytellers make to snag our imaginations, drag them into a fictional world, and keep them there. We will learn how to outline and structure a plot, discuss narrative arc, pacing and reversals and reveal the inevitable surprise: connecting the beginning, middle and end.

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Plotting a Course

In this module, we'll learn essentials about plot definitions and mechanics. What is plot? How does plot shape a narrative? What makes a strong plot? How is plot different from a story? We'll also discuss how plot works in actual books you're probably familiar with, such as the Harry Potter series, how character and action equals plot, and the five key questions you should ask yourself when creating a dynamic character.

How Plot Works in Harry Potter8:35

Rencontrer les enseignants

Brando Skyhorse
Visiting Assistant Professor of Creative Writing
English

[MUSIC]

Welcome to Segment 2, How Plot Works in Harry Potter.

Now I've just given you lots of technical descriptions of how plot works,

but how do the six points of Freytag's Pyramid work in actual books?

To illustrate this, I'm going to use the most famous book series in the world,

The Harry Potter Series.

These books have action, dynamic characters, and great writing,

but where it really stands out is in plot.

Let's start with Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone.

Exposition.

We're introduced to Harry and his horrible relatives, the Dursleys.

We find out Harry is an orphan, and

it's clear he's being mistreated by the Dursleys,

especially concerning the odd incidents that seem to keep happening around him.

Just before Harry's 11th birthday, letters are delivered to the house,

which Harry's uncle intercepts with an increasing mania.

Finally, after removing the family to a cabin on a remote island,

just at midnight on Harry's birthday,

Hagrid shows up to hand-deliver a letter that informs Harry he's a wizard.

Rising action.

This is where a majority of the book takes place.

Harry learns what it means to be a wizard and starts discovering the wizard world.

He also meets a few of his supporters, Hagrid, Ron,

and Hermione and antagonists, Severus Snape and Draco Malfoy.

We follow Harry through his first year in school where he faces the standard

problems of a new student, getting lost on the way to class, trying out for

the quidditch team, noticing mysterious happenings going on around the school.

Ultimately, Harry, Ron, and Hermione reach an erroneous conclusion that

Snape is trying to steal the sorcerer's stone and attempt to stop him.

Climax.

Harry reaches the end of the teachers' set traps and puzzles and sees not Snape, but

Professor Quirrell attempting to steal the stone by looking for

it in the Mirror of Erised.

During the climax, Quirrell reveals that he had tried to kill Harry earlier in

the year at a quidditch match and that he'd released a troll into the school.

Ultimately, Quirrell reveals that he's being possessed by Lord Voldemort

who forces Harry to look in the mirror and find the stone.

Harry gets the stone but refuses to give it to Lord Voldemort slash Quirrell.

When Voldemort tries to take the stone from Harry, Harry passes out.

Falling action.

Harry wakes up later to find out that Quirrell couldn't take the stone from him,

likely because he's still under the protection of his mother's love,

which saved him as a baby.

Professor Dumbledore reveals that Voldemort left Quirrell to die,

and that the stone has been destroyed.

Resolution.

The conclusion of the school year Harry, Ron, Hermione, and

Neville win back on the house points they'd lost earlier

by sneaking out of their common room, and Gryffindor wins the House Cup.

Denouement.

Harry returns home to the Dursleys for the summer without letting

them know he's not allowed to use magic outside of the school.

Now let's take a look at a pivotal book in the series, book four, Harry Potter and

the Goblet of Fire, again, using the six points in Freytag's Pyramid.

Exposition.

Harry wakes up in his bed at the Dursleys after having a vivid dream.

His scar hurts enough that Harry feels the need to tell someone, so

he dashes off a letter to Sirius Black.

Harry then goes off to the World Cup with the Weasley family.

Once Harry gets back to Hogwarts, he and the other students find

out that the Triwizard Tournament is being held at their school this year, and

any student over 17 is invited to apply.

Inciting incident.

Despite being under 17 and another champion from the school being chosen,

Harry's name emerges from the goblet,

as it represents a binding magical contract, Harry must compete.

Rising action.

The whole year Harry faces friendships falling in and falling out,

his first crush, and the whole of the tournament.

The final task in the tournament is a maze that

each of the champions must try to get through to get the trophy in the middle.

Harry and the other Hogwarts champions reach it together, so

they decide to take it together.

When they touch it, they are transported together to a graveyard.

Immediately after arriving, Cedric is killed.

Climax.

Harry recognizes Pettigrew, who ties Harry up and

performs a ritual that raises Voldemort back into a corporeal form.

Once he has a body back, he challenges Harry to a dual.

Their spells cancel each other out, and this gives Harry enough time to

grab Cedric's body and the portkey and transport back to Hogwarts.

Falling action.

Once back, Harry tries to explain what happened, but

Mad-Eye Moody takes him away to his office.

Once they are alone, it becomes apparent that Mad-Eye Moody is really

Barty Crouch Jr., one of Voldemort's ardent supporters.

Before he can kill Harry, Dumbledore rushes in and intervenes.

Resolution.

The real Moody is found, Barty Crouch Jr. is given the Dementor's Kiss,

and Harry is declared the winner of the Triwizard Tournament.

Denouement.

Harry gives all his money to Fred and George to start a joke shop, and

it is revealed that most people in the Ministry of Magic don't believe

that Harry has seen Voldemort.

Now, let's examine how Rowling wraps up all of her plot points in Harry Potter and

the Deathly Hallows.

Exposition.

Harry is just about to turn 17, which is the age of majority for wizards.

At this age, the protection on his aunt and uncle's house will be broken, so

there is a very complicated plot hatched to move Harry safely from

Privet Drive to Ron's house at the Burrow.

They are attacked immediately upon leaving and

suffer a few losses before making it to the Burrow.

Inciting incident.

There is a wedding celebration at the Burrow, but

the night of the wedding the Ministry of Magic is taken over by Death Eaters.

Ron, Hermione, and Harry barely escape, and

from this point forward, they are on the run.

Rising action.

The majority of this book is spent with the trio hunting down the Horcruxes.

They find the original locket fairly quickly, but have no way to destroy.

They are dogged constantly by the threat of Death Eaters and

catchers, and they are eventually captured and taken to Malfoy Manor.

Dobby appears and rescues them, and it's at that point they realize that the rest

of the Horcruxes they haven't found must be in Hogwarts, so they return.

A massive battle ensues, but they manage to find and destroy the other Horcruxes.

Climax.

Harry offers himself to Voldemort who fires a killing curse at him

while Harry just lets it happen.

Voldemort thinks Harry is dead, but what's actually happened is that

Voldemort has destroyed a piece of his soul that was inside Harry,

leaving himself vulnerable to death.

Falling action.

Harry pretends to be dead, and

Voldemort walks into the castle with his body, triumphant at having defeated him.

Of course, at this point, Harry reveals himself to be alive, and

the real final duel takes place.

Resolution.

Harry urges Voldemort to feel some remorse for what he did, but instead,

Voldemort fires a last killing curse at Harry.

Harry uses a disarming spell, causing the killing curse to rebound and

kill Voldemort.

Denouement.

The wizarding world returns to peace, and

we see a future flash forward where Harry is sending his own kids off to Hogwarts.

[MUSIC]

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