Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

SUBMITTED BY: SUBMITTED TO:

DR. TANYA MANDER
PIYUSH KAMAL

ROLL NO: 18057

RAJIV GANDHI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

OF LAW, PUNJAB
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

On completion of this project it is my present privilege to acknowledge my

heartfelt gratitude and indebtedness towards my teachers for their valuable
suggestion and constructive criticism. Their precious guidance and
unrelenting support kept me on the right path throughout the whole project
and very much thankful to my teacher in charge and project coordinators for
giving me this relevant and knowledgeable topic.

I wish to express my sincere gratitude to my teacher Tanya Mander for their

guidance and encouragement in carrying out this project work.
 RAJIV GANDHI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF
LAW, PUNJAB

SUPERVISOR’S CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the Dissertation titled: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s
Stone, submitted to Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Patiala in partial
fulfilment of the requirement of the B.A.LLB (Hons). Course is an original and
bona fide research work carried out by Mr. Piyush Kamal under my supervision
and guidance. No part of this project has been submitted to any University for
the award of any Degree or Diploma, whatsoever
Contents

CH-1 Introduction
1.1 About the Author
1.2 Introduction to the book
CH-2 Plot
CH-3 Characters
3.1 Harry Potter
3.2 Albus Dumbledore
3.3 Vernon Dursley
3.4 Petunia Dursley
3.5 Dudley Dusley
3.6 Hermione Granger

3.7 Ron Weasley

CH-4 Language, Themes, Symbols, Motifs

4.1 Language

4.2 Themes
CH-1: INTRODUCTION

1.1. About the Author

Joanne Rowling (born July 31, 1965), who goes by the pen name J.K. Rowling, is a British
author and screenwriter best known for her seven-book Harry Potter children's book series.
J.K. Rowling was living in Edinburgh, Scotland, and struggling to get by as a single mom
before her first book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, was published. The children's
fantasy novel became an international hit and Rowling became an international literary
sensation in 1999 when the first three instalments of Harry Potter took over the top three
slots of The New York Times best-seller list after achieving similar success in her native
United Kingdom. The series has sold more than 450 million copies and was adapted into a
blockbuster film franchise. Rowling published the novel The Casual Vacancy in 2012,
followed by the crime novel Cuckoo Calling under the pen name Robert Galbraith in 2013. In
2016, she released a play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and a movie, Fantastic Beasts
and Where to Find Them.1

After a number of rejections, J.K. Rowling finally sold her first book for the equivalent of
about $4,000. (The word "Philosopher" in the book’s original title was changed to "Sorcerer"
for its publication in America.) The book, which first hit shelves in June 1997, was the start
of a seven-book series chronicling the life of the young wizard Harry Potter and his motley
band of cohorts at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

1
https://www.biography.com/people/jk-rowling-40998
On December 26, 2001, J.K. Rowling married anesthetist Dr. Neil Murray at the couple's
2
home in Scotland. They have two children together, David (born in 2003) and Mackenzie
(born in 2005). Rowling has one child, Jessica (born 1993), from her previous marriage.
1.2. Introduction to the Book

After murdering Harry's parents, James and Lily Potter, evil Lord Voldemort puts a killing
curse on Harry, then just a baby. The curse inexplicably reverses, defeating Voldemort and
searing a lightning-bolt scar in the middle of the infant's forehead. Harry is then left at the
doorstep of his boring but brutish aunt and uncle, the Dursleys.

For 10 years, Harry lives in the cupboard under the stairs and is subjected to cruel
mistreatment by Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon and their son Dudley. On his 11th birthday,
Harry receives a letter inviting him to study magic at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and
Wizardry.

Harry discovers that not only is he a wizard, but he is a famous one. He meets two best
friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, and makes his first enemy, Draco Malfoy. At
Hogwarts the three friends are all placed into the Gryffindor house. Harry has a knack for the
school sport, Quidditch, and is recruited onto the Gryffindor team as its star Seeker.

Perusing the restricted section in the library, Harry discovers that the Sorcerer's Stone
produces the Elixir of Life, which gives its drinker the gift of immortality. After realizing that
Voldemort might be after the stone, Albus Dumbledore had it moved it to Hogwarts for
safekeeping.

Harry finds out that when she died, Lily Potter transferred to her son an ancient magical
protection from Voldemort's lethal spells. This protection is what allowed Harry as an infant
to survive Voldemort's attack. It also helps Harry keep Voldemort from possessing the Stone,
which Dumbledore agrees to destroy.3

CH-2 PLOT

Ten-year-old Harry is an orphan who lives with his uncaring Aunt Petunia, loathsome Uncle
Vernon, and (worst of all) his spoiled cousin Dudley. Always in trouble for things that are not
apparently his fault, condemned to a life of drudgery and forced to sleep in a cupboard under
the stairs, Harry is astonished to receive a letter from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and
Wizardry. Before he can open the letter, Uncle Vernon takes it, but the house is soon plagued
by letters and surrounded by owls. On Harry’s 11th birthday, a giant called Rubeus Hagrid
appears with another copy of the letter. Harry rapidly discovers that it is an offer of a place at
Hogwarts, that he is a wizard himself, and that he acquired the lightning-bolt scar on his

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forehead in the fight when his parents were killed by the evil wizard Voldemort. Hagrid deals
with Uncle Vernon and with Dudley, and soon Harry finds himself in the magical world of
Hogwarts under the care of headmaster Albus Dumbledore. Harry’s eventful first year at the
school—with its successes and failures, friendships and enmities, broom-stick-riding
Quidditch matches, and potions lessons—is overshadowed by dark thoughts of his parents’
murder and the dawning knowledge that one day he may have to meet Voldemort, too.
Harry’s curiosity is destined to lead him and his friends into trouble, even danger, before they
discover the truth about the mysterious Philosopher’s Stone.4

This enthralling start of Harry’s journey towards coming to terms with his past and facing his
future is peopled by believable characters with whom it is easy to identify.

CH-3 CHARACTERS

3.1. Harry Potter

The son of James and Lily Potter and nephew of Vernon and Petunia Dursley. At the
beginning of the book, Harry is an unimpressive figure: skinny, sloppy, isolated from his
family, the constant victim of his cousin's bullying, and marked with a lightning-shaped scar
on his forehead (the result of Voldemort's failed attempt to kill him during his infancy). After
his discovery of his magical abilities and his introduction to the wizarding world and
Hogwarts, Harry begins to grow in confidence, strength, and courage until he becomes a
worthy protagonist, capable of facing off against the Dark Lord himself by the end of the
book. Harry is particularly affected by the deaths of his parents and much of his behavior is
informed by his loneliness and desire to avenge their wrongful deaths. 5

Harry also distinguishes himself with his unexcepted brilliance at Quidditch, his loyalty to his
friends, and his modesty, a trait is particularly surprising in the figure lauded as "the boy who
lived" across the wizarding world. Much of his humility can be attributed to Professor
Dumbledore's decision to place him in the Dursley household after the death of his parents,
rather than force him to endure the constant attention of the wizarding world. Because of his
background, Harry often views himself as an unexceptional character, which makes his
achievements in the wizarding world all the more impressive.

3.2. Hermione Granger

Harry and Ron's best friend at Hogwarts. A first-year in Gryffindor House, Hermione is
Muggle-born, meaning that neither of her parents has magical ability. Despite her
background, Hermione gains a reputation of being one of the brightest witches in her year,
particularly because of her unfailing work ethic and determination to succeed and perhaps
because of her insecurity over her background (plus her final exam grade of 112 percent in
Charms). Unfortunately, Hermione's academic diligence also gives her the reputation of

4
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Harry-Potter-and-the-Philosophers-Stone
5
https://www.gradesaver.com/harry-potter-and-the-philosophers-stone/study-guide/character-list
being an annoying know-it-all, and she starts out the school year with few friends. Her
adventure with the troll in the girl's bathroom with Harry and Ron reveals more grit than
mere academic prowess, and her willingness to take the blame for the situation cements her
friendship with Ron and Harry.6
3.3. Ron Weasley

The youngest son of the Weasley family and Harry's best friend. Characterized by his
modesty, occasional insecurity, and thirst to escape the ever-looming shadows of his
successful brothers, Ron proves himself to be a loyal friend to both Harry and Hermione and
a brilliant player of wizarding chess. Although Ron acknowledges the difficulties of being the
youngest son of a poor wizarding family (resulting in constant hand-me-downs), he rarely
expresses any resentment to his family and desires only to become individually successful
and significant. As a wizard, Ron is mediocre, often needing Hermione's help for spells and
homework assignments, but he is able to scrape by academically and never fails to perform
during dangerous situations.7

3.4. Albus Dumbledore

Albus Dumbledore is the headmaster of Hogwarts and Voldemort's only feared enemy. In
addition, Professor Dumbledore is the former head of Gryffindor House, former
Transfiguration professor, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of
Wizards, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, and Grand Sorcerer. As Harry discovers on his
Chocolate Frog card, Professor Dumbledore is also famous for his discovery of the twelve
uses of dragon's blood, his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald, and his work on alchemy
with Nicolas Flamel. Upon the death of Lily and James Potter, Professor Dumbledore decides
to place Harry in the care of the Dursley family, especially because his position in a Muggle
household will allow him a more typical childhood. Professor Dumbledore remains a distant
figure to Harry for much of his first year, but he does give him his father's invisibility cloak
for Christmas - James Potter had lent the invisibility cloak to Professor Dumbledore before
his death. Professor Dumbledore also encounters Harry while Harry is visiting the entrancing
Mirror of Erised and urges Harry to maintain his grasp on reality rather than a world of
dreams and desires. After Harry faces Professor Quirrell and Voldemort in the Hogwarts
dungeons, Professor Dumbledore returns to the castle in time to save Harry's live and ensure
that Voldemort has fled. Although Professor Dumbledore remains a mysterious figure for this
book and the majority of the series, it is clear that he has a deep affection for Harry and
wishes to protect him at all costs.

In the attempt to protect the Sorcerer's Stone from Voldemort, Professor Dumbledoor creates
the final challenge with the Mirror of Erised.

3.5. Voldermort

Also known as Lord Voldemort, the Dark Lord, and He-Who-Must-Be-Named, Voldemort
rose to power in the 1970s with a faithful following of dark wizards called Death Eaters.
During his reign of terror through the 1970s and 1980s, no one was safe from Voldemort's

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https://www.gradesaver.com/harry-potter-and-the-philosophers-stone/study-guide/character-list
cruelty except for those at Hogwarts; Professor Dumbledore was the only wizard that
Voldemort still feared. Voldemort was unexpectedly torn from power when he attempted to
perform the Killing Curse ("Avada Kedavra") on the infant Harry Potter. When Lily Potter
sacrificed herself to save her son, she created a protective shield over Harry and, not only was
Voldemort unable to kill the child, he nearly destroyed himself in the process. For the next
eleven years, Voldemort existed only as a wraith, waiting to regain his strength. With
Professor Quirrell's help, Voldemort successfully infiltrates Hogwarts in his effort to find the
Sorcerer's Stone (which produces the Elixir of Life that can restore him to full power).
Unfortunately, Harry retrieves the Stone for before Voldemort can get it and, upon Professor
Dumbledore's entrance, Voldemort escapes in spirit form and leaves Quirrell to die. In the
book, Voldemort is characterized by his ambition, resourcefulness, manipulation of weaker
minds, and determination to regain his former power. Significantly, however, he is also
identified for his lack of knowledge about love, an emotion which provided Harry with his
mother's protective shield.

3.6. Vernon Dursley

Harry's Muggle uncle and Petunia's husband. Described as a beefy man with a large
mustache, Vernon Dursley happily spoils Dudley and is exceedingly proud when his son is
accepted to Smeltings Academy, his own alma mater. Vernon is particularly distrustful of
Harry and shares Petunia's fear that the neighbors will find out about him. Vernon is
particularly proactive in trying to stamp out the "dangerous nonsense" of the magical world,
even to the point of moving the entire family to a tiny island in the middle of the ocean to
avoid receiving mail from Hogwarts.

3.7. Petunia Dursley

Harry's Muggle aunt (Lily Potter's sister) and Vernon Dursley's wife. Described as a thin,
long-necked woman with blonde hair, Petunia spoils Dudley to excess while abusing Harry
as much as possible. Above all, Petunia worries about the opinions of others and is terrified
that her neighbors will discover that Harry is a "freak." Petunia and Vernon both lie to Harry,
telling him that his parents died in a car crash rather than in a duel with Voldemort, and
Petunia refuses to even mention Lily's name.

3.8. Dudley Dursley

Harry's cousin and the son of Petunia and Vernon Dursley. Dudley is spoiled as an infant and
grows to become an unpleasant and overweight young man who delights in bullying Harry
and local children with Piers Polkiss and the rest of his gang. When Hagrid makes his
appearence, Dudley receives his first consequence for bad behavior in life: Hagrid gives him
the tail of a pig.

3.9. Professor Snape

Severus Snape is the Potions master at Hogwarts. A former student of Slytherin, Professor
Snape is now head of Slytherin House and shows clear favoritism to its members, particularly
Draco Malfoy. Harry instantly dislikes Professor Snape and soon learns that his father and
Snape were classmates who despised each other. After learning that Fluffy is guarding the
Sorcerer's Stone, Harry immediately concludes that Professor Snape is the one who is
attempting to steal it in order to bring Voldemort back to power. This conclusion is supported
when Hermione sees Professor Snape appearing to hex Harry's broom during a Quidditch
match (in actuality, Professor Snape was attempting a counter-curse to overcome Professor
Quirrell's hex). Despite his attempt to save Harry, Professor Snape maintains his antagonistic
view of Harry and the two remain at odds until the very end of the series.
In the attempt to protect the Sorcerer's Stone from Voldemort, Professor Snape creates the
challenge with the riddle of the seven potions.

CH-4 LANGUAGE, THEMES, SYMBOLS, MOTIFS

4.1. Language

Philip Nel highlighted the influence of Jane Austen, whom Rowling has greatly admired
since the age of twelve. Both novelists greatly encourage re-reading, because details that look
insignificant foreshadow important events or characters much later in the story-line – for
example Sirius Black is briefly mentioned near the beginning of Harry Potter and the
Philosopher's Stone, and then becomes a major character in the third to fifth books. Like
Austen's heroines, Harry often has to re-examine his ideas near the ends of books. Some
social behaviour in the Harry Potter books is remininiscent of Austen, for example the
excited communal reading of letters. Both authors satirise social behaviour and give
characters names that express their personalities. However in Nel's opinion Rowling's
humour is more based on caricature and the names she invents are more like those found
in Charles Dickens's stories, and Amanda Cockrell noted that many of these express their
owners' traits through allusions that run from ancient Roman mythology to eighteenth-
century German literature. Rowling, like the Narnia series' author C.S. Lewis, thinks there is
no rigid distinction between stories for children and for adults. Nel also noted that, like many
good writers for children, Rowling combines literary genres—fantasy, young adult fiction,
boarding school stories, Bildungsroman and many others.

4.2. Themes

4.2.1. Family

Family is a very important theme throughout Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Harry
misses the family he never knew – his parents – and hates the one he's stuck with – the
Dursleys. Blood ties only go so far, and relationships don't necessarily mean that love is felt.
Far from it, in fact. The Dursleys feed, clothe, and shelter Harry (barely), but they don't love
him, and they certainly don't treat him as though he belongs. Instead, it's the people Harry
meets at Hogwarts, both students and faculty, who care for and nurture him, and who slowly
become his new, chosen family.

4.2.2. Friendship

Making friends is arguably one of the best things about going to Hogwarts. Without friends,
life can be pretty sad. Having someone to side with, to share with, and to study with –
someone who has your back, and who needs you to cover his/hers – is huge. Yet for Harry
Potter and some of the other characters who've been set apart by their magical abilities,
making real friends is only possible at wizarding school. Wizard friends are lifesavers,
literally: who else can you collaborate with to defeat three-headed dogs or evil overlords? By
making friends, the characters get to work together, learn from each other, and accomplish
more than they ever would have on their own.

4.2.3. Home

Home is where the Hogwarts is. In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, school's not just
where you study and learn cools spells; it's a real home. Harry may start out living in a house
with the Dursleys, but it doesn't feel like home to him. To abuse the immortal words of Burt
Bacharach, that "house is not a home." At Hogwarts, and in Gryffindor in particular, Harry
finally feels a sense of belonging and comfort. Responsible adults care about and look after
him, and he has good experiences, good meals, and good friends. It's not sugarcoated – there
are still small and large-scale enemies – but for the first time Harry finds pleasure and safety
in his living space.

4.2.4. Loyalty

Loyalty may be a Hufflepuff virtue, but everyone in Gryffindor is pretty good at it too. Face
it, in this book nearly everyone's loyal – even the bad guys are loyal to their own side.
Loyalty provides much of the motivation for plot points throughout Harry Potter and the
Sorcerer's Stone: characters stand up for the ideas they believe in and each other. However,
sometimes people – or creatures – have to behave in what seems like a disloyal manner for
the greater good.8

4.2.5. Supernatural

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone provides a doorway into a magical world. In addition to
garden-variety witches and wizards, there are magic trains, magic candies, and several areas
dedicated to magical commerce. There's a castle populated with ghosts, poltergeists, strange
creatures, and things that go bump in the night, as well as a forest full of centaurs, unicorns,
and creepy crawlies. A boarding school, often thought of as an ordinary thing, becomes
tinged through and through with the extraordinary – with magic. Getting mail delivered by
owl, learning to Transfigure matches into needles, or finding an invisibility cloak at the

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bottom of your bed? It's all part of a typical day at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and
Wizardry.

4.3. Symbols

4.3.1. Wands

Wands represent individual personality and character. Each magically talented person in the
book has a wand tailored to fit his or her personality, and each wizard or witch's wand is an
extension of the self. Remember how Harry spends so long in Mr. Ollivander's shop, trying to
find the perfect wand? That's because every wizard needs a wand that meshes with how
he/she works in order to produce the best possible magic. It's harder to do magic with
someone else's wand, and even harder to do magic without any wand at all.

4.3.2. The Sorting Hat

All students entering Hogwarts must try on the Sorting Hat. To the new first-years, it seems
like it holds the potential for a trying ordeal – the idea of being "Sorted" carries with it all
kinds of creepy, science-fiction implications. Ron, and his fellow first-years, is relieved when
they find out that all they have to do is try on the Hat, but Harry is still uneasy. While waiting
to be Sorted Harry thinks,

Trying on the hat was a lot better than having to do a spell, but he did wish they could have
tried it on without everyone watching. The hat seemed to be asking rather a lot; Harry didn't
feel brave or quick-witted or any of it at the moment.

The Hat tells them, "Try me on and I will tell you / Where you ought to be". In other words,
after putting on the Hat, each student will know the house to which he or she belongs. While
this seems true for all the other first-years, who put on the Hat and hear it yell out different
house names, it's a little different in Harry's case. The Hat says it will determine which House
each student "ought to be" in, but it offers Harry a choice. When Harry thinks at the Hat, "Not
Slytherin, not Slytherin" , the Hat responds,

"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 be
GRYFFINDOR!"

Here, the student's preference for one house over another is just as significant as the
personality traits that qualify him for those houses.
 4.3.3. The Sorcerer’s Stone

The Sorcerer's Stone is a mythical-sounding object that does two things: 1) transforms base
metals into gold; 2) creates an immortality potion (the Elixir of Life). Here's what Hermione
learns about the Stone from a book from the Hogwarts library:

"The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with making the Sorcerer's Stone, a legendary
substance with astonishing powers. The stone will transform any metal into pure gold. It also
produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal."

But alchemy isn't something that Rowling made up; the idea of Nicholas Flamel using the
Sorcerer's Stone (more often called the "Philosopher's Stone") is actually based in legend and
fact. Here's what Rowling has to say about Flamel on her website:

Nicholas Flamel is a historical character. Flamel lived in France in the fourteenth century and
is supposed to have discovered how to make a philosopher's stone. There are mentions of
sightings of him through the centuries because he was supposed to have gained immortality.
There are still streets named after Flamel and his wife Perenelle in Paris.

In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, the characters aren't nearly as interested in the
Stone's potential for making gold as they are in its capacity to bestow eternal life. Most
specifically, Voldemort desires the Stone as a means of restoring himself to his former glory
– using the Stone, it seems, has far less terrible side effects than drinking unicorn blood. As
Dumbledore points out, however, both riches and immortality cause nothing but problems:

"You know, the Stone was really not such a wonderful thing. As much money and life as you
could want! The two things most human beings would choose above all – the trouble is,
humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things that are worst for them." 9

4.4 Motifs

4.4.1. Muggles

The world of the Muggles, or ordinary, nonmagical human beings, is an obvious contrast to
the realm of the wizards in a variety of ways. Wizards appear grand and colorful, but
Muggles are bland and conventional. The story’s main representatives of the Muggle world
are the Dursleys, who are cruel, closed-minded, selfish, and self-deluded. When we first
encounter wizards in the story, we do so through the strongly disapproving eyes of Mr.
Dursley, who is contemptuous of the wizards’ emerald-green capes and purple robes. Our
reaction is most likely to object to Mr. Dursley’s lack of imagination, as the wizard world
seems a refreshing contrast to the constraining boredom of Muggle life.

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But in going off to Hogwarts, Harry does not leave behind his Muggle existence forever. The
same qualities that make the Muggles objectionable are present among wizards as well. Mrs.
Dursley’s snobbery is fully apparent in Malfoy’s snooty name-dropping, as Harry is soon
disappointed to observe. Dudley’s self-centered and uncaring greed is present in a more
grandiose and powerful way in the evil Voldemort’s greed. And Hogwarts itself is composed
of students from wizard and Muggle backgrounds alike. The point of the story is not that
Muggles are bad and wizards are good, or even that Muggles are boring while wizards are
exciting. It is rather that the world is made up of different types of people with different
aptitudes and different desires who should be able to coexist. Muggles must be free to
develop into wizards if they have the gift and the calling. If they do, they can liberate
themselves and find their true selves.

4.4.2. Points

One of the central aspects of life at Hogwarts is the ongoing competition for the house
championship, which is determined by the greatest accumulation of points. Students
accumulate points for their houses by performing particularly good actions and by winning at
Quidditch, and they lose points for performing particularly bad actions. The points system
thus symbolizes the need for a careful accounting of one’s actions, as a careless penalty could
result in a defeat for one’s peers. It also shows an interesting twist on morality, as points can
be earned not only for good or righteous behavior, but also for athletic excellence. Moral and
spiritual achievement is rewarded but so is physical achievement. This fact brings the world
of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone out of a Christian ethical system (in which pure
intentions of the spirit matter most) and brings it closer to an ancient notion of human
excellence. The word “virtue” derives from the Latin word virtus, which referred in ancient
times to manly successes in martial and physical exploits. This quality saw the body and the
soul as one entity and recognized excellence as a mixture of different kinds of achievement.
Harry, with his mental and physical prowess, embodies this ancient quality.

CH-5 EXPOSITION

For most of the story, the narrator, who knows everything about all of the characters,
generally stays close to Harry Potter’s point of view, registering surprise when Harry is
surprised and fear when Harry is afraid. But while Harry is a baby in the first chapter, the
narrator takes the point of view of Mr. Dursley, who is perplexed by signs of wizards around
town. The shift in point of view from a Muggle’s perspective to a wizard’s emphasizes the
difference between the two worlds.
As fitting for a children’s book, the tone is straightforward and simple, with few purely
decorative elements or artistic features, few metaphors and figures, and little playful irony.
The language is easy to grasp. The narrator never imposes moral judgments on any
characters, even the wicked Voldemort, but allows us full freedom to praise or condemn.

Professor Snape’s apparent hex on Harry during the Quidditch game brings the simmering
tension between good and evil out into the open, shifting Harry’s concern from winning the
game to surviving.

CH- 6 CRITICISM

Hogwarts is a truly magical place, not only in the most obvious way but also in all the detail
that the author has gone to describe it so vibrantly. It is the place that everybody wishes they
could of gone to when they where eleven. And there many adventures befall the trio (Harry,
Ron and Hermione) and the stone in the book's title is centre to all that happens. The story
builds towards and exciting conclusion that has the ultimate feel-good factor.
J.K. Rowling should be commended for getting so many people reading and excited by
books. The biggest surprise must be the effect that this novel had on the adult population,
both male and female - at the time the books were published many a commuting train was
spotted with Harry Potter books providing world-weary workers with a wonderful sense of
escapism. This book is highly recommended to anybody between the ages of 8 and 80.
Is all the hype about the Harry Potter books justified? In a word, yes, the books are a joy to
read and possibly the most rewarding young adult’s book since The Hobbit.

Potter may have lost his parents but he is a modern lad and he gains the world: for children
everywhere he is now the acme of specialness, and yet, quite brilliantly, he retains his
capacity for common fears and common wishes, and at the end of each magical year at school
he returns to his cupboard beneath the stairs.

The tale of young Harry – the orphan who discovers that his parents were wizards and goes to
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to develop his powers – is very familiar now
and the challenge was to not insult the readers' sense of the scale and the depth and the
engagingness of the magic. In these respects, above all others, the film is the opposite of a
failure.

CH-7 CONCLUSION

The book couldn’t end in better way. As in every book about Harry Potter, It ends when the
school year Is over. And this year, Harry’s very first year at Hogwarts, it ends with Harry
faces his greatest enemy, ”He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named”. I don’t want to spoil to much,
even if most of you have already watched the movie or read the book. I like the ending
because it makes you understand the whole story. I wouldn’t change a single letter if I had
the chance. The book is so good and I recommend all of you to read it, you will not be
disappointed. This is that kind of book that everyone love and you can read it over and over
again.
The book in five sentences:
Harry thinks that he’s a normal boy, but he isn’t, he’s a wizard. He starts at Hogwarts school
of witchcraft and wizardry and there he met Ron and Hermione and they became best friends.
Harry gets sorted into Gryffindor together with Ron and Hermione. On halloween they
realize that there is something mysterious going on at Hogwarts when they found a twelve-
foot mountain troll in the dungeons. They begin to investigate about Nicolas Flamel and the
sorcerer’s stone and realize that there are dark forces involved.
I finish with a quote from the end of the book;
Dumbledore: ”What happened down in the dungeon between you and Professor Quirrell is a
complete secret. So, naturally, the whole school knows.”