Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, by J.K. Rowling, is a great story that puts it's reader into a world of fantasy. This book has received much attention, good and bad, and really made an impact on the world. It has possibly been the most talked about book in recent memory, and it is well deserved.
The story is extremely detailed and things really collect in your mind as you read it. It details the journey of a young but special boy named Harry Potter. Unknown to him, his parents were powerful wizards. Wizardry as we learn is sort of a secret kept by its members. Harry's parents were murdered when he was a baby by an evil wizard named Voldemort. Voldemort is extremley powerful, and shows this by killing the Potters who themselves are powerful. However the Potter's are among the good wizards in the world. Voldemort also tried to kill Harry.
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Harry Potter <3
HarryHowever Voldemort was unable to kill Harry, and his powers diasppears. He then went into hiding. Harry gained a scar on his forehead from this encounter,however he had stopped the evilest wizard in the world. Albus Dumbledore and Professor Mcgonagall, head master and Professor respectively at Hogwarts School of Wizardy, left him to be raised by the Dursley's. This is surprising due to the fact they are non-wizards, which are called muggles by the wizards. Harry's life was hard and not very easy. The Dursely's favored there own child very much and did not treat Harry well at all. When Harry turns 11, weird things start to happen. Eventually he finds out that letters have been coming for him to attend Hogwarts School of Wizardry. Mr.Dursely tried to stop him from seeing them,but failed due to the fact that a giant named Hagrid came. Hagrid informed Harry about the school, his parents, and his wizardy. A month passes and he goes to the train station for his journey to Hogwarts. Harry befrieds fellow students Ron Weasley and Hermionne Granger. When they arrive at Hogwarts, the first year students are sorted by the sorting hat. They are sorted into 4 houses: Slytherin, Gryffndor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw. They compete against each other for the House championship. Harry, Ron, and Hermione are placed in Gryffndor to there happiness. the school year starts to go by. Harry finds that he is very skilled in the game Quidditch. He is recruited to play for the Gryffndor team. Harry also gets in trouble for many things throught the year. It is thought that Professor Snape dislikes Harry and wants to harm him. After Christmas, Harry, Ron and Hermione begin to unravel the mysterious connection between a break-in at the bank in which its impossible to break into and the three-headed guard dog that they discovered during there adventures in Hogwarts. They learn that the dog is guarding the only known Sorcerer's Stone, belonging to Nicholas Flamel, Albus Dumbledore's old partner. Someone has been trying to steal the Sorcerer's Stone, capable of providing eternal life and unlimited wealth to its owner. Harry gets in trouble again for visiting Hagrid, and is forced to go into the forrest to help find who is killing unicorns.. In the forest, Harry comes upon a hooded man drinking unicorn blood. The man tries to attack Harry, but Harry is rescued by a friendly centaur who tells him that his assailant was Voldemort. Harry also learns that it is Voldemort who has been trying to steal the Stone. Harry finds out that Hagrid accidently let Voldemort know the secret to get by the dog and get the Stone. He thinks that Voldemort now knows how to get the Stone, and decides that he must find the Stone before Voldemort can get to it. Harry takes Ron and Hermionne to sneak off that night to the forbidden third floor corridor. They get past the guard dog, and perform the tasks that must be taken to pass on. In the end, Harry finds himself face to face with Quirrell. Quirell is the seemingly harmless and quiet professor of Defense against the Dark Arts. Throught the book it is made to seem that he is a nice and gentle man. Harry is surprised it is Quirrell rather than Snape who has been planning the theft of the Stone. Quirrell tells Harry that his shyness was only an act and tells that he will kill Harry. Knowing that Harry has come to find the Stone, Quirrell first puts Harry in front of the Mirror of Erised, and makes him tell him what he sees. Harry sees himself with the Stone in his pocket, and at that same moment actually feels the Stone in his pocket. But he lies and tells Quirrell that he sees something else. A voice tells Quirrell that the boy is lying, the voice ends up to be Voldemort. He is actually a part of Quirrell's body. Voldemort tells Quirrell to kill Harry, but Quirrell is burned by touching Harry. Harrry then passes out and wakes up in the hospital with Dumbledore. Dumbledore tells him that he saved Harry from Quirrell just in time. Dumbledore and Flamel have decided to destroy the Stone for good. Harry after he recovered went to go to the end of the year banquet. It is announced that Gryffindor would win due to the heroics of the 3 students. This is great news since Slytherin had one the last 6 championships. The banquet ended the year and Harry returned to the Dursely's home.
Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone is a very good read and is really for everyone. Even though it has a childish feel, it has many themes and ideals that make it a good read for any age. Myselft being 17, was hesitant to read this story. However Harry really played the ultimate hero and the story was interesting. This book is a great fantasy that captures a world that is unlike any other. The details given make many of the settings and action sequences come alive and can be seen in your mind. This book really kept my interest and it's a must read. Many issues and moral ideals are covered and it makes the book that much more to like. The only problem that can occur is that it cna get too detailed and the characters at first are overwelming. I at times has to read over a few pages to figure out the characters and their place in the story. The plot is steady but does snag a few times in the middle. The writing of the story was interesting, it was much better as a 3rd person rather than a 1st person. The good vs.evil theme is the usual theme of a fantasy story, howver this book has many more problems and events. The adventures of a boy in wizard school is very interesting. The book is writen well, but your imagination takes it to places that not many books can go.
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Dumbledore as portrayed by the late Richard Harris...
Albus Dumbledore