The First Wizarding War was fought for approximately eleven years, from 1970 to 1981. It included Lord Voldemort's rise to power, the induction of the Death Eaters, and the mass chaos that resulted in his reign of terror.

Several great wizards were murdered in this time — brothers Fabian and Gideon Prewett,Marlene McKinnon, the Bones family,and Harry Potter's parents, James and Lily Potter.Others, such as Alice and Frank Longbottom, were left permanently both physically and/or mentally injured, to the extent that they could no longer perform magic.

On 31 October, 1981, Voldemort attacked the home of James and Lily Potter in hopes of preventing the prophecy regarding his downfall from ever coming to fruition. However, his Killing Curse on their son, Harry, backfired due to the sacrifice Harry's mother made for him. Voldemort, having lost his physical body and magical powers, fled to a forest in Albania as a wisp of a shattered soul. The fragments of his soul stored in his Horcruxes (see below) prevented his actual death, which should have occurred when the Killing Curse backfired. Death Eaters were arrested by the Ministry of Magic; others such as Lucius Malfoy claimed they had been enslaved by the Imperius Curse. The First Wizarding War ended and peace was temporarily restored to the wizarding world.

There was much speculation afterward concerning Voldemort's survival. Only Albus Dumbledore had any confirmation he was in Albania. However, some, including Rubeus Hagrid, believed he was still alive, as he "wasn't human enough to die. As Dumbledore strongly suspected that the worst was not over, Harry Potter was taken into the care of his Muggle relatives, the Dursleys.  Dumbledore placed a protective charm on their home which would break on either:

1. 
   

   The day Harry came of age, or



2. The day Harry stopped calling 4 Privet Drive home (the day he left and never returned).