Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone explains Harry's hidden past as the wizard son of James and Lily Potter, who were a wizard and witch respectively, and how they were murdered by the most evil and powerful dark wizard of all time, Lord Voldemort, which resulted in the one-year-old Harry being sent to live with his aunt and uncle. The strangest bit of the murder was how Voldemort was unable to kill him, but instead had his own powers removed and blasted away, sparking Harry's immense fame among the magical community. Hagrid introduces Harry to the wizarding world, bringing him to places such as Diagon Alley,
The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter it was "cool that their hero, Harry, was encountering some of the creatures of mythology." Colbert felt that knowing the origins of Rowling's character and creatures increased "the books' magic tenfold" and made the "Harry Potter" universe seem more lifelike. Feeling that he wanted to share this with others, Colbert spent a year researching the references in the novels and collected his discoveries for a guidebook to the magical world of Harry Potter. Colbert wrote "The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter" while teaching a seminar on self-publishing to graduate students at the University of North Carolina. He had it self-published