Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – J.K. Rowling

Hello Lovelies!

We are hurtling through May at such a pace that I really just don’t know where the time is going. All I do know is that around my sporadic days at school, I have managed to do a lot of reading which I am always grateful for. I’ve tried really hard to help support local businesses to which is always lovely.

The time has also given me the opportunity to get some serious thinking done! This year marks a big birthday for me so I decided to make a list of 30 things I want to do in the next year. It’s very much a work in progress, don’t get me wrong. However, I have started on one thing from the list: rereading all of the Harry Potter books. I remember when each one was published. I was very much a small part of that generation. I am a devoted Potterhead, as you all know. I’m excited about reading them all and feeling the magic all over again.

 

What’s it all about?

The novel begins with what appears to be a very normal and ordinary life on Privet Drive. Harry Potter lives with his Aunt and Uncle, Vernon and Petunia Dursley who has nothing but dislike for their nephew. Their son, Dudley has a favourite hobby: bullying Harry. Harry ends up there due to the death of his mother and father, ten years prior. The most interesting thing about him so far is his lightning bolt scar on his forehead. On the day of his eleventh birthday, he receives a letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Unbeknown to him, he has been accepted. Hagrid, the Gamekeeper, had to track down Harry in order to give him his letter after all the previous letters had been destroyed by the Dursleys. 

Hagrid tells Harry all about his past – who he is, his parents, James and Lily Potter, who were a wizard and witch respectively. Hagrid tells Harry about their death, about how they were murdered by the most evil and dark wizard of all time: Lord Voldemort. The only person to ever survive was him. Voldemort was unable to kill baby Harry. It was more than this though, he also lost all of his powers. As a result, in the magic world, Harry was famous. 

Harry is introduced to the wizarding world by visiting Diagon Alley with Hagrid. This is a hidden street in London where Harry will be able to buy all the things he needs for his new school. Harry, well aware that he has no money whatsoever, is also equally surprised to learn that at Gringotts Wizarding Bank, he has a fortune waiting for him from his parents. Hagrid gives Harry his birthday present, a beautiful snowy owl he decides to call Hedwig. Harry makes his way around Diagon Alley, buying everything he needs. He is shocked to learn that the wand that has chosen him has the same core as the one that gave him his scar. 

“I remember every wand I’ve ever sold, Mr. Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather–just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother–why, its brother gave you that scar…Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember…”

The following month, Harry leaves the Durselys’ home to catch the Hogwarts Express from London’s King’s Cross railway station. However, there is just one thing that is a slight issue for him. He can’t find the platform he needs and no one around him seems to know what he is talking about. Where on earth is Platform 9¾? Eventually and thankfully he overhears a family discussing it. Thus, his friendship with Ron Weasley is formed. They also meet Hermione Granger on the train and almost instantly decide they don’t like her. She is snobby and a bit of a know it all. Harry also meets Draco Malfoy who dislikes Ron’s family because they aren’t well off and the children have hand me downs. 

When the students arrive at Hogwarts, the first thing the first years need to be do is to be assigned to a house. This is the Sorting Hat Ceremony, where the Sorting Hat decides which of the four houses to place new students in: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff or Slytherin. Slytherin has a dreadful reputation as being the house where good wizards have gone bad. Voldemort was in Slytherin and he was a dark and powerful wizard. Like his family before him, Malfoy ends up in Slytherin and the trio end up in Gryffindor. This wasn’t with some drama- the Sorting Hat was very conflicted and believed Harry could achieve great things in Slytherin. 

“Not Slytherin, eh?…Are you sure? You could be great, you know, it’s all here in your head, and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that–no? Well, if you’re sure–better by GRYFFINDOR.”

As Harry settles into his new routine at Hogwarts, he learns what he is particularly good at: flying on a broom. He’s selected to play in Quidditch, a competitive wizards’ sport, as the Gryffindor Seeker. Yet, it isn’t all happy and joyous. The Potions master, Severus Snape, takes a natural disliking to him and makes a fool of him in lessons. Nevertheless, the trio continue to work hard, especially Hermione, who seems to know everything. 

One day, Malfoy tricks Harry and Ron into a duel in the trophy room in order to get them out of bed at night, thus breaking the rules. Malfoy tells Filch, the school’s caretaker that everyone hates, where they would be. Hermione unintentionally is forced to come along after her attempts to stop them, all fail. Neville Longbottom is asleep outside the common room because he’s forgotten the password. He too puts up some resistance but Harry and Ron manage to run out. Harry and Ron realise that Malfoy tried to trick them and decide they need to get back to the common room before they get into trouble. They discover a huge three headed dog standing guard over a trapdoor in the forbidden corridor. 

Halloween arrives and the school is busy celebrating. The celebrations are interrupted by the entrance of a troll in the school, which heads for the girls’ bathroom where Hermione was, after running away upset. Harry and Ron defy the order to return to their dorms and go after her. The three of them take on the troll and amazingly survive. From this, the trio become best friends. Bigger questions are raised about the dog and the trapdoor. To top things off, Snape seems to have a leg injury. Very odd indeed… 

Hermione, obsessed with their behaviour and the fear of being expelled, forbids the boys from investigating this further. She begs Harry to channel his efforts into his first ever Quidditch game. Without knowing how or why, Harry’s broom begins to act strangely and tries to repeatedly throw him off. Hermione notices that Snape is glaring at Harry and muttering something. Harry manages to swallow the Golden Snitch, meaning the game is over. 

“Now if you two don’t mind, I’m going to bed before either of you come up with another clever idea to get us killed – or worse, expelled.”

Christmas then comes and Harry receives an anonymous gift, an item of his father’s: an invisibility cloak. This has to be explored further! Harry takes off into the night to do some investigating regarding that trapdoor. On his travels, he discovers the Mirror of Erised. The strange item shows the deepest desires of the viewer. Harry sees his parents.

Following this, a newspaper report reveals that there was a break in at Gringotts. The trio head to see Hagrid to try and get some information. Hagrid didn’t mean to spill information however, the knowledge they gain is that there is a Philosopher’s Stone and it is currently being hidden at Hogwarts. The Philosopher’s Stone grants its user immortality as well as the ability to turn any metal into gold. During detention, Harry meets a centaur, Firenze, who tells him that Voldemort plans to steal the stone himself to restore his health and power. When the school headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, is lured away from the school, Harry, Ron and Hermione fear the worst: the theft is imminent. 

The trio decide they have to go through the trapdoor. Once below the school, they encounter a number of obstacles which require different skills. Each of them have what they need to work together. After a thrilling game of wizard’s chess, Harry is now alone with Quirinus Quirrell, the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. He reveals how he’s been working behind the scenes to try and kill Harry but was unsuccessful due to Snape’s interfering, much to Harry’s shock! 

Quirrell has been helping Voldemort, whose face has sprouted on the back of Quirrell’s head, to obtain the Philosopher’s Stone to restore his body. Quirrell needs to use Harry to get past the final obstacle: the Mirror of Erised. Quirrel forces Harry to stand in front of the mirror. The mirror recognises Harry’s lack of greed and places the stone in his pocket. Quirrell attempts to steal the stone and kill Harry but Harry manages to make contact with his skin. This burns Quirrell and breaks out into blisters. Harry’s scar burns and he passes out. 

Three days later, Harry wakes up in the school infirmary where Dumbledore explains his survival against Voldemort. It’s all down to his mother, Lily. Her love for him and the sacrifice she made that kept him alive means that he has a protective charm within his blood. It was this that made Quirrell’s skin burn as he is possessed with hatred and greed. The stone gets destroyed and the school year ends. Gryffindor win the House Cup and Harry, sadly, returns to Privet Drive. He fails to tell them that the use of spells is forbidden by under ages wizards and witches… roll on summer! 

“Your mother died to save you. If there is one thing Voldemort cannot understand, it is love. He didn’t realize that love as powerful as your mother’s for you leaves its own mark. Not a scar, no visible sign…to have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever. It is in your very skin.”

Final Thoughts

I can’t tell you how much I love Harry Potter. Like many millions of us, I was completely hooked. I was desperate to be a part of the world and secretly like to pretend I am. Reading it 23 years later, the magic is just as real, just as relevant today as it was then. I can’t wait to continue re-reading them again. It is different this time around, but it’s just as thrilling. It does also make me wonder if JK Rowling ever knew just what she was creating. I can’t remember another series of books taking over the world as much as this one did. And still does! 

I wish you all health and happiness. If you’re feeling lost, read something you love. It’s what I’m doing. 

Big love all. xx