Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is the first book in the Harry Potter series. It was written by J.K Rowling and published in 1997.

It had almost immediate success and won the Smarties Gold Award in 1997.

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Warning: Plot spoilers ahead!

Plot Outline

In the beginning…

At the start of the story we discover that the evil wizard Lord Voldemort has been defeated. He was defeated when the killing curse he used on a one-year old boy, Harry Potter, rebounded and tore his body apart. It is thought Harry was saved by his mother Lilly Potter’s all encompassing love for Harry.

The attack left Harry with a lightning-bolt shaped scar on his head and neither of his parents survived. Professor Dumbledore, McGonagall and Hagrid rescue him and leave him with his muggle (human) relatives the Dursleys. He then spent 10 years living (under the stairs) with the Dursleys, completely unaware of his wizarding heritage and unsure why some odd events happened around him - such as being able to communicate with a snake.

Just before Harry’s 11th birthday he started to receive letters but these were intercepted, read and thrown away by his uncle. They end up moving out of the house out of paranoia but Harry is visited by Hagrid and Harry finally gets to read his letter and he finds out he is to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

The next day Harry and Hagrid head to London, to Diagon Ally, and Harry finds out that in the wizarding world he is famous. He takes the train to Hogwarts and becomes friends with Ron Weasley, Neville Longbottom and Hermione Granger.

Hogwarts

When Harry and the others arrive at Hogwarts they attend the sorting ceremony to determine which house they will be members of. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville are all sorted by the hat into Gryffindor. Harry discovers he is a talented flyer and becomes the Gryffindor Seeker.

The Philosopher’s Stone

Harry, Hermione and Ron find out that the Philosopher’s Stone produces the Elixir of Life which will make the drinker immortal and that it is guarded by an animal of Hagrids named Fluffy. They discover that Hagrid drunkenly explained to a hooded fellow how to get past Fluffy to the stone and fear it may be Snape trying to restore Voldemort. They rush off to find Dumbledore but discover he has been sent off on a mission by the Ministry of Magic.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione decide they must protect the stone themselves. They first pass through a series of magical challenges set by the school to guard the stone together and then Harry enters the final chamber alone.

Upon entering the chamber Harry Potter finds Professor Quirrel who has been possed by Lord Voldemort. Harry confronts Quirrel and survives Voldemort a second time as Dumbledore comes to the rescue just in time.

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