Hello everyone!
And, yes, I AM aware of how problematic the author portrays herself in the media nowadays.
I don't live under that big of a rock.
HOWEVER, as problematic as an author is, that generally won't stop me from reading their books - and I read these particular ones as they were being released back in the day. They are, to me, a trip down memory lane, something beautifully nostalgic, and just because the present has gone to hell doesn't mean I'll allow that to tarnish my enjoyment of reading them.
I read the books for the story they contain, not for the beliefs the authors may have. What have those beliefs done for me? Nothing. What have the stories done for me? Everything.
So without further ado, I'm going to stop making modern day commentary when this is supposed to be happening back in the nineties, and the express has already left the station.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is up next!
I'll list all other Harry Potter-related things down below at the bottom of the page, because I do have quite a collection by this point, but I'm not entirely sure I'll be reviewing the entire book series on here. Maybe I will, maybe I won't, it depends on my mood really. For now, hopefully you enjoy this one!
So Philosopher's - or Sorcerer's - Stone begins one completely normal Tuesday when we meet the Dursleys of Privet Drive (fun fact, I STILL keep saying that as 'private' drive for some reason), the most ordinary family of ordinary families, not counting the fact that neither one of the parents should have been allowed to procreate, because Dudley is something else.
But that's beside the point.
The Dursleys have no idea that at that very moment, the wizards who have lived concealed among them for centuries, are celebrating the fall of You-Know-Who, and that Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall and Rubeus Hagrid are about to drop a baby on their doorstep.
That baby is one Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived, and the most famous modern wizard of recent times.
And he has no clue about it, growing up bullied and shunned by his Muggle relations as he does.
This all changes right before his eleventh birthday when he starts receiving letters by owl, and his uncle decides to pack up and take the family to the middle of nowhere so that nobody can reach them.
Sadly, the wizarding world, or at least the Hogwarts Headmaster kind of has a personally vested interest in getting Harry to his school, so Hagrid makes a reappearance, with the letter, and finally tells Harry just who he is.
Yer a wizard, Harry.
Not only THAT, but he gets mad at the Dursleys for keeping it all a secret, tries turning Dudley into a pig, and succeeds in giving the kid a tail. Then, the next morning, he takes Harry to London and Diagon Alley, where they make the purchases needed for school and Harry gets his first taste of what his ACTUAL life might have been like had his parents survived You-Know-Who's attack (you know, the one where ten years or so ago he came to the Potter home and killed them both, then tried to kill Harry but the curse bounced right off and gave the kid his lightning scar).
With a parting gift of an owl named Hedwig which Hagrid gifts Harry for his birthday, the boy is sent back home to wait until September 1st, when the Hogwarts Express will take him to school.
The tricky bit here is that Hagrid forgets to tell Harry how to get onto the proper platform, but luckily the Weasley family is there to help out, which is how Harry meets his future BFF, Ron, and later on the train Hermione Granger. Draco Malfoy makes a second appearance, and is just as loathsome as the first time, so off we go.
Hogwarts turns out to be a big castle smack dab in the middle of nowhere, and for the first time Harry is among his own peers and starts making a name for himself outside of the legacy he carries (which he doesn't even remember). And it's absolutely magical to learn about the classes these kids take, Transfiguration, Charms, Potions (even with Snape being the most obnoxious idiot one could ever have imagined!) ...
But even while we have the storyline of Harry learning to become a wizard, there's a couple other ones mixed into the book.
One is Harry's friendship with Ron and Hermione, a focal point that will define the rest of his life, especially after Halloween when a troll is discovered in the castle and the guys end up needing to rescue Hermione from it. She, in turns, lies to McGonagall about it to cover their bases, and that's the start of a lasting friendship!
The second are of course other friends (and enemies) discovered along the way, like Neville, Seamus, Draco, etc.
Then there is the motif of family, something Harry lacks, but as he is so generously accepted in with the Weasleys it's almost as if it was made to be. I'm particularly fond of the fact Ron took the time to mention to his mother that Harry wasn't expecting any presents for Christmas, which prompts the woman to immediately have a sweater made for him and a box of fudge sent to boot (Hermione gifting him a box of sweets is also incredible given he's never had friends before).
Another story we follow is the Quidditch subplot, where Harry, by pure chance while trying to show Malfoy who's boss, ends up chosen as the youngest Seeker in a century, playing for Gryffindor house and continuing to play for his house for the rest of his tenure at Hogwarts.
But mixed into that is the more sinister, overarching plot of the book: that something was picked up from the wizard's bank by Hagrid and placed at Hogwarts for safekeeping, protected by spells and enchantments, and apparently, Snape's after it.
Snape is also after getting rid of Harry, if him jinxing Harry's broom (a gift by McGonagall, natch) is to be taken into account.
Throughout the school year, bit by bit, Harry and his friends learn that the thing hidden at school is the Philosopher's stone, which can turn anything into gold AND produce the Elixir of Life, making whoever drinks it immortal (as long as they keep on drinking it). By sheer bad luck, trying to get an illegal dragon Hagrid hatched out of the country and earning himself detention, Harry also learns that Voldemort might STILL be lurking about, wanting the Stone for himself.
After the final exams, when it becomes clear it's a time crunch and Dumbledore is nowhere to be seen, Harry, Ron and Hermione head into the bowels of the castle themselves to try and head the Dark Lord off, though only Harry eventually reaches the end after trials and tribulations during which they all get a chance to shine through their own special skills.
And there he gets a shock - because it isn't Snape who's there, with Voldemort sharing his body.
It's his Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, Quirrell, and he wants to get the Stone out of the Mirror of Erised, which Harry discovered over Christmas by accident, using his father's Invisibility cloak that Dumbledore returns to him. The mirror shows the deepest desire of your heart, and Harry could see his entire family standing around him when he looked inside. But in that moment of confrontation, his desire is to get the Stone before Quirrell does - and the Stone appears in his pocket!
Alas, as Quirrell then physically attacks him, things might have gone ill for Harry despite the fact the professor seemed to be in physical pain when he touched him, but Dumbledore arrives just in time to finish everything off.
Later, he reveals to Harry that he's protected by the sacrifice his mother made, to save his life from Voldemort, and that, hopefully, the Dark Lord will be pushed back again and again, and might never return.
The book ends with the final feast, where, by last-minute point awards, Gryffindor beats Slytherin for the House Cup for the first time in YEARS, and Harry returns to the Muggle world with the knowledge he now has a place to go to next fall, friends he can count on, and adventures to enjoy.
The end!
But for me, personally, this remains the favourite of all seven as I fall in love every time I re-read with the magic of rediscovering the wizarding world right alongside Harry, learning about his powers, going to new places, making life-long friends, and seeing the wizarding world as it's supposed to be: ensuring their best and brightest are given the best possible chance for the future.
Sure, the other books expand on the lore and the world and the plot, but Philosopher's Stone is the one that sets it all in motion, gives us some valuable lessons about friendship, love and family, and gently leads us into the fall season.
For me, it will always be the best.
xx
*images not mine
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