"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" by J.K. Rowling

 

            The following is a review of the NOVEL “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” by J.K. Rowling and NOT the feature film (I am in the United States of America and am aware that any of you reading this review in another country probably know this as “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” because for some reason Scholastic felt that “Philosopher” wouldn’t be as catchy as “Sorcerer” in my home country).

            Anyway, I know this novel was published in 1997 and probably 75% of today’s children have at least SEEN the MOVIE, and 33% of today’s children have read the book, so y’all probably know the story, but I’ve been on a reading binge and read the book (in all seriousness) about forty-seven times and reviewing a lot of what I read, so here we are, and if you’re reading this, seriously, thank you for giving me this chance to review the novel!

            Okay, we’re going to go over this with spoilers, so if you haven’t read the book or seen the film yet, I’d advise you to stop reading this (we’ll get to my personal thoughts towards the end of this review, so bear with me here).

            Harry Potter is not your ordinary ten-year-old. Odd things happen when he gets emotional. If he gets chased in school, he ends up on the school roof. If he gets a bad haircut, his hair grows back overnight. If he gets mad at a zoo, he sets a python free (which he can actually communicate with). Of course, he thinks all these things are just coincidences. His parents were killed in what he believes was a car crash and was left with his despicable Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and Cousin Dudley. He is treated like garbage and is forced to live in a cupboard under the stairs of the family house.

            One day, Harry is forced to fortuitously bring in the mail. As he does, he sees a letter addressed to him, precisely to “The Cupboard Under the Stairs,” and makes the fool mistake to try to open it in front of his family. His Uncle Vernon is able to intercept it before Harry can open it, shows it to Aunt Petunia and the two spaz out (does anyone say “spaz” anymore? If not, say another word like “freak”). Uncle Vernon destroys the letter hoping this will settle things. More letters come to “The Cupboard Under the Stairs,” so he is reluctantly moved to Dudley’s spare room. Still letters come in all different ways while Uncle Vernon tries to quell this problem, so his solution is to run away to escape the letters, which doesn’t really work. On Harry’s eleventh birthday, Rubeus Hagrid arrives at a cottage on the sea and informs Harry the odd happenings are because Harry is a wizard. His parents actually died protecting Harry from the dark wizard Voldemort, who then tried to kill Harry. He miraculously not only survived but repelled Voldemort, almost destroying him (I’m not going to use the word “killing” because that just does not describe what happened, but we’ll get to that more in a few paragraphs), with the memento of a lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead. Harry also finds out he has been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

            Harry is brought to Diagon Alley to shop for his school supplies and is introduced to the wizard world, finds out he is famous, and visits Gringott’s, the wizard bank and sees Hagrid take a mysterious package from a secure vault for the Headmaster of Hogwarts, Professor Albus Dumbledore (a vault which will be broken into AFTER the package is removed).

            A few weeks later, Harry is brought to King’s Cross Station to take the Hogwarts Express from Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, but it seems to not exist (which Uncle Vernon relishes as a way to ditch Harry). Harry then meets the Weasley family; Ron, Fred, George, and Percy who are all going to Hogwarts with Harry. Harry befriends Ron on the train, and they arrive at the massive castle which is the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. They also meet Hermione Grainger, who they immediately dislike as a snobby know-it-all. They meet the boy Draco Malfoy, who becomes Harry’s rival at Hogwarts. Upon arrival, they are sorted into a house that will be their home in the castle outside of class (Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw or Slytherin). Harry, Ron and Hermione are all sorted in Gryffindor. They begin classes like History of Magic with Professor Binns; Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall; Charms with Professor Flitwick; Defense Against the Dark Arts with Professor Quirrell; Herbology with Professor Sprout; flying with Madame Hooch; and Potions with Professor Snape, who takes an immediate dislike to Harry due to the history of Snape and Harry’s father.

            Harry is selected as Seeker to Gryffindor’s Quidditch team after displaying remarkable flying talent.

            On Halloween, a troll is let into Hogwarts. Harry and Ron come to Hermione’s rescue and the three finally become best friends. They find out about a three-headed dog named Fluffy who guards a trapdoor in the Third Hall Corridor (which is supposed to be forbidden).

            Hermione goes on to save Harry’s life during a Quidditch match where a curse is cast seemingly be Professor Snape.

            At Christmas, Harry is given his father’s Invisibility Cloak, which aids them in their nighttime wanderings around Hogwarts. They learn of Nicolas Flamel, who created the Sorcerer’s/Philosopher’s Stone, which produces the Elixir of Life which prolongs one’s life (obviously) and deduce the Stone is what Fluffy is guarding. The protagonists believe Snape wishes to steal the stone for himself (and later Voldemort). Harry also discovers the Mirror of Erised, which shows one’s deepest desire (as Erised desire is a palindrome).

            Hagrid receives a dragon egg from a stranger in a card game at the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmead, which hatches into Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback, who is taken off by friends of Ron’s other brother Charlie, who is studying dragons in Romania, having been a Hogwarts graduate. Harry, Hermione, bumbler Neville Longbottom, and Malfoy are busted and sent to detention with Hagrid in the Forbidden Forest, where a unicorn is killed. A unicorn’s blood prolongs one’s life, but also curses them. Harry sees a figure (who turns out to be Voldemort) in the Forest, assumes it to be helping Snape, and the Heroes learn the Stone is protected by an enchantment from each Hogwarts teacher. The three attempt to find the Stone before it is stolen and given to Voldemort to return him to life. They sneak through the trapdoor, beat the enchantments, and Harry finds that the one who wants the Stone is not actually Snape, but Professor Quirrell. Quirrel now shares a body with Voldemort. The Mirror of Erised gives Harry the Stone, and the power of Harry’s mother’s love protects Harry from Quirrell/Voldemort. The Stone is recovered and destroyed, and Harry survives the experience, awaiting his next encounter with Voldemort.

            The competition between the Hogwarts Houses for the House Cup is supposedly going to Slytherin, but points are awarded for Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville for all their work protecting the Stone, and Gryffindor wins the House Cup. Hagrid obtains wizard photos from friends of Harry’s family and presents Harry with a book of photos of his parents in their younger years. The students then take the Hogwarts Express back to their homes for the summer to prepare for their next year at Hogwarts.

            Okay, complete synopsis out of the way, there are a few things I wish to discuss further. The first being Harry’s rule-breaking. Harry breaks the rules at Hogwarts many times, and is yet awarded each time. A spot as Seeker of the Gryffindor Quidditch team after flying and catching Neville’s flung Remembrall, when the students are told to remain on the ground or they will be expelled from Hogwarts before they can say “Quidditch.” Harry flew and was rewarded rather than expelled. And the points Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville receive at the end for their work in protecting and obtaining the Stone were all given for breaking the rules and beating Slytherin for Gryffindor were all given for stupid reasons such as the best played game of chess, cleverness, courage, and standing up to one’s friends, which really should NOT HAVE BEEN AWARDED! Expulsion would be enacted at a REAL school, but convenience of a hero protagonist has to be taken into consideration.

            Now the point you’ve been waiting for, after reading this review as long as you have: my score. Well, this isn’t my absolute favorite Harry Potter book, but it ranks pretty high in my favorites list. Now, my ratings run from one to ten. One means “STAY AWAY!” Ten means “If I personally know you, I will NOT SHUT UP UNTIL YOU READ THIS BOOK!” I rate this at an eight. I enjoyed this book thoroughly and have reread this book forty-some-odd times and always pick up something new each time, so it never seems a chore to read this book (but it is the shortest Harry Potter book). I’m going to tell you that if you’ve never seen the movie, and it doesn’t go against your religion, I totally recommend it to you for your viewing pleasure. And if you love the movie and actually like reading, totally read the book. Now I know I just spoiled the entire story, but what I gave was really just the skeleton of the book, there’s still plenty of muscle and skin left, so if you like this review, watch the movie, read the book, somehow take it in as you will probably not be disappointed by the actual thing.

            Now I know I’ve gone on for like, twenty minutes, but if you reached this point, THANK YOU SO MUCH! You can expect many more reviews on this blog, more of my B’ings series, more editorials, short stories, poems, I’ll have so much for you soon!

            For now, Tim Cubbin… out!