Enthusiastic Muggles worldwide have pre-ordered more than 1.6 million copies of the seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series, shattering the previous record held by the sixth.

You may not be counting the days until "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" hits bookshelves (and mailbags) on June 21 -- but if you want to jump on the wizard's broom without having to slog through the whole series, here's a quick synopsis to get you up to speed.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (U.S. title: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone) (September 1998)

The world meets Harry Potter, a young English orphan with bright green eyes, unruly black hair and an odd scar on his forehead shaped like a lightning bolt.

Harry, whose parents died when he was one, lives with the Dursleys -- his awful aunt and uncle and their bully of a son -- who tell him that his scar is a legacy of the car crash that killed his parents.

On his 11th birthday, Harry gets a visit from Hagrid, groundskeeper at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and learns the truth: His parents were a witch and wizard. They were killed by the most evil wizard in the world, Lord Voldemort, who tried to kill Harry when he murdered Harry's parents. But Voldemort's curse rebounded, weakening him and leaving Harry with the scar.

Harry goes off to Hogwarts to study wizardry for the first of seven years. He makes friends with Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger and headmaster Albus Dumbledore, and draws as his enemies Draco Malfoy and Professor Severus Snape.

He learns many wizardry secrets -- from playing Quidditch to transfiguration spells. But he also learns something else -- that Voldemort is not dead but alive in spirit, and is looking to regain his physical form (and wreak a little vengeance on young Potter while he's at it).

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (June 1999)

It's the end of summer and 12-year-old Harry is at home with the Dursleys. He's somewhat down, wondering why he hasn't heard from any of his friends. The reason is revealed by a weird visitor, Dobby the house-elf, who is enslaved by the Malfoy family.

With his batlike ears and huge eyes, Dobby has sneaked away from the Malfoys to warn Harry that he is in much danger and must not return to Hogwarts. Dobby has been blocking Harry's mail to make the young wizard think that his friends don't like him anymore.

But Harry returns to Hogwarts anyway, where he finds that things are weird -- and dangerous. Harry hears voices that no one else can, and people start turning up in a petrified state. The hidden Chamber of Secrets has been opened, and a monster is attacking students who come from nonmagical families.

Harry and his friends discover they're dealing with an old mystery, and when Ginny Weasley, Ron's younger sister, disappears, Harry finds the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets and goes to look for her. What he finds is the spirit of young Tom Riddle, an old Hogwarts student who put his spirit in a magical diary that Ginny has been using. Riddle's spirit takes a keen interest in Harry, who learns it was Riddle who ultimately became Voldemort.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (September 1999)

Harry, now 13, is on his best behaviour at the Dursley home, hoping he'll be able to get his awful uncle to sign a permission slip for school field trips. He promises not to annoy Uncle Vernon's horrible sister during her visit. But she's SO horrible that Harry blows her up like a balloon and she floats away as he flees the house.

Harry expects to be punished by Hogwarts because he has used magic around the nonmagical. Instead, he is sent to an inn to wait out the rest of his vacation. On the eve of his return to Hogwarts, he finds out why: Sirius Black, an alleged supporter of Voldemort, has escaped from Azkaban, a prison for wizards and witches. Everyone is worried that he's on his way to Hogwarts to finish off Harry.

It's a tense year at Hogwarts, with new, scary guards and more classes for Harry and friends. Harry also thinks he sees omens of death.

Black finally shows up. But it's not Harry he's after -- it's Scabbers, Ron's pet rat. It turns out that Scabbers is a transfigured Peter Pettigrew, a Voldemort follower who committed the crime for which Black was wrongly imprisoned. And it was Pettigrew who told Voldemort where he could find Harry's parents all those years ago.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (July 2000)

Voldemort has met up with Pettigrew and is hatching another plot to bring himself back to a physical form and full power. The plot requires blood and death -- preferably Harry's. An evil minion at Hogwarts is in place to help the wizard get his hands on 14-year-old Harry when the time comes.

At Hogwarts, Harry is entered in a dangerous magical competition with two other wizard schools. He survives, but another Hogwarts competitor doesn't.

Harry ends up temporarily in Voldemort's clutches, although the evil wizard's plan doesn't go quite as he had hoped. Harry and Voldemort end up in a duel, and the ghostly forms of those Voldemort has killed come back to aid Harry and help him get away.

Harry and company leave Hogwarts at the start of summer knowing they will soon face an extraordinary fight. And Harry sets the Weasley twins in business, giving them the money he won from the tournament so that they can open their own joke shop.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (June 2003)

Harry is 15, and often acts like the teenager he is -- moody, angry, easily irritated. Of course, you can hardly blame him -- he knows Voldemort is back but hardly anyone believes him. Harry and the Order of the Phoenix, a secret society fighting against his Huge Evilness, can only operate in secret.

Once Harry returns to Hogwarts, things continue to get worse. The Ministry of Magic is interfering in classes by using a particularly odious new instructor; Harry keeps having these strange dreams, he's got his fifth-year exams to worry about and for some reason he can't figure out, Dumbledore isn't really talking to him.

Meanwhile, there is a bright spot: Hermione and Ron, prefects for Gryffindor House, persuade Harry to start a secret club to teach students defence against the dark arts.

Toward the end of the year, Voldemort tricks Harry into making a visit to the Ministry of Magic on the pretence of saving Sirius Black from torture. But Voldemort is really after some information that only Harry can get for him, the truth about the connection between the two of them. It turns into an all-out battle between Harry and friends and the Voldemort supporters.

The rest of the wizarding world finally realizes that Harry was telling the truth all along, and everyone starts to gird up for the final battle.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (July 2005)

Voldemort and his Death Eaters are wreaking havoc throughout Britain. Severus Snape receives a visit from Draco Malfoy's mother Narcissa, who makes Snape swear he will protect Draco and, should her son fail, complete his mission and kill Dumbledore.

As school begins, Snape is appointed "Defence Against the Dark Arts" instructor while Slughorn takes his place as the Potions teacher. Slughorn lends Harry and Ron old Potions textbooks, and Harry's copy is marked as the property of "The Half-Blood Prince." The talented former owner's handwritten notes help Harry excel in the class.

Ron and Hermione's continual bickering causes Harry to fear the two will never become a couple again, but when Ron is accidentally poisoned, Hermione is so distraught they reconcile. Meanwhile, Harry's suppressed feelings for Ginny, Ron's little sister, are revealed when he spontaneously kisses her and they start dating.

Harry finds out Voldemort may have split his soul into seven parts -- storing six pieces in Horcruxes for immortality, while leaving the seventh in his own body. Harry and Dumbledore go on a mission to retrieve one of the Horcruxes, and get it, but are then ambushed by Malfoy and Snape, who murders Dumbledore. After the wizard's death, Harry goes after Snape, who identifies himself as the Half-Blood Prince before escaping.

Harry recovers the Horcruxe he seized with Dumbledore from the wizard's body, only to discover it is a fake. He decides to leave Hogwarts to search for Horcruxes. Ron and Hermione vow to accompany him, while Harry ends his relationship with Ginny to protect her from Voldemort.