Harry Potter and the Philosophers' Stone (Summary and Analysis)

 

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Summary

The novel is written by the British author and philanthropist J.K Rowling. The novel begins with a description of the Dursley family of number four, Privet Drive. Vernon Dursley, an overweight man with a bushy mustache, works as the director of a drill-making firm, while his wife, Petunia, is thin and blonde and has a particular penchant for spying on the neighbors. Their son, Dudley, is grotesquely fat, even as a toddler, and is spoiled rotten by both parents. The Dursley family is perfectly content to live normal and uninteresting lives. In fact, their greatest fear is that someone will find out that one of their relatives is not completely normal and uninteresting: Petunia’s sister, Lily Potter, is decidedly “UnDursleyish,” and, as a result, Petunia has not spoken to her in several years.

One morning, the Dursley family begins the day much as any other: Vernon gets dressed for work, while Petunia feeds Dudley and tells her husband about the latest gossip from the neighbors. Yet, as Vernon leaves for work, he notices something strange: a cat reading a map. When he takes a second look, however, the map has vanished, and the tabby cat is staring back at him. Convinced that he is imagining things, Vernon continues his drive to work. While stopped in traffic though, Vernon notices another strange thing: several people in the street wearing brightly-colored cloaks. Still, he decides to dismiss the odd occurrences and focus on the drill-making scheduled for the day.

When Vernon leaves for his lunch break, he is again irritated to notice numerous people wearing brightly-colored cloaks and milling together excitedly. As he passes by, he overhears some of them talking about “the Potters,” and, in a moment of terror, he wonders if they might be talking about his bizarre sister-in-law and her family. Although he tries not to worry about it – after all, “Potter” is a very common name – Vernon spends the rest of the day in a state of distraction until 5pm, when he can go home to talk to Petunia about the strange goings-on of the day. When he gets to his house, he is confronted by the same tabby cat as the morning, now sitting on his garden wall.

Petunia’s day has been completely normal, and Vernon wonders if he should even bother telling her about the strange whispers about “the Potters.” It must have just been a coincidence. But still, the television news report was full of strange occurrences: showers of shooting stars and hundreds of owls flying during the day. Vernon wonders if the mention of the Potters was a coincidence after all. As he uneasily falls asleep, Vernon concludes that, even if those strange people in the cloaks were talking about his sister-in-law and her family, it would hardly have any effect on his life.

A few minutes before midnight, a tall, thin man named Albus Dumbledore suddenly appears on the street corner of Privet Drive. Using a silver “Put-Outer,” Dumbledore swiftly puts out all of the street lamps until the street is completely dark and then notices the tabby cat, still keeping watch on the corner. The cat transforms into a severe-looking woman with square glasses who Dumbledore refers to as Professor McGonagall. Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall discuss the occurrences of the day and the rumored disappearance of You-Know-Who, also known as Voldemort, a dark wizard who has been in power in Britain for the past eleven years.

The subject turns to the Potter family, and Dumbledore informs Professor McGonagall that Lily and James Potter are both dead, murdered by Voldemort. Their infant son, Harry, however, somehow survived Voldemort’s killing curse and broke the dark wizard’s power. Dumbledore plans to leave Harry with the Dursleys; they are his only remaining relatives and will have to raise him until he is old enough to understand about the death of his parents and his magical abilities. Professor McGonagall vehemently protests Dumbledore’s decision, but Dumbledore explains that there is no one else. Moreover, by living with the Dursleys, Harry will be protected from his own fame as “the boy-who-lived.”

A few moments later, a giant named Hagrid drives out of the sky on a flying motorcycle and hands Dumbledore the bundle of blankets containing the infant Harry. Dumbledore gently leaves the baby on the Dursleys’ doorstep with a letter of explanation, and Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, and Hagrid leave the scene.

 

Analysis:

Rowling opens the book with a description of Vernon and Petunia Dursley, two characters who are very obviously not the protagonists of the book. Although Rowling does not describe the Dursleys in truly malevolent terms – as she will later with Voldemort – their closed-mindedness and insistence on appearing “normal” are all expressed as negative characteristics. The Durlseys’ view of Lily Potter and her family is also portrayed in particularly negative terms. Because Petunia believes that her sister is a “freak,” she chooses to deny the bonds of family, bonds that should be much stronger than any judgmental disapproval.

With Dumbledore’s entrance onto the scene, it becomes clear that the Dursley family will never be able to be as normal as they wish to be. By leaving Harry on their doorstep, the Dursleys are forced to coexist with the “abnormality” of the Potter family that they have always sought to avoid. Significantly, Dumbledore’s decision to leave Harry with them serves two purposes. Not only does it allow Harry to grow up without being haunted by his fame in the wizarding world, but it actually punishes the Dursleys for their intolerance. If the Durlseys had been more accepting of Lily Potter and her lifestyle, Dumbledore’s decision to leave Harry with them would not have been such a life-changing inconvenience.

Dumbledore’s presence in Little Whinging also introduces the readers to the magical world that Rowling describes in greater detail in later chapters. Dumbledore’s sudden appearance on the street, his mysterious ability to turn out all of the street lamps, and his references to the evil Voldemort and his killing curse – everything hints at the amazing world in which Harry truly belongs. Similarly, Professor McGonagall’s ability to transform into a cat and back reveals that the opportunities in this magical world are truly endless.

Yet, as Dumbledore clarifies, Harry is not yet prepared to deal with the wondrous magic of the wizarding world. Children with less traumatic backgrounds might be able to flourish from their infancy by staying in the wizarding world. Harry, on the other hand, has such a dark experience forming his first memories that he is far safer to himself if he grows up as a Muggle. In a sense, Harry must come of age before he can become a part of the magical world in which he is so important. And for Harry, this coming of age will occur in Chapter 2, with his eleventh birthday and invitation to Hogwarts.

Chapters 2 and 3

Summary:

Ten years have passed since Dumbledore has left Harry on the Dursleys' doorstep, yet the house seems to be exactly the same. The only major difference is that the photos of the infant Dudley on the mantelpiece have been replaced with pictures of Dudley as a fat, unpleasant-looking eleven-year-old; there is no evidence that Harry lives in the house as well.

Harry sleeps in the small cupboard underneath the stairs and is very small and skinny for his age, especially when compared to Dudley. He has a thin face, knobby knees, bright green eyes, and black hair that has a tendency to stick up all over the place. He also wears glasses (held together with scotch take from all the times that Dudley punched him on the nose) and has a thin scar on his forehead that is shaped like a bolt of lightning. The first question that Harry ever asked his aunt was how he had gotten the scar. She told him that he got it in the car crash that killed his parents and that he should not ask questions.

One morning, Harry is woken up early by his aunt’s shrill voice because it is Dudley’s birthday. Dudley receives thirty-seven expensive presents from his parents and relatives but threatens to throw a temper tantrum because he has one less present than the previous year. Vernon and Petunia head off Dudley’s hysterical outburst only by promising to buy him two additional presents during their birthday outing that day. The plan is to go to the zoo with Dudley’s best friend, Piers Polkiss, while Harry stays with Mrs. Figg, an elderly neighbor who always makes Harry look at photos of her cats. After Mrs. Figg unexpectedly calls to cancel, the Dursleys are forced to take Harry to the zoo as well.

Before they leave, Uncle Vernon takes Harry aside and threatens to lock him in his cupboard under the stairs if there is any “funny business” at the zoo. Harry promises to behave but he cannot be sure that nothing will happen: strange things seem to happen around Harry. Once, after Aunt Petunia had cut off all of Harry’s hair in a fit of impatience, Harry’s hair had miraculously grown back to its original length overnight. Another time, Harry was being chased by Dudley’s gang and suddenly found himself on the roof of the school kitchens.

Harry is having a great time at the zoo, until they visit the reptile house. Harry looks at a large boa constrictor encased in glass and feels sympathetic that the snake must suffer through annoying visits from people like Dudley and Piers. The snake winks at Harry, and the two begin a sort of mimed conversation about the snake’s breeding and background: the snake is from Brazil, but it has been bred in captivity. Noticing the snake’s bizarre behavior, Dudley runs over to the glass case, pushing Harry hard to floor in the process. Suddenly, the glass in front of the snake’s cage vanishes and the snake slithers out of the reptile house, playfully nipping at Dudley and Piers as it passes.

During the car ride home, Uncle Vernon blames Harry for the disappearance of the glass after Dudley reports that Harry was talking to the snake. He confines Harry to his cupboard for an indefinite amount of time. While Harry lay in his dark cupboard, he thinks about his lonely, miserable life. The only memory that he has of his life before the Dursleys is a blinding flash of green light and a burning pain on his forehead. He assumes that this must be a memory of the car crash that killed his parents, but he cannot figure out the source of the green light. Sometimes he dreams that a distant relative will come take him away, but it never happens; the Dursleys are his only family. Still, he gets the sense that he is not completely unknown: sometimes, strangely-dressed people come up to him in the street and seem to know who he is.

By the time Harry’s punishment ends, the summer holidays have started, and he spends most of his time out of the house in order to avoid Dudley’s gang. He is looking forward to September, when he will be going to the local public school, and Dudley will be going to Smeltings, Uncle Vernon’s old private school. For the first time, Harry will not have to go to the same school as Dudley and, as a result, might have a chance to make some friends for the first time.

One morning, Harry goes to get the mail and finds a letter addressed specifically to him: Mr. Harry Potter, The Cupboard under the Stairs. Before he can read the letter, though, Uncle Vernon snatches it from him and turns ghastly pale after reading the first line. Aunt Petunia is similarly astounded and wonders how “they” could have found out where Harry sleeps. That evening, Uncle Vernon tells Harry that the letter was addressed to him by mistake and orders him to move into Dudley’s second bedroom. Dudley complains vehemently, but Uncle Vernon is immovable and insists that Harry no longer sleep in the cupboard under the stairs.

The morning mail brings another letter for Harry, this time addressed: Mr. H. Potter, The Smallest Bedroom. Despite Harry’s best efforts to grab the letter, Uncle Vernon snatches it away and sends Harry back to his new bedroom. The next morning, Harry wakes up extra early, intending to get the mail before anyone else. Unfortunately, Uncle Vernon suspected that Harry might try something like that and decided to sleep in front of the front door. The morning mail brings three letters addressed to Harry, and Uncle Vernon immediately tears them into small pieces. He then nails up the mail slot, arguing, “if they can’t deliver them they’ll just give up.”

However, the letters continue to arrive, dozens at a time. Even on Sunday, when Uncle Vernon is able to relax (“no post on Sundays”), forty letters zoom down the chimney during breakfast. Determined to escape the letters, Uncle Vernon takes the family on an extended road trip. They stay at a gloomy hotel several cities away and, in the morning, the owner of the hotel informs them that she has a hundred letters addressed to “Mr. H. Potter, Room 17, Railview Hotel” behind the front desk. Uncle Vernon destroys the letters and then moves the family to a tiny little shack in the middle of nowhere, certain that it will be impossible to send letters there. The Dursleys stay in the shack overnight, and Harry stays awake, realizing that the next day is his eleventh birthday. At the stroke of midnight, there is a loud knock on the door.

Analysis:

During the next ten years, Harry begins to develop the same “abnormalities” that Aunt Petunia despised in Lily Potter. Yet, because he has no familiarity with the wizarding world, Harry’s unique abilities merely make him feel more isolated from those around him. If anything, instead of making him feel special, these strange occurrences – growing his hair back and flying up to the roof of the kitchen at school – make him feel doomed to loneliness and a life in the cupboard under the stairs.

Harry’s time with the Dursleys has not changed their perspective at all toward the Potter family. Although they tolerate Harry’s presence, they do not treat him as a family member and certainly do not give him any love. Significantly, love will become a crucial aspect of Harry’s life, yet only the love that he received from his parents during his infancy. It is also interesting that, though the Dursleys are fully aware of Harry’s abilities and magical background, they keep him completely ignorant of the fact, even telling him that his parents died in a car crash.

In some ways, this refusal to tell Harry about his magical past can be seen as the Dursleys’ warped attempt to protect Harry. Rather than allow such “abnormality” to develop in him, the Durlseys try to smother his magical tendencies and make him the normal person that his parents never were. Perhaps Petunia is not able to deny the bond of family as much as she would like to, and Dumbledore was correct in assuming that Harry would enjoy a certain protection in their home.

At the same time, however, the Durlseys are also concerned with the way that Harry’s “abnormality” would reflect on them if anyone were ever to discover it. Their self-consciousness and insecurity causes them to take action to protect themselves from any wayward glance. Moreover, their refusal to tell Harry what is happening to him can be seen as cruel and unusual punishment: Harry’s loneliness and sense of isolation is compounded by concern and confusion over the strange occurrences that follow him.

The scene with the boa constrictor cements Harry’s knowledge that he is different from his aunt and uncle. In later books, Harry’s ability to talk to snakes will become an important factor, but for now, it merely reveals the extent of his uniqueness. Vernon and Petunia are equally aware of the significance of this event. By locking him his cupboard under the stairs until the summer holidays, they express their realization and frustration that their attempts to rid Harry of his magical abilities has, in fact, failed. With the arrival of the mysterious letters, Vernon and Petunia are reminded of this failure in a tangible way. Lily Potter received the same letter from Hogwarts when she was eleven, and Petunia knows that such a letter for Harry can only be the beginning of the end for their hopes of normalcy.

Chapters 4 and 5

Summary:

Uncle Vernon dashes to the door with a rifle in his hands in time for another deafening knock. The door finally swings off its hinges and reveals a giant man standing in the doorway: Hagrid, the Keeper of the Keys at Hogwarts. Uncle Vernon threatens Hagrid with his rifle, but Hagrid simply takes the gun away from him and bends it into a knot. He presents Harry with a slightly squashed birthday cake and officially introduces himself. He is shocked to discover that Harry has no knowledge of Hogwarts or his own magical background, particularly in terms of his parent’s deaths. He scolds the Dursleys for keeping Harry from reading his letter and for treating him miserably throughout his life.

Aunt Petunia erupts at Hagrid’s accusations and reveals that they lied to Harry to make sure that he would not become a magical freak like her sister. Realizing that Harry has absolutely no idea what is going on, Hagrid tells Harry the truth about his birth, wizard heritage, and unexpected survival of Voldemort’s killing curse. Instead of dying in a car crash, Lily and James Potter had been murdered by the dark wizard; this explains the bright green light that Harry remembers. Harry tries to absorb all of this information but decides that Hagrid must be mistaken; how could he, of all people, be a wizard? Hagrid chuckles and then asks if any strange things had ever happened to him. Harry thinks hard and realizes that the bizarre occurrences in his life – growing back his hair overnight and setting the boa constrictor free – had been evidence of magical power.

Uncle Vernon finally interrupts the conversation and informs Hagrid that he will not allow Harry to attend Hogwarts and become a crackpot freak like Dumbledore. At this insult, Hagrid loses his temper and gives Dudley a pig’s tail. He is quickly abashed at his action and asks Harry not to tell anyone: he was expelled from Hogwarts as a student and is not supposed to use magic.

The next morning, Harry wakes up slowly, convinced that he had been having a wonderful dream. He is thrilled when he sees Hagrid asleep on the sofa because it means that he wasn’t dreaming and is actually a wizard. After a quick breakfast, Harry and Hagrid head off to Diagon Alley in London to buy Harry’s school supplies. Harry is suddenly concerned because he has no money to pay for Hogwarts or magical books, and he knows that the Dursleys will not help him. Hagrid informs him that his parents left him a comfortable inheritance at the wizard’s bank, Gringotts, and the Potter vault will be their first stop in Diagon Alley.

On their way, Harry goes over the list of things that he must bring to Hogwarts, including three sets of black work robes, a black pointed hat, a wand, a cauldron, one pair of dragon hide gloves, and several standard magical school books. In order to access Diagon Alley, Harry and Hagrid must enter the Leaky Cauldron, a famous pub that serves as the Alley’s entrance point. All of the customers in the pub are ecstatic to meet Harry when they recognize him, and he begins to realize how famous he is in the wizarding world. Harry also meets Professor Quirrell, a meek wizard with a stammer who teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts.

In the back alley of the pub, Hagrid taps against the brick wall with his wand, and the archway to Diagon Alley suddenly appears. First, they go to Gringotts, where Harry and Hagrid are escorted to Harry’s vault by a goblin named Griphook. As Harry piles some of the money into a bag, Hagrid explains wizard money, which is made up of gold Galleons, silver Sickles, and bronze Knuts. They go to another vault, Vault 713, where Hagrid picks up a mysterious little package and conceals it in his robe. When Harry asks about the package, Hagrid is gives a vague answer, explaining that he is doing official Hogwarts business and Harry shouldn’t ask about it.

After Gringotts, Hagrid takes Harry to Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions to be fitted for his school robes. During his fitting, Harry meets an unpleasant boy who is also going to be a first-year student at Hogwarts. The boy talks about the importance of pure wizarding blood and mentions Slytherin and Quidditch. Feeling insecure about his ignorance, Harry asks Hagrid about all of the things that the boy mentioned. Hagrid explains that Quidditch is a wizard sport and Slytherin is one of the four houses of Hogwarts, in which Voldemort was a student. He assures Harry that he will learn everything that he needs to know at Hogwarts.

Harry and Hagrid continue to shop for the things that he needs for Hogwarts and go to the Apothecary for potion ingredients and a shop called Flourish and Blotts for his schoolbooks. Hagrid also buys Harry a snowy owl from Eeylops Owl Emporium as a birthday present; Harry decides to name her Hedwig. Their last stop is Ollivander’s, the wand shop in Diagon Alley. Mr. Ollivander has Harry test several wands, informing him that the wand chooses the wizard, rather than the other way around. Finally, Harry tries a wand made of holly wood and phoenix feather, and red sparks shoot out of the tip – clearly, the wand has chosen Harry. As Mr. Ollivander is wrapping of the wand, he tells Harry that the only other wand containing a feather from the same phoenix belonged to Voldemort and had given him his scar.

Analysis:

Hagrid’s arrival is Harry’s first face-to-face encounter with a member of the magical world that he left behind as an infant. Not only does Hagrid provide Harry with his first introduction to his wizard background, he tells him the truth about his parent’s death. This knowledge of Voldemort and the curse that killed his parents will become a crucial aspect of Harry’s character and a large part of his determination to face Voldemort later in the book.

Harry suddenly realizes that his entire life would have been different without Voldemort’s inference. Not only would he have grown up in the wizarding world, but the unpleasant and neglectful Durlseys would have been replaced by his parents, two individuals who loved him and actually understood the transition that he is going through. With Aunt Petunia’s revelation about her sister, Harry also understands his aunt and uncle for the first time. Their neglect and cruelty toward him was not simply personal hatred for him, but rather hatred for his parents and what their life represented.

Still, Harry’s first instinct is that Hagrid must be mistaken. Despite the strange events that have happened in his life, Harry does not believe that he is special enough to be a wizard. He is completely ordinary, doomed forever to wear Dudley’s hand-me-downs and be a social pariah at school. The modesty and humility that Harry displays in this scene are constant aspects of his character in this book and the rest of his series. He never believes that he is worthy of the constant attention that he receives as “the boy-who-lived,” and, as a result, he takes additional steps to try to prove himself and live up to expectations.

This is another way in which Dumbledore’s decision to leave Harry with the Dursleys becomes an advantage. Because of Harry’s fame in the wizarding world for removing Voldemort from power, there was the possibility that he would become egocentric and arrogant as a wizard and as a man. Instead, the Dursleys’ treatment of him over the past ten years have convinced Harry that he is completely ordinary. His defeat of Voldemort as a baby was unusual, for certain, but he does not attribute it to any skill or power of his own. Still, with the arrival of the letter and Hagrid, Harry is able to escape the Dursleys for the first time and finally begin the journey toward his true potential as a wizard.

Harry’s experiences in Diagon Alley continue to develop his awareness of the wizarding world. For the first time in his life, he feels that he actually belongs somewhere. He is not an outsider as he was in Little Whinging, but rather one of many wizards, a part of a select club in which he is free to develop and succeed on his own terms. Rowling also uses Diagon Alley to introduce an important theme of the book: Harry’s close connection to Voldemort. Rowling had already presented the two characters in opposition to each other in Chapter 1, and it is clear to the reader that Harry will face Voldemort at some point in the future. During Harry’s visit to Mr. Ollivander’s shop, however, Rowling suggests that the relationship between Harry and Voldemort is more than just hero versus villain.

Chapters 6 and 7

Summary:

After the trip to Diagon Alley, Harry has to return to the Dursleys' house to spend his last month before school starts. Instead of mistreating him as usual, they simply ignore him, and Harry spends most of his time in his bedroom with Hedwig. The day that Harry is supposed to go to Hogwarts, the Dursleys take him to King’s Cross train station in London and leave him alone to find his way to platform nine and three-quarters. Harry stands between tracks nine and ten, uncertain how to find the magical platform between them. Finally, he overhears a plump red-haired woman mention Hogwarts to her children, and asks her for help. She tells him to walk straight through the barrier between tracks nine and ten. Harry pushes his trolley through the barrier and is amazed to discover the Hogwart’s Express and platform nine and three-quarters on the other side.

Two of the woman’s sons, twin boys with red hair, help Harry stow his trunk in the corner of a compartment. They notice his unusual scar and realize that he is Harry Potter. They join their other siblings to say goodbye to their mother, while Harry sits in his compartment. As the train begins to leave, the youngest red-haired boy of the family, Ron Weasley, enters Harry’s compartment and asks if he can sit. Ron and Harry introduce themselves and talk about their background.

As the sixth son in a family of successful wizards, Ron is very concerned that he will always be overshadowed by the rest of his family. He also tells Harry that his family is poor so he is constantly burdened with his brothers’ hand-me-downs. Harry tells Ron that he understands poverty, being poor until a month before, and, even worse, he knows nothing about the wizard world or magic. Ron assures him that many Hogwarts students come from Muggle families, and he will have nothing to worry about.

A woman with a food cart knocks on the door of their compartment. Since Harry has never tried any wizard food before, he buys some of everything: Cauldron Cakes, Pumpkin Pasties, Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans, Chocolate Frogs, and Licorice Wands. Harry generously offers to share everything with Ron, and the two boys become fast friends over the feast. They experiment with the unique flavors of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans and swap several Chocolate Frog collectible cards, including one on Dumbledore.

A bossy girl with bushy brown hair enters the compartment with Neville Longbottom, a plump boy who has lost his pet toad. The girl introduces herself as Hermione Granger and immediately gives Ron and Harry the impression that she is a bit of a know-it-all. She comes from a Muggle family and, anxious to make up for her lack of magical background, she devoted her summer to reading every magical textbook that she could find. Hermione is particularly interested to discover Harry’s identity (having read about him in “Modern Magical History,” “The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts,” and “Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century”) and reveals her hope to be sorted into Gryffindor House.

After Hermione and Neville leave, Harry and Ron talk more in-depth about the Hogwarts house system. All of Ron’s brothers have been in Gryffindor house, and he has a family expectation to live up to. Above all, Ron and Harry both hope that they are not sorted into Slytherin, if only because of Voldemort’s affiliation with it.

Suddenly, the unpleasant boy from Madam Malkin’s robe shop enters the compartment, flanked by two other mean-looking boys. The boy introduces himself as Draco Malfoy and, after mocking Ron for his poor background, tells Harry that it is important to make friends with the right people. He offers Harry his hand, but Harry turns it down, informing him that he prefers to choose his own friends. Stunned by Harry’s action, Malfoy’s picks a fight with Ron and Harry and attempts to take their leftover Chocolate Frogs. Ron’s pet rat, Scabbers, bites Malfoy’s finger and he runs out of the compartment with his two friends.

The train finally arrives at Hogwarts, and all of the first-year students are ushered into small boats that take them into the castle. The students are initially welcomed by Professor McGonagall, who informs them that a start-of-year banquet will be preceded by their “sorting,” which will divide them into one of Hogwart’s four houses. Harry and Ron try to figure out what kind of test the sorting will comprise, and Harry hopes that he will not be humiliated by his lack of magical experience.

They enter the Hogwarts banquet hall, and Harry is overwhelmed by its beauty: thousands of candles float in midair over four long tables and the ceiling is bewitched to look like the night sky. Professor McGonagall places a dirty wizard’s hat on top of a stool in front of the first-years. Each new student must place the hat on his or her head and wait until the Sorting Hat shouts the name of the Hogwarts house that is best suited for the student. The Sorting Hat introduces itself with a song and then begins to call the students in alphabetical order. When Harry tries on the Sorting Hat, he silently urges it to place him in any house other than Slytherin. The Sorting Hat considers his request, and then places him in Gryffindor.

After the sorting is complete and the first-year students have settled at their tables, Dumbledore gives a few words of welcome, and the feast begins. The food is delicious and abundant, and Harry and Ron indulge in as much food as they can. During dessert, the students at the Gryffindor table discuss their upbringing, and Neville tells the other first-years how his family was afraid that he had no magical ability until his uncle dropped him out of a window, and Neville bounced. Starting to feel warm and sleepy, Harry glances at the faculty table and feels a sharp pain in his scar when one of them stares at him angrily. Harry learns that the malevolent teacher is Professor Snape, who teaches Potions. At the end of the feast, Dumbledore gives a few final words to the students, including a warning to stay away from the third-floor corridor, and then sends them off to their houses.

Analysis:

Harry’s trip to King’s Cross Station is his first step toward adulthood and a new life. Every aspect of his life has always been determined by the Dursleys, from the clothes that he wears to the type of ice cream that he gets at the zoo. The only time that Harry would rebel from this controlling environment was through his magic: for example, the time that Aunt Petunia cut off all of his hair, and it grew back to its original length by the next day. When Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia leave Harry at King’s Cross Station, they do not expect him to be able to function outside of their stifling world, much less find the so-called platform nine and three-quarters.

Yet, Harry surprises himself and far exceeds any of the Dursleys’ expectations of him. Although he does need to ask Mrs. Weasley for help, he is able to find platform nine and three-quarters and find a seat on the Hogwarts Express. Uncle Vernon an Aunt Petunia’s refusal to believe in the existence of platform nine and three-quarters demonstrates their ignorance and close-mindedness but also suggests that Harry’s life with the Dursleys is not his true path. Harry has the courage to reject ten years of neglect and insecurities and run through the barrier between platforms nine and ten, opening the door to the magical world that is waiting for him.

Harry’s time on the Hogwarts Express also introduces him to the kind of social interaction that he was denied in the Dursleys’ home. Harry’s only interaction with his peers in Little Whinging was running away from Dudley’s gang; the school children were too afraid of Dudley to be Harry’s friend. Yet, suddenly, on the Hogwarts Express, Harry is not only exposed to potential friends (such as Ron Weasley), but he is given the opportunity to choose his friends. When Malfoy enters the cabin, for example, Harry has the chance to accept his proffered friendship and become a member of Malfoy’s gang. This decision would mirror the social complexities that made up Dudley’s group of friends, all inferior to one leader, and, from a psychological standpoint, would be the easiest way for Harry to have new friends.

Instead, Harry chooses the more difficult route, denying Malfoy’s friendship and sticking with Ron, the one person who, though neither handsome nor wealthy, seems willing to accept him as an equal friend. Significantly, Harry’s decision to reject Malfoy is also a subtle rejection of Voldemort’s preferred social interaction. As his later interactions with Quirrell will reveal, Voldemort does not make close friends like Ron; he situates himself as the head of a gang that is made up of lesser individuals. As it turns out, Harry’s decision to choose Ron as his first real friend will be one of the most important decisions of his first year at Hogwarts.

The Sorting ceremony at Hogwarts also outlines an important decision that Harry makes in the development of his character. When the Sorting Hat first describes Harry (“plenty of courage…not a bad mind…a nice thirst to prove yourself”), it makes no mention of Slytherin House. It is possible that the Hat has no intention of placing Harry in Slytherin. However, Harry is unwilling to leave such an important decision up to chance. He has never had control over any aspect of his life, particularly when it comes to his family and the death of his parents, and Harry refuses to take a passive role when it comes to his future in this new magical world.

His decision to be sorted into Gryffindor (or rather, not to be sorted into Slytherin) also helps to distinguish him from Voldemort. Despite their unspoken connection and the uncanny similarities of their wand, Harry is not simply a younger version of Voldemort. Had he never heard of Voldemort, Harry might have been sorted into Slytherin House and could have become an extremely successful wizard. Yet, Slytherin’s ties to Voldemort are what causes Harry to reject the House; he is determined to avoid any path that parallels that of the dark wizard who murders his parents. In effect, by murdering Lily and James Potter, Voldemort ensured that Harry would never follow any future that could lead to the dark arts.

Chapters 8 and 9

Summary:

During his first few weeks at Hogwarts, Harry struggles to get used to his unfamiliar surroundings. Everyone talks about him and stares when he passes, and he feels uncomfortable with all of the attention. All of his classes are interesting except for the History of Magic, which is taught by a ghost and is devastatingly boring. He is also a bit disappointed by Defense Against the Dark Arts, in which Professor Quirrell seems to focus more on protecting himself from vampires than teaching the students jinxes and counter-jinxes. There are numerous rumors about the reason for Professor Quirrell’s odd-smelling turban, but Fred and George Weasley insist that he stuffs it with cloves of garlic so that he is protected wherever he goes. Harry is also relieved to discover that many of the other first-year students are just ignorant about magic as he is. During their first Transfiguration class, Hermione is the only student who is able to transform her match into a needle; the rest of the students fail just as miserably as Harry does.

During his first Potions class, Harry learns that he was not imagining things when he saw Professor Snape give him a malignant look. Harry does not know why, but the teacher truly seems to hate him. He mocks Harry as the new “celebrity” at Hogwarts and then humiliates him for being unable to answer detailed questions about magical herbs. Hermione is the only student who knows the answers to Snape’s questions, but Snape refuses to call on her. He finally docks Gryffindor several points for Harry’s inability to answer his questions.

After the unpleasant class ends, Harry and Ron go visit Hagrid at his cottage on the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest. Harry tells Hagrid about their Potions lesson, but Hagrid insists that Harry must be exaggerating because Professor Snape would have no reason to hate him. Yet, Harry can’t help but notice that Hagrid does not seem to meet his eyes when he is telling him this. While at the cottage, Harry notices a newspaper clipping from The Daily Prophet that details a break-in at Gringotts. Harry realizes that the break-in took place on his birthday, and he wonders if the mysterious package in Vault 713 had anything to do with it. Harry and Ron leave the cottage with Harry still wondering about the small package and Snape’s hatred for him.

Harry’s dislike of Draco Malfoy gradually increases until he realizes that he hates Malfoy even more than Dudley. Thus, Harry is upset to learn that the first-year students from Gryffindor and Slytherin will be taking flying lessons together. Harry knows absolutely nothing about flying, let alone Quidditch, and he is nervous about humiliating himself in front of Malfoy, who is constantly boasting about his flying experience. Neville is equally nervous about the flying lessons, having been explicitly forbidden from flying at his house by his grandmother.

The morning of their flying lesson, Neville receives a package from home that contains a Remembrall, a glass sphere that turns crimson if the owner has forgotten something. As Neville holds up the Remembrall, Malfoy walks by and snatches it. Harry and Ron instantly jump up, hoping for an excuse to fight Malfoy, but Professor McGonagall intervenes before they get a chance and orders Malfoy to return the Remembrall to Neville.

During the afternoon flying lesson, Madam Hooch coaches the students on mounting their brooms and rising a few feet above the ground. Neville accidentally pushes off his broomstick too hard and flies twenty feet into the air before falling off of his broom and breaking his wrist. Madam Hooch takes Neville to the hospital wing and orders the rest of the students to remain grounded during her absence. As soon as she is out of earshot, Malfoy begins mocking Neville and picks up his Remembrall, which had fallen out of his pocket during his fall. Harry tells Malfoy to return the Remembrall, but Malfoy merely smirks and flies up to the top of the nearest oak tree with it. Forgetting Madam Hooch’s orders, Harry quickly mounts his broom and flies after Malfoy, surprising himself as much as the other students with his flying prowess.

Malfoy still refuses to give Harry the Remembrall and throws toward the ground. Harry leans into a steep dive and catches the Remembrall a foot from the ground. He is amazed at the sheer joy that he feels when he is on the broomstick, and he wonders at this unexpected gift. Suddenly, Professor McGonagall arrives, screaming Harry’s name. She orders him to follow her, and Harry expects to be expelled. Yet, instead of punishing Harry, Professor McGonagall introduces him to Oliver Wood, a fifth-year student and the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Professor McGonagall tells Wood about Harry’s amazing fifty-foot dive to retrieve the Remembrall, and Wood offers Harry the position of Seeker on the Gryffindor team.

At dinner, an ecstatic Harry tells Ron about joining the Gryffindor team as the youngest Hogwarts Quidditch player in a century. Fred and George come over and introduce themselves as the Beaters for the Gryffindor team. Malfoy and his gang also come over to Harry and Ron, surprised that Harry hasn’t been expelled. As the tensions grow, Malfoy challenges Harry to a midnight wizard’s duel in the trophy room. Harry does not know what a wizard’s duel is but he accepts anyway.

At eleven-thirty, Harry and Ron start to sneak out of Gryffindor tower to meet Malfoy. Just as they are able to go through the portrait hole, they are surprised by Hermione, who scolds them for risking Gryffindor points by being out of bed after curfew. Harry and Ron ignore her and, much to their annoyance, she follows them. On their way, the trio runs into Neville, who has forgotten the Gryffindor password and cannot get into the dorm.

As the students quietly tiptoe into the trophy room, they stumble across the caretaker, Filch; Malfoy has tricked them into being out of bed and warned Filch that students would be entering the trophy room. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville run from Filch until they find themselves in the forbidden third-floor corridor. With Filch just a few steps behind, Hermione uses a spell to open the locked door at the end of the corridor and they huddle inside and close the door, only to find themselves face-to-face with a monstrous three-headed dog. Harry quickly opens the door again, and they escape just in time. Somehow, the four students find their way back to Gryffindor tower without being caught and collapse, terrified, in the common room. Hermione reproaches Harry and Ron for leaving their dorm in the first place and mentions in passing that the three-headed dog was standing on a trap door. Harry realizes that the dog must be guarding the mysterious package from Vault 713.

Analysis:

At this point in the novel, it becomes clear that, though Harry is unique in many ways, he is still an ordinary boy. He is not successful in all of his classes, he dislikes several of his teachers, and he struggles with his magical assignments just as much as the other students in the class. In classic literary tradition, the hero of such a narrative would have remarkable powers and skills. In Rowling’s novel, however, Harry’s heroic characterization is a result of his personal determination and courage, rather than his inherent magical gifts. As a result, not only is Harry an unlikely hero, but he is much more appealing to young readers.

Rowling does choose to incorporate one exceptional skill in Harry’s characterization: flying. Although he has never been on a broomstick between Madam Hooch’s introductory flying class, Harry is already well beyond his classmates in terms of flying expertise. Unlike Malfoy, who uses his flying skill to show off, Harry only discovers his incredible talent because he is trying to retrieve Neville’s Remembrall. It almost seems as if Harry’s sudden flying skill is a reward for his compassionate nature and loyalty toward his friends. Still, Rowling limits Harry’s unique skills to this single talent and similarly prevents Ron and Hermione from possessing a surplus of magical skills. This way, Rowling prevents Harry from becoming arrogant or egocentric in his role as the hero and also makes his friendship with Ron and Hermione all the more convincing.

Harry’s accidental discovery of the forbidden third-floor corridor continues the important plot element of the mysterious package from Vault 713. The initial introduction of this package in the narrative is so insignificant that the readers (along with Harry) could easily assume that it will not play a major role in the novel. Yet, with Harry’s realization that the three-headed dog is standing guard over it, the package takes on a far more significant meaning in the context of the plot. From that point onward, the mysterious package becomes the driving force of the narrative, prompting Harry, Ron, and Hermione to research Nicolas Flamel, learn about the Sorcerer’s Stone, and eventually realize that Voldemort is going to try to steal it.

The presence of the Sorcerer’s Stone in Hogwarts also adds an element of mystery and suspense to the plot, as well as adventure and horror. Instead of just a novel about a young boy’s first year at magic school, the text becomes more about Harry’s detective skills and the race against time to find the Sorcerer’s Stone before Voldemort than a description of magic courses and class assignments. By introducing the mysterious package at the very beginning of Harry’s exposure to the world of magic and then incorporating it later in the plot, Rowling artfully constructs a narrative thread that is integral to the entire web of the story.

When Harry goes into the third-floor corridor, he also demonstrates a slightly rebellious nature that will become a significant aspect of his personality in this book, as well as in the later books in the series. Harry is willing to adhere to school rules most of the time, but he also feels no guilt in breaking the rules in certain situations. For example, when Harry flies after Malfoy to retrieve Neville’s Remembrall, he is disobeying a direct order by Madam Hooch. Yet, his sense of justice, compassion, and loyalty overpower his concern for breaking the rules: the ends justify the means. In this particular case, Harry only enters the forbidden third-floor corridor by accident. Still, Rowling uses this instance to foreshadow the concept of causality that will often determine Harry’s course of action in the novel, despite the consequences.

Chapters 10 and 11

Summary:

Over breakfast the next morning, Harry and Ron try to figure out what could be inside the mysterious package and why it would need such heavy protection. During their discussion, the mail arrives, along with a large package for Harry. It is Harry’s new broomstick, a Nimbus Two Thousand, along with a note from Professor McGonagall that urges him to keep the news quiet, since first-year students are not typically allowed to have broomsticks. Malfoy sees the package and, realizing what it is, tries to turn Harry in to Professor Flitwick to be punished. Much to Malfoy’s dismay, Professor Flitwick merely praises Harry’s flying skill and congratulates him on being appointed to the Gryffindor team. Harry thanks Malfoy; if it had not been for his attempt to steal Neville’s Remembrall, Harry would never have gotten on the Gryffindor team.

Later that day, Harry has his first Quidditch practice with Wood and the rest of the Gryffindor team. Wood explains the rules to him: each team has three Chasers, one Keeper, two Beaters, and one Seeker. The Chasers score points by throwing the Quaffle through one of three rings on the opposing team’s side, while the Keeper prevents the other team from scoring in the Gryffindor rings. The Seeker’s job is to catch the Golden Snitch, a tiny winged ball that gives an additional one hundred and fifty points to whichever team catches it. During the practice, Harry catches every ball that Wood throws at him. The rest of the team is extremely impressed, and Harry is thrilled that his first few days at Hogwarts are going so well.

After two months, Harry finally feels comfortable as a student at Hogwarts. He spends all of his time in classes, at Quidditch practice, or studying magic. During one particularly interesting Charms class, the first-year students practice a levitating spell by trying to make feathers fly. Ron struggles with his spell pronunciation and is irritated by Hermione’s success: she is the only student who is able to make her feather fly. He makes a nasty comment about her to Harry, and, overhearing him, Hermione runs off crying.

At the Halloween banquet, Professor Quirrell frantically interrupts the feast and informs Dumbledore that a troll is loose in the dungeons. All of the students are ushered out of the dining hall to stay in their houses while the teachers locate the troll. Realizing that Hermione missed the warning about the troll, Harry and Ron decide to leave the group and find her. On their way down the corridor, Harry and Ron inadvertently come across the troll and decide to lock it in the girl’s bathroom. As they leave the corridor, congratulating themselves on their quick thinking, they hear a loud scream and discover that they have accidentally locked Hermione in the bathroom with the troll.

Harry and Ron run back into the bathroom and attack the troll: Harry jumps on top of it and sticks his wand up its nose, while Ron tries to distract it by throwing metal pipes at it. In a final desperate attempt to disable the troll, Ron uses the levitation spell from Charms class and manages to knock out the troll with its own club. A few minutes later, Professors McGonagall, Snape, and Quirrell find the three students in the destroyed bathroom, and Professor McGonagall scolds Harry and Ron ferociously. Hermione lies and tells her that she left the group so that she could fight the troll on her own and Harry and Ron came to save her. Professor McGonagall docks Hermione five points and then gives Harry and Ron five points for their bravery. At this point, Harry, Ron, and Hermione become good friends.

Quidditch season begins in November, and Harry is even more swamped with classes and Quidditch practices. His position on the Gryffindor team is still officially a secret, but Harry discovers that secrets” do not mean much at Hogwarts: nearly everyone already knows that he is playing Seeker. Harry’s friendship with Hermione is particularly beneficial during this busy time as she helps him complete his school assignments. She also lends him a book entitled “Quidditch through the Ages” in order to prepare for the first Quidditch match against Slytherin.

Unfortunately, Professor Snape confiscates the book from Harry the night before the match. Harry decides to go to Snape’s office to get the book back and sees Snape lifting his robes above his knees and examining his bloody leg. When Snape sees Harry, he screams at him to leave and Harry runs out. As Harry runs back to Ron and Hermione in the Gryffindor common room, he concludes that Snape must have injured his leg in a run-in with the three-headed dog.

It is the day of the first big Quidditch match, and Harry is overcome with both excitement and anxiety. As the game begins, the Gryffindor team is leading and Harry has already almost caught the Snitch. Suddenly, Harry’s Nimbus Two Thousand begins to fly out of control, jerking and nearly throwing him off. Hermione and Ron are terrified for Harry’s safety, and Hermione realizes that Harry’s broom is being jinxed by powerful dark magic. She sees Snape staring at Harry while muttering under his breath and suspects that he is the one jinxing the broom. Hermione sneaks over to Snape and sets his robes on fire. Suddenly, the jinx is broken, and Harry is able to regain control of his broom. Seconds later, he sees the Snitch and catches it in his mouth, winning the match for Gryffindor.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione go to Hagrid’s cottage after the match for some tea. Ron and Hermione tell Hagrid about Snape jinxing Harry’s broom, but Hagrid is unconvinced. He asks them why they think Snape would try to kill Harry, and Harry tells Hagrid about Snape’s leg and the three-headed dog in the third-floor corridor. Hagrid lets slip that he is the owner of the three-legged dog, Fluffy, and that Fluffy is guarding a secret known only to Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel.

Analysis:

The episode with the troll on Halloween is the first time that Hermione becomes a full-fledged member of the group. Before this point in the text, Hermione is described solely as an obnoxious know-it-all, and the reader cannot help but agree with Ron’s negative view of her. When Hermione runs away crying after hearing Ron make fun of her, the reader gets a first glimpse into her character; instead of the over-eager student that irritates her classmates, the reader is introduced to an extremely insecure and lonely girl. Suddenly it seems as if Ron’s judgment of her has been too harsh.

Yet, it is not until Hermione brashly takes full responsibility for the episode with the troll that Rowling provides the reader with a true sense of her courage and sheer grit. Hermione does not help Ron and Harry knock out the troll in the girl’s bathroom; she is too terrified even to run away, let alone use her magic to subdue the troll. Still, she is able to recognize the bravery that Harry and Ron display in rescuing her and realize that the three students will receive a lesser punishment if she lies to Professor McGonagall and takes all of the blame.

Significantly, it is this moment of falsehood that truly establishes the friendship between Harry, Ron, and Hermione. At this point in the narrative, Harry and Ron have already demonstrated a sort of cavalier attitude toward the rules at Hogwarts. Although they do not break rules for the sake of breaking them, neither Harry nor Ron shies away from occasional disobedience. When Hermione lies to the teachers in order to save Harry and Ron from consequences, she reveals that she follows the same causal principle as Harry: break the rules only when the ends justify the means. Hermione’s concept of this causal justification does vary from that of Harry and Ron, but even so, it shows Harry, Ron, and the reader that Hermione has more to offer in the context of the narrative.

In some ways, a friendship based on a lie would not seem to be an appropriate element of a novel for young adults. In fact, Harry and Ron do not become friends with Hermione simply because she lies to the teachers for them. Her lie highlights the importance of being loyal to friends; even though Hermione is not close to Harry and Ron at this point, she is still loyal to them in the face of institutional consequences. This idea of friendship and loyalty is a crucial theme of the narrative, particularly when it comes to the challenges that the three friends must face in the final few chapters of the novel.

During the first Quidditch game of the season, Rowling takes the opportunity to create a clear distinction between good and evil for the first time in the narrative. Although Malfoy and the other members of Slytherin House have demonstrated unpleasant and malevolent natures, none of them have used truly dark magic against Harry. When Harry’s broom is jinxed by dark magic, it becomes clear that there are larger forces at work than merely the match between the two teams; Harry is in opposition with a more powerful opponent, and one who remains identified until the final chapter of the book.

Notably, Harry’s first inclination is that Snape is the source of this mysterious dark magic, an assumption that is based on rather sketchy evidence. Snape is certainly a likely candidate for the role of the antagonist/villain in the narrative, particularly because of his mistreatment of Harry during Potion’s class. Still, the quantification of Snape as a villain is too obvious and rather unfair of Harry and his friends. In Rowling’s world, there are not absolutes of good and evil: every character has elements of both, even though some are more sympathetic than others.

Chapter 12 and 13

Summary:

Harry and Ron spend their Christmas holiday at Hogwarts. Although Malfoy teases Harry for staying at school during the vacation, Harry is actually looking forward to having Christmas away from the Dursleys, who always make the holiday a particularly unpleasant occasion. Hermione is going home for the vacation, but she forces Harry and Ron to spend a few more hours researching Nicolas Flamel before she has to leave. Despite their best attempts since Hagrid’s accidental slip, Harry, Ron, and Hermione have had no luck finding out anything about Nicolas Flamel. Hermione urges them to keep looking while she is away.

Harry and Ron spend most of their holiday relaxing in the Gryffindor common room, roasting marshmallows over the fire, and playing wizard chess. On Christmas day, Harry is surprised to find a small pile of presents at the base of his bed. In additional to a fifty pence piece from the Dursleys, Harry receives a box of fudge and a hand-knitted sweater from Ron’s mother, a large box of Chocolate Frogs from Hermione, and a wooden flute from Hagrid. He also receives a rare invisibility cloak from an anonymous source; the package is accompanied only with a note that tells him that the cloak once belonged to Harry’s father.

Harry decides to use the invisibility cloak to sneak into the restricted section of the library during the night and do some more research on Nicolas Flamel. Once of the books starts screaming after he opens it, and Harry runs out of the library and hides in an abandoned classroom while Filch prowls around. Inside the classroom, Harry discovers a massive mirror that is ornately decorated and carved with a strange inscription: “Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.” Harry looks in the mirror and is terrified when he does not see his own reflection. Instead, he sees several people smiling and waving at him. One of the figures is a very pretty woman with striking green eyes, and Harry realizes that he is looking at his mother.

Harry runs back to the dorm to get Ron and show him his family in the mirror. When Ron looks, however, he only sees Harry’s reflection. When he looks in the mirror for himself, he sees himself as Head Boy and captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Ron wonders if the mirror shows the future, but Harry knows that it does not because it shows his dead family. The next day, Harry is preoccupied with the images that he saw in the mirror. Ron urges him to forget it, but Harry feels a growing obsession to see his family again.

That night, he rushes off to the room and is so eager to sit in front of the mirror again that he does not notice that Dumbledore is already in the room. Dumbledore explains that the Mirror of Erised shows an individual’s most earnest desires. Yet, it does not provide knowledge or truth, and Dumbledore warns that its images can be very addictive and cause a person to lose sight of reality. Dumbledore tells Harry that the mirror will be moved to a new location the next day and urges Harry not to look for the mirror again.

Harry heeds Dumbledore’s advice not to look for the Mirror of Erised, but he finds himself haunted by the images that he saw. He also starts to have nightmares about his parents. When Hermione returns from vacation, she is shocked at Harry’s adventures with the invisibility cloak but is disappointed that he was not at least able to find out about Nicolas Flamel in the process. Quidditch practice begins in earnest again, and Harry is horrified to learn that Snape is going to referee Gryffindor’s next match against Hufflepuff. Ron and Hermione urge him not to play, but Harry does not feel that he can back out and let down the team.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione finally uncover the mystery of Nicolas Flamel from the collectible card on Dumbledore found in a Chocolate Frog. The description on the card mentions Nicolas Flamel as Dumbledore’s partner in his work on alchemy, and Hermione uses one of her books to find a more detailed description. Flamel is the only known maker of the Sorcerer’s Stone, which can turn metal into gold and produce the elixir of life. Harry, Ron, and Hermione conclude that Flamel asked Dumbledore to take the Stone from Gringotts and place it under his protection at Hogwarts.

Harry becomes increasingly nervous as the Quidditch match approaches. If Gryffindor wins the match, they will also be likely to win the House Cup championship. Yet, Harry worries about Snape as the referee for the match, especially since he is unsure of Snape’s motivation for stealing the Sorcerer’s Stone. Harry’s Potions classes are almost unbearable, and Harry gets the sense that Snape is treating him particularly bad because of the impending match.

When the match finally arrives, Harry feels more confident when he sees Dumbledore in the stands; he knows that Snape will not try to harm him in Dumbledore’s presence. Harry catches the Snitch in the first five minutes of the game, allowing Gryffindor to claim victory over Hufflepuff in an unprecedented amount of time. After the game, Harry flies toward the Forbidden Forest on his way to broom shed and overhears Snape threatening Professor Quirrell. Snape mentions the Sorcerer’s Stone and warns Quirrell not to become his enemy before stalking back to the castle. Harry decides that Snape is bullying Professor Quirrell to help him get past the three-headed dog and steal the Sorcerer’s Stone for his own purposes. Harry tells Ron and Hermione, and the three fear that the stammering Defense Against the Dark Arts professor will not be able to stand up to Snape for long.

Analysis:

For the majority of the text thus far, Dumbledore is a detached, almost abstract figure in Harry’s life. He is introduced in Little Whinging when Harry is an infant, but Harry has no idea that Dumbledore played such a crucial role in placing him with the Dursleys and protecting him from attention until his entrance to Hogwarts. He also has no idea that Dumbledore gives him the invisibility cloak for Christmas that he had borrowed from James Potter. From Harry’s perspective, then, Dumbledore is little more a figure on the trading card of a Chocolate Frog, more of an idea than an actual person.

With Harry’s discovery of the Mirror of Erised and Dumbledore’s subsequent conversations with him, all of this changes. Dumbledore is no longer a detached wizard but rather becomes a sort of father figure for Harry. He demonstrates genuine affection for Harry and a clear interest in Harry’s life and personal development, far more than that of any other student. He also takes it upon himself to teach Harry the valuable lesson of the Mirror of Erised: that desire can bring neither knowledge nor truth. Dumbledore’s position as a father figure will become increasingly important over the course of the book series, just as Harry’s loyalty to him and Gryffindor House will be.

Because of Dumbledore’s well-timed intervention, Harry avoids becoming dangerously obsessed with the Mirror of Erised and the images that he sees within it. At the same time, however, Harry’s visions in the mirror reveal elements of his character of which he was not even aware. As Dumbledore explains, the Mirror of Erised (“desire” spelled backward) reveals an individual’s deepest, most earnest desires. While Ron’s deepest desire is to surpass his successful brothers, Harry’s desire is far more poignant: a wish to be reunited with the family that he never knew.

Until this moment, Harry does not realize the extent to which the memory of his murdered parents directs his actions. His beliefs about Voldemort, his interest in the Sorcerer’s Stone, and even his refusal to be placed in Slytherin House all lead back to his loneliness and desperate desire to know his parents. The Mirror of Erised provides Harry with a clarifying glimpse into his own nature and ensures that he will view all of his future actions in light of this deep desire. As Dumbledore reminds him, a glimpse is all that Harry needs to develop this self-awareness; any more than a glimpse threatens to overpower Harry’s sense of reality and trap him into becoming fixated on family that will never be.

Interestingly, through his interactions with Harry in this scene, Dumbledore presents himself as a familial replacement for Harry’s lost family. The family that exists in the Mirror of Erised can never exist again, but that does not mean that Harry cannot create a new family in his life. Ron, Hermione, and Harry’s other close friends can each become a part of this new family, just as Dumbledore presents himself as a possible candidate. The most important thing is that Harry does not dwell in the past but focus on the future. Although Voldemort took away Harry’s true family, he did not take away Harry’s ability to make new friends, new loyalties, and new ties that are as strong as family.

Chapters 14 and 15

Summary:

During the next few weeks, Harry, Ron, and Hermione make an especial effort to be kind to Professor Quirrell, hoping that their support will encourage him to keep resisting Snape. Hermione also begins to worry about final exams, which are only ten weeks away and must be passed in order to become a second-year student at Hogwarts. While they are involved in an intense study sessions in the library, the three friends are interrupted by Hagrid, who invites them to have tea with him at his cottage.

During their visit, Harry, Ron, and Hermione ply Hagrid with questions about the Sorcerer’s Stone. He refuses to give them any details but does tell them that each of the professors has placed a protective spell over the Stone. Moreover, Hagrid assures them that he would never reveal how to get past Fluffy. Changing the subject, Hagrid shows the students the egg of a Norwegian Ridgeback dragon that he won in a recent poker game. Breeding dragons is highly illegal, but Hagrid is firm in his intentions, revealing that it has been his lifelong dream to raise a dragon.

A few days later, Harry gets a note from Hagrid telling him that the egg is hatching. He, Ron, and Hermione rush to Hagrid’s cottage to see the birth of the dragon, which Hagrid names Norbert. Just as the dragon as hatched, they hear a sound outside of Hagrid’s cottage and see Malfoy running back to the castle; he has seen the illegal dragon. With Malfoy serving as an omnipresent threat to Hagrid, Harry, Ron, and Hermione convince Hagrid to send Norbert to Ron’s brother, Charlie, who works with dragons in Romania. If they can bring Norbert to the tallest tower of Hogwarts at midnight on Saturday night, some of Charlie’s friends will be able to smuggle the dragon out of the country.

The situation becomes more complicated when Ron is bitten by the dragon, and the bite becomes severely infected. While he Ron in the hospital wing receiving treatment, Malfoy visits him and finds Charlie’s note that details the escape plan for Norbert. Harry and Hermione realize that they must take care of Norbert before Malfoy can disrupt their plans. After informing a tearful Hagrid that he must say goodbye to his baby dragon, Harry and Hermione manage to smuggle Norbert up to the tallest tower under the invisibility cloak and pass the dragon off to Charlie’s friends. As they leave the tower to return to Gryffindor, they forget to wear the invisibility cloak and are caught by Filch.

Filch takes them to Professor McGonagall, who has also caught Malfoy and Neville out of bed at the same time. Professor McGonagall docks Harry, Hermione, and Neville fifty points each and orders them to report to detention with Hagrid in the Forbidden Forest the following week. With the loss of one hundred and fifty points, Gryffindor is no longer in the running to win the House Cup championship over Slytherin, and Harry is suddenly despised by all of the other students in Gryffindor. He briefly considers resigning from the Quidditch team but ultimately decides simply to avoid breaking any other rules.

Unfortunately, Harry’s resolve is tested when he overhears Professor Quirrell sobbing and promising to do something. He assumes that Professor Quirrell has finally given in to Snape, though he does not see the Potions professor. He decides that he must try to steal the Sorcerer’s Stone before Snape can, and he enlists Ron and Hermione to figure out a way to get past Fluffy.

For their detention with Hagrid, Harry, Hermione, Neville, and Malfoy divide into groups and search the Forbidden Forest for unicorn that has been wounded. Harry and Malfoy come across the dead body of the unicorn just as a mysterious cloaked figure begins to drink its blood. Malfoy runs away in terror, but Harry remains immobile, incapacitated by the sudden pain that he feels in his scar. The figure moves threateningly toward him, but a centaur suddenly gallops in front of Harry in a protective stance, and the figure vanishes. The centaur, Firenze, takes Harry back to Hagrid and explains that the cloaked figure was Voldemort. By drinking the blood of the unicorn, Voldemort can survive with a cursed life until he can steal the Sorcerer’s Stone and use its elixir of life.

Analysis:

Rowling continues to discuss the theme of desire and its dangers in these next two chapters. Up until this point in the narrative, Hagrid’s character has been relatively two-dimensional. With the exception of his trip to Diagon Alley with Harry, in which Rowling includes a few subtle hints about Hagrid’s background, the reader does not have any other insight into Hagrid’s true nature. In fact, throughout most of the character, his only role seems to be that of the likable, comedic relief. Yet, Hagrid is just as complex as the other characters in the book, a fact that Rowling reveals through the introduction of Hagrid’s deepest desire: to own and raise a dragon on his own.

With the Mirror of Erised, Harry learned about the dangers of desire from a personal standpoint. If an individual becomes too preoccupied with desire, he or she can easily lose sight of reality and stop moving forward in life. With Hagrid, however, Rowling introduces a new kind of danger, one that has the potential to harm more than one person. When Hagrid tells Harry, Ron, and Hermione about his dragon egg, they do not immediately recognize the larger threat. As Rowling reveals later in the text, Hagrid’s wish for a dragon is not fulfilled by random chance, but rather as a part of Voldemort’s plot to steal the Sorcerer’s Stone. By tapping into Hagrid’s unfulfilled desire, Voldemort is able to manipulate him into giving him the information that he needs to get past the three-headed dog guarding the Sorcerer’s Stone.

Because of his conversations with Dumbledore about desire, Harry is suspicious about this sudden wish-fulfillment. Unfortunately, he and Hermione are preoccupied with protecting Hagrid in the short-term future: ensuring that he does not face legal consequences for possessing a contraband dragon. By the time Harry realizes that Hagrid has inadvertently given Voldemort the key to circumventing Fluffy, it is already too late. This one fulfilled desire serves as the catalyst to the events that unfold during the rest of the book. Without Hagrid’s slip, the Sorcerer’s Stone would not have been in danger, Harry would not have felt the need to protect it, and he would not face Voldemort in the final chapter of the book.

This event also helps Harry to develop his growing awareness of the complexity of good and evil. Hagrid would certainly never be described as an “evil” character in the novel, yet his actions ultimately help the cause of evil, or at least, threaten to help it. As Rowling has expressed at other points in the novel, every character has flaws – aspects of both good and evil – and, as Harry discovers, an individual’s deepest desire can easily be manipulated to support either cause.

In Chapter 15, Harry comes face-to-face with the source of this dark evil (i.e. Voldemort) in the Forbidden Forest. There is no question of the evil of the mysterious hooded figure since only the most depraved dark wizard would be willing to murder a pure unicorn for the sake of its blood. The sudden pain that Harry feels in his scar reminds the reader that his scar is more than decorative; it actually serves as a beacon of evil. Thus, when Harry feels slight pain in his scar during his interactions with Snape, it is a sign that Snape has some evil aspects to his nature. In this case, the unbearable pain that Harry feels in his scar points to the complete evil that the hooded figure encompasses.

Chapter 16 and 17

Summary:

Harry successfully completes all of his final exams, though he is constantly distracted by thoughts of Voldemort and the Sorcerer’s Stone. His scar throbs regularly, and he is plagued with nightmares about a hooded figure dripping blood. After their final exam is over, Ron and Hermione try to help Harry relax by assuring him that the Sorcerer’s Stone is well protected. Still, Harry cannot shake the suspicion that he is missing a piece of the puzzle. Suddenly, it hits him: with Hagrid as the only person who knows how to get past Fluffy, the unexpected gift of a rare dragon’s egg could not be just a coincidence.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione rush to Hagrid’s cottage and trick him into telling them how exactly he won the dragon’s egg in the power game. More importantly, the three friends learn that Hagrid got drunk and told a mysterious stranger that he could use music to lull Fluffy to sleep. Harry, Ron, and Hermione now know that Snape has the key to getting to the Sorcerer’s Stone, and they immediately run back to the castle to warn Dumbledore. On their way, they run into Professor McGonagall, who informs them that Dumbledore has left the castle for the day. Professor McGonagall scoffs at their warnings about Snape and the Sorcerer’s Stone and urges them to enjoy the weather outside.

Although none of the teachers will listen, Harry refuses to accept that Snape will get the Sorcerer’s Stone without a fight. He decides that he will steal the Stone himself that night. Even if he is expelled for breaking rules, he cannot sit back and wait for Voldemort to steal the Stone and use it to regain his former power. Inspired by his passion, Ron and Hermione vow to help him steal the Stone.

That night, Harry, Ron, and Hermione run into Neville on their way out of the portrait hole. Neville refuses to let them pass and lose more points for the House. When they fail to convince him of the importance of their actions, Hermione uses a body-bind spell to incapacitate Neville. When they reach the forbidden third-floor corridor, Harry plays the flute that Hagrid gave him for his birthday and successfully lulls Fluffy to sleep. Harry, Ron, and Hermione jump through the trapdoor and land on Devil’s Snare, a large plant with long tendrils that starts to strangle them. Hermione is able to recall their Herbology lesson on the plant and uses magical fire to free Ron and Harry before they suffocate.

The next challenge is to pass through a small room that is filled with small flying keys, one of which will unlock the door to the next room. Harry uses a nearby broomstick and, using his Quidditch skills, manages to grab the correct silver key and unlock the door. Harry, Ron, and Hermione walk into the next room, which is a massive chessboard: they must win the game in order to access the next challenge. As an expert at wizard’s chess, Ron takes the lead and directs all of the pieces. Ultimately, Ron sacrifices himself in order for Harry to checkmate the King and win the game.

In the next room, Harry and Hermione are faced with a difficult wizard’s riddle. On a table full of bottles, one potion will allow them to move into the next room, while another potion will allow them to return to the previous room. Hermione is able to use her skills of logic to unravel the riddle and allow them to pass through the flames. She gives Harry the potion he needs to move into the next room, and she takes the potion to return to the wizard’s chessboard and help Ron. Harry walks through the flames toward the final room but, unexpectedly, finds neither Snape nor Voldemort waiting for him, but rather Professor Quirrell.

Quirrell immediately binds Harry’s body with several ropes, and then explains that he is the one who has been trying to kill Harry throughout the year. Not only did Quirrell jinx Harry’s broom during the first Quidditch match, but he let in the troll on Halloween and has been trying to steal the Sorcerer’s Stone since Dumbledore brought it to Hogwarts. Harry is shocked at this revelation, particularly since it means that he has been blaming Snape for Quirrell’s actions. Harry also realizes that Quirrell has been serving Voldemort all along, and he blames himself for not realizing that fact when he met Quirrell in Diagon Alley.

Harry notices that Quirrell is standing in front of the Mirror of Erised; this is the final challenge separating him from the Sorcerer’s Stone. Quirrell looks in the mirror and sees himself holding the Sorcerer’s Stone, but he cannot figure out how to retrieve the actual Stone. Suddenly Harry hears a disembodied voice telling Quirrell to use Harry to retrieve the Stone. Quirrell positions Harry in front of the mirror and demands to know what he sees. Determined to keep Voldemort from getting the Stone, Harry lies and tells Quirrell that he sees himself winning the House Cup for Gryffindor. In actuality, he sees himself holding the Sorcerer’s Stone and putting it in his pocket. Harry feels a sudden weight in his pocket and realizes that he has inadvertently retrieved the Stone from the mirror.

The disembodied voice speaks again, this time ordering Quirrell to let him speak directly to Harry. Quirrell slowly unwraps his turban and shows Harry that Voldemort’s face is protruding from the back of his head; too weak to possess a body of his own, Voldemort had been using Quirrell’s body to survive. Voldemort tells Harry that he knows that the Sorcerer’s Stone is in his pocket, and Harry should give it to him before he is killed. Harry refuses, and Voldemort angrily orders Quirrell to seize Harry and kill him. Quirrell tries to grab Harry, but his hands blister every time that they come into contact with Harry’s skin. Seeing an advantage to this, Harry presses his hands on Quirrell’s face to cause purposeful blisters. As the two struggle amid Voldemort’s furious screams, the pain in Harry’s scar becomes unbearable and he faints.

Harry wakes up in the hospital wing, where Dumbledore has been waiting for him. Dumbledore assures Harry that the Sorcerer’s Stone has been saved from Voldemort’s clutches; after Dumbledore arrived on the scene in the dungeon, Voldemort fled and left Quirrell to die. Nicolas Flamel and Dumbledore had decided to destroy the Stone to ensure that it could never be used by a dark wizard. Dumbledore explains that Quirrell’s skin blistered against Harry’s because Harry is protected by his mother’s love, something that Voldemort failed to take into account. Dumbledore also explains that Harry was able to find the Stone in the Mirror of Erised because he was the only one who wanted to Stone for unselfish reasons.

After recuperating in the hospital wing, Harry goes to the end-of-year feast. Slytherin House is set to win the House Cup, and the dining hall is decorated festively in silver and green. Before making the official announcement of Slytherin’s victory, however, Dumbledore decides to give out some last minute points. Ron and Hermione are awarded fifty points each and Harry is given sixty points, all for their courage and strength in protecting the Sorcerer’s Stone. Finally, Dumbledore awards ten points to Neville for his bravery in standing up to his friends. With Neville’s ten points, Gryffindor is ahead of Slytherin in terms of house points and is pronounced the winner of the House Cup.

As the book comes to a close, Harry, Ron, and Hermione pack their trunks and head to the train station to take the Hogwarts Express back to London. Although they will all go their separate ways for the summer, Harry knows that he will see his friends again in a few short months when they come back to Hogwarts for their second year. In the meantime, Harry is looking forward to frightening Dudley with his magic wand.

Analysis:

In the final two chapters of the novel, Harry demonstrates the extent to which he has grown in wisdom and maturity over the course of the year. Of the three students, Harry is the only one who fully understands what will happen if Voldemort is successful in his attempt to steal the Sorcerer’s Stone. Ron is preoccupied with Gryffindor’s battle for the House Cup against Slytherin, as demonstrated by the vision that he sees in the Mirror of Erised, and he is unable to see the larger picture beyond the world of Hogwarts. Hermione is similarly oblivious: although she received a score of 112% on her charms final exam and has read nearly every book in the library, she does not grasp the severity of the situation.

Only Harry comprehends Voldemort’s true capacity for evil, and only because of Voldemort’s murder of his parents. He realizes that Voldemort’s return to power will only mean loss and death for other innocent people, and, in another return to the theme of justifiable causality, he knows that this is a circumstance that demands disobedience and rebellion. Compared to the return to Voldemort’s days of tyranny and dark magic, the hours of detention and possible expulsion that Harry might face for breaking Hogwarts rules seems to be an acceptable sacrifice.

Harry’s willingness to sacrifice his education, future with magic, and even life positions him as a savior figure in the narrative. Harry does not know whether or not he will be successful at protecting the Sorcerer’s Stone, just as he does not know if his disobedience will even be recognized. Yet, he gives no thought for his own wellbeing and quickly comes to the ultimate decision that, if anyone must be sacrificed in order to defeat Voldemort, it will be him.

This concept of sacrifice can be explained in part by Harry’s inherent guilt over the death of his parents. Voldemort killed both Lily and James Potter but, for some unbeknownst reason, was unable to murder Harry as well. As the sole survivor of his family, Harry feels that he is undeserving of the gift of life. His parents were both exceptional wizards, while he is simply ordinary, and he cannot help but think that his survival was nothing more than a comical twist of fate. The wizarding public expects amazing things from him as the “boy-who-lived”, but Harry knows that he lacks the unique talents that would make him a true hero figure. A personal sacrifice is the one opportunity that Harry has to prove his worth to himself and to those around him, as well as show that his parents did not die in vain.

In the final chapter of the book, Rowling continues to express the importance of friendship above all else. Harry, Ron, and Hermione are only able to pass through the protective challenges of the Sorcerer’s Stone by combining their strengths and depending on each other as friends. Each of them has a different strength – Harry has courage, determination, and his flying skills; Ron has his skill at wizard’s chess and his loyalty to his friends; Hermione has logic and a vast magical knowledge. Only by using their strengths together and protecting each other are the three students able to achieve the same feat as Voldemort and ultimately access the final room of the challenge.

The importance of friendship is further emphasized in contrast to Voldemort’s isolated position. Although he inhabits Quirrell’s body for the lack of a better one, Voldemort views him with disdain and treats him as nothing more than a servant. Quirrell, in turn, does not help Voldemort out of a sense of love or loyalty, but because the fear that he has for the dark wizard. Because Voldemort does not understand the power of love and friendship, he is always isolated and thus, remarkably weaker than a wizard who has the support of his friends.

In the penultimate chapter of “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” Harry, Ron, and Hermione must successfully pass several challenges in order to retrieve the Sorcerer’s Stone. Each of these challenges emphasizes a different magical skill, which corresponds to the Hogwarts professor who instituted the challenge. The first challenge is to circumvent a ferocious three-headed dog to reach the access trapdoor; the second challenge is to escape from the throttling tendrils of Devil’s Snare, a plant that strangles its victims; the third challenge is to retrieve a flying key from among hundreds and unlock the door into the next chamber; the fourth challenge is to win a giant-sized game of wizard’s chess; the fifth challenge is to master a wizard’s riddle of poisonous potions; and the sixth and final challenge is to retrieve the Sorcerer’s Stone from within the Mirror of Erised.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione each bring a different set of skills to this series of challenges. As first-year students, none of them have the magical experience or talent that would allow them to reach the Sorcerer’s Stone on their own; they must help each other move from challenge to challenge. With her calm rationality and cool grasp of magical knowledge, Hermione is able to move the group safely past the Devil’s Snare and the difficult potions riddle constructed by Professor Snape. The ever-loyal Ron is able to defeat Professor McGonagall’s impossible chess match, though at the price of having to sacrifice himself. Harry is able to use his flying skills and sheer courage to pass by the three-headed dog, retrieve the flying key, retrieve the Sorcerer’s Stone and, in an unexpected seventh challenge, survive a personal encounter with Voldemort.

Through this impressive display of camaraderie and loyalty, Harry, Ron, and Hermione prevent Voldemort from using the Sorcerer’s Stone and regaining the dark power that he once possessed. After the challenges have been won and Voldemort has fled, the three students enjoy the end-year-feast and Gryffindor’s surprise victory over Slytherin to win the House Cup. After the feast, all three will return to their separate homes for the summer holidays and return for the second year of study (and the second novel of the series) after a few months. Yet, Harry, Ron, and Hermione’s successful passage through this series of challenges has a significance that echoes far beyond their defeat of the dark wizard. Although the Hogwarts professors may have only meant to protect the Sorcerer’s Stone, they also create a situation in which Harry, Ron, and Hermione undergo an unorthodox coming-of-age ritual and prove their worth and readiness for adulthood.

In many traditions, societies prepare their young adults to enter adulthood through complicated rituals and challenges that are meant to exhibit their skills as individuals and readiness to become active members of the community. In Ancient Sparta, for example, boys of thirteen were sent into the mountains as a test of their strength, resiliency, and ability to survive under difficult conditions. If they survived, they were deemed fit to continue in their training to become Spartan warriors. Similarly, young adult males in the Luiseno tribe had to undergo extremely difficult and often painful challenges in order to prove their worth, including lying on red ant mounts and taking hallucinogenic drugs. In each of these cases, the difficulty and even painful nature of the initiation emphasizes the importance of a child’s transition into adulthood.

Even in contemporary society, many communities still require a certain ritual to fulfill the transition into adulthood. For example, in the Jewish tradition, boys and girls of thirteen must perform a complex religious ceremony (called a Bar Mitzvah or Bat Mitzvah) to prove that they are ready to fulfill the obligations of the Jewish commandments. Although this ceremony does not require a physical challenge such as older traditions, it still requires a great deal of dedication and hard work for the Bar Mitzvah (“one to whom the commandments apply”) to complete the ceremony successfully.

Considering this background of cultural rites of passage, Harry, Ron, and Hermione’s ordeal in the Hogwarts dungeon exhibits clear similarities to traditional rituals. Each of the challenges tests a different set of skills in the three students, but all require the students to exercise survival skills, as well as intelligence, physical strength, and logic: all qualities that are desirable in a wizard or witch who intends to join the larger magical community. Notably, the other first-years at Hogwarts undergo a more traditional “rite of passage” in the form of year-end exams. Harry, Ron, and Hermione also take these exams, but they do not have the same significance or the same true test of skills as the seven challenges.

At the very end of the novel, Dumbledore acknowledges that Harry, Ron, and Hermione have passed this impromptu rite of passage by awarding them a total of one hundred and sixty points. This amount allows Gryffindor to win the House Cup and, suddenly, the feast becomes a celebration of the three students’ accomplishments. In the end, Harry, Ron, and Hermione’s successful navigation of the seven challenges and their entry into adulthood proves that they are, indeed, worthy protagonists of the six novels that will follow.