Literatura: La cronología de Harry Potter

You may or may not have read any of the Harry Potter books.  I bought the box set of the first three - and loved the third for its tight and ingenious plot.  They then started getting longer and longer - and I wasn't much up to reading 21st century versions of "War and Peace".  However, I did continue to watch the films.  I am now excitedly awaiting the delivery (it's already on its way via Royal Mail!) of the final film of the series.

I've often wondered when the books were actually supposed to have taken place.  Today, we'll look at a short text which actually works out when.

As always, first the comprehension questions - and do try and anticipate the answers to make reading the texts themselves just that little bit easier.

1. In which book do we get the first clue about when in real time the story might be taking place?
2. Whose death gives the clue?
3. When does this death take place?
4. What second year is mentioned and in which of the books do we get this piece of evidence?
5. When does the series finish?

And now the text itself:

Cronología

Los libros evitan ubicar la historia en algún año en particular, sin embargo hay un par de referencias que permiten establecer una línea de tiempo con años reales. La primera se da en la segunda novela, Harry Potter y la cámara secreta, en la que el fantasma Nick Casi-Decapitado celebra el 500º aniversario de su muerte, que ocurrió el 31 de octubre de 1492, por lo tanto, el libro se ubica en el ciclo lectivo de 1992 a 1993. Esta cronología se reitera en Harry Potter y las reliquias de la Muerte, cuando se indica que la muerte de James y Lily Potter ocurrió el 31 de octubre de 1981. Estos datos permiten deducir que el argumento de la historia transcurre desde 1981, cuando Dumbledore entrega a Harry a sus tíos al comienzo de La piedra filosofal, hasta 1998, al final de Las Reliquias de la Muerte.

If you still have problems understanding the text, remember you can always copy the above text and paste it into the left-hand side of Google Translate.

In the meantime, if you've never watched all eight Harry Potter films, I strongly advise you to watch them back to back.  Even if you haven't read the books or watched any of the films, they'll make much more sense if you watch them in this way.

And happy watching ... or, indeed, reading - if 21st century "War and Peace" is your thing!