Harry James Potter was born on 31 July 1980, at Godric's Hollow in the West Country, England, only hours after his classmate-to-be Neville Longbottom.^[76] Around this time, a prophecy regarding a boy born at the end of July with the power to defeat Voldemort was stated to wizards.^[77] Harry's christening was quiet and quick, with only mother, father, and Sirius Black in attendance.^[78] Harry spent his infancy in hiding with his parents in the Potter cottage.^[22]

^{For Harry's first birthday, Sirius bought him a toy broomstick. In Lily's letter to Sirius, it mentioned that this broomstick had been Harry's favourite present and that he had smashed a horrible vase that had been a gift from Petunia and nearly killed their cat. In the letter, Lily also included a picture of Harry flying around on the broom and James chasing after him. Lily also stated in the letter that Harry looked pleased with himself while flying around on the toy broom. Lily and James also hosted a very quiet birthday tea. The only ones in attendance were them, Harry, and Bathilda Bagshot also used to dote on infant Harry. The Potters owned a cat, but it is unknown what happened to it after Voldemort's attack.[78]}

 ^{A young Harry having a jolly time on his toy broomstick}

^{Voldemort arriving at Godric's Hollow, planning to murder infant Harry}

^{When it became clear that Voldemort marked the Potters for death in regards to the prophecy, Albus Dumbledore suggested they use the Fidelius Charm to keep them safe. He even offered to be the Potter's Secret Keeper, but the Potters had planned to make Sirius their Secret Keeper instead. On Sirius' advice, they changed this designation to Peter Pettigrew, who they thought would be less suspicious.[79] In a terrible turn of fate, Pettigrew was a Death Eater spy, and barely a week later betrayed the Potter's whereabouts.[80]}

^{The Potter family home under attack, as Lily Potter was being murdered by Lord Voldemort}

^{On the evening of Hallowe'en in 1981, Lord Voldemort arrived at Godric's Hollow and murdered James and Lily. He murdered James first, who tried to distract the Dark Lord; unfortunately, he did not have his wand with him and was killed immediately. Voldemort then advanced on Lily, who died trying to protect Harry.[81] Her sacrifice prevented the Killing Curse from working on Harry, resulting in her love for Harry becoming a barrier to protecting him. When Voldemort attempted the curse on Harry it backfired on the caster and instead of murdering Harry, Voldemort lost all his powers and his physical form was obliterated.}

^{Harry as an infant facing death for the first time at the hands of Lord Voldemort}

^{Voldemort was saved from death by the five Horcruxes he had made up to that point, including his diary, Gaunt's ring, Slytherin's locket, Hufflepuff's cup, and Ravenclaw's diadem.[82] Later this also included Harry himself, because a piece of Voldemort's unstable soul latched onto the only living being present. This gave him some of Voldemort's abilities such as the ability to speak Parseltongue. This event made Harry the only person to have survived the Killing Curse, thus giving him the title the "Boy Who Lived". The failed curse left a lightning-bolt scar on his forehead marking him as Voldemort's equal. The scar would be a bane and also a blessing to Harry in the years to come, as it opened a telepathic link between Lord Voldemort and himself, giving each some awareness of each other's thoughts.}

^{Rubeus Hagrid rescued Harry from the house, partially destroyed by Voldemort's faulty killing curse, and was given specific orders from Albus Dumbledore to take him to his aunt and uncle. As Hagrid left, he was intercepted by Sirius Black, a close friend of the Potters, who pleaded for Hagrid to give the baby to him, as he was the chosen guardian in the event of James and Lily's death. Hagrid refused, saying that he was under orders from Dumbledore to take Harry to his relatives. Sirius, though reluctant, relented and gave Hagrid his flying motorcycle to take Harry to Privet Drive, and left to find Pettigrew, who subsequently faked his death and framed Sirius for his death and that of twelve Muggles.[83]}

Hagrid delivered Harry to Dumbledore late on the evening of 1 November 1981.^[5] Dumbledore left a letter of explanation to the family living in the house, the Dursleys, who did not want to take care of Harry.

Rubeus Hagrid delivering baby Harry to 4 Privet Drive