He finds out that he is in fact famous, and a wizard! Unknown to Harry, his parents died when they came up against the evil Lord Voldemort, and it was Harry that killed Lord Voldemort, with only a lightning bolt scar on his forhead to show for it. He is “the boy that lived”. As Harry enrols at Hogwarts School Witchcraft & Wizardry, he meets new friends, and comes up against old enemies.
“Perhaps, in spite of having no illusions about Gwendolen, Mrs. Sharp was really hoping to become Gwendolen’s manager when Gwendolen grew up. Cat suspected she was, anyway. And he was sorry for Mrs. Sharp. He was sure that Gwendolen would cast her off like an old coat when she became famous...”
The center of this novel is the monstrous Otis Gardiner -a peddler known as “the Coram man” for his sham reputation as a representative of Thomas Coram’s famous foundling hospital in London. Utterly pitiless, Otis adds to his living by disposing of unwanted children and illegitimate offspring handed to him by distraught young women as he passes through towns and villagers and calls at wealthy country states.
“From that night on Sim Dalt became famous as ‘The goalie Bob Thropper could never beat!’ The Arcade flourished. Sim got offers from many teams, including one from Hummerton club itself.”
“Here were his famous colleagues, the glorious paladins, but what were they? Here was their armor, proof of rank and name, of feats of power and worth, all reduced to a shell, to empty iron, and there lay the men themselves, snoring away, faces thrust into pillows with a thread of spittle dribbling from open lips.”
Mustapha Mond! The Resident Controller for Western Europe! One of the Ten World Controllers. One of the Ten...and he sat down on the bench with the D.H.C., he was going to stay, to stay, yes, and actually talk to them... straight from the horse’s mouth.