We all love the Harry Potter series, some more so than others. So let’s dive a little deeper into the world of Harry Potter or, the wizarding world!
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is the first book in the Harry Potter series which was written by the talented author J.K. Rowling. The books starts off with us getting introduced to Harry Potter, the protagonist of the entire series. It also introduces us to Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall and Rubeus Hagrid.
Dumbledore was the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. McGonagall was the vice headmistress and also taught History of Magic. Hagrid was the gamekeeper of the school. The three had collected Harry from his house, Godric’s Hollow, after Voldemort (the antagonist) had killed Lily and James Potter or, baby Harry’s parents. Lily had sacrificed herself for Harry, which made Voldemort’s curse backfire and make him weaker.
Harry escaped death with nothing but a lightning shaped scar on his forehead which always hurt when he was in danger. They brought one-year-old Harry to live with the Dursleys, or in other words, his aunt (Lily’s sister) and uncle. They, of course, did not inherit magical powers. They were also commonly referred to as muggles. Lily was a muggle-born, which meant neither of her parents were magical, just Lily. After the three professors had dropped off Harry, they went back to Hogwarts and left Harry to deal with his abusive aunt, uncle and cousin for the next ten years. But everything had changed the day Harry turned eleven, or on the 31st of July 1991. Hagrid, gamekeeper of Hogwarts, had arrived at Harry’s house to take him to Hogwarts via Kings Cross Station.
When Harry had arrived at Kings Cross, he was told he had to go onto Platform 9 and 3/4. Obviously, there was no such thing as Platform 9 and 3/4, until he met someone. That someone was named Molly Weasley, who was the mother of Harry’s eventual best friend, Ronald or, Ron Weasley. Not only did we meet Molly and Ron, we also met Ron’s older brothers, Percy Weasley and the two prankster twins, Fred and George Weasley.
We also met his little sister, Ginny Weasley. Molly had helped Harry get onto Platform 9 and 3/4 because it was also Ron’s first time at Hogwarts too. When everyone got onto the platform, they boarded the steaming scarlet engine, also known as the Hogwarts Express. Ron and Harry found a train compartment to sit in, where the two finally introduced themselves to each other. The two instantly clicked and became best friends from that day onwards. They also met a muggle-born student named Hermione Granger who would later complete their golden trio of friendship.
When everyone arrived at Hogsmeade Station, the first-years, also known as the ones in the same year as Harry, Ron and Hermione, followed Hagrid onto the boats which would sail them across the lake to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. When they arrived at Hogwarts, they all followed Professor McGonagall into the Great Hall where the sorting of the houses for the first-years would commence. McGonagall explained that the four houses were called Gryffindor (for the brave and courageous), Slytherin (for the cunning and ambitious), Hufflepuff (for the kind and loyal) and Ravenclaw (for the smart and creative).
The trio all got sorted into Gryffindor where we again meet Ron’s older brothers, Percy, Fred and George. Percy was a prefect and Fred and George were in their third-year at Hogwarts. At Hogwarts, we get introduced to the other professors and other students. The other main students are Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas and Neville Longbottom, who are all in Harry’s year and in Gryffindor. We also get introduced to the main school bully, Draco Malfoy who is in Slytherin. Draco comes from a family of pure-bloods, which means they all have magical powers and none of them are half-bloods or muggle-borns. The Malfoys are also racist towards muggle-borns and they’ve always hated them.
Draco is aware of Harry and the fact that he survived Voldemort’s killing curse and that Harry is known as The Chosen One or The Boy Who Lived. Draco tried to befriend Harry, but Harry decided to stick with Ron instead, making Draco envious. We also get introduced to Professor Pomona Sprout, the Herbology teacher, Professor Filius Flitwick, the Charms teacher, Professor Severus Snape (who also fancied Lily Evans/Potter during their Hogwarts days but their friendship ended when Snape called Lily a “mud blood” which is extremely rude towards muggle-borns), the Potions teacher and Professor Quirinus Quirrell, the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.
Later in the year, the trio and the rest of the first-years had flying lessons with Madam Hooch, the flying instructor. Neville is quite a forgetful young man so his grandmother decided to buy him a Remembrall, which glows red when Neville had forgotten something. Unfortunately for Neville though, Draco got to it first and decided to bully Neville about it. Harry, being the only one to stand up for Neville, became an up-stander and told Malfoy to give him the ball back.
Malfoy, being the rude and arrogant boy he was, rejected Harry’s wish and instead decided to fly up and tried to get Harry to make Draco give the ball back. Harry started chasing Draco and flew past McGonagall’s office on his broomstick. McGonagall, seeing this, thought Harry was an excellent flier and decided to enroll him in Quidditch, a game for wizards and witches alike. McGonagall even bought Harry his very own broomstick for him to use for Quidditch and got the Gryffindor Quidditch captain, Oliver Wood, to teach Harry all about the game and train for their upcoming match against Slytherin. Fred and George were on the team as well and they played Beaters which protected the Quaffle from hitting their team members. Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet and Katie Bell were all Chasers of the team. Harry was made the youngest Seeker in history of Quidditch.
A couple months later, it was Christmas at Hogwarts! Harry had walked down the steps into the Gryffindor common room to find Ron and a bunch of presents by his side. Ron showed Harry what he had gotten for Christmas. It was a maroon sweater knitted by his mother, with a big ‘R’ on the front. Ron also explained how Molly had made Harry one as well, along with making Percy, Fred and George ones as well. But along with it being Christmas, Harry discovered the Mirror of Erised. Dumbledore explained to young Harry that the mirror showed one’s greatest desire of their hearts. When Harry walked up to the mirror, he saw his mum and dad, smiling down at him. This goes to show that Harry longs for his parents there, by his side.
Harry also becomes a bit suspicious of a teacher there. The teacher being Professor Quirrell. He suspected something was off about him, which it was. Harry and Ron had decided to investigate where they found Quirrell in the Forbidden Forest, whose name is pretty straightforward, drinking unicorn blood. Unicorn blood also happens to be the most powerful substance in the wizarding world. Anyone who drinks it, will be able to live on forever. Harry was also in possession of the Sorcerers Stone, a very powerful stone which Voldemort desperately longed for. Harry had followed Quirrell only to find out that his Defence Against the Dark Arts professor was someone Harry hadn’t expected it to be. The second Quirrell removed his turban, the face Harry had dreaded to see appeared, right there before him. The same face which had been after Harry for the past eleven years.
When I first read this book, I had become very interested in the world of Harry Potter and the adventures that followed. Reading the books taught me a few lessons, some coming from Harry himself. Harry’s brave and noble character taught me to never give up, even in the darkest of times. Ron’s bubbly and cheerful character has taught me that you can’t learn everything from books, like kindness and talent. Hermione’s smart and kind character showed me that knowledge is power and despite being smart, people will always find a way to be rude and make hurtful comments and to just ignore them. And Fred and George’s witty and sweet characters have taught me that despite how dark times are, laughter is the best medicine there is. These five character’s lessons are significant because they give off key elements to living life to the fullest.
Overall, this book is a must-read for fans of fantasy books! Not only does the series follow a dark and mysterious story, it also contains surprising and unexpected elements within it. I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys reading long stories with a big backstory. Only one chapter can get you completely engrossed in the series, that’s how utterly wonderful the book is! So, it’s never too late to start reading.
By: Isha Chitnis
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