My favorite Harry Potter book, always switches from one to
the other because each one has a really interesting plot and
thrilling ending. But what started this spark? Which was the first
thrilling Harry Potter book written on napkins in a local pub?
Almost any kid nowadays, knows the answer. It would only be Harry
Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is the first book
of the Harry Potter series and introduces the overall setting, plot,
and characters. It starts off with a day of strange celebrations and
sightings like shooting stars and swooping owls. That same night,
there is a conversation between two somewhat mysterious characters
known as Professor McGonagall and Headmaster Dumbledore. They talk
about what is going on in the world around them and if the one they
have been fighting against has been defeated. Dumbledore does assure
McGonagall that the rumors of the baby Harry Potter defeating
Voldemort, a very feared and powerful wizard, and only escaping with
a lightning bolt shaped scar is true and the boy will live with his
Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and cousin Dudley Dursley. It is this
beginning that starts the whole series of 7 books. From then on,
Harry grows to be a normal boy who is completely unaware of magic
even existing. All his life with the Dursleys, he has been picked on
and mistreated by not only his relatives but also at school. Harry
more than anything felt lonely and wanted to be in a place where he
was loved and accepted. On his 11th birthday, his entire life
changes when Rubeus Hagrid, the keeper of the keys and grounds at
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, personally hands him a
letter of acceptance (after Harry never got one of the millions of
letters sent) and along with that an insight into his past he did
not know. This is the rising action, as Harry is introduced to the
World of wizards, witchcraft, and very powerful magic.
Even before Harry reaches Hogwarts, everywhere he goes he is
greeted with curiosity and interest, and mysteriously connected to
Voldemort. For instance, At Olivander’s, Harry’s wand is the only
other one linked to Voldemort’s wand. Everywhere he goes, his name
causes immediate silence. Even on the train, Harry has already made
a friend, who will continue to be his best friend through thick and
thin: Ron Weasley. When at the Sorting Ceremony at Hogwarts in order
to sort him in one of four houses (Gryffindor, Slytherin,
Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw), it is the Sorting hat who tells Harry he
would do wonderful in Slytherin, where there was a reputation of
terrible witches or wizards such as Voldemort. Harry is sorted into
Gryffindor instead, and goes on to make more friends including
Hermione Granger, his other best friend. Through all the
introductions of characters such as Professor Quirrell, Neville
Longbottom, and Professor Snape, members of the Weasley family, and
regular Magic classes, Harry’s popularity sky rockets. Harry, Ron,
and Hermione also become very close friends with Hagrid. Everyone
wants to know about Harry and he really becomes a type of school
celebrity. On top of that, he becomes the youngest Quidditch seeker
in Hogwarts in a century. Quidditch is the most popular game in the
Wizarding World played on flying brooms. This is where much of the
mystery in the plot starts. Not only is a random troll let into the
school, but Harry’s broom goes insane in one of his Quidditch
matches, and he is challenged to a duel by his hateful opposite
Draco Malfoy, who will soon become his arch nemesis. After gathering
clues about the suspicious teacher Professor Snape, who acts like he
(or probably does) hate Harry, and meeting the three headed dog
Fluffy who guards a trap door, Harry, Ron, and Hermione come to the
conclusion that Voldemort is trying to come back to life. He wants
to steal the philosopher’s stone, which gives everlasting life, from
its protective location behind not only Fluffy, but other spells as
well. The three also believe that Snape is the one helping him and
is still one of the Dark wizards, waiting for Lord Voldemort to once
again immerge. Voldemort had still been living on unicorn blood as
well as something else, but still sought revenge for his defeat.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione assemble a plan and decide to get to the
philosopher’s stone before Snape has a chance to. They are able to
get by Fluffy, a giant constricting plant the Devil‘s Snare, flying
keys, a Wizard’s chess game, and a logic puzzle of bottles with
liquids. It is at the final stage of the maze when Harry encounters
none other than Professor Quirrell. It was he who had tried to kill
Harry and was looking for the philosopher’s stone in the final room
where all that was seen was a mirror-- The Mirror of Erised, that
was known to show the deepest desires of each who looked at it.
Quirrell had become the host body for Voldemort’s spirit and face.
The dark wizard had been reduced to a face on the back of Quirrell’s
head. When Harry is able to retrieve the philosopher’s stone by the
power of the mirror because he wanted to keep it for good, he also
resists Voldemort’s temptation in giving him anything he wanted.
However, Quirrell does not allow him to get away easily and they
begin to fight, which results in Quirrell turning into ashes, but
Voldemort’s spirit getting away. Harry wakes up in the hospital
wing, asking Dumbledore questions of Ron and Hermione, but also why
he was able to defeat Quirrell and what the mirror had done. It was
because his mother had given her life to save him that he had a mark
of love, which burned Quirrell.
At the ceremonial end of year feast, Harry is even more
celebrated than before, and for the courage of him and his friends,
Gryffindor is able to win the House Cup against Slytherin. By the
end of the book, Harry Potter, the lonely but famous child, had
found a home at Hogwarts, true friends, and started growing into a
very powerful and important wizard.



45 Points!

Finally! Someone did a book other thaN ootp Or PA! Nice work! :D