Summary and Analysis of Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone

Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone is a young adult novel written by J.K Rowling in

1997. The novel follows a young boy named Harry who discovers that hes a wizard. In the

beginning of the novel, Harry is found to be living with his aunt, uncle, and cousin (the

Dursleys) with no knowledge that he can do magic. He has no idea where his parents come from

or how they actually died. That all changes when Rubeus Hagrid, the gamekeeper at Hogwarts

School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, delivers an acceptance letter to Harry. Hagrid tells him how

his parents died protecting him from the dark wizard named Voldemort, and he tells him that

thats the way he got the lightning shaped scar on his forehead. They meet the new Defense

Against the Dark Arts teacher professor Quirrell.

Afterwards, Hagrid takes Harry to Diagon Alley, the place where witches and wizards get

everything from their wands to broomsticks to school supplies such as cauldrons, potion

ingredients, and quills. They manage to find all of Harrys supplies that he needs for Hogwarts,

plus a pet owl. Hagrid takes Harry to King's Cross Station, tells him to look for platform 9 and

then disappears, leaving Harry to find the platform himself. He comes upon the platform between

nine and ten looking confused. So, the Weasleys help him out and tell him to run straight at the

wall between the two platforms. He does so and comes out on the other side of the brick wall

onto a new platform next to a train reading The Hogwarts Express. He boards the train and finds

an empty compartment to sit in. Ron Weasley, the youngest Weasley boy, asks if he can sit with

Harry. They have a bonding experience and become friends. A bushy haired girl named

Hermione comes to their compartment, asking if any of them have seen an animal. She fixes

Harrys glasses and then leaves the compartment.

 A few hours later, the train arrives at Hogwarts. All three of the children get sorted into

Gryffindor, the house thats known for bravery. Harry, Ron, and Hermione become closer

friends in late October after Ron and Harry rescue Hermione from a troll attack in the girls

bathroom. The three children soon discover a room with a trapdoor thats guarded by a three-

headed dog. Later its revealed that the dog is guarding the Sorcerers Stone, a magical stone that

grants the user immortality.

Eventually, the three of them sneak past the dog and through the trapdoor. They discover

one puzzle after another to get to the Sorcerers Stone. During the last puzzle, Ron sacrifices

himself so that Harry can go on. Hermione stays with Ron to get him to the hospital wing. Harry

goes through a final area and meets professor Quirrell in front of the Mirror of Erised (which

shows the user what they most desire). Quirrell reveals that hes been carrying a part of

Voldemort around with him, on the back of his head to be exact. Quirrell attempts to kill Harry

to get the Sorcerers Stone but ultimately fails when he makes contact with Harry, making

Voldemort detach from the back of Quirrells head, killing him in the process. Harry blacks out

and wakes up in the hospital wing the next morning. Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts

whom Harry has grown close to, tells him that the stone was destroyed but that Voldemort is still

out there somewhere. The novel ends with Gryffindor winning the house cup and Harry going

back to the Dursleys for the summer.

Author J.K Rowlings inspiration for Harry Potter came out of nowhere. She and her

boyfriend at the time were looking for a flat in London when an image of Harry and Hogwarts

appeared in her mind (The Scotsman). She began writing the first few chapters soon after that.

However, the death of her mother forced her into a deep depression. Through that depression she

moved to Portugal, fell in love, had a child, got married, moved back to Britain with her daughter
to get away from her estranged husband, and then promptly divorced him. She continued to write

the novel in different cafes and restaurants, mainly The Elephant House and Nicolsons

restaurant (The Scotsman). It took a long time for Rowling to finish the first book. She wrote it

out manually at first and then typed it on a typewriter. But by June of 1996 she found out that it

was picked up to be published.

A majority of the ethos in Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone comes from J.K

Rowling herself, not the book. Besides the six other Harry Potter novels that shes written,

Rowling has written spin offs that are in the same universe as Harry Potter, such as Fantastic

Beasts and Where to Find Them, which is now a successful movie, and Quidditch Through the

Ages. Shes also branched out completely from that universe and has written a few adult mystery

novels as well under a pseudonym (Rowling). Shes an extremely credible author because of the

amount of success shes had as a writer. The Sorcerers Stone alone has sold over 107 million

copies worldwide (Harry Potter History of the Books). Prior to writing the series, and even

when Rowling was writing the first book, she was going through clinical depression. She

incorporated physical manifestations of her depression into her writing with the imagery of the

dementors (Chaundy).

I remember when I first read The Sorcerers Stone, I was almost awestruck. As a six year

old seeing, or reading rather, the tale of this boy who had nothing growing up and discovering

this magical world was amazing to me. The way that Rowling described everything was vivid,

and it was almost like I was watching it in my head. I read the book before I watched the movie,

so I was able to imagine what the characters looked and sounded like, how they moved, and what

the castle and grounds looked like. Its almost as if I was there with them. And that was exciting

to me.
 This book had such a huge impact on me as a child that Im now writing about it 13 years

later. Ive never related to a set of characters more in my life than from this set of books.

Rowling pulled characteristics from herself and the people around her, and she put them into

these characters that I, and millions of other people, have fallen in love with. Even though the

book is about a boy who finds out hes a wizard, which is extremely unrealistic, hes relatable.

So are Ron and Hermione. I can see a little bit of myself in each of these characters. Harry can be

completely oblivious to things that are going on around him. Ron is sweet but if you try and

mess with someone he cares about, hell turn on you in an instant. Hermione is extremely

intelligent and compassionate about certain things. Plus, all of them are loyal to a T.

I chose to write about Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone because its something that

Ive grown up with. Ive never lived in a world without it. The fact that this book series touched

not only me but millions of other kids and adults around the world is astounding to me. Picking

the first book in the series was kind of a no brainer for me. Its something that I know well. I

could most likely explain the books like the back of my hand. I knew that it would be something

that I could write well on because its always one of the book series that Ive always had a

passion for. However, no other book, series or stand alone, has impacted me in the way that the

Harry Potter series has.

 Works Cited

Chaundy, Bob. Harry Potter's Magician. BBC News, BBC, 18 Feb. 2003,

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/823330.stm.

Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone. Scholastic, 1998.

Rowling, J. K. Writing. J.K. Rowling, www.jkrowling.com/writing/.

Sims, Andrew. Harry Potter - History of the Books. Hypable, Hypable, 29 Apr. 2012,

www.hypable.com/harry-potter/book-history/.

The JK Rowling Story. Books, The Scotsman, 15 June 2003,

www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/culture/books/the-jk-rowling-story-1-652114.